The rest of the girls

I finished the rest of the girl's portraits last Friday and getting ready to ship them out to Arkansas today. The buyer was VERY happy when I sent her the final jpeg images last week! What started out as a cute idea for a Cmas gift for her friends became something very special in the end.





















It was very cool to learn about each girl along the way-all through emails and pictures. The buyer's journey took on something more as well-she really was choked up when she saw the final images and just can't wait to give them to her friends during New Year's celebrations.






















So as I was wrapping them up last night with brown paper and bubble wrap and securing them in a box, it occurred to me that this was the last time I would be able to look at the originals before they are sent on their way. It made me a little sad, but knowing they will mean so much to these girls makes it all worthwhile.

the girls

This week is the final push for finishing portraits for 4 friends in the midwest. Rachelle commissioned me to create portraits of herself and friends for Cmas gifts.

I finished Monica this weekend and really loved how her expression turned out. She's originally from Denver and a snowboarder. She's the laid-back dreamer and a has an artistic quality about her. She struggled with her path, and has changed majors a half dozen times until finally settling into applying for pharmacy grad schools.

Monica, 8x10 mixed media on canvas

Giveaway-Art Block!

In the spirit of the season, I've decided to host a giveaway! But, in order to make this fun, and in light of a recent negative moment I experienced, I'd like to hear about a time you had to "rise above" a situation, take the high road, so to speak- where you kept your cool and just let it go.

***(ammended 12/16, since this giveaway ends tomorrow, and there haven't been many posts-this is my first giveaway after all and I am learning how to promote this kind of thing-I'm opening up the comments to "why would you like to own this block or where would you display it?"***

So, list your comments here, and on Thursday, December 17, I will choose the best response (in my humble opinion) and the winner will receive my Been Caught Stealing block from my shop. A little treasure for those of you who enjoy dreamy, whimsical things like that. Open to USA residents only! Thanks!

Little treasure boxes

This past Sunday night was my first ever holiday sale at my friend Heather Pyles' house. It was so much fun and great to hang out with friends and other sellers! You know I have partnered with Connie Fontova of Hang on Sister to do a limited edition line of my artwork on her bottlecap and glass tile jewelry. And I had come across these cute chipboard boxes and knew I had to make custom keepsake boxes with artwork to match the jewelry. I only did 6, just to see how they would be received. Well, I sold almost all of them! I also did 5 ornaments, and sadly, I didn't photograph them, but they all sold as well. So it makes me so happy to see those little precious things go off to new homes! I got a few custom orders for more boxes, and I think I'll experiment with some small wooden ones as well. fun, fun, fun!

Field Trip Holiday Pop-up Show

I subscribe to Daily Candy Atlanta (www.dailycandy.com) and received an email this morning about Field Trip. A new holiday shop in Athens, GA that is run by two sisters, Rinne Allen and Lucy Gillis who have been "traveling and collecting one-of-a-kind antiques and artisanal goodies since they were kids" It's located in the historic Hawthorne House foyer, 1073 South Milledge Ave.

The show starts today and runs through Dec. 24. I am definitely taking a road trip to check this out! I love any excuse to visit Athens, which is one of those places that surprises you with how artsy it can be-maybe even more so than Atlanta at times.

I'm especially intrigued by their bonus gift wrapping with recycled materials and natural fabrics (using the Japanese furoshiki technique) and topped with vintage stamps. I mean, seriously, all I want is the gift wrap!

The girls, a portrait commission

I received an email to my Etsy shop recently with a request to do four portraits for a girl and her three friends. She wants to give the portraits as gifts for Christmas and commissioned me to create images similar to my Lovely Mysticals series. This is a very exciting project because I've been wanting to do some portrait work and wasn't sure how to get started. My style is not necessarily painting a realistic likeness, but more about capturing a personality. And this is a process I've been working at off and on for the last year or so.

I just submitted the sketches to the buyer, and awaiting feedback. She provided "bios" and several photographs of each girl for reference. The first round is below, and anticipate revisions to "nail it" for her, but I'm very happy with the results so far and hope she likes them too!

