Capturing Character

Want to know a little about how I capture character? Read my guest blog post on the Children's Book Illustrators Guild blog.

Cute as Buttons

Buttons the Toy Poodle

Buttons sitting inside a teacup. That's the first picture I saw of this delightful cutie.

With her ears perked forward, Buttons is ready to listen and happy to go anywhere with her people.

Petburbia - One Month In

TP Trailing Toddler 

Rowdy Remodeler 

Affectionate Aristocrat 

Great stories, great pets, and (if I do say so myself) some mighty fine paintings can be found at Petburbia.

I can't believe it's already been a month! Thanks to everyone who has taken part so far, and if you know anyone who is interested in having their pet painted and sharing a good story, send them a link to Petburbia.

Final Days for the Holiday Shop

Distinctive Gifts for Distinctive People!

Last chance to buy my watercolors on some wonderful products. I'm closing the Holiday Shop on February 1st, 2014.

Follow the blog to find out when the pop-up store will appear again with new watercolors.

Bloglovin

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

My favorite way to keep up with great blogs. Art blogs look professional with a thumbnail of your art right in the bloglovin feed.

The Petburbia Project is Cat Approved (mostly)

Booker Matisse Black, Hungry Hockey Cat 

Starting close to home, I've chosen my own extraordinary cat as the subject of my first painting for the 2014 Petburbia Project. I'll paint a new pet every week for a year, and it seems Booker is mostly OK with the idea.

"Why are you looking at another cat?"

Gooooooaaaaalllllll!!!

New year. New goals.

If I put it out in the universe (or at least the internets) some friendly soul will gently kick my butt about following through with my lofty artistic goals. You will won't you?

• Complete the Petburbia Project
• Paint and post a new pet picture for every week of 2014. Ambitious or crazy? Ask me in April.
• Submit my middle grade novel to at least 20 great editors/agents.
• A Loft Literary Center advanced writing class started me on this journey and I've had some wonderful people helping me edit the story. 2014 is the year to push the novel from the nest and see if it soars into the hearts of any publishing professionals.
• Show in at least 5 gallery or art spaces
• In 2013, I showed in the Children's Book Illustrator's Guild show and it wasn't scary at all.
• Complete and submit a picture book proposal (or 2 or more).
• All the best authors and illustrators have a pile (if not hundreds) of rejection letters. I need to start collecting mine.
• Get a solid handle on Photoshop and sharpen my photography skills
• I love the natural feel of watercolors, but after building Artomel.com and my blogs I can see how these tools can really make a page pop.
• Build an email list
• I want to connect with other artists, art lovers, book lovers, pet lovers, and genuinely awesome people. Let me know if you want to be the first on my list!

Happy New Year!