every night he gathers by his most favorite toadstool under a sky of polka dot stars. Magically, the leaves begin to play the most peaceful of melodies that lull little Lionel into the sweetest of sleeps.
Lionel's Lullaby Tree. NEW ART PRINT FOR SALE HERE!! I also have the ORIGINAL PAINTING AVAILABLE. Contact me if interested.
I loved working on these mixed media animals over the summer. I also have an owl named Otus available here and two others I worked on last summer (an adorable bear and another owl). These are so much fun and I'm hoping to maybe work on some arctic animals this coming January...because we all know how much I LOVE WINTER!!!
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!
i thought it would be interetsing and fun to take a look into the creative process of my paintings...from thumbnail to sketch to paint palette(s) to the finsihed piece. i know i absolutely geek out looking at other artists WIPs so i thought i'd create a new album after each painting of the step by step process i use (and have used for YEARS) and share it with everyone. i work traditonally...pencil, paper, paint, canvas. i have much respect for the digital artists of the world yet for me, the passion and love will ALWAYS be in the traditonal tube of paint. old school...and proud.
for a look at the fullalbum and step by step instructions, please click on over to my Facebook page...and perhaps give it a "like", if you would be so kind! :)
PRINTS of this beauty here. ORIGINAL PAINTING is AVAILABLE. contact me, if interested.
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....}
so, now the back story for this painting (because isn't there always one.)...
well, i knew i wanted something different...something to represent the new style i seem to have evolved into with the start of 2014. i also knew i didn't want an easel in the image, knowing of course that this would be the new front page of the website.
so...i had to include my stuffed elephant, maggie into the design because she is my partner in creative crime, after all. couple that with the fact that i am an insomniac and do my best work after midnight (don't all of us artists?!) and the fact that i'm obsessed with chris martin and the coldplay song "yellow" ("look at the stars, look how they shine for you....i drew a line, i drew a line for you and all the things you do, and it was all yellow") well, there it is.
a little coldplay, a little insomnia, a little nicole and a little maggie, of course...and so "moonlight mavens" was born. from my head to the sketchbook to the finished painting.
good thing i don't like chocolate because after working with this palette of delectable browns...well let's just say i prefer my reeses pieces...and black licorice. ;)
my new self-promo psotcard mailers have arrived! a big shout out to www.vistaprint.com! this is the second time i have used them for postcard mailers and they do not disappoint! have to give credit where credit is due...HIGHLY recommend them. AND, they offer some really great deals!:) planning to have these mailed out by the end of may..right after i make some edits and revisions to my mailing list:)
this piece is to be featured in the back to school issue of stories for children magazine www.storiesforchildrenmagazine.com the august/september 2011 i believe.
if you can't guess what the story is about based on the illustration...here's a small summary...
a cute little cow (whom i named charlie) and a cute little goat (whom i named grayling) are all psyched to enter this art show. so charlie, with his yellow paint and grayling, with his blue paint go on to create a circle sun, some lakes and flowers and are pretty happy with their creation. until...henry (my cute little pony) comes along and wants to paint as well. unfortuneately, charlie and grayling tell little henry that there is no brush for him:(
so....
henry excitedly suggests that they drop a bit of each of their 2 colors on a rock and watch henry work his magic with his little tail. well, as we all know, blue and yellow make...GREEN!!!
so charlie, grayling and sweet little henry work together as a "team" to create a wonderful painting for the art show!!!:)
this is my third illustration for the on-line children's magazine www.storiesforchildrenmagazine.com this one to be featured in the back to school issue/september 2011. it is for a sweet little story entitled "teamwork". the second i read it, i just thought it was so adorable!:) it gave me the opportunity to work on rendering more animals in my signature style and it has to do with PAINT! i seriously could have not come across a more perfect story for me. i am so excited to start painting this! LOVE the little goat;)
