The sun, trees, houses and the letter N

Three ACEO Topiaries that go together

In my opinion. I really like the curly branch thing. Now I have to decide if it is time to move on to something else... what do you think? More topiaries or a new subject?

Wooden Cross ACEO

Another recent ACEO.

A Forest of Topiaries

Here is a group of the topiaries I have been working on. A couple of them don't have the background finished yet but I thought I would include them anyway. Funny how I have been working so hard to get good pictures of the gold and now I just take a silly group picture and the gold shows up perfectly! I will get the rest of them up on Etsy soon.

Couple 'o Christmas Trees

Snowman Topiary

ACEO Topiary Number Three

Here is the next one but I am going to have to wait for the sun to come up (assuming it shows itself tomorrow) to take a photo of it on the easel.

Another Crooked Topiary

I kind of think of them as Bonsai Topiaries. =) See how the photograph does not show the gold like the photo in the last post? I need tips here. Feel free to post your ideas. Same materials and size as the last one.

It is a Topiary Kind of Thing

This is the latest thing I am obsessing about. As I posted earlier, I am doing a bunch of topiary ACEO's. I have always loved topiaries and now putting this iridescent gold behind them I am really loving it! As you can see from the scan, if you look straight on, it just looks like a kind of a bluey grey. But when you tilt the artwork it shines gold. There are a bunch more coming that I will post, maybe later today or tomorrow and I have a bunch in the pencil sketch stage right now. The really difficult thing is getting a good photo of the gold part shining. It usually just washes out so you can't tell what it is. Then when I finally got a good shot of it shimmering, the rest of the picture is way too dark! If anyone has any good tips on how to shoot reflective serfaces like this I would be very interested. It is painted with acrylics (Golden Brand of course) and Micron pen for the outline. The dimensions are 2.5 x 3.5 of course.

New Cafe Press Store! Come Look!

This is the greatest thing! See the new link over on the right that says, "Come visit my store on Cafe Press" ?? Well, you should go check it out. You can buy all sorts of great products, like the clock above, with my artwork on it. Mugs, cards, stickers, t-shirts, mousepads, posters, and many more products. And I am not even done yet. I am hoping to put up more images and some calendars in the next few days so check back to see what is new. Just in time for Christmas shopping! =)

Topiaries in Progress

These are the latest ACEOs that I am working on. I love topiaries and they seem to eventually work their way into everything I do. They are not finished yet... I am thinking of doing some kind of swirly background with iridescent paint kind of like the holly posted earlier but I also like them just as they are. Opinions anyone?

Siamese Eyes

Another ACEO that I started a few weeks ago but was unsure how to finish it. I am happy with the results and it is for sale in my Etsy store. It is done with acrylic paint, gouache and Micron pen on Bristol board. Dimensions are (of course) 2.5 x 3.5 inches.

Christmas ACEO, Shiny, of course!

My latest ACEO done with iridescent acrylic paint on Bristol board. Kind of looks like brocade fabric to me. It is for sale in my Etsy store.

Brought to you by the letter H

ACEO size letter H. Done with a Micron pen (can you tell I like Micron pens?) watercolor, and acrylic gold paint on Bristol board. It is up in my Etsy store if you are interested in purchasing it. 2.5 x 3.5 inches of course.

Nouveau Swirls

ACEO in ball point pen.

Gold, ACEO's and Icons

Some of the latest to come out of my studio. As hard as I try I just can't seem to stay away from shiny glittery things for long. =) I really like Golden's iridescent series of acrylic paints. I am not sure where the idea came from to add gold to these cards but once I had done it, it made me think of Russian religious icons.

Lion and Leaves ACEO

Don't you just love the little easel?? I do. The picture is 2.5 x 3.5 inches. I am a sucker for tiny things. This is the latest ACEO in my Etsy shop by the way. There are others I will have to post also.

Two more to add to the collection

ACEO Contour Cat

Micron pen on Bristol board. 2.5 x 3.5 inches

An ACEO painting fool. Green Cat this time.

During and after pictures. I always like seeing progress shots of other artists work so I sometimes post my own. I think the first one would make a great coloring book picture. This was done with Micron pen and gouache paint. 2.5 x 3.5 inches and up on Etsy.

Pumpkin themed ACEO's

Four new ACEO's with a Fall theme. They should all be up on Etsy by the end of the day. Done with pen and Prismacolor colored pencils on Bristol board. 2.5 x 3.5 inches.

More ACEO's

Two more ACEO's to put on Etsy. I am working on a whole different series of them that I will post as soon as they are done. These are done in ball point pen on Bristol board.

More Clematis and Stone Wall

Here are two more stages of the painting. It seems to be evolving as I go... I have more things I am planning to add, you will just have to come back and see how it turns out.

English Countryside Watercolor

Something I am working on right now. I decided to try something in watercolor (rather than gouache) although I may add a little gouache at the end. I also wanted to do a picture of a garden like I used to do on teapots with china paint. I miss doing those so much that I thought maybe I could have fun with the same subject matter on paper. So far, so good. I have a long way to go with this one yet but I am encouraged. It is a 4 x 6 image on a 5 x 7 piece of Bristol board. I like the Bristol board because the surface is so smooth that I can wipe off paint in small areas. A technique that I like to be able to use. Probably a throw back to china painting. I will post more pictures as it progresses.

ACEO's. Trying something new

These are ACEO's. For those that haven't heard of them they are "Art Card Editions, Originals" They are artworks done on anything as long as it measures 2.5 x 3.5 inches in size. If you want to know more about them here are a couple of websites you might want to look at. http://acetsy.blogspot.com/ and http://www.aceomagazine.com/
I listed all three last night on Etsy to sell the original and reproductions. The blue cat eyes one sold almost right away! So maybe I will try a few more of these and see what happens. The top one is pen and colored pencil, the cat eyes is pen and gouache, the bottom one is ball point pen. They are all done on Bristol board.

Pen and Ink

More of the same ball point pen swirls.