Show's Over - Now, Back To Work!!

Whew!! Fall Glitterfest 2010, and Tinsels and Treasures back-to-back shows, are over! Great fun as always! But, now back to work on my space at Country Roads in Orange! Just when one project ends, another begins....and on to the next adventure!!

Here's some pics of my displays at the shows - hope to see you soon!!

Sneak Peek!!

Getting ready -- and getting frazzled -- preparing for this weekend at Tinsel and Treasures. Here's a little sneak peek at stuff I'll be selling. Hope to see you there!!

Peace!

Hope you had a safe, happy, and PEACE-ful Labor Day weekend. :-) I know I did !! Check out the mural I did today, for a little 8 year-old girl's room...

Queen of the Castle!!

I got another big surprise a couple months ago, when Stampington & Company contacted me and told me one of my crowns was selected for its 2010 Somerset Home magazine! I was so thrilled and honored -- and it occurred to me that so much of my success is truly due to all of you who have been such wonderful, supportive colleagues and good friends over the years. So, I titled the article "Queen of the Castle" - because, after all, isn't that what we are? :-)

So, I dedicate this to all of you - the queens of your castles!! Check out page 48, and enjoy!!

Mermaids, Wood, and Words - A Great Combo!!

OK so you know I love to do mermaids. They just seem so right painted on old wood panels and doors -- gives it that vintage, nautical look -- and then, add some appropriate words to it, and voila! It's a mermaid sign! One of my favorite items to paint, and a good seller too. Here's some examples....hope you're having a great summer!!

Crowns 'n Crowns 'n More Crowns!!

Getting ready to do back-to-back shows, so what am I working on? Crowns 'n more crowns! I haven't done any in a while, and since they are one of my favorite things to create, and one of my best sellers, I'll be living, breathing, eating, talking....crowns! Can you say BLING?!! :-)

Here's a few I've done so far...available on my Etsy site!

Fantasy!

One of my favorite genres of art is Fantasy. Here are a couple examples of Fantasy art I've done.

The first -- I've always loved old Hollywood, the glitz and glamour, the gorgeous starlets and dashing men. One of my all-time favorite Hollywood on-screen couples is Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers -- watching them dance together in old movies is breathtaking. So I thought, the perfect fanstasy - Fred and Ginger, dancing on a moonlit lake. Here's the result -- I painted this back in 1986 and it still hangs in my studio today.


The other -- I've been mixing collage and painting to create a new altered fantasy art. This is the result -- not only mixing the media, but mixing the subject matter, mixing the mood, going for a certain feel. Do you feel anything when you see it? Would love to read your feedback!

A Glittery Day!

What a wonderful, glittery show on Saturday -- Spring Glitterfest 2010 was a smashing success. Each show is getting bigger and better! Thanks to the amazing Whimsy girls -- Sheryl and Dianne once again outdid themselves. They never cease to amaze me, all the time and hard work they put into it. I'm so lucky to know them -- not only because of Glitterfest, but also the Whimzy store, and their flea-market (I always seem to drop a load of cash there every time!!).....but mainly because they are such good people. You can't help but like them, and we have so much fun together!

I also want to thank all the wonderful customers -- whether you are returning customers or new ones, you helped make the show a big success for me!

I so look forward to Fall Glitterfest on October 2nd -- see you there!!

Now I need to get back into the studio to catch up on my space in Country Roads!!

Fun, Different, Unusual, Random Stuff !!

Here are some pics of some rather different, unusual, some a little weird, but all fun -- pieces I've been working on lately. Come take a look at them and more at my space in Country Roads, in downtown Orange, CA!!

The Disney Twins!!

....but to me, they are my wonderful friends Valerie and Diane. I've talked about them in a previous blog, so now I'd like to introduce you to them! They're professional women, each with her own thriving practice, that occasionally comes with stress. So how do they deal with it? Like all of us women -- they go shopping! How lucky am I that they like to shop with me, and by now they are regular customers.

They inspire me to do some of my best and favorite work, with their always upbeat energy and positive attitudes. They are an absolute dream as customers, and are the sweetest, most wonderful friends that anyone could hope for!

As I mentioned before, they love anything and everything Disney. With the new "Alice in Wonderland" movie out now, they asked for a custom painted skirt with that theme (size 4 - damn them !! :-). You can see them holding the result in a photo below.

Also, they told me they loved the "Lady Liberty" jacket (also a previous blog) so much, that I told them I'd do a Disney jacket for them. Like I said, their favorite characters are the female villains, so on the back I painted Cruella, the evil queen from Sleeping Beauty, the Queen of Hearts, the hag from Snow White, and Maleficent, all framed by Ursula and her tentacles. On the front, I painted the poison apple, and the magic mirror. The collar is Ursula's eels. One sleeve is the dragon, the other the Queen of Hearts. The jacket and skirt are both studded with rhinestones, and have a ton of glitter on them - bling galore!!

Here are some photos of the jacket.


And here are the twins with their new, custom painted jacket and skirt! They loved them!


Thank you so much Valerie and Diane for being such great, inspiring friends.

Unfinished Business...

Do you ever have those projects that you started but never completed? And you just can't bring yourself to sit back down and finish? Just can't seem to get motivated to finish the work. To most people it looks like a completed painting, but you know better -- it's just not done.

Here's one of those projects. I did this so long ago I can't even remember when. For me, as I see it, it is incomplete, unfinished, unsigned. There are so many things that are wrong with it. The chair -- started off as a chair, then I thought, maybe it's a stool? But when I look at it, it's an unfinished chair. And the floor -- originally it was a checkerboard floor but for some reason I didn't like it, so I painted it out, and now it's just a.....dull floor. You can't tell where the wall ends and the floor begins. When I look at it, it makes me wonder what I was trying to do with it, but it was so long ago.

There are no shadows painted in, yet she's sitting right in front of a window.

All of these things seem so minor and unimportant to others, but for me -- I had started with a vision, and didn't complete the task at hand.

What's especially strange is there's a minor detail that I love about this painting -- where her legs are crossed. For some reason, I am so drawn to that little area. It's funny, but this is true of all of my paintings -- there is always one little insignificant detail or area that no one else even notices, but that I am deeply drawn to...oh well...

As for this painting -- it's hanging in my bedroom. But in the end, it's just an unfinished work.