Feature Art Friday: A Seashell for Lori

I started this painting knowing that it would be a gift, but having no idea what it would actually "be".

I knew it would include a lot of blue and orange because she loves those colors together.

I finally decided on a seashell because the beach is her favorite place. (Although I came very close to just leaving it the crazy abstract you see above.)

I started getting a little worried with the depth of the color in the center of the shell (above) But warmed up to it after adding some orange in the center. Here's the finished painting:

I sent this surprise by mail, so I'll be marking that off my '37 things' list... which is a good thing because I may have sort of forgotten about that list over the last couple of months & I'm running out of time... (oops).

National Harbor, Maryland: The strange and the wonderful

Sunrise peeking over the wing of my airplane on the way to D.C.= wonderful

 These flowers at the National Zoo with my BFF & her daughter = wonderful

 This butterfly bench near my hotel in National Harbor, Maryland = wonderful

 A quite unexpected sculpture emerging from the sand = strange

 A closer view of the sculpture = still strange

 A strawberry cheesecake cupcake from Cake Love = wonderful 

(so wonderful that my mouth STILL waters when I see the photo of it... & it took more self-control than I thought myself capable of to walk 3 feet to a table, sit down with it & pull out the camera for the photo before cramming it in my mouth. Only the desire to save my camera from sticky cupcake-icing-covered hands kept me from eating the cupcake without first photographing it. I actually had a very quick conversation with myself in my head about how certainly you would believe me without seeing it...True story. Best. Cupcake. Ever.)

soon-to-be-birdies

Poor little birdies, they look so sad without their faces & wings! This is actually when I start getting excited about them because they have been cut, sanded & primed... so it's time for the fun part- picking out the colors & fashioning their little faces & wings. Just now they could become anything. Anything shaped like a wee little birdie, that is. Photos of happier, more colorful birdies coming soon.

No Loitering

The irony of this has always amused me.

I'm (once again) finding myself in one of those stretches of time where there are so many things to do that I do not seem to be doing any of them very well. It isn't said as some sort of complaint- I very much appreciate that I have a very stable full-time job in this questionable economy, a fun part-time job & a sudden influx of commissioned art. I appreciate ALL of it. I've just found myself under a wee bit of a time constraint with so much of it so in an effort to be healthy, I'm going to take a teeny tiny break here. (radical self-care, my BFF calls it.) 

If you choose to spend a moment of your valuable time checking in here to see something inspirational or creative you should have something that is written by someone feeling inspirational & creative, right? Not a crazy tired manic woman running from one commitment to the other & just pausing to slap up a photo & find something to say to go along with it just to be able to check in off the list of things to do. And the last week or two that is what you have been getting. 

So I will be back soon- and I will really be here & present, not loitering about on the blog while thinking ahead to the next thing on the list. Promise.

You are my sunshine

Remember this? I finally finished it.

 Once I finally decided what I wanted it to say, it didn't take long to complete.

 It is available for purchase here.

Feature Art Friday: Cable Ann

The gawky teenager

This one will eventually be lotus flowers- when it's all grown up. Let's call this its awkward, gawky teenager phase, shall we?

The 1,000 mile sign

I'm calling it the 1,000 mile sign because it feels like it has been packed that far. I primed the board & painted it this really pretty robin's egg blue that has been a recent favorite & then couldn't decide what else to do with it. So back into the corner of the garage it went for a while. Then I thought if it came in the house & leaned up against the fireplace, just below the TV,  maybe I would be struck with some sort of creative impulse. Then I got tired of looking at it... so I moved it into the dining room. At some point it got in my way so I carried it back out to the garage. A few weeks later, I wandered by it on my way to get clothes out of the dryer and brought it back in, leaning it against the counter as I made dinner. You see the trend here, right? Maybe it hasn't been quite 1,000 miles... but it has been in and out of my house more than any other half-finished art project that I can remember. Hopefully I'll get it finished by next Monday & be able to show you something besides a half-finished blue board, because I'm spending so much time with it that it is starting to feel a bit like a member of the family.