I just purchased this great drawing from Lauren Nassef. I have been slowly buying pieces to fill a wall I have in our dining room. I can’t wait to see it in person and get it framed and hung up!
recent acquisitions
art wall
My print ‘Girl in the Yellow Suit’ is part of Art Wall’s January room. Art Wall is a virtual display space created to exhibit the artwork of independent artists. It’s approach to showing art is fun and a great inspiration for creating your own art wall.
new work for a new year
these are still very much in progress…
looking forward
Resolutions and goals for 2010.
1. photograph my dad painting (he’ll hate this, but he is an AMAZINGLY gifted painter, and even though he was always working on something, I don’t think I’ve ever actually seen him paint.
2. work on getting more shows, I think I do my best work with the motivation of a looming show
3. have my work used as an album cover (music is a huge point of inspiration for me, so just throwin that out there, you never know, right?)
4. eat healthier (you reading this mom?!)
5. spend more time listening
6. keep a sketch book
7. paint, paint, paint some more….
8. keep receipts and other ‘business stuff’ more organized (hubby made me add this one)
9. organize and clean studio/office, and keep it that way
10. yell less at other drivers
11. go to more music shows at small venues/go to more art shows as well
12. take more mini vacations this summer (at least one to the mountains and one to the coast)
13. finish all my house projects (repaint entry way/upstairs hall/powder room, paint floors, bench in mudroom, reupholster antique sofa I bought on craigs list) not that I’m looking forward to the floor painting mess but I know it will be amazing, unfortunately hubby is wavering, maybe i should suggest it could be an early b-day gift…
14. figure out what I am currently most afraid/intimidated by and do it
15. go on a special ‘date’ with each of my kids individually
16. try to get back in the jogging/yoga habit
17. curse less (people are always surprised to find out I curse like a sailor)
I’m sure I’ll come up with more, once you get going it’s hard to stop. Hoping you have a wonderful new years eve and new year! Cheers!
brevity
We got surprise snow, just enough to turn our world a lovely white. The kids are still enjoying it this morning but it will likely be gone by afternoon. That is how I like snow. Enough to enjoy out the window, to indulge the kids in a snow ball fight, then no more. Life returns to its normal pace (melting puddles of snow on my floor not included). My favorite part is how even that hose over there on the side of the house that I never got around to putting away, even that looks pretty.
post holiday
We had a nice holiday and with the kids and John home the rest of the week, it still feels like I am on vacation. Which I guess I am, except I am trying to fit in at least a few hours of painting etc everyday. I’m starting to think about new years and what resolutions/goals I have. I figure if I post my goals it will force me to follow through! We don’t have any real new years traditions, but I am excited this year to see what 2010 has in store. This last year was good to me and I can’t wait to see where this road is going.
Here are a few tags from gifts I received, they crack me up. My daughter wrote these.
one last thing
If you need some last minute gift tags, there are some pretty perfect ones over to fawn & forest!
Joy
to you and yours! I am going to take the next few days to enjoy family and recharge my batteries with lots of good food and drink! Have a wonderful holiday season, I’ll return to my regular posts on Monday.
holiday mode
We’re in full holiday mode around here. I managed to send off a few orders from my shop this morning before we attended a friends cookie decorating party, then I’m off to another tonight. I’m still expecting one more package then we’re set. This morning the cutest pjs ever arrived (one of our traditions, new pjs for xmas). I got them from Olive Juice Kids and the quality is really unbelievable and timeless, plus they’re having a pretty amazing sale right now. Tomorrow it’s time to get down to some serious cookie making. I’m dying to try these eggnog macaroons via Tartlette!
ready to relax
I am *almost* done, just a few orders to get off and I will be ready to fully embrace the holiday season. Our mistltoe is hanging and I need just one more gift. If anyone out there has an idea for a 9 year old girl who has given me a list with zero things on it, please send your ideas my way!
currently
in our humble abode…
apart from shipping out the last of my orders for the holidays (THANK YOU! to all who have ordered, and even bigger thank you to Dooce for including one of my prints in her holiday gift guide. I mean she was the answer to a jeapordy question, this woman rocks!)
I’ve been doing a little experimenting with some new ideas, fixing my daughters stuffed animals (shown here with her ‘temporary eye’) and doing some gingerbreading.
another corner…
Usually I like to have the house clean and ready before we start decorating for the holidays (I know, neurotic much?) but this year that’s really not going to happen and I am actually ok with it. So tonight we are off to pick out our tree before the predicted snow hits. I always cringe a bit when they predict snow here. It means either a) we will have record high temps for the day and the kids will commence with the pouting or b) we will get hit with a storm that shuts down the city (even though they only predicted a ‘chance of flurries.”)
my favorite spot
so far as the decorations slowly go up: our entry way. I made the ‘it’s beautiful here’ after seeing this, but sadly my wallet and I had a minor disagreement about it. So I settled for my own handy work, 10 minutes and $5 later…
I heart
everything about this house…
(via dos family) Ah, and yes, those would be painted floors. I have decided to go for it and paint ours in the new year, can’t wait! I am now wondering: the stairs, because these are really so beautiful…
(via door sixteen via skona hem)
a seriously, seriously good mail day
worth every penny, go to uppercase to get yours!
sort of beautiful, no?
my paint brush jar….
gift certificates
I will still be accepting orders for sketch portraits until Dec 10th, but because of the time that goes into paintings I can no longer guarantee new orders will be completed by the holidays. BUT! That doesn’t mean you can’t still give a portrait painting as a gift. I have lovely little gift certificates now available. Due to the custom nature of each piece, please email me so that I can fill it in with your specifications.
wrapping up the season
My favorite wrapping paper and the BEST cocktail napkins I’ve found this year are at Broadway Paper. (found via Oh Joy)
Have a happy weekend!
workspace
This is what mine looks right now. Messy = productive (that’s what I’m going with anyway).
gifts for the grandparentage
So if you are a grandparent to our kids-STOP READING NOW!
I am quite proud of myself for actually getting this gift done. This is the time when I am busy getting portraits completed and off in time for others to give for the holidays, so unless I plan ahead, my own gifts can fall into the ‘thought that counts’ category. But I did it! I created a blurb book for our parents with pics of the kids from this past year. When the kids were little, I was pretty good about getting photos to everyone, sending them off on a pretty regular basis. I haven’t done that in years (and believe me, I have the guilt to prove it). Here are a few of my favorite pages
