ACEO The Sad Ballerina
Here is another study of the sad ballerina with the hole in her tights. Poor thing, nothing worse than a hole in your dance tights.
This is a 2.5″x3.5″ mixed media painting on rag paper and is available in my Etsy shop.
ACEO Joy 2
This is a new ACEO I did recently. I have been challenging myself trying to capture extreme expressions without having them look distorted or unatural. It is hard. I think I managed to do it. I love the way children really feel the joy with their whole body. Head back, mouth open. Just pure pleasure in the moment.
This one is available in my etsy shop.
Also, this painting was included in a new treasury on etsy called It’s A Dog’s Life
This one is called ‘My Red Guitar’ and is available on Etsy
IF ‘contained’- The Secret Garden
Mary could never have imagined the secret that was contained within the stone walls.
Leopard Print and Tiger Lilies
Another new mixed media painting. I have to admit, leopard print is one of my guilty pleasures. I know to some it is condisdered tacky but I just can’t help it! I kind of shy away from wearing it myself (most but not all of the time) but I have no problem dressing my kids up in it. No problem at all!
Oh, and is it ever FUN to paint!
SOLD
Balanced
A new painting, ‘Balanced’, 18″x24″, mixed media on wood stretcher.
I found this amazing photo on http://clancysclassics.blogspot.com/, actually in her etsy shop. Check out her beautiful work. She graciously let me use this image for a print of the final painting. Thanks Marianne!
Undecided
Another painting from my new series “Too Small, Too Young”.
Undecided, 15.5 “x 20”, mixed media painting on wood stretcher.
This series is about being a child now, looking back and/or remembering being a child and also about being an adult/parent watching your child grow up. It is bitter sweet to say the least.
Sometimes I find myself looking at my children and feeling unbearably sad. I know that this sounds crazy but it is because I am not really looking at them right now, instead I am thinking about how much smaller they were not so long ago or how soon they are going to be all grown and leaving me. Awful I know, but it is the truth. I think about how far away my own childhood seems now, how foggy my memories are. How young my parents were.
In many ways, these are timeless paintings. They live neither in or out doors but exist simultaneously in both. If as though, our memories can be in some other plain all together, existing in our mind but also in this place that shifts back and forth, in and out of focus. Often hard for us to grasp completely, save a snippet here, a smidgen there.
I guess in these works I am trying to capture childhood, mine and my children’s and to somehow hold onto it for a little bit longer. If I can’t manage it in real life, perhaps painting it will help me remember to think less and be more.
IF Voices
‘Rape as a weapon of war.’
I was watching Mia Farrow speak about the horrible atrocities that are happening in the Congo right now and this really seems to fit with the topic this week. She promised these people to use her voice so the world would hear their plight. It is so horrible what is happening to these women and children. Let’s all use our voice to get this story heard.
Yell it out!
For more information link here.
Circus Girl and Elephant
This is a 11.5X15.5″ mixed media painting of circus girl being rocked to sleep by Harriet, the circus elephant.
IF “Rambuntcious”-The Sword Swallower
Everyone said that she was rambunctious as a child.
Even so, no one expected her to grow up to be a sword swallower.
This is a mixed media ACEO on paper.
AHHHHH Ooooooow Choo
This is an original 3.5″x5.5″ mixed media painting on paper.
Oh, Jimmy why do you do the things that you do? This suede boot by Jimmy Choo is a mere $1,500. That is $750 per boot. What I am offering you is this: own a Jimmy Choo boot for $20! How about that?
*** Actual boot is not included in sale****
ACEO The Girl And The Pear
This is a painting if Scarlett stealing a pear. I have this stool from IKEA that has felt on the bottom and she can move that thing around and get up to where she wants to before I even know what is up. Most of the time it is to steal food. Honest, I DO feed her!
Oh, and look, there is another empty chair. For those of you that follow my blog, you will know what I mean. For those of you that don’t, get with the program!
SOLD
IF-Balloon
‘She liked the argyle socks, but what she really wanted was a balloon!’
OK, I know this is a bit of a stretch but, having a latex allergy, I really can’t bring myself to paint these things. I also know that it is extremely hard to explain to a two year old that they can’t have a balloon because mommy’s lips will swell up like a blowfish!
The Cardinal’s song
“Cheer, cheer, cheer,
whoit, whoit, whoit, whoit,
chip”
I hear you welcoming winter
I welcome it too
It’s soft feathery flakes
Tickle my nose and cheeks
They gently land on my eyelashes
Cardinal, you are so red against the crisp white snow,
Like a winter berry
A Christmas bird
My favorite time of year
Winter is on its way and I am trying my hardest at being positive.
Opinion – Illustration Friday – I Talked To A Crow Today
I never met a crow that didn’t have an opinion about one thing or another!
This is a piece I did earlier this year.
The following poem accompanies it.
I talked to a crow today,
or rather, he talked to me.
I’m not sure what he was going on about
but he did go on and on and on.
I talked to a crow today,
he had an awful lot to say.
“Mr. Crow,” I said politely, ” will you please let me get a word in?”
But he wasn’t even listening.
He went on and on and on.
That is the way it is with crows,
and sometimes with people too.
Not really interested in conversing,
but rather in the sound of their own voice.
I listened to a crow today,
he went on and on and on.
Harlequin ACEOs
Three new ACEO harlequin musicians available at my etsy store http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5037264
Ring Around The Rosie
I did this illustration for the December issue of our community newspaper, The Rat Creek Press http://www.ratcreek.org/. This issue’s focus is ‘good Neighbors’.
This original mixed media painting is available here http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=17177061
My Red Flute
I did this mixed media mini canvas (2.5″x2.5″) today.
Available here http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=17176544
Another Red Accordion
This is an original 8″x10″ mixed media painting on paper covered canvas.
I did an ACEO of this same image a few days ago. I am just loving this new character and colour palette! Music is very much a part of our house. The girls just love to give Chris and I a concert. They both love applause. I guess the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. Not me, Chris. I can’t play a note.
Little, Little Red Riding Hood
Here is a smaller version of Don’t Stray From The Path. It is a mixed media ACEO that i finished today.
SOLD
Oh, by the way, yesterday I was featured in this really neat newsletter called Paper Street’s Catch Of The Day, this is a family operation (even their eight year old son is involved). You have to subscribe to get the newsletter emailed to you http://paperstreetsupplies.com/
They also have a shop on etsy http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5291682
Thanks you guys!
My Red Guitar
I love my red guitar
It almost looks juicy
I could just eat it up
It makes sweet music
That fills me up
It makes me feel happy
It makes me feel content
This an original 11″x15.5″ mixed media painting on 100% rag paper.
This painting is available here http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=16864305
You’re Beautiful When You’re Mad
You’re beautiful when you are mad. You’re beautiful when you are tired and even when you just wake up in the morning . And you don’t even care.
Beauty is wasted on children.
Meanwhile back at the ranch … here I am. Mad, tired and constantly feeling like I just woke up. And all because of children! And I DO care! As my five year old would say “That’s no fair!”.
