New website & blog launched!

Ta-da! I now have a new website that has my blog included. I will be posting updates there for now. If you don't want to miss out on anything please click over and have a look around. Feel free to leave me a comment on my new blog and say "Hi!"

At the Color Stage

Last week I began painting color on the mural and wanted to share the progress with you. I started with the muted green color and painted all of those shapes in the design. Since the majority of the  wall is still white I found it helpful to then paint all of the black shapes so I could see the darkest color as well. It is exciting to see it coming together!

Working on an exciting project!

Here is a sneak peek of what I have been working on lately…
a mural at the Millcreek Senior Center in the Millcreek Community Center on Evergreen Avenue. I just finished painting the lines of the design and am thoroughly enjoying the process.
The next step is painting in all of the colors.

Paintings In-progress

I have been working on eight new acrylic paintings in my "Metamorphosis" series for my exhibit in May. Usually I work on two or three at a time — but never this many simultaneously. It has been interesting to work this way. At first I just wanted to get the color brushed on all of the surfaces (which is how I begin with these). Then I began in earnest on one piece moving my brush strokes from that random stage to making more deliberate decisions allowing my inspiration to guide me. As that piece dried I moved on to another one and so forth. We'll have to see if progress continues this way or if I end up focusing on one or two at a time until complete.

Art Framed for Exhibit

I just picked up some of the art for my upcoming exhibition in Ogden at the Gallery at the Station (in the historic Union Station). These are some of my gouache paintings. I still have paintings in process but it feels so good to have some finished and ready for the show! The exhibit opens on Friday, May 3rd with an Artist's Reception from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m.

Practicing Picture Books With A Pro

I recently attended a regional SCBWI (Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators) conference and learned some new things about what makes a great picture book. Of course the pictures have to be beautiful and visually compelling and have an entertaining story told in simple language, but creating a wonderful book is so much more complex than just the combination of those two things. A magic mixture of elements has to come together to create a really good picture book.

I also participated in a workshop lead by Martha Rago Associate Creative Director at HarperCollins Publishers. It was a challenging project focused on picture book character development, putting the characters in a setting in their world and creating a jacket image for the cover. Martha provided a synopsis of a story under development entitled "Princess Cupcake" for us to work with. She reviewed in-progress sketches, made comments and then critiqued the finished work. Here is the cover and two finished spreads that I created for the project. I couldn't resist giving the princess a cat friend and also threw in some of my hand-lettering.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Tuesday Tea Time

Tea for two? Or, maybe it's coffee for you? Isn't it nice to take time for a chat with a friend over a hot cup of your favorite something. I did just that the other day and felt renewed when I got to the studio. When was the last time you did that?
Today's cup is a continuation of my geometric cup series and will be in my shop soon.
"Two Cups", digital illustration

Music for the Soul

This coming Sunday afternoon my husband Mikel and I are going to the first NOVA Chamber Music concert of the season. I love going to these concerts because I am almost always introduced to something new. Often I find that while I might not enjoy listening to certain contemporary chamber music as a recording I thoroughly enjoy hearing it played in concert. All music is better heard live while watching the musicians play their instruments, don't you think? Good music, like all good art feeds the soul. T. S. Eliot said, "You are the music while the music lasts." I look forward to that this weekend.
Above is my painting, "Violinist", acrylic on wood, 18 x 24 inches

Tuesday Tea Time

My shop is now open on Etsy with a selection of sixteen limited edition signed prints. Included currently are food related illustrations and lots of tea cup prints—or coffee, if you prefer. The photo above shows how great they would look in a simple frame. And more of my work is coming to the shop soon!

Opening Soon!

Ever wanted to purchase a print of my art or illustration? In a few days you will be able to! I have been busily working behind the scenes preparing the images and information to open my shop on Etsy (a retail site for artists and craftspeople). For starters, my shop will offer beautiful limited edition prints that are numbered and signed by me. They are printed with archival inks on luxurious 100% cotton fine art paper. In the future I might also add small original paintings and other creations to my shop. This week there will certainly be lots of food oriented art prints for your kitchen or dining area. So get ready to shop! I'll supply the print. You provide the frame. And voila! Your spirits and your room get a colorful lift!

