Happy Holidays!

All of our presents are wrapped and under the tree. Tomorrow is going to be a big day, especially for Sam. This year he is into superheroes so that is pretty much the theme. Looking forward to a lazy day of opening presents, eating our traditional cinnamon rolls and hanging out with my boys. It feels kind of strange to have nothing to do but wait for Christmas morning. But I'm just going to go with it.

Happy Holidays to you and your family!

Melissa

Last Freebie Friday of 2010!

"snowed in"

Today you can receive one free print with any purchase of an original painting, original drawing, print, print on wood, t-shirt or note card set (sorry, calendars are sold out). Just put in your "message to seller" the free print that you would like.

Click here for my Etsy shop.

Click here for my website.

Happy Holidays!!

Holiday Drawings

"happy holidays"

"happy new year"

While cleaning and rearranging my studio I came across these 2 holiday drawings so I decided to list them. The timing couldn't be more perfect. Also, they kind of makes me miss my little creatures. I might have to start putting them into my new darker style of painting.

Drawings are available here.

New, Darker Paintings

"underflow"

"not again"

"sugarcoated"

"overkill"

"used to be me"

"crybaby"

"dying inside"

"afterthought"

"underlings"

"can I stay here tonight?"

"buzzkill"

"party girl"

"wallflower"

"drama queen"

This summer I was in a real funk with my art. My flat, bright colors and little creatures just weren't doing it for me anymore. Also, I've been painting mostly small paintings so with that limited canvas size I felt like I had pretty much done all I could do. So, I decided to shake things up a bit. I really wanted to get back to the darker work that I started out doing. I felt like I was "cuted out". I missed painting my sad flowers.

And...I discovered BLACK. In all of my color classes the one thing that was consistently taught was that adding black to a color was the quickest way to suck all the life out of it. Well, in my experience that has been true. Every time I've tried to add black to darken a color it immediately lost the spark. So, I avoided it like the plague. In fact my tube of carbon black looked like it was brand new before I started this series. I'm still not using black in my mixes but I'm using straight up black. And I love it. It's so harsh and dark. So unlike what I have been doing. And that was exactly what I was looking for.

I also discovered glazes. With most of my previous work I used very flat colors. Not much blending at all. One day I was talking about how frustrated I was with painting to my dear friend Cathy and I told her that I could envision what I wanted to paint but I didn't know how. I wanted to paint colors that blended together. And she suggested glazes. Well, I had a few color glazes and started painting with them and I absolutely loved it (thanks Cathy!). They are VERY slow drying and for me that took some getting used to. I use a hair dryer with fast-drying acrylics! So, it was almost painful for me to let something sit overnight before I could fix it or add to it. But overall a great exercise in patience for me.

I might get back to doing my little creatures at some point but for now this feels good. Every time I would show one of my new paintings to my 3-year-old son Sam he would tell me that it needed a creature. So I put some ghostly creatures on a couple of them. But I think the fact that he recognized that there weren't creatures in these tells me that it was time to shake things up a bit. It has been a long time since I painted anything without them.

It was so wonderful to love painting again. Ideas were flowing. I couldn't wait to paint when I woke up in the morning. And when I was painting with glazes I didn't really know what it was going to look like. Challenging, but very rewarding. I hope you like them.

Prints are available of all paintings.

Click here to purchase paintings.

just you & me, tree

The original of "just you & me, tree" is now available at my Etsy shop.

Original is sold.

Prints are also available.

Happy Monday!

More Exotic Hardwood Paintings

dotted tree on Sapele

flower on African Mahogany

dandy on African Mahogany

I've finished 3 more paintings on that gorgeous exotic hardwood. That's it for my hardwood supply. These are so gratifying to paint for me. So simple and clean.

I have also been furiously painting some new pieces just in time for the holidays. These are VERY different from my other stuff and I'm really excited about them. They will be released on or before this Thursday.

Hardwood paintings are available here.

Back to painting...

Holiday Note Cards

"just you and me, tree" (original is sold)

"snowed in"

"isn't it beautiful"

"thaw"

For the first time I am offering a holiday note card set. This set includes 2 of each of my 4 holiday cards. The cards included are "isn't it beautiful?", "snowed in", "thaw" and my new holiday image for this year "just you and me, tree". The original of "just you and me, tree" will be released tomorrow.

The set is $24 so you get 2 free cards in the set.

Click here to purchase note card set.

The holidays are coming up FAST! I'm going to be releasing a lot of new stuff this week so...stay tuned.

Visionary Living Feature

A couple of months ago I was asked to write an article for the beautifully designed Texas magazine Visionary Living. They wanted to know what keeps me motivated and inspired, what challenges I faced going out on my own, and if I could offer any words of wisdom for those wanting to make the leap to follow their passions. It seems that a lot of people out there really want to leave their jobs and follow their dreams. I get asked these questions a lot through emails. I think partly because of my bio page on my website and how miserable I was at my last 9-5 job. So, I hope I can help someone out there to make the leap. It has definitely been challenging (especially in this economy) but I have never for one second doubted my decision.

You can read the magazine online. Just keep clicking to see my page (shown above) if you want to read my article. I think it is the 29th page in.

Hope you're all having a nice weekend. It is FREEZING here and I have a terrible cold. Hoping tomorrow will be better.

HUGE Original Painting Sale!

"you'll never know"

To get the holiday season off to a nice start I am having a 30% off sale of all of my original paintings in my Etsy shop. Just write "30% off" in your message to seller and I will refund the discounted amount to you promptly.

