Wordless Wednesday: Madonna & child in an alcove...

Well perhaps a little more wordy than wordless this time... I saw this image of the Virgin Mary and the child Jesus and thought it was a beautiful image, so I thought I'd share it; but I want to wish everyone, regardless of faith, a happy holiday season.

To see more Wordless Wednesday links, please visit here, here, and here.

My finished white bunny rabbit hare painting and four prints...

This is my newest painting. It is of a white winter hare. I love bunnies and I realized I could not recall having painted one as an adult. I felt that was something that needed to be remedied! Titled Snowy Bunny, the painting is an acrylic 8"x10" original on canvas. To view this painting on eBay, please visit here. This rabbit has ears tipped with dark brown and light brown eyes and seems very happy in the snow.

The prints are CA Coast (a seascape of a sunny day at Point Dume in Zuma Beach), Cleo (a Gothic Egyptian angel fairy), To Touch the Sky (some sweet pea blossoms reaching upwards), and Leda and the Swan (a Gothic Lolita angel fairy with Zeus in the shape of a swan and some calla lilies inspired loosely by Leonardo da Vinci's masterwork). To see them all, please visit here.

The original of CA Coast is sold; but, the original of Cleo is available in the Fantasy Gallery, To Touch the Sky is available in the Floral Gallery, and Leda and the Swan is available in the Master Studies Gallery at my website here.

Sleeping fox sketch...

There is that expression, let sleeping dogs lie, I think it should also apply to foxes... It seems I have chosen another sleepy animal to sketch. Perhaps I am the one who is tired and in need of a nap...

I believe this is a red fox. I'm so glad there are far fewer fox hunts then there used to be. Their fur is gorgeous, on them.

Almost done bunny rabbit hare painting...

I am almost done with this bunny painting. I think I should have it done on Monday. This photograph is blurred, which looks nice, but the actual painting is less soft. Hopefully I'll be able to put it on the scanner for a more accurate image on Monday.

Participating in Paint Party Friday certainly gave me a push on this, but I'm not quite there...

To see more Paint Party Friday participants, please visit here.

Yawning Lion Sketch...

Is the King of the Jungle tired? Does he need a nap?

Keller Holiday Christmas Cookie Baking Day...

Last Saturday I had the opportunity to see a friend I hadn't seen in many years and participate in her family cookie baking day. It was great to see Melinda and her family. Alex and Caileigh decorated gingerbread men shaped cookies, Alex is a professional artist and Caileigh is a talented five year old...

We also decorated other cookies and took some home. There was a beautifully decorated polar bear and others that I missed taking a photograph of because they had been already taken home by their lovely creator, but here are some additional cookies that were decorated.

It was a wonderful way to spend part of a Saturday, thanks Melinda and family! The cookies were really good too.

Sparrow sketch...

Well, I checked, and then checked again, but it looks like there is not a new list of animals to sketch at the Daily Animals Doodle Project. I missed sketching animals though. So, since I didn't start at day one, I'm going to try to sketch animals from the list that I didn't sketch. Most likely I won't sketch animals every single day, but I will try to post them as often as I have the opportunity.

Today's sketch is a sparrow. From what I read, this songbird was initially imported to the U.S. from the U.K. way back in the day to help keep the insect population in check. However, it turned out that they prefer other foods... They did displace other native songbirds though, so it seems to be a case where more research was needed before importing them here. It's definitely not the birds fault though, so here is this little songbird singing its heart out...

Wordless Wednesday: A happy and cute skull rack from LACMA...

To see more Wordless Wednesday links, please visit here, here, and here.

Pink Ribbons, completed original rose painting and 100th post!

Here is my completed version of Pink Ribbons, an original 18"x24" rose painting on canvas. It is based on a flower I photographed in my grandparents' garden. They always gave to me so much in seeing beauty in some of the smallest things. I wanted in some small way to honor them as well. This rose is somewhere between budding and blooming.

The original is currently available exclusively on my website here.

