In my studio

Custom home re-design

If it could really be this easy.

 

So, a customer purchased my custom home portrait ornament and along with her image sent the following requests:  When painting the ornament please eliminate the car in the driveway, the telephone pole, the garbage cans, the bare bushes which obscure the house to the left of the front door and the bare tree which is blocking the front door.

Don't you wish reworking the landscape around your house could be this easy!  With just a few swipes of a super large brush all those little things that drive you crazy, or take up a huge portion of your weekend could quickly be eliminated, fixed or built!

My yard boys ~ my husband and, when he's home from college, my son ~ could go from head scratching, hauling, digging, sawing and constructing to simply requesting a few minor changes to the backyard.

With a bit of erasing here, a swoosh of the brush there to add a little texture and color, and wallah you're ready for dinner on the deck!  

Unfortunately, life doesn't work like that.  So I'll go back to sketching, painting and filling customer requests and my husband will go back to planting, raking and fulfilling my requests :)

If you'd like more information on custom painted portraits, please click here.  If you'd like to hire out my husband click here.  :) just kidding, he's a keeper.

In my studio

24 more days until Christmas! 

Happy December.

After a nice little get-away over the Thanksgiving holiday to my families all time favorite city, Charleston, S.C., I am fill of grits and turkey and ready to get back to the business of painting.  But before I go any further let me just say, if you ever have the opportunity to get yourself to Charleston you really must pay a visit to Hominy Grill.  The food there is simply to die for!

BACK IN MY STUDIO

 I began painting this portrait while we were down in Charleston.  Since my son, daughter and husband like to sleep in and I tend to rise early, I used this time to get a few custom pieces painted.  Which means, yes, I did bring my paints, canvas, bisque, glaze ie. work with me. 

The painting was divided into thirds, cut and adhered to three sanded and stained wood blocks.  Then given a clear coat of glaze to seal and protect my work.

The finished piece of sculptural art was packaged and shipped out yesterday to my customer in Australia ~ where if all goes well, it will arrive in plenty of time for Christmas! 

This wedding portrait ornament is rather remarkable ~ and I'm not talking about the picture, which I totally love ~ but the fact that it is a custom piece ordered by the groom as a keepsake gift for his new bride.  I have had male customers before, so that's not unusual, but my wedding portrait ornaments are almost always ordered by the bride, one of her female friends or by the brides mother or mother-in-law.  So my feeling on this one is ~ what a thoughtful, loving gift.  Yup ladies I would have to say I think this guys a keeper!  I do love this image and can't wait to see what it looks like once fired in my kiln! 

 And here's another custom gift ordered by a male customer.  This portrait is for the mans mother who was a huge fan of Regis Philbin.  On the back is written, per his request, "Regis Philbin's Biggest Fan for 26 years The Morning Show & Live!"  I hope this little Regge brings her many years of holiday happiness.

Thanks for stopping by - if you'd like to see a few more custom pieces, please bring your jolly little self to my shop by clicking here

In my studio

New works in process

 Paintings and Ornaments

 This family portrait, in the process of being painted, is a Christmas gift for my customers grandparents.  Using her photo as inspiration, the image is painted with acrylics onto an 8x10 inch acid free, cold press paper to look like a Polaroid picture.

When composing the scene, I cropped her original image down to this size, and focused on the four family members.

I adore this picture of four brothers hanging out in a tree, and think it's going to be one of my favorites custom ornaments once finished. 

 Two best friends ~ sketched, outlined, painted and fired in my kiln.  It really is amazing how different glaze colors are once fired.

A baby boy crawling towards the camera, an image forever memorialized on an ornament.  I love the funny perspective and think this has to be another one of my favorites! 

This adorable ornament is a thank you gift for my husbands cousin and her husband, who let us stay in their gorgeous NYC apartment last Thanksgiving.  Well, my two babies will be home from college in a few hours (Yippeeeee!!!) so I need to get my act together.

If you'd like more information on Custom Portrait Polaroid Paintings or Custom Portrait Ornaments please click here

Wishing you a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday.

New Holiday Home Decor

For Holiday Entertaining

Hand drawn and painted Ceramic dinnerware with a whimsical, vintage inspired theme.

Vintage inspired trailer in coastal colors perfect for a holiday table, kitchen counter or for your favorite cook. 

Hand drawn and painted with lead-free glazes, signed on the back and fired in my kiln. These plates are sure to add a burst of color and fun to your table, party or wall.

 Polka dots in green, red and turquoise add a touch of fun which would be perfect for holiday decor in a  beach house or coastal cottage.

