Crazy Train

the original drawing that was emailed to me.



and the finished product. this was a christmas commission. this drawing was done by a young boy who loves trains. i love his drawing, and i had a wonderful time working on this painting!

The Demented Reindeer

I met my sister and her family out at the lake one warm afternoon this summer. Shortly after their arrival, my nephew, who is 11 years old, informed me he had a drawing that i HAD to paint. He also said him and his friends referred to it as 'the demented reindeer' which was follwed by an amused giggle.

when i saw it, i definitely wanted to paint it. i also got to use a pattern i had drawn up months ago, but hadnt had the chance to use it yet!



you cant see the edges in the photo, but the edges are all green except for the right hand side, which is the red/orange colour. its one of many things i like about this painting.

i will definitely be working up a special 'demented reindeer' christmas card in a month or two for special order :) stay tuned!

Steinbach Street Fair and the girly dragon

I drove down to Steinbach, Manitoba to take part in their Summerfest. I have a friend in Steinbach who told me about the event, and who also booked a booth to sell her stuff (fantastic little dresses for girls made out of wonderful fabrics decorated with cute appliques and buttons)! We made sure we were together at the streetfair so we could visit as well :) The first day it rained, and we toughed it out for a couple hours, but my paintings were getting wet, so we packed it up and headed into Winnipeg to shop the "Urban Barn". We couldn't've asked for better weather the second day!

Anyways, i had a really nice time there. Sold a painting, sold a few prints and postcards, and also received a commission! Here is the drawing i received from Cezanne, the mom:


The original was actually coloured in orange, but i cant find that image right at the moment, so here is the black and white version i worked up (easier to use in my projector this way). I have never worked with the colour orange and i have to admit it's because of all the colours, orange is my least favourite! but i am always up to a challenge. Cezanne was actually open to me not using orange at all to keep it in a 'girls' colour theme for her daughters room. But i had seen orange done really nicely with pinks and purples somewhere, so i assured her it would look fantastic and girly :) She never doubted my decisions and was just excited to see what i would do! I love a customer like that!

And, the finished product:



I even used orange-with a dash of pink-sparkle dust on the dragons body! I was really happy with the result, and i know Cezanne and her daughter were as well!

I was so happy to have Cezanne send me a picture of the painting up in her daughters room.



And i quote "I just wanted to thank you for the beautiful art piece you made for us! As you can see my daughter was thrilled!"

:)

Half Man, Half Robot

My son does not really like drawing, but he doesnt really like the fact that i am always painting phoebe's drawings either, so every now and then i get some drawings from him hoping that i'll paint them.

this is a really fun one he made for me when he was in a creative mood. it is half man, half robot. he is also obsessed with mario, and i think he drew some mario clouds up top. which is one of my favourite parts because i really see 'him' in that!

OH! i am really happy that i have moved on to doing my own patterns for the backgrounds of my paintings now. i really like this added element to my process. i have actually always enjoyed creating patterns, doodling and simple designs, so i think this really holds true to being myself in my paintings.

as i was working on this background, i was really keen to use a true teal paired with citrus colours. i like them together. teal is officially my new favourite colour. it had been purple for the past 8 or nine years! i like to think that our colours likes/dislikes goes along with our lives. so now i am in a teal phase of life :)

Winners, An art showing and Another Personal Challenge

Friends were holding a fundraiser/music/arts night and i was asked to put my art on display there, a portion of any art sales going towards the trip...

i had a nice collection of paintings to show, but i felt i wanted just one more. i decided this the day before the art show, HA! so, i got to thinking; could i do a painting in one day? i thought about some of the other paintings i had done to date, and i decided that if i did a new variation on "Abraham" in an 18x24 size, i just might pull it off!

i was mulling this over in my brain while my friend and i were out to a couple of stores. we were in winners and the challenge was clinched when i saw this really great pillow they had for sale. the colours were really neat, so i memorized the colours, ditched my friend (sorry) and went home and painted like a maniac. here are the results :)

A Nice Gift

My manager at global experience, Sherri, has a daughter named Juliet. Juliet is very interested in what i do and often bombards sherri with questions about my paintings. Now, the story goes that when they were out of town a couple of weeks back, Juliet thought that it wasnt right that i always make paintings for other people, but no one makes paintings for me :) She made her mother bring her down to the store and she bought, with her own money, a canvas and supplies and made ME a painting!

honestly, i almost burst into tears in the middle of work when Sherri gave this to me! Thanks, Juliet! If i have my own official studio, this will hang proudly in it! For now, its going on my bedroom door! :)

hurray for hot coclate anb daddy!

this is my second commission, done almost a year ago, for my biggest fan and brother-in-law, bill. it's a great little drawing done by his daughter, brianna, that says 'hurray for hot coclate anb daddy!' with a drawing of daddy and... hot choclate!



