We have a new little addition to the family...

Look what showed up at our house today!!! This ADORABLE little wooded fairy door from a wonderful etsy shop, NothinButWood. (This is the picture from the shop...my camera batteries are re-charging so I'll post a pic of our door later!) Anyway...I showed Jack and Ari the little note that came with the door that had a picture of a little Elf on it. And, since they can't read yet, I made up a story about how the little elf sent us this magic door, and if we find a special place for it in our garden, he will use his magic key to open the door and visit while we are sleeping.

You can stop laughing at me now.

So my hope is that the kids and I will begin building little benches, adding stepping stones, creating a little garden and even a little outdoor stove for our special magical friend who visits while we sleep.

I'm keeping an eye out for cute books about gnomes or fairies - let me know if you have any suggestions!

And if you have kiddos or grandkids and a tree, you need a fairy door!

A Wonderful Figure Drawing Website to share

I came across this really diverse collection of nude figure drawings on a site, BeautifulDrawings.com. The founder, Scott Kirkman, has pulled together a wonderful sampling of figurative works ranging from traditional to contemporary. I am very inspired by the use of paint, the unique poses,and the multi-faceted works he shares on this site.

I hope you give it a visit! He has included a few of my works in the Esprit Gallery.

"Guarded" will be on a book cover!

OK OK OK I am very excited to let you in on the secret...I have been asked by a very talented writer for permission to use my painting, "Guarded" as the cover illustration for her up-coming book of poetry!

Laura Mercurio Ebohon is a lovely soul that I met thru Twitter, who saw my image of "Guarded" and contacted me about using it for the cover of her poetry collection titled "If I Look Inside". I am so thrilled for her - her work was selected after applying for a contest for unpublished authors and poets.

The book will be published in October of 2009 and will be available in both English and Italian (another reason for me to learn the language! I will be practicing for our anniversary trip this fall!) The publisher will also be selling it as an e-book on line.

As I mentioned in the previous post, I am so pleased that this image connects with so many people, and I am truly honored that Laura feels that it captures what she is trying to say with her Poetry.

I look forward to sharing more updates as the project comes to fruition!

This is my favorite poem that I read of hers (so far!) - of course, it is entitled "Dancing" (my other favorite pastime!)

"Dancing" by Laura Mercurio Ebohon
Copyright 2009
(part of the poetry book to be published Fall 2009)

I dance and fire is burning inside
Flames like blades
I dance and I breathe
The scent of jasmine in the air
And springtime breeze
I dance and notes play my soul
Waves that smell of sea
I dance and feel light
A hesitant leaf touching the ground
I dance and it's raining outside
Flames are dampened
Fire put out

Guarded - one of my favorite paintings - revisited

Artists, if we are lucky, occasionally make an image that seems to connect with everyone who sees it. I created this painting, "Guarded", about 5 years ago, and it actually sold only about 2 hours after it left my studio for the first time. From then on, every time I participated in an outdoor show, the prints of "Guarded" sold out almost immediately! I still receive e-mails from potential collectors looking to buy the original!

I had been working on a series of female figures that were all in various ways fitting into a "square" or "box". Many of the paintings from that series were painted from pictures of myself. (you'd be amazed at how helpful and attentive my husband was when I said "Honey, could you take some photos of me? naked?)

I hate speculating on WHY people resonate with a certain image, for fear that I will put my own interpretation and meaning out there, preventing you from seeing your own ideas and emotions. But whatever the reason, I am deeply honored and thrilled to connect with people thru my work.

Well there is a new prospect on the horizon - an opportunity to share this image with a whole bunch of new people! The opportunity has encouraged me to re-visit the image. I had a giclee printed out as large as possible from a digital file, and I am now going to paint over it, enhancing the colors and the textures to capture the same feel of the original painting. (That is the print on canvas hanging in my (messy!) studio)

I'm very excited about this new opportunity and promise to keep you posted as it progresses!

Finding Joy and Thanks in little things....

Morning Glories are one of my favorite flowers. I started growing them every year from seeds about 8 yrs ago when we lived in Poquoson, VA. Even though they are considered annuals, mine would come back every year! They covered the entire trellis with lovely blue flowers, facing the morning sun, shrinking away quickly if rain was approaching...

This year, much to my dismay, all of the seeds that I started indoors got moldy and didn't survive. It happenend to my neighbor's starter plants, too. We don't know why! I was so sad at the thought of no Morning Glories to say hi to every day.

Then about a week ago I noticed a few lonely leaves popping up from the planter. Soon, it became a vine...and it crawled ever so quickly up the trellis towards the sun! Oh yes! A morning glory vine came back!

Now, as if that wasn't cause enough for a celebration, the flowers were not the pretty blue I always planted...but a deep purple with a fuscia star in the middle!!! That color NEVER grew for me! The blues always took over!

Now I am enjoying these gorgeous flowers every morning...

My point is, and I do have one, is that this morning glory seems to be a metaphor for many things in my life. Cultivating a relationship with my husband, friends, and neighbors, raising my children, building my art business on-line...the results aren't always immediate, or even what I planned, but sometimes, a seed that I planted long ago suddenly begins to thrive.

My hope is that you are finding surprising and joyful moments in the things you are cultivating your life. The rewards may not always come quickly, or even be the results you planned, but you never know what seeds of potential you planted log ago may suddenly begin to grow.

SOLD - Saying good-bye to a few favorite figure drawings

It's been a bitter-sweet few weeks of saying "good bye" to some of my favorite drawings! I just packaged up three more orders today (I swear! Safely packaging up a pastel portrait might be harder than creating it! Well, not really, but you know what I mean!)

In the last (almost) year that I have been selling on-line, it has been incredibly satisfing to connect with fellow artists and collectors. For me, the sales are just the icing on the cake - a validation of my skills and a reward for effectively sharing my work. Thank you to all of you who have shared your work with me, and a special thanks to those who are living with my work - originals and reproductions alike - it is incredibly flattering and I can't begin to tell you how much it means to me!

A few recent sales...

Art Quote

You need a certain dose of inspiration, a ray from on high, that is not in ourselves, in order to do beautiful things.

Van Gogh