my first mixed media *experiment*....

ophelia's nocturne
6x6 mixed media on canvas panel
©the enchanted easel 2016

this summer i wanted to try my hand at some small mixed media pieces. i decided to start with a theme of sorts as far as a color palette went....i chose just a few to start with...red, orange, teal and brown. from there two little creatures were born. ophelia here is the first.

mixed media was kind of new for me. i have so many art supplies laying around my home that instead of looking at all of them, well i wanted to try to actually USE them. my paintings/commissions are acrylic on stretched canvas so i never really get to play with my oil pastels or my inks (OMG-can we say "obsessed" now?!) or my tons of scrapbook papers and supplies, etc.

one day i sat down in between commissions and said "what the heck...let's give it a shot!" and so i did...and had a blast doing so. i used everything from paper to water soluble graphite pencils to palette knives to my fingers for this piece. even got some old sheet music from my keyboard ("ophelia" from tori amos to be exact-hence the name of this little owl) and went to town with that. a total blast this was-from start to finish.

PRINTS are available here and the ORIGINAL painting is also AVAILABLE. contact me here if interested. hope you love her as much as i do...owls just say "fall" and "halloween" to me. one of my favorite times of the year!

DECEMBER DISCOUNT DAYS...DAY 19

today's FEATURED PRINT...a little piece of Halloween in December. the sweet and shy Sally from Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas (my favorite). 

DECEMBER DISCOUNT DAYS....DAY 17!

a sweet baby elephant, sleeping soundly is today's FEATURED PRINT!

{perhaps he's dreaming of SNOW. God knows i sure am....}

DECEMBER DISCOUNT DAYS...DAY 10!

today's FEATURED PRINT is...30% off "moonlight mavens" (a.k.a. the *face* of the enchanted easel). 

{based on a true story....;)}

illustration friday~whimsical

moonlight mavens
11x14 acrylic on canvas
©the enchanted easel 2014

truly this week's IF theme was created just for me....and little maggie. ;) two little insomniac BFFs painting themselves a whimsical night sky. ' cause while the rest of the world sleeps, we paint. :)

{throwing back to last july 2014 for this one...my website's home page image and the *face* of the enchanted easel. a bit more about this painting here....}

throwback...

"moonlight mavens"
11x14 acrylic on canvas

to one year ago yesterday...and this painting, "moonlight mavens".

hard to believe this piece (and the newly designed website, by me) are exactly one year old! how do i know this? it was website renewal fee day yesterday (squarespace is awesome, by the way)....and, i have a memory like an elephant. ;)

here's the story behind this painting as well as a bit more about me (in case you didn't already know)...

{and, just because it's throwback thursday, well i thought i'd share a picture of a very small Nicole with lots of dreams behind those big brown eyes of being the bestest children's artist she could be! :)}

a little Nicole...circa. 1975/76

~HaPpY HaLlOwEeN~

"moonstruck"
©the enchanted easel 2014

love, sally...and her beloved kitty companion

xxx

{PRINTS AND SUCH FOUND HERE:

www.theenchantedeasel.com}

time for a little *plug*....

never used these guys before, but surely will be using them again!!!

thanks so much to easy canvas prints for doing such a FANTASTIC job on some canvas prints of my painting entitled, Moonstruck (PRINTS FOUND THROUGH THE SHOP LINKS HERE-www.theenchantedeasel.com). the colors looks amazing and the quality of the canvas is superb!

will definitely be using them again in the future. highly recommend.

~HaPpY WoRLd ElePhAnT DaY~

a crop of my painting "moonlight mavens"
©the enchanted easel 2014

love,

me and maggie

xxx

{almost forgot. good thing i didn't. not quite sure maggie would have ever forgiven me. :(

whew!}

PRINTS AVAILABLE THROUGH THE SHOP LINKS FOUND HERE:

www.theenchantedeasel.com

NEW WEBSITE...DONE!!!

screenshot of the new site

the enchanted easel

actually, i finished it four days ago and kind of forgot to promote it. my downfall/undoing....self-promotion. i truly am the WORST at it. and it's not because i don't believe in myself or my work, it's that feeling of not wanting to be pushy (for a lack of a better word). plus, my introverted personality doesn't do me any favors there. slowly, but surely, i will improve in that area. 

ok, back to the new site (and not my undoings-as there are a few...;))....

so, i decided to go with squarespace. i was previously hosted by intuit/homestead for the past few years but i felt like it was time for a change. and what a welcome change squarespace was/is. what wonderful customer service/assistance they have (available 24/7-and for insomniacs like myself who love to work late at night, well that right there, my friends, is priceless). also, i built the whole site in less than a week. for me, that's pretty awesome, as i do not like spending more time on my Mac than i have to. easel girl, right here (hence the fact that i don't paint digitally). 

i have only the best things to say about squarespace and would highly recommend them. oh, and their mobile site is another huge plus. didn't have that with intuit...and isn't everything *mobile* now?!

now that the site is DONE (yay me!) it's back to the easel. and let me tell you, i have had some serious painting withdrawal. *needed to sniff tubes of paint just to get through*. ;)

{ps and btw, in the process of adding some new shops/venues where my art can be bought. as i said, self-promo, my undoing.}

a peek at some teamwork...

a peek at "moonlight mavens"
©the enchanted easel 2014

just a glimpse at the new *face* of the enchanted easel.  this business is my proverbial *baby*. I've built it all by myself and have done most of the legwork after not one, not two, but THREE cervical spine surgeries in the last four years. 'cause that's just how i roll. ;)

I've had the painting done for over a week but i'm doing my best to re-build a new website hosted by squarespace...which, by the way, i HIGHLY recommend. i didn't think such wonderful and cooperative corporations existed anymore. they are fantastic. it's just a matter of getting acquainted with the new site and how it works as well as adding watermarks and shrinking images for the web....mundane stuff like that. let's just say, i would rather be painting. but then again, what else is new?!

hoping to be done by the end of this coming week. if not sooner....*fingers crossed on that one* ;)

don't we all paint the sky with stars when we can't sleep?!