A Night at the Museum

With two days before The Museum School silent auction, our committee is furiously wrapping up final details and acquiring last minute donations! There have been so many people working behind the scenes, and with the state charter interview behind us, I think everyone is ready to let off some steam and relax Saturday night. There are some awesome auction items and with the great team we have doing set-up and decorations, it's sure to be a party people will talk about for awhile!

The theme is "A Night at the Museum" and we're taking themes from old art and artifacts -from the funky to traditional. And with a venue like Bart Webb Studios, it's just a perfect setting for our night! The auction catalog cover is the only visual we created for this event to keep costs down. But we're using elements of the design for a small run of tickets, item descriptions and posters at the event. I used a watercolor-ish texture on canvas as a background and created a parchment effect. Flourishes in coral and turquoise are bright contrasts against the sepia tones of the artwork.

Didn't purchase your tickets yet? www.themuseumschool.org

Whitespace Gallery

Just stumbled onto this very cool gallery in Atlanta on Edgewood. I haven't actually visited yet, but came across the website when I was reading a forum about an event they have called For-Ever-Green. It's a "green" show and if I had anything 100% organic, archival, compostable and such, I would love to apply to exhibit! The site is beautifully done and the photography is awesome! The pic above is from the Dec. 2008 show. I hope to check it out this year, and so should you! Exhibit runs Dec. 3-6.

http://www.whitespace814.com/

Hang on Sister jewelry collaboration

Here's the bottlecap and glass tile necklaces I promised to post. I didn't take a very good photo this morning, the light was weird outside, but it will do for now! I'm working on some custom painted boxes to house some of these lovelies for the holiday season. They are super cute and will be themed for each necklace-I hope to finish them this week and will show them as soon as they're finished!

Chastain Park Art Festival a success!

This weekend was the first Chastain Park Art Festival and besides the really, really cold weather, people came out to see the artists! Saturday was pretty bone chilling and I did ok considering the weather with sales, but Sunday was sunny and beautiful and LOTS of people came out, thank goodness! I sold a lot of my art blocks, a few originals and five necklaces from Hang on Sister-which I will photograph for the next post.

















So I took a few pictures of my booth with my phone, it turned out so cute! I didn't even really have a plan for setup, but Friday I got an idea and quickly took a leftover piece of cedar from our deck, screwed in a bunch of leftover screws to hang my blocks and it worked out so fabulous. It really made a difference in my display. I also used a wire picture holder turned on its side to display the hanging necklaces.

Thanks to all who came out to see me and supporting the festival!

Starlight-6x6 series

Ok, this one has been sitting on a shelf for weeks unfinished! I just couldn't quite figure out how to get this piece to come together. I knew I wanted it to be a night theme on the beach, but just wasn't sure how to work with the spiral imagery. So black starfish-like flowers is what I started thinking about and then stars in the sky, starfish on the beach....a visual theme came together-an easy one at that!

Short on time here, K and M are both sick today and dinner has just arrived! I'm off to Home Depot tonight to get some wood cut for a piece I sold this weekend and picking up some other odds and ends for my show this weekend. More on that later!

The white queen and a wonderful night

Tonight was book club, a most anticipated night of the month for me. I bailed around 11 pm to go home and decompress, this week has been crazy and my head has been spinning. But as it pours down rain again, I feel relaxed and exhausted, so ready for sleep! This month, we read The White Queen and this lovely lady was inspired by Elizabeth and her very heavy headpiece. I can only imagine what is was like to dress up in such a dramatic, cumbersome way. This little bat trainer is one of my faves and turned out so perfectly spooky for Halloween.






















I'm inundated with all kinds of preparations for next week's festival and it was nice to go out and be distracted and relax with friends. The second in my Lovely Mystical series is now framed and ready to go, I'm working on the Spider Queen which has been put on a shelf so I can finish up some other projects. But I hope to finish it this weekend! I will be working furiously to get some last minute pieces created, so if I am MIA for the next week, forgive me and I promise to give updates after this upcoming whirly wind week! have a great weekend! In the meantime, here is the little sketch of her to tide you over.

Ruby blooms on Cumberland

Ruby blooms, the second in my 6x6 series on cradled aquaboard.

