Barefoot Monster Man

This drawing was a pleasure to work with! This was also the first drawing I was able to give to the child who drew the picture!! (usually most of my work is done via the parents!).  He was so pleased, it made my day!

Chasing Atlantis

I have a couple of friends who are working on full length documentary inspired by their love of space and space travel called Chasing Atlantis.  As part of their fundraising efforts, they asked me if i could donate a painting, which was a pleasure on my end.  I find it so inspiring when people chase their dreams, and these two are definitely doing that!  Best of luck guys!

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 :)