Parades, Parents, Planets, and Promotion

Wow! It's been a busy week!

I started off contributing to and promoting a great auction to support Breast Cancer Research (see previous post or just click here for more information.





Mom and Dad arrived Monday afternoon for a short visit and on Fat Tuesday we all went to the local Mardi Gras parade to celebrate. Here's a great picture of Dad, Mom, and I - Charles is behind the camera!



Later Tuesday night we noticed a bright star in the night sky. After some discussion we decided it might be the planet Venus and since it was REALLY bright I decided to put my little digital camera on a tripod and take a picture of it. Moments later we were uploading the picture to the Mac and zooming in for a closer look.


As you can see from the photo, Venus has a big hole in it and has grown fur! Confused, we went to Google and asked about the night sky. We were amazed to discover that we were actually looking at the comet Lulin!

We've all recovered from Fat Tuesday and Mom and Dad are back at home in Georgia now. I'm back at work doing crafty things and last night I completed this drawing that I'm submitting to Illustration Friday. The theme this week is "Instinct"; not the easiest topic but I thought this idea would make a cute picture.



Finally, tonight I am live on the air with "Ruthie" of Rose Works Jewelry. Ruthie has an Internet Radio Show on Blockheadradio where she interviews a different artist every Thursday night at 9pm EST. Tune in if you're free!

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For a Great Cause!

Hooray! Today one of my custom coasters goes on the auction block to support Breast Cancer research!

My friend over at Triage From Home is doing a 3-day, 90km walk to raise money for Breast Cancer Research and she has asked her artist friends to contribute something to the cause.

How could I resist?!?

When I told "Bessie the Cow" about Breast (Udder) Cancer she got seriously concerned and agreed this was a worthwhile effort. Now you can have Bessie on your desk to remind everyone of the importance of finding a cure!



Offer open to U.S. and Canadian residents only (sorry everyone else). Auction ends March 1st.

What are you waiting for? Get over to Triage From Home and place your bid!

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Arachisalmonellaphobia

Arachisalmonellaphobia - The fear of being poisoned to death by a product containing peanuts. Not to be confused with Arachibutyrophobia, the fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of the mouth.

Here's a handy list to feed your phobia:

FDA Product Recall List


Just for fun, here are other phobias to consider...

• Elurophobia- Fear of cats.
• Alektorophobia- Fear of chickens.
• Peladophobia- Fear of bald people.
  
• Automatonophobia- Fear of ventriloquist's dummies, animatronic creatures, wax statues
  
• Chorophobia- Fear of dancing.
  
• Politicophobia- Fear or abnormal dislike of politicians.
  
• Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia- Fear of long words.
• Microphobia- Fear of small things.
  
• Phobophobia- Fear of phobias.
• Blogaphobia - fear of blogs.
  

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If a Bear Sips in the Woods...

Black Bear Critter coasters
Available in my ETSY shop

These two funny guys came from a custom order request: "Can you make a black bear coaster with his paws on his head?"
Bear - check, no problem.
Paws on head - hmmmmm, how about one paw?

I'm not sure what the 'paws on the head' effect was supposed to achieve. In this case the poor fellows just look really hung over. If that story does not fly with you we'll just say they woke from their hibernation 2 months too early.

One of these guys gets tossed in the custom order box, the other goes on sale in my ETSY store - Stay tuned to see who goes where!

The Judges have made their decision - click here to see which bear is in my ETSY shop now!

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And now for something completely different...

Just when you were getting used to Robots and Owls, she changes gears again...

This latest project was inspired by one of the great pop artists of the 21st century - Andy Warhol. There are dozens of tools online today that let you "Warholize" any picture to give it that wonderful pop art feeling Warhol achieved with this classic original:



I started thinking about what I might immortalize in a Warhol style painting. When the subject popped into my head I quickly 'googled' the concept to see if it had been done before.
I was shocked - I could not find a single, original work of art like this. I felt it was my obligation to paint one!
Without further delay... I present my own, original, Warhol-like creation:

The "Warholized" Easter Peeps
Acrylic on Canvas 8 x 10

I feel a Peeps series coming... There's Picasso (cubism), Dali (surrealism), Matisse (fauvism), you get the idea...

