Projects around the house

I definitely had some fun this holiday with homemade gifts. I made white chocolate covered spoons with crushed peppermint on top. The snowflakes you see in there are edible - they are from where I work. They are vanilla and blueberry flavored. My family and friends loved these for gifts! It's perfect for melting in your hot cocoa.



I also made seasonal greeting cards as gifts too. I drew birds of the season, non Holiday specific so that they could be used year round basically. I put 2 of each design in a pack and wrapped it with ribbon.



This night stand used to be my grandmas. It was kelly green - as you can see in the 'before' photo. So I got a hold of some Design*Sponge inspiration and went hog wild with it! Love the look of this way better!



This bulletin board used to have yellow and blue stars and moons painted all over it, with a blue trim. Back in the day when I lived at home and stars and moons were the theme of my room, it was cool! But it was time for a change. So I painted it black and made those parenthesis signs with green paint. Simple. You can still see some of the stars and moons through the paint, but I think that adds character to it.

With the holiday season, I needed a way to hang my Christmas cards up. Nothing that a few thumbtacks and a piece of satin ribbon can't fix! I just tacked it up and used little clothespins to hang the cards. Since it's now after Christmas, I've taken the cards down and put up photos of my friends and Todd and me. One day I'll move it though - whenever I get curtains :)

An Alternate Life

Do you ever think about what you would do if you had a 'do-over'? A second chance or just a different point of view for a while?

I do.

Trust me, I would never NOT want to be an artist - I love it. But I often think about what other things I could have done, have I been given a 'do-over'.

For example, I would love to be a writer. Or an Egyptologist. I think I would find great joy doing those things. I get to carry out my would-be dream of being a writer through this blog, which, hey - It's better than nothing!

Take some time and slow down to think about what you would do with your life if you were given another chance. Hell, then maybe you can act on it too!

But onto reality... :)

Lots of artwork to post! The thing about doing portraits for Christmas presents, is that I can't put them up until after Christmas, just in case someone stumbles across this blog and sees a portrait of themselves. So here are a few I've done.. ENJOY!

This is Jasper, my newest nephew.

A friend of mines mother.

My good friend Stephanies' boyfriend and his family.

And a very loyal customer; Jaimee's parents float. This, like last year's was turned into their Christmas cards.

I still have 2 more to finish up and post on here. So stay tuned!

Faster Kill Pussycat

Merry Christmas all! I'm sure all of you have heard about the untimely death of Hollywood's Sweetheart, Brittany Murphy. As I was reading an article about her, I came across a video of her, singing in a Paul Oakenfold song. I had no idea she was a singer and wow - can she sing. So this week's Song of the Week, is Faster Kill Pussycat by Paul Oakenfold, featuring Brittany Murphy.

RIP Brittany Murphy
Hollywood's Sweetheart and Ray of Sunshine
1977-2009


We'll miss you.

Restaurant of the Month

I've decided to start another new little section on my blog called Restaurant of the Month. In an effort to help local businesses and friends alike, I figured it's the least I can do.

This months' restaurant of the month is Vitor's Bistro on Harrison Avenue, in Cincinnati, Ohio. The chef's name is Vitor and he's so very pleasant to be around. Always coming out of the kitchen to check on his customers, he makes sure that everything is top notch. His food is nothing less. I've eaten there a few times, and every time I've been exceptionally satisfied. His lasagna is my favorite dish - he mixes in sausage, pork, beef and deep fries the pasta. Just recently I experienced his famous French Toast and I have to say it was absolutely delectable. The breakfast eggrolls are also fantastic.

His restaurant is a quaint little place, with a few rooms and an outdoor terrace. It's got an Italian cafe feel to it and you immediately feel welcome when you walk in. The staff is pleasant and the general crowd of people that come there are very amiable.

I highly recommend dining there for either breakfast or dinner soon. I know with the holiday season, Vitor has some specials running. Check out his website for more details. And stop in for some good fulfilling food!

www.vitorsbistro.net
Also check them out on Facebook and become a fan!

Vitor's Bistro
3232 Harrison Ave
Cincinnati, OH 45211

1-866-455-1020

Hours:

Wed - Sun:

8:30 am - 2:30 pm

5:30 pm - 10:00 pm

Enjoy!

The Last Supper.. Yes, God has a sense of humor :)

Oh my goodness.... it's done!!! This was a commission piece for a friend of mine, Dave, who in this picture portrays 'Jesus' lol! His 'disciples' are 11 of his closest and best friends. This is done on 11 x 17 cardstock and took me over 20 hours to do. Their faces are about as big as my thumbnails, so you can imagine... hard to get much detail! But I did my best, and I'm happy to share it with you!


