We've been having SO MUCH FUN with Kachina, Ellie & Theo visiting! We went and stayed at a cabin at Fort Wilderness, went to the Magic Kingdom, have been playing games & watching movies, etc. It's been so much fun! They're here until Tuesday.
Still finding time to paint though ;)
Some exciting stuff for today! BIG NEWS - a year in the works - I'm a part of a very exciting new Wizard of Oz project with the Bradford Group (Bradford Exchange, Hamilton Collection, etc.). We've been working together on official Oz characters based in my style, for some upcoming merchandise lines (I'll email you about that as soon as I have news about that more - should be a few months probably). In the meantime I've added to my already-popular series of Oz themed paintings with some of the new characters we've developed - a new big original "Off to See the Wizard" painting up for a penny auction! I also have a few brand new ACEO Cards, and some CAMEO necklaces as well!!
First off is "Off to See the Wizard" - the new original painting! All painted in my usual big-eyed style with the new characters - here we have the Tin "Man" (hehe), The Scarecrow, Dorothy, and The Cowardly Lion(ess!). Being a whimsical girl from Kansas originally myself, I always can identify with Dorothy and have loved the Oz stories since I was a child. I'm very excited to officially be a part of the Oz world, and look forward to expanding my already-popular series in this way. This painting looks even prettier in person, and will totally "make" a room. All of the characters are absolutely adorable, I love it! I've put it up for an eBay penny auction, so everybody can get a chance at it: It's eBay starting at just ONE PENNY with no reserve for a 7-Day auction ending the evening of Saturday, October 4th at 6:17PM Central Time. You can see it below - this is a sneak preview image - click on it to see the whole painting:
And as I mentioned - these cuties will be popping up as merchandise & collectibles through the Bradford Group very soon ;) Keep an eye out - I will of course let you know as the Oz project progresses!
To see all of my other current ORIGINAL pieces, click below:
Now for the new ACEOs - 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 and highly collectable), consult the individual auction descriptions - they are each one of a kind, hand-painted with accents by me, the artist, and are awesome! All are each starting at a penny, with no reserve for seven-day auctions ending on the evening of Thursday October 2nd, 6:00PM - 6:12PM Central Time:
I have a brand new Alice in Wonderland original (ready-to-hang!) painting for you tonight called "Alice Descending" as well as my "Out Trick-or-Treating" and "Autumn Mermaid" prints available as this week's SALE prints!
The new original is called "Alice Descending" - the most recent installment in my newest Alice in Wonderland series (focusing more on a slightly grown-up Alice character). This is a wonderful, fun piece - tall & skinny shaped painting - 24" tall, and 6" wide - Alice falling deeper past the roots, down down down the rabbit hole - it's a great size & shape -it truly can be the focus of any room, or tucked away in a narrow niche or nook. This is an original paintnig - acrylic paints on gallery style cradled masonite which is 2" thick wood - Matt has added a hanger on the back, so it is READY TO HANG! No frame needed! It is up for a PENNY auction at eBay - going for 10 days ending on the afternoon/evening of Thursday, October 2nd at 5:30 PM Central Time. Yes this auction really is starting at a penny, so everybody can get a chance at it - click below to see the full painting details:
Now for my "Out Trick-or-Treating" and "Autumn Mermaid" paintings - now available as SALE prints up at eBay - the small prints are only $9.99 and the big prints are only $20!
To see ALL of the SALE prints together, click below:
I have one wonderful new Rococo portrait-style painting (and it is FRAMED) for you and then news about TWO NEW BOOKS now available for pre-order!
"Butterflies in Gloom" is a truly beautiful painting! 13"x15" framed & ready-to-hang! A Rococo style portrait of a big eyed fairy girl, and a matching butterfly in the gloom, it is painted in subtle colours with an antique feel to it. Yes, you get the FRAME too - and it is beautiful! Framed by my wonderful husband, Matt. It is an original acrylic painting on a masonite panel (8"x10" in size) and it has been framed in an AMAZING posh-looking, gold leafed wooden antique frame with an Oval window cutout shape that really makes this piece even more stunning and suits the painting perfectly! She is 100% ready-to-hang - just stick her up on a nail on the wall, and you are good to go! She is up in my eBay store at a fixed price where she will remain until purchased (otherwise I'll take her with me to FaerieCon with me, so grab her if you want her!) - you can see her full-sized and with details by clicking below....
