Newest Belly Cast

Here is my latest belly cast:

Blue & Bronze Metallic Belly Cast

Blue & Bronze Metallic Belly Cast

I was asked to bring in a photo album and business cards to Destination Maternity where the cast was made so I’m hoping it will bring a little more business my way ~ fingers crossed.

This and That

Here are my articles from the last week and a half:

Young Rembrandts: Children’s art classes ~ This is the company I teach my art classes for!

West Valley artist profile: Edward Dennis ~ Another great West Valley artist!

…And I finished the lower cabinets in the kitchen and I’m ready to start on the top. Here’s a pic:

My Kitchen Cabinets

 

Last weeks published articles, a new belly cast, and the Grand Canyon

Well here are the TWO articles I published last week.

B. Love is a very interesting woman and a great artist; check her out:

West Valley artist profile: Barbara Sue Love Newport

This article may look familiar:

Kitchen island redo on a budget

That’s all I wrote last week. I had a last minute belly cast to do…

And…we decided to head north for a night to go camping where it’s cooler and stop by the Grand Canyon. We hadn’t been there in about 8 years and my daughters were too young to remember.  The was quite chilly and we were at the Grand Canyon for close to two hours when we got caught in a downpour! We had to run for our vehicle and ended up drenched but did get to see alot of the canyon so it was all good. Here’s a couple pics…

Grand Canyon

Grand Canyon

This past weeks articles…

Some great classes here in the West Valley. Wish I had some extra money to take one or two…

West Valley community college drawing classes for fall 2010

West Valley community college art classes for fall 2010

And a column that goes along with these classes…

The decorative arts, past and present 

I hope to get an artist profile or two for this week. Never got to it last week. I’m blaming it on my birthday!

This weeks articles…and a very cool face cast!

Here are this week articles:

West Valley places to see: Glendale ~ Glendale has SO many great places to see year round. I took my daughters to the Bead Museum last week. It was very cool.

West Valley artist profile: Jim Bryant ~ Self-taught illustrator with a long, successful career!

Belly and body casting: a new design trend ~ The belly casts are always cool but other cast options are also available. Here’s one of a little boys face:

This weeks published articles ~ enjoy

Here are this weeks published articles:

West Valley artist profile: Kyle “Smash Nash” As promised, my first artist profile. Check him out!

Summer classes offered by the West Valley Art Council Some great classes here for the locals ~ held in Marley Park, Surprise

10 easy ways to give a cookie-cutter home style and originality Because of the housing boom where builders churned out endless tract houses, this article is relevent across the nation not just here in the Southwest.

Enjoy and I’ll be back soon with my personal endeavors.

My writing…this week and beyond

Here are this weeks articles:

Decorating with the colors of the Southwest: Where to use them, what they mean (part 1)

Decorating with the colors of the Southwest: Where to use them, what they mean (part 2)

Upcoming and ongoing events in the West Valley ~ this includes art walks, exhibits, festivals, etc…

I am also excited to announce that I will start local artist profiles this week. There are some great artists here in the West Valley and I can’t wait to share them with you!

I’m also looking forward to sharing with all of you some great places to visit whether you live here or are planning a visit. I’m finding things I didn’t even know about ~ and I’ve lived here for almost 16 years.

My online column:West Valley(Phoenix Area) Art & Design

So…I’ve decided to write for Examiner.com. I’m not sure what, if any money, I’ll make but I’m giving it a try. At the very least I’ll get to know the ins and outs of the local art and design community. I’ll be writing 3-4 articles per week on art, design, and home improvement, as well as highlight related local businesses and local artists. 

Here is a link to my page, West Valley Art & Design. On it you’ll see the two articles I’ve posted so far:

Arizona’s summer is a perfect time to go green with low odor eco-friendly paint

Decorating with the colors of the Southwest: Where to use them, what they mean (part 1)

Of course, I’ll still blog as I can’t get personal in my column. I also need to post articles there that are at least remotely regionally relevent. Please check it out and feel free to let me know what you think. If you’re local let me know of any local artists or businesses you’d like to see an article about. Also let me know if there are any design issues you’d like to see discussed.

Thanks for reading and as always, I really appreciate your input.

Finished Painted Pet Portrait, Acrylic on canvas

OK, so I didn’t finish over the weekend. I’ve been fighting a nasty cold and other things popped up. Anyway, here it is. I finished this morning. This is about 3 more hours work I would guess. Again, because it was my first pet portrait there was alot of trial and error but I’m pleased with the outcome.

Acrylic on canvas, 9" x 12"

The Superstitions – Acrylic on Canvas – done, for the most part

Ok, after being away last week, I finally got back to this. For the most part, it is done. However, I usually look at it a for few days and go back to fix a few little things before I really call it done. So, feel free to tell me what you think and thanks for being so patient. Now, I need to decide what to paint next.

Superstition Mountains, Apache Junction, AZ