Also, there's a new song of the week.. we're changing it up completely.. from the Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, we're going to Ester Dean's Drop it Low. It's got a good beat and makes me want to dance! Check it out and enjoy!

Keep Calm.. a piece of advice from a zombie

Here's just a little something I drew... I got bored one day and decided to draw a zombie :)

I can't take credit for the original zombie concept, that's someone else's. But, it's good practice for some of my own original zombie drawings in the future! Personally I like the saying behind it too. A think we could all remember that most days.

Also, I think I want to start putting my favorite song of the week on here... I may try it out for a while. Look for it on the side panel. I love music so much, that I would love to share with you some oldies, some new stuff, some classics.. honestly... whatever song I have on repeat in my iTunes that week! Enjoy!!

Little Kevin

Hi all... I forgot to post the finished product from a portrait! Here's little Kevin; the subject of one of my earlier posts..

Here he is!

A helping hand (and some new art too)

Hello all! It's been a while.. but I'm back.

In the midst of all my freelance work I'm doing, I like to break off and do something different. Yesterday, I was frustrated with a portrait. So instead of hauling the entire thing to my parents house to work on, I brought something else to work on. And in a total of 1.5 hours, this is what I completed:

This is Mary Kay Ash herself. She is, obviously the founder of Mary Kay cosmetics. Unfortunately, she passed on Thanksgiving day in 2001.

It's amazing what I can accomplish sometimes when I'm not doing the work I'm supposed to be doing!

Here is another drawing that I completed a while ago. This is Rich Franklin, the UFC fighter. Todd trains with him every now and then and we often see him when we go out for sushi. He's a great guy - very down to earth. This drawing is for Todd!


Rich is drawn on an 11 x 17 piece of bristol board and Mary Kay is drawn on an 9 x 12 piece of bristol board.

Also, look for me in the December/January issue of Cincy Magazine as their featured local artist. My drawing of John Wayne will be in there! To get a free subscription, go to www.cincymagazine.com or look for it on newstands.

Hope for a Cure

I designed this today at work: I was pretty proud of it so I thought I'd share it with you! Enjoy!

Holding a Heart in your Hands

All my life I've known how to draw. I've been blessed by God with this talent. As I got older, I realized how valuable my talent was, but I must admit I unwillingly took it for granted. I've never known anything different; never known what's it's like to not be able to draw. I've been continuing my freelance business for quite a few years now, and I've done so many portraits for people. I knew they meant a lot to the people I was drawing them for, but I just let it roll off my back; cross another project off my list as I got it done.

It wasn't until today, years after I've been drawing portraits for people and many years since I discovered my talent that I've been truly touched by one of my new customers. Her name is Cassie. I met her about 6 months ago at one of my art shows, and she expressed her interest in getting a portrait drawn for her husband. Well, it was one of those things that fell through the cracks for a few months, and it recently resurfaced. She gave me the picture to draw, and with it, included a letter. I have permission from her to include it in my blog today, because I felt I had to share it with you. It brought me close to tears, and as I was reading it, I then realized how much my drawings mean to people. It isn't just something I cross off a list, it's something that makes a difference in their life and I'm so happy to contribute to that.



Here is a picture of sweet Kevin. I'm so humbled by the opportunity to do this project - I cannot wait to start it.


Of course, I'll post it on here when I'm done. Thank you Cassie for allowing me to be a part of something so meaningful in you and your husband's life.

The new apartment

Like I mentioned before, I've moved again! I still have quite a few projects that I need to accomplish. (Thanks Design Sponge for the inspiration!) But I'll show you what I've done so far!

I was inspired by Amy (who writes for Pikaland) who wrote a entry for Decor8 by her use of the Expedit shelving units from IKEA. So I went hog wild and bought 2 of them! Here is how I used them:

My dresser - with the drawers for my socks and 'unmentionables' lol.

My counter space in my kitchen. My kitchen has NO counter space and is literally the hallway that connects my living room to my bedroom. I also went from 25 kitchen cabinets in my old place to 7 cabinets in this new place, so I have put my dishes and cups in here as well. In the drawers, I put my tupperware, dish towels, and other kitchen utensils.

Here's my bedroom..not finished yet - my brand new bedspread is currently bagged up and awaiting a trip to the laundromat because unfortunately it got infested with fleas! So this is my old one, but my new one matches the brown and pink pillow shams that you see now.. And I still need to get curtains and put more stuff on the walls.





