Tiny Rufous Hummingbird Painting

More miniature paintings, studies of favorite subjects. This tiny Rufous Hummingbird is migratory.
I like using metallics, especially gold in my paintings and artwork. All of my glass paintings have touches of gold.

Rufous Hummingbird Gem - SueBetanzos.com

I have used gold paint, rather than leaf for years. It looks beautiful without the mess of applying leaf. However, I'll be placing an order of gold leaf with LA GOLD this year and play with it.

Golden brand of acrylic paints is my favorite gold paint. I have tried several metallic paints, and so far prefer this one for bright, opaque consistent gold. It does not require shaking to mix.

Lately, the trend I have seen is using gold leaf. Many artists are using it in their paintings. The term for using metal leaf on glass is Verre' Eglomise'.  French for gilding on glass. I found more artists in the UK and Europe using this method than in the USA.

Plenty of sign painters, but not much fine art. In the UK however, I follow several fine artists that use glass gilding as a fine art. A trip across the pond is in the planning, saving to visit the artists whose work inspires me!

Get Inspired!

When I'm stuck, tired or burned out, I tend to go to my sketchbooks and do small studies. It keeps me creating art in a non-pressure mindset.

They start out as doodles or light studies of a favorite subject. From there, they usually grow into detailed little paintings, drawings. Possibilities for future artworks in one of my mediums (glass painting, glass mosaics, colored pencil, acrylic).

Tiny Verdin on Cactus - SueBetanzos.com

I love songbirds, hummingbirds, birds. They are so full of life, lively. Actually, I love animals :) but find myself drawn to bird subjects these past few years.

Working in a series, exploring a theme, subject, style, medium is how art develops for me. My Gemini personality really shows in my ability to multi task in several mediums, enjoying the process of each one.
Example - diving into glass mosaics for a project, then acrylics for preliminary studies is effortless for me and many artists I know.

The only medium that require a day of mindset prep is going from painting traditionally to painting in reverse on the glass. It takes a day or so of practice for a few hours to rethink how I paint, front to back, backwards on the glass!