Another Pirate...

It's so nice working small. I've been doing this long enough to realize that it's more about the process than the product but it feels good to just get something done every now and then. I finished this guy up last night. Captain Droopystache.

Pirates!

In an attempt to feel productive I went back to working on the 5" x 7" pieces of wood I have laying around. I had some sketches of some pirates I had done while prepping for a mural a while back that I wanted to work with so I did a few more sketches and then got to painting. Here is the first. A salty first mate who I haven't named yet. You can see the mural I did that inspired this little series below and more of it here.

Painting, not Posting

So it's been a little bit since I've posted anything. I've been trying to finish up a couple different projects that I finally wrapped up today. First up is a window mural I did for Shiraz Mediterranean Grill. I actually finished the painting a couple of weeks ago but just got back there tonight to photograph and seal it. It covers the backside of a menu that they have facing the street so they aren't losing any view by having me paint over their window. They wanted to continue the view of the street but in a more stylized painterly fashion which I think I was able to do. It is a small mural but it has a big impact. If you are ever in Louisville, check out the Frankfort Ave. location, to see the mural in person.

Next we have a painting of My Old Kentucky Home, which has taken a very long time to get around to finishing. This was actually supposed to be a Christmas present to my parents and then I was hoping to have it finished by Mother's Day. Well, I almost made Mother's Day. Better late than never. They loved it, or at least they acted like they did.

I also got around to painting over the astronaut's rocket. I think it helps the boy pop from the composition more and the subdued tones work better with the other "nighttime" works that I've done. I also think I've figured out how to do the other two pieces in this series and am well into the second piece.

As always you can see more of my murals at www.stiversart.com

and you can purchase prints at Moany and Lalla's.

Treasury East

So Etsy has rolled out this new treasury feature to make it possible for everyone to put together collections of their favorite items for the world to see. If you are not familiar with Etsy, before you had to wait by your computer for hours for the instant a new treasury would open just for the opportunity to put a thematic list of items together. No more! I had never had the chance to participate in that facet of Etsy culture but I have now, you can check out my first treasury here. It features lunar inspired art for kids. Please comment over on the treasury if you would be so kind. Thanks!

And the winner is....

And the winner is......

Bethany Dirksen! I would like to thank everyone for entering my print giveaway and remember if you didn't win you can always head over to my Etsy shop, Moany and Lalla's, and purchase a fabulous fine art print for your nursery, child's room, playroom, or whatever room you fancy, they can really go anywhere! Thanks!

Also, check out Bethany's shop, dirksen dabbles, she has some great originals for sale for very reasonable prices.

Print Giveaway

I'm starting my first giveaway today. It is coinciding with a little Q & A that PoppyPlace did with me over on her blog. The prize is a single print of your choice from my Etsy shop, Moany and Lalla's, no sets or cards but any size, and the rules are as follows: you must be a follower of my blog, and you have to leave a comment either on this post or on the Q & A post over at PoppyPlace to enter. You have until midnight, April 7th, eastern standard time to enter. Please leave some method of getting in touch with you, blog, website, e-mail, etc. Good Luck everyone!

Frontpage of Handmade Registry

A couple of my prints from my Etsy shop were featured on the front page of Handmade Registry.com courtesy of a wishlist made by Alison Whittington. Check it out here! You should also check out Alison's work at her Etsy shop, she makes imaginary maps that are really lovely.

The Spring Play!

The Spring Play series is complete and is available on etsy. I enjoyed working on a small scale for a change, especially since I am working on some larger canvases during the day. You can see more of them here: www.MoanyandLallas.etsy.com
Thanks for following along! I'm torn about what to tackle next. I'm hobbled by a rare surplus of ideas. It's certainly a better problem to have than the alternative.

The Daisy Blooms

Yet another painting complete. At least until I decide it's not and decide to re-work it. It's really nice working so small I actually feel like I am getting something accomplished. Here is a pic of the most recent and the first four in the series. I have two more planned. I hope to have these up on Etsy by Monday.

Louisville got crushed last night which is disappointing but not entirely unexpected at least my wife won't have to deal with me being consumed by a basketball game for awhile.

New Spring Play Painting.

I finished up another of the spring play paintings despite spending most of my time working on some other canvases for a client and being incredibly distracted by college basketball. A great start to the tournament yesterday though not a good showing for the Big East. I don't know how much I'll get accomplished today, at least Louisville doesn't play until tonight, so maybe a little.

The Spring Production

With spring nearly upon us and green stuff starting to peek through the ground I felt the need to go back to my sketch book and revisit an earlier idea I had for a series of children's paintings of a school play about spring. I had abandoned the idea because of time but after going though all of that old artwork and remembering how small I was working because of time constraints I decided to try the same thing with these. So instead of working on 12" x 16" canvases these will be on 5" x 7" birch plywood. I think the format is perfect for the concept and I am really excited to get work this way for a little bit especially because I have some fairly large canvases I have been working on for a client lately. Anyway here is the first one, " The Bluebird Forgets His Line."

Ghosts of Artworks Past

I have spent the majority of the day and now well into the next photographing and editing old artwork on the computer. It's been awhile since I have seen some of these. I am debating opening a second etsy shop to sell prints of some of my other art but I'm not sure. I guess if I didn't then today then would seem would like a waste of time. Anyway, here is a taste of some of the random stuff I dug up.

Moany and Lalla's

I've been at the computer the past two days getting the new paintings ready for Moany and Lalla's over at Etsy. The prints look great and I think they show really well on etsy. I was hoping to have this series "Daydreams for the Ice Skater" done before the Olympics were over but I only have half of them complete and two more partially started so that's probably not going to happen. Where does the time go?

You can buy prints here.