The Christmas Dance Recital Paintings

Wind Up Mouse

China Doll

Music Box Ballerina

Rag Doll - Sold

Bouncing Bunny

Carousel Pony - Sold

Pretty Princess

5678 Dance Studio's Christmas Recital

Ornaments

Music Box Ballerina

Tonight was the Christmas Recital at Lanier High School and the first look for all those dance moms and dads to see the new set of paintings I did specifically for the show.  Anne Marie and I love to keep it secret until their "unveiling."  Anne Marie selected seven costumes from the program and along with the paintings from the Spring Recital that have been hanging on the stairwell in the studio, I also displayed for the first time the Christmas ornaments.

The ones that sold!

And everyone confirmed what I had already figured out. The Christmas ornaments with pictures of the paintings on them were cute, cute, cute.  I sold 24 and quite a few of those from costumes from the Spring Recital.


Once the show started, I was able to sneak away from my table and watch the dancers from the back of the theatre.  Anne Marie sure knows how to get a collective "Aw!" from the audience with costumes, choreography, and little girls just being precious.  The Wind Up Mice were absolutely the cutest I have ever seen.  It's funny.  That painting was my favorite, too.  The big girls on pointe were great and I enjoyed watching them so much. (Yep, I'm a sucker for the prissy stuff.) Their hard work  showed in their effort. I had a great time!

Katie I and Katie II

Katie I - Ice Cream

Katie II - Take Me Out To The Ball Game

   During the Spring Recital, a grandmother asked me to do two paintings, one of Katie in her recital costume for this year and one from the recital in 2010.   Since the two are companion pieces, I made the backgrounds identical.

Little Dancers Paintings On Display for Purchase at 5678 Dance Studio, Buford, GA

  I hung 4 of what I have called the Little Dancers paint series in the stairwell at 5678 Dance Studio today.  With Ariel, Grace, and Ella already there, its beginning to look like a gallery!  I cannot thank Anne Marie enough for being so enthusiastic about the art I am bringing her.
     The planning for the Christmas show is underway and I understand that Anne Marie is sending me 6 new costumes to paint.  I can't wait to get started!

Mulberry Elementary Mural Done!

Fairytale Castle

Rapunzel

Princess and the Pea

The mural at Mulberry Elementary's Media Center is done.  The teachers, the media specialists, the students, and the principal gushed about the work we did day by day which always helps the spirit!  The mural took eight 10 hour days to produce and as always, the exhausting part is not the painting it is the standing on your feet for that period of time with just 30 minutes in the middle for lunch.  The mural(s) consists of fairy tales on one side and vignettes of the Dewey Decimal System on the other.  We hid the Gingerbread Boy in all the fairytale murals (there were 5) for the kindergarten who have a unit on it sometime during the year.
     Some of the bolder children would talk to us, thank us, compliment us.  The kids at Mulberry were the most quiet and polite I've ever seen in any school we have been in.

    A little boy walked with me to the cafeteria and said, "I see the library is being painted!" as if that was all he could think to say but wanted to say something.  The kids in line would wave to me and one time I even received a hug from a little girl.

U. S. Map

As I boned up on my U. S. history and geography to create the map an 8 or 9 year old boy said, "How do you copy out of that book so good?"  Rhonda encouraged all the kids who asked about art to "Keep Practicing."  But one little girl proposed to Rhonda that brown umber and alizarin crimson would probably be a good combination for the elephant's eye she was working on since elephant's eyes have red in them.  She also suggested that whoever did the transportation mural put a Bugatti Veyron in the picture.  Her family was very much "IN" to cars and her grandfather was some kind of racer.  I was going to look him up but have since forgotten his name. Her brother appeared at the bottom of my ladder a couple of days later and thanked me for putting the Veyron in the picture. "Though you didn't get it just right." he said.

Transportation Mural

     "The back end. Right?" I had seen the air things on the back but had chosen to ignore them.  I had anticipated I would get gigged for that.       "Yeah, you didn't put the things that suck the air out on the back, but the older model didn't have that so that's okay.  I thought you might put an EB10 in there." 
     I have since found out that an EB10 is another model of Bugatti. Also, the Veyron is the most expensive car on the market ($2.7M) and at top speed flies a mere 267 mph.  My goal was just to stick a car in the transportation mural and any car would have done. But anytime we get suggestions we try to incorporate them..

Inventors

     In a week we start another mural in Knight Elementary's cafeteria. Scenes of Atlanta.  The Fox Theatre, the zoo, the capitol, Stone Mountain, etc. Another gigantic endeavor.  But we will pull it off, as we always do.  Rhonda knows how to make it happen and I am happy to go along for the ride.

I am working to get my little dancers on some sites where they can be seen and purchased.  Cards, framed prints, and posters on Red Bubble,

And journals, totebags, jewelry, drinkware, and ornaments on CafePress.

I try to be a modest mom, but I think my little girls are darling as ornaments! What do you think?

Sarah

Just completed Sarah, a special order, from the dance recital.  Enjoyed painting this one.  Sarah and Goin' To The Chapel will be given as gifts to two sisters tomorrow night at their Mother's birthday!  The colors were so soft in this one, I hope the picture does it justice.
   I worked this in between entertaining my two nephews for the week and working on a mural with Rhonda Storer at Shiloh Middle School.  Two more special orders to go and school murals coming up!