quick comfort...

I spent lots of time in the studio yesterday and a little time tending to a sick kiddo who was home from school (a different one is home sick today). For dinner a quick, nourishing and satisfying soup was needed to go with leftovers from Sunday dinner. This Tortilla Soup is the perfect combination of rich flavors and earthy goodness that Rick Bayless dishes are known for and it comes together very quickly. I always use an extra chile and find that the recipe needs a good amount of salt to make it sing. Today there will be more painting and tending (and leftover soup for lunch) but that's enough about me...what are you up to this week?

beginning...

(always the hardest part)

ten for eleven...

all you ever need

glass 1/2 full

my plus one

sometimes i don't know if i'm coming or going

some days

inner light

bellwether

she gathered her thoughts(and began to tell her story)

miss you

dreamed enough to be true

I just packaged up and shipped off my 10 pieces for the 11th Enormous Tiny Art Show. I really love being a part of this eclectic show and in the company of such amazing artists. I started so early this time around but still came down to the wire in wrapping up this large family of tiny art. Now it's time to breathe, slow down and pick up the knitting needles as we pack up for a thrown-together-at-the-last-minute-road-trip. We are taking advantage of an exam week break and off season rates and heading up to Northern Michigan for a mini ski/snowboarding/waterpark vacation. I've got the chicken sitters lined up and the packing started but there are still a few things to pull together. So, I'm checking out until next Monday and wishing you a warm and wonderful rest of the week.

in the shop...

So here's the deal...

As I was putting together the group of paintings for ETA 11 I happened to take a look in my Etsy shop. I realized that after an amazing couple of months of sales my inventory had really dwindled. So in the spirit of the new year and starting fresh I am offering 25% off everything currently in the shop today (1/18) thru Sunday (1/22). After that I'm closing up the shop for a wee bit and will re-open with new pieces on Friday February 3rd. I'll be checking in here with sneak peeks and bits of this and that but I'm planning to spend lots of time in the studio over the next 2 weeks. So far, this new year has brought focus and inspiration and I'm loving it.

H a v e y o u n o t i c e d t h e s h i f t ?

love.love.love.

Did I mention that I finished this sweater? In fact, I just ordered a few skeins of Crow to start a 2nd sweater on an upcoming road trip. I don't know if it's the three quarter sleeves, the lofty yumminess of the yarn or the ease with which it knit up...but I'm smitten. I'm putting the finishing touches on many of the pieces for the Enormous Tiny Art Show and will share a few of the paintings here tomorrow and the rest by the end of the week : )

Fashionably late...

Hello Winter

(we might be skating soon!!!)

A whole lot of new...

Well, there is a whole lot of new going on around here these days. I have a new, slightly shorter, much more layered haircut, I am loving a few new pieces of GORGEOUS jewelry from a new friend and I am especially excited about having so many new paintings in the works. As soon as the third child was out the door for school (after a really low key and fun 2 week break) I was in the studio waxing blocks and laying out snippets of newsprint and color and creating stories for this large collection. Next, I will be using pigment sticks and oilbars to paint the backgrounds before I start the layering process, but I thought I would share this first step and say a quick hello before the day flies by. I hope your week is off to creative and productive start too : )

Friday...

Here's a quick peek at two more pieces in the works for ETA 11. I'll be sending the three kiddos back to school on Monday and plan to spend lots of time in the studio next week finishing up this collection. I'm off to get my haircut but wanted wish you a lovely weekend!

A new way of working...

(multi board painting in progress)

Hi there. I've been busy in the studio working on a method of painting that will enable me to create larger encaustic paintings. This mini version of a multi board painting for the next Enormous Tiny Art Show is my 1st attempt at something I've been thinking about for a while. I composed this piece as a whole but painted the boards individually and then put them back together (i have an idea for framing it but am not sure it going to work). Each of the boards in this piece are only 1.5" tall but the painting as a whole measures 7.5" x 9.5". Once I finish up the ETA paintings (which must of course must be tiny) I'm going to work on a group of 5.5" boards to create a much larger piece which I'm really excited about.

Thanks for reading and I'll see you soon with more new work : )

And the winner is...

happy 2012 peeps!