The Rambler

On a recent trip to visit my in-laws in Syracuse, I spotted this beauty:

What a sweet ride :)

Clean

Well, I said I was going to redo the look of my site and shop and I did! Hurricane Irene took away our power and water for five full days which slowed my comeback but, by golly, it looks good in here now :) I changed the color scheme, trimmed the portfolio a bit and designed a brand new logo.I put all the places to buy Cuddly items on a new page and if you go through the portfolio you'll find updated links on most images on where to purchase those items (like "Kokoro" cards or a mounted "Grampa Hoogly" print, etc.).

And my shop is updated as well, cleaned up and nice and bright. Best part is, if you use the code NEWLOOKIRENE between now and September 12th, you'll receive 20% everything in the shop! And since I rarely put my mounted prints on sale, now's the time to buy :D

Have fun and I hope you like the new look!

xoxo

Kris

 

I'm Not Freaking Out

I'm doing my best to keep my cool. I'm not watching the Weather Channel or CNN or listening to the Emergency Management phone calls we're getting or paying any attention to the Governor evacuating people 10 miles from our house. And I'm not looking out the window at the 20+ mature oak trees that are within shitting distance of our house.

I did get our papers together, we're putting away all our planters and patio furniture and backing up our computers. We bought water, batteries, canned food and got gas for our portable generator.

We're on a hill so we shouldn't have to worry about storm surges or flooding.

But those g*ddamn oak trees...

Stay safe East Coasters.

Who's Shaking My House?

Well that was a crazy feeling. Working in my office, Ed was sitting on the floor next to me and my chair started shaking. My brain says, why is Ed shaking my chair? Then I hear creaking from upstairs and think, who the fuck is in my house?! Then I see that Ed's hand is not near my chair, which is still shaking and Ed is quietly saying, 'earthquake...earthquake...earthquake...'. (apparantly I was yelling, "Is this an earthquake?!" at that point)

Ran outside (ground still shaking) and our pond was swishing around but everything seems alright.

Not something we get everyday here in New Jersey.

And my mom just called and said that we are now in 'the cone' for hurricane Irene. Good. We could use some excitement around here.

Oh I almost forgot, my latest painting is going up for sale on Thursday at 3pm EDT in the shop.

Closeup from "Mutual Admiration"

Things To Do...

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!

Mutual Admiration

Ed found a tiger moth on our front steps a few weeks ago.

Further research uncovered how unbelievably ornate and fuzzy these moths can be.

(please forgive me, I couldn't find where the above image was from. If you know, I will gladly give credit.)

Ed suggested a moth staring at a light bulb and then it hit me...a lightning bug!

"Mutual Admiration" was born. 7" x 7" acryic on beveled pine plaque.

Summer Sale!

I just updated my shop with not only the new "No S'more" and "Mr. McPrickles" mounted prints but a sale as well!

A couple of prints are going into retirement and that means limited quantities, $10 each and I won't make anymore after August 25th :D There's also a bunch more on sale for $10 off the regular price.

Hope everyone is having a great summer! Thanks again and have fun shopping :D

New Stuff On The Way

I sincerely apologize to all of you for my lack of new work this year. As I mentioned previously, we've been busy with our other company and in between I've been pumping out plaque orders for Shanalogic and Art Star. I've made over a hundred in the past couple months and although I'm itching to get to painting again, I started another batch of new plaques just for you guys!

A small portion of what's on my desk:

The "Mr. McPrickles" and "No S'more" plaques are in the drying stage and they should be ready to go up for sale in my shop in a day or two. The rest will have to wait about a week or so since I've got another batch of work that's needs tending to.

So I'm off to work but keep your eyes peeled as new stuff is on the way!

Thanks for sticking around :D