The Red Dress

Another new piece hot off the press! This is another 11x14 collage on canvas. The picture is from Itkupilli. Actually there are two photos, the background and the lady.

And if you can believe this, I actually used Photoshop (which I hate) to merge the two and change the colors. I know! Don't get used to it. Photoshop and I do not get along, so I this won't happen often.

I had a lot of fun with this piece, creating a sort of Alice in Wonderland-ly feel, or so I think anyway. :) I have the perfect home for her too, because my living room walls (only two of them actually) are red, I think she will look awesome there. That is until someone buys her... hint hint...


So I'm off now to bring ALL my artwork home! It has been vacationing this spring at a lovely local cafe, but now it must move on to bigger and better things. The Library! I will be hanging my art in to the local library in June, so this is really perfect timing. Now I won't have to worry about having enough pieces!

See ya!!

Angel Of Harlem

Here's a brand new piece, fresh off the studio table. An 11x14 collage on canvas, and I call it Angel of Harlem.

Now, I actually have no idea who this is or whether or not it is in fact an angel of Harlem, but as I was making this, the song Angel of Harlem came on, and well, the name kind of stuck. It just seemed so fitting somehow.

I don't normally do religious pieces (for no particular reason), but I thought this lady was so pretty I could not pass her up.

My recent flurry of sales has totally inspired me to go back in the studio, and create like a madman, so I have several pieces in the works right now. Only 3 made it to the photo shoot today, but two more are very close to finishing, and I have many more just waiting to be started.

Now, I have a super dilemma though. I'm not sure how many artists struggle with this, but I'm guessing quite a few do. My problem is I want to do so many different styles and techniques (so many possibilities out there!), that sometimes I get quite overwhelmed, and when that happens I tend to freeze up. Not in a bad way, it's just I can't figure out what to do first.

It's kind of hard to explain I suppose, but that's where I am right now. I have a few different styles I play around with, and I have a long list of many more I want to try, but it's like I don't know where to start, or even if I should.

I wonder if I should be sticking with one style, and make it my signature look you know? Or is it best to keep playing around, and it doesn't matter if you do multiple styles?

Any thoughts??

Goodbye Pretty in Pink!

I sold this one today!

It's been quite a week! Besides the fact that some artwork is selling, I'm very excited that I am able to create art that other people resonate with. It makes me feel good, that others appreciate the piece as much as I do. And maybe even more! :)

In other news, I spent this weekend doing some marketing for myself, and managed to waste a ton of time researching places to get postcards. It took several hours, but I finally got it done, and now I eagerly await those 14 days it will take to get them!

Once I have them in my hot little hands, I can sell some online for those who may want some artwork, but can't afford an original.

I'm also looking into making greeting cards, and if all goes well finally some real art prints! The fact that I probably need to buy a fancy printer is holding up the whole process, but I'm hoping I'm getting closer to resolving this issue. When all that is done, I will for sure offer them for sale on the website!

Another One Bites the Dust!

I'm a little sad, but also super excited to have sold "Someday her Prince will Come"!

This piece went to a lovely 6 year old artist who wanted it for her room. I'm thrilled that I could contribute to her decor!

Enjoy!

Sold!!

Oh my goodness, I sold my first piece today!! I got the news this morning, and it took me a long time before I was able to stop shrieking. Too cool!

A lot of good things are happening art wise right now, and it is such a good feeling to be able to sell a piece that someone else will enjoy as much as I do.

So long Beautiful Dreamer hope you like your new home!!

Big News!!

I'm finally official! I have a website up and running! I have business cards that I can pass around now, and I have my art on products over at Zazzle!

Now all I need is an audience. :) I'm very excited about this because it's been a long time coming. I am concentrating almost exclusively on art now, and that is a very good feeling.

I am also in the midst of proposing a project so hopefully I'll have more good news soon.

Anyone interested in checking out the new digs, come on over to Polychrome's Palace! That's my new name! Like I said several blog posts ago, The Cat's Pajamas was already taken as a website, so I had to come up with something new.

Well the story behind the name is on the website, but the gist is, polychrome means lots of color! And we all know my artwork if full of that!

Don't worry though, I know I'm breaking the rules, but the blog name will remain The Cat's Pajamas. I like it, and I want to keep it. So I will.

Now about the art you see. That is Catherine of Aragon. If you know your history you will recognize her as Henry the Eighth's first wife. That's 3 Henry wives down, 3 more to go for a complete series. I love doing these collages, though I suspect they aren't as popular as the other stuff I usually do. Too bad, because I'm having fun!

Oh and feel free to stop by Zazzle. I've got a lot of new products in the store this week. New things are posting everyday!

That's all folks! Hope to see you over at Polychrome's Palace!

CupKate

Meet Cupkate! She's an 8x10 mixed media collage on canvas.

Her creation took several months believe it or not, but I'm glad I persisted with her.

For the longest time, I just wasn't satisfied with the background. It took many many layers of paint and papers before I could actually start feeling like I could go somewhere with this one.

Now the cupcake was a different story. I knew right away I would do that, but the problem was how to create it.

Since I'm not a magician, and I never took any ribbons with my drawing and painting skills, it was quite clear from the start that I needed to find an alternative cupcake creating method.

The cupcake wrapper was the easiest, it is folded and painted tissue paper. Pretty standard. But the frosting, I wanted to make as real as possible.

