First steps in the Art Truck "Belle Mariposa"

I've been working on creating an "Art Truck" in my mind for months! I love to visualize my creative ideas and, when they're solid in my mind, drawing them out on my sketch pad. So, I've been playing with this idea for quite a while. In earnest over the last few months but, in truth, I've loved the idea for years!

At first I started visualizing a car, then a vw bug. When I started bringing art to galleries and doing street fairs, I was led to the idea of an art truck. I'll have a shell to put over the bed so that I can put my art back there and not worry about it blowing around. I also want a tiny backseat for my dog, Gracie! She loves to come along wherever I go!

If you take a look at my art, you'll see that I love painting butterflies. My first one was at the suggestions of my son, David. We were doing a mural on the side of our shed and I found a picture of a purple cone flower that happened to have a lovely monarch visiting it. When we finished the flower, David reminded me that it was time to add the butterfly. I told him I didn't think I knew how to paint a butterfly, but I'd try. Well, it was pure magic. The giant image just flowed and I dearly love that first butterfly and see it almost daily when I look at the artistically painted shed in our yard.

Since I'm probably a ways away from being able to buy my truck :(, I thought I'd start practicing painting on cars with bits of car that I can get from wrecking yards. So far I've gotten a piece of bumper which I've hand painted a couple of butterflies on. I used acrylic paint and brushes to do these two. I'm going to try creating a stencil and using my airbrush to do the background and adding the details with brushes.

Finally, I have a friend who is an auto body guy. He'll clear coat the whole truck and protect the images as well as the original paint.

If you've created an art vehicle, I'd love to hear from you and learn what you found worked and what didn't. I'll continue to share my experience and, hopefully, will have a finished truck to show you!

Here's the piece of bumper I've been practicing on.

Open  view of monarch

side view of Monarch, no legs yet!

Two new monarchs

I've always loved butterflies. There's the brighter than life colors, the fact that they FLY, transformation symbolism... The cover of my book, Walk in Your Own Footsteps is a photo of the trail that ends in a butterfly sanctuary in Santa Cruz, CA. There are really a lot of reasons that I love butterflies. About 2 years ago I painted my first one. I fell in love all over again. Each one is like a snowflake, it looks just like the others, but not quite. Today, I finished two more paintings. I have so many ideas for butterflies fluttering around my head, it looks like I will be painting many, many more. So, here's what I finished today.

I will be printing out tiny versions and creating pendants with them. Gosh, what a lovely way to spend my time. It surprises me that my heart, soul, and imagination can be so excited and my body gets so tired that I can't create. I'm never out of ideas or inspiration. I hope you enjoy these, too.

My art work is now in a gorgeous gallery in Pacific Grove!!!

While on a little vacation to celebrate our anniversary, Jim and I happened upon the most wonderful gallery in Pacific Grove, CA. We were lucky enough to meet the owner of the gallery and I told her about my artwork. The owner, Sunshine, invited me to bring in my work for consideration in her shop. Well, I'm excited to share that she included everything I brought in.

The town of Pacific Grove is tucked in with Monterey and Carmel and is a quaint romantic getaway known for it's Monarch Butterfly migration. Well, if you've looked at my work, you know that I love to paint monarchs. Here's a couple of the paintings that are in the gallery.

I also created pendants from these images. If you'd like a copy, stop by the gallery or contact me directly.

The gallery also stocks copies of my book, inspirational cards, an original handmade purse, as well as my little hand sculpted and painted birdies.

Please let her know you learned about her shop from me.

Original art pendants are ready for McCloud

The philosophy of Cowgirl Gypsy Queen is all about AND! Dress up as a Cowgirl, Gypsy, or Princess? Yes! Boots or a tiara, why choose?

Living life with this philosophy opens me up to all sorts of exciting adventures. Very few of us define ourselves with just one aspect. Still, we naturally choose an answer to "What do you do?" And, we feel the need to have an answer for ourselves to the question, "Who are we?" What if we throw the doors and windows open and just refuse to choose? Refuse to stuff ourselves into the round hole, or the square one?  Let go of the idea of limits. It's fun!

