The paintings that inspired my little company, that reinvigorated my love of artwork, and that are the reason for this website… are gone.

Bobo’s room has a new look.

The little toddler bed is gone.  Replaced by a giant monstrosity of a bunk bed.

And for her paintings?  She wanted peacocks.

And peacocks is what she got.

But, apparently, mom’s opinion doesn’t matter that much.  Even when she’s the one doing the painting.

Because a two year-old knows exactly what he wants.  And it ain’t no stinkin’ cowboys.

It’s dinosaurs.

We’re a little dino obsessed these days.  Stegosaurus, Brontosaurus, ferocious T-Rexes.  And, of course, Pterodactyls.

Sad as I was to see the cowboy theme disappearing from his room, I have to say, it turned out pretty cute.

And I guess I have to count my blessings.  Because at least he didn’t ask for a Parasaurolophus.  My rule of thumb is that if I can’t pronounce it, I’m not painting it.

So when Baby Josiah came along (oh, how I love doing sibling paintings!), we took a similar approach.  The new paintings were designed to coordinate and complement older brother’s paintings, so that the boys could share a room.

Sometimes, you can find that inspiration from a fabric swatch.  Like this one:

For these paintings, we played off the paisley pattern in the fabric swatch to create a unique butterfly and flower pattern.  And the end result?

But sometimes, I have a helper.

A tiny, tiny helper.  Who thinks it’s pretty cool that she gets to assist mom sometimes with her work.

I did this painting for my new niece, Berkley, awhile back.  My five year-old happened to be at home that day, and was pretty intrigued with what I was doing.  And since it was a painting for her new baby cousin, I thought it would be special if she helped.  So the outside border became her area to work on.

We did get a couple of smudges on the inside.  But the nice thing about acrylic is that mistakes can be easily covered up and painted over.  So we ended up with a few extra, unplanned dots around the flowers.

But, personally, I think those make the painting.

And, of course she got to sign it as well (albeit a little larger than intended).  After all, what kind of painting would be complete without the artists’ initials at the bottom?

{Me, me, me!!}

Well, you’re in luck.  Because my pal KLZ of Taming Insanity is hosting a giveaway over at her place this week.

The grand prize?  A $75 gift certificate for custom artwork from yours truly.  To enter, you just need to leave a comment.  (Also, I’ve heard rumor that sarcastic, funny comments may be given preference.  But that’s just a rumor.)  The winner will be chosen on March 19th.

So please head on over to KLZ’s place and leave your best witty snippet of brilliance in the comment field.  And, while you’re there, check out a few of her posts.  She’s one funny lady.

I get to find out the name of their little darlings before most people.

The downside?  I have to wait until the baby arrives to post pictures of their paintings.  Good thing I love me a secret!

Welcome to the world, baby Arianna!

When Piper’s mom approached me with her ideas for a painting, I was intrigued.  The palette was anything but traditional:  deep rust orange with highlights of pink and white.  Not necessarily your typical colors for a little girl’s room.

But I love me a challenge.

And I’m so glad I took this one on.

Because this quickly became one of my favorite sets, and color schemes, to date.

It all began when a frog prince…

…met a beautiful princess…

…and, together, they set up shop in a cool crib.

Besides the color combination, the unique feature about this set was the grosgrain trim used as the inside border.  I’ve used ribbon trim as accent before, but never on the face of the painting.  And I love the way it turned out.  The pumpkin-colored ribbon added just the right touch of girlyness.

And the end result?  A modernized fairy tale set that was bold, whimsical, and anything but traditional.

The End.