The sale begins Tuesday, November 2nd and goes through Friday, November 5th.

Click here to purchase paintings.

Can't believe it's November already. I'm working on some new stuff and hope to release it in the next couple of weeks. Until then, enjoy the sale and have a good week.

p.s. calendars are going fast so please get one now if you were planning to.

2011Calendars are Here!

I finished with these a little early this year so I thought I'd go ahead and release them. This is a limited edition of only 60 calendars and they always sell out so get one while you can. They make great gifts.

Also, stay tuned...I will be having a huge pre-holiday sale on original paintings next week.

Purchase calendars here.

Have a good weekend.

The Dry Goods Shop

This is what the store front used to look like.

I am a bit late on this but wanted to post it anyway. My prints can now be found at The Dry Goods Shop in West Asheville (right down the street from where I live). When we moved here 2 years ago we would drive by this store front all the time and wonder about it. It was called Meadows Dry Goods & Shoes. There was stuff inside but it looked like no one had been there in years. Like one day someone just said "I've had it with this Dry Goods store," and up and left. But then Leigh Anne Hilbert fell in love with the building and opened up her own Dry Goods Shop which features indie designers. You can find great clothing, jewelry and art. Leigh Anne is now a friend of mine and it's great being able to pop in and say hi when I'm out walking with Sam. If you live in Asheville, please check it out.

Happy Friday everyone!! My mom is coming this weekend so we are in deep cleaning mode. The weather is gorgeous. Just a slight crispness to the air and I am loving it. I'm ready to put the shorts and Teva's away.

Freebie Friday!

"when I grow up"

Today is Freebie Friday which means that you get a free print for every print you buy from my Etsy shop or my website. Just put in your "note to seller" the free print that you want.

Happy Friday!

Click here to see purchase prints at my Etsy shop.

And here for my website.

Kaboodle Hottest Posters Contest

My "moon" image is one of 48 images chosen by Kaboodle for their Top 10 Hottest Posters contest. The winner is determined by the number of votes (or hearts) each image receives. Please vote for my image. Thank you!

You can see all of the posters and vote here.

New Work for Enormous Tiny Art Show

"you'll never know"

"if only"

"petaling"

"born new"

"onliest"

I will have 12 paintings in the September Enormous Tiny Art Show in Portsmouth, NH. I love this show because, as you know, I like "small" and none of the paintings in this show are over 10" x 10". They always have a great mix of artists too. I am honored to be a part of this show again.

I painted 5 new pieces for the show. I loved working with just white for my exotic wood pieces so I wanted to continue that. But I decided to add some really bold colors and...my creatures are back. I missed them...just a little.

Also my dear friend Cathy Nichols' gorgeous work is in this show and my new e-friend Laura Berger too. Please look online at their beautiful work in this show.

If you live in the Portsmouth area be sure to check out the show. I would love to go but we are too far away. You can check out all of the work is online here.

The show opens September 1st and runs through September 27th. The opening reception is Friday, September 3rd from 5-8 p.m.

Two New Galleries

I am pleased to announce that my prints are now sold at Elementality located in the Asheville Mall and Art & Soul Marketplace in Brevard, NC. Both are great stores so please check them out if you live in the area.

It has been extremely HOT here in Asheville and I find myself wishing for Fall to come. I love summer and it is by far my favorite season but this summer has been brutal. We don't have air conditioning in our house. I've never been a big fan of it but I would have definitely used it in the last couple of months. So do you hear that Fall? I'm ready. As I'm sure a lot of you are too.

Have a good weekend!

My Work in Artful Blogging Magazine

A few months ago I was asked to write an article for Artful Blogging Magazine and I just got my copy today. My work is featured over 3 spreads and it looks really great. My image "baby mine" is also on the cover (upper right). I'm so happy with the way it looks. I had never really looked at this magazine but I must say it's gorgeous. Beautifully printed. And I should know because print production was my career for many years. I know that Barnes & Noble carries this magazine and probably Border's too. Please check it out next time you are in a book store.

Click here for a look at what's inside the Autumn issue.

Freebie Friday!

Today is Freebie Friday which means that you get a free print for every print you buy from my Etsy shop or my website. Just put in your "note to seller" the free print that you want.

Happy Friday!

Click here to see purchase prints at my Etsy shop.

And here for my website.

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to all you fathers out there! And especially to my amazing husband. Sam is so lucky to have such a caring and fun Papa. Love you!

T-Shirts!!

"rooted"

"why not me?"

close up of front of shirt

close up of little creature at bottom of shirt

I’m so excited to release these limited edition t-shirts. Both shirts are from Alternative Apparel and are made out of very soft organic cotton. The silk screened images are hand-pulled locally in Asheville, NC. The fabric is very light and comfy which is perfect for the summer. I’ve been wearing mine all weekend because it is HOT here. And the scoop neck on the t’s is very flattering. I’m starting with just women’s shirts but plan to do men’s shirts eventually.

The image on the blue (Earth Ocean) shirt is titled “rooted” and the image on the green (Earth Green) shirt is titled “why not me?” The green shirt is screened in 2 locations. Look closely for the lonely creature at the bottom. The shirts come in S, M, L & XL and $28.00 each.

Click here to view or purchase shirts.

Click here to see the shirts and sizing chart on Alternative Apparel’s site.

Summer is here! Yay!