Danielle Calabro

"Palm Trees at Sunset" 16" x 20" Acrylic on Gallery wrapped canvas painted be me One of my favorite places to go is the beach, it is so relaxing listening to the waves break and taking a nice night walk and letting the wind blow in your hair. We live in Central Florida so we have our pick from the East or West coast. I have put together my favorites. My Top Florida East Coast Beaches: These are the beaches  that we go to for a day trip nothing to far away Cocoa Beach Cocoa Beach - Very close only about 30 - 45min away, No parking on the beach. You have Ron Jon Surf Shop and they have a great little Pizza joint too, you can actually get a 26" pizza it was huge. Best parking in my opinion is across from the Air Force Base, there are no life guards so you need to be careful. Not as many people either, so you don't have to walk another half mile to find the perfect spot because if you are like us, we bring the lunches, towel, cano...

o save a little money I purchased a linen canvas 12" x 16" from  Jerry's Artarama , great stuff! I have also purchased a few 24" x 36" canvas, a lot of paint and my pouring medium. This is definitely my go to place, the shipping is pretty fast, just a few days and the prices are great and even better when they have sales. If I am not in a hurry I will wait those few days.  I have been playing with the Linen canvas (which is actual canvas and not paper with a canvas feel), I got to the point where I was sitting looking at a blank canvas and nothing came to mind so I put some gold leaf on it and left it to play with the kids outside since nothing else was coming to mind. I came back and still nothing so I started adding color, i figured "what the hell, maybe a little color will help", nope, just spreading paint. ARGH!!! Damn painters block, I hate it. I got so pissed off at it I just took my tube of paints and just placed paint sporadically around the...

I have set a goal for myself, my  plan is to have enough paintings done by the end of the year and apply for a few of the local art festivals that we have here in Florida. I am not sure how much work will be involved in this besides dedicating myself to my goal. I know I need to have a portfolio, if anyone has an idea of how to get one together with out spend a butt load of money please let me know, I am all ears. I have also been playing around with the idea of going to some of the local art districts and see if some of the café or stores will allow someone to hang their painting. What better way to get myself out there and get out of my comfort zone.  It's funny, my husband and I were talking about where we are and wishing we could get a break, and I wish the same thing.  I told him if we keep going in the same direction we are, something is bound to happen. I said it before,  I honestly thought if I painted it, they would come, I could not have been more wrong ...

This is my latest addition, once again it has a couple of layer under the finished product. There is something another artist said once and to me it is so true; never skimp on the product you use, it makes a difference. Paint, canvas, paint brushes and all the other stuff we use to create our art can be expensive something; that is why gesso is my best friend. I can save a canvas if I screwed it up or just don't like what I created, just take my gesso and start with a new layer. It also helps to know where you can go to save money. She also said a good painting usually ends up have a few layers, couldn't agree with her more.

One of my favorite trees is a Cherry Blossom Tree, they are beautiful in any scene.  This is a 24" x 24" canvas done in Acrylics, I am happy to say I had this one sold before I finished and it is off to a great home.