What's Happening?
Who doesn't love Edgar Wright's work? Hot Fuzz, Spaced, Shaun of the Dead - all amazing, right? On Tuesday, August 20th, Gallery 1988 will open The Official Edgar Wright Art Show with 3 'very special guests' (who I'm sure you would love to meet!). For my piece, I took my inspiration from "Hot Fuzz". Hopefully you're familiar with the film. If not, make your eyeballs happy and watch it now.:D
I present, "Cuddly Monkey and the Swan" 9" x 10", acrylic on maple
Hi everyone!
I just got back from my whirlwind trip to California and had a wonderful time meeting up with galleries and artists (my head is still spinning - or that could be the red eye we took back to NJ). The topper was walking to WonderGround Gallery thinking I would be saying goodbye to my 15ft Oswald banner, only to see my Stitch with his 3 ft tongue sticking out greeting everyone who passed by Downtown Disney.
It once again brought tears to my eyes thinking of how many people will look up at that tongue every day :D
The next morning was the signing and I got to meet so many kind people. Sitting at home, quietly painting every day I lose sight of all the people that my work will touch in the future. On Saturday I got a great big dose of happy that I'm going to stow away to remind me that I'm putting smiles on people's faces.
I also had the great pleasure of meeting the other artists I was signing alongside like Jeff Granito, Jeremiah Ketner, Daniel Samakow and Noah.
Speaking of Noah - that's him and I to the right after I found out he purchased my "Oh, Mr. Rabbit" painting for his daughter. Such a thrill when an amazing artist loves my work!
I love being able to talk shop with other people and hear how they created a piece while standing next to the actual piece. Watching them sketch...well, I guess I'm a big art fan just like anybody else! I was also super excited that Rich Kuoch aka PodgyPanda was attending the show and finally got to meet him in person as well. If you're not familiar with these artists I urge you to take a look at the wonderful art they create - you won't be disappointed!
Even though the original of "Oh, Mr. Rabbit" sold they created these amazing matted prints of him (with a beautiful gold insert). 
They also have deluxe matted prints of Stitch (with a great rattan texture double matte) and Mickey and Minnie too!
You can also purchase post cards, acrylic magnets and a stretched canvas print of Stitch.
As of Sunday evening, the original paintings of Stitch ("Alelo") and Mickey and Minnie ("S.W.A.K") were still available. You can either call 714-300-7004 – that is WonderGround's sister shop Vault 28 - and place an order over the phone or call Disney Merchandise Guest Services number at 877-560-6477 or e-mail them at merchandiseguestservices@disney.go.com for these paintings, prints and other merchandise.
Once again, I feel so honored to have been a part of this amazing show and to have the opportunity to meet so many wonderful people. I'll leave you with a photo from my ride on the Disneyland Railroad.
If you haven't looked at your calendar recently then you may not know that this Saturday is May the 4th. There are a lot of Star Wars tribute shows to choose from but here's two that I'm particularly fond of.
First is A Saga in the Stars: A Tribute to a Galaxy Far, Far Away presented by Gallery Nucleus. This is another monster of a show-
I was asked not to preview my piece until the show opened but the gallery has it on their website :D If you want first dibs on the artwork (before the opening) then simply sign up for the preview list here.
This is a large piece for me (15" x 11.25") and I really wanted to make a statement since Star Wars shaped the course of my life. I present "Kaapauku Life Day Portrait" with Chewie and his family, Lumpy, Itchy and Malla (anyone see the Star Wars Holiday Special?).
I hope this piece makes everyone smile because it was so much fun to paint!
The other Star Wars I wanted to mention is G999-2: The Haunted Mansion Meets Star Wars presented by Gallery 999, during Bats Day in Anaheim. I was asked to take part in this by the awesome Noak K but I just couldn't swing it with my schedule. But c'mon...Haunted Mansion AND Star Wars? Pure gold :) My hubby is participating and has such a cool piece but once again, it's hush, hush on previews (for real this time). But you can visit Gallery 999's website and get all the details here:
May the 4th be with all of us!
Have fun :D
I was asked by Gallery Nucleus to do a couple paintings for their Not in Kansas Anymore: A Tribute to the Wizard of Oz show that opened last night. I immediately knew I wanted to do my version of a winged monkey. Here's "Nikko and Toto"
Since I never read any of the books when I was a kid (shame on me) and I was sick and running a high fever, I thought I'd take a few days rest and read some of the books. What a delight! I had no idea the world that Baum had created beyond the first book! So many wonderful characters, it quickly became apparent that I had to choose ONE to paint. But I loved so many of them...the Queen of the field mice, King Dox, Jack Pumpkinhead, Eureka.
But Billina, Dorothy's companion on her second trip to Oz, Queen and subsequent Governor of the chickens of Oz was my choice. Especially with my long love of painting chickens!
