Snow Days & Oil Painting

It's snowed 4-5 inches here in NC last night. That's a lot for us, so my kids are out playing in the snow and I intend to spend the time painting. In addition to my whimsical pen and marker work for licensing and my stationery line I also paint in oils.I'm always on the lookout for artists whose styles I like. I found Robert Burridge in the Cheap Joe's Art Stuff catalog. Mr. Burridge is teaching a workshop in Asheville, NC that looks so fun. I love the looseness of his work as well as the vivid color. I'm trying to incorporate more color in my work (as you can see above) and he is an inspiration to me! It's also very cool that his fine art is not only in galleries, but on products such as Starbucks coffee mugs and Pearl vodka botttles.
http://www.robertburridge.com/

Campaign for Creativitiy

I saw this ad in Skirt magazine to 'join other artists in this creative movement' love it...the colors, the tagline 'live a life inspired. dream with possibility. check it out...
http://www.donnadowney.com

Food, Food, Food

I've had food on my mind all day. Well, although that is nothing unusual, today I'm thinking of food themed design collections. I went shopping with my mom recently and i saw lots of beautiful ceramics collections with culinary themes. I realized that I love to cook, love to eat, love Trader Joe's and Fresh Market & farmer's markets but have not food or cooking collections...so I'm off to work on that. Inspiration comes from the strangest places. I'll keep you posted, but in the meantime I think i need a snack.

Spring Flowers Toss

Here are some of the spring flowers in a toss repeat....

February - Is it spring yet?

As nice as the month of February is....I'm really looking forward to March and the spring weather that comes with it. Here in Charlotte we are spoiled, no doubt. We had a few 60-70 degree days last week and now I'm ready for spring to be here for good. This weekend the kids and I walked on one of the new greenways near our house, had a nice picnic along the way. The place was packed with bikers and runners and people out enjoying the beautiful weather and the nature trail. Of course, it was a tease as it is only supposed to be in the 50's today. I know, I know, I grew up in the midwest and a 50 degree day in February should be a good thing!

This spring fever has got me drawing lots of spring flowers lately. The picture is one from one of my newer collections.

CHA, Deborah Norville & Football

I was very pleased with the results of our tabletop display at the CHA Winter Show in Anaheim. I can't wait to see my artwork on rubber stamps & stickers! I hope to follow up with other representatives of companies I met at the show.

I also really enjoyed Deborah Norville's speech as the keynote speaker at the event. She was warm, informative and inspiring! I am not usually the 'groupie type' unlike my husband who spots sports figures every time we go to the airport. However, her speech was so inspirational that I bought her book, stood in line to get her to autograph it and then had my picture taken with her (which I will not be posting here as it is beautiful of her - not so flattering of me). She has accomplished a lot in her years and in addition to her television career now has a line of yarns and a knitting book. Who knew? Check out her website: http://www.dnorville.com/

Superbowl weekend. Well, we won't be watching our Carolina Panthers play this weekend. My brother is a die-hard Pittsburgh Steeler fan so in the spirit of competiton, I guess I'll cheer for the Cardinals! Mostly I'll be eating party food and watching the commercials.

January Shivers

Today I met with a couple of local artists to discuss a new art guild here in our community. I think it is a very exciting venture that is going to work out very well. I'll keep you posted.

A week away from the CHA show and I am getting to the final countdown! It's cold here for Charlotte and it is fun to have sunny California to look forward to - even if I am in a convention center the whole time!