Brushstrokes

Victoria's Roses

2012-02-06T20:54:00.000-08:00

Digital Art I have been working on. I took a painting I did for Victoria's room and remixed it in a really cool little photo editing ap, Pixlr-o-matic. Spiffy! Now I have put them up for sale as cards and prints at Fine Art America.

The Original-Victoria's Rose

Victoria's Sun Rose

Victoria's Rainbow Rose

Victoria's Pink Rose

Victoria's Purple Rose

The Christmas Dance Recital Paintings

2011-12-09T08:21:00.000-08:00

Wind Up Mouse

China Doll

Music Box Ballerina

Rag Doll - Sold

Bouncing Bunny

Carousel Pony - Sold

Pretty Princess

5678 Dance Studio's Christmas Recital

2011-12-03T21:40:00.000-08:00

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

2011-10-15T20:56:00.000-07:00

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

2011-09-15T20:37:00.000-07:00

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!

2011-09-05T09:00:00.000-07:00

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.

2011-08-08T15:48:00.000-07:00

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

2011-07-21T09:14:00.001-07:00

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!

New Painting Completed

2011-06-28T10:27:00.000-07:00

I sold two My Special Date paintings at the recital, so after completing the second one, I did this special order Does Your Mother Know. The song is from Abba and I have now downloaded it on my ipod and have been singing along for a few days! The dancers looked like they were having a lot of fun being on stage and performing this song.
This is Amanda who I met at the recital. Her mother ordered the painting as a surprise birthday present. I wish I could be a fly on the wall to see her reaction. Another mother bought the 12"x24" Ariel for the same reason and gave it to her daughter that night. It is gratifying to think this work is becoming part of someone's childhood memory.

Listen:
Does Your Mother Know by Abba

Spring Recital

2011-06-06T21:20:00.000-07:00

I had a table at the 5678 Dance Studio's 2011 Spring Recital set up to sell the dancer costume paintings. I went in having no expectations and was pleasantly surprised that they sold as well as they did. After working from my imagination and pictures for so long, It was neat seeing the costumes in real life on the girl's and women performers. And as people spotted the paintings, it didn't take long for them to recognize their dancer's costume. I got a lot of really nice compliments, handed out lots of business cards and sold 11 canvases. When I told Anne Marie this she said with a wave of her hand, "We will hang the rest of the canvases in the studio and they'll still be on sale, but you'll do better next year!' So I am looking forward to next year already!

In the near future, I am going be working on marketing "my girls" in the form of Christmas ornaments, note cards and invitations, and a calendar. It will be fun to see them in these different formats.

After the recital, a little girl, a dancer, held the door open for me as I toted my paraphernalia back to the car. Her dad ready to go home from the long day said, "Come on, Taylor, let's go!"

Very purposefully, she said, "Just a minute, Dad. I have to hold the door open for this awesome artist."

I just love working around kids!

5678 Dance Studio, Buford, GA

2011-03-01T15:10:00.000-08:00

Grace

Ella

Ariel

I have just had the privilege of doing a series of paintings for the 5678 Dance Studio in Buford, GA. The three 30"x60" paintings caused a great deal of excitement and the owner, Anne Marie Wilson, put the enthusiasm of her students to good use. The girls named each one of the dancers and wrote essays about them. The teachers picked a winner whose reward will be to perform the narration during the spring recital. Since Grace was first, the studio ordered t shirts. My daughter, Victoria, did the graphic design work. It has been a delight to work on these canvases and I am thrilled the young dancers love them so.

School Library Mural

2009-03-18T13:52:00.000-07:00

My cohort, Rhonda, and I just finished a mural above the bookshelves of a school library. It is a 104' depiction of the Dewey Decimal System and some of it is included in the slideshow on Flickr for your viewing pleasure. It took 11 days and as always when we do schools, it was great fun.

One little boy uttered as he marveled at the tornado (in the weather section), "This is incredible!" Since we could tell he was into all things weather, I asked him if he was going to be a meteorologist. He said emphatically, "Yes, either that or a superhero."

Another, "I don't mean to disturb you ladies but you are doing a great job."

And still another as she accompanied her friend breathlessly down the wall to look at it at 90% complete, "My friend, Heather, gets very excited when she's looking at great art."

Collectively, the kids would gasp as they entered the room.

Yes, we had great fun. In a school, we feel like celebrities.