What A Month!

     Holy moley what a month it has been!  Exciting and jam-packed with work!  So lets get to it.

For starters two books came out this month.

First one the AMAZING Going to Disneyland - A Guide for Kids & Kids at Heart by Shannon Willis Laskey.

Where do I begin on how amazing this book is... besides the fact that it is full of little facts and secrets about Disney and Disneyland.  I couldn't put it down.  The design is fun and creative, the facts are intriguing, and the featured artists' work is perfect!  Here is a little list :

Mary Blair (of course)
Chris Buchholz
Sam Carter
Scott Cocking
Rolly Crump (incredible, as per usual)
Lindsay Gibson
Marisa Lerin
Adrian Mentus
Heather Mettra
Kolby Ratigan
W. Jason Weesner
Steve Willis
And YOURS TRULY of course!

Here is a little peek of the book

Here are the two pieces I have featured in the book.

First the Neverland 3-D paper/watercolor piece I made

And this Pirates of The Caribbean watercolor I made specially for this book!

Rolly Crump even wrote a review for it... I mean c'mon!

"There aren't enough adjectives to describe this incredibly creative book, designed bu a fantastically creative artist.  For starters, it's UNIQUE, IMAGINATIVE, WHIMSICAL, EDUCATIONAL, CHILDLIKE, THOUGHT PROVOKING, INTERESTING, DELIGHTFUL and obviously a labor of love.  It's a wonderful 'memory' book for any and all that visit Disneyland.  What more can I say - I LOVE IT!!!"
----- Rolly Crump, former Imagineer and Disney Legend



     The Second book release this month has been the long awaited Tyler Loves Tape by Arlene Taylor.  I have been working with Arlene on this book for the past year.  It is an adorable story about the fun and adventures of a little octopus names Tyler and his preschool friends.  This adventure is with tape and all the wonderful things they can create.  It is so sweet an innocent, the perfect little book for our little imaginative ones!

Some more sneaky peeks!

Stay tuned for the next post of the 3-D paper/watercolor pieces I've been working on!

AAU Auction 2015!

It's official, I have some pieces in The Academy of Arts 20th Annual Faculty + Alumni Fine Art Auction!

Happening Saturday November 14th, 2015

at

AAU Galleries at The Cannery

2801 Leavenworth St.

San Francisco, CA

94109

They are 7 little pockets sized paintings (approx. 5"x5")
VW Karmann Ghia
VW Bus
Honda  550 Four
Honda cb750
1970 Mini Cooper
and 2 portraits!
Watercolor, Giclee, Ink, Gouache

A little sneak peak of my page in the online catalog.  Along with my sad excuse for a bio... writing bios is something I don't think I'll ever enjoy, BLEH!

                      
For more info click HERE !
Now off to work!  Til next time!

Bonjour Paris!

     Ever since I discovered the movie Funny Face about 5 years ago I've been obsessed.  I go through random spurts of having the soundtrack on repeat in my head (happens without warning), go through about a week's worth of wanting to watch the movie before I actually get around to it, then proceed to have it on repeat in the background all day while I work.

     Yep... a little obsessed.

     Now something new has been added to my weirdo list... an overwhelming desire to draw the characters.  One of the gifts of being able to draw is the joy of having a vision in your head, attempting to translate it onto paper, and FAILING miserably.  Over and over again.

     Luckily for my sanity everything clicked!  Bonjour Audrey!

   

     For the past 2 years I've been aggressively working on evolving my style into something that feels natural to me and flows whimsically from my fingers.  I'm not quite there yet, but I'm definitely closer!  Now off to struggle with getting the rest of the characters from the movie down.
Wish me luck!


     Also!  Added some new lil funny faces to my Shop!
Feel free to go check them out if you like goofy things, or need something to scare the cat with.

OoO La La Paper!

     Been busy these past couple weeks with commissions *YEEEE*!   Found out a couple days ago that it's our neighbor's daughters' birthday this weekend and thought I'd make them a little something with their favorite characters.  So commissions on hold for this weekend, let me introduce my little 5x7" summer beauties!

I've never worked with layered paper works this small before so this was definitely a learning experience, which is always a good thing!

They eventually came together... learning experience officially a success!

Happy Birthday Alexis and Stephanie!  Now back to commissions!

Box Troll Summer

     A couple months ago I finally got around to getting Netflix.  I know, doesn't sound like a big deal but I view Netflix as a modern day Pandora's Box.  Seems wonderful until you log in, then all your time disappears and suddenly it's 5 hours later and you have a list of 20+ movies and shows saved to your watch later list... so there goes your personal life, and any productivity you had planned for the next 2 months!

The silver lining to all this is I FINALLY got to see Box Trolls, and I am in love.  Is is such a beautiful movie, from the story to the visuals, beautiful.  So naturally I had to make a little Box Troll tribute!  Laika and all the people involved, you're amazing.

