5 x 5 in.

Levi found his love. Her name is Lonnie.
These two love birds are also my Illustration Friday submission for the topic of "moon".
*Edit* July 31, Lonnie and Levi are now available as a print over at the Etsy Shop.
(click here to buy original)

Seanie heading out ~ photo by Jennifer Wilson

for a surf weekend! Just what summer in Southern California is all about. Have a great weekend everyone!

5 x 5 in.
A good friend recently suggested, "have you thought of painting a baby elephant?" ~ and since I’m always up for the challenge, here he is!
*Edit* July 31, baby elephant is now available as a print at theEtsy Shop.
(original is sold)

"The gang celebrates!" is now a LIMITED EDITION of 35 prints. Each is numbered and signed and you can find them right here at the ol' Etsy Shop. Happy Creative Thursday!

4 x 4 in.

Meet Levi. He’s a brand new character making his first appearance today. I’m already smitten with him. And we’ll just have to see if he finds his love and who she will be?
(click here to buy original)

Libertine Side Pocket Skirt in red and a little throwback to early Madonna Libertine Lace Ruffle Skirt in ebony

Ok, I’m not really much of a shopper these days. When I do go I like to get everything all at once, basically so I don’t have to go shopping for a while (my teenager self would not understand this) ~ but where I’m at in my life now, I’d rather be painting. Shopping takes time you know.

However, last week turned into a bit of a "back to school" shopping frenzy for me, and at Target of all places. I like to think of myself as more of an Anthropologie , Urban Outfitters kind of girl. But, since Erika came home with her new bermuda shorts from Libertine I was sold! That’s what you get when you have a fashion maven/model living next door to you. Have you heard of Libertine yet?

Quoted from their Label "Born out of a bicoastal fashion experiment between friends Cindy Greene and Johnson Hartig, Libertine has evolved to be one of the biggest fashion insider labels. Built on graphic prints and unexpected juxtapositions, Libertine is the last word in edgy elegance."

Libertine Embroidered Bermuda Shorts shown in Oxford Khaki, which I purchased in the Admiral Blue color shown in the short shorts version.

So there you have it, a new look "Edgy Elegance". All I can say is 4 clothing items later, they fit fantastic! (I also picked up an adorable white sleeveless top that I couldn’t find online - so I’ll have to photograph it for you if I’m feeling like taking the ol' "self-portrait shot") It’s all I can do now not to get the khaki, excuse me Oxford Khaki, whale/skull bermuda shorts too. Within a week they were almost sold out at all the LA surrounding Targets. (I know because, I’ve been to them all) If you feel inspired, it looks like you can find most of the pieces online too (psst. if you’re an adult just remember to buy up in sizes as they are "juniors"). Hey, it’s Target, you can afford to treat yourself!

7 x 5 in.
...still celebrating!
And this one will be a special Limited Edition Print going up in the Etsy Shop this Thursday!
(original is sold)

Check it out! More questions and answers with yours truly. Thank you so much Helen!

4 x 4 in.
(click here to buy original)

Today is also the one year anniversary of this blog. Happy Anniversary Creative Thursday blog!

Whoever purchases this painting, you should know that it’s a special one ~ it is filled with reflection of a wonderful year, happy anticipation for what’s ahead, hope, and a reminder that all is truly possible.

If you’ve been following this blog, you probably know that I encourage taking time to notice where you are (even when you still have big plans for the future!). So, this is me taking time to notice. Throughout this past year, I’ve often thought of stopping the daily painting, but I’m having so much fun with it ~ I’m not quite ready just yet.

happy weekend everyone! and if you get a chance, take a moment to appreciate all you’ve done :)

I’ve decided to start selling Postcard, sets of 6, over at the Etsy Shop. And if all goes well, I have plans for adding more images. To start with, my favorite, the "Do you know what I mean?" Polar bear. You can find the new postcards here.
And a happy Creative Thursday to ya ~ are you being Creative today? (I’m actually spending the day organizing...creative in its own way, I suppose.)