While on Cumberland island last weekend, I noticed a lot of blooming wild flowers. Not very typical for September! There were these tiny red blooms in the grass and lots of vines with purple and white flowers. I'm not sure what kind they were, but they looked stunning against all the lush, green growth that resulted from the deluge of rain Georgia has been getting the last month. The palmettos were huge! And the wild horses looked better than they usually do, sometimes they have ratty coats and look pretty rough. Butterflies were everywhere too, big monarchs as well as little yellow and white ones. It was truly magical to see. I also received the wonderful gift of spotting two great northern owls-just stunning. Additionally, a few ospreys, wild turkeys and my favorite, an albino deer. Now that calls for a painting! stay tuned...

Ribbon dance

Ribbon dance, the first in my 6x6 series on aquaboard blocks, which are wonderful two inch thick blocks with watercolor paper mounted to the front. These little studies are an experiment of using a limited color palette and clean colors on neutral backgrounds. Ribbon dance is available as a print in my shop.






















Ribbon dance

Off to Cumberland Island this week

On Thursday, JT and I leave for Cumberland Island, GA to stay with friends at High Point. This is probably the most anticipated trip of the year, no kids!! My parents are flying down from MI on Tuesday and staying until next week with the kids. The idea of going to this island and spending time with friends in a big, old family lodge, going to the beach where NO ONE else is, driving 4-wheelers and my favorite, spotting wild horses. Especially on the beach. And we have low-country boil, go clamming, take long walks in the woods, just stare out onto the marsh, the greens and variations of greens are absolutely amazing at different times of the day. The wild turkeys, sitting on the lazy, southern porch staring at the water oaks with loads of spanish moss hanging, swinging in the breeze. Absolutely magnificent.

A couple years ago, I captured this beautiful white pony on the beach and I did a pastel painting, the original is actually pretty large, like 15 x 30. It's in my Etsy shop available as a print.

Chastain Park Art Festival

Well, well, so I'm going to do my first festival, the inaugural Chastain Park Arts Festival, October 17-18. Patrick at the Decatur Market and Gallery has been so generous to offer me and 3 other artists 10x10 tents to exhibit our brand, spanking new works. Boy, do I have my work cut out for me, I can't even begin to share all my ideas, because I don't think I'll be able to accomplish them all in such a short time! One thing I know is that I'll be doing a Halloween series entitled "Lovely Mysticals," a series of characters sharing quirky, spooky themes involving bats, bones and wigs. Seriously, so excited about this that I'm going to do a limited edition postcard series, yes, you heard it! Hopefully I can crank this all out before then. In the meantime, here's the "bone collector"

hello Bluebird

I stumbled on this adorable website called "hello Bluebird" and this is what they're all about:

"We are a community of artisans and crafters who feel that shopping can be guilt free, affordable and socially conscious. A majority of our products are sold on consignment so that you are directly supporting crafters and allowing them to do what they love! We also believe that business can be built on a community rather than a marketing scheme."

Isn't that cool? And they are having their first gallery opening called Show and Tell, works combining art and words, which I love, because one of my favorite things is to add poetry or words to my work. These are some gorgeous works, check out their site to see a closeup of the featured artists!

Revolve-5x5 art blocks

My work is installed at Decatur Gallery and I'm so excited! The gallery looks great, nice and full of diverse, creative work. I could wander around in there for a VERY long time. So many talented artists, I feel privileged to exhibit alongside them all!

I'm debuting my 5x5 blocks in the gallery and will be interested to see how they do at the opening on Sept. 12. I've got one of these listed on Etsy, and will be adding more soon. Each block has an archival print mounted to the front and a different image on the back, either the original sketch or a vintage image that relates to the piece. My signature and date is printed on the back. I love these sitting on a shelf or mantle, and they look fantastic displayed in groups!

Tumbling for you-6x6 gallery

I'm sending my piece in for the 6x6gallery exhibition that will be held in October in New York City. This is a really cool project where artists of any level and medium can submit work to be exhibited in the gallery and online. I just love all these opportunities that pop up all over now where artists can get seen virtually, and then connected in real life.






















The ideas to get your work seen seem endless, and I feel like I can hardly keep up with my to-do list these days! This piece is inspired by one of those bright orange retro kid's chairs. The primary color's in the painting really make the chair pop, and for some reason while I was creating it, I couldn't get that Culture Club song, "I'll Tumble for You" out of my head, so that kind of stuck for my title!

