Would you rock out a scarf with dainty designs and gnarly bugs? Or how about a throw pillow? Well, you have time to think it over because I have two more of these mini-paintings to finish before printing them on fabric. I think a lacey pattern with a few bees and beetles would suit you well.

I’m excited to use these paintings (plus one more not in this shot) as a first attempt at translating my paintings into fabric. Hold onto your  thimbles. I see DIY curtains and pillows adorned with my artwork in the near future.

I’ve opted not to add a bird in this painting. I’m saving it for the three other canvases I prepped with the same chartreuse color. Instead, I thinking about painting a bright insect on the peony or leaves. Maybe a Dogbane Beetle or Swallowtail caterpillar. Suggestions are always welcome.

Although the Blue Jays in this painting were fairly laborious to paint, the circular design around the outside of the image was much easier to create than those in other paintings in this series. The more organic pattern meant I didn’t have to worry about symmetry. That’s comforting since this is one painting of a pair; the second one has the same design.

I’m off to New York this weekend to attend Surtex, “the global B2B marketplace for original art & design—where artists, agents and licensors connect with manufacturers and retailers to create the next best-selling products in every category imaginable.” Maybe I’ll have an epiphany about what product these paintings can adorn. Wish me luck.

Eventually, these two canvases will be a pair, each with two Blue Jays and a decorative band of 22k gold around the white design. In the spirit of my new series of birds with creepy crawly bugs and such, I would love suggestions on what insect to add. No spectacular ideas on the matter have struck me yet.

This painting was a labor of love. I thought my mind was playing a trick on me when 2 hours had passed while painting the first hummingbird (all whopping 4″ inches of it). Then I did the next one and realized that it actually does take me that long to paint all of those feathers and tiny features. By the time I got to the bees and wasps, I was seriously considering investing in one of those headband binocular magnifying glasses. I’ve also found that traditional long oil brushes are not conducive to painting this close up unless you want a brush handle to the eyeball. I’ve picked up some new shorter watercolor brushes to minimize this occupational hazard. So far, so good.

8″x10″ acrylic, oil and gold on canvas
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30″x40″ acrylic, oil and 22k gold on canvas
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I’m happy to report that after hours of tediously painting minute details of feathers and carefully placing an intricate gold leaf design wider than tire, I’m finished with this latest painting in my new textile series. Here are a few lessons I learned while working on this canvas:

• Eagle Owls are enormous, slightly frightening birds, and seem especially so when I’m painting one to scale.
• It is incredibly difficult to see where I’ve painted gold leaf size (the clear “glue” that makes the gold stick to the canvas), which is why I calculated spending 7 hours alone on that portion of the painting.
• Gold leaf sticks to…well, everything. And it seems strange and intuitively wrong to clean up the remaining useless flakes with a dust-buster.

Now I’m onto several smaller canvases that will be much quicker to finish. After that however, I have 2 monster canvases ready to be adorned with paint and gold. One day at a time.

Kind of creepy, isn’t it? Wait until I add the Banded Garden Spider.

Don’t get excited. This isn’t a finished painting. It’s a Photoshop sketch I pieced together with one of my paintings-in-progress (the background of the purple, black and white textile design is my actual painting thus far) and images of three birds, one spider and the circular design. The latter will be in 22k gold leaf, just like the painting I posted last week, while the birds and spider will be painted in oil. All the critters will be rendered at their actual size, which for the Eurasian Eagle Owl means a whopping 23–30 inches. After staring at it for a while, I feel like I’ve set the bar a little high for myself. But I like a challenge!

For about 10 years I have been painting traditional landscapes, cityscapes and portraits (both of sitters with two and four legs). While I look forward to continuing on that path, I have concocted a new painting process and aesthetic in my work that combines all the textile and design patterns I have been hoarding and my formal training as an illustrator. Expect to see some edgy creepy-crawly subject matter mixed with feminine print designs. My favorite added element to these new paintings is gold leaf applied over hand-drawn delicate lace-like patterns.

It seems fitting to mark the beginning of my second decade of painting with a brand new style of work, which is also very motivating as I think about preparing for a show this year. A percent of my sales will continue to be donated to charity as that component of my work has certainly been the thrust of the first five years of content on this website. With that said, I would love to hear suggestions of Pittsburgh charities I might consider. Feedback on the paintings themselves would also be greatly appreciated!

I was in New York City this week and happened to stumble across a store front that I painted in 2006. With the help of the mobile interwebs and two smartphones, my husband and I were able to capture a quick shot of the actual scene behind an image of the painting (sorry about the car in the shot; it’s difficult to take photos in the streets of New York). I guess after years of painting, fun and entertaining moments like these are bound to happen.

My early attempts of applying gold leaf to my latest paintings is off to a great start. Even though, as you can see in this video, the gold is incredibly fragile. A mere sigh sends it flying into the air. It can’t really be picked up, moved or manipulated directly by hand. Instead, a fine brush loaded with static cling (called a gliders tip) gently attaches itself to the gold so the latter can be moved to the desired spot. It feels good to have a new process to master. This is certainly not like pushing paint around on a canvas.

After moving furniture, sweeping, mopping (and mopping again), dusting and scrubbing, my studio is in order. This is by far the biggest studio I’ve ever had. Actually, it’s an entire classroom. Tucked away up on a hill in West Homestead on the south east side of Pittsburgh, I now occupy a room that decades ago was filled with schoolchildren. Today there’s a sign making business on the first floor with artist tenants scattered around the periphery, including Pittsburgh legend, Bob Qualters.

I feel like I should be doing cartwheels in my new space because, well, I can. Guests are welcome since there’s room to sit in my “living room” and glance across the room at my paintings.

My studio is beginning to look like the inside of a wallpaper sample book. Thumbnail photos of print designs are accumulating on the walls to inspire a new series of paintings I’m experimenting with. The next layer on this canvas will be realistic oil painting of birds and insects. I’ve posted a glimpse of another such painting that’s nearly completed. I think for this one I will be adding Anna’s humming birds, bees and wasps. Then, the final layer will be a little accent in gold leaf of a lace design. That will all make sense when I have a finished product to post.