15 one-of-a-kind, original creations and 15 {only 1 of each} new canvas wall art. From clay sculptures to softies to embroidery to aprons...and a terrarium ;)

See you there!

No watering required, and! it comes with its own tiny bunny.

One of my all time favorite games ~ I couldn’t resist. A Creative Thursday Memory Game it is!

Packed in a hand printed linen draw string bag, this would be so fun to pack on a trip, especially your summer vacation!! ooh I’m getting excited for {my} vacation... But before that I am getting ready for a big shop update this Thursday, exact time to be announced. 

Now available for pre-order over at the shop

Last week I sent this announcement to my email subscribers, but for those of you who only follow me here on the blog I thought you might also like to know that I have made the first session of 'In the Fish Bowl :: Life as an Artist Online" available as a Download.

You can purchase the entire course, 6 audio classes and a 9 page Resources PDF as a complete package or you can pick and choose the topics you are most interested in and download one class at a time! I recommend hearing the course in it’s entirety in the sequence I presented it in, but I also designed each class to be a stand alone recording.

And if you want hundreds of links to all of my favorite business tools and art supplies from printers to designers to software, to articles to books, you can just purchase the Resources PDF. You name it. If I’ve personally used, had referred or recommend it. It’s on the list.

As an entrepreneur it’s my job to continually refine my business, by following my heart and intuition while trying to listen to and serve the needs and desires of my customers.

Making my Resources and the Fish Bowl available as a download fulfills that for me in several ways. 

I always have people asking about where, how, why? I do what I do as an artist in business and by making all of this information available,  I can provide the answers to many of those questions all in one place. 

What I also love about this new option is that those of you wanting to participate in e-courses but haven’t had the time to commit to a six week session or have been hesitant about joining in on a group setting ~ and would prefer to just listen on your own. Now you can. Being able to listen to the classes - that’s also key for me. From the beginning I chose to record my classes rather than write them because, as you know I love to podcast {that’s how it all started for me} and also because as an artist I like to listen to recordings while I create. 

We live in a fast paced world with so much content available to us. I want to make it as easy possible for people to get the information, help, support and inspiration that they are wanting. Couple that intent with the fact that I prefer not to repeat a course in person more than once and voila! downloads.

The other job of mine as an entrepreneur is to recognize when my business is evolving, chart my course and be willing to adjust my direction. With my fabric line underway, I have a new found passion to explore and learn as much about this industry as much as I can. So, in all honesty I may not be teaching the first session of 'In the Fish Bowl :: Life as an Artist Online" again. But! now it’s available for you tune in whenever you like. You can take it with you to the gym, in the car ~ wherever you can play your mp3, you can listen.

I plan to release more one time podcasts in this format, so keep me posted if there is any aspect of being a creative entrepreneur that you are wanting to learn more about.

You can find the entire course here, or pick and choose your favorite topic{s} here, from blogging to branding, to your online shop, to pricing, marketing, social media and licensing... And the resource list is here.

Hope you enjoy this new option ~ happy weekend!

5 x 7 in.

This has been a theme of mine lately.

Well, not just lately but especially over the last two years. As you know if you’ve been following the blog. My passion/obsession for de-cluttering and re-organizing seems to be my new summer past time?!

Recently I was faced with a big decision, one of those do I or don’t I? kind of decisions and the person helping me make it said 'Well, this is about getting your house in order. You want to get your house in order." And as soon as he said that, I knew. I knew I needed to go ahead with it and I knew in the moment that I was making the right decision.  

I don’t know but if you’re at all like me, sometimes you take projects etc. to certain level of completion, meaning = you don’t quite finish it. You don’t quite follow all the way through. I have no idea what that is, where it comes from or why I do it?! Any thoughts? It manifests itself in quite a few different ways with me, not just professionally but personally too. And quite honestly, it’s a habit that’s getting a bit old and tiresome. I don’t know what I’m afraid of? That if I complete something, get it in order, suddenly there will be nothing left to do? Oh, but there always is. And really it feels so much better to see something to completion.  To handle my business. To get my house in order. 

And then make a painting about it. ;) 

{click here to buy original}

6 x 6 in.

A painting about listening to your intuition.

Sean and I were recording our most recent podcast for the Creative Coconuts, and Sean came up with this analogy {which he always does, and is really good at by the way} about following your intuition. He called it listening 'the little man in his stomach'.  Right away I thought it would be fun to paint my version of the little man in your stomach and this is the result. If you didn’t notice, he is wearing a tiny suit, green jacket and blue pants. Also had fun adding in some mixed media on this one.

