Passing Storm, seascape, knife painting

"Passing Storm"

© Fawn McNeill, Dec. 2025

This painting is over a year in the making. I created it totally from memory.  (Usually, I work from my photos and/or sketches, but this time I worked without any references.)  

I experimented with contrasting the very smooth background with thick knife applications. 

I got carried away with the flowers and enjoyed splashing colors at odd angles.  My lighting and wind direction are not consistent, which was an attempt to create the feeling of shifting wind and light.

I'm proud of this one.  It turned out better than I anticipated, as most of my work this year remains unfinished or was destroyed.  Felt good to sign it!

~ Original Knife Painting

~ Acrylic on Hardboard

~ Professional Materials

~ 9 x 12 inches

~ Ready to frame

~ $450.00 (includes shipping)

Click here to see more art

 

Christmas Church, mixed media

"Christmas Church"

© Fawn McNeill 2025

 

I just love this little country church on a snow-covered hill. Metallic paints dress up the ornaments and glitter paint makes the snow sparkle.  Red beads add another dimension to the berries on the bushes.  My young students still teach me to have fun with our Christmas projects!

I'm currently teaching a small private group at my home studio.  It is so healing for my broken heart.  

Read more at: Random Thoughts

~ Original acrylic on stretched canvas

~ 11x14 inches

~ Ready to Frame

~ $550.00 includes shipping

Click here to see more art

Rainy Day Angels, stormy sea, oil painting

 

"Rainy Day Angels"

© Fawn McNeill September 2025

This site is working again, so I am going to post here and try to keep up with my website blog.  I like this format much better.

It has been a hard year, with the passing of my Son, Kyle, on March 21st, 2025.  Words cannot express the anguish and sorrow I still struggle with.

I am trying to get back to painting, so hopefully these pages will come back to life. For now, please bear with me as I post a few older works to get started.

The rain slows, and light shines through. A broken gray heart fades in the clouds. Ministering angels tend to it.  Symbolic in deep levels.  Waves of emotions take me under. Rain for tears, sunlight for hope to see Kyle again one day, and angels to remind me Father God loves me and I'm not alone. 

Read more at: Fawn's Art () - Fawn McNeill Art and/or Random Thoughts

~Original Oil on hardboard
~11 x 14 inches
~Not for Sale

Click here to see more art

​

Moving to a new blog site

 For the last two months, I have not been able to upload images to this blog site.  I love posting on my blog because I can give backstories, insights, and personal struggles associated with the painting. 

I have eighteen years of posting on this blog, and I love the ease and format of it.  I will miss it! 

I plan to link back to this blog when referring to earlier paintings. 

Please bear with me as I learn a new platform and continue my blogging journal on my website.  You can see my new posts at: 

https://www.fawnsartstudio.com/fawns-art-blog

I hope you will bookmark it and follow me there! 

Okeechobee Blessings, Florida Landscape

 "Okeechobee Blessings"

I just finished this painting from last year.  I created it during a class as a lesson last summer. It was still unfinished and rough because I helped my students finish up their paintings.  So now I have added quite a bit more detail, including the clouds and sun.  There is also an angel in the sky.  I gave it more texture on the foliage and grass before adding the tiny details.  

This painting was created from my sketches. It is a combination of places I have been here in Okeechobee county.

~ Original Art

~ Acrylic on Canvas

~ 14 x 18 inches

~ Not Available

If you are interested in having something similar painted, please email me at fawn@fawnsartstudio.com.  I would love to put something together for you in a size you would like! (Priced by size.)

CLICK HERE TO SEE MORE

Miss Molly, pet portrait

 

"Miss Molly"

Just finished this little commissioned portrait in memory of sweet Molly. 

 I love her soft fluffy fur.  I added a hint of angels in the wispy clouds and used sunset colors to compliment her markings.

~ Acrylic on canvas

~ 8 x 10 inches

~ Sold

Email me for information about custom paintings of your pets or livestock; fawn@fawnsartstudio.com

Click here to see more

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Take the High Road Home, winter landscape

 "Take the High Road Home"

8 x10 inches

This was created completely from memory.  I made it up as I went along.  

I loved the snow when I was young, but now I'm quite content to live in the mild winters of Florida!

I've been working on this little painting since last month.  I have to rest my right hand, but my left hand just doesn't do as good of a job.  I started this painting with my left hand. I actually created a great deal of it with my off-hand. But not the details.  My left-hand cramps and is not used to the motion of the strokes, so it is slow and cumbersome.

