slowly, but surely

well, we are moved in.  or, let me say that all of our belongings are now at our new address.  putting everything away is another story...and i'm working on that....slowly, but surely.  so, hopefully i'll have pictures of my newly organized studio to share with you soon.  i've missed being creative, so i'm highly motivated to get back into the swing of things! 

life happens

 these boxes have become a fairly familiar accessory in our house over the past few years, and we've certainly gotten our use out of them.  and this week we'll be relying on these "old standbys" to help us transport all of our life's treasures (and junk) to another place to live.  actually, we'll be staying in the same town and we'll even be in the same neighborhood.  our landlord has decided not to renew our lease, so we'll be moving everything we own...two doors away. thankfully, we were able to rent a house that our neighbors were moving out of, and it's two house numbers away.  i keep telling myself that it's only two houses over, so it won't be bad. however...moving is still moving.  it really doesn't matter how far away you're moving to, you still have to manually move everything that you own to a new location.  do i sound tired already?  well, the good news is that our house is being built and should be ready next june.  and then we'll move all of our treasures to that house...well, at least the treasures that we have left after i take half of this stuff to goodwill because i'm tired of moving it!  :)   i'll be back in a few days from a new location... 

swirly girly

pollyanna's garden continues to grow....here is flower number six in the series.  with all of this horrible weather from tropical storm fay over the past couple of days, it was wonderful to be able to hide in my studio for a while and paint something happy and colorful.  i can still hear the wind howling outside, and the rain continues to beat on the windows, but this swirly girly reminds me that better days are ahead.

harley-kin

i didn't realize that pollyanna had such a green thumb!  harley-kin is the fifth in my pollyanna's garden series, and if i had to choose favorites, she would be towards the top of my list.  i really love her quirky nature, and i've always been partial to blue-purple flowers in the garden.  and, i'm still having fun painting these little darlins...

heart-2-heart

finally, here is the first flower in my pollyanna's garden series. you may have seen this flower in a previous blog post, titled "joie de vivre".  that original watercolor was actually created for walther's sweet aunt nellie, who recently turned 85 years old.  i enjoyed working on her gift so much that i decided to paint another one...and, well, the seeds for pollyanna's garden were planted!  thank you for indulging me in posting all of these happy little paintings...they put a smile on my face, and i'm hoping that the same is true for you!

i'm on etsy!

it's official...i'm on etsy!  i must admit that opening an etsy shop was a bigger project than i had imagined, but i'm really happy with the results.  i only have a few items so far, but it's a work in progress.  want to visit?  click on the orange button to the right...

moving ahead

all of my blog posts up to this point have been highlighted with an image, usually of a recent piece of artwork.  today, i would like to showcase the artwork that you see above...my elvie studio banner.  i created this in photoshop, using a piece of scrapbook paper and an image of my lettering that i scanned into the computer.  while this banner is new to my blog, i actually created this banner for my new shop at etsy.  i've been working on all of the specifics for the shop, as well as creating the artwork that i plan to begin selling as prints. admittedly, i've been dragging my feet a little, as life has a habit of interfering with my best-laid plans.  but, i hope to have my "doors" open soon, so stay tuned....

rosey o'dottle

all of the rain that we've had recently has been good for pollyanna's garden! rosey o'dottle is a cheerful, colorful flower, which makes her a perfect pick for this happy flower series (plus, i'm having fun naming them, too!).  my challenge in painting this was that i wanted to use lots of bright color...and when i did, it looked awful. i finally realized that the design of the flower is too complicated with the swirl and dots, so i had to keep the color somewhat monochromatic. in the end, i like the results and i think that rosey will be happy in the garden!

crazy daisy

here is part three in my "pollyanna's garden" series. not too wild or too crazy for our standards, but perfect for this little garden bed.  my time in the studio has been somewhat sporadic lately, so when i catch a moment of creative time, i like to do something fun, colorful and not too serious. have i hit the mark? 

thought du jour

several months ago i was attending a bookmaking/lettering workshop in orlando. of course, when i'm in orlando, i go shopping.  this sign is displayed on the window next to the entrance of sam flax, an art supply store that i love to visit. hmmm..."artist seeks admirer". (actually, i think that you could substitute any occupation for the word "artist" and the same would be true. "policeman seeks admirer", "doctor seeks admirer", and so on.)  no matter what we are called to do in life, i think that we always want to know that others appreciate our talents...that we're doing a great job and that our work makes a difference in someone's life.  so, to all of you artists out there, i totally admire you! 

check mate

this is part two in a series that i'm calling "pollyanna's garden". i just love this little flower and i am also loving these colors together. in my pollyanna world, i can just imagine several rows of these check mates lining the flower beds, ready to invite new friends (mates) to come and join them. i absolutely love doing this type of artwork...it's happy, colorful and very feel-good. life has been a little complicated lately, so this garden is a perfect place for me to be. 

gone fishin'

my dad is a fountain of knowledge and wisdom, and one day he said this to me as encouragement to take a risk with my artwork and put myself "out there". and, of course, as most dad's wisdom goes, he's right. so as a daily reminder, i wrote it out on paper and glued it to one of those cute 3" canvases and then finished the sides with ribbon. it sits proudly on a small easel in my kitchen where i see it every morning. and one day i hope to catch the "big one", or at least talk about the "one that got away"...but for now, i'm happy for a little nibble on the bait! 

urn

our drawing group met yesterday and stephanie gave us a beautiful still life arrangement to draw. my eye immediately went to this fabulous urn, so that's what i started with. of course, i got so caught up with the details of the urn that i didn't have time to draw the candle stick, books and fern that went with the grouping! oh well, my simple brain gave me permission to draw just this one item, so that's what i did. and i'm happy with that.