4 x 4 in.
Happy Birthday Chanin!
(click here to buy original)

5 x 5 in.
Wish granted. *Edit* July 18, This one is now available as a print at the Etsy Shop. (I just listed one and it sold. If your heart longs for Olive & Pompey, please let me know and I will be happy to list one for you!)
*Edit* July 20, Changed my mind ~ it’s such a cute print, I just listed another one.
(original is sold)

6 x 6 in.
Wish granted! You see, your comments from Thursday’s post inspired today’s painting ~ similar style, and similar colors. I hope you enjoy this one.
*Edit* July 18, This one is now available as a print at the Etsy Shop. And, a little bonus there are 2 different color prints available for this image, cream and the one above in brown.
(original is sold)

Sunset in Hollywood on Saturday eve

No work for me this weekend. Zip, zero, zilch! But I had a very good time, in the midst of a few grouchy spells (no idea what about?! maybe I just missed my daily painting)

Bright and early on a Saturday morning, I attended my friend Ericka’s graduation from the Interior Design program at UCLA . 5 years of, (was it 5 or 6 Ericka?) grueling work, and I’m not exaggerating here ~ she’s finally free again and ready to start the next chapter of her life as an interior designer. Having attended 2 years of interior design school myself, all I can say is, the UCLA program is impressive and super intense!
Following the ceremony, which had a very good keynote speaker (more on that later) we all headed over to the The Red Lion for some good German beer, and some good German food, for the good German girls.

Now this is a happy, happy lady, Ericka and her lovely cousin Claudia from Canada

Congratulations Ericka ~ Alles Gute Fraulein! You rock Lady!
And so, wonderful to meet you Claudia

Then, I headed over to Hollywood for an opening at the new LA gallery, Tinlark. After following the work of the multi-talented Ann Wood, for the last few months over at her blog, it was great to get a chance to meet her and see her wonderful work in person.
While I was there, I also met another lovely lady, the owner of Tinlark, Cris. As we all know, certain galleries can be, shall we say, a bit "snooty" and sometimes even intimidating to simply walk into (not so appealing to some of us artists and art buyers). I am so happy to report that Tinlark does not fall into that category at all. Located in the middle of Hollywood, in a delightful space, Cris has created a gallery that has such a warm and welcome feeling and of course the best part - she’s got a great eye for emerging artists and inspiring art. If you’re in LA, I highly recommend stopping by this show, Modern Day Fables, featuring Ann and two other talented ladies, Maggy Rozycki Hiltner, and Laura Normandin. It’s going on now, through August 11.

All the pretty horses ~ Ann Wood’s "100 horses" installation

Of course I had to buy a horse! (Mine is the one directly above with the light blue flowers on the neck, and gold painted front leg)

And her ships ~ gorgeous!

And yesterday, after a morning of errands including the usual Farmer’s Market ~ a spontaneous, and my first ever, trip to the Japanese Market in downtown LA, with my other Erika friend, you know her as "my oh so kind neighbor" :) I’m making a Japanese dinner later for Seanie. YUM!!! And should you get the chance to visit a Japanese Market, I highly, highly recommend the Hello Kittie jelly filled marshmallows. DIVINE!!!

And to top off the weekend, an evening of birthday celebrations with Sean’s family and a delicious cake from Porto’s Cuban bakery.

Well, that about covers it. Hope you all had a good weekend too! and if you’ve missed the daily paintings, well just hang in because a new one is coming in an hour or so...Back to work for me ~ especially since I just spent the last 2 hours obsessing over this blog post. Oh, how I love my work though!

Floral Whisper 18 x 24 in.

The Atlanta Market is in full swing this weekend going through next Wednesday, July 18. If you plan on attending, I have new art that will be debuting through my licensing company, Oopsy Daisy/Studio Avo. They are at their permanent showrooms in the Merchandise Mart 10-E-20, and in the Apparel Mart 13-N-105. The painting shown above will be one of the larger canvas pieces. I’m really happy with how it turned out. And the original will be for sale here at my website soon. If your new to my work, bet you didn’t know that I used to paint more botanical designs like this one? And that I also paint larger sizes from time to time. The cutie pie animals are a completely new evolution.

Garbo "without worry"

click above to listen now

Seems like if I refer to my worries as a Taxi, it’s a little easier to release them :)

click here to download MP3
Download Instructions
Mac Users option click and Windows users right click on link above to download the file.

From left to right Leonard (Lewis' brother), Fern and Oscar
New clay characters in the Etsy shop today @ 7 pm Pacific Time.

Meet, Debbie the Tiger. I blogged about her in another post and promised to share her. She’s a special painting I picked up at a Flea Market. I call her Debbie, because the prominent signature on the bottom right makes me smile. I’m thinking...I haven’t yet painted a tiger...hmm, I might just have to do that soon.

And last but not least, Matte’s birdie gocco, framed! Again, the oh so famous Ikea Ribba frame. Simple, yet stylish. Always a classic.

happy Creative Thursday everyone ~ Oh, and I have a podcast to post in a bit too!