My dominant hand, my right hand, has been in a brace for 5 months.  The wrist is still tender and swollen. The pain runs up to my fingers and down to my elbow.  The tendon from my thumb to my wrist had a couple of small tears, and my wrist and hand had five cists.  I went through two rounds of steroids (pills) and one round of antibiotics. 

The doctor wanted me to come in for steroid shots in my wrist, but I chickened out and did not go back.  

Overall, I am better: I can do more with less pain, but things take longer.  I am careful not to stress it. I also wear my brace (which immobilizes my thumb) if I am doing anything that requires lifting or pulling.  When I forget, it sure lets me know!

I have several small paintings in progress, but I am not pushing myself to get them done. 

Enjoy!

~ Original Art

~ Acrylic on Canvas

~ Professional Materials

~ 8 x 10 inches

~ Ready to frame

~ SOLD

Click here to see more

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Endless Life, angel, knife painting

 

"Endless Life"

© Fawn McNeill 2009

I haven't been painting much, due to an injury to my right hand/wrist.  So I am posting this older favorite little knife painting.  I created it when I was doing a lot of small palette knife paintings. I did this for Christmas back in 2009!  

Click here to see the link to the original post and the symbolism I used for this little gem.

~ Original Acrylic 

~ Knife Painting

~ 6 x 6 inches

~ Not Available

I would love to create something similar for you in a size you would like! (Custom orders are priced by size) Email me for more information: Fawn@FawnsArtStudio.com

Click here to see customer feedback.

Click here to read more about my wrist and my son battling cancer.

Happy New Year!

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"Endless Song" 

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Christmas Shore, mixed media

Christmas Shore

9.50 x 12 inches

mixed media on wood

Just added the starfish and sand dollars to this fun project. 

Started this a few years ago, but I wasn't sure if it was finished. I was using the wood grain for the sand, which I have done before.  Gives it a nice effect. I truly love the small sand dollars and tiny starfish!  they add the extra something I was looking for.

• Original
• Exclusive art
• Mixed media
• Professional materials
• Sealed
• Not available

Click here to see more

 

Breathtaking Impact, Beach sunrise, mixed media,

 Breathtaking Impact

© Fawn McNeill 2019

"...the breath of the All Mighty gives me life."  Job 33:4

I'm posting this older piece because I haven't painted much in the past few months. I hurt my right hand doing yard work in June. I have used my left hand some and can use my right hand, but it doesn't work like it used to.  The MRI says I have 2 torn tendons (small tears) in my wrist/ hand, and some infection in the bones too... Am trying to get an appointment with an Orthopedic.

I love this painting. It captures that moment of awe that I had that morning as I came around the bend and saw the sun hitting the water at the same time the salt breeze hit my face. 

The painting is built up with Acrylic Gel Medium and Acrylic Modeling Paste for some interesting textures that captured the paint as I dry brushed over it. You can't really see the textures until you view the painting from different angles.  But you can feel it.  The waves and sand follow the highlights and shadows with various textures, but the fence is raised up from the canvas.  It blends in well and is a nice surprise as the texture catches your eye from different angles of view.

18 x 36 inches (plus frame)

Mixed Media

Framed (see below)

$1,750.00 plus shipping  

Click here to see more

Email me for availability! (fawn@fawnsartstudio.com)

 

Faithful Friend, animal portrait

"Faithful Friend"

I've been working on this little painting for over a month! Mostly, I had a hard time finding time to get in the studio, but I loved every minute of creating his portrait. This beautiful fellow belongs to a friend of ours that lives down the road.  He is always right by his master's side and waits patiently every time they come over. 

Please email me if you would like an original animal portrait! I have a price list by size.

fawn@fawnsartstudio.com

~ Original art

~ Acrylic Painting

~ 8x10 inches

~ Not available

Click here to see more

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Spring Rush, mountain waterfall, knife painting

 "Spring Rush"

Good memories: Mountain hikes, melting snow, fast-moving creeks, and streams flowing over their banks. 

This palette knife painting is from a combination of places, but mostly from memories of my grandmother and me at Glacier National Park.  She loved driving through there when we would go visit my great-grandmother in Helena. I loved stopping at the falls and hiking up a bit to take pictures.

It is also a memory of hiking up in the Cabinet Mountains near Libby, Montana where my grandmother lived.  Late spring and early summer there was still lots of snow in the mountains. One summer in the middle of June my brothers and I were hiking and had a snowball fight with our mom!

