You're the one I Pick

I received a new order of buttons, they're all package onto a little greeting card.... In a field of many flowers, you're the one I pick. The buttons are of Evelyn Nesbit - the original Gibson Girl, the sad little flapper who is very perplexed in her cute hat, the girl with stomach fluttering with The Butterflies, and the sad little party girl flapper.

Here they are available in my Etsy shop

Catching Love Like Fireflies

Sometimes you're lucky enough to catch one if you really try.

Another Love painting. Got one thing on the brain, seems.

Acrylic on gallery wrapped canvas, 11x16 inches.

no broken hearts for me this Valentines Day

the broken heart

A friend wanted me to do some art for her valentine's day night at a local bar. Well not sure if it's happening, some kind of problems with the co owners. I don't get it really, it's all hush hush. Weird, eh???

Well, I don't care about the showing anyway, Not the art buying crowd!! But I'm happy that it motivated me to think of and do some love art. I have some others underway, I really probably couldn't get them done in time anyway. I guess had she made more of an effort in talking to me about it, I would've made sure to get them done!!

This little vixen has someone's broken, yet mendable heart in her hands. Some see it that it's her heart that is broken, but I'm wondering if she may have stolen someone's heart and done a little damage herself.

I'm also very happy that I have experienced love again, gotten my heart broken, maybe cracked someone else's just a little, but more importantly fallen in love and actually have a real valentine this year. A REAL ONE! Three years ago, I thought true love in my life was over. I thought I was to live a love-less life, never to be truly happy again. After living a certain way for a couple of decades, it truly makes you know what you want in life and in lovers. It makes you want to change your patterns to make your love work out. It's all about being a grown up, I guess.

Happy Valentines Day to you, and I hope you can experience true love too.

9x12" acrylic on gallery wrapped canvas.

Creepin Vines

I've been working on this painting off and on this summer. I finally finished it!

Are these vines growing on her hat with the help of this bird, or are they simply the pattern on her hat?


Here's the original sketch of this little lady. I often like to sketch while watching movies. Here are some sketches I did while enjoying a silent movie. See her original incarnation up in the top right corner. Seems that the original doodle often turns out better than the finished (supposedly) perfected finale. Doodles are just more spontaneous, I guess.

Prints, magnets and pendants will soon be available. The original is acrylic on an oval canvas, 9x12".

Genie out of the Bottle

Ever felt like you've been all bottled up, like a genie, for maybe a thousand years?? Well I had that feeling, and was finally let free just last year.

I've had this design in my mind for almost a year now. Life has been wild, crazy and unsettling for this past year. And while it still is that way, I'm trying to balance all this with my creative side.... finally making it possible for me to get this drawing done.

Here it is in my Etsy shop.

Pen and ink drawing, embellished with some watercolor.

NibbleFest - Asian Inspired/IF Legendary

I'm a little behind, and have been neglecting my poor little blog!

This is my entry for NibbleFest - Asian Inspired. It also fits with last week's Illustration Friday which was Legendary. This is a Legendary Entertainer. I was also thinking a lot about Spring, so I made it very Spring like.

It's an ACEO, 2.5x3.5 inches, watercolor.

-SOLD-

Butterflies - a little tweaked

I wasn't too happy with the colors in my girl with the butterflies painting. Instead of completely revamping it, which I did consider, I thought I'd take the lazy way out and digitally teak it's colors.

It has a slightly silver screen mood to it, which suits this girl better, I think.

What do you think?

It's also listed as a print in my Etsy shop.

The Butterflies

Getting the butterflies can be the most wonderful feeling, and yet also be a bit frightening.

This is a new painting done in acrylic. I've got prints available now in my Etsy shop now.

Here's wishing you The Butterflies for all of your life!

TOC - Sweet

Last week (Feb 13) the theme for Theme of Consciousness was "Sweet".

I did this little painting much inspired by my number 1 model, my sister.

I got a request also..."Not So Sweet Martha Lorraine", by Country Joe and the Fish. Pretty good one, I thought.

Illustration Friday - time

Old-Time Sex Symbol.

Yeah, it may be a stretch!

This is one of my favorite women to paint - Evelyn Nesbit... America's first sex symbol, inspiration for the Gibson Girl, and key player in turn of the century scandal filled with love, murder, sex, millionaires and a beautiful woman. This disgraceful story of the day rivaled the present day OJ trial in notoriety.

So what do I do, try to do a sexy woman, and all I can come up with is some kind of old-timey sex goddess.

This is an ACEO (2.5x3.5 inches) done in watercolor.

It's for sale in my Etsy shop.

TOC - Blood

Tonight's theme for TOC was Blood, on account of the KLOS Blood Drive in So Cal. I wasn't able to give blood this time, I just couldn't go off the mountain for it at this time.

So I whipped up a little vampire for the bloody theme. Not sure why I do these little pieces for TOC. Sometimes I just need an idea to kick me in the butt.

I'd better get to bed, I've got to get up in 6 hours. I hate early morning risings!!

TOC - Royalty

Tonight's theme for TOC was "royalty", in honor of the return of Helene "Queen of the Tribe."

I did a quick painting of Queen Helene for the night.

Button Sampler on Note Card

I've finally finished this little project that I've had in the works for a month! I had these little buttons made during my comings and goings this summer. Then I had to draw a little design to go with the buttons, and made that drawing into a card. Just a small, simple little note card (invitation sized).

