Will You Be My Trilobite?

Thank you for bearing with me during my irregular postings, gang. Things have been a little crazy 'round these parts as of late. Just last week I realized that I only have a month to get 10 paintings finished for my next show in March and promptly sorta freaked out a bit. Lot of work, not much time. So, I've had my head and hands buried amongst the paints and sketchbooks to work out new ideas.

The theme for my pieces will be an oceanic-explorations one. Not a huge surprise there. I'll be including a few artworks from last year, but most will be new ones.

This one of a trilobite fossil was finished last Wednesday and is all set to go:

"Specimen No. 283" acrylic on cradled hardboard, 6x6"

{detail}

A trilobite with dainty little flowers and a heart-patterned background to boot? I think my head just exploded a little. I really really want to make valentines using this piece. How utterly nerdy would that be?

And speaking of nerdy, have all you US peeps seen the Edgar Allen Poe stamps now available at the post office?

How cool are these?! I'm tempted to write little Poe quotes next to them on all my outgoing bill envelopes.

Currently I'm in the midst of two more paintings, one of which was started last year and promptly thrust aside due to time constraints. I'm really excited with how it's turning out though and will have some sneak peeks to show you all in the next day or two.

Back to work I go! I'll leave you with a picture I shot a couple weeks ago of the Woodland Portrait minis all happily lined up on display in a wooden drawer:

Conversation With A Mushroom

Okay! They're now all listed and looking sharp. Here's the last four in the series:

"Albino Stag" acrylic on wood laminate tag, 1.5x2.5" {update: sold}

"Mushroom" acrylic on wood laminate tag, 1.5x2.5"

"Black Bear" acrylic on wood laminate tag, 1.5x2.5" {sold}

"Rabbit" acrylic on wood laminate tag, 1.5x2.5" {sold}

That albino stag really creeps me out...in a good way. I really like how eerily dreamy he looks, and yet at the same time, he has a sinister glint in his beady red eye. The mushroom is the only non-animal portrait in the series who almost got nixed at the last minute during the sketching phase. If there had been a fly on my wall yesterday, he might have heard something like this...

Me: "Hmmm. I really like how these are shaping up. But I'm just not so sure about the mushroom."

Mushroom Sketch: "...Oh really. Pray, do tell what the problem is."

Me: "Well, all the others are animals. And you, well, you're--"

Mushroom Sketch: "--not an animal. I see how it is. So, just because I don't have legs or wings or move about in some idiotic fashion, you're not going to paint me."

Me: "No no! That's not it at all! I just don't know if you'll fit in with the others..."

Mushroom Sketch: "I think I can take care of myself. Really. Besides, what are they going to do, eat me? I'd like to see them try."

Me: "I dunno..."

Mushroom Sketch: "Dude. You drew me. You obviously like painting mushrooms. And I fit the theme, right? I'm whimsical, I'm woodsy, I like trees and foresty places... And c'mon. You painted an albino stag for the set. An albino stag."

Me: "You've got a point there. Oh all right, what the hell..."

And thus the wee mushroom sketch was painted and officially inducted into the Woodland Portraits Series. For a mushroom, he's a bit pushy, ain't he?

Process

I just listed a couple new little paintings into the shop:

"Tropical Punch Anemone"--acrylic on antique 30s newspaper on wood laminate tag, 3.5x5" {sold}

"Mint Anemone"--acrylic on antique 30s newspaper on wood laminate tag, 3.5x5" {sold}

They're both quite bright and whimsical and look near identical to their rough sketched counterparts in my sketchbook:

I had a ball painting all those writhing transparent tentacles too... Lots of sketching, planning, and painting 'round these parts, I must say....And I'm nearly done with all the miniature paintings I hinted at earlier! There's a total of 8 in this series, and they're all portraits of woodland critters. Ghastly adorable.

They'll each make their way into the shop this week, day by day. I'll also upload pictures and links of each on the blog for ease of finding and cataloguing, so do keep your pretty eyes peeled.

Happy dreams, all!