Saturday, December 29, 2007

Of Ships And Peculiar Things

Ahem.It's official! Family, friends, fans, followers, and curious cats alike: Come Friday, Jan. 4th at 2pm EST / 11am PST there will be quite the little unveiling of original paintings both small and biggish along with new prints of favorites and other things in the shop.

Lots of ships! Whales! Strange bird-like creatures! All sorts of tentacley sights! Hot buttery popcorn for early birds! I'm quite excited to show them to you.

Hope to see you all there!

Thursday, December 27, 2007

Holiday Inspiration

I hope everyone's holiday went well! Mine was gloriously relaxing. Spent time with the family, of course, but also got to have a wonderful silent break for myself, in which I made myself peppermint hot cocoa and brainstormed painting ideas. Nothing quite beats that.

We were also lucky enough to have a nice bit of a snowfall this year on both Christmas day and now, two days after Christmas as well (a mighty rarity in the Puget Sound area, let me tell you). I love the look of a fresh snowfall--quiet, bright, blue and cyan tones... Ah.
The presents were all a hit. I gave everyone hand-painted pottery made by myself and a select few also got homemade candied walnuts and pecans as well, which turned out dang good if I may say so. I definitely need to make more.

I received some lovely gifts as well--candles, coffee, dvds (lots), sweaters, cds, matted photographs (thanks again, Rachel!), and a good deal of gift cards and some cash. Last night was spent ordering a nice handful of dvds via gift cards for my growing collection. The star of the order is, naturally, the 1st season of Flight of the Conchords. It can't get here fast enough!
Today I also played around in the sketchbook, working out painting ideas and various color combinations.I have some smallish works to finish up tonight as well and then will hopefully have enough time to begin some larger ones.

This has been quite the month for the shoppe! Thank you all for your wonderfully kind words and support! I can't wait for 2008. There's some fun things in store, oh yes....

I leave you now to go watch a movie and eat a quick parmesan garlic pasta dinner (thank you, Pasta Roni), laid atop a dark ship sailing on another fine adventure....

Friday, December 21, 2007

Pssssstttt....

Hey gang! One last thing before I hit the holiday hibernation routine...

Tamara from Block Party Press on Etsy recently published an interview with me on her blog! Feel free to go here to check it out while sipping your peppermint hot cocoas and chai teas. And do check out the rest of her blog as it's filled with all sorts of inspiring words and images.

Take it easy, kiddos!

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

In which I wax on about fabulous Etsy finds & show off my Christmas Tree

I've received my first wave of Etsy holiday purchases and *must* show them to you. What a joy to receive these in the mail!

First up is this incredible wee whale pin made by the ever-so-talented Casey of Elegant Musings (picture above is from her site).
He's every bit as handsome as in the photo and came unbelievably lovingly packaged. I am so, so thankful to have this little guy on my jacket! Casey has temporarily closed her Etst shop for the holidays, but will be back up and running the day after Christmas (and I can't wait!).
I also received this cutie stuffed gnome ornament (complete with an itty bitty jingle bell attached to his hanger!) from
Sweet Ninja. I think it would be hilarious to have a whole army of these on your tree...(photo below is from her site).
And, lastly, I splurged and bought this incredible hand-spun cotton octopus ornament from Vintage By Crystal (photo below from her site).I found him one night while browsing Etsy and was awestruck but resisted getting him because I had just bought a handful of ornaments from other Etsy sellers. I woke up the next morning realizing I had to have him no matter what. I'm *so* glad I snagged him. Hand-spun, hand-painted, and his arms are even wired so you can bend them into snaggly positions. Truly keepsake quality. And look how amazing he is in the tree! I'll be buying more of her whimsies soon.
On their way in the post are these neat felt key ornaments from Something's Hiding In Here:
And this lovely screenprinted birdie ornament from Things Are Better With A Parrott:I think collecting handmade ornaments may just be a new obsession of mine. I just want to go out and snag all sorts of gorgeous, weird, and lovingly hand-crafted ornaments from other artisans.

And, speaking of ornaments, you certainly need a tree to display them on, no? I have a small aqua tinsel retro-modern tree that I love dearly (you just can't find nice aqua ones anywhere! What gives?) but wanted to get a slightly larger white tree this year, preferably that I could put lights on (the tinsel trees are unlightable due to fire hazards, unless you get a safety pre-lit one).

I searched everywhere and finally wound up trekking through a new Kohl's store in the area. Well, what do you know, they were having a massive Christmas sale and I got a 3 foot pre-lit white tree for under $20 (originally $40). Mega score. It's so perfect! Perfect size, shape, and it lights up, which makes me very, very happy indeed. Here it is, all decked out in funky ornaments in my living room:Here's a close-up:And here are some close shots of some of my fave ornaments on it:My palace guard was collected on my recent trip to England in glorious London.


I made a bunch of Beatles ornaments a couple years ago for a Beatles-themed tree and four of them are made just like the one above--that is to say, out of toilet paper tubes. I cut them in half, painted them black, then mod-podged my favorite panoramic Beatles shots on each one. A little ribbon and decorative trim and voila! Instant kitschy ornament! I really need to make some more of these.