using an image with the child's words was a new thing for me, and i really like it. the efforts of children who are beginning to sound out words and to write is an endearing and special time for parents as they see their kids growing, and expressing themselves. I think any daddy would be proud to know their daughter holds a 'hurray for daddy' inside of them :) perhaps i may seem a mere 'tie' with hot chocolate, but if any of you knew how much brianna liked hot chocolate... well, then you'd know daddy really is pretty important to her ;)

i think the words add a really nice element to the painting! i couldnt resist keeping the lined paper lines, either, because she really put a lot of work into getting those words and letters onto that paper as best she could!

as for colour scheme, it took me a long time to decide what i was going to do. i worked up a hotchocolatey background and complimented it with a navy blue (inspired by bills love of the oilers!), and then finished it off with a copy of brianna's signature at the bottom! this we got off of some of her schoolwork from when she was the same age.

websites and a name change?

although i have arranged a barter with a friend - a painting for a website - i have put something up in the meantime on my own. i used an old version of adobe golive that i have, and i find it pretty simple to use.

if you are interesetd in checking out my website thus far, take a peek at frosticular design.

frosticular design?

oh yes! my business has evolved over the last year, as businesses do. i started out with an emphasis on doing painting of kids pictures on a commission basis. on the side i would find pictures i liked and do my own paintings that i would put up for sale. i found that both endeavours were equally successful. but here's the thing: i found a lot more freedom in doing paintings for my own pleasure and at my own whim (as to colours and patterns etc) then when i working on commissions. i do still enjoy myself while working on commissions, but i feel a bit of pressure to make something that they will like. i mean, i know they have hired me because they like what i do and i should feel complete freedom in creating, but on the other hand i really do want them to like it, so there is often a self imposed pressure. i am hoping with time and experience i will develop stronger confidence in that area.

all that being said, i am moving over to frosticular design with an emphasis on my paintings rather than an emphasis on doing commissions; although i still, most definitely, do commissions. this allows me to expand as well, into some of the areas i, and others, have had for my work like posters, cards, postcards, tshirts, bags and the like. so for now i will focus in this direction and see if it is a success - again looking to do street fairs while also continuing to apply to juried art shows in major cities for larger exposure. the more people that see my stuff, the more likely i will sell my stuff and be able to create even more!!

the unicorn

Here is the original drawing that i received from rahne's mommy. i knew instantly i wanted to keep those great blue hooves, and make the raindrops out of swarovski crystal! and otherwise keep it really simple! i was really happy with the final product :)

The Nightmare: My new pet the monster mermaid

most of the time phoebe comes running up to me with her latest drawing and shouts out "DO YOU WANT TO PAINT IT, MOMMY?" and i put it in the pile of 'drawings mommy may paint'... but i dont paint just any drawing she makes. they dont ALL pull at my heart strings.

i found this one while i was downstairs tidying up the basement - on the floor slightly covered. it was like coming across an amazing secret or treasure. this drawing immediately was one of the most thought provoking of any of phoebes drawings i have seen yet. and all i could think was 'i would LOVE to know what was going on in her mind as she drew this'. i plan on asking her. once the video camera starts rolling. incase it makes a good video :)

"Two-gether" - SOLD

This painting is an ode to what was meant to be, but didnt happen. it is an ode to the oneness that 'two-gether' should be, and an ode for the ideal that should continue to be upheld, despite what goes on in the world around us. A wonderful reminder from one of my daughters 'interpreting life' drawings.

Purple and a Personal Challenge

I am gearing up for my application to the Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibit and i have to have photographs of 10 of my works for submission to the jury. i do have about 8 or 9 in the arsenal, but i wanted to get 2 or 3 more done in 8 weeks so i could feel like i had a choice in which ones to submit. i average 4 weeks per painting, so it was going to be a bit of a stretch.

SO, the goal was to get this following painting done it a week. ONE WEEK! the drawing came from my daugthers bed... yes, her BED (naughty little girl :)...) so it invovled removing a large wooden door and taking it down to be photocopied at STAPLES. that was fun. no one even batted an eyelash as i walked in with this 2x6 slab of wood and proceeded to lay it on the copier! truth be told, i was a little disappointed. i would have loved a reaction ;)



as far as the colour inspiration, it was found in a multi pack of swarovski crystals i found at micheal's (green, pink, and iridescent). They are the dots on the dress (about $20 worth of crystal on this painting!). It's unfortunate that you can't really appreciate the full sparkly crystal effect on this painting. But if you click the photo, it should open up a new window with a large version to scrutinize :)... Purple just seemed the perfect background for these. It is a true amethyst colour. for awhile i had this painting hanging in close proximity to a large chunk of amethyst that i have and they looked fantastic side by side.

The day i finished the painting, i displayed it at "evening of class" (fancy dinner thrown annually in thunder bay) and it is on hold for a customer! i will be sad to part with it so soon, but i am glad it may have a home to call its own!

all photos on this site are courtesty of my good friend, lizz busby check out her flicker page.