Stock Photography

We have photographs with a few different stock photography sites and I wanted to post links to a couple of them to show off Ryan's talent.
The first is for istock.
http://www.istockphoto.com/file_search.php?action=file&userID=658315
The second is for Dreamstime.
http://www.dreamstime.com/Thenewts_more-latest-adition_pg1

Virgin Mary

This piece was a special request and I finished it a couple of days ago. It is for the same person that bought the St. Francis. It took me a good while to get into this one because of the more subtle colors but I really like the result. I used the white lilies because they are supposed to be a symbol of purity.

The World of Dance Mosaic

I wanted to do ballet shoes on pointe in the typical first position but make it a little more interesting. Adding the globe was the first step and it gave me more of the rich colors that I normally use. The second step was coming up with a background. I thought about doing planets or solid black but in the end decided on the cobalt blue with stars. I have to admit that this is my favorite mosaic that I have made so far.

St. Francis of Assisi Mosaic

I just finished this mosaic and I think it turned out pretty well. I used purple and blue hand painted glass for the sky. Pardon all of the mess around it but I took the picture right after grouting while it was still outside.

I Did My First Craft Show

Since I had never done a craft show before, we set everything up in our backyard for a sort of a test run. The easels that Ryan built for me work really well and the incredibly cheap canopy that I bought hardly budges even in really strong wind. The only thing that did not get done is the painting of the easels. They are just going to have to do for awhile.

This was the Spring Daze Festival in Thomasville, NC. We used this easel out in front of my booth to try to draw attention. It was photographed for a local newspaper.

This was my booth. The easels worked out really nicely and all of the bright colors drew lots of attention. It rained and I only had a couple of sales but, a lot of compliments. I am going to try a few more before I give up. I am actually doing my next one May 16th. It's the Garibaldifest on Main Street in Belmont, NC.

Collages

This one looks a little weird in the picture, but in person it is so neat. The bug in the center was a broken figurine and he is sitting on top of some roses that were left over from another project. All of the flowers around him are from a pillow that started making when I was a teenager. My mother was trying to teach me needlepoint or crewel I'm not sure which. Either way I was never going to finish the pillow and so I was thrilled to chop it up and use it on this collage. I got my husband to cut the sun out of wood for me and I made the butterflies out of a costume jewelry bracelet that had broken and multi-colored feathers.

This is a figurine that I bought some time ago and she didn't really fit in with the other witches in my collection. I like her much more now that I have given her a few changes, stuck her on a canvas and surrounded her with talisman from the Black Pullet.

Colorful Boxes

These are more of the cigar boxes that Ryan brought home to me. They are done with acrylic paint and then antiqued to tone them down a little bit. I attached ceramic tiles around the sides (Ryan brought those home as well). I made these because I am going to do my first craft show in Thomasville, NC on May 2 and I wanted some inexpensive items to mix in to everything else. I'm hoping to get a few more done before the show with zodiac signs, and hobo signs or something. Hopefully people will like them.

I Glued Some More Stuff Together

This is my Chinese restaurant collage I guess. You can't really see it in the picture, but I included a whole bunch of my fortune cookie fortunes on the different colored tiles. My cabinet of random stuff is finally emptying out. What I have been trying to do is use up all of my old art supplies before I am allowed to buy any new ones.

I had a whole bunch of rocks and crystals and stuff leftover from other projects and I went kind of nuts gluing them on this old cabinet door. The dragon or dinosaur is a Krystonia figurine that was broken when I received it and so I was quite happy to find a use for it.

Mother Earth and Amelia Peabody Paintings

This is my folk are representation of Mother Earth. It's done with acrylic paint in bright colors of course.

Amelia Peabody is a character from a series of books by Elizabeth Peters. They are mysteries that are set in Egypt and are perfect for a fun light read.

Wine Cork Boxes

Ryan tends to find "great deals" whenever he has to travel. He came home a few months ago with about 80 cigar boxes that he thought I might be able to do something with. I only have 78 to go.

My Attempts with Polymer Clay

This is Priscilla the witch. She prefers to paint in her pastime but she also likes planting pansies next to her pathway. She's on Prozac which explains the dazed look or maybe that's the Percocet she snuck in earlier. She has a Pug named Parker but he's passed out in the parlour right now. She only eats parsnips, pumpkins, parsley, and pasta. Oh, and also peach and pecan pie because she is a southern girl from Pensacola or it could be because of the pot she puffed earlier.









This is Veronica the Victorian witch. She enjoys reading verses on her veranda surrounded by violets. She often violates the instructions on her Vicodin and Valium prescriptions which causes violent vomiting. She has a voracious appetite for venison and vinegar. She is also very fond of Vivaldi's Violin music.











This little dragon was one of my first tries with polymer clay. After I made him I really didn't know what to do with him so he got glued onto this board along with a bunch of rocks and some butterflies. He's just a happy little dragon living on his hillside now.