Here's my kitchen.. NO counter space as I said.




That's all for now! I'll post more as I get it done!

My DIY Project

I have a shelving unit my bathroom that goes over the toilet. It's pretty handy, but the shelves have rungs and alas, many things fall right through them. So, I've been trying to find something out in the stores that I could use to put on the shelves as a solid surface. I've found nothing.. so while cleaning my apartment, I found a big piece of cardboard. I almost trashed it, and then I realized that I had some fabric lying around.. and then lightbulb blinked on! I measured the shelves, cut them out, covered them with some cheap blue satin I had. Here's the process and the before and after in pictures..

The Supplies

Easy...

The Before

After

Beautiful solid shelves!

Struggling

Life has been hard this last month. I always say, "We all have the same 24 hours in a day, it's all in how you use it." Mainly because I'm always so busy that I never take the whole 'I don't have time' excuse. Well, it looks like the preacher has learned her lesson. I've hit my yearly quota for breakdowns and meltdowns in the last month alone. I just want to go ahead and say thanks to my wonderful, amazing, sexy support system, Todd. Yes baby, I know I'm a handful - lucky you, you get me for a long while! My parents have also been awesome in helping me sort my heavy load out. I've made a few decisions in my life in the last day, there are going to be major changes.

I haven't picked up a paintbrush in 2 months. Let me repeat myself. 2 MONTHS. That's just absolutely ridiculous. This week, I'm busting out and starting, and finishing my freelance projects, and then back to my easel. I've got to finish the Beatles and work on some new endeavors. I've been in touch with Jeff Ruby's office, so wish me luck - maybe something will come from this!

I put a streak of purple in my hair... see??


Ok, so not that noticeable, but I notice it! Something different! Anyway, I'll be putting more work up as I get it done - oh and pictures of my new apartment.. yes; I moved... AGAIN. I'm so done with moving. This time, I'm not painting the walls in there. I hate repainting them when I have to move out. My word, that's annoying.

Somebody's Baby

As you know, I'm a huge fan of Pat Benatar. When I was at her concert this year, she sang this song called Somebody's Baby. Wow. She gave a little history about how the song came to fruition.

I've included the link so you can watch the video - and listen to the lyrics. For the video, they went out onto the streets of some city.. and I wish I knew which one; and filmed real life people; homeless people, struggling people, sick people and compiled them into this video. Before she started singing this song at the concert, she says how this song is supposed to make you look at each other in a different light. I wish I knew how much I loved this song before she performed it so I could have recorded her talking about it. When I find the history on it, I'll post it. But, go ahead and watch the video.


This one actually gets me all choked up because ever since I was a kid, I've had such a hard time seeing homeless people on the streets, and how cold some people are to them. I used to never be able to go downtown as a child because of them. Now I just try and deal with it when I'm there.

Vine-L Friday Art Show

I was blessed this past weekend with the opportunity to show my work at an event in Over the Rhine called Vine-L Friday. It was so cool; something different from Final Fridays at the Pendleton. I had a bunch of people come down and support me. Thank you to those of you who made it out! I shared an awesome, historic room with a great artist named Nick Perrino.

The room we were in was the bottom floor of newly renovated lofts on the corner of 13th and Vine. They are called the Lackman Lofts. Apparently, the space we were in was an original speakeasy back in the day. All the tiles and bricks were original - it would have been a beautiful art studio!

Here's a few pictures from the show!

Just Imagine....

Woo! It's done.. :) This painting is for a friend of mine - he's gonna be soo happy to finally have it. This is John Lennon's cover of his Imagine album. So for your viewing pleasure...




I also wanted to add a few other photos from that previous painting I had to get done for the local movie...





The director of the movie loved it by the way.. and I was all worried that it just didn't look like them enough... turns out, they weren't really supposed to look like them! Copyright laws or something I guess :) Anyway, off to finish some more paintings!

Painting for the local movie

Well, ladies and gentlemen.. here it is. The painting I completed for the local movie being filmed in the Cincinnati area. It's 3 x 4 foot large and I used acrylic paints instead of oils. I do not think it is my absolute best work, but c'est la vie. We can't be perfect everyday. :) So think what you will, and now onto other things!


For more info on the movie, check out:

www.hittingthenuts.com

Goin old school!

Just wanted to share with you my awesome new shoes!!!!

SHA-BAM!!!



I wore these to the Blondie/Pat Benatar concert.. it rocked. And so did my shoes. :)