High frequency

So I've been super busy preparing for the upcoming show on September 12 at the Decatur Market Cooperative Gallery and it's been hard to do all my online duties when I need to be painting and getting work done! This will be a short one, just wanted to show my latest piece, High frequency. This is part of my series on energy of circles, momentum and creative energy. One of my faves so far, because I loved composing the ribbons flying off the umbrella clothes line! I'm going to be working on some large pieces this week, so the challenge will be to preserve the looseness of my smaller pieces on a bigger format. As always, the print is available in my Etsy shop. Until next time!

Decatur Cooperative Gallery

The latest is...I'm going to be one of the exhibitors at Decatur Cooperative Gallery! I'm very excited to start a new path with my work, and that means I will need to really PRODUCE. Not just a painting here and there, but start to paint on a daily basis and move towards painting more full time and making graphic design less prominent. Being a member of the the cooperative gallery will give me an opportunity to really connect with other artists, get more recognition in the community and, most importantly, to really get my groove on with creating inventory. This will be a growing year for me, heading into the holiday season, I'm hoping that I'll actually sell work and be able to keep my little space full.

Now that I'm out of the haze of "babydom" and on the edge of exiting "toddlerdom" opportunities are starting to emerge and I'm hoping this is my time to create a reputation and get some local followings. Stay tuned for a lot of work in the upcoming weeks to be posted in preparation for the opening on September 12 that welcomes new artists (me!)

Turn kinetic- collage painting

This piece is part of a new watercolor and collage series on paper. I've been working with acrylics and gouache on wood panels for awhile and needed to mix it up a bit. These are going to be larger pieces, around 20 x 30 and focus on imagery related to spiraling movement and creative energy. Hopefully I can produce a good collection to show this fall, there are a few galleries I'm submitting to and it would get me in gear to follow through if I have a goal in mind! Turn Kinetic is available as a print in my etsy shop.

The big 40 party!

So I realized I haven't posted any pics from my fabulous 40th birthday party that my husband and friends threw for me on July 25! I truly believe this party will go down in history as one of the best we've thrown ever. I mean, all my true blues swooped in and decorated, cooked, organized and arranged the most kick-a&*$ gathering anyone could ask for.















Miles, the mixologist was the highlight of the party. There was a drink list (pictured) and lo and behold he actually created a version of a gin mule for me! Seriously, it was the yummiest drink ever!






























The night was very laid back, casual and we were able to sit outside on the deck and screen porch with all the doors thrown open. A delicious summer night, cold drinks with sexy ice cubes (Miles had to bring his own cubes!) and all of my buds from the hood. An amazing and memorable night!!

Jai ho

I've started some more watercolor pieces on different kinds of printmaking and drawing papers. This one is just straight watercolor and pencil on Rives BFK, one of my favorite papers. It has this nice off-white buffed feel and is so nice to draw on! I'm going to integrate some collage and embroidery eventually, I had done one other piece called Routine and it has been a pretty popular piece. This next batch will be much larger, like 20 x 30, in order to get some spontaneous brushwork going.






















Working small has it's advantages, quicker, easy to move around-but I want to do some shows this fall and would like to have a collection of works on paper to choose from. We'll just see where this goes. For now, here's a peek into a study of a bhangra dancer, Jai ho. Sort of inspired by my fave show, So you think you can dance" I know, cheesy, but I love watching all those talented people dance their tails off! And they started featuring some Bollywood numbers and the costumes are absolutely amazing. Ok, off to paint before I pick up my daughter, time just flew this morning!

More art blocks

I've been experimenting with more art blocks and trying to figure out the best way to present the images. I came up with a little signature authenticity card to put on the back of each piece, which seems a bit more clean than signing and dating in pen.





















It just seemed too amateur looking that way. I think I'll try doing some unpainted blocks next with a natural protective finish and rounded edge imagery instead of the hard corners I've done so far. Some new paintings are in the works and looking forward to see how they translate on a small scale. I have some 2 x 6 lengths of wood that were accidentally purchased by my husband, so I think I'll try creating some 6 x 6 blocks too that can hang on the wall. More to come!

