[i] LoveLife

Okay! Let's do this...

First - THANK YOU for the ultra-radical response to the DECO BLUE pencil crayon kerfuffle. I am really happy. REALLY HAPPY. I can't believe that there are so many Deco Blue pencil crayons out there. I want them.

Second - CUSTOM TINY ART LADIES FAQ. As promised...

What is this Custom Tiny Art Lady thing? If you are interested - I'm willing to create a Custom Tiny Art Lady for you for $150 (plus $3 shipping).

What is a Custom Tiny Art Lady? This is a particular style and subject matter as found in Tiny Art 31, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51 & 52. Whew. What I'm trying to say here is that I'm happy to do a Custom Tiny Art Lady ONLY. I am not taking requests for coffee cups or cork pieces or bucket paintings. If I take all kinds of random custom Tiny Art work for $150 a piece I might as well shoot myself in the face. I have a special place in my heart for the Ladies. I like the Tiny Art Ladies and I like that some of you like them, too and I feel bad when I post one and it sells fast and then you write me long sad emails about how badly you wanted it, but you missed it by a minute because your dog ran away and your kid barfed on your laptop, etc, etc. I feel like if you like them (the ladies) and you see yourselves in the art (like you have told me) then I want to make it possible for you to have something special.

What do you mean by CUSTOM? I mean pick a pose from the ladies I mentioned (31, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51 or 52) and fire me a little email with your favourite colours and maybe a little about yourself and why you want a Tiny Art Lady AND I WILL CREATE ONE FOR YOU. You can tell me that your hair is short or YOU are short or that you have HUGE BOOBS or no arms or three legs and I will DO MY BEST to accomadate you. The hair colour part is HARD because as you can see the drawings are line drawings and the hair is purely representational. SO I WILL DO MY BEST.

Will the words be the same? No. not exactly. I hate replicating pieces exactly and it never really works - it loses something. SO. Based on the little note about yourself I will write something for you.

Why is this Tiny Art $150? Because I do Tiny Art JUST FOR ME and this is making my happy passion - A JOB. And much to Dan's chagrin - when it is considered A JOB - I lose interest very quickly. ALSO, I normally charge ten times this fee to do custom work so I think that the extra $50 bucks isn't that much for custom art created for you.

What size are the Custom Tiny Art Ladies? They are approximately 7.5 inches x 11.5 inches and they are NOT CUT perfectly SQUARE.

How long will you take orders? Till May 31st and then never again.

How long will you take orders? Till May 31st and then never again - so don't ask.

How long will you take orders? NO AND THEN.

How long will you take orders? Seriously. Till May 31st and then never again I don't care if you were in a coma or you were out of the country or you JUST NOW LEARNED TO READ. I'm sorry.

How long will it take to get my Custom Lady? Give me two weeks plus shipping.

How much is shipping? $3 - to anywhere.

What if we hate the Custom Tiny Art Lady you make for us? Then no charge and no painting. The nature of this type of illustration is not very alterable. I will totally understand if you hate it and once you see it - you do not want it. I will not be able to "move it to the left" or make small adjustments without starting over. There is no Control Z in Tiny Art. I'm sorry.

Will prints be available of MY Custom Tiny Art Lady? Yes. Unless you are morally opposed and you can give me 9 good reasons or you are willing to pay me $450 for a closed edition.

Can you match specific colours? SORT OF. I will DO MY BEST. If you email me and say "kind of greenish" you're gonna get my best interpretation of that. If you say Pantone 134 - or IKEA's yellow - I can match that pretty right on. But, be easy on me.

Will my name appear on the piece? If you want that - I can do that.

Any more questions - leave them in the comments and I will do my best to answer them in tomorrow's post. AS OF RIGHT NOW - I can take your requests for a CUSTOM TINY ART LADY. EMAIL ME.

Today: Pilot and I are BOYCOTTING NAPS! Who needs 'em! Naps are for sucky babies and tired mom's. NONE OF THOSE AROUND THESE PARTS. (Trying a little reverse psychology today.) We're heading out for the morning and then an afternoon of rolling over and over and over and over and looking at ourselves in the mirror. We might do more laundry - because THAT never gets old or tiring. We might scream for a while, too - ALSO high on our list of things to do. Helloooooooo THURSDAY - how the heck are ya!?

Again, I CAN'T BELIEVE the response to my search for Deco Blue. So cool. SO thankful.

Go, go, GO!

The pink lady and her friends...

I call them the Pink Lady's friends. Go here to meet the just-released Tiny Art pieces of the week. I am not sure how to do this... I thought releasing them at a certain time would be best - but, I have received 32 emails today requesting to snatch up the newest Tiny Art - whatever it may be. I've also been found out by some galleries trying to snag some Tiny Art, too. I have just received emails from art collectors in Wyoming, Brazil and Manhatten. Yikes. Makes for an overwhelming inbox - that's for sure. Any suggestions for a better way?

