helvi-blog

Spring is getting me sprung!

3/5/2026

I kinda fell into an unproductive mode over the winter. What the heck?

Now that there is more light, I feel more productive for sure.

I saw a TikTok video of someone talking about making and selling artist trading cards. I thought that sounded like fun and I am giving it a go.

The cards are created to a specific size of 3.5" x 2.5"

Here is the link to my eBay art page: www.ebay.com/usr/helvismith

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Mr. Mooney is an Inspiration. Go Figure.

9/5/2025

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Mr. Mooney is the cat I got off Craigslist a year or so ago. I was looking for a Manx, or part-Manx cat. They are a special kind of breed for sure.
He is so smart and endlessly curious.
I have been painting a series of Mr. Mooney's dreams.

This one above is headed to The House of Orange Gallery in Cannon Beach Oregon. A cool modern gallery!

I am working on the dream descriptions for each of these!

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Art can be a sticky business

5/29/2025

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A few years ago I saw paint samples that were about 8x11" and were peel and stick samples. I bought some for the heck of it and painted on them. I was thinking they would be great for fridges and walls and mirrors and and and...

So a couple of weeks ago I thought it would be fun to do that again. However. The prices on those samples went up a lot! So that was not gonna work. Got me to thinking. I had heard of peel and stick wallpaper, and that turns out to be a much better value. Bought some and got busy.

I painted black stripes on the wallpaper and then cut this into long 5" wide strips.

The idea worked great. But this was a little, uh, meh.

The next door frame I painted the wallpaper with a more interesting pattern. I was liking this!

I painted bright colorful graphics, then cut this into 5" long strips and then cut those strips into sections. The fun part was about to begin! I turned all those sections upside down and shuffled them. Then picked up random pieces and started putting them on the door frame.

I know this is not for everybody, but I really like it! I am already painting the next one. :)

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April 28th, 2025

4/28/2025

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Mr. Mooney is a basic colored cat. Black and white. No tail, really, Just a stub.
That is the Manx part of him.
He has bountiful dreams and tells me all about them as he follows me
everywhere in the house.
Here are the latest dreams he has described and my interpretation
of those dreams to canvas.

Mr. Mooney Dreams of Palm Springs Modernism Week

He loves mid century fashions and styles and Rummer homes. He says the drawback to mid century furnishings is that there are no big fat overstuffed chairs to lounge on.

Mr. Mooney Dreamed of Far Off Places

Mr. Mooney watches travel shows and he also loves documentaries. So often, when he dreams, the two sometimes disparate styles can mesh as only they can in dreams.

Mr. Mooney's Dreams After the Party

Too many Churus will cause a kitty to have crazy dreams for sure! See for yourself!

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Flat is where it's at

2/13/2025

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I really like painting on flat unstretched canvas and I like painting larger paintings too. So why did I start painting so many smaller works on 8x10 or 16x20 stretched canvases? I think I was just painting for the market and thinking that the price point would be less than a larger painting. Did it make me as happy as I like to be? No.

So this year I decided to paint the way I prefer.

Here are a few that I have completed so far. I really like them and hope you do too.

"Mr. Mooney's Dream After Eating That Gummy"
38"x29" painted on flat canvas

"Mr. Mooney's Retro Dream"
31" x 29.5" painted on flat canvas

Mr Mooney's Dream After Watching That Documentary About Quantum Physics"
42" X 27"
Acrylic paint on flat canvas
(The canvas edge is really white. Not sure why my camera did not capture that well.)

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Ooopsie. I am still painting. Forgot to update website!

1/2/2025

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Still working with the black and white theme. Still having fun! This is an iPad painting. I busted my leg by tripping over the black and white cat and for months, I have been making iPad art.

After over 2 months of not being able to walk or stand much, I started painting again.
These are painted on unstretched canvas.

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What is black and white and not red (read) all over?

6/29/2024

3 Comments

I really like lots of color. So I surprised myself lately by doing black and white.
The graphic quality of these has inspired me.
So I painted a BUNCH more!

I had to add a little color to see the effect. Not bad.

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Fishing

5/26/2024

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I have been thinking about sardines. I don't even like sardines. But those fish all lined up look kinda cool. The tins they come in, well they can be very inspiring. This is the only part of this painting I liked.

The online workshop I have been taking has taken a lot of my free time, and it has been quite interesting for sure.
Here are some fish paintings I did very recently. The workshop is mostly taught using abstract paintings, but I wanted to do it in my own odd whimsical way.

Oops! Almost forgot this one that I did at my local art gallery, Valley Art, for Print Day in May. Magnets are holding this one on my dishwasher.

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Taking Time Out For Learning

4/10/2024

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I am taking a 3 month online art workshop and because I am self taught, there seems to be a few things I could learn.
Usually I paint things that kind of look like things, albeit in a wonky way. But in this learning phase, I am doing more abstract things. Take it from me, doing a GOOD abstract can be crazy challenging. But I am plugging along!

