Northern Trinkets

Three new (and tiny) pieces for the Polar Royalty Convention collection:

"A Royal Appearance From The Sea"

acrylic on Arches watercolor paper

2.5 x 3.5" (ACEO-sized)

{sold}

"Predicting The Future"

acrylic on Arches watercolor paper
3.5 x 2.5" (ACEO-sized)
{sold}

"The Wise One"
acrylic on Arches watercolor paper
2.5 x 3.5" (ACEO-sized) {sold}

 I really wanted to have some ACEO paintings in this series, since it's been such a long while when I last painted some. Plus, I recently re-discovered a lovely pad of Arches watercolor paper in my supplies stash that worked beautifully with the acrylic paints. It's always fun to paint on a different surface. That grumpy and plump fortune-telling arctic hare is being featured in a larger painting I'm currently knee-deep in.

In other random news, I was pooped on by a seagull a few days ago. While at a restaurant.

...I don't think I need to explain that one any further.

Fruits of Labor

Another member of the Polar Royalty Convention is here to make his grand appearance:

"The Polar King"

acrylic on wood laminate tag

3.5 x 5"

More polar portraits are in the works (including a rather dapper little ermine, who I'm quite fond of) along with some larger pieces I hope to show you all very soon. I'm really happy with the rich colors and details in these smallish ones. They somehow walk that ever-fine line between serious and silly. I like that. I'm aiming to have the entire collection finished by the first week of July--more details to follow shortly.

Also, my veggie container garden is doing great! The carrots are the only disappointment so far (and it was my fault--I wanted to try growing Purple Haze carrots and it looks like they're not digging being in containers...oh well). Here are a few quick snapshots:
Snow peas! These are amazing with some fresh-from-the-garden onions and a little bit of oil + balsamic vinegar drizzled ontop. Yum.The strawberries are in overdrive--every morning there are at least 3 or 4 berries waiting to be eaten.My two zucchini plants are enormous. The leaves are three times bigger than my hand and they're currently in full-bloom. I'm so looking forward to homemade zucchini bread!Happy Monday, all!

Inspiration and an Emperor's Portrait

Hello, sweets.

Holy cats, how time does fly. This is shaping up to be a rather hectic (in a good way!) month, so I do apologize for the silence on my end. I've been painting painting painting, as well as contacting a lot of galleries and all sorts of boring but necessary promotional-artist-stuff.

The good news is the polar series is coming together so smoothly and is looking awesome...

"Emperor of Cold Lands"

acrylic on wood laminate tag

3.5 x 5"

{ Sold }

I'm still planning on having an online shop update soon to unveil the entire collection, so I'm busily cranking out more work and doing lots of all-night painting sessions.

Meanwhile, I thought I'd stroll through my "Inspiration" folder on my computer's desktop and share some recent images that have been sparking my creativity lately...Design*Sponge recently did an amazing little sneak peek into artist Ann Wood's apartment (do check it out if you haven't already--it's fab) and I was so taken with her space and the all-out mad-artist-genius feel of it. {above image from Design*Sponge}I love helter-skelter displays and collections of old things, and get so inspired by natural history objects from ages long past. {above images from Vintage French Interiors book}Yay for things in jars! {above image from Vintage Vavoom book} {above image from Easy Country Style book}{above image from Flea Market Style book}

Enough dreaming--back to work I must go. As always, thank you *so* much for your kind words, peeps. I hope you're all feeling inspired, happy, and at peace!

Processional

...And it's finished ('cept for the frame)!Quite a bit of detail for the size (5x7"). And the gold leafing really perks it up nicely (the crown and tops of the flag poles are gilded):The upcoming aforementioned arctic/polar series will be titled "Polar Royalty Convention" and is something that's been brewing in the bowels of my sketchbook for some time now. It will showcase a meeting of the upper-most representatives from a menagerie of arctic animals. What shall they discuss when together? The usual: small talk, relations, economics, the climate, and all things politically polar. A series of paintings that will show a sort of whimsical-fantasy-with-melancholic-reality view of the polar nether-regions.

...If that even makes the slightest bit of sense. Lets just face it--I wanted to paint a walrus wearing a crown and cape. There. I said it.

I'm plugging away on more pieces for the series and can't wait to unveil them to you, one-by-one. It's a bit hazy still on when exactly the collective shop update will be, but do stay tuned!

In non-art news, I did a bit of organizing in the studio and was able to corral the fabric zoo into a nice and tidy spot:

Hard to say how long it will stay like this, but that's alright.