mail

I am super excited to announce the good news I mentioned awhile back. There is a 6 page article about my blog in the lovely Artful Blogging Magazine. The magazine hit the newstands at the beginning of the week and I was finally able to get my hands on one. I wrote an article about my process and inspirations, and features some of my favorite blog photos and artwork. This year my blog will be six years old (where has the time gone?) and I was completely honored to be asked to be in this publication! So here’s a little sneak peak (you’ll have to get your hands on a copy of the magazine to read the article).

i just love melting winter snow!

Also, I want to repost some of my favorite photos here that were featured in the magazine. My artwork images can be found here.

A corner of my studio- one of my drawing desks (although my Mac resides on this desk now).

A beautiful vintage pendant (that contained a mini print of my artwork) that sold last year.

Blackberry summer breakfast (in my favorite vintage ship teacup) along with my favorite Indian scarf.

A sweet haul from an antique treasure hunt.

Summer dreaming and petals- outside homage to Louis Janmot.

Another pendant I made (a mini print from one of my oil paintings.

Thanks for visiting today! I have yet another bit of good news…really BIG news but I am going to keep it secret for a wee bit longer…

grey day

Rain, bare branches and grey-washed skies today.

Enjoying the novelty of being able to see the bark and rocks and mossy texture on the ground (as I am quite sure this delight will wear off by mid winter!)

Despite the rain (and to wonder why I am feeling a bit under the weather) I decided I needed some fresh air. The little stream directly behind us was a-flowing!

Squeezed in a little walk today. Have you ever watched raindrops as they slide down bare braches and drip slowly from berries and wild rose hips?

A sneak peek at a few paintings in progress, they are coming along s-l-o-w-l-y.

There’s images in these compositions you may recognize…some maybe not. I don’t want to say much about them because I don’t want to give anything away (and I change my mind a lot so they might not be there when the paintings are complete).

I’m working on so many things right now, I just keep jumping from one project to the next. Today I put these aside and worked on a book binding project I am currently obsessing about.

I got this in the mail today! I have three gals from the same family. I am just as thrilled with the delicate embossed border as their faces. It just amazes me that these little tintypes were around during the Civil War. Holding them is like holding little gems (and please try to ignore my horribly dry, chapped hands!).

They are from the ever sweet Oh My Buttons! and I am so happy to add them to my ever-growing collection of old photographs.

And speaking of gems and collections, I am loving this sweet 50’s tuxedo blouse I bought from
The dusty Dog Vintage Boutique

It’s perfectly fitted and is the best shade of gold with little ruffles and mini buttons…I wonder why the 1950’s is my favorite clothes period to collect and wear?! It’s getting harder and harder to find these fashions, but when I find the perfect piece my heart jumps! I have quite a collection going (and yesterday evening was spent organizing it all in my closet so it’s within reach to wear!)

And for those of you who are wondering…there will be a print giveaway sometime next week…but not here! For now it’s a secret but I’ll fill you in when it occurs so you can have a chance to win!

Have a good day, and for those of you in the northeastern US, stay cozy for the rainy weekend!

newish things

Been dreaming of wildflowers and watery spaces, and dreams manifest themselves in very pretty places…

I find myself here often…

AND, I have three new sweet, simple cameo necklaces here

Here is one.

a few new things…

I am so excited to offer these cameos featuring mini prints of my paintings! There’s only three though, and here they are:

They are listed here

And I have been painting her (name forthcoming)…

A week or so when she’s dry I hope to make her into a new print. I am starting another one tonight. Hooray for days off and days (and late nights) of painting!

And yes (a few of you guessed in my previous post) the little plastic blue case is a sweet, sweet typewriter! ‘Twas a lucky find for three dollars at one of my favorite thrift shops.

My initial idea was to make an all-blue shelf and stash my blue book collection behind it. I wanted to display a birds nest on the type writer with robin eggs inside (because I know it is very unlikely I will use it much) but it won’t fit on my shelf, despite its small size.