Sir Christopher Lee Tribute

     

           A little quick post for the late Sir Christopher Lee.  You have brought joy and inspiration to countless lives and will forever be remembered.  Here's to a beautiful life, CHEERS!

Hades Has A Mugshot

Hades has a mugshot and it ain't pretty!  Finished another addition to the villain mugshot series, the Lord of the Underworld.... Hades!

He is the master of outsourcing crimes, and having fabulous hair.  Hopefully the slammer won't give him split ends.


Stay tuned!  Coming soon I'll be posting a commissioned piece of Neverland I just finished!

Watercolor Cars For Summer!

So this past November my husband and I went down to Anaheim to see the Mecum Auto Auction and I went picture crazy with the cars.  So many beautiful classics!  So I've decided to start painting them... naturally.

I'm already having way to much fun with these little pocket size paintings.  More to come!

Villain Mugshots!

Here's a look at a series I've been working on this year... Disney Villain Mugshots!  Inspired by Disney's villains.

It's all fun and games until someone gets arrested.

Celebrities have them... civilians have them... MUGSHOTS.  I don't know what it is about Googling mugshots but it's captivating!

What if our favorite childhood villains had mugshots and they popped up while you were frolicking around the interwebs?  I feel it would look a little something like this...

Once all the Disney villains are done I'll be expanding on to the wide array of villains that movies and  t.v. have to offer! Stay tuned!

OoO Baby It's Cold Outside... Seriously, it is

   

           'Tis the season!  Now that I am sufficiently stuffed with Thanksgiving goodness I have enough food to energize me to spend countless hours working on illustrations.  Challenge excepted!

Before I get too wrapped up in that, it isn't December until there is a tipsy reindeer.  So lo and behold the first reindeer of the season!  His drink of choice, martini!

I made this little guy as little thank you goodie for my Etsy orders, but of course I couldn't just leave it at that.  He had to move around with his drink a little...

It just makes me happy :)

Happy Holidays!

Announcing Her Royal Highness!

           The holding cell in the Land of Fantasy is getting crowded!

The newest member of the Disney Villain Jailhouse Rock Gang is her gloriousness... The Queen of Hearts!

I can only imagine how much of a hissy fit she'd throw confined in a small space with a bunch of other stubborn, snide, grouchy villains.  Endless hours of entertainment right there!

Feel free to hop over to My Shop to see the rest of the prisoners!

Up next ... Dr. Facilier
Here is a rough sketch of the early stages of his mugshot

He's got friends on the other side... of the BARS!

Have a great Thanksgiving everyone!

And Away We GO!

                     If you couldn't tell by the subtly of that doodle, we're going to Disneyland tomorrow!!!  So excited!  It's been a couple years since I've been to the happiest place on earth so this is definitely exciting!  Joe and I decided this trip will be a belated one year anniversary for us.  So as a reward of making through one year of marriage with each other we are going to stuff our faces with churros, fill our ears with Disney music till we're numb, and right the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad to my heart's content!

Before I go I wanted to share a little piece I did for a friend of mine.  It was a very emotional little creation but it was worth every minute knowing how much it meant to her and her husband to have this image in her home.

A Day For Dailee

Til next time!  TTFN, ta-ta for now!

Life Is The Bubbles!

             This past weekend friends of my husband and mine got married.  I usually try to make my gifts to people as unique and personal as possible.  So I decided instead of the typical slow cooker or blender, I would make her something with what she is obsessed with, Ariel.

Ever since she saw my other shadow box mermaid piece she's been talking about how awesome it would be if I could make one for her... Well her wish came true!

Don't worry!  We got a little something for the Groom too, he wouldn't be too thrilled about a Little Mermaid picture like his wife would.  Though it would be fantastic to see a 240lb buff man get excited about The Little Mermaid and bubbles.

Here's the other mermaid shadow box that inspired this little gift

 And now on to the new creation!

Just had to pop a frame on it (that is why the coral isn't flush with the edge of the background) and Ta-DA!  Here's to a lifetime of love, happiness, and ADVENTURE Donny and Jess!

Always remember... Life is the BUBBLES!

They're Creepy and They're Kooky

Happy Halloween!!! One of my favorite holidays!  And in honor of they're greatness, I give you An Addams Family Portrait

Even though Halloween is going to be over tomorrow (*sigh) I've decided I'm still going to keep this painting out, it just makes me Happy... I mean, perfectly miserable.

The 2014 Livermore Artwalk was a success!  Met a lot of awesome people and found a bunch of good homes for my little creations!

Here's a little shot of our booth
 

And the production line I had going on my dining room table the night before!

Now that the fair is all over and done with it's back to the grinding stone... Commissions!
Here's a little taste of one I just finished...

'Til next time!  Happy Autumn!