The Cameronas

I was recently asked to make a piece for the Cameronas who are expecting a baby very soon. I thought a triptych with 10x10 inch panels would be fun because it could be more like a mural or the canvases could be separated and hung up in different places around the baby's room. The ground lines match up and the tree branches extend from one canvas into the next. It was a lot of fun creating these. I tried to incorporate pink as much as possible which means I ate a lot of cereal with strawberries in it...no complaints here mmmm :)
Enjoy!

I Geek Art Fair!

Come see me on Friday, September 24th and Saturday, the 25th at the Des Moines downtown public library for I Geek Art Fair during the Art Stop!! There will be some great art at this event! Lots of beautiful art to buy for adults and children!

If you want to check out more of my work I also have some pieces at the From Our Hands gallery in the East Village in downtown Des Moines!

6x6 inch paintings with recycled cereal boxes

Wall Decals

I've been experimenting with some wall decals but different. These have a bit of bas relief, just like my paintings. Typically, wall decals are flat on the wall and vinyl. However, I wanted to stick to the theme of stacking and using recycled cereal boxes to make them. I applied them on the wall above a vase in my house and liked the look. I'll be making more to sell as magnets and these decals will be in packages of 3 or 4 for sale as well. Yay decals!

Seahorse Numero Uno

A friend of mine commissioned a piece to be displayed in her new office. Her only request was that there be a seahorse in the painting. It's funny, we both thought seahorses were imaginary animals like a unicorn but found out they were real once we saw them at a zoo! They are weird but very cool little creatures and apparently tasty. Every time I see a travel show about a country in Asia, these are in the street vendors line up of interesting things to eat on a stick! I'll pass. Anywho, this is my first attempt at a seahorse and I'm pleased with how it came out. I'll be making more of them for sure. Listening to the advice of another friend, I will also be making more sea/ocean life creatures with my cereal boxes. This painting is a 12x12. I really liked working with this size. Click on it to see the details!

Blog Feature!!

My Blue Bean bird painting was featured today on the blog "Kid Giddy" under the this'n'that section. Sweet! Thanks a bunch : ) Check out the feature here: http://kidgiddy.blogspot.com/2010/03/this-n-that.html#comment-form

I Made an Article on Etsy!!!

One of my paintings, Paul the Porcupine, made the "Storque" article on Etsy! If you follow the link below, scroll down until you see a porcupine on the left! It's mixed in with about 70 other, very cool pics. Pretty sweet. Thanks for the Etsy love!

http://www.etsy.com/storque/spotlight/etsy-finds-born-again-7348/#comment-256634

When Friends Have Babies...

...you make them things, like paintings! One of my besties is having twin boys and I'm super excited for her and her husband. I offered to make a couple of paintings that she could either put them up or just have them as a keepsake for the boys. She suggested animals like lions and zebras so here are my variations. The deep edges are painted as well. I used a palette knife to paint the zebra's background. I hope the boys like them one day! I know Amy and Jamie will make great parents too : )

Birds Birds Birds...and a Porcupine!

These are my latest pieces commissioned for Lauren, my brother's girlfriend! She recently moved into an office space where she has actual walls. Lauren asked me to come up with something for her new space. She suggested something on a larger scale so the space doesn't swallow the artwork up. I had purchased three 10x10 canvases with a deep edge (my fave) that were on clearance this summer during the Des Moines Artstop. I thought using the three as a triptych (the groundlines match up) or spread out as three separate pieces would be fun and could be rearranged if preferred. There are three different birds along with a small porcupine in the bottom corner. One of the birds is my take on a peacock, another is a giraffe/flamingo like animal. The bowerbird is Lauren's favorite bird and this one was the most fun to make. This bird is super smart. It's like a little architect and builds its home using colors that are all similar. If anything takes a piece of its home while it's out looking for more materials, it notices and has a full on tantrum! It's a pretty smart and cool bird.

A New Use for Things in the Plumbing Aisle!

So, I've been looking for a way to use colored chalkboard paint that I've been eying for a while. I took an old God-awful dresser from the 70's that used to be in my parent's living room (sorry parents) and repainted it using gray semigloss and some blue chalkboard paint! I think my dad's original intention was to create a rustic antique look with all that yellow, not my fave however. It may have looked better when I was a kid but I seriously doubt it. Since I had taken over my kitchen with art materials I needed another space and place to put all of my supplies. I created a small studio space in my newly renovated living room and turned this dresser into my studio cart. I took off the old handles and replaced them with something unconventional and industrial. I strolled the plumbing aisle at Home Depot (one of my favorite things to do) and found these steel half circles that I think were used to hold piping down or onto a surface. They looked like drawer pulls to me! I really love taking things and using them for something other than what they were intended. It's also fun to weird out the person helping you at the hardware store, however I do get some cool people who really get into it! So, I painted the front of the drawers with the chalkboard paint and added white casters on the bottom. I really love this piece and I hope it will help me keep my supplies more organized! (The white paint on the yellow is me getting antsy and jumping right in before I actually take before pics : )

Out with the old, in with the new...well new-used

I've been busy renovating my house since summer. I've given my kitchen a makeover as well as the bathroom. I'm just now finished with my living room (pic of me below with my renovation face). I will post pics soon! My bedroom was completed this summer which now has a stenciled floor. I love it! I had all of this old furniture from the 70's that I was about to give away but instead decided to give most of the pieces a new life. Here's one. This was an old coffee table my dad used. I've always hated this thing and thought it was ugly but now I love it. I hand painted the flowers and trim on top of the gray. I have a second table that needs the same kind of makeover. I've got some ideas in mind so stay tuned.