Charming Little Charms

I am addicted to buying jewelry. I love it and I can't help myself. The last thing that I went nuts over were trollbeads. Three bracelets later and a lot poorer I realized that maybe I should take a break from buying things. Then my mother and I went to a little shop that had the cutest little charms and we needed them. Obviously we would have never come into contact with them if we weren't meant to have them right. We took the brochure and went outside to sit down and decide what we wanted. After looking through it a few times I started seeing how they were made and realized I could make my own. I came home ordered the stuff, made a whole bunch for both of us, ended up with lots of extras, and saved a ton of money.

Colorful Cats

When I went to Spain I was absolutely mesmerized by the fantastic graffiti in Barcelona. It was gorgeous artwork, not just some kid scribbling Tammy loves BoBo or something like that. There was actual skill involved with all of the designs and the shading. Anyway, there was one narrow alley that one guy had taken over with his brightly colored animals including cats which inspired my kitty cat paintings above.

Magic, Voodoo, and Ouija Boards Oh My!

I've loved going to New Orleans since I was a little girl. I have always found all of the Voodoo stuff fascinating. The painting is done in acrylics and is a woman making a pact with the devil. I also used to be into making Ouija boards. I have always heard that if you want one to actually work it should be real wood, so I made some out of wood and the funny thing is that I have never actually had the nerve to try one out so I still have no clue if any dead people would like to contact me. I guess they will just have to find a more direct way, like taking it off the wall and hurling it at me to get my attention.

I made this for Ryan. The symbol in the middle is for good luck with money and once again I went nuts gluing things together. The coins were left over from trips to Europe and were no longer spendable because of the Euro.

Tile Paintings

Whenever I go anywhere on the Mediterranean I buy ceramic tiles with artwork like this on them. I love the folk art designs and bright colors. It's also nice to have white outlines instead of more traditional black. These are some acrylic paintings that I have done based on my souvenir tiles.

Belize Boy Acrylic Painting

Ryan and I went to Belize a few years ago and were absolutely charmed by the children in a small village next to a bird sanctuary that we visited. This would be my folk art representation of a very sweet little boy that helped us find the proper path back to our car after we got lost.

Newest Mosaics

These are two of my most recent mosaics. Please excuse all of the fingerprints on the mirror. My husband loves the one with the mirror because of the more realistic colors then I normally use.

I'm Addicted to Gluing Things Together

This is a picture of me (from a skinny time period a couple of years ago) and behind me is an example of what I tend to do in between projects. Basically, any small item in my house might be at risk. There are things that were picked up on trips or just held onto because they may be useful in some way someday and I glue them on stuff. It's quite enjoyable because not only do I end up with something bright and cheerful and give purpose to overall useless objects, but a lot of times, if I'm on a roll I can get an entire cabinet cleaned out.

Goldfish Stained Glass Mosaic

This is a really small mosaic that I made for a friend. I didn't intentionally make the fish on the left appear grumpy, but he definitely looks irritated about something.

Nude Woman Stained Glass Mosaic

This is one of the first mosaics that I did a few years ago. The plan was to do a series of Kama Sutra mosaics but only the one came to fruition.

Island Stained Glass Mosaic

This is a mosaic that I gave away. I learned a lot making this one. I originally used white grout. Unfortunately, I used red cloths to wipe it down and so the white grout turned pink. Not like a pale pink but like Pepto Bismol pink. Anyway, I learned that watered down black grout is capable of dyeing messed up grout.

Woman with Sitar Stained Glass Mosaic

This is my husbands favorite mosaic. He feels that it is the best face that I have done. This one is on display in a gallery in Augusta Georgia.

The Girl Who Trod on a Loaf Stained Glass Mosaic

I thought that this mosaic would be a really fun one to do because there is so much going on. It was actually really difficult to do though. Not only are there a lot of different characters but there is also an iridescent spiderweb and dark gray lines (to look like cracks in the wall) on the back ground. Fitting everything in proved to be quite irritating and a few mistakes were made because of trying to rush through it. Oddly enough with all of the anger that I had toward this one when making it, it is one of the few that we have hung up and we are quite attached to it. One thing that I really love about this one is that it was made entirely with leftover glass from other projects.

The Marsh King's Daughter Stained Glass Mosaic

This is one of my favorites that I have made. I took my time with it and tried to add a lot of details. I spent a couple of weeks working on it, but all of the narrow lines in her outfit were really fun to do.

In the actual story of The Marsh King's Daughter there were storks bowing to her. When I got my husband to cut the board for this one I forgot to allow for them and so I just added butterflies instead. I personally prefer the butterflies because of the nice colors.

The Nightingale Stained Glass Mosaic

This is one of the first large stained glass mosaics that I have done. There are a few mistakes here and there, but I think for the most part I think it turned out pretty well. I like the story of The Nightingale because it seems to me to teach about having a certain respect for nature and understanding that something as precious as a nightingale can't be replaced with something that is man made.

What you will mainly notice with everything that I make are the bright colors. That is what makes me smile and so almost everything that I make will be a kaleidoscope of colors.