Cat Inspiration !

Just before Christmas last year we adopted two very special cats from our local animal rescue center the Decorah Humane Society.

Orson & Emily

These gorgeous kitties are good friends, and are already providing me with so much entertainment, love and inspiration.

This is a new artwork of little Orson doing her favourite thing: chasing anything that moves. I imagine if she could swim, this is what she’d be doing 🙂

This delightful Cat and Koi artwork is available as a $10 print in my Online Shop.

I am currently working on a magical realism-style painting about Emily, who is named after our favourite poet Emily Dickinson and writer Emily Bronte.

She is such an enigmatic and beautiful cat, and is proving to be the perfect muse. She has a fascination for water and loves staring at this fountain…

This is a playful piece using Emily and photoshopped artwork of mine – I liked the pattern motif of Arts & Crafts / poppies with her stark black and white markings.

I’ll be posting more about the new painting soon ~ thanks for stopping by!

For the Love of Trees : Drawings Paintings and Jewelry inspired by these noble Nature elements

This is my latest Tree artwork  “Tree of Love”

It is available as a beautiful print here.

It is also available as a gorgeous tattoo design here.

~ I have a thing for trees, as do so many people. I’ve depicted Trees in many forms and media; they are such integral elements of the environment, and resonate so strongly with humans. They are truly one of the great nature archetypes and possess much symbolism and sacred energy. You can see my Tree Range of art & jewelry here.

“Tree Spirits”

~ this lovely image depicts two lovers, growing from separate roots, into one beautiful canopy filled with life.

The print, as well as the original watercolour painting, are available for sale.

“Tree of Life”

This is my business logo, but was originally created as a T-Shirt design, which you can buy here.

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“Dryad”

This powerful image of a woman in a tree has resonated with many women who have bought my art. She represents the feminine divine energy in nature, linking earth and sky. It is available as a beautiful print here.

I also have made a lovely little whimsical drypoint etching of a Dryad (or tree spirit)

And, of course, there are my Tree of Life jewellery pieces,  which have been cast into lead free pewter from my original wax carving     –   all for sale here.

Tree Choker Necklace

Tree Keychain

Tree Brooch

Tree Pendant

My love affair with trees continues. I am blessed to have lived in nature reserves surrounded by trees, both here in the Upper Mississippi valley, and also in the stunning Blue Mountains, Australia.

They will continue to inspire me, and keep me company as I journey onward in my creative endeavours!

“Foggy Trees” Pikes Peak, McGregor, Iowa, by my husband – round the corner from our little home..

Thanks for stopping by!

A Love of Drawing in Detail….

This is an older artwork that I recently found while tidying up my studio. It was done with a Rotring technical drawing pen and watercolour washes.

My first love was drawing in black and white – I love to do intricate detail as a form of meditation, and the Rotring pen provides a nice stable line with a dependable flow of pigment ink.

This lovely drawing depicts the greek myth of Poseidon and Amphitrite, a sea nymph. Poseidon had to persuade her to be his lover, and enlisted the help of Delphin the dolphin god to bring her to him. As a reward, Poseidon turned Delphin into the star constellation we see today as Delphinus.

It is available as a gorgeous archival print here.

Thanks for stopping by!

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Tree of Life tattoo design and other unique tattoo designs, and copyright laws

I have been doing a lot of tattoo designs over the last two years, as outlined in a previous post. I’ve enjoyed it so much that I have opened up an Etsy store selling my own original tattoo designs.

Red owl tattoo design

It is a work in progress, so I am hoping to create an add more this year. It takes a lot of time to create a tattoo design, and often people don’t understand the level of work involved in drawing up a unique image, whether it is for a custom tattoo, or an original drawing, painting, logo design, all artists invest a huge amount of time, energy and skill into creating original artwork.

 

Fairy tattoo design

My original Tree of Life drawing has been used numerous times as a tattoo design. This is a great honour for me when someone loves my art so much as to place it permanently onto their bodies. However, it is very disheartening when my image has been taken off the internet without my permission, and has been used as a tattoo or any other reproduction. All artist’s original work is protected by copyright laws, and to use an artist’s original image in any way without their permission is illegal.

 

Tree of Life tattoo design

The Tree of Life drawing is a very unique image I created; Trees are for me one of the most beautiful of Nature’s creations to draw – you can see a woman in this tree, and the sun and moon on either side of her with little creatures in the branches. She is this tree’s soul…….This image is available as a print here,  or you can buy it as a tattoo design here.

