DECEMBER DISCOUNT DAYS...DAY 25!

MERRY MERRY CHRISTMAS from the mayor of Peppermint Bark Park!!!

{a little flashback friday....the Christmas edition}

amongst friends...and new beginnings!

so happy to be done my first official painting of the new year! entitled "amongst friends" this piece is so special to me. and here's one of the reasons why....

most people know that i truly do not like surprises. seriously, i really don't. must be the structured, routine oriented, OCD side of me (well actually, that's pretty much most of me...and i'm totally ok with that). anyhow....one day, a bit over a month ago, i got a *surprise* knock on my door having to do with snow removal (go figure since i LOVE snow, the irony is almost too much to take). i work out of my home...it's also my studio and i work VERY INTENSELY therefore *surprise* knocks on the door, well let's just say they don't make me happy. i had begun this beauty a week or so beforehand and already had the birch trees completely where i wanted them...nothing left to paint but the girl (whose name is Wimberly-just liked the name and i need to name everything). when the knock came, i had a VERY thinned down container of black paint in my hand (holding it at the top of a large 16x20 canvas-just resting my hand)....3 guesses what happened next (remember, i work "VERY INTENSELY"). i jumped sky high out of my chair and there went the black paint....dripping all down the already perfectly painted face of Wimberly. i was devastated. devastated. 

no matter how hard i tried to get it off....water, paper towels, my finger....NOTHING was working. painting on canvas is not quite like painting on wood. at least with wood it can be gessoed and sanded and gessoed and sanded and such. canvas is not that forgiving. and i have worked on canvas for YEARS and this type of incident never happened to me before. (well then again most people don't knock on my door unannounced). let me tell you, i cried for DAYS....it meant THAT much to me. usually i work all areas in a base coat of color and then build on those. this time i went straight for the back ground and the trees and perfected them before moving onto Wimberly (might go back to the *old* method after this one....). so, that was what made the decision to possibly start over on a new canvas a very hard decision to make, as i had already put weeks into the trees and starting to build Wimberly. 

after days of crying and losing sleep...and gessoing and sanding several times over a period of days (yes, i sanded canvas) i decided it was time wasted and THAT is not something i do well....waste time. so, i trucked outside, in my pj clad and ugg wearing little self, through lots of deep snow, over to the dumpster in the parking lot and was about to throw this out....because surely i could not have this reminder in my apartment/studio of a botched up painting, if you will (yeah, i don't do failure very well).  i just couldn't bear to look at it every day....(hence the dumpster option). it was then...at that moment....at the dumpster....

that before my big brown eyes appeared a very small little cardinal perched atop the lid. i swear that bird looked at me as if to say "hey little girl....what do you think you're doing?!" it was then i heard my late grandfather say "you're being wasteful little girl (as he often used to say when i would attempt to throw out food i didn't eat-happened often)...don't you know what could be done with this?!" funny thing is, cardinals were OUR thing together, as was snow. must have been his december birthday. we ALWAYS used to count cardinals together outside, all bundled up, in the snow. best. times. ever. it was then, i knew, i HAD to save this painting!

and, that i did. took me longer than i wanted, but i did it. another couple rounds of gessoing and sanding (and boy did my right arm/hand take a beating through this) until the entire surface was perfectly ready for the face to be painted....again. mission accomplished!

 Wimberly is kind of like me i guess,  not a quitter....no matter what the odds may be and despite all obstacles. 3 neck surgeries and here i am...still doing whatever it takes to keep the right arm painting (and drawing). and that in turn makes for the HAPPIEST NICOLE EVER! :)

so...i dedicate this painting, the first of the new year (and a bit of a new style) to my beloved grand pop, who taught me a few things in his time...mainly that life without passion is meaningless. (must have been the sculptor/artist in him).

SIDE NOTE-STILL NOT A FAN OF SURPRISES.

PRINTS ARE AVAILABLE HERE:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/176845283/amongst-friends-reproduction

a sneak peek....

(well, a few of them actually) of the first official painting of mine for the new year! yay me...'cause she's all DONE! nothing left to do but scan...at a very large 16x20. lots of *stitching* in PS going on tonight. but that's ok, she's worth it! :)

©the enchanted easel 2014

©the enchanted easel 2014

©the enchanted easel 2014

check back tomorrow for the FINISHED PAINTING (PRINTS WILL BE FOR SALE)......and a very bittersweet story that goes along with it.

almost done....

©the enchanted easel 2014

this raven haired beauty...which will make her my first official painting of 2014! :)

so excited to post the finished painting...very very SOON!

©the enchanted easel 2014

on the easel....

new year. new beginnings.

