Sketchbook blog

In January 2020, I sent off another series of hand painted ornaments to Artomat . Each wooden round is cut from either maple or oak wood. Every ornament has an original watercolor flower,  a vintage stamp (usually international),  and an inspiring word or phrase because these are from my Little Inspirations series:  floral fun + an inspiring word. I hope you enjoy these little delights.

I recently sent a new batch of updated Endearing Young Charms to Art-o-mat . Fall and winter berries and leaves feature prominently in this small ornament series of Endearing Young Charms.

I sent off another 50 small wood rounds to Art-o-mat at the end of September 2019. You can see my packaging in the background of this shot.  I tried to limit my color palette and focus on tropical flora inspired by Matisse.  I really enjoyed painting this red coral. My goal has been to finish 100 pieces of work per month, but lately I've experienced some family tragedies that have taken over my time and emotions.   So to highlight the positive, here are some cute pictures of the family having fun in September.

Brightly painted wood rounds full of fruit I've gone a little crazy with painting fruit for Art-o-mat this summer. This cherry from my Mini Masterpiece collection owes its origins to the painters like Matisse who were Fauvists. Fauvism (1899-1908) was a twentieth century art movement made of up artists who called themselves les Fauves , or the “wild beasts.” Painters like Matisse, Cézanne, Gaugin, and Seurat contributed to this style and composed still life paintings with fruit in vivid brushwork and bold colors. In this Art-o-mat package, I have depicted a subject (like blueberries, which are a superfood!) in a Fauvist style.   I hope these miniature originals brightened your day with hopeful, uplifting color. My almost 2 year old, Nate, thinks these wood rounds are puzzle pieces. He and Alex like to "help me" work on them. While I worked on this batch last Father's Day weekend, we were missing our...

I asked for one thing this Christmas, and my family gave it to me.  It's a cedar display for my Art-o-mat collection. I am so happy with this display.  Steve built it.  Alex and Clarice sanded it and applied the polyurethane finish.  I have added to this collection over the years, but the Swap Meet during the  Art-o-mat 20th anniversary at SECCA this year really helped me expand my vast Art-o-mat empire. Here is what started it all:  fellow Art-o-mat artist Dennis Wells put his handiwork on display earlier this month, and so I immediately put my order in to Santa . Photo courtesy of Dennis Wells, who is  an amazing artist. Check out his work here . My cedar display is possibly my favorite Christmas gift of all time.  It will bring so much joy for years to come.  Now that I have met most of these artists in person, each piece of artwork means even more to me. Essential Holiday Run to Delurk Gallery In the final ...

Several years ago, I wanted to experiment with acrylic paints beyond the surface of a stretched canvas.  This is when I began exploring gourds and wood crafts as grounds. My wood arrow craft from my Klimt class, with reference work behind. If you are a student in my Skillshare craft workshop, you may have many questions about where to buy these items and what paints work well on these surfaces. I cover some of these questions in our Klimt or Matisse class videos, but this blog provides a great place for me to provide more details. Where to buy gourds: I have bought pre-cut, craft-ready gourds from the following US retailers: Welburn Gourd Farm Meadowbrooke Gourds Amish Gourds I always buy my gourds cleaned, which means that the dirt has been scrubbed off the surface.  But many folks enjoy growing and cleaning their own gourds.   Please make a note of shipping times as delays could set you behind your original project timeline. Also, pl...