I'm Back

Wow, what a long time it has been since I posted anything! This summer has been a whirlwind. I am taking the plunge and trying a new art style. It is so hard to stay fresh and new in this business, and you don't want the clients to get bored! But now I have to play the waiting game while I wait and see what the clients think. I'm not very good at being patient! I wish I could show you the new work, but I don't dare until it is all tweaked and finished.

In the meantime, check out this ad from Easy Quilts magazine for my Wilderness Park fabric line. I usually paint very feminine paintings of birds and flowers, so doing the Lodge look is always a fun change, and people seem to like it.

Speaking of feminine looks, here is a new puzzle! My mailbox has been overflowing with samples lately, so soon I will post some cards and coasters. Right now we are so busy with family things. My son moved out into his very first college apartment, and next week my daughter starts eighth grade, so you can imagine all the excitement around here!

My Dear Friends Are Back

One of my favorite things about Spring is that all my feathered friends come back from their winter homes. And the last couple of weeks have been full of new visitors as well! In addition to the bright yellow goldfinches, cosy purple finches, and dignified robins, over the past few days I have seen a Western Tanager, an Audubon finch, a Black-headed Grosbeak, and the Lazuli Bunting pictured above. At this rate my bird journal will be full by the end of summer!

I love to paint birds, My paintings for licensing tend to restrict themselves to the birds that everyone know and loves, like chickadees and cardinals. I would love to paint some of these new friends, but I am not sure how they would be received by the people who buy my work. What do you think? Should I add some new critters to my repertoire?

The Berry Patch

I thought you might like to see my new fabric line from Wilmington Prints. It is called Berry Patch and will be available at the end of the summer. I just love how they are able to combine portions of my paintings to create whole new fabric designs. I am having difficulty uploading photos to blogger, so I'm afraid I can only show these three images. My mother can't wait to get her hands on these for quilting!

What Next?

Today I finished the last piece of art for my 2013 calendar (it's amazing how far ahead we have to work), and now my thoughts are turning to what I should paint next. My assignments are all finished for a while, so I can paint what I want. The trouble is, my head is so full of ideas that I can't sort them out into which one I should start first! Does that ever happen to you?

I have been trying all sorts of new things, but I can't seem to settle on what fits me best, so then I think I should go back to my usual work. Then I worry that the clients are bored with that, so I am all in a muddle these days! I am looking forward to getting feedback from my agent when Surtex is over, so I can see which of my new pieces our clients responded to. Meanwhile, I will continue to paint what is in my heart, even though that changes from day to day!

Surtex booth #564!

It's that time of year again when most of the artists I know are in panic mode. That's right, Surtex is just around the corner! Surtex is one of the biggest shows for licensing artists. It stands for "Surface and Textile" design and all the manufacturors will be there looking for art to put on their products. My agent Debby will have all my work up in the Blue Sky Art & Design booth, number 564, so be sure to stop by! The National Stationery show is at the same time and in the same building: the Javitz Center in NY, so that is a chance to meet with all the clients who make cards and stationery products too.

I'm lucky in that I don't have to prepare my own booth, but I am trying to get as much new work done as possible. It's a busy time here as well, because Ian is graduating high school and there is all the excitement that entails! There are so many things to do; scholarships to find, housing to check into, proms, activities, it never stops!

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter to all my friends who celebrate it, and happy Spring to everyone else! We are ready for Spring here. There was actually some snow yesterday, but it all melted and Mr Right had to do the season's first lawn-mowing today. Such is Colorado in April!

Juxtaposition

Imagine my pleasure the other day when I walked into Michael's and saw my "Draw Baby Animals" book next to my dear friend Barbara Lanza's "Enchanting Elves" book! I wish we could have been standing side by side ourselves, but our books will have to act as stand-ins. It is very hard to get books placed in Michaels and Hobby Lobby (my book is there too). This is the first of my four books to make it there!