Merry Christmas and Happy 2010!

I have to apologize; I've been away from my blog, my Etsy shop, and even art in general for far too long. But let me assure you all, it has been for a VERY good, very wonderful reason.
So here's a painting from last Christmas to cheer you while I try to get back into the swing of creating again; I wish you all a very merry Christmas, and I hope everything amazing happens for you as we ring in 2010!

Happy Halloween!

Here's the smallest surprise pumpkin that popped up in my veggie garden this year...so cute that I couldn't help sharing with you. I hope you all had a fantastic Halloween! Now, what ARE you going to do with all that candy???

Angelina - New Acrylic Painting

Here's one of my latest acrylic paintings, 'Angelina', 9x12 on a gallery-wrapped canvas. She'll soon be posted for sale in my Etsy shop, so keep an eye out for her!
I can't believe it's been over a month since I posted. I really apologize for that. I have a couple other paintings to share, so I'll be back soon!

"Expectant" - New Sketch

This is my latest pencil sketch, as I take a break from my acrylic painting (see last post) and try to figure what to add to her to make her more complete. Thank you to everyone who posted such wonderful comments about her, and to all the wonderful suggestions I received both here and on Etsy!
I've been working very hard on a slew of bookmarks, pendants, and even notebooks to add to my Etsy shop. I'm hoping to have a wonderful update very soon!

Work in Progress 7-24-09

I finally sat down and worked on this painting, which has been haunting me for quite awhile! I still have some work to do on it. I feel like she needs some type of adornment, but I'm not sure what. Maybe a string of pearls? A flower in her hair? Any suggestions would be welcome!

Happy Birthday Papa!!!

Here's my handsome Grandpa, back when he was a sailor in World War II. This last week would have been his 85th birthday...I miss you Papa! Happy birthday!

Sweet Garden Dreams...

Every year I get positively giddy planning out my little veggie garden. This year was no different. A couple of months ago I dug and scraped at our hard clay soil in the little vegetable bed I had built years ago and added some wonderfully rich organic compost. Then began the planting...
Now my plants are taking off in the most wonderful way! Most of my veggies, like the beautifully blooming green beans at the top, were grown straight from seeds. The tomatoes, which follow, were put in as little plants which are now growing heavy with their bounty. It looks as if I'll be having some sweet red cherry tomatoes soon!
The pumpkins in the second to last picture is my rogue plant. It popped up from last year's halloween leftovers, which I had fed into the resting autumn soil. I have several fattening beauties that will make our Halloween bright this year!
Lastly, I had to add a close-up of our lovely lavendar bush, which burst forth with a virtual firework display of fragrant blossoms this year. I managed to capture a sweet little honey bee as it sipped nectar. Lavendar flavored honey...? If I could only follow then back to their hive and sample some!

IF - Drifting - 6-19-09

I love how this one turned out...just may have to turn this sketch into a painting!
I have an image sketched out on one of my canvas at home; she's growing impatient with me. Hopefully I'll be able to give her some life soon!

IF - Unfold - 6-12-09

A quick pen sketch for today's Illustration Friday, "Unfold"!

New Sketch - 6-12-09

A new sketch for the end of the week, untitled and done in plain old ball point pen on a glossy cardstock. I have several paintings at home waiting impatiently for me! Unfortunatley time does not seem to be a friend right now...I just don't have any to spare for my poor neglected paints!
But I do have some amazing goodies I've managed to get my hands on recently. Scraps of mounting boards and rolls of spare raw canvas are finding their way into my little house. I'm hoping to create some unusual pieces with these treasures!

New Pendants!

I have a batch of brand new pendants that I just completed! I tried something a bit different this time around with shapes and poses. They won't be posted to the shop for a little while, but if you see one you'd like (lady on purple in teal gown is spoken for!), then please e-mail me and I'll get her ready for you right away. :)

New Acrylic Painting Completed!

Here's my latest, a small 5x7 acrylic painting on canvas board inspired by the elegant actresses of the 1950's. I haven't named her yet; any suggestions will be welcome!

New Acrylic Painting in Progress!

Here's the latest batch of paintings I'm working on, with a deep purple/blue background. You can see from the top painting basically how I work them, slathering on thick bits of paint in several different colors, then pouncing it all over with a wadded paper towel until I get a nice flow to the colors. I do more than one at a time, since I'm such a cheapskate and hate to waste paint! The bottom painting shows the background after a thin coat of glaze mixed with the barest hint of white to mute it a bit. With this particular canvas I then took a couple different leaves with good strong veins from my backyard (I think I used wisteria and rose leaves here), painted the backs with the white glaze and then pressed them in a framing pattern up and over one side. I'm hoping to use my swirly twirly dress sketch from a few posts back for at least one of these!

Sweet Dreams - New Painting!

Here's the other new watercolor I promised, called "Sweet Dreams". I used to cuddle like this with my little one in the 'baby days', and it was the best feeling in the world. :)

First Flight - Completed Watercolor!

