Peace on Earth

Project Runway

On my recent trip to NYC, my very sweet cuz took me to Parson's New School of Design as well as Mood Fabrics. Any Project Runway fan will understand why these might be stops I'd like to make. I was so very impressed with Mood. The people there were awesome, they had a dog that ran around patrolling the place called "Swatches" (I think), and the three HUGE floors of fabric and buttons and tassles and trim...OMG, it was very inspiring...and I don't even sew. If you ever find yourself if nyc, it is a must see for us cre8ive types. Even my cuz, who is a nyc cop and not a cre8ive type was impressed with the eye candy! VERY INSPIRING!

I was lucky enough to visit NYC for turkey day with my mom and my cuz, Chris. OMG! It was a great trip with lots of eye candy. There is nothing like a new place to inspire some cre8ivity!

Buns in the Oven

My BFF Kellee Sharples opened a beautiful and fun boutique in Boise. I painted her windows for the Christmas season. Luckily the weather was gorgeous! You simply MUST go by and check out the store!

Hanna!

My little niece just turned 8 and so I made her name using her fav colors and butterflies. It was quite challenging but it worked out just fine! Hanna is totally into art and she is amazingly talented for such a young gal! Even though I know she takes after her mom, I pretend she takes after me. hee hee. Enjoy your day.

New Etsy Store!

I finally have opened my Etsy store for biznezz. Please go visit it and yeah, you can buy stuff from there too! That is a great way to make my day. :) There are a lot of benefits from buying work from my Etsy store for Christmas presents this year...one: you'll be supporting my art habit and therefore I'll continue cre8ing art. Two: you'll make THREE people happy with one present-the giftee, the gifter (yourself for being so very thoughtful), and the artist! Three: you won't be getting any lead infested, made in China crapola. And Four: you will justify my art habit to my husband that calls himself an art widow and maybe he will be ok with the hours I spend in my studio. Ok, now go check out my Etsy shop and buy a lot of cre8ive stuff for Christmas!

Cre8ive Fun!

I call this little gal my Inspiration Angel. She shares ideas with me so that I can be more cre8ive. I made her today with my friends Jonna and Donna. (No, they aren't twins even though they sound like they could be. ) My Inspiration Angel started out with a little whisk broom, then burlap and cheese cloth. She's got barbed wire wings, a lightbulb wired with a spring to her head, and a pull chain for some extra bling. This was sooooo much fun! I had SO much fun that I had to make TWO dolls! The 2nd one is a flower child...She's got the long hair donated from Jonna's horse. She's got her big flower on her belly thanks to a faucet and what's a hippy without roach clips? Her arms are made of clips with wires that had the ends stripped to make copper hands. It's a lot of fun to use odds and ends sitting around your basement. I hope you'll be cre8ive with reuseable items too! Enjoy!

How can you stay mad at a robot?

Lately life seems a bit out of control...with the financial markets in turmoil, our country is still in a war, and every penny is precious. What's the use in getting crazy over it? There is little we can do. So, I propose you let go of the anger, worry, or fret and cre8 something that makes you happy! Peace!

School is back in session

It's actually over a month into the school year and I'm just now getting to blog. Funny how a simple job can take over your life! It's all good though. The kids are creating amazing stuff and in my couple of minutes here or there I get to also! The cupcake above is one of four that I did for an upcoming show in Boise. I'll be the featured artist at Bun in the Oven on First Thursday, October 2nd. It goes from 5-9 pm so it would be great to see you all there! Bun in the Oven is located in Bodo (down the street from PF Changs) and they will be serving wine and appetizers! Bring everyone you know!!! Have you eaten anything lately that looks good enough to paint? Go ahead and have fun being cre8ive with your food!

School has begun!

CPSA International Show!

Here I am at the Color Pencil Society of America's International Show held this year in Seattle. It was so very inspiring to see such AMAZING color pencil pieces all together. And such a rush to be a part of it! It's worth taking risks in life even if you stumble some times. The rush once you achieve a goal is well worth a set back. Enjoy a cre8ive risk today!

busy little bee

In February, my husband and I and a bunch of fun friends took a cruise around the Eastern Carribean and I just fell in love with all of the colors in the area. I got to play around with some new mediums last week at a workshop with Kristy Kutch and so I did this scene using Graphitints and Inktense pencils from Derwent. They worked great!
I absolutely love color...have you noticed? Anywho, I bought this cupcake JUST so I could draw it! YUMMY! The best part...I get to eat it after I'm done! What a racket!

A very clever realtor and friend, Marcella Trueba from Century 21, commissioned me to do this Welcome Home so that she may give her home buyers a thank you gift. What fun!

Sock Monkeys!

Don't you just love sock monkeys? I sure hope CJ does! Her parents have called her Monkey forever and they asked me to do her name using monkeys. I've been wanting to draw sock monkeys and asked CJ if that was ok with her...being the totally cool gal that she is she said that was fine and so here you go...Sock Monkey Fun! I'm working on a rather large drawing right now and so I'm burning the midnight oil to get 'er done. I have one more letter to do! I'll post it as soon as I can cuz it's coming out super cool. I can't wait until my client sees it!!! Oh, speakinhg of seeing things....check out Linda Lucas Hardy's blogsite. She has pics from our workshop on it...that's the one I did the peppers. http://lindalucashardy.blogspot.com/

I've got one more week until I go to another workshop! Can't wait to learn more cre8ive stuff!

Cre8ive work, work, work!

