Snow Day!

This morning we woke to find several inches of snow on the ground, with more falling steadily in huge, fat flakes. We've had relatively little snow this winter, and certainly not this much at once, so it was a good excuse to go out and play in it a bit (then there was a mad dash inside for hot chocolate and dry socks).










I took this photo of the backyard earlier this morning--we've had a few more inches of snow since then, so you can just mentally add some more white stuff.


I need to make sure the birds have enough food on this cold, snowy day!

The Crooked Shmooked Interview

The fabulous Heidi Jo was awesome enough to interview me for her blog Crooked Shmooked. Her blog is full of beautiful images, art, fashion, interiors, and cool stuff--y'all really should go check it out. Her questions for the interview were really fun to answer. Some of them I really had to give a lot of thought to, and that's a good thing. Thank you so much Heidi Jo!

A Question and Shop Update!

I'm planning on putting this print in my Etsy shop, but I can't decide which version I prefer. #1 is a photo of the painting and #2 is a scan of the painting. Which do y'all like? Or maybe I should offer both and let buyers choose?


Also, here are the latest ACEO prints for Etsy. They'll be listed on Friday, February 13th, at 2pm central time.

Busy, busy, busy...

The weather yesterday was absolutely gorgeous: unseasonably warm and sunny and perfect. I was just sitting on the porch, marveling at the warmth, and almost wanting to cry with sheer contentment. It was very surreal.

Earlier this week I was working on a painting that I started several years ago then abandoned, scraped off, started again, scraped off, and began again. I think this might its final incarnation. Here's a little rough detail:

And here's a piece I started a few weeks ago. It's relatively close to being completed. I like her expression--it's as if she's torn between a smile or tears. I think I'll do a little more to emphasize the light falling across her blouse. I like it.

I also have finally come to the realization that I want to paint from life and start using models. I'd probably just take photographs and work from those, since painting directly from a model could be complicated and expensive. And I'd need very specific costuming and hair, etc.
Needless to say, I'm completely broke and couldn't afford to pay anyone and have no idea how I'd go about finding people to model. I'm too shy to come right out and ask a stranger if I could paint her. I can't even imagine how awkward that would be.