Tuesday Tea Time

I just discovered the iPad app called Paper by 53 which is simple and pretty great. This was the first thing I drew using my finger. Since it happened to be a cup and saucer (surprise!) I decided to share it with you. In the app you use the accordion fold paper notebooks to sketch, draw, write down ideas, or blend watercolor with your finger.

You can add new notebooks, add pages and even customize each of your notebook covers with one of your images. The accordion fold book appeals to me because I like to paint handmade artist books that fold this way. So now I have a new digital sketchbook to work in. I can't wait to get my stylus so I can draw with it...but my finger seems to work pretty well for a rough, quick sketch. See more about the app here.

Tuesday Tea Time

Fall is a wonderful time of year, flowers are still happily blooming in gardens, leaves are beginning to change color, and the weather cools enough to make long walks extremely pleasant. On my daily stroll through the neighborhood the other day I noticed the autumnal routine of leaves and their little twig branches beginning to fall out of the trees and all over the lawns and sidewalks. That inspired me for today's cup and provided the materials.
"Twig Cup", photograph

Tuesday Tea Time

Just looking at these two stacks of jaunty cups and saucers I created for today's tea cup image puts me in a cheerful mood. And, this quote by writer George Gissing seems to say it quite well for me...
"The mere chink of cups and saucers 
tunes the mind to happy repose."
"Stacked Cups", digital illustration

Tuesday Tea Time

Each morning during the warm weather months I take my tea and breakfast into the garden. Honeybees buzz busily from blossom to blossom, our two cats tiptoe around exploring, and birds thirst for a quick drink from our water fountain but decide to wait for a more private time. The mornings are getting a little bit cooler each day so I sit and read, write in my journal or sketch, savoring every last minute of patio time.
"Drinking Bird Cup", digital illustration

Tuesday Tea Time

Here is a nice quote that is quite appropriate for today's tea time image. It was written by an unknown author...short and sweet but kind of profound in a way.
"Tea is a cup of life."
"Blossom In Cup", digital illustration

Our Boy Bob Illustrations Completed!

I just finished all of the illustrations for my children's book "Our Boy Bob" (boy does that feel good)! I have been refining my drawings and then digitally painting at my computer for these past six months.  I had already written the book and sketched out all of the illustrations years ago, so I was optimistic in thinking I'd get finished before now. A huge part of my goal has been reached--the next part is to get it published and available for purchase. This is a happy day for me and I wanted to share it with you!

Metamorposis 6

The Utah Museum of Contemporary Art (UMOCA) recently held it's annual fundraiser which was an elegant and fantastically successful event. My acrylic painting above, from my new "Metamorphosis" series, was among the art sold in the art auction.

All of the invited artists created work that was 12 x 12 inches and signed their name on the back so that the patrons would purchase art without knowing who the artist was--meaning that they would be guided by their aesthetic reaction to the art rather than look for a famous name. Since this painting was from my new series that hasn't had much public exposure it was exciting for me--and I was pleasantly surprised by who ultimately purchase it.
"Metamorphosis 6", acrylic on board, 12 x 12 inches

Artist Signed Prints for Backers

This is the 5 x 7 inch signed print.

Just starting week two of the funding campaign for "Our Boy Bob" and I wanted to share these incentives with you. These are the images for the limited edition signed fine art prints from illustrations in "Our Boy Bob" for backers who have selected these incentives on Kickstarter.

This is the 13 x 19 inch signed print.

Keep spreading the word about "Our Boy Bob". And thank you so much for all of your support!

The Creation of a New Series

Do you ever feel like doing something different? I have been doing some exploring with my painting lately. A new series called "Metamorphosis" where I allow myself to paint intuitively whatever comes up rather than pre-planning my composition. The work is currently evolving and I am really enjoying it. These paintings were in the annual fundraising show at Art Access (which ends on Saturday) called "300 Plates." All the artists are given the same size metal plates (with two holes in the top) on which to paint or create.

"Metamorphosis 4" gouache

"Metamorphosis 5" acrylic

These two were my paintings and both sold at the opening night event. I am excited to see where this series leads and will keep you posted.