Join the Newsletter

Subscribe to get our latest content by email.
    We won't send you spam. Unsubscribe at any time.

    Blog

    Published on
    Picture
    I'm thinking about working on some new projects. We've got just a few months until the end of the year and I want to make sure that I accomplish the final goals for the year. 

    So, here's a little frog and a style I was playing with earlier this week: gentle watercolor, gentle illustration, rough background. I like it. 
    Published on
    Picture
    This is thirty-five. I've got more gray hair than I did last year and I refuse to color it. I have a few more lines around my eyes. I have a few more wrinkles. I have a hormonal mask from having a baby when I was thirty-three. 

    Some of my most cherished moments over the last twelve months have come from my sweet family (those tiny babies grow up so fast!). I've also been thrilled with the books that I've written and the books that I've illustrated.

    I'm ending this month by preparing some paintings to be hung in local businesses, trying to finish up a canvas for an art show, prepping some small pieces to take to a gallery, and sketching out and working on some commissions! 
    Published on
    Halloween decorations are slowly being added to houses up and down my street. I've got my painted pumpkins ready to add to my own porch (but I'm waiting until the first day of fall. I can't put stuff out like that in summer, it just doesn't feel right to me). This year I'm thinking about adding some witch hats to the porch too. I haven't done that for several years, but this year I might. 

    I can feel that the weather is starting to change. We've had rain all week and it's getting cooler. I think we're finally done with the 100 degree days, and I'm so ready for plaid and cold weather and snuggling up inside with my fuzzy babies and my little boy. We've even been able to get a few walks in this week - which is so exciting! I don't think I've walked outside since May. 

    Picture
    I always feel taken by surprise during spooky season. I have grand plans of making a lot of different fall themed art and it just doesn't happen. Maybe I need to start planning at the beginning of the year and then I'll have something finished when fall begins.

    I decided to use digital oil for this painting. It's been a while since I've worked on something more realistic. A lot of my art is more illustrative these days because of the work that I've done on some children's books. I've been using a lot of digital water color. When painting a physical piece, I'm still using a lot of acrylic (it's my preferred medium for physical art). I've got a show coming up at the end of the work, so I've got to work on a physical painting in the next few weeks. 

    Here's this cute sky puppy I've been thinking about for a little while. I wanted it to look more realistic. I like the bold color. It's possible to be happy that it's almost spooky season, but still be colorful about it. Bats are one of my favorite things about October. That month is the socially acceptable time to talk about them, if there is a month centered around "spooky" animals, I guess. If you want to learn more about bats you can check out my bat book: 
    www.amazon.com/dp/1312782099
    Published on
    I like the idiom "when pigs fly." It's an old Scottish proverb that refers to something that isn't likely to happen. A lot of my work centers around Texas art and Texas inspired subjects. I'm a Texas artist, after all. So, thinking about this Scottish proverb, I wanted to put a Texas spin on it. 

    So, here's my spin: a javelina with raven wings. Javelinas aren't actually pigs, they are peccaries - which are an animal native to the Americas. 
    Picture
    This piece is called "When Peccaries Fly" - and I'm pretty delighted. It's a digital, mixed media piece and I'm really thinking about putting it on a canvas.