The most unique mushrooms

I was walking home from the pool with my daughters and we decided to take the scenic route. Along the way, I spotted these really cool mushrooms growing off of an enormous oak tree root near the sidewalk. There was this amazing moss surrounding it and the purples, blues and rust colors against the bright green were just stunning.















I had to pluck them from their little home and take them with me! I photographed them at sunset in my front yard, fortunately had some moss to shoot against to get a similar effect. Hopefully, I can keep these little gems for awhile. I wonder if they can be preserved? A little research to do here. These photos are definitely going in my reference files for some future paintings.

Silver Beach

oy, so sorry it's been so long since my last post! Out of town and slow summer movin'! We just got back from a visit to St. Joseph, MI, where I grew up. As always, a great time at the beach, picking berries and just plain relaxing! The girls love hanging out at pop pop and mu mu's, so it's totally worth an annual week-long trip. There were some amazing sunsets and the beaches have the most wonderful sink-your-feet-in sand.















Since it's summertime, St. Joe has become quite the resort town and it's actually difficult to eat somewhere without having a wait. We went to Silver Beach pizza and waited an hour to sit down! With a hungry 3 and 6-year-old, very challenging indeed. It was great to catch up with my brother and sister-in-law, we visited a cool brewery in Benton Harbor called the Livery, walked out on the pier and checked out a flea market on the bluff. It's always great to visit my home town, but definitely by the end of the week was ready to come back home. Leaving you with a wonderful pic of the girls running on the beach.

Crap shoot

Another one of my 3x3 canvases for the Canvas Project. My word was crap shoot, and I had these really cool red dice to work with. I need to photograph it better, but for now you get the idea.






















I had the dice and loopity-loop going on and asked my daughter what to do for the background and she suggested a game board, well I was sort of thinking gambling, casino themes, etc. But then I started thinking about the graphic elements of a game board and added the blue tissue squares to make a sort of Mondrian-like piece. Also, I must be in a patriotic mood with the red, white and blue theme. It ended up being a nice little study. fun, fun!!

I heart griffins

Not really, but "griffin" was one of my 5 words that was given to me for the Art House Co-op Canvas Project 2. I racked my brain for creative imagery that would not be so obvious or cliche. But all I could think of was a tattoo or clip art.






















Well, I actually decided to go obvious and a bit mainstream anyhow. The rainbow colors are a reference to the groovy 60's and the griffin itself is royalty-free clip art that would most obviously be used as a tattoo! The mystical Chinese characters give a sort of "underground" feel, like if your were getting your griffin tattoo done in Chinatown or something. Fun, eh?

Madame Lapin on a block

I'm slowly building a collection of little blocks based on a lot of work from my show. Madame Lapin proved to be a favorite, so I'm doing a few of these and start some giveaways. I sold the original to one of my good friends and thrilled that I get to visit the madame if I want!






















I'm thinking of creating some other characters in this series, but trying to decide if I should do a woodland theme (which is hot right now) or maybe a rain forest theme? Just throwing around ideas. I should ask my girls "what kind of animals do you want to see in a dress?" LOL! Maybe I'll go through their stuffed animals, dress them up and see what inspires some sketches. Seriously people, is this some crazy talk? I'm laughing at this post now.

Lillibands for fall

It's that time again! I'm working on the fall catalog for lillibands and it is always so much fun to design. I'm trying to come up with some fall-like imagery to incorporate in the background and borders. I think I'm going to use some watercolor and pencil drawings of acorns, tree branches and red, orange, yellow impressionistic-like leaves.















This season, Jen is introducing LilliWear, and collection of tshirt dresses, pocket skirts with matching tees and, my favorites, the little linen safari dresses pictured here. They are adorable and I especially love the ribbon tie on the back. I hope they are received well and can't wait to hear how Jen does at the next Mart show in July!

The models, Marly (my daughter) and Lilly (Jen's daughter) were so excited to wear these little numbers and show off with some dance steps in the lawn.

