Giveaway Winner!

Okay! I'm back to announce the giveaway winner. Using random.org, the random name drawn from the list was...

Sweet Pea!

Hooray! Congrats! :) Feel free to shoot me an email (located on sidebar) with your mailing addy and I'll send it off to you!

I must get back to painting (and coffee consuming). There will be a good handful of new works up for sale really soon--I'm thinking I'll upload them online on the 28th, 29th and 30th...possibly the 1st as well. That way, I can snag a bit more time to paint, take photographs and write descriptions for everything (quite last-minute, as is my way it seems). I'm really excited to show you all what I've been cooking!

Hope the rest of your weekends are marvelous!

Where Land Meets Sea

Hello, dearies!

I have been busily painting up a storm, creating a small pile of pieces for a quickly-looming online update (looking to happen right after Thanksgiving). I'm trying to have plenty of originals of all sizes and affordability because I'd love for everyone to have the chance at some original artwork for the holidays.

In-between the painting sessions and the day job, I took some quick snapshots at a couple pieces on my work table at the moment.

"Woodland Symphony" acrylic on wooden plaque

This one is all done and quite mysterious. A phonograph sprouting roots in a faraway forest... And the gloss is just insane due to the 6-8 layers of colored glazes in the background. It has a glass-like look to it adding a lot of depth and wonderfully saturated color.
And this piece is moving right along as well. Since this picture was taken, I've painted a detailed horseshoe crab patterned wallpaper behind the Victorian lass (which was the big inspiration behind doing this piece) and have almost finished her forest green velvet dress. She's coming along swimmingly!

I must get back to work. Hope you are all enjoying your weeks so far!

P.S. If you haven't done so already, do sign up for the giveaway if you're interested! This Saturday I'll draw a random name for the prize.

The Last Bride

So, I have a couple shows coming up early next year that I'm pretty excited about (just got the letters of acceptance last week). It's a bit too early to discuss much in way of details, but one is an Apocalypse-themed group show over in MA and the other is a dual-show with another painter and myself early next Spring in Auburn, WA that I'm really pumped for. More to come later on the Auburn show, but I thought I'd give you all a look at the Apocalypse piece that will be sent out in a month...

"The Last Bride" acrylic and gold leaf on illustration board and vintage record album sleeveIt's taken right from the page of one of my sketchbooks and turned out *precisely* how I wanted it to (don't you love it when that happens?). I do love gold leaf, but I must admit that it's so impossible to get accurate pictures of it. In real-life the gold leafing makes the painting so luminous and adds a whole level of depth. In picture form however, you don't really get that effect. Drat.

Anyway, there will be a companion piece to this one (still very much in progress) that will also be in the show and prints will be available as well. I'll keep you all posted!


Since I've had a few folks lately asking for gallery advice, I thought I'd share some helpful links that will greatly aid in the uphill-battle of getting one's artwork out there. Mind you, I'm fairly new to the whole gallery show circuit as well (it's really weird when I look back and realise I've only been painting professionally for a little over a year) but there's a lot of great websites out there with all sorts of helpful advice, open calls for galleries, and show submissions to help artists get their foot in the door. Here's a few worth bookmarking:


Art-Support: great articles on getting your work out there and noticed in the real world
artshow.com: an ever-changing roll call of upcoming juried shows cross-country and world-wide
Artist Trust: the "resources" page is uber-helpful with gallery show calls, residencies, and even open studio space advertisements (most of the ads are WA-located but many are open to artists nationwide)


Back to painting I go! Happy Monday, gang!

Let Them Eat Truffles--A Giveaway

As promised, it's giveaway time! Just in time for the holidays too.

Up for one very lucky soul is a mini original painting banner that I created last year. I'm culling through some of my artworks and realised I still had this one. It simply must go on to live in a new home.Three miniature paintings of truffles, done in acrylic on miniature laminate tag samples, and strung onto candy-striped ribbon. All ready to tie onto nails or thumbtacks on your fine wall.It looks best hung under another piece, I think...

To be included in the drawing, all you need to do is a leave a comment between today and the 21st. One lucky winner will be randomly drawn from the pile on the 22nd (I'm keeping this giveaway open a bit longer to make sure everyone gets a fair chance). It will come to your mailbox prettily wrapped, ready for giving, card and all. I think this would make an excellent little holiday gift for a loved one!

Good luck! And thank you so much for all the support, loves!

Lets Celebrate With Cider And Pumpkin Muffins

Can I just speak for the country and world at large when I say, "Thank. Goodness."

What a night! What an election! Wow. I think for the first time ever, I am so overwhelmingly proud of my country. And it feels so good to have someone you admire greatly take over the damp and mildewy helm of the ship.

I had a fabulous Halloween with a group of friends and I have lots and lots of costume pics to show you! I know it's November and all, but I hope you bear with my tardiness in some costume show-and-tell. Pumpkin carving, old horror movie a'watchin', junk food eating, drinking, and lots of chatting. I love Halloween. As explained earlier, I went as Little Red Riding Hood (choosing to represent the story more so than just the character). After a week of handsewing and assembling, it all came together and turned out pretty neat.

I made a little red hooded capelet completely from scratch--no pattern, no sewing machine. It turned out better than I was expecting (I didn't have time to line it this time around, but hopefully will get that done one of these days). I already owned the red cotton fabric and the vintage lacy trim I picked up from the thrift store. For the dress, this is what I started with--a vintage 70s Boho dress I bought from Etsy seller MrsRosencranz (image above from her shop). I loved the cut and simplicity of it. It was the perfect blank canvas for the look I was after. After much tweaking, hemming, adding, replacing, and garnishing, this is what I came up with (please forgive my crummy images--it was 3am and I was completely ready to hop in bed). The wolf mask is made of a lightweight paperclay I sculpted and painted then tied to a stick.

Lots of laces, fabric remnants, haphazard stitches, and other bits 'n bobs...

And in my hair I pinned various branches, leaves, sparkly blossoms from the craft store (and even a wee bird's nest!).It was just too fun to assemble and wear about. I wish Halloween was more than once a year.

Well, I'm off to get some coffee in my blood and some paint on my fingers! Happy November everyone! I'll be back later this week with some art sneak peeks plus a blog giveaway (and it's a good one). Stay warm!