"wilderness"~sketch for illustration friday 1/15/10

well, unfortuneatley, time did not permit me to be able to submit a finished painting for this week's i.f. theme of "wilderness":( however, i was so excited to be able to have SOME time to participate in it again (since i've been CRAZY BUSY these last few months w/custom work) that i didn't want to skip out on it this week. i figured the ROUGH pencil/pastel sketch here was better than nothing at all! although, i do have every intention of making a finished piece out of this...one day SOON i hope! enjoy:)))

"caring is contagious"~national kidney foundation piece

here it is!!! i am very pleased with the results...for once;)this piece will be matted and framed (by me, of course)and then to be auctioned off at the kidney foundation's annual fundraiser in february. i am soooo excited and honored to have been a participant in this! i will be selling a LIMITED # of REPRODUCTIONS of this painting in my etsy shop in a week or two . please feel free to comment on this piece and let me know what you think...i LOVE all kinds of comments! also, stay tuned for another listing this week for the illustration friday theme of "wilderness". i am happy to be able to participate in i.f. again:)

happy new year!!!

what a great way to start off a new year...a commissioned piece for the national kidney foundation of the delaware valley!!!
here is my pencil sketch for "caring is contagious". it will be a finished 8x10 painting to be matted and framed and auctioned off at their annual fundraiser in february. i am HONORED to do this and it's going to make some little child so much happier and the money goes to a good cause:) that's more than enough for me!!!
finished piece is being worked on as i am writing this! stay tuned...

our first christmas~christmas with carsten:)

ok...so i hope that everyone had a very merry christmas!!! i am posting the piece i did for carsten as part of his christmas present:) i thought it would be cute to try and portray "our first christmas" together in my illustration style:) i had this piece printed up the night before christmas eve and then framed it alongside one of the other pieces i did for him when we first met entitled "lucky charm". it came out so adorable and i lit up like a christmas tree when i gave it to him because i was so excited...i'm like a little kid...can you tell?;) he liked it...THANK GOD!!! my favorite part is me having to climb up on the little stool to reach him...he's much taller than my small little self;)
this week i am working on some sketches for the national kidney foundation of the delaware valley...and i am VERY excited about it!!! the finished piece will be bought from me and then auctioned off at their annual charity event come february 2010! sketches to follow...SOON...

carsten's painting

could it be?! i am actually done EVERYTHING?!?! the relief is almost as overwhelming as the sheer EXHAUSTION i am feeling right now! seriously, i am so tired i could just cry...wait a minute...i think i'm too tired to even cry!
this was the last of the custom pieces for the holidays! i have been working like a nut for the last 6 weeks...pulling 8-10 hour days at work then another 6-8 painting til the wee hours of the morning! carsten's painting just got done about ten minutes ago and that about wraps it up for me! how i hope he likes it:)))

portrait for a friend

well...thank God this is finally DONE!!! it was a portrait of a dear friend of mine's son done to give as a christmas gift to his mom! i was working on this for 2 hours a night along with 3 other paintings, christmas shopping and wrapping and a thousand other things...or so it seems;) i matted and framed it the other night and gave it away! whew...one less thing to worry about!
i just finished the cutest little illustration for carsten as part of his christmas present which i will post tomorrow:) tonight...after a really long day at work with 22 preschoolers and a christmas party complete with parents and presents, i will be finishing carsten's sunset paitning! yeah...i like to push it right up until the last second don't i?;)

a quick update...

no, i have not fallen off the face of the planet for everyone wondering why i haven't blogged recently! i am super busy working on some christmas orders! one is a portrait of a child for a dear friend of mine, another is a large ocean sunset painting for carsten for christmas as well as a sweet little piece called "our first christmas" which i am determined to finish in the next few days...for carsten also (BIG SURPRISE)! i thought it would be cute to frame a print of it and also a print of my piece entitled "lucky charm" which is also him and i and give it to him as one of his gifts for christmas:)
and...i've been working myself sooooo crazy lately that i even managed to pull a muscle in my right shoulder...yes....my drawing shoulder/arm! it's from endless nights of being hunched over my drafting table til the wee hours of the morning! truly a labor of love right?;) so, with some motrin and a heating pad it's back to work i go!!!
stay tuned for these pieces i talked about above to be listed as soon as they are done:) which i hope is sooner than later;)
xo