Often artists who have their work on the internet protect it by using low resolutions and/or copyright text over their images. Again, purchasing artwork from an artist does not mean the buyer has the copyrights to use that image except what the artists has expressly allowed them.

Thanks for reading, and feel free to add any comments you may have !

A new portrait commission, and other portrait pieces…

I am always honoured to be able to paint someone’s portrait. To me, capturing the essence of a person within a painting is not only a wonderful creative expression, but also an intimate journey into their soul…

This is the beginnings of a portrait of Maggie, a wonderful customer who was inspired by my Flora Fairy painting and loves flowers and her two cats, so asked if I could blend all of these together and create a portrait of her. As with the Flora painting, I am using dried pressed flowers I have gathered on my journeys around the world, and overlaying them with watercolours. The overall feel is ethereal, whimsical and delicate. You can click on it for a closer view.

Here are a few examples of portrait styles I have done over the years :

I love doing almost any kind of commissioned artwork, especially portraits. I prefer not to be too attached to defining the realism of the person ~ rather, I draw from my style which uses a quality of magical realism to enhance the uniqueness I see in my subject matter.

If you are interested in having your portrait painted, please contact me for further information on the process, prices etc. I would be very happy to hear from you!

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Back Tattoo Challenge

As mentioned in a previous post here, I have been having fun designing tattoos on a regular basis for the last year.

One of the most enjoyable and challenging tattoo designs I have done so far was this one. My client had existing tattoos on his back and ribcage that were very meaningful to him, and he wanted them all to be connected in a way that was flowing and symbolic. Each of his tattoos has it’s own unique characteristics and special significance, and I needed to create a design that allowed each of the existing tattoos to stand out while also being in accordance with the rest. He is of Irish and Russian descent, and that was also an important factor in forming the design. Here is a shot of his tattoos:

I decided to incorporate Celtic knot work as the main theme, but also a slight Art Nouveau twist to give the design flow, to be able to link up the separate tattoos in a coherent way. The two paw prints were of particular importance, so the design needed to almost highlight them. Here is the design I created, on its own:

I drew from traditional Russian folk art, as well as the stunning Celtic design that can be found in the Book of Kells and, of course, my imagination ! Here is the completed tattoo:

The very talented tattooist who actually did the tattoo is Kevin Riley at Studio One Tattoos. Kevin had also done the previous tattoos, and it was a bit of a challenge for him to actually transfer my design – which I had created only from looking at photos of the existing tattoos – around the tattoos. He did a truly amazing job, and perfectly realised my design in all its shading and twists and turns…

~ If you are interested in getting a custom tattoo design or an extension or cover up for a tattoo, please feel free to contact me on my Contact Page. I would love to work with you to create a unique design !

Having fun with Tattoo Design

The reason I have not posted for ages is because I have found a new creative passion : Tattoo Designing!

I have been designing tattoos for people on and off for over a decade now, but since moving to America,  I have found that this versatile and very personal art from suits my artistic style perfectly. In the past, tattoos have often been associated sub-cultures, but these days many people get tattoos to commemorate the loss of loved ones, or to mark an important event in life, or as a personal statement.

 

 

I have been learning a lot about different styles, and have tried my hand at a Japanese style Koi design for a half sleeve.

I love doing any design work, and welcome any commissions for tattoo designs – I am always very honoured to custom create a permanent piece of art for someone’s body.

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Moon Owl original Folk art drawing

This is my completed owl artwork, as begun in the previous post.

Owls are such enigmatic creatures, and I have done many paintings, drawings and also an etching of these fascinating animals which you can purchase here. I enjoyed using plenty of gold pigment ink and pigment based coloured pencils on Stonehenge paper, thus creating a very decorative folk art style reminiscent of the naive artist Henri Rousseau and also traditional icon art.

You can purchase a beautiful giclee print here, and the original is for sale here.

Owl original pencil drawing

My fascination with owls continues….

Here, I am using beautiful Swiss made Caran d’Ache colored pencils on my favourite Stonehenge paper. I am inspired by the work of the Primitive / Naive artist Henri Rousseau and his rich, textural and beautifully illustrative images. I have briefly sketched the outline and then layered the colours as I go, including pigment gold and silver ink for decorative highlights.

Life drawing

Today I did some life drawing with a model in a session attended by about 20 other artists. I enjoyed having to work fairly quickly, and I decided to use a mixture of conte pen and wash, blue wax crayon, and a 2B pencil. Figure studies are a great way to work on one’s technique and style, and also to interpret reality in a unique way…