I finally managed to get to my sketch of First Flight, and finished her in one night! I had a ton of fun with this little girl. I especially loved to work on her much loved and quite stained little flight companion.
Also, you can see I have another watercolor I've been working on, which I'll show you very soon. So excited to be working again! And so pleased to have this new little set-up to paint on. My grandmother gave me her old sewing table, which I've turned into quite a nice little painting table and set up right in front of our windows. A wonderfully sunny spot to paint! When the wisteria was in bloom last month it was quite magical. :)

New Sketch 5-13-09

I saw an incredible pic of a twirling gown while surfing online and was so entranced I just had to sketch it! I did a very rough sketch, changing it up in several ways as I did, and this is what I came up with. I can't wait to paint it! I think I might even try to work this in acrylics on canvas I'm so smitten with it. :)

Green Lady

Every now and then I just want to quickly and without thinking smear paint all over a canvas and see what emerges. This is the latest result of one of my "smear campaigns". A silent green lady appeared before my very eyes, patiently waiting in the calm pigment.
You can also see a hint of our floor. We recently tore up our sad looking carpet to expose a previously painted and not at all pretty wood floor underneath. We believe it's original from when the house was built in 1915 or so. Sooooo, we decided to paint it this sweet green, and I love it! Can't wait to get down there with brushes and palette to add my own little flourishes in hidden places.

IF 5/8/09 - Parade

Work in Progress - 4-30-09

Sorry for the poor picture! I lost the use of my favorite scanner, so I'm kind of making due now with what I have.
Here's the latest sketch I'll be (finally!) turning into a watercolor painting, called "First Flight". It was inspired by the lovely vacation that I just had and remembering my child's very first flight. Hopefully I'll be able to put brush to paper very soon!

New Sketch! 4-27-09

Another little ballpoint pen sketch, this time a little more fanciful.
I took some time out in the last couple of weeks, and even snuck in a little vacation with my family to Disneyland. We had such fun! Perhaps that's where this idea was inspired from...I love Fantasyland and the Alice in Wonderland ride!

***SPRING FLING SALE!!!***

I'm having a very exciting SPRING FLING SALE in my Etsy shop right now! Most items have been marked down almost 60%!!! This is my fun little version of spring cleaning, a sort of "out with the old, in with the new".
Be sure to stop by and check out the incredible deals on original artwork I'm offering!!! Check out the link to my Etsy shop on the right hand side of your screen, and happy shopping!

Happy Easter!

A bit of a character study, in ink again, and in honor of wonderful Easter!

New Sketch for Spring!

I've felt my muse return a bit with the glorious spring weather that drenched us in sunshine recently. Unfortunately, due to having no time to paint, which forces my medium of choice to either pencil or pen, my sketches are lacking the color I crave. But I found this wonderfully glossy cardstock that takes ink from cheap ballpoint pens like nothing else, and I was able to do some great detailed line work in the hair of this lovely spring lady that I haven't been able to do in a while!
Happy spring my friends! Hope you're feeling the joy and renewal of the season!

Illustration Friday - Talisman

"She used her favorite book, 'The Complete Works of Jane Austen', as a talisman against the evils and sorrows of the world. It kept her quite content!"

Victorian Study - Complete!

After 3 months of not holding a brush I finally sat down and finished off this little lass. Yippee! I had sketched her originally from some photos I had taken during the Dicken's Faire this last Christmas. I'm not too familiar with Victorian dress; I tend to gravitate more toward Regency gowns. But I'm quite pleased with her!

Yippee! A Sketch!!!

It's rough; it's not a good scan; it's certainly not my best...
But it's a sketch! Yippee!
Trying so hard to get back up on the creativity horse!

And thank you soooo much to all of my wonderful friends who commented on my last post. Your words meant the world to me, and made me feel connected to you even after my long time away from my artwork and blog! :)

I haven't dropped of the face of the earth...!

Oh my goodness, I can't believe it's been so long since I've blogged. My personal life has been so busy (good things; no worries!) that I haven't had time to do more than sketch a small bit every now and then. I'll try to get some artwork posted soon. In the meantime, I had to pop my head in to say hello to all my old blog friends! I'll try to post again soon. :)

New Course...

It seems that I finally found a new course for my creativity.

I've written a children's book...

I am so very nervous! And very very excited about it. I don't want to share what I've written, as I'm praying so very hard that I can somehow get this to a publisher and get it put into print, but ANY words of advice or encouragement would be so appreciated. If you've been through the process, for bad or good, as author or illustrator, I'd love to hear from you!

Work in Progress - 1-14-09

Yippee! My first work of the new year! Here's a small sketch that was inspired by my trip to the Dickens Faire this past Christmas. I used a picture of one of the gowns I took to help me a bit with how the dress should look.

Book Binge

I've been pretty absent from the blog world since the holidays started, and I have to apologize to you, my wonderful online friends.
My creative juices seemed to have dried up temporarily. I'm hoping they get back on track soon. I do have a couple of sketches to share with you, but I keep getting errors so I'll post them at another time. I have to admit, I'm enjoying the lull in life, as short-lived as it may be. I've gone on a major book binge. I haven't had one of these in years, and it's so refreshing. In the past month I've managed to read Little Women by Louisa May Alcott (for perhaps the twentieth time), A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens (also at about read twenty, I've read it faithfully every Christmas since I was a teenager), Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie (first read, and incredible book), A Nativity Story (based on the movie that came out a few years ago) and have even started in on the Twilight series by Stephanie Meyer (I'm in the middle of book two now; I swear, I just can't put these down!). Phew! I love a good book binge. Have you read any good books lately?

Happy Epiphany!

Wishing you a happy Epiphany!

This is the creche I grew up with, and my mom blessed me with it several years ago. I love this creche so much, and it really brings back sweet memories for me. Typically all of the Christmas decor comes down the minute Christmas is over; this is the only piece that stays with us through the entire twelve days of Christmas. I get a little sad when I have to put it away each year!