Today was complete spring trickery! I went for two walks today through the woods with my spring jacket on. It was warm breezy with raindrops on and off, sun peeking through the clouds and going back in. I hope hope hope that it freezes over tomorrow because I bought a pair of ice skates yesterday. And how nice and smooth will the skating pond be after thawing and refreezing?!

new year

a partial scan of an experiment…

I had fun painting this one and layering in things. My intention was to add textured ghost prints of antique lace such as in The Bear, Moth and Ghost Wolf. But when I tore up the lace it did not leave and imprint like it did in the previous piece….it just tore up the support paper and made a huge mess! I left the lace and imagined doing encaustic over the whole thing so I got out my wax…but after some research I discovered that encaustic waxes can not be done over acrylics. The piece ended with me deciding to put a thick layer of Golden gels over the entire painting, attempting to create a faux encaustic finish. Well, it turned out very plastic-y as a result of the yucky gels (which I can’t stand in the first place). I used gels previous to this but now they have lost my attention forever. I am happy becasue they have a terrible chemical smell anyways and they make my fingers itch. I am sticking with glue.

So where to go in 2008? My head is spinning with ideas (and I am literally spinning here in the playground, funfun!)

I love to paint detailed little scenes from concept sketches, but I also enjoy working more organically with collage more tactile materials such as papers and old lace. I would love to be able to fuse the two and create lots and lots of pieces in the new year. So now I am creating lists and doing little sketches. I am going to rework the painting above too, hopefully someday maybe.

Happy New Year!

Works in progress

Spent another afternoon in my snug painting room. I have multiple pieces in the works, mostly lush, layered and textured paintings with supports made from antique lace, canvas and papers. Work in progress (and the second one from the right is almost done and ready to be made into a print, very soon)

My work table

And obviously inspired by the texture and color of this broken dinner plate, unearthed behind my house in the bed of a little stream.

Tomorrow we are going to the Whitney and the Guggenheim mmmm!

Under the Cold Cold Earth print

Now that the original sold I have decided to make this little one into a print. Here’s a little snippet, see full print in my shop.

Just because…

I love to sketch and many strange things become of it…
Her hair is to be made of feathers.

(a teeny part of one of my whole-page doodles)

And I’ve decided to sell the original painting of Under the Cold Cold Ground in my Etsy shop sometime on Saturday. Please check back soon as I’ll post here first! And don’t worry if you miss it, mini prints will be available as well.
~*~*~*~

sweet sweet November

Last week I awoke to a very white morning. Against the still golden leaves the iciness was a visual feast! November is a beautiful month, early snowfalls are much appreciated. Going out of the house requires a warm and wooley knit scarf. And to make my neck even more fanciful I don this sweet sweet stitched necklace.

Found over the summer at a tag sale amongst cameos and other little trinkets…

November has brought about many new sketchies too! I am working on a little project called The Strange Little Winter Garden painting up a storm this evening. Here’s one sketch straight from the frosty, frosty garden…

And brrrr…it is cold here! Its putting me in the mood to snuggle up with my paints and create!

The Bear, Moth and Ghost Wolf

I started this painting over a year and a half ago and I finally can call it complete. It’s changed and morphed over its lifespan and for me is very special (it’s going to be hung in my studio). It’s a ghost garden of sorts, and the woman and the wolf just might be from the same realm, it’s up to you to decide. One thing is for sure, the flowers are ghosts… they were created by pressing a century old piece of lace into the paint and slowly peeling it away. Bits of the cobweb lace are still lodged in the paint too. Texture gives me such satisfaction, and the fact I can replicate it in paint makes me very happy.

So here is is…The Bear, the Moth and the Ghost Wolf

prints are available in the shop

I am finally able to love my sketchbook to bits and not abandon it like ones in the past….tall figures, slightly distorted, shade of sepia, imprinting with found objects, lush textures, surreal objects and placements, a strange little winter garden…. more to come very soon.