Totes & Tees.....

Over at my house I've been busy making more products from my paintings. Remember my Floxglove Seed Packet watercolor above........I've made it into........

several different kinds of shirts and.........

a cool tote bag.

I painted this little gray kitty for a very nice couple in Belgium last year, it actually was a Christmas present that was ordered for them. What do you know, I turned it into.....

a shirt for all the CAT CRAZY people out there. Actually, if I find that the cat products have a wide appeal, I will be doing more cat art that I can create fun, everyday items from.

With this design, don't ask me where the original photo is.....my husband Chris has his own wacky storage system for our photos. Sometimes I look and find things right away, other times, I might be sitting here 20 minutes and still haven't found it....I then give up in utter frustration. I spent about 10 minutes looking for this one tonight and then decided I could live without it for the moment...so here we are, without it.

Anyway, this cat and another sweet kitty were painted for a lady in CA, now here they are on a tee shirt and tote bag. I'll soon be adding these to my website but in the meantime, I'm adding them to my first ETSY site... http://www.artfulcreations.etsy.com/ .

In The Spotlight

Last week I met an artist through the blog world whose work I just fell in love with. Above is Melissa Langer and her adorable Pug Emmitt. Melissa is the owner/artist of Pug Notes. Her work is just wonderful, she creates original Pug art as well as other breeds, with acrylic paint. Is it any shock that sweet little Emmitt is the inspiration behind her work??

We all have a very distinct reaction when we see art work. My first reaction to Melissa's work was a very broad smile. How can anyone look at this wonderful and whimsical artwork, with such expressive little faces and not smile. Below Melissa tells us about her work and how she creates all her pieces.

The Process, How I create a Painting: I love painting my Pugs and Pug Pals! Each one brings me new joy and excitement. I am often asked how I create my paintings and capture the expressions in my characters. The answer is, I am not exactly sure how I do it, or where the creative energy comes from. I do know that I cannot create one everyday. It is an energy that builds, and I can actually feel a painting coming on. It is a fun and creative process.

I am a self taught artist. My passion is working with acrylics on wood. I love how the paint glides across the wood, often revealing a subtle, natural grain of the surface below. I documented stages of the painting process to show you how I do it.

I start with a 8 x 10 x 3/4 piece of hemlock wood and sketch my subject in pencil. Then I decide upon the colors I will use, mix my paints, and start painting the head and body. I work on the shading of the fur as I go. I often add a bit more detail at the end of the process but most of it is put down in this stage. I then move on to the ears, eyes, muzzle, nose and mouth. I usually paint in the background before I put on the final touches and wrinkles.
Voila! A new Pug or Pal is born in the Pug Notes family.

Check out all of Melissa's work and all the beautiful products made from her work at: http://www.pugnotes.com/ she also has a blog: http://www.pugnotes.blogspot.com/ I hope you will enjoy her work as much as I have.

All photos and artwork were used with permission by and are copyright to - Melissa Langer at Pug Notes.