Shared Art

I was browsing a photographers website, who I must say does beautiful work when I came across one newborn portrait that looked oddly familiar. And strangely it wasn't because of the baby in the picture. It was the mural in the background. I have only seen pictures of Kailynn Bree but I was very intimate with her nursery way before she came into this world. So I was very excited to see her beautiful portrait taken in front on my mural. The photographer was nice enough to allow me to post the photos on my site as well. Please go to her site and look at her other work http://www.apmdesignphotography.com/ and you can follow her on Facebook as well.

It's a Small World

So I just finished the playroom for one of the doctors that I work with. She just built a new house, so we have a couple of projects in the works. The map was originally supposed to have the kids on it, but once I painted it, she loved it sooo much she didn't want to cover it up and we moved them down to the bottom of the wall. I actually like them down there better. I am really happy with it. It's very colorful and fun and a nice idea for a play room. I can't wait to start on the next project.

On a side note, I am going to begin implementing some of the advice that I received at the conference shortly and start up a fan page on face book and also a flicker account, so look for those in the days to come. Also, I am going to start participating in Illustration Fridays because they are supposed to be a good way to get noticed. Thank you for your support, and if anyone knows of someone having a baby or moving into a new house or someone that might need something pretty please pass along my name.

SCBWI LA Conference

Catherine has yet to tell me the names of everyone that contributed to me going to LA for the Children's Book Writers and Illustrators conference, so I can't thank you all individually. However, I can tell you that it meant the world to me that you did. Everyone keeps asking what I learned while I was there, and that's kind of a hard question to answer. Mostly, I learned that I am doing everything wrong. I went to classes with speakers ranging from famous writers to big name agents, publishers, editors and art directors. I now know that I need an agent, most likely a literary agent who handles illustrators instead of an artist representative. I know that the $300 I just spent on marketing materials was a waste of money and that while my website is probably formatted correctly, the content is mostly wrong. So now I have direction and a path to follow and hopefully will not feel as lost as I have been. So thank you all once more for hopefully putting me on track and one step closer to my goal of becoming an illustrator.

new mural

Here are some of the characters I created for the playroom mural I will be doing next week. My favorite is the little boy from Thailand. They are just a quick study so that I know how to have them seated, but I thought they were cute so I wanted to share them.

A new baby!

My friend Chad from work is about to have his first baby. He already had two beautiful step-daughters, but there is just something about your first baby. Chad originally told me that they were going to have brightly colored bird bedding for the crib so I painted him the peacock, but then just as I was about to finish it, he called and told me that they got pink and brown ladybug bedding. So if anyone needs a peacock painting, let me know. Since Chad is the only man in a house soon to be filled with four girls, he said that he was going to make this one a tom-boy. So to oblige him and possibly a princessy little girl, I tried to do both. And who doesn't love glitter paint and sequins?

However, I have realized that I have to get a new camera. In order to take pictures of my paintings, I have to photograph them outside and still do a whole lot of photoshopping to get them right. Today, it was of course raining and I had to take their pictures in my dining room, and they didn't come out as good as I would like. I guess I have to get more orders, and save up for something awesome.

Two More

As some of you know, my family and friends were nice enough to come together and gather up money to send me to a Children's book writers and illustrators conference in California. There will be publishers and agents and writers and other illustrustors all coming together to talk about children's book publishing. I am super excited and more than a little nervous, but hopefully I can make some contacts and hopefully nose my way into this field. Here are two more paintings that I did for the occasion. Thank you again for everyone that pitched in. It's probably the best birthday present I've ever gotten and a good way to kick off my 30's.

A Flamingo For Bella

I have been trying to make new things to pad my portfolio for my trip to California in a couple of weeks. So, I asked my neighbors daughter what she would like a picture of and she responded with a flamingo. I think she likes them because they are pink. Heath had the idea to do the scene from Alice in Wonderland where Alice is playing croquet with a flamingo and a hedgehog. I have to admit that my hedgehogs came out ridiculously cute. When I told Bella that I had a surprise for her, she asked if it was a princess dress. I think that she was a tad disappointed that it wasn't a dress, but she seemed happy with her flamingo.