Everything is Relative

This has been a very hard winter here in the northeastern US. In fact, it's been pretty hard for the entire US. Record rainfall in the west, snow in the south and blizzards up here. Two blizzards in one week, in fact. We're complaining and cold and tired of shoveling. Just went out today to buy a new shovel or maybe even something gas powered to help with the ol' back and there's patio furniture out! Ugh. Not one shovel in any store here.

So to help myself feel a bit better and not think to much about the snow piling up on our roof, I searched out some photos of Yuki-no-tani, or 'snow corridor' in japanese. The Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route sees snowfall near the 20 meter mark and allows for snowplows to create these corridors which attract tourists the world over. I wouldn't mind seeing it in person some day myself.

The Doodlebug

I'm not big on taking on commissions involving people's pets, but only because I have no self-esteem when it comes to my work. I've got my set shape and pose and trying to capture someone's beloved pet is too much for me to handle.

Then along came The Doodlebug. Andrew Moore contacted me about doing a commission for his wife, Pamela, of their dog, Felicity. But she's not called Felicity, she's called The Doodlebug. She's even got her own blog, It's the Doodlebug!

After seeing this pic of her when she was a pup, I had to try and do something.

I hope I did justice to the Doodlebug as she seems like a lovely pup. Many thanks to Andrew and Pamela for believing in my work. Enjoy!

Funny

I have nothing inspiring for you today. I looked and if anything there's TOO much out there right now for my brain to choose just one thing to showcase today. And yet, I felt there was a need for me to show you something. This, my dear friends, is from Bubbledog on their Flickr page. Enjoy!

Beautiful Tea

Some wonderful friends of ours came over this weekend and brought some tea from Tea Forte. It was the most beautifully packaged item I've seen since Vosges chocolate. The tea bags themselves are little works of art and after looking at their site they also have wonderful accessories to complement that design. Their Cafe Cup was just one of those accessories.

Start your morning beautifully, enjoy!

New Amazing Lockets!

...by the wonderful Catherine Ivins of Polarity featuring some of my artwork!!! I posted about these adorable lockets a few months ago and after emailing Catherine she graciously decided to include me as one of her featured artists. The first set is 'Juicy' and you get three magnetic lids with your cute locket on a generous 30" chain. She has loads of other wonderful images and you can even mix and match your lids with other artists. So go take a look and watch out for more wonderful things in the near future :D

I am Bacon. Hear Me Roar.

My love of food is no secret. All my memories involve food in one way or another and everything that I want to do now involves food as well. It's all around me and in me and I paint it and I love it!

So finding the blog foodzie was just the thing to spur me into creating this post instead of going back to my nap. Trouble is it's only 4 pm and I don't have any of these great items in my house. I shall simply drool over the photos and dream of maple and bacon and crispy, salty, sweet snacks like this Bacon Peanut Brittle:

I mean, Esquire and the New York Times gave this great reviews. What more do you want? Go buy some. And then come back so we can talk about it ;-)

Hamburgers

are one of the greatest foods on the planet. So it was only a matter of time before I painted one (a commissioned piece). Naturally I needed reference and Google Image Search was there to help me. These are some of the...other...hamburgers that came up as well.

Street Anatomy

I've just found my newest, favoritist website -- Street Anatomy via my long time favortie site, Ektopia. Street Anatomy was "created by Vanessa Ruiz, (and) obsessively covers the use of human anatomy in medicine, art, and design." This nugget of goodness was just one beautiful thing I found:

Amazing porcelain sculptures by Kate MacDowell.

Enjoy and have a safe, happy, healthy, prosperous New Year everyone!

Finally!

Pet portraits that I can get behind.

Lili Chin has been so wonderful to me in the past, it's finally my turn to reciprocate. She has been drawing pet portraits and donating 20% of the proceeds to Boston Buddies, a Boston Terrier rescue in Southern California.

But maybe you would rather have your portrait money go to another rescue, you say? She'll donate to any rescue you want and her drawings are amazing. Her prices are extremely reasonable and she shows you step by step how she makes each portrait and what you will get for your money. I mean, for one pet, her price is $100! and you get an 8" x 10" signed print and the high-resolution file for more printouts! You won't find a better deal than this, I'm telling you :D

 

So go over to Doggie Drawings and order up a portrait of your pet and your $ will go to the shelter of your choice.

Happy New Year!