I'm a homebody that loves to travel, a serious person who loves to laugh till my tummy hurts, I like cats and dogs, babies and teenagers. I'm a walking contradiction and I like it that way! Some people feel that, when it comes to art, you should choose a medium and focus on that. Well... I know that I would have much less fun if I had to pick just one thing. So far, my creative pursuits include writing, painting, sewing, quilting, beading, making stained glass, gardening, creating soft sculptures and photography. I may be forgetting something because sometimes I do. I'm interested in learning new things, too. Needle felting has me very intrigued.  

This explains why the last time I posted I showed the Kindle/ereader pouches I made. Today, I'm posting pictures of pendants that I made from my original art work and a darling picture form a vintage children's book. I made these to take with me to the McCloud flea market and I'll be posting some on ETSY when I get back.

I hope that you embrace your inner Cowgirl Gypsy Queen and, the next time you feel you should choose between two wonderful things, DON'T CHOOSE! Say, "Yes!" I'll take both, thank you!

A batch of finished necklaces

A tiny version of my painting "The One"

Lucky charm necklace

Mt Shasta painting with little heart bead charm

Getting ready for the McCloud Flea Market

My very first outing with my Cowgirl Gypsy Queen line is next Sunday, June 5th. I'm so excited and I've been making things and having so much fun! Here's a few Kindle pouches I've finished. I've been letting my creative muse be my guide, creating exactly what I feel like and playing with all these fun trims, bead, buttons... etc. What a joyous time. I hope that everyone who takes one of my creations home can feel a little of that joy in the piece. 

 

This Darling pouch is made from a vintage quilt I found. The pouch is embellished with a felt rose I handmade and a lacey doily.

This pouch is made from upholstery fabric.

I made this pouch to keep my mom's Kindle safe in style. It features handmade felt roses and grapes that were liberated from handmade doilies. I also added beads for a little sparkle.

Living the life of an Artist! Woo hoo!

I'm so excited that a beautiful store in the Land Park area of Sacramento called Trezhers is going to host my first Art Class in June. Because I want these classes to be a special experience for all my participants, I'm going to be putting on a show and inviting the students to play along with me.

I'll be handing the class over to my alter ego The Cowgirl Gypsy Queen and encouraging everyone to let their own inner child out to play. If you'd like to learn more about the Gypsy Queen, check out my new website at www.CowgirlGypsyQueen.com.

In class, we'll be making inspirational and fun artists trading cards (ATC) Here's a sample of a few I made. These tiny mixed media works of art are so fun because they are not overwhelming to complete yet allow each artist to express themselves!

I hope that you can come out and play with us!

More birdies for my ETSY site

I've been working on birdies to add to my ETSY site. I just love the little darlings! It all started when my sweetie and I were planning to get married. I went looking for the perfect wedding toppers for me and, while I liked a lot that I saw, none were exactly what was in my head. So... I tried making my own. My first few attempts were still close but no cigar, then I came up with a couple I dearly love! They are the birdies pictured at the top of my blog. While they are perfect for me, I must admit that they are a little small. So, I think I've come up with the perfect wedding couple.

Taking pictures is always a challenge. I especially like this one because it looks like the birds are looking at the penny.

I also sculpted and painted a whimsical little purple couple for fun. They are pictured here to give you an idea of contrast in size between the slightly larger green couple.

For the rest of the week, I'll be working on my pretty pouches which I plan to submit to Somerset by this weekend.

Happy creating, friends!

a BIG sign for my book signings

I thought it would be a good idea to make at least one BIG sign that could be seen across a fair or other large venue so I painted this one. It was really fun to work in a large scale. Wouldn't it be an absolute blast to be able to paint a HUGE something on the side of a barn! Ah, a girl can dream. Until then, 3 feet by 5 feet will have to do. :)

Walk in Your Own Footsteps Cards

I've been working on some beautiful cards to support my book Walk in Your Own Footsteps. I used original photography I've been collecting for years! It's so fun to share images that I've been enjoying for so long. Here are a few of the cards...