nothing from nothing

I am not painting.
Sad, but true.
I painted a mural for a friend's daughter last week. I have to go back to finish up. I will take pictures then. My Mojo is so totally off.

have I lost my eye?

Been missing my darkroom.

In Connecticut, I took some pictures in the barn where my uncle Paul lives.

My insanely beautiful sister.
So soft and smooth when compared to the aged side of the barn. There will come a time that she too is greyed and faded with age.

Six years without a working darkroom is too long. Maybe I will just buy Photoshop and learn how to do it in the computer...That just feels wrong to even write. Photography is NOT a child-friendly pursuit for an artist. Frustration. I have completed nothing worthwhile this whole Summer. Not even a goofy kid painting. I miss me..

my bad

Not painting. Not posting.
Been doing different kind of painting.
In the mean time, maybe you might enjoy this.

none

Nothing new to add. I have been working on home improvement painting instead of real painting. sad but true. Maybe soon?

I miss my darkroom

I am making no art to speak of these days. I sure do miss my dark room. There has not been a working dark room in this house for over 6 years. Sigh.

This is a scanned copy of one of my favorite images. It is my Grandmother Irene. The scan is only so-so. The original has more definition on the right side.

what does a 2 year old want?

I was 2 when this photo was taken. I have been thinking about 2 year old me. What would I like to see on my walls?

zero

Lylia's was an absolute bust. No sales at all. I am oddly not as sad as I thought I might be. I guess there is so much other stuff going on in my life right now that this is trivial. (Other stuff updates on my other blog.)
Lylia said she sold only 4 hats. She usually sells 17. Yikes. The economic times they are a changing.
I guess I will keep plugging away. I am ready to do some work about Grandma Sue. Maybe this is a good thing. A way to move on.

a tea party

Lylia's Tea Party starts TODAY!!!

This is the closest thing to a "real" art show that I might get to be in, while I am painting these more whimsical paintings for kids.

We dropped off yesterday. Lylia had brand new bright orange Birkenstocks. She looked great! (Had to drive all the way out to Gwinnett to get them! Crazy!) A new artist is doing these huge fanciful flowers from found metals. They are staked out in the front of her yard. What fun!

My display looks pretty good. I took 22 paintings. A good deal of the are new for this show. Some of them are from last and a few are really old. (Two years!) I have started painting over stuff that doesn't sell. It is a little sad to me. Why waste the canvas. At one time I had over 50 finished canvasses sitting around my house!

I did another 'Gator, which I really liked. I vacillated whether or not to take him. My little boy really liked him. If he does not sell, he goes straight onto the wall! I seem to never paint the same thing the same way twice!

Sometimes I do a painting that I really like and I get too attached to it. It becomes too dear to sell.

Lylia empties her whole house for this show. We got a sneak peek at a few of the artists yesterday. She has a new jeweler with some really nice silver things for cheap! I am determined not to spend more than I sell. I am always tempted to purchase one of Lylia's crocheted Willie Neslon dolls. Or a Viking doll! My son wore a Viking helmet for about 8 months straight. He slept in it, too.

Lylia's tea party is Friday May 4 and Saturday May 5 from 10 AM until 7 PM. She lives on Anthony Drive in Decatur.

hey, hey you're a monkey

Inspired by the thought of my then 12 month old son, hanging from the chandelier in the dining room. He could not walk yet, but he sure could climb!

giddy up

Doesn't everyone need a prancing purple pony?

Lost in Space

I am finally finishing some things for Lylia's Tea Party. The Tea Party is May 4th so I am in Panic mode. I am looking forward to going and seeing what everyone has done. I might break down and buy a crocheted Viking this year. Lylia is a genius!

Here is our free-floating friend, Mr. Astronaut. (He does not wear diapers unless he is in space and he is certainly no stalker.)

does your cup runneth over your spoon?

Here is a pair of coffee cups that I did for my friend Allison's kitchen. Funny thing is that I always envisioned painted them for Aunt Mo! Sometimes, my paintings are not so silly.

Later 'Gator

Here is a toothy guy. I am not so sure that he is friendly, like my other little 'Gator.

Lylia's Tea Party is coming up on May 9 and 10th. I don't feel like I have anything spectacular to take yet. My hope is to sell at least 4 paintings.

peaches dresses

Sometimes I miss having a little girl to put in one of these dresses.

The proportions are so lovely. This dress is modeled after one that my big baby doll Peaches Cottontail wore. It is so old and ratty. the elastics is all dry rotted out. Still inspiring though.

funny bunnies

"Katie's Wishing Well"

Katie's Wishing Well is a painting that I did for my cousin's baby. Generally, I do not enjoy painting people into my kids' paintings. I prefer funky bunnies wearing high-top converse.
The little critters in this one are camouflaged by nature.

Or just having a fun time, like this little bunny that I painted for a work friend of my husbands.

"Ajah's Bunny"

shake your monkey maker

This is a set of very sexy salsa dancers. Didn't know monkeys could salsa did you?
I am trying to work on some new stuff for Lylia's Tea Party. Mostly, I am goofing off and not painting.

you put your whole tail in

Our mutt, Olive and my childhood cat stepped into this Nursery Rhyme. Hey, diddle, diddle Bubber plays fiddle...Olive laughs to see such a sight.

This is a painting that I did for a little guy named William. Featured in this Pirating tail is his dog Bronco. I really enjoy putting people's pet into paintings.

This painting was commissioned by a sweet lady who had lost 2 of her three Westies. They watch over Petey, her lone surviving pooch.

This prancing Border Collie is Pearl.

She flutters away from the Castle.
Her predecessor, Murphy watches her from the Heavens.

"D" is for Dog!

For my daughter's Christmas present in 2001, I painted this for her.

'Gator Bait

Ze 'gator, he es done!

so it begins

It all started with a single pig.

I used to be very serious about my art. I would contemplate for hours what I wanted to draw, paint, or photograph. I even dreamed about the stories I wanted to tell with my art. Then I had kids.

Whoa Nellie!

Sadly, I felt that I had little or nothing to "say" with my art. One day I painted my daughter a pretty piggie having a tea party. A friend asked how much I would charge to do one for her daughter. (We bartered. My favorite!) Pretty soon I had done paintings for many of my children's friends.

It is doubtful that I will ever find a gallery that wants to feature dancing frogs or prancing ponies. So, here it is...my online gallery for kiddos. A little whimsy never hurt anyone.