I started this painting a few years ago.  Like so many I create for an art class, I don't feel they are finished.  Most of my time teaching is spent, well, teaching! I don't pay much attention to what is happening on my easel. With the pandemic and the closing of my gallery, almost everything went into storage.  I pulled this one out last week. I brightened up the highlights, added stronger shadows, and filled in the empty places. 

I have recently destroyed quite a few paintings that were in storage.  My goal this summer was to get them out and do something with them. I had hoped for more positive results. I wanted to make some corrections and/or finish them.  But some just didn't work out.  I am happy this one survived! (You can read more about that here.)

• Original Knife Painting
• Acrylic on hardboard
• Professional Materials
• 11x14 inches
• Ready to frame
• $850.00 includes shipping

Email me: fawn@fawnsartstudio.com  for availability or to have something similar created.

Click here to see more

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Jesus Loves Me, girl writing in sand at the beach

 "Jesus Loves Me"

I've worked on this painting for over a year! 

It truly speaks for itself.

~ Original Art

~ Acrylic on Canvas

~ 14 x 18 inches

~ Not for Sale

Email me for prints of this image! Fawn@fawnsartstudio.com

Click here to see more

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Sugar, white cat, mixed media

"Sugar"

©Fawn McNeill, Dec. 2018

Beautifully strange colored eyes. Sugar made herself at home under my gallery in the spring of 2018.  My students loved her and called her Snowflake.  She would dash in each time the door opened. 

 I felt sorry for her and fed her because she was so skinny and nursing three kittens.  She looked like a kitten herself!  I'm sure it was her first litter.  She was wild and skittish, but she warmed up to us a little.  We found homes for her kittens and I had her fixed. 

I created this painting for my students as an example for one of our classes.  We made the eyes bigger than normal and played up the fluffy fur.  It was a fun class!  

White is a challenge for young students because they don't want to add shadows.  (The cat had to be painted light blue, beige, and pink before the white was added over the top so the fur would show up.) 

Later, I went back and added more details and a few beads above her eye and one on the collar.  It was one of the first in my new mixed-media series and I wasn't too sure how much to add or whether I would like it or not.  The custom blue frame was a perfect match!

I'm not sure why it never got posted. I had it on display at some shows as 'not for sale' and then finally put a price on it at the Unique Boutique when I started selling some of my mixed-media pieces. I think subconsciously that I just wanted to keep it. I've enjoyed the memories it carries of my little gallery and teaching center before the pandemic shut it all down.

~ Original Mixed Media

~ Acrylic on canvas

~ Professional Materials

~ 11 x 14 inches 

~ Custom frame (see below)

~ $750.00 (free shipping in the US)

Click here to see more 

Email me: fawn@fawnsartstudio.com  for availability or for information about having your pet's portrait created in a size you would like! (Custom paintings are priced by size.) 

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New Every Morning, sunrise, beach, waves, sandy shore

"New Every Morning"

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come 

to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

 (Lamentations 3:22-23)

Looking for patterns in the woodgrain for sand and then using that to find the waves is quite satisfying. It is challenging to add layers for the illusion of transparent water and exciting to add the details of seafoam with its interesting patterns and shadows. 

I revisited this painting after hanging it in my bedroom for two months. (I noticed a few things I wanted to change each time I studied it.) This is risky, as I have ruined a painting and had to start over completely.  But now I bravely removed a few shadows, added more seafoam, and brightened some of the splash. I am happy I did it!

I never allowed myself to go back over a painting, thinking, "That was how I interpreted things then, and I should not change it. Don't want to risk ruining it either."  But now I find myself enhancing and correcting some of them, thinking, "It is mine, I can change it if I want!"  (The older I get the the more courageous I get! Too funny.)

This painting is framed in a floater frame. Well, sort of.  I inverted a cradled wood support and painted it to bring out the colors of the sand and then I put the painting in it as if it were a floater frame.  It turned out perfect!

ENJOY!

~ Original acrylic on cradled hardboard

~ Professional Materials

~ 12 x 12 inches (including frame)

~ $800.00 (free shipping in the US)

Click here to see more 

Email me: fawn@fawnsartstudio.com  for availability or to have something similar created.

Click here to read about the trials I have been facing this year.

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Lake Sunset, palm tree, watercolor

"Lake Sunset"

© Fawn McNeill 2022

Isn't this an awesome little demonstration painting?  Demos in watercolor don't usually turn out as well as I would like, but this one went well from start to finish, and includes great memories while teaching it!

I like the simplicity of it as well as the calming colors.  Of course, the strong contrast is always a plus. The cabbage palm tree really sets it all off.  

I just matted this painting.  Enjoy!