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Robot Love

It was only a matter of time...
Come on, robots need companions too.
Welcome "GirlBot" to the family:

Acrylic on 140lb watercolor paper 5x7 inches

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The Story Continues...

I gave more thought to the Robot and Owl this weekend and decided that the Robot needed to be from some place far away. He's having a lot of trouble trying to communicate with his new Owl friends. It seems his translator has been acting up.

After hearing the owl, say "Hoo, hoo, hoo" his translator finally kicked in and told him the Owl was asking who he was and where he came from. Just before the sun comes up, Robot points to his home planet - still visible in the early morning dawn.

"Robot points toward Home"
8 x 10 Acrylic on Canvas

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More Robot fun

8x10 Acrylic on Canvas
5x7 prints available in my ArtFire shop NOW!

A new picture of the Robot and his Owl friend. I think I'm almost finished with it. What do you think?

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Happy Birthday Darwin!

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You Name It!

11x14 inch Artist Quality Acrylics on Canvas

For the life of me I cannot come up with a name for this painting.

This was so much fun I know I will paint more pictures with these same characters! I really need to put my imagination to work now and give these guys names. Would you like to help me give this painting (and these characters) a name?

Leave a title in comments, with a way to contact you and for your trouble I'll send you an ACEO print of this painting (2.5 x 3.5 inch Artist Trading Card) which can be framed or kept in the protective plastic sleeve in which it is shipped.

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The Moose are Loose!

Looks like things between Moose and Squirrel are not so good these days...

The Moose Coasters - coming soon to my ETSY shop

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Good Monday Morning!

Just a quick announcement -

MissKnits has won my "Top Secret Valentines Giveaway" and will be receiving in the mail shortly some really cute prizes!

Thanks everyone for participating and come by my ETSY and ArtFire shops often to see what's new!

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Messing about with the pencils again...

I was thinking the other day about WHY we LOVE the ones we love. It's often the funny or odd things that draw us to people and make us see them as someone special. I thought that deserved an illustration so I grabbed my watercolor pencils and went to work!

"George and Daisy" Watercolor and pen 5x7

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Speed Painting!

Thursday night a bunch of the girls got together and visited a local art gallery for a fun night of painting with acrylics. For a very reasonable price we were all provided with a large canvas, an easel, an assortment of brushes, an unlimited supply of paint, and a picture of SOMETHING TO PAINT!
Sounds easy right? Now here's the hard part - complete the painting in 2 hours!

We all got busy drawing our bottles (we had a little help in that department) and then went to town! Some of us painted the picture as we saw it, others gave it a whole new look. As time passed it was amazing to see how different each painting was and how talented we all were with a paint brush!


At the end of the class we all had a completed painting and we were very happy with ourselves and the experience. I think we'll all be doing this again in the near future!

Since I was the photographer I did not get a shot of myself working. My completed painting is shown above. The silly picture of me was done at Pikipimp.com - check it out, it's serious fun!

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Top Secret Valentines Giveaway

OK, maybe it's not that secret after all but IT IS a GIVEAWAY!

From now until midnight February 8th, someone will have a chance to win TWO fun Valentines items:

1) A Heart themed coaster - Works with hot and cold beverages, has a soft foam underside to protect your furniture. This would be perfect for your true love's coffee cup or wine glass!



2) A cute ACEO Art Card print of my original illustration titled "Cupid's Cousin". He's the the guy who's responsible for all of those 'not quite right' relationships we sometimes fall into!


So, you're probably thinking, what do I have to do to win these cool items? It's easy!

• For ONE entry, visit my ArtFire shop and comment on this blog post telling me what item you like best and why.
• For an EXTRA entry, mention this contest on your blog and include your blog link in the comment.
• For even ONE MORE entry, follow me on Twitter and Tweet about the contest!

That's right, those three simple things can get your name entered THREE times for this fabulous drawing.

Get busy, this contest ends midnight EST February 8th (that's this Sunday)! This contest is open to USA and Canadian residents only. I promise to do my best to get these products delivered to you in time for Valentines Day but I cannot be held responsible for bad weather ☂ or Postal Service mishaps ✎.