Been Caught Stealing

Have you ever been caught stealing? I have, and I can't remember how old I was, maybe 9 or 10, but it was when we used to walk to the hardware store from my friend Julie's house to buy penny candy. We usually did pay, but one time I got talked into a "group theft ring" where each of us would take a piece of candy and walk out the door separately. Well, that was a bit too obvious, because the clerk noticed each of us acting peculiar and called us out.






















Fortunately, these were the days that if you got caught shoplifting they didn't call the police or anything-just a reprimand enough to scare the pants off! This mischievous girl got caught, but she doesn't care and would do it again! Inspired by Jane's Addiction's song Been Caught Stealing. The original was sold at my show, but the print is available on my Etsy site.

Madame Lapin

C'est vrai, je suis belle. I will be very sad to see this little one go, I sold it on my opening night. The show closes this weekend and I take it all down on Tuesday, so if you haven't seen the collection yet, get on down to Steinbeck's and take a look! I will be finally posting all the work to my Etsy site and will also start listing some of my little blocks too.

Utter bliss

Oh yes, it is so wonderful at the beach. We are spending the week in Destin in a beautiful home in a community called Destiny by the Sea. Our friends the Kamean's we're generous enough to offer their beach house to us for our vacation this year! Yes, believe me, we feel extremely lucky and are so overwhelmed by their generosity.

We usually go to St. George Island twice a year. It is our most favorite place to visit. It's quiet and very un-touristy-quite the opposite of Destin! But with the kids, it's been nice here, Karina met a friend on the beach and we ventured out to Fuddpucker's and fed the alligators yesterday. Lots of putt putt golf, water parks, etc. SGI is still #1 in my book, though.






















After my show and all the stress of work, life, and obligations, it's been a welcome opportunity to do absolutely NOTHING. I mean, I haven't even read my book that much, just staring at the ocean, playing with the kids, having cocktails at random hours (oh yeah) taking walks. But it took about 3 days to let go of it all and really feel rested. The kids had to settle in to the new digs (us too) and the routine is becoming a bit more happy-go-lucky. With 3 days to go, I'm going to make the most of it, so bye-bye until I get back!

Steinbeck's art opening rocked!

My art opening was a success-I sold 6 paintings and 5 prints! So exciting for my first show, it was great fun and I think everyone had a really great time. Most of my friends made it out and I got to see some old faces as well. It was so cool to see people I haven't seen in awhile come out to see my work. And, there was definitely a lot of adrenaline and nervousness exuding from me that night! I really didn't know how my work would be received and if I would sell anything at all. But it was such a relief to hear everyone's compliments and especially interesting to see what people liked the most. Little Starling was a hit,(and sold!) many people loved Float, which was interesting because I didn't think that piece was very strong. Been Caught Stealing and Alice and the White Rabbit were favorites as well.















All my work will be on my Etsy site soon, I've just been underwater with graphic design projects and now getting out of town! We're off to the beach tomorrow, I'm so thrilled-a vacay is definitely required right now!

Can you feel it?

Can you feel the surge of relief from there? I am finished!! 15 finished paintings PLUS I decided to knock out 10 transfers of some of my favorites to 3 1/2" x 4" painted wood blocks. These are so cool, and give a yummy rustic quality to the prints when transferred. The work will be hung tomorrow morning and then I can officially enjoy the rest of my day and then get to relax with friends. I can hardly wait! It's actually NOT supposed to rain tomorrow night. It's been raining since Sunday, so it would be a huge drag to make my friends come out if the weather is bad. I'm going to stop into my friend Talia's shop, Squash Blossom and pick out a rockin' outfit to wear (i hope!) And, I'm going to bed at a reasonable time tonight-so tired of turning out the light at midnight and waking up at the crack of dawn with my kids.
















And to top it off, we're going to the beach on May 15 for a week and THAT my friends will be the icing on the cake. I'll post a recap of the show this weekend and hopefully I will reporting it a success! I'll also be posting all my work from the show to my Etsy shop so those who missed out will have an opportunity to purchase prints.

A little bird told me sketch

I've been a drawing, painting, concepting fiend these last few weeks. I'm starting to burn on fumes here, though. Very tired and as my show gets closer, I feel like I just want to squeeze out just a couple more paintings. I've got 14 and just finished sketching my last piece.






















