Matt & I are going to take it easy, eat good food, play games, etc. And NOT WORK of course! (Well, knowing us we'll probably squeeze a little bit of work in, hehe).
I have a Tofurky thawed in the fridge, and I'll be cooking asparagus, Easter bread (hot cross buns!), carrots, new potatoes, and other yummy things. We have tiny chocolate piggies to eat, I found them at Target and they are so cute I have to eat them!
Tonight I have a beautiful, very special painting for you - another simply amazing collaboration between myself (the artist) and my husband Matt (the framer/woodcrafter) - a stunning Renaissance altarpiece-style wooden triptych! This is definitely one of my most magnificent creations to date, so you are in for another treat!
The painting is called "Memento Mori" and it almost looks like something you'd see in a Renaissance or Medieval art museum - much like an old altar piece. It is a "triptych" - which means that it is actually three paintings - actually I guess this is a polyptych - as it is technically FOUR paitings - divided by gold painted mouldings/frames (I painted them myself!) - a sort of "4 in 1" type of piece. My husband Matty handcrafted the panel & frame out of wood! "Memento Mori" - is a Latin phrase roughly translated as "Remember you are mortal." It is a common motif in my own paintings as well as being an entire genre of Renaissance painters - often the masters would include a skull or skeleton juxtaposed with a beautiful maiden to act as a memento mori. Not only being a reminder of mortality, it can also be considered along the lines of "Eat, Drink and Be Merry - For Tomorrow We May Die" - "Seize the Day" type of idea. I have featured a Renaissance beauty acting as a puppeteer - the marionette puppet if you look closely, is actually an artist's mannequin. She is absolutely radiant - playing with the puppet much as the Fates play with us mortals. A symbol of beauty, she is surrounded by skulls and skeletons - the memento mori aspects of this piece - hence the title. I am so happy I am able to start creating works like these, and by collaborating with my husband and his workshop, I truly have made my dream a reality. I am very proud of this painting. It really has to be seen in person to appreciate it! It is about 24" wide by 23" tall in the center - original acrylic painting on wood (lightweight, easy to hang, around .5" - 1" thick with the framing). She is up for a 10-day auction on eBay starting at just a penny with NO reserve - the auction will be ending on the afternoon/evening of Tuesday, April 1st at 8:56 PM Central Time. Click the sneak preview pic below to see the whole picture:
I have TWO brand new original paintings to show you - very special as they are commissioned portraits of Shojo Beat Magazine's "Beat Girl" character, and they will be published in an upcoming issue of Shojo Beat! I also have sale prints of my "Alice and Friends" Triptych (I sold the original triptych painting when I was at MegaCon, but I now have prints available).
Also - if the links do not appear to be clickable, simply copy & paste the full link text into the URL field of your browser!
First are the new original paintings. There are two - both are paintings that the manga magazine Shojo Beat hired me to paint. My contract with Shojo Beat / Viz Media does NOT allow me to sell any kind of prints or reproductions of these, but however I am able to sell the actual original paintings! So I apologize in advance - these paintings will never be on my website nor offered as prints - so if you want one, you'll have to get the originals! They will BOTH be appearing in an upcoming issue of Shojo Beat magazine though, so lots of people will get to see them that way. These should be of special interest to collectors due to their rarity and also due to their upcoming fame as magazine illustrations, hehe! Both feature Shojo Beat's logo/character - the Beat GirlTM . The Shojo Beat GirlTM is a beautiful young redhaired girl, always full of life and having fun! The two illustrations Viz Media hired me for are in the DIY/ Do-It-Yourself theme, so my paintings of the Beat GirlTM feature her in the middle of various projects (modifying video game machines, construction, glue guns, knitting needles, you name it!). One is a more grown-up version of the Beat GirlTM (I'm calling her "DIY Shojo Beat GirlTM") and the other is a "Chibi" version (Japanese meaning a "cute, little, childlike" avatar) of her that I am calling "CHIBI Shojo Beat GirlTM). Beat GirlTM and Shojo BeatTM are trademarks of Viz Media and all rights remain with them. Both are 16"x20" original acrylic paintings on sheets of canvas - and both are up for sale on eBay - seven day auctions starting at ONE PENNY with no reserve - ending on the evening of Thursday, March 27th at 6:00 PM and 6:15 PM CENTRAL TIME and you can see them below:
Next up - my "Alice and Friends" painting! I did indeed sell the original painting back at MegaCon, I am sorry! So she already has a good home. However I have now made prints of her, and they are gorgeous! The original painting had been a big 24" wooden triptych style painting and had a fabulous frame made by my husband Matt. The prints look just like the original painting - I was careful to include the scanned image of the magnificent in the printed image of the print itself and set it against a white background. Unsusually sized & shaped originally, the prints are a little different than my usual sizes, but will still work with standard frames & mats as well as custom frames & mats. I promise to offer more framed and ready-to-hang paintings in the future (I have two new triptychs in the works right now!)!
To see ALL of my current sale prints (suggested!), visit the SALE section of my store here:
I have a brand new painting, and it is a VERY special one! This is actually a piece commissioned by an upcoming magazine (more details on that later), so it will be of particular interest to collectors. It's also a GORGEOUS painting, immensely detailed, and seasonally-inspired. It is available for auction! I also have a great new graphics package from CILM for you online image hobbyists! See below for more details.....