Good Luck!

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Georgia on my Mind

OK, this is not a tribute to Ray Charles... This is about the strange places we find ourselves and why we buy art... Are you hooked yet?


While sailing along the coast of the Black Sea in the summer of 2004, we had a chance to travel inland to the beautiful city of Tbilisi, Georgia. This part of the world has had its' fair share of trials and tribulations but through it all it has maintained a rich and diverse community of talented artists. While walking the streets of Tbilisi we stumbled upon this man on the street. His paintings were leaning against light poles and fire hydrants, sitting on top of cabbage crates and storage boxes. He was sound asleep and completely unaware of the world around him.

We managed to work up the nerve to wake him and after a few minutes of deliberation we settled on a painting we thought would, one day, look very lovely hanging in our kitchen. We paid the man the equivalent of 40 US dollars and happily took our treasure away and back to our sailboat.

This painting (oil on burlap, stretched on a hand made frame), hung in our forward locker in a canvas bag for the next 4.5 years while we made our way around Turkey and then eventually through the Mediterranean Sea, across the Atlantic Ocean and back to the United States.

Some 8500 miles and five years later, this painting finally went to the art shop to be framed. I picked up the picture today and am completely delighted with the results. Looking at it now, it's not the best painting we've ever purchased but it so perfectly represents the artist it's almost like having the man here. Where ever you are now - here's wishing you many more years of a happy life - painting, sleeping, or doing anything that brings you the most happiness...

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Cupid's Cousin

*** Public Service Announcement ***

Valentine's Day is quickly approaching so it is imperative that all women be alerted to the possibility of a visit from Cupid's cousin, Clarence. Not as well known as his brother, Clarence is responsible for havoc and heartache every February 14th. It is crucial that all women be alerted to the symptoms resulting from the sting of Clarence's arrow and take precautions to protect themselves.

Symptoms that indicate you have been shot by one of Clarence's arrows:

1. You have an uncontrollable urge to eat all things chocolate - you catch yourself adding chocolate chips to your cheese omelet.
   
2. You suddenly find the Viagra and Cialis commercials romantic and touching.
3. You have an uncontrollable urge to watch "Sleepless in Seattle" over and over again.
4. You think the bald, overweight grocery bagger at the local supermarket has date potential.

If you experience these symptoms, you are at HIGH RISK of hooking up with a really bad date this Valentine's day. If you find yourself in a bar, please keep this list of comebacks handy to avoid this unfortunate event:

• Man: "Haven't I seen you someplace before? You: "Yeah, that's why I don't go there anymore."
• Man: "So, wanna go back to my place ?" You: "Well, I don't know. Will two people fit under a rock?"
• Man: "Your place or mine?" You: "Both. You go to yours and I'll go to mine."
• Man: "I'd like to call you. What's your number?" You: "It's in the phone book." Man: "But I don't know your name." You: "That's in the phone book too."
• Man: "So what do you do for a living?" You: "I'm a female impersonator."
• Man: "I know how to please a woman." You: "Then please leave me alone."
• Man: "I want to give myself to you." You: "Sorry, I don't accept cheap gifts."
• Man: "If I could see you naked, I'd die happy: You: "Yeah, but if I saw you naked, I'd probably die laughing."
• Man: "I would go to the ends of the world for you. You: "Yes, but would you stay there?

Good luck, stay safe,
and be on a watchful lookout for Clarence!
Prints of "Cupid's Cousin" are available now in my ArtFire shop.

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What a Great Week!

If anyone ever asks you to help them take a boat to Central or Southern Florida, say YES!
We arrived home Saturday night after a wonderful 7 day cruise with our friends Larry and Rita. During the week we traveled over 350 miles and saw some beautiful stretches of the Intracoastal Water Way, the expansive Gulf of Mexico, and the beautiful coast and bays of Tampa / St Pete. Along the way we visited harbors like quiet Apalachicola and vibrant St Petersburg, anchored along the ICW in what must have once been a pirate's hideaway, ate lots of great meals and shared lots of tall sea stories. Here are just a few of the great pictures we captured along the way...

Thanks Larry and Rita for a great ride!!!

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