("amongst friends")

this little beauty will be my first painting of 2014...and i'm so excited for her! i promised myself that i kind of wanted something a bit different for the new year...a bit of a *change* if you will, but a small one at that. i knew i wanted to venture out more into the greeting card/small gallery like venues...maybe look into placing my designs onto calendars, mugs, tote bags, things such as that. i also knew that i wanted to change the faces of my characters a bit...do more with the eyes and add a sweet little mouth....basically MORE things to PAINT (and we know how HAPPY painting makes me!) so...

while not wanting to lose the whole anime-type feel of my work, i decided to keep with the very round heads (just switching that up by adding a bit of a slot for a chin) and by adding a mouth and a little connotation for a nose. i also softened up the cheek area...not a harsh half moon shape like my older work. the eyes on this beauty (named Wimberly...because i HAVE to name EVERYTHING) are closed (just like the sweet little cardinal friends of hers flying around). but still, i get a chance to do more with them than my previous work where the eyes were represented by 2 little black ovals.

i have a *thing* for winter, birch trees, snow and cardinals....hence this raven haired beauty (to be) and her adorable scarlet colored companions....as she is surely "amongst friends".

it's that time of year again....

CANDY CANE TIME!!! and i am CANDY CANE OBSESSED (obviously...)!!!

i've decided to sell a LIMITED number of PRINTS of this cute little guy...the mayor of my fictitious (well, it's real to me) Peppermint Bark Park...where mountains are made from yummy peppermint ice cream and and trees made of peppermint sticks and candy canes...with scrumptious pieces of peppermint bark scattered here and there amongst the snowy ground. so, careful where you walk because you may just be tempted to stoop down a grab a quick bite. ;)

https://www.etsy.com/listing/172047607/peppermint-bark-park-limited-edition

how oh i LOVE candy canes and snowmen!

a link to the ORIGINAL PAINTING can also be found in my shop through the listing posted here.

random question/thought...why do you think candy canes are so difficult to unwrap? must be packaged by a dentist i'm thinking....;)

the park is open to the public...and FOR SALE!

i'm happy to announce that my favorite painting i've done all year is FOR SALE! :) click on the link below to read where my inspiration for this fantastical winter wonderland came from....

http://www.theenchantedeasel.blogspot.com/2012/12/welcome-to-peppermint-bark-park_1800.html

this ORIGINAL PAINTING is FOR SALE here:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/117873639/peppermint-bark-park-original-painting

Happy Holidays to all and i hope you enjoy your visit to Peppermint Bark Park, truly the tastiest park around....:)

welcome to peppermint bark park...

where the trees are made of candy canes and peppermint sticks and the mountains made of huge mounds of peppermint ice cream....topped with a sweet, swirly StarBright mint. speaking of StarBright, meet the park ranger himself, Mr. StarBright Snowman and his peppermint loving pals. together they make sure that Peppermint Bark Park stays sweet and frosty all year long. please be sure to watch your step when visiting, as one is sure to stumble upon a piece of bark or two. and then, well....it just may be time for a yummy snack ;)

well, for all who do not know, i am crazy about candy canes, all things peppermint and of course, super cute snowmen. so here is my latest little creation inspired by all of those things. i actually wound up sketching it the night right before thanksgiving and have been painting it over the last couple of weeks, in between working on Christmas gifts.

below are some pictures of the painting in progress. hoping to finish it up (finally) tomorrow. then it will be FOR SALE as an ORIGINAL in my etsy shop. NO PRINTS will be sold.

illustration friday~tree

...amongst the tall white birch trees, stood a raven haired girl named wimberly, joined by her faithful scarlet red companions :)

here is a sketch i did back in may for a painting i am HOPING to get to in the next few weeks.

oh winter, how i LOVE you so!

illustration friday~lost

lost in the woods?! not with friends like this...:)

a sketch for a painting i am working on (in between a few custom orders....just a few). this lovely piece satisfies my need for some serious cold weather and SNOW, as it is just WAY TOO HOT lately. of course, then again, summer is NOT my season. snow bunny all the way!:)

p.s. i have a *thing* for white birch trees and cardinals. i just a have a *thing* for WINTER in general. big surprise....;)

ahhh....winter, how i miss you so!

i just realized i forgot to post this sketch from a week ago. oops....

well, as we all know, i have a *thing* for WINTER! yes, people, i said WINTER! to be quite honest, it's more than a *thing*. i'm madly in love with the season and all of it's pristine beauty. i could on and on and on....but i'll spare everyone the details of this life-long love affair...;)

so, i had this *scene* in my head for a bit of a time, of a raven haired girl named wimberly (awesome name right? i have to name EVERYTHING. don't ask me why....) ANYWAY....i have always loved white birch trees, cardinals, and....(wait for it....wait for it...) SNOW!!!

i'm so excited to be working LARGE again at my easel (the *enchanted easel*). this beauty stands 24" high and 18" wide and i am having the best time painting her. down below is a pic in progress. i'm balancing this with a few other custom orders, so she may not be done right away, but she will be done! then, she will be FOR SALE as an ORIGINAL piece of art.

i'm loving my cool themed color scheme here....from steel blues and grays to white and ivorys with the only pop of color coming from the adorable red cardinals and the raven black of wimberly's hair.

...because in nicole's world, it's WINTER EVERYDAY!:)