Tiny Art

Spent this week on a "mini" marathon.
No...not a quick run aound the block...a marathon of making little "mini canvases".
Since all the tiny art that was out in the gallery with their larger counterparts have sold out, it was time to stock up again.
This year, along with the seagulls...I've added little seahorses.
They make darling little holiday gifts when you want to give that something special but a big piece is just too much. The seahorses are 2"x 4" and the seagulls are 3"x 3".
I'm sending this little batch off to The Little Beach Gallery today then making a backup group.
I just love these tiny little canvases!!

PUBLISHED

YES....you read it right! I'm Published!!!

My work was given a two page spread in the July/Aug issue of Somerset Studios magazine in an article called "Painting with Paper".

I am just sooo thrilled to be included in this upscale national publication. I didn't want to break the news until the issue got closer to actually hitting the magazine racks.

Well...now that I have copies in my hand and others have mentioned seeing it....it is time to spread the news!!

The pieces that have been used in the article are actually available at The Little Beach Gallery in Hyannis, Ma.....so that's a really great thing for them!! 
Hope you all get out there and find yourself a copy!!

A Bigger Bird

 Tis the time of the year when it is hard to get new work done!

I had been really wanting to do one of my seagull in a larger size. With an upcoming appointment with another gallery, I had all the motivation I needed. Just finished this one tonight.

He measures 11"x14". I especially love the fact that most of the body is made from papers I made myself!!

I find that extremely satisfying.

I took the picture below to show the difference between the little tiny ones I'd been doing beside this bigger version.

While the new one isn't huge....it sure looks it next to the little guys.

I'm sure there will be more of these sea birds to come!

Arabian Cupcakes

I know that may sound like a funny name,
but the reason I call it that is due to the sort of "turban" effect they have.

I actually fashioned this piece after the way in which I make my "real" cupcakes.

When I bake real cupcakes I often will cut into the top at an angle making a circle
with a pointy bottom. I then fill the hole with frosting using a pastry bag….placing the cut out piece of cake back into the frosting, pointy side down. Then I add one more squeeze of the frosting on the very top of that. Hence….that Arabian turban look!

This piece is 8"x10" and is one of two I've been working on a little at a time over the last few weeks. With a tight schedule, I can't give them as much of my time as I'd like. The other I've got going is quite a bit larger than this one....and "no"...not a cupcake...lol
You'll just have to wait a bit longer to see that one!

A tiny cupcake

Who would have thought that a teeny tiny cupcake would take sooo long to do! This little "thrinchie" is a 3"x3" torn paper piece turned magnet.
Just really needed to do some art before work.
I've got two larger torn paper pieces in the works...but with less time available, it'll be a while before they are done. This little piece helped to fill a need to finish one....and I'm in a bit of a cupcake mood again...lol

A bit of art time

Seems to be getting harder and harder to find the elusive art time. With this brand new career I've started as a realtor, my time is becoming more and more tied up with the process of learning all I need to know for the job.
My left brain is getting quite a workout....while my poor right brain is feeling restless and neglected.
Today I made a point of going to my workroom with the idea that I would create "something"...anything!!!
This green eyed gal was the end result.
Only a small piece of art....but I am delighted to have at least accomplished something!

A new gal

to add to my paintings on book pages. This is another 4x6" done in acrylic and ink. I think this one came out looking a bit fairy-like with her wings and all her butterfly friends.
I may be having too much fun doing these, but while it is fun, I've got too many of them in my head now and guess I'll have to paint them till they're all out...lol

Halloween postcard

Well....I finally finished creating my entry for the Halloween postcard contest at MailArtWorld.
I can't believe how many hours I spent on this one, between the doodling around for ideas and then finally putting the image together.
It's mainly done in colored pencil. I inked the outlines of the image and did ink for the text that I put on colored vellum, but all the coloring was done with layers upon layers of colored pencil.
I must say that I'm quite happy with the way this one turned out. I may even need to hold onto it for awhile!!

Funky Mermaids

Well....in tryingto keep my hand in atc's....which started all this "mailart" for me, I made some funky mermaids. Seems that I've been doing everything but atc's (ACEO's) these days!

Certainly not that that's a bad thing....just an observation.

Back from Maine

YAY...finally back from Maine. Not that I don't
enjoy being there mind you....but this visit was not quite what I'd hoped.

But first....here are the pics of the paintings I did and donated to the fundraiser for the Farnsworth Museum that I'd mentioned in my previous post.
"Gulls" and "Outdoor Dining". How lucky we were that Saturdays weather turned out well.

As for why this trip wasn't one of the most fun ones...it started with the room we were given at the TradeWinds. First of all, let me explain that there were no other rooms in town that would have been available to trade for, so what you got was what you got!
In this case it was more like what you "didn't" get.....WINDOWS.
Have you ever heard of a hotel room without any window??? Well...I should say that yes, there was one, which looked out into the hall!!! In my opinion, if the window only looks into the hall and not outside...it's not a window. Because of this, the lighting in the room never changed. You couldn't look out to see if it was day or night or even what the weather was. Each morning I'd have to get up, dress, then go to another area of the hotel where there was a window "to the outside" to see what the weather was! Thank goodness the room was at least cute and clean, it's only saving grace.
Then, as luck would have it, it rained sooooo hard on Friday, all day (I had to keep going elsewhere to find a window to check) that I couldn't even leave this room. Parts of Maine were sooo badly flooded that some streets collapsed.
By the end of this day I was going stir crazy from being in this windowless box and had wished someone would pop some holes in the top to breath!!
I had hoped that maybe being able to get the internet would help me a bit, but of course the signal wouldn't last and I'd get 5 minutes if I were lucky before I'd be booted!

Luckily the weather cleared for Saturday & Sunday. As you might imagine, I spent all my time outside!!
When the show ended yesterday around 4pm, we packed up and went to spend the night with friends who live about 1 hour south of Rockland.
We had a lovely evening with them and headed back home this morning.

Word of advise.
Previously I would ask when booking a room if there was a "view". Now, if they say there is no view.....I intend to ask if there is at least a " window"!!
Who would have thought to even need to ask that question???

Notecard sets

I finally decided to introduce my notecards to my Etsy shop. I've been selling these for a few years now to a local gift shop and they've done quite well.
They are made from my original watercolor paintings.
I've started with my "beach" notecards. Four different designs sold in a set of four, one of each.

In another day or so I plan to introduce my "botanical" set. Again, a great set of four different designs.
If these do well...I hope to add some larger sets, 8 & 12 pkgs.
I already have two sets of holiday cards and hope to create a few more designs for the holidays as well.