More Egg Fun

I saw these online and absolutly fell in love with the idea, of fake chocolate eggs. Very fun to make, wooden eggs, acrylic paint and fabric dimentional paint.  Hope you like them...

Easter, almost....

Here are some wooden eggs that I painted last Easter, when my camera decides to cooperate I will post eggs I did years ago for my parents. My girlfriend Sandy knew someone who worked in a place in Maine that made the wooden eggs, she came back with some for me and they were my little treasures for the longest time. I have always bought a new egg or some new eggs to add to my Easter egg collection.

And then of course there is the Egg Man here in Florida, he paints with a chicken on his head, (not a real chicken, a fake one, but still, he has a dedication to his art)  I am not kidding, he does nice work. I wont wear a chicken,but I love to paint, so here are more eggs that I did...

Gourds...

When My husband and I went to Tennesse we saw some really beautiful gourds that were turned into birdhouses. Being the terrific husband that Mark is he brought me these back from CT. 

So I used some Kilz on them, and then painted. Mark had foot surgery, which put us in the house for 3 days, he did well and slept, and I painted the gourds.  

This is what I came up with. Designs, no thinking just painting. My Mom was very artistic, and I found a  book I had that featured an artist Peg Miller that did with painting that my mom did with her rugs that she created, so that is my inspiration, I loved the no brainer part of this, the no marketing, the no selling, the no what would a publisher like thing, a just ice Marks foot every 30 minutes, we were all nestled in our house, like a big snow storm, and I painted away. Now I need to get a drill and hang  them. Joannes has a girlie drill, another thing to buy. Just helping the economy.

Cowboy Up

I was at the library the other night and saw a book called "The Best Books for Children/ 8th edition" written by Cathrine Barr and John Gillespie, and what did I find mentioned? A book I lllustrated for Scholastics/ Childrens Press Rookie Reader Series. Cowboy Up is written by Larry Dane Brimner.

It was a very fun book to illustrate as well as learning about the rodeo.

My book dummy

I started out with my interior dummy all put together with double sided copies, I sew everything together with really tough thread and a hardy needle. InDesign is so much easier, but I dont have it and am still trying to figure out Photoshop, so I am going old school.

I bought some poster board to serve as the cover for my book, I glued the color copies of the cover back and front to the outside and the end papers to the inside, I found glue runner tapes work really well for 

this task. Glue sticks and zig glue markers buckle up the paper.

 

Then I tape in the interior. I add color copies for a spread inside the book, but the rest is in black and 

white.

  

I laminate the cover with lamitating sheets that you can get at Staples or JoAnnes, to make it look finished and that is my book dummy, I hid the name, ( in photoshop) that is top secret, until it is published, then you will know all about it.

Emilys Marzipan Piggies

When I was a little kid we used to go to the German Deli and my mom would buy us little Marzipan (an almond paste candy) shaped like little bologna sandwichs. I told my daughter about them, and we used to look for them, well she finally found them and this really remarkable artist that sculpts them, I have her site on my favorites.

So these are Emilys little piggies.

New Postcard

There is one thing about having the crunch of a deadline, it really makes one work faster. The lack of a firm deadline is something I had to deal with when I was designing my postcard to send out for February. I went through at least 5 ideas, all of which I didnt have fun with half way through the finish. So here are some sketches and finally the finish.

At first after a bunch of sketches I thought it would be fun to do a floral shop.

But the finish wasnt coming together, so on to another idea. 

I went through a couple of ideas for this one, and then I thought it would be fun to add in the alligator, since we moved to Florida, I was just looking for something fun.

And here is the finish, I am happy with it.

My new love

It is Sirius radio, and for a big radio listener like me it is golden,it was easy to set up, if Photoshop was so so cooperative I would like it better. But let me introduce you to my new fun toy, my Sirius radio.

Ok, in january I need to learn Photoshop, while listening to my new friend Sirius.

Snow nuts...

We went out hiking in Christmas Florida, and I stopped in a shop and fell in love with these hand painted Santas from Russia, so naturally I looked on the internet and got the idea I want to make a hand painted Santa, so after my extensive search, I found these at Michaels, they are nutcrackers, and snowmen, but I still did have alot of fun painting them. So, guess what everyone is getting for Christmas??

Festival of the Trees in the Orlando Museum

A fuzzy picture of me in front of my JingleBulbs Palm Tree.

A picture of my sister Lili in front of the Jingle Bulb Tree. Good thing I only have 2 sisters and one in Germany or this could be one long blog.....

Windermere Postcard

I was asked by the shop that carries my hand painted ornaments, called JingleBulbs, to create a postcard for Sparkle night in Windermere Florida. It is a cute little town surrounded by 5 lakes, a suburb of Orlando.
Windermere Design is one of those wonderful stores that I have always loved to browse through. That is what made this postcard fun to do.

Painted sketchbook

My husband and I wanted to send something as a gift to a 9 year old relative. She loves to draw so we picked this sketchbook.

My new favorite art supply are these markers that paint on any surface, they are basically spray paint in a pen, they come in small fine points so they are very easy and fun to use.

And here is the painted sketchbook.

A Painting I love

The painting of the woman in the left side of the photo is a painting I grew up with, my moms painting that I have always loved. We were surrounded by paintings growing up, this was one of my favorites.

My Computer

My computer, that I learn something new on everyday.
All around and taking over the studio are the bulbs I paint for Christmas,
http://www.jinglebulbs.com

And of course the much needed open window so I can watch the squirells and the birds, and so the lizards can tease our very confused cat, Boris.

Artful Rakes

 

These were some very fun rakes that were decorated in Gatlinburg Tennessee in The Village. I loved the idea of rakes. Very fun.

My studio

When my daughter went off to college, I "borrowed" this bookshelf from her room, we had purchased it at Ikea, it fits perfectly in that tiny area, and holds all the books I use alot.

My drawing table is too big for the room but I found a little one that I can do my illustration work on (thats the blue table) it folds so I put it away when I dont need it.

Which Grandma?

SCBWI in Florida

Thanks to Janeen Mason, we heard a great presentation from Jarrett J. Krosoczka and got to show our portfolios .

I am in the backround sticking my head out.