This new original painting is called "May Queen." Since it is an illustration for a magazine focusing on May Day (aka Beltane), it is chock-full of spring & summer imagery. The faery May Queen is shown as a wheaten haired beauty with a daisy chain in her hair, against the sky of a summer night. She is surrounded by a bounty of leaves and beautiful bright flowers, and symbols of fertility and change of seasons (such as eggs, honeybees, moon phases, etc.). She's also accompanied by a handsome Jack-in-the-Green (aka a "green man") made of leaves with stag-like antlers. It is such a detailed and colourful piece, I am very proud of it! It is painted in acrylics and is quite large, measuring 16"x20". She is up on eBay starting at just one penny with no reserve for a 7-Day auction ending the evening of Moday, March 24th at 6:20PM Central Time. You can see the full-sized painting below by clicking on the sneak preview picture here:
Now, GREAT news for those of you folks who are online image/graphics hobbyists - makers of tubes, signature tags, websets, members of the groups for PSP and other image/graphics groups. I have a brand NEW graphics package up at CILM! The new package (package "Q") features some of my best & most popular paintings, including "Dress of Storms", "Absinthe", "Mildew", "Nixie", and more! There are also the options up at CILM to buy a "Combo Pack" where you can get of my previous packages at a discounted sale price, as well as "Custom Packs" where you can piece together your OWN package, from the different images.
If you're not familiar with online graphics as a hobby - you might want to look into it. It's a FUN way to spend time doing something creative, without the whole "having to paint something yourself" part, hehe. You get to create your own designs and graphics on the computer using my paintings, officially and with my blessing. For ANY questions regarding usage of my images as tubes or tags, this is handled by CILM (not by me myself) - you can contact them here: customerhelp@creativeimagelicensing.com or call them: Customer Service Number Call (toll-free in the USA): 1-877-264-2456
My mom & Bill flew home last night, it was a great visit =)
Now we have an empty house, for the first time in quite a while really. It seems so quiet!
I haven't gotten much online time this month, but hopefully I'll be able to catch up on LiveJournal shortly, I've missed you all! I also have a lot of photos, etc. I want to show you guys too. Hopefully after I get these next couple of illustrations finished I can get back into my usual routine.
I've been mired in commissioned work this past week, very busy, but busy is good! I have a bunch of new SALE prints up at eBay today ("Mermaid with Cephalopods," "Koi Pond Mermaid," "Cemetery Mist," and "Pink Spotted Mermaid"), and I also have a photo of a painting to show you that you've never seen - it's the one I actually painted at MegaCon - the gentleman who purchased the painting was kind enough to send me a photo of us with the painting via email, as I painted & sold it at MegaCon I don't have a scan or prints of her, but thought some of you might want to see her anyways =)
Also if the links do not appear to be clickable, simply copy & paste the full link text into the URL field of your browser!
First a photo of the lovely painting I did at MegaCon (with myself and the proud new owner of the painting):
At every convention I paint "live" and try to finish a painting at the show and offer it to the visitors at the show, so come see me at Dragon*Con in August if you'd like to get in on that! =)
To see any OTHER available originals , just visit my Original Paintings section of my store here (and if any aren't quite in your budget - remember you can use the "Make Offer" option on these and suggest your own price, if there's one you have your eye on....):
Now for the SALE prints! "Mermaid with Cephalopods," "Koi Pond Mermaid," "Cemetery Mist," and "Pink Spotted Mermaid" are all now available as SALE prints up at eBay - the small prints are only $9.99 and the big prints are only $20!
Finally getting settled back in after MegaCon. My mother & stepdad are here visiting too (in town for an unrelated convention), they'll be here shortly. Busy days!
I've been catching up on commissioned work, custom paintings, three magazine illustrations, stuff like that which slipped by me while I was at MegaCon. I've gotten some ACEO cards made though! It's been awhile since I've made some ACEO cards, so this is a GREAT group, some of my very best and most recent paintings in ACEO format.
Also some exciting news - my artwork was selected to be in this year's "Spectrum" book! Spectrum 15 will be released this fall - it comes out every year and showcases what they consider to be some of the best fantasy & science fiction artwork of that year. I'm thrilled and honoured to be in the book, and will let you all know when it is available. I never know what to expect from Spectrum. I got into Spectrum 11, was rejected from Spectrum 12, got in to Spectrum 13, was rejected from Spectrum 14, and then now I got (yay!) accepted into Spectrum 15. I think odd numbers are lucky for me, and even numbers are bad luck =P I have no idea which picture of mine they picked, I think I sent them 4 or 5 and I don't remember which ones they were! I'll post when they let me know though, I'm very curious. The other artists listed can be found HERE.
Now for the new art - for more info about ACEO cards, how I make them & what they are (basically tiny hand embellished one of a kind canvas prints, trading card sized at 2.5"x3.5" and highly collectable), consult the individual auction descriptions - they are each one of a kind and are awesome! All are starting at a penny, with no reserve for seven-day auctions ending on the afternoon of Wednesday, March 19th at 6:30PM - 8:15PM
To see them all together visit the ACEO section of my store HERE!!
First is one made from a painting you've never seen before - "Alice and Friends" - it was an original triptych painting I sold at MegaCon last weekend, so unless you were at MegaCon - you haven't seen it before! The original had an incredibly ornate frame that my husband Matt made himself. So, for those of you who missed the original - you can at least have this pocket-sized ACEO Card of her!
I'd better go back to painting! I'm working on a commissioned painting for a customer with Morgan Le Fay and some quartz crystals, and it's turning out really neat.
