We're All a Bit Mad.....

Only 3 days until the Mad Tea Party...
Be prepared for many new Alice themed paintings, as well as a fantastically mad giveaway! Hope to see you here!

First Flight - Revisited

As I'm still busy at work on more Alice in Wonderland paintings, that will be unveiled this coming Saturday, I've decided to revisit a favorite of mine that wasn't properly shown here on my blog when it was completed.
I've re-taken the photo now, and am much happier with it:

What is more exciting than a child on their first airplane flight? Especially when accompanied by her very best friend.

Delicate Strength

I am constantly in awe over the delicacy, intricacy and strength of spiders' webs. And when I caught sight of this beauty, the sun was glinting off of the silk in amazing rainbow shimmers.

Celebrating Summer With a Bit of a Dance...

Several days ago I saw two incredible yellow butterflies fluttering wildly around each other in my backyard. Hoping to get a picture, I ran to get my camera, but they were flittering about so erratically that I couldn't get a decent shot. Finally I snapped this, and I realized that what I thought was erratic was really an aerial dance. Looking the species up online, I THINK these are Western Tiger Swallowtails. What a beautiful entrance to summer!

Hidden Treasure

I found this chair at the top of a rubbish heap that had been piled in my neighbors driveway after they had moved out. Now, I'm not typically a dumpster-diver, but this chair had incredible bones. It looked sturdy, and the potential caused me to save it. It's been hidden away in my shed for several years now, and I finally was inspired to try my hand at refurbishing it.
And here's the finished chair! I am so proud of this piece. For the seat, I removed it from the frame and recovered it with an amazing french inspired tapestry material that I found several years ago and just never knew what to do with. The frame I primed, painted, and hand-painted sweet climbing roses to the top to mimic part of the pattern on the seat material. Then I gave it two coats of matte varnish.
A detail of the painting I did at the top of the chair:

Here's my newly painted chair, in it's new place at my little sewing-turned-painting desk, a very comfy place to create!

Finding Peace Close to Home

Being in the San Francisco Bay Area we don't have a rural home, with miles of undulating green hills and quiet forests of slumbering evergreens in our backyard. Despite this, and the nearly constant hum of traffic surrounding us, I can still find an oasis of peace just a few steps from my back door. The drone of cars melts away, the whisper of the wind becomes serene and melodic, the shrill calls of the birds rise above it all. And a small moth sipping nectar can seem like a bit of heaven on earth.

Every Pebble Causes a Ripple......

The oil spill in the Gulf is a catastrophe of massive proportions. Looking at the pictures of the marine life dying from this makes me feel a helplessness that brings me to tears.
But now there's a way, through art, to help these poor creatures! All thanks to an incredible lady named Kelly Light and her blog Ripple. For a $10 donation to The Institute for Marine Mammal Studies or The International Bird Rescue Research Center you can own an original art card by any number of incredible artists! It's that easy!
Below are the two art cards I've donated to the cause; you can find them HERE. Or click HERE for a look at the entire blog! So please visit and give your support!

You can find me local!

I am very very excited to now have my artwork in a local boutique in San Jose, California!
It's called Eni-Thing, and it's a wonderfully sweet shop full of the most incredible handmade items I've seen. Here are some of the items I've placed in the shop; if you're in town please stop by and check them out!

Dolce

A sweet little silhouette painting I've added to the shoppe:

I've been working furiously on not only a group of Alice in Wonderland themed paintings for the Mad Tea Party coming up in a few weeks, but also several items that will be sold in a local artisan consignment boutique; be on the look-out very soon for pictures of the pendants, bookmarks and paintings that will be available there, as well as the location of this sweet shop!

Soak in the Sun

...there you are Sun! We've been waiting for you!
We took advantage of the lovely weather to take a trip to the beach today. I am mesmerized by the beauty of the surf. I could sit there for hours, listening to the steady rush of water and the shrill cries of the sea birds.



I'm actually busy with artwork, though I haven't posted any here in some time. I'm getting ready for the lovely blog-wide Mad Tea Party, you see, and my mind is awash with wonderfully whimsical visions of Alice and her friends. But, alas, I won't allow myself to unveil my new pieces until the party on June 26th...so I have to be patient and hold them close to my heart until then. :)