It's a sampler of some of the many women that I enjoy painting so much. Four different eras of women... 1) The modern pink-haired, punk girl with apple-"Forbidden." 2) The ever so elegant original Gibson Girl, "Evelyn Nesbit." 3) The sad-eyed flapper girl, "Pretty in Pink." 4) The lovely "Citrus Goddess" with her hair of lemon, limes and oranges.

Four little flower lovelies, all in a row. The words written across the card read "In a field of many flowers, you're the one I pick."

It's a card and gift all in one... All ready to give, or receive!

They're for sale in the shop on Etsy.

Illustration Friday - Wedding

"Hey, Little Sister what have you done?... It's a nice day to start again, it's a nice day for a white wedding."

This week's IF is "Wedding." Yayy! I'm finally particpating in IF again. It's been a while. I've either been gone, or just had no time, or probably no ideas. There have been some tough themes lately. I was glad to hear "wedding" was the theme, cuz I could actually come up with something.

What? Well, my untraditional sister all gussied up in her wedding finery! Untraditional, yet beautiful none the less!

This is an ACEO (2.5x3.5 inches) painted in acrylic. It's in my shop over on Etsy, now!

I'm Perplexed

I finished this little painting today. It's acrylic on a 5x5 inch wooden plaque. I'm perplexed at just what to call her. She looks very perplexed to me. So I guess she's going to be called "Perplexity".

She started out as a sketch from a couple of weeks ago. I often like to sketch and doodle in my journal while watching t.v. I was watching a silent movie and here's a spread that I doodled in my book. I don't really know much about the plot of this movie... You can miss quite a bit of a silent movie if you draw during it, but it sure had some cute girls in it! You can see this Perplexed young lady as she was originally drawn, in the bottom right corner.



Before I painted her I was thinking about the colors of the 20's. We talked about "just what were the colors of the 20's?" Wesley thought they were grey, black and white. Well of course, that's what I think too, just like all old decades, really. Then I tried to imagine more, and I thought of The Great Gatsby, and the colors to me in that story are very pastel. So here you have a little bit of pastel.

She also reminds me of the little gift books published by Hallmark in the late 60s, early 70s. I have one of those little books that I've had since I was 2. Since then I've collected quite a variety of the quaint books. For some reason, the hat, or facial expression reminds me of those books.

I quite enjoy this quirky Perplexity, and I'm sure I'll make prints of her in the future. For now we have the little piece in my shop on etsy.

Altered Box - Count your life with smiles!

"Count the garden by the flowers, never by the leaves that fall. Count your life with smiles and not the tears that roll."



I altered this box that once held tubes of acrylic paint. I used a little reproduction of a painting that I did earlier this year. That was collaged with tissue paper, and the quote and acrylic paint were added.

Once I collaged and varnished it, the box wasn't fitting together like it originally did. So I glued thin rope around it to act as a stopper, to keep the lid from getting stuck.

It's a little funky, but the textures make it fun to hold. And the size is perfect for holding some special little trinkets, or would make a wonderful gift box. Approx 5 x 3.5 x 1.75 inches.

I've got 4 more of these little boxes, so I look forward to making more.

-SOLD-

100th Post!!

Cheers to my 100th! How fitting that my 100th post was to happen during an outrageously busy week!

Insanely busy schedule with end of the school year activities... field trips, plays, baseball playoffs, award ceremonies, other assorted duties - throw in a wedding reception and birthday parties, friends visiting from out of state, and a family crisis... well this makes for a stressed woman, and a suffering blog! Things are looking better now, and I'm thoroughly enjoying my first day of summer vacation. I'm so ready for my time of the year with no real schedule.

My Pick-O-The-Week will return next Wednesday. I just had to get a posting done before more time passed.

I did this painting a few years ago. It's a favorite of mine and shows up from time to time in prints of different sorts. The original is on a wood panel plaque. I'll be painting some more plaques soon.

HOORAY FOR SUMMER VACATION!!

Illustration Friday - citrus

This week's Illustration Friday theme is "citrus." And here we have a lovely Goddess of the Citrus fruits.

I guess you would call this mixed media. It's a little bit of collage using tissue paper. I also enjoyed using my new Winsor & Newton colored inks, both with brush and a pen. I've wanted a set of these little colored inks for a long time. I finally splurged (using my 40% off coupon) and bought some at Michaels. They have the cutest labels and boxes, and the colors are so vibrant.

This is an ACEO (2.5x3.5), art card, mixed media on 140 lb. watercolor paper.
-SOLD-

Illustration Friday - Remember

The weekly theme for Illustration Friday is "Remember". It took me a while to think of an idea, and even longer to get the painting done. Life was just too busy this week. Well I'm getting it onto IF with just a few hours to spare.

I was thinking about how young women use to make a special message for their lovers who were going off to war. Then I wanted the overall look to be like the vintage needle packages. I've always liked those packages. I guess because I remember my mom having some in her old sewing machine drawer way back when I was quite young. They probably belonged to her mother before that.

It's an ACEO (2.5x3.5 inches) acrylic. Find it on Etsy.

The Frog Prince

My ACEO group's special promotion this week was "Frog". I did a Frog Prince. Is she about to plant a big kiss on this guy? Is it true love?

Can you tell I like to participate in challenges? I love being prompted with some kind of subject. Yes, it's a challenge, but it also motivates me. Lately, I do more challenges than anything. If it gets me to do some art, it can't be bad!

This is an ACEO - 2.5x3.5 inches. It's painted in acrylic. It's here on Etsy.