I’ve gotta tell you~ hearing that little fellow clearly is not always easy ~ actually maybe I hear him and I don’t always trust him? I should, because he’s wearing a suit after all ;)

{click here to buy original}

summer time is here! and don’t you just love that some of the vintage swimsuit styles are making a resurgence?

{click here to buy originals}

I have to say. It’s a pretty amazing feeling to see your name on the selvage of a piece of fabric. 

happy creative thursday

If you follow me on twitter, then you already know: I could hardly stop tweeting about my sew-a-thon weekend that included the completing and sewing of not just 1 but 2 skirts!!!!!! I might as well just call it a skirt-a-thon. The photo above is of the first finished skirt pulled over the outfit I wore to my sewing class that day. As soon as it was completed, it needed to be on, over jeans combined with a flannel shirt and converse. Funny enough, it kind of worked in a 90’s grunge sort of style.  

Seriously, I am beside myself with joy and satisfaction over here. Having never sewn an actual piece of clothing that I could wear {aside from my first apron} ...I’m thrilled! over the moon! and have been wearing these skirts every day since ~ not simultaneously {although my love for these articles of clothing run so deep at the moment, that I probably would if I could}

The first skirt I sewed as part of a 2 day class and the second one featured above I sewed all by myself,  so that I could get what I learned over this past week imprinted more permanently in my brain, right away.

There are few moments that are as satisfying as sewing those final few stitches on something that you created, especially something you can wear. I think my excitement about this is slightly contagious, because for a moment there I even had Sean wishing that he could sew his own clothes.

What have I been missing my whole life?

I might be hooked on sewing.

Regardless. Whether this is a passing fancy or not, the knowledge I’m gaining to apply to my understanding of fabric design, as well as the vast improvement in my sewing skills = priceless ~ 

For those of you interested in making your own 'Cute Skirt': if you are in Los Angeles ~ I highly, highly recommend taking any and all classes over at Sew-L.A. in Silverlake. I’m taking a quilting basics right now and can’t wait to take my next one after that. The pattern is Kwik Sew #3794. The floral fabric {I adore} is by Anna Maria Horner from her new Lou Lou Thi collection, and the colorful pattern is the 'modular' design Alexander Henry. You know I cannot wait to make this skirt in my own fabric ~ it will be surreal.

You are presently witnessing the evolution of an artist. Stay tuned for more sewn creations soon ;)

the blue sock monkeys

and the confident sheep

I’ve been having some fun sculpting with clay again. In fact I’m working towards a summer shop update in the next couple of weeks...so maybe? the princess bird can come home with you and be your new friend?

6 x 6 in.

Inspired by my own time as a tiny ballerina, as well as this adorable photo that swiss-miss shared yesterday.

I always danced in the opposite direction to all the other ballerinas. Going to have to track down those photos of me as five year old ballerina and share it with you

Oh. I found them! 

Marisa as a ballerina. Yup, that would be me, the one in the middle going the wrong direction {I’ve always liked marching to the beat of my own drum or flute, in the case of this Nutrcracker dance} ;)

here it looks like I’m in sync with the dancers again. 

Yes, it’s true. One of my dreams was to also be a ballerina.  Lotta dreams and a lotta plans. 

{original is sold} {now available as a limited edition print}

8 x 24 in.

You may recall a similar painting to this one? Inspired by the original, this piece was created for a special project that I will share with you as soon as it is ready. 

Until then, I have decided to release the original for sale. Taking more than the usual day to complete, I worked on this over several days and I have to say that it is going to be tough to part with it. I loved it the first time and I really love it the second time.

I’m going to leave it at that today, as this one speaks for itself.  Also it seems particularly appropriate in light of my recent podcast. I think that this image reflects my ideal situation - we all fly and succeed together :)

{click here to buy original}

6 x 8 in.

So I was in a very special yoga class last week ~ one that uses a lot of props to accompany the poses ~ where it’s all about getting your set-up perfectly, well, perfect.

The teacher said something to the effect of how setting up is a little like the 'princess and the pea' and *presto* this image popped into my head. My version of 'the princess and the pea'. The original sold before I could even post it to the blog {thank you Elma!} Best proof ever that taking time for myself is worth it: inspiration {even the kind that earns me income} can strike anywhere. On my better days, I think I might actually subscribe to this idea about how life is supposed to work: that when you are following your bliss, your gut,  your heart, your intuition, your inspiration, whatever you want to call it ~ things just work, well, perfectly.

Oh yes and- Do I ever ~ know what it’s like to need everything to be just so.

{original is sold} {now available as a limited edition print at the shop}