This vintage inspired "Woodie" carries a Christmas tree back to its seaside home, while Jingle all the way happily plays in the background.

Santa, or party guests, would sure be jolly eating delicious holiday vittles off of a plate like this.

If you are interested in, or inspired by my holiday dinnerware - please click here.  Happy Holidays from my home to yours. 

Open Studio

Open Studio ~ Pottery Painting

A new addition to my class schedule is an Open Studio on Friday mornings.  For the past few weeks we've been painting bisque pottery for gift giving at Christmas.

This open studio is a great time for relaxing over doughnuts, coffee and talk while working on our holiday gift lists.  Here, a beloved family pet pooch gets her portrait painted onto a bisque ball.

A Bethlehem star ornament is painted with thoughts of a baby girl whose arrival, according to her big brother, is in ten minutes. (Fortunately for us and his mother his concept of time is still a little bit off!)

While the very young grandmother to above mentioned grand-babies, paints keepsake ornaments for her daughters two boys.  A mother-daughter morning out, how perfect.

And an ornament is hand painted in thanks for a dear friend whose arms and faith are strong and dearly appreciated.

These two ladies, who easily tire of too much chatter, happily share a cozy porch bench and dream of leftover doughnut crumbs.

See you in two weeks ladies - Enjoy your Thanksgiving holiday!

Works in Process

In my studio

This past weekend I finally finished sanding, priming and painting the extra large craft table I made for my studio.  I absolutely love it - humongous work space, shelving units for storage underneath, and much better looking then the ratty old tables that used to occupy this space!  My inspiration came from the site everyone is talking about, Pinterest!  Find the plans for this fabulous table here

Roxy finds this new space very comfortable, especially when it's a little too cold on the porch.

Being up on my new craft table gives her an opportunity to watch me work, and seems to be a cozy spot on which to take her afternoon siesta.

On The Table

Works in Process

For the newlyweds, a first Christmas ornament, in the process of being sketched with a very sharp pencil.

For the OSU sports fan - a super cute image takes shape with a few strokes of the pencil.

For the animal lovers Christmas tree - three very special keepsake ornaments sketched and outlined.

And another order handmade in loving memory of a customers very special family pet, Reggie, who sadly passed away a few weeks ago.

A close up portrait of two newlyweds who were married on September 24th.  This keepsake will hopefully hold a place of honor on their Christmas tree for many, many years to come.

And finally, a few Christmas tiles I'm creating for MOCA's (Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art) Holiday Craft Sale on Sunday, December 4 from 9 - 5pm. 

Back to work...

Back to the table so I can finish painting these pieces and get them into my kiln.  If you would like more information on my work, please feel free to visit me in my online studio here

In my studio

Tis the week before Thanksgiving and all through the house, I'm painting like crazy ~ there's even paint on my spouse!

This keepsake ornament for a grandmothers tree, is a portrait of granny with grand-daughter propped on her knee.

The sweet portrait ornament with the old dogs covered in gray, was made for a friend and kiln-fired today.

 

And for the best friend who's been there through the years, is a keepsake gift which is sure to bring laughter and tears.

The ornaments once fired are so cheery and bright, I know they'll be met with unbridled delight.

Now back to the studio, there's more work yet in store - but you can click here if you'd like to see more.

Gifts for the hostess

A few holiday gift giving ideas for your favorite hostess.

Do not wait until the last minute to start shopping for that great party hostess, or for the one who always has the door open and wine chilled!

Happy Halloween

From my Spooky Family

 May your day be frighteningly fun and fulled with ghoulish laughter.

Tis the season

For days and evenings spent sketching and painting as Holiday orders start rolling in!

I love those wonderful customers who order their custom Christmas gifts before the holiday rush sets in! 

I just finished sketching and painting three custom ornaments for one customer - they will be going into the kiln tonight, along with an engagement and baby portrait ornament.

 I love the sense of fun expressed in this wedding portrait.  The couple is on a football field and you can see a school in the background.  This setting obviously holds a special place in the hearts of the bride and groom.  I would love to hear the story behind their special picture.

I adore this little girls hat, which is probably as tall as she is.  An outline pen is perfect for outlining the painted portraits.

 For this engagement ornament, I had to crop together a couple of different photographs to create an image of the couple in front of Disney Land - where they are set to be married come March 2012.

Now...off to the kiln for the firing process.   If you are interested in seeing more custom ornaments, or in placing an order ~ just click here   And thanks for stopping by!!