All Antiquey-Like

When you last saw this gentleman, he was nearing completion but still needed a few finishing touches here and there...

"The 8-Legged Man" acrylic and antique newspaper on hardboard, 11x14"

He's finished now! Framed up and ready to roll (err--I mean, swim). I think my favorite part in this piece is actually a barely-visible snippet from the antique 30s newspaper in the background:It's hard to make out here, but it reads: "Yes, Whale Eats Sea Serpent". I crack up every time I glance at it.

I also slipped through an antique store this week for the first time in quite a while. It felt good. For a couple dollars I picked up some fab 1950s/60s colorful Italian buttons (the aqua ones are my faves):And then on the way to purchase said buttons, I spied this amazing vintage lucite crabby paperweight hidden on a shelf:
Needless to say, he came home with me as well (for only 5 bucks). I don't think the lady who rang me up understood the sheer awesomeness of this piece, but goodness, how can anyone object to little crabs suspended in plastic? Not I.

Salty Sea Air

Good day, everyone!

On Monday I will be dropping off paintings at the Auburn City Hall Gallery for the March show (yay!). The last painting was completed a couple nights ago and I couldn't be more thrilled with the results. For anyone in the region, please feel free to stop on by the show or come say hi at the artist reception on Thursday, March 12th. I'll be the sleep-deprived one in the corner, muttering madly to herself and stuffing her mouth with cheese and crackers.

Here are some peeks at two more pieces that will be there:

"Tribute" acrylic on vintage biology book page on glass, 4x6"

"View From The Deep End" acrylic on canvas board, 5x7" {sold}

I'm hoping the sun will be out tomorrow for one last photo shoot with the final piece. I'm also diligently working on the digital files of all the pieces in the show so that prints will be available online in the shop next week, so stay tuned for more details.

Hope your weekends are filled with relaxation and rejuvenation!

New Prints

I just loaded some new prints into the online shop (finally):

"Nesting Possibilities"

"The Black Sheep"

"The White Rabbit"

"The Forest Floor In Grandma's Room"

I'm so far behind in print production that it's embarrassing. It's pretty obvious that I'd much rather be painting new pieces than color correct scans for printing. But I'm making a dent in the workload! And the new work for the upcoming show is turning out marvelous. I'm hoping to do some photography of the paintings tomorrow, so stay tuned for more sneak peeks at the new work.

And, just as a gentle reminder out there for my fellow artsy peeps, be sure and watch that posture while working. A few weeks ago I did something wretched to my sciatic nerve/lower back and the consequences were extremely painful for 3 days (completely bed ridden with pain killers) and then painful-but-bearable for the following three weeks. I admit I tend to hunch over while painting, and often go for long uninterrupted hours without a break. This lesson has taught me *not* to keep doing that.

Happy Monday, friends! Can you believe this is the last week of February? Man, the month has just flown right by.

Into the Sea

Hello loves! Happy Friday the 13th!

I'm taking a wee break from painting and promotional work to give you all a glimpse at what I've been plugging away at. Two more paintings were completed this past week for the upcoming show, while a small handful of others are in the half-completed stage. I only have about two weeks left to wrap things up, so it's been a bit chaotic 'round these parts.

Here's some snapshots at two new works:

"Adornments From Poseidon's Walk-In Closet" acrylic on wooded plaque, 13x8"

{detail}

"King of the Herring Ball: Act IV" acrylic on canvas panel, 7x5" {sold}
{detail}

Also, True North Gallery in South Hamilton, MA recently acquired "Solitude" (yay!):

It will be in a polar bear themed show at the gallery, titled "Imagining Nanuq: An Exhibition of Polar Bear Art from Around the World", which will run from Feb. 14th-March 28th. Those in the area, feel free to hop over for the gallery reception this Saturday (tomorrow!) from noon to five. A portion of all sales from the show will also be donated to the National Resource Defense Council's Polar Bear SOS Campaign.

And while we're on the topic of donations and those who need our help, we can all help those poor human and animal souls in Australia by sending donations to the Red Cross and/or Wildlife Victoria. Plus, there's an Etsy shop devoted *entirely* to sending donations to the Red Cross, which is really neat. Purchase something from OzBushfireAppeal and know that your money will go to help the cause...and you in return get something handmade and cool in the mailbox. A win-win.

I must scurry back to my painting corner and get some more work done. Have a great weekend, everyone!

Constructing Mother Nature

Thanks to a large book trade-in through Powells, I recently was awarded with nearly $100 worth of book buying credit. Sa-weet. And so, a book buying frenzy ensued. I was able to get a lot of good ones, but by far the *best* one that came in the mail was this gem:

I love animals and nature and taxidermy and natural history museums. So a book entirely devoted to the creation of the dioramas at the American Museum of Natural History is sorta like a big cake with ice cream and fudge and sprinkles poured all over it. Yummy.
It's filled to the brim with enlightening text and the most amazing photos of artists and craftsmen constructing the various models and scenes.This guy is living my dream job (only, hopefully it would entail a bit more than painting just bird droppings...).

In other news, I had a dream last night that after 3 years of diligently slaving away on a painting, I finally finished it. And it was the best piece I had ever done. So, naturally, I went to the roller skating rink to celebrate, which is weird because a) I haven't been skating in years, and b) I don't even like roller skating. For some unexplainable reason, I brought the painting with me to the rink and left it on a bench nearby while skating. When I was done skating my heart out, I went to grab my painting and go--only to realize that when I touched the painting's surface, the varnish peeled off, taking the paint with it. I was horrified. The people around me were horrified. I think screaming was involved.

And then I woke up and nervously checked the status of my current works-in-progress to make sure that I had dreamed the whole thing.

Damn. Art nightmares are the *worst*.