New Website

I'm officially starting a new blog at 

Kitty Sweetums is inspired from my lovely but at times strange house cats. As the months go by I hope to begin a series of collections of cat themes.  For all the cat lovers like me, I hope to have lovely paintings, sculpture, cards, ornaments, and more.

Gloriosa Daisy

For several months now I've not worked on any art projects. I blame losing my inspiration from the flood, severe storms, sudden move, plumbing issues and other unexpected happenings.

But when the wild flowers I planted started to bloom I got the itch to start painting. First painting is of a Gloriosa Daisy. I fell in love with it's bright red petals that fade into yellow tips. As I complete each flower the original will be for sale in my etsy shop until it's sold. There will not be any prints making each flower painting the only one in the world.

Also, during my time away I got to enjoy the joys of summer. Found a baby turtle crossing the road on my way home from work one day. Named the little guy Sheldon after one of my favorite shows Big Bang Theory. But ended up deciding not to keep him since he was going to be a lot of work. So I released him in a stream by my house and I think Sheldon appreciated it. Wish I could have recorded him taking off into the water.

Then the 13 year cicadas appeared in June. I found them so fascinating with their red eyes and golden wings. I loved going out in the mornings and listen to them sing. I heard one person say they sounded like The War of the Worlds. haha! To bad the little guys are gone for another 13 years. But some are to appear again as the 17 year cicadas. I can't wait!

Plan on posting again really soon! Stay cool in this summer heat!

Summer is finally here

Well, it's finally turning summer and it's hard passing up a chance to going outside in the sun. In the past I've always had a small herb garden but I'm starting to expand. My favorite plants to look at is the purple cabbage plants. The leafs are green with bright purple veins. So beautiful! We also have two peach trees and grape vines in the backyard. So I'm really hoping to learn how to make peach preserves this summer!

Besides the wonderful outdoors I've been distracted reading "A Song of Ice and Fire" by George R. R. Martin. I've completed the first book of the series "A Game of Thrones" and have move on to the second book. They are considered epic fantasy novels and George isn't afraid to kill off his characters. I find myself wanting to jump in to the book to help my favorite characters through some of their struggles. George is such a wonderful writer I don't know how I'll be able to find another book series after I'm done that is so good.

Also, one of my favorite films is "Blood Tea and Red String" By Christine Cegavske. It's a stop-motion fairy tale for adults. It took Christine 13 year to make this film on her own home. I find the film so inspiring as an artist and it helps remind me there is so much I can do that I haven't touched yet.

Christine Cegavske is seeking funds on Kickstarter.com to begin filming "Seed in the Sand!" This will be the second film in her animated trilogy. I think this film is going to be so amazing and I can't wait to see it! Click here to become a backer of Seed in the Sand

Plus, I don't have any new artwork to show right now beside some nature sketches. I've been working on ideas for a future website and the direction I want my artwork to go in. Hopefully in a couple months if not sooner I'll be posting a link to my website with my work. It makes me nervous and excited to talk about it since it so early. But until then I hope to post sneak picks and sketches of what's going on.

The Napping Goblin

The Napping Goblin has been sticking with me for a couple years now. The idea started out as a sketch and then was painted on an ACEO card as shown above. Lucky winner Micki from Irish Muses won the ACEO card back in February for the One Heart One Heart Event. So this past week I decided to explore with the napping goblin again on a larger scale.

Stage 1: Drawing out the idea with pencil.

Stage 2: Finish painting the background and moving to the tree.

Stage 3: Starting to add a little green to the leafs and branches.

Stage 4: Napping Goblin starting to come to life.

Stage 5: Making the final touches.

Stage 6: Finished piece.

I'm happy the way the painting turned out so this may be the last time I paint The Napping Goblin. Doing the idea larger I was able to add more detail like adding spirits to the tree.

Since the post is about napping I thought I'd share a picture I took recently of my house cat. T spends most of her day laying on top of my dresser during the day to sun bathe. I pull the curtains around the dresser like a canape so she has privacy. She is such a good kitty.

Reflections in the Mystic Mirror

 One of my goals this year is to find my artist niche. A lot of soul searching and creativity has been in the works. Digging into my childhood and going through old sketch books has been a lot of fun. I'm starting to take old sketches and getting them ready to be paintings. The "Reflections in the Mystic Mirror" painting below was originally an idea in one of my old sketch books. 

 Stage 1: Sketching out the idea with pencil. 

 Stage 2: Using watercolor to make a dreamy background. I use blue painters tape to prevent bleeding. Plus, it's not as sticky so it doesn't tear the paper after your finished. 

Stage 3: Finish painting.

I think this is a good start on what direction I'd to go. I'd get focused while painting and would forget to take more pictures. Next weeks WIP will be better!

Also, one of my close friends has started a fashion blog called "Pretty & Prudent" where she shares her fashionable finds on the cheap! I'm amazed by the great products and cloths she can find sometimes under $5.00!!! I've done told her we need to go on a shopping date to help me out. So if you have time go over to "Pretty & Prudent" and see what deals she has found here lately. Be ready to be shocked.

Red Moon

This is my latest watercolor painting. I've decide to start focusing a little more on my "Duster" Characters I made sculptures of years ago. I had a dream recently of a red moon and decided to portray that dream into this painting. Hope you enjoy my work in progress below!

 

First sketched out the idea on paper.

 

 
Second finishing of the night sky.

 
Third the landscape is coming alive. 

 
Forth beginning to paint the cliff. 

 
Fifth Red Moon painting is complete. 

I'm in love with the night sky in this painting. Finishing this painting has got me excited to start my next one. What I get from this painting is the Dusters are on another planet a lot like earth. They have four moons unlike earth only has one. A lot of times the red moon is considered a lot of things depending on your belief. In this case it's positive since it only rises when the birth of the Dusters has arrived. Hope you like it!

Getting back in gear!

 

With couple of weeks away from my last post I'm hoping this will be the start of getting back in gear. On Feb 28th I celebrated my Birthday. Two years from thirty and I'm okay with that. All I wanted for my Birthday was to spend time with my family. But I got my favorites Chicken' Dumplings and pumpkin cheesecake by my wonderful mother and mother-in-law. Then my hubby surprised me with gorgeous yellow lilies! I must say I had a great Birthday!

Then I found out this past weekend that my brother and sister-in-law are expecting their first baby in August! I'm going to be a aunt! So big congratulations to them!

The watercolor painting I'm sharing above is of my father and mother-in-laws dog. I've been wanting to paint them something for really long time and finally did it. 

I've been working on new projects I plan to share really soon. Also, with long consideration I've decided to not to any custom work for a while. I love doing custom work to bring happiness to others. But with me wanting to focus on where I want my artwork to go in the next year all customs will have to be on the back burner. I've had to turn down customs here lately and felt really bad. But my inspiration right now is only on what I would like to achieve.