Now - the NEW BOOKS! Neither of these are solo art books, but collaborative works featuring myself along with many of the best artists in the genre today.
First is a book alled "Gothic Art Now" - this is one of the most stunning art books I've seen in a long time, and I'm not just saying that because I'm the author, hehe. I'm not a writer per se, but when Ilex Press approached me last year to do this book for Harper Collins, and I saw the prospectus and the artists they wanted for the book, I couldn't say no! It's been a pet project of mine for the past year, a labour of love. "Gothic Art Now" is written by me, and the Foreward is by Brom (one of the masters of contemporary art today!). Brom also has some art in there, too. This is not a book just of my art - in fact there are only a couple of paintings of mine in there, but I promise you will love this book! 192 full colour pages, HARDCOVER, printed beautifully (with a fantastic cover painting from the talented Natalia Pierandrei), and featuring some of the best contemporary Gothic artworks out there - oil paintings, acrylic, digital paintings, sculpture, mixed media, pencil, installment art, ceramics, puppets, creatures, even stained glass are represented in here. Some of my personal favourite artists are in here: master HR Giger, Brom, David Bowers, Scott Radke, Daniel Martin Diaz, Anne Stokes, Laurie Lipton, Steven Kenny, Jessica Joslin, David Stoupakis, Lola Strange, Thomas Kuebler, Dorian Cleavenger, Gus Fink, Carrie Ann Baade, John U Abrahamson, Erlend Mørk, Ryohei Hase, David Gough, Christian Alzmann, and more.... I'm not stocking the book myself at my website (my house is too full of my other books, lol) - but it will be in bookstores EVERYWHERE at the end of next month. All at less than $20 up at HERE at Amazon if you pre-order it! It comes out on October 21st, but I strongly suggest pre-ordering for the discount (I can't believe it's less than $20, it's 200 pages of full colour art in a hardcover book!). It's up at Amazon right now - go buy it - CLICK HERE!
next....
And the next book..... "Spectrum 15"! It's getting to be that time of year! Since I was a kid, I've bought "Spectrum" every fall, I always associate it with Autumn. This is the third Spectrum I have the honour of being in - Spectrum 15! (So far I've made it into Spectrum 11, Spectrum 13, and now 15). Spectrum 15 is the annual collection of some of the best fantasy and science fiction artwork of that year. It'll be out November 1st, and is finally up at Amazon for pre-order! Also less than $20, it will have some of the best artwork I've ever seen (always does!). It will also have my "Alchemy Angel" triptych in it, hehehe..... I'm not stocking this myself, but it wll be in bookstores everywhere this fall - but mostly I suggest CLICKING HERE to Pre-Order "Spectrum 15" at Amazon.
I have a big great new original painting to show you! "Shinjuku Angel" - inspired by my visit to Tokyo last week! She's ready to hang, and starts at a penny! Also I have an official 25% OFF FAERIECON TICKETS Link, as well asa new CILM Graphics package too, for you online image hobbyists out there....
