"Rabbit, Rabbit" - acrylic on paper, 12" x 18".  Available here and at Artfinder.

A new month is just moments away, and with it the utterance of "rabbit, rabbit" to bring in good luck.  Which is why I was not at all surprised when these two unusual rabbits appeared in this painting.  

This is the last piece from the SoFlo studio.  The last piece of paper and the last bits of paint.  The whole shebang is wrapped, boxed, labeled and waiting for transport.  Well, everything except a new travel art kit to keep me from pulling my hair out over the next three weeks (the approximate amount of time it takes to load, transport, unload and unpack when moving from one extreme end of the country to another).

But there are still nine rooms, a garage and an attic to pack, so I have the feeling there is plenty to keep me occupied until next Friday when I board a plane. :)  

​"Sun Bleached Bones" - mixed media on paper, 18" x 12".  Available here and at Artfinder.

Our penultimate week in south Florida.  Eighty-five million loads of post-holiday laundry (only a slight exaggeration) and a few tears as the last of the kids leaves to resume their adult lives far away.  And the beginning of packing up an entire household.

We've opted to do this ourselves.  Given the condition of my spine, this actually means Rons has chosen to do this HIMSELF, with me cheerfully nagging from the sidelines.  But I can label boxes and sort unwanted things to beat the band,  And now our garage is a hodgepodge of ready to fill boxes and filled and labeled boxes.  God help the movers, I say.  It's quite a melee in there.

The studio is one of the first things we packed - extra care taken while our energy is still high.  We are leaving me a just few bits to create with over the next two weeks.  

Sometimes I enjoy having less to work with.  It makes me stretch - reach for the things I have and figure out how to make do.

This piece began as an old sketch - I painted an abstract on top and couldn't quite get it resolved.  Hidden inside the shapes was this figure...and fueling the design were thoughts of a close friend who is going through some tough times.  Words torn from one of the books not yet packed.  An odd poem, but I think it works.

shadows, sun bleached bones on south facing slope

Just a few tubes of paint remaining.  One more old sketch to transform.  And one last demonstration this evening.  Now where did I put the coffee mugs?

"Too Much" - mixed media on paper, 22" x 15".  Available here and at Artfinder.


​Oh gosh this piece was FUN!  Thank you to Lia for challenging me to give this one a go.  Watercolor, acrylic, gesso, colored pencil, paint pens and charcoal - the kitchen sink is in this painting.  

It has been a week of words and phrases popping up and sinking in.  It began with this word: 

whigmaleerie or whigmaleery
​PRONUNCIATION:   (hwig-muh-LIR-ee) 
MEANING:
noun:
1. A whim.
2. A fanciful contrivance.
ETYMOLOGY:
It’s a Scots term, but we know little about it beyond that. Earliest documented use: 1730.

"Tipsy" - acrylic on cradled birchwood panel, 24" x 20" x 1.5".  Ready to hang.  Available here and at Artfinder.

​I am back in the studio after a whirlwind week.  This time expanding on the simple shapes and tension theme which I began exploring in a prior abstract.

This is a much large piece, and is painted using both thin, matte layers (achieved by mixing white gesso with acrylic paint) and thick layers of acrylic heavily applied with brush and palette knife.  Colored pencils, charcoal and a chopstick (for scratching through the paint) were the finishing touches.

Once Upon an Artist: Telling Tales and Selling Art - November 20th, 7 pm at ArtServe (hosted by Gold Coast Watercolor Society)  Free and open to the public

Once upon a time, there was a girl who was banned from art forever. Half a century later, she is an award-winning artist with art in collections world-wide, with four books under her illustrated belt. How did THAT happen? 

You are invited to pull up a chair and listen in as mixed-media Maven of Malarkey and Queen of Quirky Jen Walls tells her story, tells you how to tell YOUR story and explains why storytelling matters in selling your art.

In this demo like no other, you'll learn to swashbuckle like a pirate, reign like a queen and SELL YOUR ART like the masterful genius you are!

Since its publication just a few months ago, this little treasure has landed in the hands of delighted readers from New York to California, from Canada to Ireland, the U.K. and Israel.  From ages 5 to 85, both male and female readers have thrilled us with their feedback.  Authors and artists, musicians and bankers, soccer players and princesses - we couldn't have asked for better.

And today, we are absolutely gobsmacked to say - it is now on Amazon!  But we know some of you would rather make sure more of your purchase benefits the author and illustrators, so we're giving away free shipping on our own website for the month of November.    

​If this day could be any more perfect, I am not sure how. :)  Alright, maybe if Magnar the dragon came to life, it would be a teeny bit better.

"Arella" (sold), "Arella in the Barn" and "The Storyteller's Apprentice" each 17" x 12" (framed dimensions) mixed media on aquabord.  Part of The Art of Illustration show at ArtServe, now through November 27.   Available here and at ArtServe.

What an exciting week this is!  The culmination of years of collaboration with a month-long show and a book signing.  But what is really, REALLY making me smile is this brave character, Arella, who has become such a part of my life.  Ever since author Dana Kumerow wrote  Arella into existence, she has been a kindred spirit.

Arella has a stubborn streak...difficulty listening to people and reading the signs in life.  She is tenacious and headstrong and determined - sometimes to her own detriment. Wait - am I talking about Arella or myself?   So many of the lessons Arella learns in The Storyteller's Apprentice are lessons I am still learning.  

​Arella has trouble accepting her own talents.  She wants so much for her gift to be like the one someone else has - something more flashy, more exciting and different.  She works hard to develop a gift that isn't hers to have, until finally learning to treasure the talent she had all along.

I remember when my dad once called me the family "pit bull", meaning I would fiercely and doggedly get things done, whatever it took, however unglamorous it may be.  My sister, on the other hand, was a "golden retriever" - getting along with everyone, making people happy, being easy to be with.  I wanted so much to be a soft, golden dog.  It just seemed better.

Since that time, however, my inner "pit bull" has become something I rather count on.  She gets the hard stuff done regardless of how uncomfortable it is (or how many people she ticks off!) and is a source of strength.  And my sister is way better at being golden. :)

​Arella also begins as a bit of a perfectionist..her hair just so, ribbons straight, everything right as rain.  Her adventures ultimately give her no choice but to embrace the messiness of life, including her own wild hair and things around her being less than perfectly neat.

No one in my house would tell you that I've embraced messiness yet!  But the older I am, the more my own unmanageable hair becomes just right the way it is.  And perhaps there is hope for me to embrace the messes in life  because a certain storybook hero of mine points the way.

"Beaming", "Queen of Pouts", "Belle",  "Lana" and "Norbert" -  each 22" x 5.5" mixed media on repurposed fence wood.  Ready to hang.  Inquiries. 

November ALREADY?  And so it begins...our last month here in south Florida AND the beginning of the holidays.  I am going to need an extra pot of coffee.:)

Thanks to the amazing team of hubby and Pongo, I'll be at the 32nd Annual North Palm Beach Arts & Crafts Festival this Saturday for the third consecutive year. There is nothing quite like a hundred talented crafters and artisans packed into a community center to get you thinking about putting up the Christmas tree. EEEK!  NOT YET!  Pongo needs more practice with the ornaments.

And The Art of Illustration, featuring The Storyteller's Apprentice, is going up at ArtServe today.  If you're in the area, I'd love to see you next Thursday evening for the reception.  More on that next week.