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Amor

11×14 inches

Watercolor on Paper

The next painting in my “Wild Haired Women” series: Amor.  This painting was modeled after a reference photo of my sister-in-law, Darby.  She is one of the most beautiful people I know, both inside and out.  She has brought so much love to our family.  I think the hearts in her hair really tie in well with her personality.  She is a big believer in love – agape love to be specific.  We’ve been through a lot in the years that I’ve known her and I’m thankful to call her a dear family member and friend.

I’m enjoying this series.  It has been fun to do portraits lately and I love that they are non-traditional.  I’m looking forward to seeing where the next piece takes me.  Have a great weekend, all!

Last weekend I was asked to fill in for an artist that couldn’t make it to the Church Street Art & Jazz Festival in Downtown Orlando.  I had been pulling together resources for a booth for months but hadn’t had the opportunity to actually put one up so I jumped at the opportunity.  

Saturday was a rainy day and we were concerned that the event would be cancelled but we set up anyway and I’m glad we did.  It was a great opportunity to meet Orlando area artists, listen to great music, and I even sold some original artwork.  A huge thank you goes out to my husband for helping me set up and tear down for the event and TrezMark Harris for making me feel so welcome.  

Here are some photos of my very first art festival booth!

Daisy

6×6

Watercolor on Paper

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I love the way the petals seem to burst out in this piece.  I fell in love with the photo when I saw it pop up in my newsfeed one day.  My mom’s childhood friend, Barb Wagner took it.  She is a wonderful photographer. 

Wild Haired Sarena

11×14 inches

Watercolor on Paper

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Meet Sarena!  I was very close to tossing this piece.  In the beginning, I was really unhappy with the way it was turning out.  The face looked distorted and I couldn’t quite get the proportions right but I stuck with it and I’m pretty pleased with the end result.  I’m actually thinking of doing a series of paintings with a similar theme.  

I guess you could say this is a version of a self-portrait.  I used a reference photo of myself, not really with the intention to make it look like me but more for guidance on proportion and shading.  When I posted it to my Facebook page, several friends recognized me in the image.  I had fun with this piece!  I can’t wait to do more wild haired ladies.

A few months ago, I was approached by my childhood friend, Amber, with an idea.  She wanted me to illustrate a children’s book.  I was a little hesitant at first.  I had never illustrated a book and knew it would take a tremendous amount of time to complete.  I knew it was a huge commitment but I told her to send it over anyway for my review.  Once I had the opportunity to read it, I knew it was something I HAD to do.  “My Dad is in Jail” is a book that sets out to normalize a topic that most adults have a difficult time understanding and accepting.

It the topic controversial?  Yes.  Will it raise some eye brows?  Probably.  But I don’t care.  Think of all the children out there that have parents that are incarcerated.  They are forced to live in a single parent household, desperately missing the relationship once had with a father in their daily life.  Being a parent and seeing the close relationship my children have with their father helped me realize how much they would be missing if their dad was in jail.

I’m thankful Amber approached me with this idea and I hope our book will play a small role in helping children accept a situation that is out of their control and so is difficult to understand.  If you know a child that has a father that is incarcerated, this is the perfect book for them.  It’s available on Amazon and Kindle  – learn more here: http://www.amazon.com/My-Dad-Is-In-Jail/dp/0615897568/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1383065552&sr=8-4&keywords=dad+is+in+jail+book

Barb’s Thistle

6×6 inches

Watercolor on Paper

Gifted

This is the winner of my photo contest!  A few weeks ago I had a photo contest on my Facebook page.  Many people participated – they posted beautiful photos on my page and when all was said and done, I had to choose one.  I had no clue how difficult that would be. There were so many different and gorgeous photos to choose from…but I did and this was it.  It was a photo taken by Barb Wagner.  Thank you, Barb and all of the wonderful Facebook buddies that participated in the contest.  I’ll be sending this painting off to Barb soon!

Autumn

8×10 inches

Watercolor on Paper

A family friend, Linda Beckham, took a beautiful photo of fall leaves, which inspired this painting.  Linda is an amazing photographer and I love seeing her work online.  I loved the colors and light so much that I wanted to capture them in my art so I asked her if I could use it as a reference photo.  I’m pretty pleased with the way this one turned out.  I feel like the leaves glow with light.  

Ominous

4×12 inches

Watercolor on Paper

My mom gave me a box of old picture frames last weekend and this painting was inspired by one of my favorites (pictured below.)  I love it’s long shape.  This painting will go in the Dia de los Meurtos & Monster Factory exhibit at City Arts Factory in Downtown Orlando, which is running from October 17 – November 15th.  There are lots of really amazingly spooky pieces in the show.  I hope you’ll check it out if you’re in the area.

Kaleidoscope of Horror

11×14

Watercolor on Paper

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I made this piece in preparation for a Dia de Muertos (Day of the Dead) art show, which is coming up in October.  I’ve never painted anything with a skull or any kind of dark symbolism.  I must say, it was tough to decide what to paint within the theme.  Most of my pieces are very bright and tropical.  But I’m happy with the way it turned out.  I was able to incorporate some of my favorite art styles – this piece was inspired by art nouveau and Gustav Klimt.  I really love the colors and patterns in this piece.  I hope you’ll make it out to the show – it will be at City Arts Factory in the month of October.