~ Original Demo 

~ Watercolor on acid-free watercolor paper 

~ Matted to 8 x 10 inches

~ Ready to Frame 

~ Not available

Click here to see more

A note about framing: Artwork on paper should be framed behind glass with a mat around it to keep it off of the glass and protect it.  This includes photographs and prints on paper.  Those on canvas or wood should not be framed behind glass.  Original oils and acrylics are usually done on canvas or wood and need to breathe.  If artwork or photograph is done on paper or mat board it should be framed behind glass with a mat to keep the image off of the glass. (Glass can trap moisture and ruin the image.)  Click here to read more about framing.

Click here to read about the trials I've been overcoming lately.

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New Morning, plein air, lake

"New Morning"

© Fawn McNeill 3/18/2023

The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; His mercies never come to an end: 

They are new every morning... Lamentations 3:22-23

Didn't get a chance to post this one. I had a hard time getting a good image of it:  too much glare or too much exaggeration of the canvas grain.  

I went out with a new painting group in Vero Beach. We met at the Savannah's Preserve in Fort Pierce. It was a bit windy, but still a lovely morning. I haven't had a chance to get out since, but I do plan to paint with them again.  

~ Original Plein Air Painting

~ Acrylic on canvas

~ Professional Materials

~ 8 x 10 inches

~ Ready to Frame 

~ $525.00 (free shipping in the US)

Email me for availability: Fawn@fawnsartstudio.com 

Click here to see more

On a personal note, my son, Kyle, is fighting cancer and I have been keeping my grandkids when he has treatments, appointments, or trips to the ER. It has been (at times) 3 or more times a week (when he had complications). I enjoy the kids, but it has been rough watching them struggle with watching their dad suffer.  Right now he seems to be doing better. Praying he beats it!

 Between work, teaching classes, taking care of my husband and grandkids, plus trying to find time to paint, it can get overwhelming. But joy does come when I focus on positive things.

Click here to Read More

 

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Morning Stroll, white ibis

"Morning Stroll"

Made a few corrections and added extra details to this little painting from a few years ago.

I gave the grass more shadows and enhanced the water to set the ibis off. I also added more feathers. I just love the blueish hues in the shading. Then I dabbed the water with more sparkle and made it drip from the beak slightly.

This bird was a visitor while I was out painting on location at the Savanna's Recreational Area in Fort Pierce. I got quite a few pictures of him as he walked up and down the edge of the water. 

~ Exclusive Art

~ Original Acrylic on hardboard

~ Professional Materials

~ 6 x 6 inches

~ Ready to Frame 

SOLD

Click here to see more

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Standing Tall, blue heron

"Standing Tall"

Took several attempts with this painting.  Mostly I struggled with the proportions. The neck would be too fat, or the legs too short.  Finally created a good stance and stuck with it! 

The background was just plain fun. I added many layers of color and movement.  I like the contrast between the impressionistic background and the realistic heron.  

The great blue heron is a huge bird.  They are almost as tall as me and their wing span looks about 6 to 7 feet.  They range from a pale light gray to a bluish gray.  Some of them have sienna red markings and black markings.  They are plentiful around here.  They are experts at catching fish too.  It is amazing to watch them swallow a large fish that looks like it could never fit down that neck!

~ Exclusive Art

~ Original Acrylic on hardboard

~ Professional Materials

~ 9 x 12 inches

Sold

Click here to see more

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In the Rock, pine tree, waterfall

 

"In the Rock"

Pulled this out of storage, cleaned it up, made some corrections, added a little waterfall, and put it in a new custom frame with an interesting texture. 

This painting originally started after a visit home to Montana.  I was staying with my brother near Glacier National Park, so I was thrilled to get to go hiking in the mountains again. It had been 5 years or so!  I saw this young pine tree growing right out of the rocks and thought about how life is like that sometimes.  You just have to put down deeper roots, hang in there, and trust in the Lord as your firm foundation.

I added the waterfall for two reasons.  First, I remember crossing a waterfall on a mountain hike when I was 12. It was the first time I froze up while mountain climbing. I should not have looked down!  It was a steep drop-off.  My friend's dad, Paul Miller, rescued me.  He reached back for me.  He helped me walk the thin log that made the bridge for us to cross over.

Second, I thought it would strengthen the composition and give the little tree a drink!

~ Exclusive Art

~ Original Acrylic

~ Professional Materials

~ 8 x 10 inches

~ Custom Frame (see below)

~ $750.00 (free shipping in the US)

Email me for availability: fawn@fawnsartstudio.com

Click here to see more

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