7 x 5 in.
Oscar is making another appearance, this time with the white horse I met at the farm in Virginia last week. I think Oscar is becoming my "where’s waldo?" in my paintings :)
(click here to buy original)

Oscar’s wonderful green room and more of my art in its natural habitat
photos by Hillary Lang

I was hopelessly lost in the amazing creativity of all that is Flickr, (a new and all consuming hobby for me), when I stumbled upon Hillary Lang’s photo stream. And then I stumbled upon this wonderful image of my "do you know what I mean?" bear hanging in Hillary’s son, Oscar’s amazing green room (as you know, I’m all about the green these days and rather fond of the name Oscar too!). Isn’t this one of the best kids rooms you’ve seen yet? I would move in, in a second. (I’m loving that little lamp, and the sock monkey, and the quilt ~ handmade by Hillary and Tim).
Upon further internet exploring, I then realized that Hillary is the author of the oh so famous wee wonderfuls blog. Yup, I’m her newest fan, one of many, many, loyal followers! Not only is she another super talent of sewing and such, but her photographs are beautiful, her design sense impeccable and her blog is a delight to read. I’m thrilled to see my little polar bear hanging in such a wonderful room and honored that it is a treasured part of Hillary and Oscar’s collection. Thank you Hillary!

4 x 4 in.
still lovin' the green today!
*Edit* July 11, This one is now available as a print at the Etsy Shop.
(click here to buy original)

I thought I would share this one with you today, just incase you are curious about "My Process". I was talking to my friend via Skype this afternoon, about to start on my painting for the day, and decided to doodle on the back of a piece of mail~ from the bank actually. I’m not really a serious or elaborate sketcher. I like to doodle very loosely, leaving room for "all of my creativity" to go into the actual piece. Sometimes this particular process is how new characters make their appearance, if I just let the pencil wander over the paper.

Oh, yes and the numbers to the right of the image, are the times that Ocean Ave. Seafood in Santa Monica is having its Oyster Happy Hour ~ which my oh so kind neighbor Erika and I plan to attend...real soon! Anyone else out their a fan of the oyster on the half shell...or are we the only ones?

Julie and I, self-portrait while driving (during her last visit to LA, summer 2004)

For our 4th of July vacation, just last week, Sean and I went to visit my long time friends Julie and Fritz in Virginia, just outside of Washington DC.
Julie and I met in our first year of college together. During our second year at college, she and I became roommates, (the kind that actually share a room together). We managed to survive the close quarters to become close friends. My first "adopted" sister, often told that we look like sisters, Julie has been and remains one of my most cherished, best friends.
Even with years that sailed by without seeing each other, every time we get together it is like no time has passed. We pick up right where we left off, without skipping a beat.

Julie, Bea, Fritz and Mr. Jones and the amazing inflatable "water park"

Julie and Fritz met their second year in college and now have a little girl, Bea and a golden retriever, Mr. Jones. It was my first time meeting little Bea and Mr. Jones.
And Fritz and Julie, two wonderful people, are now two wonderful parents. I can’t tell you how happy I am to see my friends so happy. About to start a new chapter in their lives, I’m excited to see what’s ahead for them...and still desperately trying to convince them that California should be their next home! So, Julie and I can be neighbors of course.

Fritz and Sean on the 4th of July

The best part is that Julie and I used to dream about these days that we are now living. When you get the chance to visit with friends who have known you before you grew into an adult ~ before you knew "how things would turn out"~ those are very special visits with very special friends.

Julie and I, University of Florida 1990 something ~ my awards dinner for an Advertising campaign I created

Thank you so much Julie, Fritz, my most spirited Bea and the sweet Mr. Jones. Love to you all.

and looking a bit serious, yet relaxed and happy, in my latest self-portrait, taken to display my new crochet hairclip, that I love, by WREN handmade . I never know what face to make in these "self-portraity" photos we bloggers take, but you should know that despite the earnestness of my expression, I had a great vacation (photos to follow soon) and feel renewed and reinvigorated to create away!

And to add to my good Monday, a good mail day. Holly started a new Flickr group called good mail days. It is so fun to have "good mail days", and one of the best reasons to buy handmade. Look at the thoughtfulness that goes into our packages; from creative labels, to packaging and not to mention the products themselves, Outstanding! I have to admit that I love the packaging and the thank you cards so much that sometimes I save them for inspiration. Just a little reminder: Buy Handmade!

Hope all of you here in the states had a happy 4th!

6 x 6 in.
...almost back from holiday. See you tomorrow!
*Edit* July 11, This one is now available as a print at the Etsy Shop.
(click here to buy original)

5 x 5 in.
(sold)

farmer’s market roses, june 2007
Wishing everyone a happy 4th of July this week. Have fun! I’m off on a little holiday myself, but I might pop in from time to time with a new painting anyway.

4 x 4 in.
Already, a little holiday painting. This is the little sackbelly as a baby. And you know, I had to make him available as a print at the Etsy Shop.
(click here to buy original)