Old Things Become New Things

A new print is happily residing in the shop!"He Packed His Bags And Left Home For Good This Time" 6x9.25" on 8.5x11" paper

I do love that there's a nice little company of slugs and snails hangin' out in my etsy shop at the moment. I wonder if they're planning any parties or nocturnal slug get-togethers?

My weekend was spent working at the day job (10 hour shifts both days...and now, I'm quite ready for a small break from the public) but I get a couple days off before heading back to the work grind for the rest of the week. So how did I spend my Monday?

Thrifting and antiquing!

Scooped up some simple notions and a plain white bed sheet (for the quilt) from the thrift store and then *scored* at the antique store.
I found this wee old papercut silhouette (under $4!) and fell in love. Hard. Look at that hat! The small antique frame was under $9 and I knew instantly I just had to put the two together. Last month I scored a ton of discontinued upholstery fabric sample books for free from a local fabric store and have been brainstorming projects with them. Yup, you see where this is going...15 minutes later, I had a finished dandy piece of art ready for the wall. The silk fabric was cut and simply attached to illustration board using a few small pieces of double-sided tape and the same was done to the papercut silhouette. I love how the rackety green and gold frame plays off the pink stripes.

I think it's time for tea, a book, and a good late-night film.

Free Art! Woohoo!

Thank you everyone for your sweet comments on my quilt project!

It's been raining off and on for the past 4 days here in the Seattle area and I'm so digging it. Ah, rain. You are so refreshing in limited amounts.

I also snuck a couple new prints into the shop last night:
"In Flight" 7x10.25"and "Light In The Deep" 8x10"

I'll have the originals of these two pieces in the shop as well within the next week, along with more new prints.

Also! There's a pretty snazzy giveaway extravaganza going on over at the On The Dot Creations blog and I was asked to take part! Lots, and lots...and lots...of awesome stuff is up for grabs from various artists on Etsy.

From now until Mon, the 25th, you can enter to get an Eggman Studios pack of coolness.
Hilltop Circus print, The Journey Ahead print, and a Lollipops postcard are up for grabs in one big caboodle. Just go here, leave a comment with your personal fave item from my Etsy shop, and then on Monday one lucky winner will be randomly chosen.

Good luck!

Quilts, Books, And A Hint Of Fall

So, in my short break from painting, I've been busily quilting up a storm. I'm really pleased with how my first quilt is coming along! My goal is to have it completed by the end of September, and since I'm nearly done sewing the quilt top, that goal is looking mighty feasible. Because I have no sewing machine, it's being done entirely by hand. There's quite a few spots where the squares don't line up perfectly, but I'm so happy that it even looks *remotely* like a quilt that it doesn't bother me at all.And this little one is quite pleased that I'm making a quilt as well...Also, since Fall is just around the corner, I've been splurging on some wonderful old hardback used books, found on Amazon, Etsy, and various local used bookstores. I'm a sucker for classic literature, so I'm now plugging my way through a beautiful old copy of Jane Eyre with woodcut illustrations, and have a splendid copy of Little Men waiting in the line-up.

This amazing copy of Wind In The Willows is resting on my bookshelf until I have time to pour over it. I do love that book and this particular copy is illustrated by the amazing Arthur Rackham (my third Rackham book thus far...a collection seems to be brewing...). I think the best part though is that this is one seriously used book--a mild stain on the cover and very deep musty smell. Like it was thrown in an attic and forgotten about.

Pure bliss. :)

I'm off to get some sun and do a little reading! Enjoy your weekends!

A Few New Things

Hello, kids!

I just thrusted some new friends of mine into the shop and wanted to share them with you!

"Stems--Framed Original ACEO""Gentle Giant--Framed Original ACEO"

and "On With The Show--Framed Original ACEO"

I know I've said it before, but I'm madly head-over-heels with how completely awesome these ACEO paintings look framed. I have them all displayed on various walls in my house at the moment and it's pretty nifty how much drama they can bring to an otherwise boring or underused little corner.

Also, this new print has finally poked its head into the shop as well:

"The Journey Ahead"

I'll be back within the next day or two to show some recent Fall-inspired purchases and my *quilt* that is coming along swimmingly! I'm pretty happy about it.

Enjoy your Wednesday evenings!

Printing, Printing, And Yup, More Printing

I'm spending some time getting prints done of paintings (both older and newer, sold and unsold) and gradually listing them in the shop. Color-correcting images for printing is, by far, one of my least favorite things to do as it's rather boring and time consuming. And I'm so damn picky. But, it needs to get done (and boy, I have a somewhat daunting amount of recent images to get through). Once I get that perfect print in my hands though, it's such a relief and feels so good to see and admire.

So.


That being said, these two dearies have flittered into the shop and I'm a happy clam with both.
"Peculiar Adaptations" roughly 8x10 size--it should also be noted that the colors on this print are pretty unbelievable (I'm always worried with cyans because sometimes, they just don't reproduce so hotly). Very saturated, unreal cyans, 100% yummy.

"Solitude" 8x10"


More are on the way!

