Avoiding the task at hand...

I should be folding laundry, but instead....
I'm playing with Lucy's camera.

The quilt on our bed is one that my sister Isobel made. (I love color!!!) It makes our room so cheerful and bright. So I don't mind folding the laundry, really. But it's that time of day when I don't want to do anything I should do. I just want to cuddle somebody or run away or go swimming or paint a pretty geisha girl on a huge board. When is it not this time of day?

Go get some tea...

At O-CHA tea bar! Some of my Japan Relief Art will be on display there all through April! You can see this painting in it's finished state:

(Have you ever seen a worse photograph?! I took it late at night when I was about to call it quits. I definitely used flash.)

Geisha Art for Japan

My heart breaks for Japan every time I turn on the radio or get on the internet. I want to do more than pray. As you know I have an interest in Geisha which comes through quite a bit in my art. I have decided that 100% of profit from any geisha themed art that I sell in 2011 will go directly to the earthquake/tsunami relief effort. I'm not sure of the charity yet, but I'm leaning toward Doctors Without Borders.

Here's a sampling:

Sketchbook Series: Painting

I am working on a group of paintings this year. This is one I started and ended up finishing last night. Crank it out, baby! Here it is in progress:

I enjoy painting the human face and/or figure more than anything else, but I only have myself to use as a model. Don't worry, not all my paintings this year will be self-portraits. I have a few animal themed ones and some geometric ones and geisha themed.

I'd like to honor the spirit of Japan through my geisha paintings and express my respect for the culture that is undergoing so much trauma right now. Of the geisha themed art I sell this year, I will dedicate the proceeds 100% to the relief effort.

Sketchbook Series: Mirror, Mirror

Block Printing

I've been interested in geisha lately and I checked out some library books on the subject. Then I started drawing them. Now I've moved on to block printing...

In that last picture, you can see some of the moleskine style journals I made. They are so sweet! I put just 32 pages in each one so you fill it in a month. I want to use them for a full year (each one with a unique cover) and have them bound together with twine looking lovely and also holding so much meaning.

They will be in my etsy shop soon. By the way, look for some serious updates in my shop in the next few weeks. Or don't, as I'm sure to wag it in your face anyway.   :-)