Which is great, because 15 pieces was my goal and they will all be finished by next Thursday. I guess now I'm looking at all the pieces together and a few seem like they might not fit in my theme anymore. They may just have to do, but now I've got it in my head to maybe create a few more and then I can make some choices at the end in case I want to not include something. Boy, my brain is just going non-stop. I look forward to next weekend where I will be doing NOTHING! But what will that really be like? Restful, sure, but not having a deadline anymore for creating MY art? not sure how that will feel. This sketch is one of my last pieces I did featuring characters from fairy tales called, "A little bird told me"

oh little alice

They are getting cranked out now! I've finished the sketch for Alice and the white rabbit and will start this one tomorrow. I'm at 9 finished paintings

It's finally over-now on to better things!

Phew!!!! I am breathing easier right now because I finally finished a huge design project and it's at the printer. I've really been cranking it out the last couple weeks and had almost forgot what it's like to be sitting at the computer endlessly doing revisions and design and more revisions. UGH!! I can see my burnout looming in the future! But that being said, I'm pretty happy with the end product and it will be a pretty nice piece to add to my design portfolio.























But on to more exciting things. Now I get to focus and power through another 8 paintings for my upcoming show at Steinbeck's on Thursday, May 7. I've been doing a lot of sketches and have some random ideas, but getting them on canvas is another thing all together. I have 6 pieces ready and one more just about finished. My goal is to have 15 NEW pieces. Pretty lofty, eh? The one I'm showing is called "Anita: Silent and wary, they wonder where she's gone". I've really had to focus and make sure that each piece I do is show-worthy, so to speak. I mean, they all have to be GREAT!! I really hope I can be satisfied with the end results. The countdown is on, 15 days....oooh, when I think about it that way, I need to finish one every other day! I may have to include some prints....hmmmm.

Getting ready for Imaginary Worlds show

Lots of busy-ness going on these days between a big brochure project I've been working on for the Task Force for Global Health and getting ready for my solo show on May 7 (yes, you heard it first!). Actually, the anniversary book is almost to the printer and then I can really focus on cranking out some pieces for my show.






















The theme is "Imaginary Worlds" where I speak from the memories of a child. Capturing imagery illustrating a fleeting memory or glimpse of the past and where characters are caught in an expression of carefree whimsy and the viewer is given an opportunity to experience an intimate, nostalgic moment. This collection has been so much fun to work on and the ideas emanating are endless! I want to create just the right imagery, simple and powerful. It's been an incredible journey to wake up every morning wondering what ideas will emerge today and whether they will make the cut in the end. Stay tuned, I'm reluctant to post much of my new work because I want it to be sort of "unveiled" at the show. But I'm not that mean, here's a sneak peak, which is also available on my Etsy shop as a print.

Black bird's party

This black bird piece is 3x4 feet on canvas and was hanging in my bedroom for a few years before I took it down and reworked it. It was a monotone piece that I got sort of sick at looking at and felt like some color and fun was needed. Circuses and parties have been on the brain, so this little bird needed a party hat! I've only reworked existing paintings 2 times before, and both were large on canvas. I think it's because I have an "out with the old in with the new" kind of thought process.






















I remember when I was in college, my 3-d instructor had a show in the school gallery. He decided to burn all his previous work and create all new pieces for that show. At the time, I thought that was insane, cuckoo clock stuff, but now I can sort of relate. I went through a bunch of old paintings and threw out a bunch of stuff that was totally embarrassing-so bad! I know, I know, you might say that it's a document of progress. But right now, I feel like I only want to look at work I'm proud of and not be reminded of my mistakes.

Special K

Special K is a painting inspired by my little girl Karina. I haven't done a portrait of her EVER. Funny, I guess I just don't do many portraits and even feel like I'm not very good at them. And really, this doesn't look like her, she has soft brown hair and brown eyes, but I liked the idea of painting an impression of her.






















She is feisty, yet quiet, beautiful with a joyous laugh and maybe a little too serious at times. When Karina saw this piece, she knew it was her and didn't even comment on the red hair and how it is not an exact likeness of herself. That is the mind of a child, so accepting and she actually understands that I did it on purpose! Maybe her attitude is wearing off on me, I hope so. She is so special, isn't she?