New Paintings Arriving at Allied Arts Tomorrow!

Six new paintings to arrive at Allied Arts Gallery tomorrow -- November 19th. I have been creating paintings with the idea that they would be nice in a baby or child's bedroom. The above shows these seahorse paintings in such a setting. They are also framed and presented on top of a textured paper.

Daisy Push-ups

6" x 6'
One - two - three . . . touch the sky. One - two - three back down again. Okay everybody is looking good. That is besides the little yellow bud who has collapsed with exhaustion. Given a recent kick back to the gym, I feel for that little one.

Sunshine Flowers

6" x 6"
Like Summer in the House this type of sunshine (the bright colored flower-type) is what everyone wants on a rainy fall day in the Northwest. I love the excuse to bring flowers in my house -- I need something to paint after all. Happy sunny fall time everyone! I love to play off of the duality of the colors of autumn leaves found in little sunny beams of daisies and such.

Lion-Flower and Friends

6" x 6"
The most gentle of lions is this Lion-Flower. This painting is about texture -- can you feel it?

Owl in Maple Leaf Tree

6" x 6"
This little owlet found a home in a giant maple leaf. The leaf is transforming into a forest of trees up by the head of the owl. This piece started as a regular autumn leaf and the rest of the elements grew into it. First parts of the leaf were cut out and filled in with blue sky. The rest unfolded part by part.

Dragon Seahorse

6" x 6"
The head of a dragon, the tail of a kitty cat and the nose of a kissing fish.

These two seahorses seem to fit right together (see the seaweed connecting all by chance).

This pair (each beautifully framed) will be brought to the Allied Arts Gallery on November 19th to replace the two seahorses that sold.

Backwards Seahorse

6" x 6"
This little guy looks as if he is swimming backwards. A small current has come by (in orange) and is ever so slightly pushing him back. As a seahorse he just floats and goes along for the ride. What a life!

A seahorse with scaly scales yet the mane of a lion in mo-hawk form. Is he soft or is he not?

This ocean-flower will drift to the Allied Arts Gallery on November 19th.

Flowers and Leaves

6" x 6"
Are these flowers or leaves or maybe some of each? Either way they look tropical and maybe magical.

On the Inside -- Gallery Show

I had the most wonderful time at the show opening Friday night. It was so delightful to be given a highlighting spot in the show. Kelly and Katy of Allied Arts did such a wonderful job hanging the show. I know it is not easy to hang a bunch of small pieces so I appreciate their efforts on my behalf.

The element that made the show so welcoming and warming to me as an artist was the people involved -- including art seekers, fellow artists and gallery directors. I was very excited to sell five paintings during opening night. Even more noteworthy was that the buyers truly appreciated the works and each brought interesting stories to add to my creative rapport. I knew Patchwork Kitty found a good home when the the new owner gave me a hug of appreciation. Thank you to everybody who came to the show and helped encourage me towards this moment.

I am happy to announce that I have a solo show booked for October 2012 at Honey Salon.

On the Inside -- Upcoming Gallery Show

I have been working on framing and getting my work ready for an upcoming show at the Allied Arts Gallery.  The show, called On the Inside, is opening this Friday night, November 4th and running through November 26th. 

From the press release: "Both of the artists in this exhibit create works that are inspired by how they are feeling, dreams they have had, or their interpretation of the environment around them.

Tim Alexander forms his abstract paintings on canvas using various size putty knives and the canvas placed on the floor rather then an easel. His finished pieces usually take on many forms before getting to the point of satisfaction. The pictures that emerge are a reaction to what is going on inside him at those moments.

Rachel Potter creates small scale acrylic and pen and ink drawings. Rachel’s goal with her work, which she calls “dreamscapes,” is to create common items, animals and landscapes, as they would be in a dream with fancy colors and a wild imagination.

In conjunction with this show, Allied Arts’ Inside the Box Series will feature work from Nanz Aalund.  Nanz has been designing jewelry since high school and has made it a life long career. Her fanciful and unique designs are both beautiful and functional for everyday wear." 

I'm looking forward to the show and to sharing the space with Tim and Nanz. Thank you the Allied Arts for all their efforts in putting this show together.Thank you especially to Katy and Kelly.

Barnyard Cat

The long-awaited Barnyard Cat is finally here. This cat is intended to go with her friends: Barnyard Rooster, Barnyard Dog and Barnyard Donkey. Together they make up the composition for the Bremen Town Musicians.  I have created several kitties, however none of them seemed to fit the mold. Until I made this one based on my own little (actually very big) black and white fluffy cat. Below all the friends meet at last:

Scallop Boutique

6" x 6"
A boutique of scallops. My son has this book called, Whale by David Lucas. (Thanks to Alina, Gabe and Lucian for the book -- it's a favorite over here.) It is about a beached whale who needs help. He gets help from the townspeople who ask for rain, but then they live in a city of water. To repay them he drinks up all the water and summons the critters of the ocean to decorate. Little crabs and such bring scallop shells like these and line them back to back along the beach and on all the buildings and houses. I love the illustrations in that book -- they are so detailed. While painting these shells I imaged they could find a place in that town.

Magic Seahorse 2

6" x 6"
There is something special about a magic seahorse. I had painted one like this before -- see header. The first sweet little guy swam away from me and found a happy home. I was itching for another red seahorse so I painted this one. The beauty of painting is that each painting is never the same. Each is unique as a snowflake even if it was painted by the same artist and with the same subject, etc.

