Recently

Hot chocolate and varnishing. 

 

 working on lettering

 

 More paintings for Eggplant!

 

 Got two of my prints from Minted. Great quality! 

 

 Red feeling cozy

 

 "A Christmas James"

C-A-T-S cats cats cats!

Don't say I didn't warn you.... 

 I cannot resist this face. He can have anything he wants. Anything. All the yogurt in the world.

 Tired and annoyed that I have a camera in his face

 Kitty found a sunbeam

 Ugh, so cute it hurts. 

And none for Gretchen Weiners. Bye.

Just kidding, here's the grey one.

 Up to no good, per use...

 so exhausted, he's melting.

 And just for good measure.... he is in between the sliding glass door and the screen.

 I don't know how that even happened.

 

Around the studio

This past week....

Hope your week was lovely!

Personalized Cake Toppers

Sorry for the recent blog silence - wedding mayhem and custom orders have been consuming all my time!! 
On that note, here's a little wedding project I whipped up the other night. 

I've seen lots of personalized cake toppers floating around the web. 

Rather than pay over $100 for one, I decided to make my own. 

It started with tiny wooden "people" pegs and some Martha Stewart High Gloss acrylic paint. 

I wanted a shiny finish, rather than a matte finish. It seemed more wedding-y. 
I painted the cats from memory and painted the groom and I as we would look on our wedding day.

It took 2-3 coats of paint for good coverage, but it dried very quickly and took an hour, tops! 

The cats would have looked ok with painted-on ears, but I "felt" like a 3-D ear would add just a little extra cuteness. #puns #waitforit

I cut them out of FELT I had lying around and hot-glued them on.   #justmadeyourday

Below is the finished project! 
**Dress spoiler alert!!**   
It will be white and cylindrical. Yikes. 

Now all we need is a cake! 
No, like, right now... I want some cake. 

Crafting Some Love

For Valentine's Day, Jason and I went to Pork Barrel BBQ. Yes, smoked meats is our kind of romance. Though in all seriousness, give me good BBQ and some Cheerwine, and I'm smitten.

Anywho, there happened to be a crafting station set up to make a valentine and leave it there for all to see.  
Construction paper, glitter (oh so much glitter), markers, glue, feathers, and pipe cleaners? 

Yes, please!

I can never resist an opportunity to incorporate the kitties...

And, yes, I added some "obligatory glitter" (and I have handwriting like an 8-year-old. The 3-D dangling pipe cleaner hearts were a nice touch, I thought, though).

 
Jason wanted to guarantee that his valentine would "be chosen" for the wall, so he was not-so-subtle with his, uh, brown-nosing. 

And for good measure, some lazy kitties:

 (this is Red with his monkey... he doesn't like it. Jason keeps forcing it on Red for photo opportunities)

Hope you had a wonderful Valentine's Day, whether you spent it with a human or a kitty.

Gettin Fancy

We got the kitties some formal wear for Christmas. I mean, why not, right?

 Red got a blue tie and collar. I think he looks like a tax attorney. 

James got a bowtie and collar. He looks like a waiter... or perhaps, the new footman James on Downton?

Would you like more goose, Your Lordship?

It just doesn't get any better than this, folks. 

Cuteness.  You're welcome.

Steve Drew a Cat...

... or Four

Any Sharktank fans out there?

(for anyone who has not seen the show, it's a reality show where small/new business owners/inventors try to get "5 self-made, filthy-rich investors" (the "sharks") to invest in their new companies/ideas.)

My fiance loves it; personally I find it very hard to watch. The whole concept of people begging for money just makes me squirm... mostly because I will be paying the government all of my income until I'm at least 80, so money and I aren't on speaking terms right now. #schoolloansarekiller #whydidigotogradschool

Anywho, a month or so ago, Jason, in hopes of introducing me to a new career option, showed me this video of a guy he saw on Sharktank

His name is Steve, and he wants to draw a cat for you. 
(***spoiler alert*** yes, he got an investor. #ineedagimmick)

Truly, the video and entire concept is pretty entertaining. Here's his website if you've never seen it. He numbers all the drawings and gives a description of what kind of cat was requested. 

So long story short, I was unable to make it to my parents' for Christmas this year, so when I finally arrived a couple of days ago, I had this gift waiting for me from my brother Mike:

 

Yup, Steve drew a cat 4 cats for us! I love that he accurately depicted James next to Jason and Red and next to me. (psbtw am I wearing an awesome skirt or what??) 

 Here is the link to the drawing on his site (you can search any "cat" by the drawing number).

The description for the drawing is "<Mike> GIFTED a cat to Jen & Jason. He wanted two cats in love in Washington, DC! They have two cats, one's orange and one's grey!" 

Best. Gift. Ever. 

I can't wait to find a special place for it in our home. 

psst... here's a link to the episode if you want to commit to a whole 10 minutes.

Recent Activities

What I've been up to lately...

Eating BBQ (isn't that the cutest pig ever?) 

 

Painting (just a little sneek peak...)

Watching Downton Abbey (heck yes, season 3!)

 

Hanging with the kitties  (hey, guys)

A more detailed wedding invite post coming soon!
 

The Covered Bridge

I don't do a lot of commissioned paintings (they are usually pretty time-consuming, and a bit difficult without a full studio), but I have been working on one for a client for a Christmas present and thought I would share a bit of my process. 

My natural style with watercolors is very loose, so for most paintings I use an ink-drawn base to provide a bit of structure. 

I then mix all my base colors before I begin, but I will continue to mix as I go. Watercolors are reactivated by water and are very translucent; this means the colors won't go to waste even when they are dried - I can add water to make them useable again or remix them to shift the hue. 

The process is very fluid and requires constant reassessing of what colors are needed based on how they lie on the paper. 

As for paper, I tend to use Strathmore 140lb cold press watercolor paper. I really like the subtle texture and it takes water very well - I've never had a problem with over-saturation. I have heard good things about Arches watercolor paper (and I love the look of that deckeled edge), but as for right now, I'm just working with what I have. 

Anywho, coming from an oils background, I always have to watch myself with watercolors as I have a tendency to overwork them. With oils, you can add layer after layer and build up luscious, thick surfaces. But with watercolors, they are so transluscent - delicacy is your friend. And the REALLY hard part for me is remembering to leave my whites (aka, naked spots on the paper). 

I was given a couple of photographs to work from for this piece, all taken in the winter. But as the location is sentimental to the future owner, I wanted to give it a warmer glow. By making the trees in the background seem more springtime than winter and adding a warm light, my intention was to create a loved happy-place. 

My first real attempt at a sentimental landscape was the oil painting I did of my grandparents' house several years ago. Their house is white, but I shifted the color palatte to create an aura of a beloved, dreamy memory.

What special place would you love captured in a painting?