Magical May, I love you!

I've been painting more flowers. It is spring, after all!

"Earth laughs in flowers." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Bee to the blossom, moth to the flame; Each to his passion; what's in a name?" - Helen Hunt Jackson

"I am going to try to pay attention to the spring. I am going to look around at all the flowers, 

and look up at the hectic trees. I am going to close my eyes and listen." - Anne Lamott

"And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful

than the risk it took to blossom." - Anais Nin

"If you carry your childhood with you, you never become older." - Tom Stoppard

"You can cut all the flowers, but you cannot keep spring from coming." - Pablo Neruda

Have a great week! 

xo, A

My studio, my dad, a Christmas painting and gifts on Etsy

Hi! Today I'm sharing a few things I wanted to share, so I am. 

I'm sharing :)

Above, a sketch - Birds, suitable for framing.

My dad turned 73 on Tuesday Dec 2nd - hard for me to believe. Happy Birthday dad!

He likes waving to me once I'm on the train at the Amtrak station in Richmond. 

Always makes me happy.

Lately, I've been attempting to declutter my space where I live and work.

It's not easy for me. I hang onto things, but it feels nice to let go. I feel lighter. I think.

I moved a couple of paintings. Cata Caquinho, above, now hangs in my living room. 

This is Cattie, a cute Steiff cat from childhood. No, I would never give her up.

This is a corner of my studio/kitchen area. It probably still looks cluttered to many of you, 

but for me, it's good. And, I've moved a bit more since this, too!

Crash Bunnies is now above my drawing table, along with dogs, Ruben & Cooper

Pirate bird and others...

I painted this little winter scene last week.

It's bun's 1st Christmas.

I recently had to get a crown after cracking my back tooth on a pistachio :/

My new dentist is Pasha on 5th Ave and 17th St, Brooklyn.

I think he did a fine job, although my temp popped out eating a breakfast burrito!

Time will tell.

This photo was taken along 4th Ave and you can see, the light was fantastic that day. 

Above, is the lovely, talented Yuko Katakawa at this year's CBIG portfolio review.

It's held each year at a public school on the Upper east Side.

I just love this little cape-coat! 

I thoroughly enjoyed my meetings with Beth Terrill, editor North South Books

and Patti Ann Harris, now at Scholastic. It was a great experience. 

CBIG does a good job of organizing it all. I'm really happy to be a part of this group.

Now, onto gifts! I gave this to my friend, Margaret as a little house warming present. 

She likes whales and this one from Clayopera on Etsy couldn't be sweeter! 

Take a look at her other ceramic pieces, all fun and whimsical.

My sticker :)

If you're shopping for charming toys this year, Hazel Village makes super cute animals,

like these two. I found them at the Union Square Holiday Market last winter.

little tree

My Christmas and holiday cards are available in my Etsy shop, Blip Blop Shop 

take a peek :)

An inkling of an idea - overindulgent animals...

You know who you are!

:::

It's almost the weekend. Have a fun one!

xo, A

Animal Characters at Work & Play

"There are no short cuts to any place worth going. " - Beverly Sills

"That's no reason to stop looking!" -me

*

:: It's Art Update Monday ::

Meet Harvey and French

New friends in my Animals at Work & Play series ...

This is Piglet and Trix. Piglet loves books and Trix loves Piglet.

Dining area turned humble studio, here are more animals ready for the big bright world!

Thought I'd share a few before & after pictures.

I know I'm not the 1st to express how tricky it can be to maintain 

the charm and looseness of sketches in the finished piece.

We all try!

The Venice paintings starring Gustavo Gondolier are favorites of mine. 

If you read my blog regularly, I'm sure you've seen the one above.

Below is a new addition -

Gustavo and others spot cat's big catch!

Mmmmmm  Meeee-YOW !

Now, meet Scuba Cat 

It's not just fish she's finding, but treasure!

I suppose this could be a line for warm toasty Cronuts.

Whatever they're all waiting for, the suitcase is a mystery.

See something, Say something.

Say Anything.

Loosely based on a Holiday Magazine cover from 1959, I love this painting. 

I'd like to have a vacation spot here in wherever it is Europe :)

This is a revised Yoga Bun. I like the lighter sketchy touch,

even though original Yoga Bun will remain close to my heart. 

Here she is trying on her tops.

Above is a detail from Museum trip. I will one day (soon) complete or re-do this one!

This is little Louanne. She follows Claude Cat

for a day of fishing. You can find her in the post

Animals with Dreams Big and Small

and finally, more characters I've been working & reworking ...

Thanks for stopping by.

Have a great week!

xo, A

Sunday, a day to appreciate, complain and vice versa

"Don't part with your illusions. When they are gone, you may still exist, but you have ceased to live." ~ Mark Twain


I mentioned in my post last week that I am moving everything out of my studio and into my apartment downstairs. I have to admit that it feels great to purge myself of outdated books like "Personal Finance in your 20s" and business books for artists, including the "Handbook on Pricing & Ethical Guidelines" from 1999. I feel confident that I could write a guide book. Unfortunately, the title would be "How to Turn your Business into a Hobby". I will not part with some of my old Art Forums, Vogue and Vanity Fair mags. I will toss some of the hideous paintings I made in the early 90s, but some I still like very much! I'm lucky to have a fair amount of storage space in my apartment and I liked waking up in the smaller cozy side room, once occupied by my bunny rabbits, this morning :) It took a lot more work than I expected to make that tiny room livable. Currently, I'm confounded by furniture in my studio that no longer fits through the door. I've tried every angle for one table and even after removing the door, it just won't budge? I wondered earlier if Kate Middleton ever removed door hinges. maybe.

It's a beautiful day and  the Court Street Fair is going on outside. I usually venture out to socialize and take pictures for my blog, but with so much left to do and in desperate need of a shower, I may sit this one out. I've never gone this long without hot water. After several visits from the gas company then repairs and a chimney cleaning, all was well on Friday. By Saturday, the pleasure of a hot shower was just out of reach again. Damn me for not taking one as soon as it was back! There's some issue with the pilot light that's too dull to go into here. It's been a week and a half and I was looking at it as a blessing in disguise. It motivated me to finally start running again, in part, to sweat enough to enjoy a cold shower. Still it's not that enjoyable to go from hot, straight to cold without any stretching (lest I cool off too much ;)

I like to keep a healthy perspective on things, but sometimes it just feels good to bitch. It's more fun to do at work or having drinks with friends, but today I am by myself. I love my neighborhood, but as rents continue to rise I wonder how long I'll hang on here. I am very lucky to work in a Union, have benefits and enough free days to work on my own business. Whether painting custom murals or pursuing licensing contracts for my art & characters, I love what I do. I dream of making my living solely from my artwork, but the cost of maintaining a separate studio here in Brooklyn has become very expensive. I hope that my new live/work layout will be conducive to creativity and that I will become more organized. I regret the lack of space I'll have to work on larger projects, but I believe I will eventually find another perfect work studio to do everything I dream of doing.