As usual, the originals are first-come-first-serve at a steal of a deal: $100 each. DON'T FORGET there are beautiful, beautiful prints available of each Tiny Art as well. They are $30 each. Email me if you want one or many. Shipping is $3 no matter how many you buy or where you live.

Three cheers for a very sunny day and one small sigh for a very busy baby. I'm still waiting for her to take an afternoon nap. Little stinker.

Please go take a look at the new pieces and have a wonderful evening... oh, and thank you, thank you, thank you for all the incredible encouragement and support.

From here to there.

Yesterday was a day when we let the wind blow us... and that was cool. I got a couple of new Tiny Art pieces complete. I was trying some new things and testing out some new papers. That's the WHOLE IDEA behind Tiny Art - play and make. The piece above is Tiny Art 28. I stapled together a bunch of the coffee holders to create a slightly bigger canvas to work from. I had a lot of fun. I'm also visiting and revisiting this whole coffee phenomenon... what is it about? I've been keeping a little bit of a log/journal and I think I'm getting closer. OK. It's partially the coffee, partially the warm fuzzy and mostly just the simple idea that the first sip of that latte is just for me. The smell. The warmth. It's not a rushed shower or lunch with one hand... it's just for me. It's pretty much the only thing out of my whole day that I do just for me - for guilty pleasure...

I tried a few new things with this piece... I started the way I always do. Ink straight onto paper - no plan. BUT, this piece is made on Botanical PaperWorks plantable paper made from recyclable office papers. It's cool. I inked it and then I dunked my brush right into my coffee and used the coffee like I would watercolours... then I inked again. Tiny Art 24. I tried some other substrates with my coffee in Tiny Art 25 and my thoughts about my Saturday mornings with Dan.

It's not that I'm obsessed with coffee... a like a nice latte and I like a good reason to get out of the house - or a friendly detour on a busy errands day. I like it. I'm also really, really feeling guilty about the number of DISPOSABLE CUPS I come home with. Shame on me. So, I'm working on recycling... with Tiny Art 23. It's painted on a cup that I took apart. It worked PERFECTLY. I was worried that it wouldn't flatten - but, it did. I was also worried that that cup would be to waxy - which it is not. PERFECT.

I was also inspired by the romantic notion of three beautiful things: 1. The Valentine's Day shoot from Maile at Relish Photography. I loved the one with the rose petals in the air. 2. This book that Martini Momma Kathryn Gompf wrote about in this post. And 3. This vacation photo. OKAY and 4. The Botanical PaperWorks flower petal paper... to make Tiny Art 27. It's got kind of a romantic beach getaway feel. The flower petals are real. I used acrylic paints watered down and applied like watercolours.

I also finished Tiny Art 22. And Tiny Art 26 for the bucket lovers. Go ahead and check them all out - Tiny Art is available as an original for $100 and a laser reproduction print for $30. First come. First served. I don't have as much time to paint large pieces now that Pilot is around... but, I still have lots and lots of painting inside me. These are quick and they are done WHENEVER I can snag a minute. If you're interested in a piece - send me an email.

Today: I'm off to Starbucks to meet Heidi and Sophie. I'm hoping to get out on the river ice with Pilot and Crash again this afternoon. Girls Night tonight and we're having a little Caribbean feast... ooooh, la la - that's heaven! Throw in some Tiny Art and I'd call this a nearly perfect day. Sweet.

GO!

Tiny art.

I'm lightening up a little. What exactly does that mean? Well. Because I'm settling into a bit of a routine with Pilot it's allowing me to get my art thoughts going. She doesn't leave a whole lot of time for stretching my painting muscles or creating big pieces - so when I get even a minute - I USE IT. I grab whatever is handy (magazines, envelopes, paper bags, etc.) and let my artist self roll. That means I've got a few tiny pieces available for better homes.

Which gave legs to 'lightening up' train... Normally, I find it hard to let paintings go - they're my babies. I really do. But, I'm literally running out of room and I'm really loving the idea that all things you let go - just take pieces of yourself to different places. And that's cool. So here - in the spirit of lightening up...

The Tiny Art Collective. Anything - and everything in this collection is ready to roll. These pieces are small - and when I say small - I mean between 7 x 7 inches and 10 x 10 inches - give or take. The ORIGINALS are available to you on a first come - first serve - AS THEY ARE basis for $100 each (shipping is extra). That's a pretty good deal - so don't tell Dan. If I don't have an original of the one you want - laser reproductions are available for $30 each. Leave a comment or email me if you're interested in any particular pieces. They will also be listed in the MY FINE ART section - category: TINY ART. I'll try to give you a heads up here when I post new TINY ART. But, I might forget - so just check here from time to time.

I hope to get about 5 new pieces done per week. That's my goal. It helps me feel productive, it helps me do some warming up for bigger pieces and painting/drawing/creating is just something I cannot live without...

PLUS I could probably find better homes for my art than in boxes marked DO NOT SELL.  ;)