Also this is my 100th post! I've really come to enjoy blogging and reading people's blogs. Thank you for taking the time to read this!

A new original fairy angel painting, four prints, and a website update...

This painting is new from me. Titled Aeryn, the painting is an acrylic 8"x10" original on canvas. To view this painting on eBay, please visit here. She has blue skin and blue eyes, purple and lilac hair and wings, and a deep purple long gothic gown. She also has one pointy ear peaking out in front of her hair for a slightly elven look.

I also have some prints available this week. The prints are Heart on the Horizon (a landscape with abstract purple hills, and, well, a heart on the horizon), More Than One Way to Fly (a fairy with her fox squirrel friend a little late for their hot air balloon adventure), Elegance (a pink saucer magnolia floral), and To Fly or Not to Fly (a cute fairy kitten pondering the question of the merits of taking flight). To see them all, please visit here.

The original of Heart on the Horizon is not for sale and the original of To Fly or Not to Fly is sold; but, the original of Elegance is available on my website in the floral gallery and the original of More Than One Way to Fly is availabe on my website in the fantasy gallery here.

Also, I've added Gossamer Moon here and Lace Wings here to my website.

An in progress bunny rabbit hare painting...

Here is the start of a bunny painting I am working on. Usually I am loathe to share an in progress shot of a piece I am still working on because of how slowly I paint. I tend to get distracted easily and start more than one piece, flitting between them with no promises on when any one will be finished...

However, I thought it might be fun to participate in Paint Party Friday, and this is a piece currently on my easel, so there it is... It's a small, as yet untitled, in progress painting of a wild rabbit.

To see more Paint Party Friday participants, please visit here.

Accounting for Thanksgiving Ugly Roll sushi in December...

I meant to post this quite some time ago, but I get distracted very easily... I realized if I wanted to post about this before Christmas, I'd better get on it! This year for Thanksgiving, my mother, Alex, and I had a "traditional" Thanksgiving feast of sushi. We went to Ugly Roll.

One thing that makes Ugly Roll fun is that you may draw on the walls...

While none of us drew on the walls this time, we'd placed a telephone order before we went and our order was ready for us when we arrived, an anonymous artist had done these fantastic ink drawings on the wall:

Another thing about Ugly Roll is that it's quite reasonable in price, well, for sushi anyway! This was our feast spread out on the table. I'm a vegetarian, so my little corner of the table was small, but they kindly made me some avocado and kappamaki rolls that were very good. My mother and Alex seemed to quite enjoy their fare as well...

Pink Ribbons, rose painting work in progress, image three

Here is my third work in progress image of my pink rose painting. In this image, the painting is very close to being done.

Wordless Wednesday: A natural red rose bouquet against a white picket fence...

To see more Wordless Wednesday links, please visit here, here, and here.

A new original angel fairy painting up as well as four prints...

This is a new painting from me. Titled Dreaming, the painting is an acrylic 8"x10" original on canvas. To view this painting on eBay, please visit here. This painting had an earlier incarnation in skin tones, but a certain mood struck me, and it seemed she should be blue. She is a bit of a winter/Christmas angel with some snowflakes visiting her as well.

I also have some prints available this week. The prints are Corazon (a deep red blooming Christmas rose flower floral), Halo (a blue abstract expressionist fantasy angel print from my DeGrazia inspired series), Small Bear (a cute brown teddy bear holding a red budding rose), and Violet Dreams (a blue gothic angel fairy fantasy print inspired loosely by a painting by Leonardo da Vinci). To see them all, please visit here.

The originals of Corazon, Small Bear, and Violet Dreams are not for sale; but, the original of Halo is available on my website in the fantasy gallery here.

Wild Windstorm in Los Angeles!

We had a wild wind storm in Los Angeles last Wednesday night. It wiped out our power on and off until today. The entire street across from us, from the bottom of the hill and up, had no power. We lost our phone connection until yesterday. I'm not certain if most of the city has power yet. Pasadena lost power everywhere. The photograph above I took on the night the neighbors tree fell, this tree was long dead, but trees across the city went down, even healthy ones...

