Romantic Country Magazine.....

I was proud to find out a few weeks ago that my "Sweet Spring Bluebirds" emu egg jewelry box would be appearing in the favorite finds section of "Romantic Country" magazine, summer 2009 edition. I'm excited to say the magazine just came out and I was able to pick up a couple of copies at a nearby bookstore.

You can click on the photos to read the caption and view larger images.

It was very exciting to send my egg away in the mail to be professionally photographed for the pages of this beautiful magazine. Thanks go out to Fifi, the Editor In Chief of Romantic Country, who was so sweet to work with and did such a beautiful job on the photos.

Next time I'll try to post about what has been going on in my painting studio these days... I hope everyone is enjoying some wonderful June weather.

Rose Inspirations Everywhere.....

These are some sweet pink roses that I painted on a duck egg for a customer. This is probably one of my very favorite pieces of egg art.

Inspired by many different kinds of roses that I've grown over the years....

Every year I always look forward to my roses starting to bloom. I love grabbing my camera to see if I can capture their beauty.

Whether they are pink.........

Red climbers.......

Or cream colored beauties, they always inspire me. I hope you've enjoyed this rosy selection and that it has inspired you in some way, to look for the beauty that is blooming all around you.

Whiling Away The Remainder Of Winter

Spring is in the air....well, some days it is anyway but even when it is cold and frosty outside, I'm thinking of spring and summer. The way I feel is always reflected in what I choose to paint and I love focusing my artistic energy on designs and themes that make me happy. These 2 eggs, one an Emu egg and one a Quail egg, both painted with an ocean theme.

I painted "Garden By The Sea" onto the surface of this Emu egg and I think the design looks striking against the beauty of the green/black natural color of the egg.

In this photo, because the egg is resting on its side, you can really see the natural texture and colors of the egg.

The Quail egg is tiny in comparison and quite delicate to work with. If I hold it just a little too tight......I have egg shell bits rather then an egg.

Here you can get a glimpse of the pretty speckled color this egg has.

A yellow bird on an egg pin that was a special order for a customer. He's been able to find a lot to eat, even during the coldest winter months, because he has the fat belly to show for it.

While I'm whiling away the hours of winter painting, some of us might just like to contemplate life.

Just taking it easy, thinking about all that needs to get accomplished in the upcoming day or week.

But then why rush to the task when we can enjoy ourselves just thinking it all over.

Silhouette Princess Egg Art

I hope everyone had a great holiday and Happy New Year!!! I'm trying to get back into the swing of things in my studio.....it's back to work for me. I thought I would start the year by working on some miniature collectibles. Remember that naked Emu egg I showed a few weeks ago that was just waiting for me to do something with it?? Well I decided to use that egg and create a grouping based on a common theme. So above we have the Silhouette Princess. She is standing with her back to us, waiting for someone.....maybe her prince, I don't know yet. She is wearing her crown of jewels and a garden of flowers is growing up all around her.

So I've taken the important elements from the large Emu egg and painted them on the smaller duck eggs to complete the set. Here we have the crown........and below.......

Some of the flowers from the princess's garden.

These are a few details shots of the main egg. I'll have to wait and see if I will continue on in this grouping and make a series.....only the weeks or months ahead will tell.

A Sampling Of Projects

I seem to be going in so many different directions these days.....I've been trying to finish up some things and start up others. For instance, I got this tin out weeks ago, applied gesso and then stuck it under a pile of papers and photos in my studio. I had put it aside to work on my Chickadee & Petunias Faux Window. Now that the window is finished, the tin made its way back out of the mess it was under to start being worked on.

I had to start by deciding on a design that I wanted to paint on the tin. You will be able to see the design a bit better in the below photos but the one above shows how I approach the creation of the sketch itself. It is easier and more functional for me, when painting on a tin like this, to draw the design on tracing paper first. I've actually used two pieces...one with the actual design and one with the shape of the ceiling tin outlined on it. This allows me to move the sketch around the tin shape in an attempt to dertermine the best placement. It basically lets me play around all I want without committing to a final position for the design until I'm ready.

Here you can see the outline of the tin and the basic sketch. A birdhouse and a little chickadee. The birdhouse is resting on some Lilac branches.

This photo shows the very beginning stages of painting. My birdhouse and chickadee have been positioned just the way I want them....transferred onto the tin and I've started painting the background at this point. I'll be showing the progress of this tin as I go alone.

Now on to something totally different...... I don't do mailboxes on a regular basis anymore but I was recently contacted by a long time customer of mine who wanted a very special mailbox for his mother for Christmas. He sent me a photo of an Easter cross and asked me to create my own version for this mailbox. Above and below show the finished design on both sides.

Last but not least, I started to think about what I wanted to do with this egg over a year ago. Nothing was really grabbing me and so, I put it in a box and forgot about it. Just this week I was saying to myself...."what did I do with that egg?" The time has come for this Emu egg to be painted and I know just what I will do on it. I will show the finished piece in a few weeks. It seems like there are so many projects these days......and so little time.

And The Winner Is..........