Well, this was quite the long post. Are you still with me? This will probably be the last time you'll hear from me until after Christmas. Lots to do, and lots of busy work days ahead. I'm busily preparing for a big shop update filled with paintings, new prints, mini print trading card packs, and other surprises. Not sure yet when it will be--probably the last week of December or early days of January--but I promise it'll be worth the wait! When the details are worked out, I'll let you all know.

Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays, dear friends! I love you all dearly and hope your last days of December are filled with merry-making, food-stuffing, and friendly conversations with your loved ones.

Friday, December 14, 2007

An Oncoming Armada

Hard to believe that Christmas is less than 2 weeks away. Wow. I only yesterday put up ornaments and a mild spattering of Christmasy decorations (which of course means that they'll be staying up well-after New Years. I have to get *some* use outta them). Long hours at work = very little time to paint, which of course translates to me staying up late at night painting because I need to paint, dang nabbit. I'm currently working on a nice little spread of originals to sell within the next week... They look so happy together! And hidden in this rather horrid late-night photo are two little whale paintings (not finished yet, but when they are, they'll be doosies). Paint-stained hands, ships, AND whales? Life is good.

Here's what's been cooking in the mighty sketchbook lately (I have a love affair with nautical imagery & have been letting myself get carried away with oceanic themes lately in my drawings):
And I also finally finished painting up this circus-inspired pie plate at work (the text reads "The 2 Headed Buck Klaus Jr"). 6 months. That's how long this one has been sitting on the back burner. When I started it, I was so thrilled with how it was coming along, but after seeing it nearly every day unfinished and begging for me to sit down and add the final touches, I became horribly disinterested in it. I'm still undecided on whether or not I'm gonna keep it or give it away.In between work and painting, I've also been watching a whole lot of movies. Went and saw No Country For Old Men, which I loved (what an amazing comeback for those Coen bros. My goodness). That movie still gives me the chills--and I saw it more than a week ago. Also recently watched these goodies:
Hadn't seen
Titus, but always wanted to (*loved* it! Julie Taymor does such stunning work), and of course, Dr. Strangelove is an old friend (but one that I hadn't seen in ages and ages).

That's all for tonight, kiddos! I made some lovely purchases from Etsy this week that I'm dying to show you all. Time for bed for this little painter, but next time, I'll host a wee "show 'n tell" of the mailbox goodies. Happy trails!

Thursday, December 06, 2007

Good Tidings

I have re-entered the blogging world, after what seems like an eternity of show prep, shipping, show attending, more shipping, bookkeeping, and finance mingling (and other boring business tidings). Whew! I hope every one's doing well and enjoying their December (don't even ask me where November went--I'm still trying to figure *that* one out).
A big hug and word of thanks to friends, family, fellow blog readers, collectors, lurkers, supporters, and everyone else for all their wonderful words of encouragement this year. I love you all dearly! My first show went off without a hitch in Seattle, despite the somewhat rickety weather (snow one day, lots 'o rain the next) and lots of learning experiences (#1--invest in a backdrop/screen of some sort, unless you want to be engulfed in the screenprinted tees of your neighbor). I was nervous and excited but getting to meet so many of you first-hand was such a joy. Sometimes I feel like I'm stuck in my own little odd digital realm online, but meeting folks at the show who knew me or recognized my art or bought from me on Etsy brought me right back to reality. You guys are swell!
I'm slowly getting items that didn't sell at the show listed into the shop, including Squiddy Note Cards!! Yes! You read correctly!
The nautilus ones always get lots of comments on Etsy, so I had decided for the show to branch out a little with a couple more designs. I think the squid ones are my new faves--I even love them more than the nautilus cards, which is a tall task, let me tell you. There's only two packs of the squid ones at the moment...

Also, with the new year will come new and exciting things as well as some bold decisions, amongst which I've decided to stop making charms and pendants, except for special occasions. I've noticed that since I've started pushing my artwork and getting a great response, I've been neglecting the claywork. I know that's what I started selling on Etsy (and what my featured seller interview is about, which will be weird once I don't have any sculptural work for sale...) but I've come a long way and have been evolving as an artist. It's time to cut back on some things so I can really focus on painting and my artwork.

So, as a bit of a last-ditch goodbye, I'll only have a couple charm designs available for the Winter season. They're very limited edition, maybe only 4-8 of both designs, and once they're gone, that's it. I sold a few of these last year and they sold out unbelievably fast.
Mr. Frosty charm is live in the shop at the moment, with the Lollipop Guild charm design to come in the next day. *UPDATE: Both designs are all sold out! Thank you!*
So, while there may not be any more sculptural pieces available, that just means there will be more art--including lots more originals (of both the larger, extravagant kind along with the smaller, extremely affordable kind) and prints, as well as other fun surprises. And of course, I will keep you all posted.

Without further adieu, I must leave you all to do up some mini paintings. Within the next week I hope to have a nice assortment of mini nautical paintings up for grabs (I *need* to paint some ships and whales. That's all I know at the moment). Take care of yourselves, have a splendid weekend, and once again, thank you for your kind words and thoughts!