Above is our street during the day.

This is a photo of a big machine that came at night and crunched up the tree in half and moved it to the side as shown below. Some of my neighbors went down to the street and watched from there. I watched from the window.

I am so glad to have power and a land line telephone again! I hope the rest of the city is getting back to normal as well...

Swimming preening swan, animal sketch of the day...

I took the photograph I used as reference for this on the same day that I took the photograph in the post below. There were two swans swimming in the pond at the center, but try as I might, I could not get a photograph of the two of them interacting together. I did get this shot though, which meant nothing to me on that day, when I was hoping for something different, but today, I find I rather like it... Ah the vagaries of time and perspective...

This swan sketch is inspired by the Daily Animals Doodle Project.

Wordless Wednesday: Mahatma Gandhi World Peace Memorial at the Self Realization Center

The plaque reads:

MAHATMA GANDHI WORLD PEACE MEMORIAL

Dedicated to world Brotherhood on August 20, 1950

by Paramahansa Yogananda and Lt. Gov. Goodwin Knight.

The memorial contains a portion of the ashes of

Mahatma Gandhi

To see more Wordless Wednesday links, please visit here, here, and here.

If you give a rat a cookie, animal sketch...

There's a children's book titled "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie" that is quite sweet. I didn't give this little guy the chocolate chip cookie he's holding onto so covetously, but I do think similar rules would apply!

This is my Daily Animals Doodle Project Sketch of the day. To learn more about the Daily Animal Doodles Project, please visit here.

Second image of Pink Ribbons, an original pink rose painting...

Here is my second work in progress image of Pink Ribbons, an original 18"x24" art painting of a pink rose.

A kid goat, animal sketch of the day...

When I was a kid, I would often pretend I had a pet goat. Why I'm not entirely sure... They just seemed like they were smart and would be fun to have as a pet, or maybe it was too many renditions of The Three Billy Goats Gruff...

This is my Daily Animals Doodle Project inspired sketch of the day.

A new original fairy painting up and an eclectic mix of prints...

This is a new painting from me. Titled Lace Wings, the painting is an acrylic 8"x10" original on canvas. To view this painting on eBay, please visit here.

I also have some prints available this week. The prints are Heart's Wish (a light yellow orchid with a crimson core floral), Reminders (a sailboat in San Pedro CA), Sky Cathedral (an abstract church painting), and Sunlight Sunbright (a garden sunflower floral). To see them all, please visit here.

The original of Sky Cathedral is not for sale, but the originals of Heart's Wish, Reminders, and Sunlight Sunbright are available on my website here.

Chestnut toucan sketch of the day...

I believe this little guy is a chestnut toucan. What I can not believe is the size of toucans' beaks! They're amazing. Even though I've seen them in real life, they don't even look real to me, I thought they looked more like something an artist had created in 3d max than something real... I was curious and googled as to why their beaks are so large, there were numerous theories but nothing definite. With many birds, showy colors have to do with mating rituals; however, this is not the case with toucans as both genders share the same bright colors. One theory was temperature control, another to reach fruit where other birds could not, another had to do with their young, etc...

In any case, this is my Daily Animal Doodles Project inspired sketch of the day.

Tom turkey sketch of the day...

Here's my little turkey Daily Animal Doodle Project sketch of the day...

A hasty sketch of an opossum...

Opossums have the most amazing tails and little handlike paws! I picked an image with not too much showing in the paws department because I knew my schedule today wouldn't permit a more involved sketch, but they are something!

Anyway, here is my Daily Animal Doodles Project opossum sketch for the day. I'm not certain if I'll do any over the weekend, I usually don't post then, but I've been having so much fun with this...

First work in progress post of my rose painting Pink Ribbons...

This is the start of an original 18"x24" painting of a pink rose currently titled Pink Ribbons. I will post two more work in progress shots and then the final image. The painting took me a bit over a week. I'm not posting daily shots because sometimes one day involves simply going over the same bit until I'm reasonably happy with it, but it doesn't make for much of a difference in a photograph!