The winner of my Dragonfly egg is: Michelle over at www.mosaicqueen.typepad.com . Congratulations Michelle, I hope you will enjoy this miniature piece of art. Thanks also to everyone who stopped by to sign up.

Fall Giveaway

Well, I've decided it is fall giveaway time. I was just thinking that it has been what seems like forever since I've hosted a giveaway. I've enjoyed my others so much and it is a great way to thank all of you, my readers, for coming back time and again.

I'll be giving away this dragonfly duck egg with acrylic stand that you see above. I was bitten by the bug to paint it because I really enjoyed painting the large Ostrich egg last year, that you see this one pictured with above. That one also has a dragonfly and leaf theme.

In these photos you can see the side views of the leaves and vines and all the gems that have been added for extra sparkle as well.

The back is signed and dated by me...... You can also tell from this photo that the background is a rich, marbled gold, silver and burnt sienna color.

I couldn't resist getting out some of my other egg pieces that I've painted so that I could photograph them in different groupings. I don't really need much of an excuse to get the camera out and have a little fun.

I will have Chris pick a name out of our kitchen mixing bowl (things remain primitive around here, what can I tell ya) on Tues November 11th. This will give everyone a good amount of time to sign up for the drawing if you are interested. All you have to do to have a chance to win is sign this post, letting me know you would like to be entered into the giveaway. It doesn't matter where you live, how far away you are....feel free to sign up for this, everyone is eligible.

I fell like it has also been a long time since I showed a painting in progress so I'm going to be doing that soon as well. I've started a new faux window which I'm really excited about and I've been taking pictures of it as I paint along, at different stages of completion. I'll be showing some of that painting in upcoming posts.

A Little Of This...... And A Dash Of That

Today is a day when I seem to have so much to talk about......lots of different topics occupying my mind at this point....A little of this .....And (well, you know the rest). Remember last month I created my Autumn Whimsy painting on vintage ceiling tin?? I told you at the time, that it was created for a very special purpose and that I would fill everyone in on that once October hit. Well, here it is the end of October already and I almost forgot to post about this. The artwork above is now on the cover of................

Southeastern Antiquing And Collecting Magazine. Dianne Zweig wrote a very nice article about the collecting possibilities of antique ceiling tins and featured my ceiling tin art in the article. The editor of the magazine was nice enough to ask me to create a special piece for their October issue. He wanted something that said "autumn" but also wanted a dash of "Halloween" mixed in there as well. This is why I created Autumn Whimsy above! I hope all the readers enjoyed the article. My thanks go out to Dianne Zweig and the editor of this lovely antiquing magazine for not just including my work in the issue but putting a piece of the cover.

I have to admit that I have become so addicted to blogging. I'm constantly searching for new and beautiful art blogs to visit that are a treat for the eyes and an inspiration for creativity. The painting above is entitled: "The Girl On The Red Bicycle" and is an original piece of artwork created by Erin Houghton. She is a modern day impressionist and if you love gorgeous garden scenes, her work is a must see. Not only is Erin a great artist but she is new to blogging and I think from what I've seen so far that she will become as addicted to the blog world as I have. Please visit Erin @ http://www.thepaintedgarden.blogspot.com/ to see some of her gorgeous work and maybe send her a "hello", to welcome her to blog land.

**This painting is copyright to and was used with permission by Erin Houghton**

Ok, is this Shih Tzu ornament too cute or what?? As many of you know, Chris and I have 3 Shih Tzus that keep our lives pretty busy and sometimes, wreck total havoc on our daily routine. I always keep my eye out for great Shih Tzu art I might find along my internet travels. This adorable Shih Tzu ornament was created by my friend Melissa Langer over at Pug Notes, http://www.pugnotes.blogspot.com/ . Melissa is so creative and has her hand in all different kinds of art forms. One day I was visiting her site and saw her adorable Pug ornaments.....I knew I had to have one so I quickly asked if she could make me the Shih Tzu version. This little guy now hangs on the door knob of my studio , where I get to see him everyday. Melissa is a fabulous artist that creates whimsical paintings of dogs and cats and many different kinds of products from her paintings as well. If you get a chance, pay her a visit.

This week I've been having some fun with egg art.....creating what I'm calling "Word Eggs" eggs that have a meaning. They were just some fun little projects that I enjoyed working on and will probably do more of in the future.

I started with a marbled looking background that I painted on this one and added the design from there.

I guess I was thinking of the ocean when I created this one.

This is one of my favorite sayings so I decided to use it on the above egg.

Even though I don't purchase my duck eggs at the local grocery store, it was still fun to photograph them in this egg carton.

Last but not least, as the day was winding down....enter Dudley, who decided to wreck a little havoc on my work plans by trying to make me stop and pay attention to him. While Willow and Orchid were sound asleep in the living room, Dudley was getting quite impatient with me for being locked away in my studio so he decided to come in and see if he could get me out of the room. When he comes in and whimpers while I work it means one of two things, he has to go out or, he simple wants me to come into the living room with hiim and sit for awhile. He doesn't like it when I get so focused on what I'm doing that I forget about him. How can I possibly resist this cute face?