Part of the workshop is to have a painting journal. I resisted at first, but then found out that uh, I like it!

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Spring cleaning and a bit of this and that

3/19/2024

2 Comments

Well. I had far more canvases tucked away in my studio area than I thought. haha!

I don't often paint abstracts, and I thought it would be fun to try one last week.
There is a small group of working artists and we got together for a critique afternoon and I got some good ideas and applied them to this painting. It is now done!

I painted this years ago and just ran across it in my photos yesterday. I like it and may revisit this kind of idea again. Fun to be inspired by my own art!

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<<Previous

Spring is getting me sprung!

Mr. Mooney is an Inspiration. Go Figure.

Mr. Mooney is the cat I got off Craigslist a year or so ago. I was looking for a Manx, or part-Manx cat. They are a special kind of breed for sure.
He is so smart and endlessly curious.
I have been painting a series of Mr. Mooney's dreams.

This one above is headed to The House of Orange Gallery in Cannon Beach Oregon. A cool modern gallery!

Art can be a sticky business

I painted black stripes on the wallpaper and then cut this into long 5" wide strips.

The idea worked great. But this was a little, uh, meh.

The next door frame I painted the wallpaper with a more interesting pattern. I was liking this!

I painted bright colorful graphics, then cut this into 5" long strips and then cut those strips into sections. The fun part was about to begin! I turned all those sections upside down and shuffled them. Then picked up random pieces and started putting them on the door frame.

I know this is not for everybody, but I really like it! I am already painting the next one. :)

April 28th, 2025

Mr. Mooney Dreams of Palm Springs Modernism Week

Mr. Mooney Dreamed of Far Off Places

Mr. Mooney's Dreams After the Party

Flat is where it's at

"Mr. Mooney's Dream After Eating That Gummy"
38"x29" painted on flat canvas

"Mr. Mooney's Retro Dream"
31" x 29.5" painted on flat canvas

Mr Mooney's Dream After Watching That Documentary About Quantum Physics"
42" X 27"
Acrylic paint on flat canvas
(The canvas edge is really white. Not sure why my camera did not capture that well.)

Ooopsie. I am still painting. Forgot to update website!

What is black and white and not red (read) all over?

Fishing

Taking Time Out For Learning

Spring cleaning and a bit of this and that

Well. I had far more canvases tucked away in my studio area than I thought. haha!

I post on Facebook and Instagram all the time about what I am working on. Click on the BLUE links and check it out!

Archives

Mr. Mooney is the cat I got off Craigslist a year or so ago. I was looking for a Manx, or part-Manx cat. They are a special kind of breed for sure. He is so smart and endlessly curious.I have been painting a series of Mr. Mooney's dreams.​

This one above is headed to The House of Orange Gallery in Cannon Beach Oregon. A cool modern gallery!​

I painted black stripes on the wallpaper and then cut this into long 5" wide strips.

The idea worked great. But this was a little, uh, meh.

The next door frame I painted the wallpaper with a more interesting pattern. I was liking this!

I painted bright colorful graphics, then cut this into 5" long strips and then cut those strips into sections. The fun part was about to begin! I turned all those sections upside down and shuffled them. Then picked up random pieces and started putting them on the door frame.

I know this is not for everybody, but I really like it! I am already painting the next one. :)

Mr. Mooney Dreams of Palm Springs Modernism Week

Mr. Mooney Dreamed of Far Off Places

Mr. Mooney's Dreams After the Party

"Mr. Mooney's Dream After Eating That Gummy"​38"x29" painted on flat canvas

"Mr. Mooney's Retro Dream"​31" x 29.5" painted on flat canvas

Mr Mooney's Dream After Watching That Documentary About Quantum Physics"42" X 27"Acrylic paint on flat canvas(The canvas edge is really white. Not sure why my camera did not capture that well.)

Well. I had far more canvases tucked away in my studio area than I thought. haha!

I post on Facebook and Instagram all the time about what I am working on. Click on the BLUE links and check it out!

Subscribe to my mailing list - no spam!

Archives

Mr. Mooney is the cat I got off Craigslist a year or so ago. I was looking for a Manx, or part-Manx cat. They are a special kind of breed for sure.
He is so smart and endlessly curious.
I have been painting a series of Mr. Mooney's dreams.

This one above is headed to The House of Orange Gallery in Cannon Beach Oregon. A cool modern gallery!

"Mr. Mooney's Dream After Eating That Gummy"
38"x29" painted on flat canvas

"Mr. Mooney's Retro Dream"
31" x 29.5" painted on flat canvas

Mr Mooney's Dream After Watching That Documentary About Quantum Physics"
42" X 27"
Acrylic paint on flat canvas
(The canvas edge is really white. Not sure why my camera did not capture that well.)