FaerieCon is in Philadelphia, PA, October 10th, 11th, & 12th. I'll be there with a huge 20 foot booth, tons of paintings, prints, books, statues, jewelry, cameos, merchandise, convention-only stretched canvas prints, etc. I'll be there in person of course, dressed up, signing & autographing, posing for photos, chatting about art, etc. I will also be PAINTING live and in person. Brian Froud, Alan Lee, ElfQuest's Wendy Pini, Wendy Froud, Spiderwick's Holly Black, Ari Berk, Jessica Galbreth, Charles Vess, Linda Ravenscroft, Kinuko Craft, and many more will be there, and of course I'll be there all day every day! For more info on FaerieCon & other upcoming shows - visit my appearances page here:
"Shinjuku Angel" is the name of the new painting! Ready-to-hang, ORIGINAL acrylic on cradled masonite - no frame needed! Measuring 24"x18" - she is quite large. Last week I was in Japan. I had a fantastic time, what a great country! Our first night in Tokyo we went out to dinner in Shinjuku. Shinjuku is a very fun place, definitely a bustling "nightlife" area of Tokyo. It's packed with restaurants and clubs, bars & shops all stacked on top of each other. I've tried to capture the neon jungle of nighttime Shinjuku in this painting - bright lights and manic urban atmosphere - a creatively dressed (gotta say I'm very impressed with Tokyo's style, and everybody has cool boots!) little angel, lost and a little overwhelmed. She has dark hair and wings - all reflecting the rainbow-neon lights & signs all around her. Cars drive hectically through the street, adding to the flashing lights and general confusion. This piece looks even prettier in person with the vibrant colours, it truly can be the focus of any room. Matt has already put a hanger on the back - so no frame needed - the sides are painted a glossy black - very cool. This original painting is up on eBay starting at just ONE PENNY with no reserve for a 10-Day auction ending the evening of Monday, September 29th at 6:00PM Central Time - You can see it below - click on the image to see a bigger picture & details of the painting:
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. Those of you who don't know what that is, you can skip this, hehe. I have a brand NEW graphics package up at CILM! And also - all of my new & existing packs are now available as 6-packs, making it possible for you to better choose the ones you want, and for less money! The new package (package "V") features some of my best & most popular paintings, including "Poe", "Belle of Bonaventure", "Strangely Lonely", and more!
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
Whew, finished that Tokyo painting last night, and finally scanned it in. Turned out really cool!
Stay tuned, I'll post pictures later tonight (probably around 6 or 7PM or so).
We've caught up (on orders, at least) from our Japan trip, yay! Now there are just massive piles of emails, paperwork, and other stuff to do =P
Getting everything ready for FaerieCon! Hopefully I should have some very exciting art news to tell you before then ;)
Very excited, Kachina, Ellie & Theo are coming to stay for a week, they're coming on Tuesday!
Oh yes, My New House! Hehe, no, I am NOT moving, don't worry ;P
However we've been having a second house built. Just a little house (around 800 sq feet?), up by my family in the Midwest. It's been being built for the past couple of years (had some delays, but overall smooth construction). Basically, since we travel up to Kansas City so often (both Matt's family and my own family live up in that area), it was becoming difficult for me to keep my usual painting schedule (I know, I alread paint a lot... but I want to paint MORE!), and Matt of course was going nuts keeping up with our usual load of orders, emails, shipping, etc. Not to mention print-making, packing materials, all that stuff. Believe it or not, the most economical option for us was to build a little house up there so that we're able to visit without the worry & hassle of shutting down eBay & website & painting & shipping for days or weeks at a time.
So it's just a vacation house (well, more of a work-house, lol). We are of course still living in our Florida house, that's where we live. We'll just have an additional house so that when we're in that part of the country for visits, we can smoothly transition without customers/business/art stuff being affected in any way. This way we'll be able to visit more often, and we'll be able to make longer visits with family, etc.
The final inspection by the building folks is on October 15th! That means if all is good, I can start getting stuff up there.
It was a lot of fun really, starting from scratch like that, because we totally got to tailor-make it into a functioning art studio/printshop/shipping area. I got to help with the floorplan and designate areas for my painting room, and all of that stuff. It's got a nice kitchen & bath (nice and new, and fun to pick the materials, etc.!), big living area/shipping/packing room, laundry nook, big art/painting studio (actually larger than the area I have here in my regular house), just one bedroom, closets, etc.
So basically now I need to duplicate everything I have here in my home studio, but 1200 miles away. Twice the printers, twice the art supplies, twice the shipping stuff, scanners, twice the art desks/easels, twice the computers, etc. It's a bit crazy, and will take a little while, but it will be nice when it's done. So I'm very excited about all that! It will be so nice though to be able to paint regularly and print & ship & process orders as usual while we're out of town. Not necessarily the first place I'd prefer to buy a second home, lol (I'd tend towards London or the Caribbean, but maybe that will be 3rd and 4th houses, mwahaha!), but it will be great getting to see so much more of our families and around holidays.
All righty, back to work I go - enough excitement!
