Fairy Trip-tic

Today I thought I'd feature the Fairy Trip- tic I made for Oopsy Daisy (wall art)  Oh, My there turned out to be a lot going on.  I thought the progression of the day & fairy activities through out was fun.  You definitely keep discovering more the longer you look at it.  Kind of like those Highlight magazine seek & finds I loved to look at when I was little.

A Warm Get Away!

Burrrrrrr- it's cold, January & I spent the day working on a book project that my dyslexic mind can't grasp.  (for real I have dyslexia which usually doesn't get in the way)  Anyhow all I can think of is the Thursday get away we're taking to Florida.  Just a quick little blast of warmth which I can't wait for.  I'm the girl who loves the feel of sitting in a hot car that's been baking all day in the July sun.  I may need one of those sunlight lamps!  All that said today I wanted to share something that felt warm, breezy & happy.  As usual I added pattern & text were ever I could.I started this piece by painting & cutting out the shapes then scanned it in & continued to build digitally.  Oh-Sunshine here I come! 

A-Z Blocks

Today I received my samples of the A-Z blocks I made for Peaceable Kingdom.

(I believe they'll be available at Barnes & Noble)  I love how the color turned out.  It's unusual for kid's product as it's not the typical bright primary color everywhere- it's a little moodier & strange.  (which makes me happy!)  Think Luca will enjoying tearing these up.  (going through a destructive phase) Happy Friday.

My Country Tis of Thee

I've wanted to work on a American Presidents piece for a while now. Liz who is a designer at our studio is the portrait queen (she paints beautiful portraits in her spare time) She was a big help with this piece. She can capture the essence so well. I soon realized that painting all 43 presidents was a daunting task but selecting a few was the way to go. (at least for now some day I'd love to do all 43) That said all 43 presidents names are present in order in the border that outlines the piece. Inside each painted cameo I have added some fun facts about the presidents we featured. I plan to do a bit more with the flower/ vegetation on top but with today being the BIG inauguration I decided to just go ahead & post this piece. I think this could be great & educational wall art. (I always love those little kids who know all the political info)

In A New York Minute

Happy Friday- Hope it's been a good week! Today I thought I'd show what our booth looked like at Direction.  A small little space packed full of color.  Luca has a thing with trains so we took him to ride the subway- an underground train.  He loved the sounds, the people, the doors opening & closing.  I lived in NY for a while & upon returning to open green ground I know I couldn't live there again.  Fun to visit nice to leave!

Some Good News!

Back from the show.  We had a good time & Luca was a terrific little traveler.  

Some good news while we were gone.  My sister-n-law Amy is pregnant with her first & she & my brother Brad are thrilled!  This will be the second grandchild in the family.  Due next fall- right around the time my brother Kris gets married.  Which will make attending the wedding difficult.  Isn't that the way it goes.  Small price to pay I guess.  Looks like much more baby art in my future.  Not ready to go through it all again but it sure is an exciting, amazing time!

Circle Animals

Today's post more animals this time in circles.  This is one of the newer prints I'm taking with me to the Direction show which well be at next week. (Monday- Thursday in NY)  This will be Luca's first trip to the Big Apple.  I plan to take him to Time Square one night.  He was in to the lights on the Christmas tree & if he thought our tree could sparkle just wait.....  Happy Friday!

Favorite Flavor?

First off- Thanks for all the sweet comments regarding our Shreky.  It's getting easier everyday & he'll continue to bring a smile to my face.  Today I thought I'd move on to something a bit happier.  Ice-Cream.....  (nothing like a drastic change of subject) I finished this print not too long ago.  I try to be regimented with what I eat (yes, I'm a bit of a bore)  so not always I eat delicious frozen treats. That's why I indulge myself with painting them.  Sad but true.  Must go back to being young & being allergic to milk. (Luca has now taken that role)  I never had dairy products.  I remember my favorite flavor at Baskin & Robbins good old dairy free diaquiri ice. Now I think my favorite would have to be dulce de lache- mmmmmmm.   

Remembering Shrek

Today is a bitter sweet post. Over the holidays we lost our beloved dog Shrek. When we bought our house almost 5 years ago Shrek came along with it. (so did his name) His owners were moving to Hong Kong & the big trip would be too much for him. We were thrilled. He was our constant companion, going to the studio with us everyday. I often featured him in my art & just having him around gave us all a beautiful sense of calm. He was wonderful with our son Luca & we're sure that's why he's so fond of dogs. Shrek made it to 13 years & had a long we like to think had a nice long life. I know we enjoyed everyday we had with him. Thanks Shrek, You got your wings....I hope you're chasing a squirrel!

Longing for Spring

I get like this every year.  The daylight hours are shorter, the green leaves no where in site, the sky rarely that pretty bright blue and the holidays over.  I begin to daydream about springtime.  I imagine the new flowers I'll plant in the garden, the tire swing I'll hang this year, mother nature once again allowing use to take long walks at the park right down the street.  To get me even more fixated on all this I've been working on lots of flower & garden theme projects lately.  Today I'm sharing a flower identification piece I painted.  I'm amazed at the variety in flowers so I tried to keep that variety going in the containers I put them in.  My favorites are the peony & the irises.

What are yours?