the Creative Thursday blog

nesting

slowly but surely coming together over here. my favorite part of moving into a new space: making it feel like home.

also featuring art by mummysam and corinne dean

art in its natural habitat + the beginning of a very busy 3 weeks ahead

There's nothing like seeing your art in it's "natural habitat".  I know I've mentioned it before, but everything comes full circle, when you see one {or two} of your creations  in someone else's  home. The image above is via Christine, displaying a a very cool dresser "renovation" that she completed, adorned by two of my prints. {thank you Christine!}

And in more news. Let's see....this is offically the beginning of a very full 3 weeks ahead. Are you ready?!

First, I'm going to be showing at Unique L.A.  May 2 & 3. My first time participating, I hear it's a fantastic show {with 275 vendors this time!!!!}  & I'm looking forward to having a lot of fun with my fellow artists & friends, Sharon & Karin during this very show. If you're in L.A., I definitely wouldn't want t miss it, not just for our fun shenanigans {of course}, but all the "unique" artists who will be there.

Then, let's see, I'm also showing new originals at Hands on 3rd, a brand new gallery/shop opening on the weekend of the art walk on 3rd street in West Hollywood. The opening is Friday, May 1 at 8377 W. 3rd Street from 6 - 9 pm.

Until then, I have 2 original paintings available at an online ebay auction for a very special cause, in honor of  Caroline, and all of her amazing work. {there are just 2 days left to bid}

Also, Holly, a graphic designer, has a great color blog that you should check out. I'm honored to have one of my color palettes on display :) ....you know me & my love affair with color....ahem...orange {still}

And last but not least...my show, opening May 9!!! The originals from this show, will be available for viewing & purchase online ~ so for those of you unable to attend in person, can attend via the internet.

Whew...that's a lot. Not to mention I'm finally getting ready to release another project I've been "promising" for quite some time....all very exciting!! 

If you're in L.A., I hope to see you!!!!! 

& if not we'll meet here, {or} twitter, again soon!

This is how I see it

A collection. My vision for how the tiny original ceramic illustrations fit in with a grouping of original art. (they are officially up in the shop as of right now) I don't know about you, but I am a huge fan of eclectic art groupings. I think it's because we have access to so much fantastic art these days, in so many forms and styles and sizes, that you can't help but want to display it all together.

The rest of this week is dedicated to shipping packages to you! I am expecting the nightlights in this week, and plan to turn them around in a day and get them out to you. Thank you so much for your patience in receiving them. All the prints from the sale should be on their way as well, and then if I have time, I will release the rest of the ceramic creations, which include, cups, mugs and bowls, as I promised...see you again soon!

Meta's Room

On the heels of Friday's post, I just want to say that to be able to add joy to someone's home, especially the rooms of the little ones ~ this is one of the reasons I do what I do.

One of my early and now fiercely loyal Etsy customers is Mandy. Recently she sent me photos of her sweet little girl, Meta's room. Mandy was putting this collection together last year, just before Meta arrived. There's nothing better than actually seeing your art hanging in someone's home, or as I always like to call it, viewing art in it's "natural habitat". And connecting with Mandy is another reason I love what I do. Mandy is one of the nicest people I've "met" through the internet. Her emails just spill over with such a genuinely joyful spirit, it's infectious. She has been and continues to be such a wonderful customer. I can't thank her enough for all of her support.

A mom to Jett and Meta (in the photo above), Mandy is also a fellow entrepreneur. She owns an adorable online shop featuring clothing for small children, called Night Owl Baby and  a gourmet popcorn business with her twin sister in Indianapolis called Just Pop In.

Pandamonium

One of my wonderful customers, and fellow daily painter (you should definitely check out her paintings ~ beautiful!!!), Debbie Miller sent over a photo of where my pandas print now reside, in her son Teddy's room. It looks great in that black frame too. As I've mentioned before, I love seeing where my art lives. And isn't this room just the best, down to the panda on the skateboard? It reminds me of my bed when I was little. I collected stuffed animals, (hmm....maybe this is why so many animal paintings) and I had them arranged on my bed in a very particular order. It took me about 15 minutes to make my bed every morning. And at night, I would arrange them all around my head to "protect" me while I was sleeping.

a wee wonderful room

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!

Wall Art in its *Natural Habitat*

Holly has mentioned several times how important it is for artists to show how their art looks in its *natural habitat* - so you, the collectors, can see what it might look like, envision it a little better on your own walls - or simply get fun ideas of how to hang art, especially the unframed art these days. I agree Holly! So here's a little sampling of what a grouping of mine look like. I couldn't just leave you with a Quicken post today, must have some eye candy! And now I'm off for my "fun wednesday"! with some seriously creative projects that I might share....soon.

Artsy Walls

Holly over at decor8 is blogging a series of really fun posts this week, showing different reader's Artsy Walls. I love seeing a glimpse of someone's real home, and especially love seeing their art. As an artist, each time you sell a piece, you realize that a little part of you is going out in the world. And we often wonder where it will be living. Here are some fabulous ways of displaying art, I had no idea! especially these innovative ways of hanging prints without frames. Love it! This is (let's just say one part of it) my Artsy Wall. My little corner of originals that I am collecting. Here are links to all the artists shown above. I know if you follow my blog, you'll recognize most of these! What can I say, I'm a fan of my friends and their art. Christine Miller, Wendy Ryan, Cathy Nichols, Outi Harma, Amy Ruppel, Melissa Moss, and even one of mine on the easel. And of course bla bla the cat.