Laughing Duck

This little bird of whimsy was created on a wood panel with ink showing the wood grain. I had this unfinished for some time and came back to it and added the white and yellow background.

I was not really sure what to do with this one at this point, but found the green frame. It pulls out color from the duck inside works wonders. Thanks little wooden green frame!

Electric Seahorse

6" x 6"

A seahorse with electricity,
To brighten the ocean below.

Twinkle Twinkle Little Starfish 2

My son's favorite bedtime song is Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. I painted this painting with him in mind. Why wouldn't a child see a starfish in the sky in a dream?

There is a long story (well sort of long) that goes along with this painting . . . ask me about it.

Magic Starfish

6" x 6"

Rub a magic starfish and gain three wishes.

1. Surf
2. Sand
3. Star

Or make your own . . . 

Twinkle Twinkle Little Sunfish

6" x 6"
This is the counterpart to Twinkle Twinkle Little Starfish. Sunfish is in orange and starfish is in gold. starfish are in the sea and night sky, while sunfish are in the ocean-sun and daytime sky. Imagine a puffy white cloud and bright blue sky around this flouting creature. Wishing you a day full of happiness!

Nautilus -- Remake

6" x 6"
This nautilus painting was started about a year ago and posted under the same name on 9/6/10 if you wish to reference. The acrylic part was the foundation. I liked the painting, but I thought something was missing. It looked a bit dull to me so I added the ink to bring about some more definition. Still wanting to brighten further I added touches of bright color throughout and bright strokes of blue and yellow in the background.

Birdfish Dogfish

1' x 1'
What type of fish do you see today? A birdfish and a dogfish of course. This painting has turned out to be part of a process painting -- started back when I was a child. The very beginning of this was based on a sketch I did when I was a little girl. I'll look for the drawing and post as a reference.

Daisies and Rocks in Water No. 5

This painting, just like the last one, continues the Daisies and Rocks series. This one is inside a square glass jar. These daisies are turning into lily pads.

Daisies and Rocks in Water No. 4

This is a continuation on from the "Daisies and Rocks" series. I added the word "Water" because this is an essential element that was forgotten. What if daises were the only rocks in a riverbed?

Summer in the House -- Remake

This painting is a repainting of the original painting Summer in the House if you wish to reference. The original looked a little too dark to me to represent summer. This one is a little lighter. Notice both paintings were worked on in the fall -- they represent the wish to hang onto the last days of sunshine. Bring the warm heat and light into the house in a vase and ignore the fact that leaves are blowing from trees outside and raindrops are kissing the flower petals outside.

Cardinal In Tree

This little cardinal is along the ink drawing/painting lines as the owls and boobies that I have been working on. The other feathered friends never caused me as much trouble as this guy. For awhile there I thought I should crop this painting, but instead went with putting it inside a frame and letting the sides show.

Spotted Owl Overlooks

Ink on paper with layered paper attributes.

I'm excited to welcome myself back to the pen and ink technique. After a not-so-recent accident from a quill-pen I have been reluctant to "pick up the pen" so to speak.  I'm back -- and wish to introduce this new piece -- Spotted Owl Overlooks.

This is the artwork framed:

Self-Portrait by my son and I

This is a self-portrait painting by my son and I. We each painted a self-portrait and combined them together on this page. They came together so spontaneously and ended up holding hands. I am in Yellow and he is in Blue. I'm framing this one. :) I love how my three-year old son's drawing seems to be dancing above my head.

Caroline Kei's Book of Animals

 

Custom illustration for a children's board book.
Seven full page spreads plus a front and back cover.
Children's book inspired by stories by a mother and father for their little girl. 

I helped them illustrate the dreams in their head. 

Please see the following included illustrations.

Dreamscapes at the Bellingham Farmers Market

Yesterday was Deamscapes and Baby Bird Designs first day at the Bellingham Farmers Market. Thank you to everyone who helped make the day a success! I wanted to especially thank my husband for all his help (on our anniversary:) Also thank you to all those who helped watch my son yesterday. (Thanks to Ariel, Eric, Miranda, Rachel, Gabe, Alina and Daddy. The little guy had such a fun day playing with all his friends.) I also would like to thank Rick, Erin and Helen at the Market who helped me with set-up details and first day jitters.

In these photos are some examples of my Baby Bird Designs work: wearable art, baby onesies and T-shirts for children and adults.

Baby Bird Designs will be at the Market again next Saturday. Also with Mother's Day fast approaching (May 8th) Baby Bird Designs will be hosting a fun activity for kids to give to their "momma birds" and will be offering a free Mother's Day card with every purchase. If you are not in the Bellingham area don't worry the free card offer (and the activity) are extended to you also this week. Please just ask. Thanks!

Looking forward to seeing you at the Market next week . . . (or online:)

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I am coming back from the future (11/11/11) to update this post and just wanted to add a few points.

The market was wonderful! I truly enjoyed meeting everyone and the great experiences made there. Thank you to vendors, customers and friends! In addition, thank you to Katie for all of your help. I could not have done this without you.

Easter Window Painting

Happy Easter everyone! In honor of Easter I present to you this series of window paintings I painted for Mayberry Sporting Goods & Fountain. This is the second job I have done for this company as I had designed a logo for them earlier. Please see this listing under the "logo" category.

The above drawing is the sketch I first created to act as a base for the finished paintings. 

It was very enjoyable to paint on a window since the paint could easily be wiped off and replaced and I had fun with the large scale surface area.

I used inspiration from two of my card designs for this project. (See if you can find which paintings -- the card designs are shown below.)