You'll notice on this one that the light is shining through, this is because I have my easel on the "wrong" side of the studio. It means I often have to stick board behind the painting so that the light doesn't shine through while I'm painting; but, it also means it's easy for me to look outside the windows to rest my eyes on occasion and see the world outside and the occasional birds or cats that come by whilst I'm painting...

Happy Thanksgiving and a sketch of two little adelie penguins

If you are celebrating today, I sincerely wish you a happy Thanksgiving! The animal for today is penguins, I was surprised how many different penguins there are. This sketch is based off of adelie penguins. I think they are thankful to have each other, but mostly they are thankful that they are not turkeys today!

To learn more about the Daily Animal Doodles Project, please visit here.

Cocker Spaniel Puppy Dog Sketch...

Puppies are some of the cutest things out there that there is! This little one is far cuter then I could convey with a sketch, but here is my Daily Animal Doodles Project sketch for today...

To learn more about the Daily Animal Doodles Project, please visit here.

Wordless Wednesday: A blue dragonfly alit on a lily pad at Descanso Gardens

To see more Wordless Wednesday links, please visit here, here, and here.

Chipmunk, a little sketch

I was going to skip today, but then I saw this little fellow's pudgy little cheeks and I could not resist...

To learn more about the Daily Animal Doodles Project, please visit here.

Gossamer Moon, an original art fairy faerie angel painting and some prints...

This is a new painting from me. Titled Gossamer Moon, the painting is an acrylic 8"x10" original on canvas. To view this painting on eBay, please visit here.

I also have some prints available this week. The prints are Timeless Beauty (a white iris floral), Seven (an angel fairy), White Lily, and Deep in Thought (an angel fairy). To see them all, please visit here.

The originals of Timeless Beauty and Seven are not for sale, but the originals of White Lily and Deep in Thought are available on my website.

Robin, a little bird sketch

This little bird was inspired by the Daily Animal Doodles Project. I'm not sure how often I'll participate, but it was fun to sketch this robin.

To learn more about the Daily Animal Doodles Project, please visit here.

Wordless Wednesday: Abandoned at the Fall Festival....

To see more Wordless Wednesday links, please visit here, here, and here.

Wordless Wednesday: It's beginning to look a lot like Halloween, all across the land...

To see more Wordless Wednesday links, please visit here, here, and here.

Original art available to see in person at Images Salon...

If you're in the Los Angeles area, I have some paintings up at Images Salon. They give wonderful manicures and pedicures. Gentlemen, don't be shy. Just because Michelangelo went for a month at a time without taking his boots off, doesn't mean you have to neglect your feet!

They're located at 85 South Fair Oaks Ave., Pasadena, CA 91105 and their number is 626-683-8682.

To see the paintings individually, please visit my website here and visit the Floral Gallery. The ones up at Images include two anthurium paintings, one sunflower painting, and one orchid painting.

Quatre et Finis! The final image of my sunflower painting...

Here is the final image of my original 24"x18" sunflower painting.

Both the original and prints are available on my website here.

Wordless Wednesday: Temptation... Did I succumb? Of course I did...

Un, deux, trois... Here is image #3 of my in progress sunflower painting...

Petals and more petals...

In Progress Sunflower Painting 2 and the book Bloggers Boot Camp

Here is the second image of my sunflower painting Sunlight Sunbright.

This week I read Bloggers Boot Camp by Charlie White and John Biggs: learning how to build, write, and run a successful blog. If you are looking into going into blogging as a professional, journalistic endeavor, this could be a very helpful and useful book. If you are looking to improve your blog in general, while it has some helpful nuggets, this book might be best checked out from a library.

My biggest take away from the book is their suggestion for consistent blogging Monday through Friday. I don't expect I'll manage that weekly, sometimes I'm too engrossed in my paintings to come up for air much, but I will make the attempt to blog more consistently. Some of the time that is... Other times I may fall off the face of the earth in a haze of art creation, only to return when the fires burn less hot.