Gel Pen Love

Hi there. How are you? 

All I've wanted to do lately is draw with gel pens on dark paper. 

I love the smooth, milky way they flow. 

They lend themselves to these organic, abstracts beautifully. 

All of these pieces measure just 4"x 4" and are mounted onto cradled hardboard. 

Do get in touch if you're interested in purchasing. 

Happy Tuesday. Ta-Ta.

I Win!

I entered a giveaway last week on Michele Maule's blog. 

She's an artist I very much admire. Lady Luck was with me, and I won this sweet print.

It arrived in the mail just the other day. Everything about this screams cute. 

Even the package Michele sent the print in was cute!

Not only did Michele send the print, but also included an adorable owl greeting card, and a personal note. 

If you haven't ever seen Michele's work, do pop over to her etsy shop. I adore basically everything she does, but am particularly taken by her vintage camera illustrations and her little houses.

 And her chairs......Of course I love her chairs!

I haven't made anything new in the studio this week, just lots of prep work for my first show of the year, which is less than a month away. Whoa....How did it get to be the middle of April already?

Ta-ta for now!

Bird is the Word

I've been all about the birds lately. It's really all I want to draw.

Maybe because it's spring and the so many birdies are back in town and visiting our feeders. 

I've made a new male Cardinal and have another one planned.  I'm thinking they'll go over big in St. Louis, where I have my first art fair of the year. As a lifetime Chicago Cubs fan, I detest the St. Louis Cardinal baseball team,  but I'm happy to sell their fans Cardinal art!

I still can't believe I'm drawing birds. (Read more about my love-hate relationship with the feathered ones here.)  Now, I still don't want them anywhere near me.....I had a major flip out when there was one flying around in the garage last week. But, from the safety of my living room window, I appreciate their grace and beauty.

Have a good week friends. Hope spring has sprung in your neck of the woods. Ta-Ta!

Can Rejection Bring Growth?

Hi there. How are you?
I had quite a disappointment this weekend. I received the word that my applications to three different July art fairs were rejected. That means I've got a large hole in my summer schedule. I have to admit, I was upset. Rejection hurts.

Luckily, after just a little bit of pouting, I changed up my mindset.
My parents were in town this weekend and we brought them to this great high end gift store at a local winery.  Walking through the store seeing all of the pretty reminded me of one of my 2014 goals..... I want to build a wholesale business and have my goods at gift stores just like this.  I know my work would fit in well at this type of gift store and I have the means necessary to produce some very unique salable goods.

At my day job, we specialize in printing on fabric. I've been wanting to make pillows out of my bird illustrations for some time now,  and I can do that at work!  We also have a UV printer so that I could utilize to create nifty digital art prints of my work directly on cradled hardboard. I think these items would go over smashingly with retailers.

There is indeed a silver lining to this art fair rejection.  
I often complain about not having time to pursue my artistic goals.....Now I have it! This is a good thing! Having time this summer without shows will give me time to work on some other aspects of my business I've been wanting to tackle. I can get that new website up and running. I can work on product development and pursue wholesale accounts. Yes! Art fairs have been so hit or miss for me in the last few years. Having other avenues in which to distribute and sell my work is a good thing.

All of the snaps I've included here feature vegetable seedlings we have started in our window sill for our summer garden. All this new life is inspiring and seems apropos for this blog about my growing and changing business.

Stay tuned friends. I am excited for the future! Ta-Ta for now.