So, I created a combo of molding and fiber paste which I then put into a plastic bag, snipped off the tip and then squeezed the "frosting" out just like I would with a real cupcake. Once it dried I painted and embellished with glitter and beads.

The face however, came a lot later. I had created her sometime last year as a doodle, and then brought her to life with paint just last month. She has been patiently awaiting a body and a home, and neither were forthcoming. It wasn't until this week that I realized she would do very nicely on this canvas.

You can't see it in this picture but she is 3D as well. In order to make her even with the frosting and to glue her on, a background of molding paste was built up for her to rest on. I then painted the sides to match her hair and hat, and viola! She is complete!

Oh and before I go I want to mention again that I have a new Zazzle store! You can click on the word Zazzle or click on my store widget in the sidebar. Also If you hadn't noticed I have now added pages at the top of the blog so if you clink on the store link it will take you there as well.

I add new products almost everyday, so you should come and check it out sometime! Also Zazzle is having a Tax Day Sale. Here's the info below in case you get the urge to shop:

Tax Day Sale at Zazzle- 10-40% off ALL ORDERS!

Use Promotional Code: TAXDAYZAZZLE

Ends Thursday April 15th

Thanks for stopping by!!

Anne of Cleves

Well here she is, Anne of Cleves, Henry the Eighth's 4th wife. The lucky one, as she was so repulsive to Henry he decided to divorce her as soon as he could, which I'm sure saved her neck. Literally.

As is the case with all my favorites, this one gave me big trouble in the beginning. I kept adding layer after layer of the same colors, and it just wasn't popping for me. Finally after deliberating about it for days, I decided to add a new color, and chose the green for a little contrast.

Finally things started to come together, and now, I am pretty pleased with the results.

In fact I had so much joy after finishing this piece, and since I really wanted to do another collage in this style, I went and did one of Henry himself. The old beast. I really don't like him, but he is part of the series I suppose.

I actually was not intending to do him at all, but since I had his image already printed (I was going to do him at one point but changed my mind, then changed it back again. Confusing I know), and I had just run out of ink and could not print Katherine of Aragon like I wanted to, I did Henry instead.

Unfortunately his collage did not come out as good as I wanted. I still may touch it up later, but for now he is hanging with Katherine and Anne over my couch, soon to be joined by Katherine of Aragon. Hopefully I get my ink soon!

Collage elements used were the agreement to divorce that Anne wrote back to Henry, her motto, her signature, her portrait, and her badge. I also used fluid acrylics, and oil pastels to create texture and depth.

That's all for now!

I finally got my groove back!

Oh my goodness, the last 10 days or so have been extremely frustrating for me. I've been completely blocked artistically. Nothing was inspiring, nothing I tried to create came out, I couldn't draw, I had no imagination... You get the picture right?

I couldn't believe this was happening to me again, and just when I had gotten started making art again this year.

Last time this happened it took over 3 months for me to get back into the swing of things, and I was so worried that was happening again.

It definitely was not a good time for the artistic well to run dry either. So many new things are happening art wise, and it would have been terrible if I just stopped creating again.

Oh, I wish I could divulge everything that is happening, but I can't just yet. There are still a few loose ends to tie up that are taking longer than I anticipated. Which is a big bummer, but there isn't much I can do about it.

Anyway, the collage above is an 8x10 I did last year, titled "Wonderful", the photo in the middle is from Itkupilli. Another canvas that missed the boat. Apparently there were several pictures that never got posted to the blog last year, I guess that was during the dry spell of 2009.

So, back to the present. Last night, I went into my studio to try to fix the 5 canvases that are sitting around waiting for me to finish them, and I couldn't do it. I just sat there, staring at the walls. Oh I dabbled around with the paint a bit, but nothing was turning out. I wasn't getting that spark, that a-ha moment, when you just know the painting is turning out good. So I quit, and played games the rest of the night.

When I got up this morning, I felt hopeless. Then I got an idea. Why not go to the cafe that has my art on display. Maybe seeing it will help fuel my muse.

So we went and had breakfast, and seeing my art was definitely fun and cool, but it didn't quite inspire me. Though I must say It was nice to the paintings again, because looking at pictures just doesn't do them any justice at all. They are so much better in person.

Oh and one cool thing happened while we were there, some customers came in and complimented my artwork to the lady working at the counter. Of course I didn't actually hear them because I was busy reading the comics, and stuffing my face with biscuits and gravy, but my husband let me know what they said.

Now all this back story is actually leading up to me telling you, that somewhere between the biscuits and gravy, the flat tire we got on the way there, going to the post office, coming home and surfing the internet, taking a nap, and making dinner, I actually got the urge to go back in my studio.

And thank goodness I did. I managed to finally finish my Anne of Cleaves painting, which will sit proudly next to Katherine in the living room. I wish I had a picture to show you, but I won't have one, until Tuesday. I also managed to touch up 3 other canvases, and this time every color and swipe with the brayer was right. It all came out! I finally was able to fix my cupcake canvas too, something I've been working on for several months.

I'm telling you, when I finished Anne of Cleves, I nearly cried with joy. It felt so good to be painting and creating again, and have things come out, and like them. It was the most awesome feeling. And now, I can't wait to go back and play again tomorrow!

All is right with my world again.