It has been awhile!

I have been busy with Ebay and Etsy and Facebook and ....

I just added a bunch of new items to my Etsy shop http://artbylmr.etsy.com/. I ordered some of my work from CafePress to sell on Etsy. I also have a copy of 'Art on a Plate' the ACEO cookbook for sale. I have my scrumpcious caramel apple cake in there with an ACEO portrait that will make your mouth water. Are you hungry yet?

I also tried my hand at making some glass magnets. They turned out great and I have a set of 3 on sale for only $5.oo. I plan to make more. I just love the tiny reproductions of my artwork.

Work in Progress Done!

I know this took way to long. I had some other projects going on so I would sneek this in here and there. I still may do some tweeking, but it is essentially done. If you scroll down for previous posts you can see some 'in progress' photos. I also included the reference photo used to paint from.

I think I still may lighten up some flowers/leaves faceing the sun and adjust one of the window mouldings for perspective, but you can get the idea! I just noticed that I didn't finish the pumpkin stems - OOPS! So I still need to do that.

This one was a challenge! I had to darken the values of the entire piece from the photo so I could keep the magenta color without going too pink in the light. I also kept the hanging petunia looking more alive than the photo. Let's just pretend it is earlier in the fall when they were healthier.

Thanks for all your kind comments on this as I went along! I need to take a better photo too - the colors are so much better in the painting.

Artists from the Visual Artists Street Team (VAST) TRUNK show!

What is a TRUNK show you may ask? I was wondering the same thing. Now I am participating in one! Check out the explanation below courtesy of organizer Kristen Stein.

Artists from the Visual Artists Street Team (VAST) will participate in a TRUNK show using one of Etsy's dynamic virtual lab rooms. A variety of art styles and prices will be shown all with a 'Welcome Spring' focus. Many of the artists will be online "live" to interact with the viewers and the buyers. It's sure to be a fun event with both colorful commentary and art! Be sure to join us.

The event will take place in the etsy virtual lab rooms on February 18th at 7 p.m. EST http://www.etsy.com/virtual_labs.php

You can also check out the Facebook page for the event here: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=53479887413&ref=nf

I will be showing 3-4 items and having some great promotions and giveaways! So please check it out! This is a sneak peek at one of my featured items. 4 pansy postcards, perfect for Spring!

ACEO~Art Cards, Editions and Originals Playing Card Deck.

I am so excited to be a part of this project this time around!!!! The Ebay group' ACEO~Art Cards, Editions and Originals' did one of these decks last year and it turned out great!!!! This year they are doing a double deck to give more artists a chance to participate.

I am doing the 6 of spades. I need to figure out what to do soon - it is due March 1. Any ideas?

I am showing this card from last year's deck as an example. I hope mine will look just as nice:) This was done by Coloredpencilartist. He is organizing the project this year. A big shout out to him for his hard work!

The Hubcap is done!

Well, except for a couple coats of sealer. I wanted to show the ocean in bright and vibrant colors, almost as a fantasy world. The hubcap I received fit right in to that scenario by looking a bit like a port hole anyway. I played that up with gold paint. This was a fun project and I hope it will also do some good.

Since I was involved in this project, I did a bit of research and found that there is a section of the Pacific ocean known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch that is estimated to be double the size of Texas. The area contains more than 3 million tons of plastic. You can read more about it here: http://www.greatgarbagepatch.org/

Upcycling, repurposing, call it what you will. It is a great idea.

Painting on a Hubcap!

I have been accepted by a project on www.landfillart.org to create a piece of art from an old hubcap. I just got my primed hubcap in the mail today. Should be fun! I will post the before and after pics when I am done.

To participate you can apply here: http://www.landfillart.org/index-5.html. Ken is looking for participants from all PA counties, all 50 states and as many countires as he can get - for a total of 1041 artists.

It is for a great cause!

Another exciting installment of 'Fall Market'

Here we are again. In this episode, I finished up the reflections in the closest window. I then started the long process of doing the trim work - kind of like painting a room in your house :)

I mixed up a blue I liked and then mixed a couple variations - lighter and darker for the closest window. This was the hardest to paint since any variations from straight lines are more noticeable. I really liked the reflections once the criss cross on the window was done.

I then lightened and dulled ever so slightly each blue variation for the next window and repeated the process. After the 2nd window, I was running out of paint so I tried doing some trim around the door. It turned out too light so I will start again there next time. Same Bat Time, Same Bat Channel.