Practice makes better! So, I went to a colored pencil workshop in June taught by the super talented Linda Lucas Hardy and not only had a lot of fun but also learned a whole new technique! The result is my red and green pepper. That took about 12 hours to do! Color pencil is very rewarding but man oh man, you've got to have patience. I LOVE IT! I also love Id Falls in which I got to meet wonderfully talented people associated with the Color Pencil Society up there. I'm very impressed with their artistic town and the super kind people. Thank you Ladies for being so very welcoming and getting a true master to our little state!
Noah is a little guy in Texas that has some Hawaiin love in him. His name was created in the spirit of vintage Hawaii post cards. I loved doing this one!

Catching up!

So, this fishing lure pic is one I did in color pencil (of course!) and I entered it into the Color Pencil Society's International show which is in Seattle this year. I got juried in and it's an excellent step into becoming the world famous artist that one I day I will become! Yahoooooo! I get to go to the Artist's reception at the Convention center in Seattle on Aug 2nd too. I gotta give a shout out to my graphic design guy, Eric over at Blue Print Specialties in Boise for doing such a good scan and saving my bacon! If you'll be in Seattle this summer, the piece will be up with about 125 other color pencil works until the end of Sept! Check it out!!!
This crazy colored park scene is one I did in watercolors for the Mountain Home Art Council's Summer Series t-shirts! Isn't it wild and crazy? I LOVE color! If you want to get a wonderful shirt and check out some super groovy music (the concerts are free!) then go to Carl Miller Park on July 17, July 31, August 14, and August 21 around 6 pm (I think)! It's the best thing to do in Mountain Home in the summers!!!!
This is a name I did for a little unborn baby that already has the nickname of Bean. There is some symbolism in there to give wishes for their little one. I wish Bean love, peace, health, and lofty dreams!

lame blogger

Sorry I've been so busy that I haven't even had time to post. So, I'll do so quickly right now. A couple of very exciting things in my life...I am illustrating a children's book for a couple of talented writers that will self publish on Amazon.com very soon! Also, one of my dearest friends is opening a new store in Boise and she'll be featuring my artwork! The store is called Buns in the Oven-from Labor to Love. It's a maternity and children's clothes and gift store and it is located in BODO (in the neighborhood of PF Changs). I'll give you all of the details to that store (directions, web site, etc) as soon as they are available for me to give. I still am kicking it into high gear with my word art! It's been a blast to have such creative opportunities...thank you all! So, check out the latest work! Enjoy.

Read and Grow was illustrated for the Mountain Home Public Library for their summer reading program. They have a theme of bugs this year!

A very special former student of mine has a lot of talents and interests. His wonderful parents commissioned me to create his last name using a lot of those interests! This was a blast and I'm so grateful for the opportunity to have been able to do this for my bud, Drew!

I LOVE my teaching job because of the parental support as well as the amazingly talented students that I get to work with! Amber and Brian are another great example of this! Their parents commissioned me to do this piece for their graduation present. It was so much fun to do!

Ok, I'll try my best to post right away since I have more that I haven't shown off yet!

Cre8ive PSA's

The Public Service Announcements my students came up with took over our school's bulletin boards during Final's week. Hopefully, like all PSA's they got attention to the right audience and helped a person or two! These students did a great Cre8ive thing! I'm so proud of them!!! Have a good day.

My cre8ive kids!

I am fortunate enough to work in a creative field that not only allows me to share my itty bitty knowledge of art and life but also, grow as an artist by being inspired by such creative students! The mission was to reach out to their peers with a public service announcement using art. Check them out so far...

Tornadoes in Mountain Home?

The day my realtor comes to put her for-sale signs on my property, a 20ft freaking tree decides to lay down in my yard! Thankfully no one or nothing was hurt (other than the tree). Anyone want a 20 ft tree?

Happy Mother's Day!

Aren't MOM's the BEST thing in this world? No wonder there is a day made just for them! That is why I made this artwork...they are true angels walking around our world and they deserve a special day, a special artwork, and a Billion dollars each! (Thanks, Pam, for commissioning such a thoughtful piece!)

Townhouse for Sale

So, I am selling this townhouse and I'm pretty sentimental about it. It's a good time for me to sell it with all of the needs we have in our new home so I'm sure that the next owner will find it as important to them as it has been to me. Please click on the link if you're interested in a good investment property or a cute townhome for yourself! http://www.militarybyowner.com/listings/hometour.asp?F_BASE_ID=125&F_STATE=ID&LISTING_ID=70949
PS-that's a Cre8ive paint job in that photo!

Sista' Luv!

Aint having a sister the best thing in the world? I'm very fortuneate because mine is totally AWESOME! I did these names for some sisters that have May birthdays. I love to be able to put in little fun details that make it personal for the reciever (like a thumb sucking habit!) Enjoy! I'm on a mission to get some mother's day artwork done! Don't forget to be cre8ive today!

happy place

One of my dear friends told me about Nico, a little boy with cancer. It's just not fair that someone so innocent has to learn about one of the most devilish sicknesses out there. Hopefully these little robots will help him find a happy place for a couple of minutes at least. Meanwhile I'll keep praying for you Nico!

Come on Spring!

It was fun to put together a collection of planes for my little friend Simon's name. I love that I could incorporate a plane that really is super beneficial to Idaho in the summer when it's wild fire season.

This name REALLY made me jonesing for spring. I want to see flowers again! Come on sunshine!