atwhim.com Blog

Okay, it’s been too long. I’ll just fill in the blanks….

Cupcakes are good!

I’m still designing my treehouse; it’s a work in progress.

Time is still moving too fast, and I’m wondering where it all went.

I’ve been reading stories of Baba Yaga, and I think she’s gruesome and cool.

I just went back to school again.  I’m really enjoying it.  I’m a little rusty after being out for 10 years, but at least I’m having fun now.  I’m sorry if I don’t get back to you as quickly as I used to.  I have “full time student” to add on to the full time job and mother thang!  But I love hearing from you, so don’t stop sending me little messages!!

YES WE CAN!!!!

I’ve been dragging my feet.  Unable to grasp that the end of this year is oh so very near; I think I’m in denial!  Summer is officially gone, and I feel like the temperature here suddenly plummeted.  I’m not ready for months and months of rain yet!  So I guess it’s back to holing myself in the house with nothing to do but paint paint paint!  (And also knitting my little puggy some winter sweaters!)  I’m considering starting up with oils again.  I miss the texture of it.

Some new little things I’ve done….

Tied

Runaway Bride

Red Coat

The Red Ribbon

Absolved

Have a good weekend all!

xoxo

It’s been a long time since I’ve had a customer upset me.  She wasn’t incredibly rude or hurtful, but when someone is not happy with their order it makes me overdramatic and want to quit for fear I’m doing something wrong.  I know, it’s extreme.  My little shop is so personal and dear to me, and when I get an unhappy customer it makes me want to crawl into a dark hole and hide.  I’m trying not to have it bother me so much, but I can’t stop thinking about it.  99% of my buyers are wonderful and I love them dearly, it’s silly of me to get upset over that 1%.  Well…. this too shall pass. 

Now that I’ve gotten that out, let’s go back to what this is all about… ART!  I’ve just moved all my art stuff into my unfinished attic for a little temporary make-shift studio.  So I’m not painting in my kitchen anymore!  August has even set up his little table and art supplies, so we are sharing our own personal little art space.  I’ll take some pictures soon.  It’s very industrial looking with the exposed beams and shotty paint job.  I’ve done a couple pieces in the last month I’ve been away from my bloggie.

       The first one is called Unwind, which is something I need to do these days.  The second is Forever which I did in preparation of my favorite holiday Dia de los Muertos!  I can’t believe how quickly this year is passing. 

Have a lovely week! 

A little while ago I reached my 1,000th sale on etsy and this week I hit 100 sales at Powell’s Books. I’m very pleased with myself! I’m not sure how to celebrate the event. Maybe I’ll get myself a big cake and some ice cream…. mmmm….. I think that was going to happen anyway without the 1,000th sale.

I’ve finished one of my larger pieces a couple of days ago.

She’s called Delayed Reaction. She’s based on the android in Wong Kar Wai’s film 2046, a movie that I’m currently obsessed with. It’s so beautiful. The painting measures 2 feet by 2 feet. It was fun doing a larger piece. I’m going to start another one right after this!

My little Alice girl is healing beautifully. Her recent surgery doesn’t keep her down. I’m eager to take her to the beach again! Right now she’s sitting at my feet being completely adorable and waiting for me to pet her. So I’d best comply!

xoxo!

I’ve been in pug heaven this last week.  My friend needed to find a home for this little sweetie, and since I already have a zoo… what’s one more?

Her name is Alice, after Alice B. Toklas, and she’s SO SO ADORABLE.  I took her out to Sauvie Island where she chased the seagulls round and round.  One of her favorite past times is tormenting my chickens.  She loves to chase them around the yard, but only if your watching.  The girls are getting wise though and run to their coop as soon as they get a glimpse of her.  Right now she’s sleeping at my feet with some wicked looking sutures on her leg because she just came out of surgery yesterday.  Poor thing had broke her leg about 5 months ago and her previous owners didn’t take her to the vet.  But now she’s all fixed up and ALL MINE!  I heart her.

I’ve done a couple little treeish things:

And I’m working on a couple of large pieces.  But little miss Alice is taking up most of my time right now.  Like just the other day, I HAD to make her some pumpkin cranberry muffins.  How else am I going to get her to take her medicine?  I’ve also started making her food.  Commercial dog food scares me.  So this little pup is so spoiled, eats better than I do, and I’m so in love with her it hurts.

Try not to melt today!  Hugs!

Hi everyone! It’s already August. Where did July go? I must admit I spent a lot of it at the beach. I’ve just discovered this little local beach on this little island called Sauvie Island, that is only 10 minutes from my house! It’s only a little strip of sand off the Columbia River, but it’s fun to sit around and play in the sand.

But I have been working a little bit too! I’ve made these little pendants that I think are kind of adorable.

Cute no? They’re little hand sculpted clay tiles with my images attached, shined up and varnished. AND they’re double sided with different images on the front and back. I’ll have them posted in my shop soon. There’s only 4 right now, but I’ll hopefully have more a little later.

the robe
This little lady I finished a couple of days ago. She’s already been snatched up from my shop, but prints of her are available now.

I plan on going to the beach many many more times before the rain comes back. I think I may bring my little guerrilla paint box and pretend I’m working. So if a few originals end up having sand painted into it, just think of it as adding character.

hugs!

It’s tomorrow! I’ll have a few select prints available (I can’t fit them all in my little space!) If you want anything specific, let me know quick!

Ugg, my vacation was much too short.  And I have no new art to show for it!  I had lots of fun last week though.  We went out to Sauvie Island played on the little teeny tiny beach (not the nude one!), picked some berries, and had a wonderful BBQ on the 4th with some friends and watched the THOUSANDS of dollars worth of fireworks my neighbors must have bought.  They were gorgeous and kept on going till 1:30 in the morning.

But yes, it’s sad… no new art yet.  Lots of things in the making, but slowly in the making.  It’s hard to get back into work mode.  You can fan me now on Facebook though! I’ve just recently joined and am addicted to all the word games.  Good times.  I also started importing my blog on there, so all my friends are probably getting the half complete bloggies in their news feeds.  HI EVERYONE!

Oh but I do have some good news for my lovely Portland people.  I’ll be at Crafty Wonderland this Sunday the 13th with my friend Aubrey that makes these yummy lotions.

She just gave me some blue chamomile lavender cream, and it is SOOOOO good.  I can’t get enough of it.  The really good news for my P-town peeps is that since I don’t have to deal with all the little fees that come with selling online, I’ll be selling my prints at a discounted price at the show!  $10 for 8″ x 10″ prints and $5 for 5″x7″ prints.  They’re still all archival quality, and I’ll have some post cards and stickers there too!  You may want to start your holiday shopping early, because I don’t think I’ll do another show for the rest of the year.

Hope to see you there!

HUGS!

WOW… a blog post 2 days in a row! It’s nice being on vacation. But what warrants a blog post so soon after my last one you may ask? Well, good thing you asked because there’s a few things. 3 of which are my pretty betta fish that I can’t stop starting at. They are so pretty.

They were looking extra fine today. So I had to take a picture to show them off.

The real occasion though is that I just found out about Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog! I am a huge Firefly/Serenity fan, and I am so excited to see Joss Whedon’s new movie. AND BEST OF ALL it’s free! It’s only going to be airing online in 3 installments starting on July 15th! It goes away though on July 20th, so make sure you cancel all plans and sit your butt down in front of the computer to see this EVENT. Go to www.drhorrible.com to see the teaser. I can’t wait!