Paint Party Friday (Week 33) + The Butterfly Effect = Surreal Art!

"Cinderelephant"

approximately 21"x22"

acrylic on fabric (attached to an old cupboard door)

(Not the best photo - it's been dark and snowing!)

My inspiration for this week's PPF painting came from the surrealism theme over at The Butterfly Effect.

As I was thinking about that theme, I came across a sketchbook page I shared way back in February (you can see it here).  The itty-bitty Cinderelephant at the bottom of that page led to a new stream of consciousness drawing...

Because there aren't many things more surreal than an elephant who prances around in glass slippers!

Creative Tuesday Challenge: Autumn or Fall... Whatever You Call It, It's Inspirational!

Squirrel Love

It's been a while since I've been able to participate in Mr. Toast's Creative Tuesday Challenge and I've missed it!

Autumn has caused the chipmunks and squirrels in my neighborhood to go into overdrive as they prepare for the Winter ahead.  As a result, it seemed appropriate to post a little "squirrel love" for Creative Tuesday's Fall theme.

Please be sure to stop by the new Creative Tuesday blog to see all of the other Fun Fall Creations!

And...

Amy is offering a 'Free Live Video Workshop' tomorrow (October 26th) at 3pm (CST).

(Click here for more information.)

And...

The very creative Harmony from Feed Your Soul Art interviewed me.  (You can read it here.)

And...

Well, nothing else.  I'm just being silly...

Wishing you a very Creative Tuesday!

I'm A Lucky, Lucky Girl!

"Tell Your Story (Words Like Feathers)"

by Sadee Schilling

I love getting fun mail!  This weekend I received a wonderful package all the way from Germany!  

"What was inside the wonderful package?", you may ask...  It was a beautiful print by the kind, generous, and very talented Sadee Schilling!

  

When I saw her artwork online I thought, "Wow!".  

Then, when I was lucky enough to win a giveaway on her blog I cheered, "Yippee!".  

When her print arrived on Saturday I said to Bob, "Holy smoke!  Look at how incredible this is!"

Please excuse the quality of the photo - it has been so rainy here.

(I just couldn't wait to share it with you!)

As soon as it arrived I was very anxious to hang it - I had the perfect spot!  (A corner of my living room next to one of my bookshelves.)  But... I had to stop and admire the quality of her print first - the paper it is printed on makes me swoon!  I knew it was beautiful from seeing it online, but in person it is amazing!

Thank you Sadee!

To get an amazing print of your own (or for a fabulous gift), please visit Sadee's shop!

Sunday Sketches... Balance

Just like this bear on a ball, I am looking for balance...

Since Tyler has started kindergarten, you would think it would be easier to "get it all done".  But, greater amounts of time seem to lead to greater expectations...  I still find myself struggling to find the balance between fun-family-and-friends-time, art-time, business-time, computer-time, and has-to-be-done-mundane-chore-time.

I would love to hear how you "find the time"... What are your tricks for finding balance?

And don't forget to stop by Sophia's blog to see how my Sunday Sketching buddies have been spending their time this week!

Paint Party Friday Meets The Butterfly Effect!

A sneak peek at my work in progress.

One of the paintings I've been working on this week was inspired by the "masks" theme over at The Butterfly Effect.

The very first thing that popped into my head when I read the theme was "raccoon", my next thought was "masquerade ball".  So I figured, "Hey, why not combine the two?"  (It's probably not much of a shock since I seem to be a wee bit obsessed with creating anthropomorphic animals! Ha!)

This work in progress is approximately 21'' x 27.5".  I started by attaching fabric to an old cabinet door (another shocker!), then painting on top of that...  

Happy PPF!

and

Do You See What I See?

This could be an average, ordinary photo of a local highway. Or it could be...

The photo of a snail about to cross the road.  (I just hope he waits until traffic slows down!)


I saw this "snail tree" while driving on the highway a few weeks ago.  My understanding husband, Bob, found a safe place I could take a photo of it... There's nothing like dragging my family into my crazy, right?!? Ha!

I will file this image away and someday it may become the subject of a drawing or painting because...

Inspiration is Everywhere!

Please join Inspiration Avenue as they celebrate 500+ "Fab Followers" and 3 years of sharing inspiration!

I Have An Adorable Admirer...

Well, I should say my balloons have an adorable admirer...

Over the summer I posted this balloon paper as part of my CareFREE Friday series.  Melanie wrote to me to let me know that her 3 year old son loved the paper so much he carried the printed version around with him.  As you can imagine, a sheet of paper doesn't last long in the hands of a three year old and she kept having to print it out. 

This past week, Melanie wrote to me again to let me know that Caleb still loved the balloons so much and she was printing so many copies because they were so well loved, that she decided to have him look at them online instead!  (She even sent a photo of him admiring the balloons!)

Isn't he the cutest?!?

Thank you for sharing this with me Melanie and Caleb - Emails and comments like this make my days!