So here's "Billina" with her pearl and sapphire necklace (for special occasions only) sitting on her silver perch...
So many thanks to Gallery Nucleus for inviting me to do this show and opening up the whole world of Oz for my inspiration. I have a feeling I'm going to be visiting these characters again in the future!
"Nikko and Toto" sold, but there are prints available here.
"Billina" is still available here.
Enjoy!
I'm sure everyone is familiar with my husband, Ed Mironiuk. He's been the illustrator for Tattoo Magazine for 20 years, pinup artist extraordinaire and all around great guy.
I love him.
He's starting a new artistic adventure, far from the tattoos and pinups you may be familiar with and although he originally wanted to stay anonymous, he's decided to come out of his cocoon with it.
He'll be working under the name GH-05-T and I proudly present a selection of his works -- I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.
"Garbha"
"Jalakara"
"Kapala"
"Roga"
"Mitha"
I am really excited to show you the new work for my Dendrology Mythology show at Auguste Clown Gallery in Fitzroy, Australia that opens Friday (15 March). We're keeping it to sneak peeks right now, but here's a bit of background on how I came up with the concept.
Detail "Zephyr" acrylic on woodI began reading a book from 1880 by Wirt Sikes, "Welsh Folk-Lore, Fairy Mythology, Legends and Traditions" and the line, "The chief philosopher of that enchanted region was a giant who sat on a mountain peak and watched the stars." sparked my first piece, "Zephyr".
Detail "Boris" acrylic on wood
While I was reading the book, we were in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy (and the blizzard that hit a week later), surrounded by huge oak trees broken in half, houses torn from their foundations and I began to imagine my own mythology of protectors and guardians to help me cope.
Detail "Oog" acrylic on wood
I went back to what I've always loved - songbirds, the forest and combined them into beings that I hope the viewer will want to know more about...to be friends with. Take a walk into the woods and peek under fallen trees and around clear, still pools and you might just see one of these creatures. And if you don't, know that they are still around, just out of sight, keeping you safe.
Many thanks to Auguste Clown for allowing me to show my work and hopefully make some people smile. For those of you in the area, they will also have my signed and mounted prints, some larger framed prints along with the original paintings on view.
If you want to receive the online preview which will go out Tuesday at 10pm EDT (in NYC) then please sign up for Auguste Clown's mailing list here.
Have a great day and thanks for reading!
I love seeing something that just stops me dead in my tivo tracks.
FedEx "Forest" from Psyop on Vimeo.
Psyop did the commercial and I highly recommend popping the viewer out full screen for this one.
Brilliant :)
I felt a little under the weather yesterday so I quit work early, grabbed a comforter and watched Ed paint this:
I watched a beautiful Nature episode last night entitled, "My Life as a Turkey". It documented wildlife artist, Joe Hutto's experience of raising a brood of wild turkeys. Moving, informative and absolutely breathtaking at times, the film was a recreation of Hutto's year-plus life of caring for sixteen chicks. I am equally taken with not only Hutto but the filmaker, David Allen and actor, Jeff Palmer who took it upon himself to allow sixteen turkey chicks to be imprinted on him so they could create this amazing film.
Happy Thanksgiving
Watch My Life as a Turkey - Preview on PBS. See more from NATURE.
My head is filled with things I have to do, things I'd like to do and things I'd like to look into doing. Trouble is I never seem to get any of it done.
First, I'd like to spruce things up around here. Freshen my website and shop, make things cleaner and do some editing (probably the hardest thing for me to do!). That shouldn't be too hard and I've been toying with the idea for too long. After my sale ends on Thursday I will sit down and work on my shop and website. There, I wrote it so now I will do it.
Then there's that little Sculpey cuddly I made the other night. Got 5 times the positive response my latest painting did and I think it's a sign to get moving on figures. Again, this is an idea that I've thought about, researched and gotten overwhelmed by many, many times over the past few years. But how cute would a little Uni Yeti or Sweet Lobotomy with removable head-slice and knife be? I think I have enough characters to work with. I need to stop being afraid of things I want to do and just do them.
Ed and I were talking just yesterday about this very topic. He read this from "For the Benefit of All Beings, His Holiness the Dalai Lama: A Commentary on the Way of the Bodhisattva",
(from Shantideva) "Let me first consider my reserves ----
To start or not to start accordingly.
It might be better not to start,
But once begun, I should not then withdraw.
Before we do anything, we should always ask ourselves whether we will be able to do it properly and complete it. If the answer is no, we should not start. Leaving tasks uncompleted creates a habit for the future. So once we have begun something, we should be sure not to go back on our decision."
I know I can accomplish these things and do them properly. I just ordered our tickets for NYCC and I'm going to email a few people who may have some insight into what I want to do. I am officially beginning something. You're all welcome along for the ride.
:D
Have a great week!
