Happy 2014!

Family Dogs Greet the New Year 

Calendars are such a fun way to bring art into your office and kitchen and into your everyday. My family loved these personalized gifts, each with their favorite pup.

Have Yourself a Yummy Little Christmas

Traditional International Cookies - Soon to disappear among smiling family 

Although I love a colorfully frosted sugar cookie, these traditional treats melt in your mouth with vibrant flavors of lemon or almond and sugar and butter and delicious goodness. Mom and I took a community ed class to master these Rosettes (aka Krollettes), Norwegian Krumkakes, Italian Pizzelles, and Scandinavian Sandbackles.

I hope this Christmas finds you surrounded by family, friends, laughter, joy, warm bellies, full hearts and peace.

Merry Christmas

Merry ChrisMoose!

Merry ChrisMoose!

Watch out. It's a moose with mistletoe!

Meet Valfrid the ChrisMoose!

Valfrid dressed for the holiday in his favorite scarf. If he's like me, he received this classy creation from a talented knitter sister or aunt.

The name Valfrid means a Powerful Peace. I think that is perfect for the holidays and a fitting name for an 8 ft giant with a tender heart.

By the way, if you invite Valfrid to your party, he'll be there with bells on!

Read Me a Story

CBIG Art on Display!

Want a fun, free outing with the kids this weekend? Visit the Banfill-Locke Center for the Arts in Fridley, MN for a book reading of local artists.

This Saturday, December 7th from 10am to noon you'll hears the stories about some of the artwork surrounding you on the gallery walls.

Tis the season for sharing. So why not share a story with someone you love.

Fa La La Literary Tree

Oh Tannenbaum Tomes!

Should I decorate this tree with book lights?

You know you're a book lover when you build a Christmas tree out of old encyclopedias. These outdated books will eventually get ripped apart for crafty purposes (maybe greeting cards or jewelry), but I think they make for a distinctive Christmas tree today.

Thank you Pinterest. I find such good ideas there. 2014 resolution is to do more of those fun Pinterest ideas and bring more of that inspiration into my paintings.

Every Friday is Black Friday

So much fun stuff delivered right to your door!

The Holiday Store is now open! http://www.cafepress.com/designomel

I've added several of my watercolor characters to some amazing products at CafePress. Through the end of December, you can purchase Bird & Bear on a bib, a dragon on a t-shirt, or a horse on a new wallet.

Why not keep the store up all of time?

Well, I want to keep it fresh. I also want to stay true to myself as a fine artist and focus on the choices that make for the best paintings and not worry about what will sell to the most people.

So you'll only find my watercolors in the CafePress store for a limited time. I'll let you know in the blog when I've opened a new pop-up store. Of course, you can always contact me if you have any custom product or artwork requests.

By the way, every friday is Black Friday when your last name is Black. Some of you may grumble at that joke. You should. It was awful.

Others of you may grumble about Black Friday being a dark day of people behaving badly and rushing to the stores before the sun rises. The truth is that Black Friday is when most retailers get "in the Black" for the year, meaning they show a profit, as opposed to being "in the Red" or in debt.

So a Happy and Fruitful Black Friday to All!

Gobble Gobble Gobble

Wild Turkeys Unaware of Thanksgiving Dinner Plans

Things I'm thankful for this year... sunlight, laughter, family, friends, furry friends, watercolors, and the internet as a way to connect with people. And as I'm discovering (learning... I'm also thankful for learning) the internet is a great way to share my artwork with new people.

My dad took this picture of turkeys invading his yard. The dog stayed inside, but he kept a very close eye on the birds, which was difficult with so many of them!

Happy Thanksgiving Everybody!