My Two Favorite Places in Victoria, BC

So, as I said previously, I took a wee day trip up to Victoria, BC in ye ol' Canada on last Tuesday. Just me, my mum, and the nostalgia that is Victoria. I use to trek up there once a year way back in schooling days. It's been a long, long time.

My goodness, it was fun.

The Royal BC Museum is still one of my all-time fave museums. The following pics were all taken from there (I had literally 95 pictures taken from the BC Museum by the time I got home--mostly taken of the wildlife diorama displays...guess I like animals).I love the amount of details the wildlife dioramas have. They look so real, but because everything is still, they have an eeriness to them. I can only imagine the place at night after the crowds have gone home. Massively spooky.A stuffed deer wandering the likes of a fake forest...Different corals housed in glass curio cabinets.I want this little man carving. Seriously so. Want.One of the coolest things about this museum, is that on one floor, they've recreated an entire city street in half-scale as it would be at night (very much like a Mainstreet from Disneyland--only at night and put inside a building, if that makes sense). The windows are warmly lit, the theater is playing a Charlie Chaplin flick, some of the buildings you can even wander through and look at the period furnishings, hear horses walking the cobblestone streets, and even smell the food being baked in the kitchen. It's amazing, and one of those places that when you visit as a kid you never forget.
There's me, looking at neat artifacts from days long gone.

Then there's Miniature World. An entire museum devoted to miniatures. I've always loved this place immensely.Very mini people--no taller than 1/4". And yet, they're having a splendid time.The day......turns to night.

Neat, huh?

Also ate at some fabulous pubs, making me feel a bit like I was in London again.

Happy weekend, everyone! Hope it's a good one! I'll be busily working away in my studio--making prints, making paintings, taking pictures, and drinking lots and lots of coffee. :)

...I Need A Drink.

Dude.

It's August.

When did *that* happen? I've had quite the whirlwind of a week--a small trip up to Victoria BC, last minute prep for the art show, work, and then the art show itself over the weekend. I have no idea what day it is.

And the shop update went swimmingly! Thank you for all the sweet words and support, dearies! The brooches are a big hit--there's only a couple left now.

So...how was the show, you ask? It was...exhausting. But in a good way! The Seattle show I participated in last winter was more profitable, but that's to be expected since this one was out in the country and a little more off the beaten path (I mean, it was on a farm. That's as far from the path as you can get). It was great getting to meet other artists (all my neighbors there were so cool and really made me feel relaxed and well-loved) and mingle with folks. My art has a tendancy to immediately bond with people that are just a hair off-kilter and I absolutely adore that. Getting to chat with folks in-person and see their reactions is always so thrilling and fun!

Anywho, it was mostly prints that sold and stole the show (which was fairly predictable) and so that means...lots and lots of originals will be going into the Etsy shop. Framed ACEOs, large pieces, small pieces...you name it. I just need to photograph everything, which may take me a couple days (I've decided to take a few days off and just do some things for myself--quilting, reading, watching movies, and chilling out--before I get back to work).

Without further adieu, I have pictures of my tent setup for you to see! I know you guys couldn't make it, but I thought I'd give you a wee personal tour of my small space.

Overview shot--the banner was very last minute (like, night-before-last-minute) and held up surprisingly well.Poster bin! I designed and printed my own posters for the show just for fun. I'm pretty happy with how they turned out. I printed them on 11x17" paper and hung them around town before the gig (a couple were even stolen off walls! Cool beans!) and then the left-overs were sold for a few bucks at the show.

The largest painting I had chilled on the easel in the front as an attention grabber. It worked really well.

Grid walls with framed prints. You can find these walls at Home Depot for $8 a piece--quite a bargain. They worked really well (had a hard time keeping pieces hung straight from the wind, but nothing fell down, so that's cool).
Painting display. The price tags on everything are little white gift tags with red/white striped twine. Mini clothespins held them in place.
Print and table display. That gorgeous red tablecloth was made by my good friend and fellow creative pal, Nadja, who deserves a *huge* shout-out for helping me with this show. That gal is bloody amazing. Truly.
The table holds my postcard pack stand, business cards, rings, a couple small framed ACEOs, and the Fresno catalogue with a brief bio about me and my work.I was pretty proud of this idea for displaying print samples. It's wire meshing (again, Home Depot for about $9) that I bent into a wave design and strung up from the tent frame (twine attached to the sides helped stabilize it as well). Then, I just hung my sample prints hodge-podge style all over it. It sort-of reminded me of a fish net or something and was far better than having folks flip through a portfolio for samples (this way, they could also see the print quality up-close).

And that's it! My tent was pitched on a hill, which meant I had to get creative with how everything was laid out, but it worked out really well. And the weather was beautiful...perhaps a little too much so because I got fried without the sunscreen.

I hope all's well with you guys! Thank you again for your love and support! Needless to say, I would not be here if it weren't for you. :) I'll be popping back in real soon with oodles of fun pictures from my Victoria trip (taxidermy, dioramas, miniatures, creatures...oh my!).

Take it easy!