"moonlight mavens"
©the enchanted easel 2014

well, my little elephant, maggie and i surely do. ;)

"monnlight mavens", the new *face* of the enchanted easel. painting finished, scanned and ready to post.

next up? website re-do. (teeth grinding just typing that...)

{p.s. and btw, maggie is really real. sleep with her every single night.....for the last 14 years. :)}

a sky full of stars....

©the enchanted easel 2014

on the easel this week.

speaking of...i thought i'd be kind enough to include Coldplay's A Sky Full Of Stars video below....just because i'm nice like that. ;)

and while i'm on the subject of my beloved Chris Martin, my FAVORITE Coldplay song turned 14 yesterday (gosh, i really feel old right now....). best. song. ever.

{i know, i'm a little obsessed. but....it inspires paintings....like the i'm currently working on. :)}

©the enchanted easel 2014

a bit of sweetness....

eli's slumberland
©the enchanted easel 2013

on this otherwise sad day.

well, for all of you who follow me on facebook (or on here), you know i have been working on this cute little elephant over the last 4 days. it was a surprise gift for the wonderful secretary in my neurosurgeon's office, jackie, who is about to pop soon! these people have been so amazing to me through 3 neck surgeries/cervical spine/fusions that there was just NO way i could let it go without doing something. jackie has always been so lovely to me over the years that it was a no-brainer for me to want to paint her something super cute for the impending arrival of her little one. 

since she's waiting until the baby is born to know whether it will be a little girl or boy, i wanted to make sure that i created/designed something gender friendly. also, it turns out, jackie LOVES elephants (like me). so, it couldn't have turned out any better. 

i delivered it to her personally today and she was so surprised. her reaction made the rest of my 2013 for sure. granted, i'm a bit sore from painting so much for so many days in a row (as i'm still trying to recover fully here from my 3rd surgery) but i have to say, her reaction made the soreness worthwhile.

i have decided to sell PRINTS of this in my etsy shop found here:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/162411346/elis-slumberland-reproduction

it is available in sizes 6x6 or 8x8. a perfect addition for any baby boy/girl's nursery. besides, who could resist a cute little baby elephant...in a diaper? ;)

a sweet little elephant named eli....

eli in slumberland
©the enchanted easel 2013

is what is on the table this week. actually, i started him over the weekend and am about half way done. this cutie is a SURPRISE gift for a wonderful part of my neurosurgeon's staff...who's expecting her first baby next month. (let's hope she doesn't follow my blog, or i've just ruined the surprise...). 

since the baby's gender isn't known, i decided to go with a neutral gender friendly color palette of soft yellows and a multitude of pastels. and because i'm like a child, i have to name EVERYTHING so...i named the elephant eli. could be short for elijah, if it's a boy or elison, if it's a girl. 

either way, i'm super excited to deliver this to jackie. hopefully by the end of this week! these people have taken such amazing care of me in the last three years after three neck surgeries, that NOT doing something for her would just feel so wrong.

oh, and i will be selling this piece as a PRINT as soon as i get it scanned. below are some peeks at the process of little eli in slumberland. i "heart" this elephant :)

©the enchanted easel 2013

©the enchanted easel 2013

illustration friday~sky

talking to the moon...way up in the sky...wishing. hoping. believing!

to read about the story behind this painting, visit the link below.
http://www.theenchantedeasel.blogspot.com/2011/01/finally-finished-piece.html

this painting will ALWAYS have a very special place in my heart...for numerous reasons.

tiny treasures :)

i wanted to share a custom painting i did for one a girlfriend of mine's little girl, emie. this girl is seriously one of the cutest, sweetest, most precious little girls in all the world.

so...little miss emerson has a *thing* for chasing fireflies. i did this sweet little 5x7 painting for her for her 3rd birthday in august and i've decided to sell prints of it in my etsy shop found here
https://www.etsy.com/listing/111143905/tiny-treasures-reproduction

love this girl!:)

illustration friday~mysterious

i thought there was a "mysterious" element to this piece...
my submission for this week's i.f. theme. i did this painting (entitled wish hope believe) back in the beginning of 2011 for a little girl waiting on a heart down at AI DuPont hospital. it was sold in a silent auction to benefit her cause. unfortuneately, she's still there...waiting on a heart:( hopefully soon her waiting will end and she will have the heart she so desperately needs!
to learn more about josie and here cause visit here: http://www.thebeatgoeson.org/
for a print of this piece visit my etsy shop here: http://www.etsy.com/listing/66788891/wish-hope-believe-reproduction

cause for josie ***UPDATE***

as many of you who follow my blog already know, i did this painting for a sweet little girl named josie basta who was waiting on a heart down at AI DuPont hopsital. www.thebeatgoeson.org this was done for a silent auction that took place back in april of this year. this painting has changed my life in so many ways that if i state them i will surely start to cry while typing. (yes, it's that good:))
well, even better, is the news i received tonight...that josie's long awaited and much needed heart is finally on it's way to her. her long and harrowing journey may be coming to an end...a happy end...and in turn a beautiful beginning!:)
prayers and love to this little girl, her family and the amazing donor family willing to take part in this miracle!

illustration friday~asleep

an illustration i recently did for a story entitled "two pillows" and published in the may 2011 issue of stories for children magazine/e-zine www.storiesforchildrenmagazine.com.

i thought it fit this week's i.f. theme of 'asleep'. sweet little ralph cuddling with his much beloved pillow sam:)

sweet dreams....