2009 Christmas Video

Merry Christmas!

Season's greetings from the North Pole (ie Toronto)!
Are you all keeping warm? Some of you are lucky enough to live down south. I wish I was somewhere warm right about now.
We actually don't have any snow on the ground, but it is very cold. I see so many places in the States that are filled with snow. I am surprised we have gone this long this winter without snow. I bet it will be coming soon! I have my boots all ready by the door when it does.

As I said in my last post, I am slowing down production here at Santa's workshop (errr I mean, my art studio), but I do have a new Frida painting just listed on ebay.



Plus I will continue to ship out prints as long as the post office is open. You can get yours in my Etsy Shop.

Me and my furry family (yes, Morgan is included in the "furry" family) wish you the best this holiday season!
Hugs to all!

Oh the weather outside is frightful...

It went from being quite a mild start to the winter season to darn chilly in one day! WOW! My face nearly froze off coming home from the post office!
That inspired a cozy Winter Angel painting. She is dressed for the cold winter wind and her cat knows to keep his ear covered...he should be covering both ears, but who am I to judge a cat's fashion sense?



I enjoyed painting the "Deer Frida" painting so much, I decided to try something the same only different :P
Frida with a wee deer. Both of these paintings are up for grabs on ebay.
Sorry my ebay auctions have been a bit scarce lately. I didn't expect the paintings to sell so quickly! I am delighted they did mind you, I just hope you guys weren't getting bored waiting for new ones.

Thanks so much for all your kind Birthday wishes!
WARM hugs to all!
xoxo

DEER FRIDA

Lightly based on frida's painting "Venadito::



Mine is a little more "cutsie" isn't it?
No arrows and blood for me :)

She is currently up for grabs on ebay!

The Christmas Rush

Season's Greetings!
Every year when it starts getting close to Christmas, I like to offer "buy it now" options on my ebay listings.
This way the artwork can be shipped out faster and arrive quicker!
I've already had a couple of paintings with "buy it now" that have sold, so if you come to my auction page and there are no listings, keep watching because I will periodically list new items to replace those that have sold.
You can find my listings here.



Keep warm!
xoxox

Babushka in the forest!

Babushka has taken a trip to the woodlands and met some new friends there! A cute little hedgehog and a fox for tea.
All one of a kind canvas paintings up for grabs on ebay and only a 5 day auction. They end on Wednesday!

Happy Thanksgiving to all my American friends!

Christmas Angel

Christmas is certainly on it's way! Last weekend Morgan and I went to the Santa Claus parade.
Here we have Santa's workshop. Do you think Santa will let me come work for him? I think he'd be a great employer. I would do it for the endless supply of candy canes alone!


Every year I try and paint a large angel painting for Christmas time. This is this years angel:



This will be my last LARGE sized painting for 2009. "Angel with Love" is currently up for grabs on ebay.

Our 10 year anniversary!

This weekend marked me and Morgan's 10 year anniversary.
The photos above were taken in our first few months of dating. How is it Morgan hasn't aged a bit, yet I have aged by a couple of decades? Not fair I tell you!
Morgan and I have been the best of friends these last 10 years and we are as happy as ever!
Happy 10th Honz!

Keeping Cozy

Just like that, it is beginning to look a lot like Christmas! All the stores have already got their Christmas decorations up and this Sunday is the Santa Claus parade! Santa is already in town and he's checking his list. Talk about being organized! I have to hand it to Santa, he gets the job done!

I don't want to let Santa down myself, so I have started some Christmas inspired paintings of my own.
This newest painting is called "Christmas Kitty", it is currently up for grabs on "ebay".
HO HO HO!

Wishing you GOOD fortune

This gypsy fortune teller has let me know that you can expect GOOD fortune in your future!

She is one of my newest paintings on ebay.
When I was a little girl I would often dress up as a gypsy for Halloween. I would wear my mom's big hoop earrings and a scarf on my head and Voila! I was a gypsy :)
This painting has shimmering gold stars all over and sparkly mica flakes in her crystal ball!


I also have a cute little Frida painting up for grabs on ebay. It has the nice chunky sides to it that I love. She is all decked out in her bright green dress with a nice cardinal on her arm.




HUGS to all!

What's New?

I have a couple of new little items over at my etsy shop that I'd like to share with you.


This is a fun little tote featuring the "Little Red Riding Hood" girl! It's just a fun little addition to take with you when you out shopping.

PLUS, Just in time for 2010, I have a new MINI sized calendar! It is so cute and small and comes with a tiny wooden clip to hold them together on your desk.



Come on by my etsy shop and check them out!
HUGS!

little doggie

My history with Chihuahua's date back to when I was a toddler. My grandparents had a (somewhat larger than usual) chihuahua named Gwendolyn. Affectionally called Gwen or Gwenny also. Here is a picture of me and Gwenny sharing a footstool. Yes, that is a purse on my head. I was always doing something to bring a chuckle to my doting grandparents. A little comedian I was!
Gwendolyn and I had a bit of a rocky relationship in the beginning. She didn't much appreciate me sitting in her dog bed looking at a picture book when I was a few months old. I think she thought that because of my small size, that we were in competition for my grandparents attention. Even with the odd curled upper lip she gave me, she was a cute dog and the first dog in a long line of dogs who won my heart over the years.



"Girl with Chihuahua" is up for grabs on ebay.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Happy halloween! I've been so busy lately that Halloween snuck up on me this year.
I did manage to squeak this little costume out. (Preparation time= 10 seconds)

Opie is FRIDA CATLO!

There was a flower too, but he got wise to what I was doing and wouldn't let me put the flower on his head.
Everyone have a spooky good time tonight!


BOO!

Ladybug Ladybug

A couple of weeks ago, I looked out my balcony window and saw a ladybug. I thought "Oh wow! Today is going to be a lucky day!" I had a dentist appointment that I was a bit nervous about, and the ladybug made me feel like I had nothing to worry about.
I later found out that there is a strange over population of ladybugs right now. Oh well, that ladybug did bring me luck that day, as I did not freak out at the dentist :)
Then I remembered that old ladybug bracelet that I had. (pictured above) I had bought it when I first started selling art on ebay 8 years ago. I always thought it brought me a lot of luck. I wore it always. In the shower, sleeping, all the time. One day I noticed it was not on my wrist anymore. I was sad to think I had lost it somewhere. To my surprise, it showed up in the sleeve of my winter coat! One of the links had broke. I didn't bother to get it fixed and went years without wearing it. Last week (after seeing the ladybug on the balcony), I decided to get that link soldered so I could begin to wear it again. Twenty-three dollars later (a bit steep for one link to be soldered....but well worth the luck it will bring) I got it fixed and I'm back to wearing it. I must say, I'm already feeling lucky :)



Miss ladybug fairy is up for grabs on ebay. The auction ends tomorrow!

Six new prints have been added to my shop

How was everyone's weekend? I went to look at the condo that had an open house. The place was PACKED with buyers! It's amazing how many people are looking for a condo around here! Toronto is booming!

Just a quick note to let you know that I have added some of my recent favorites to my etsy shop.
Six new prints!
You can view the whole shop HERE.

Have a great week!

There's no place like home

I'm a bit of a "home-body". (Okay, maybe more than a bit)
I love being a home with my cats and painting. It's my little piece of paradise in this crazy concrete jungle called Toronto. I like to put on the radio and listen to old time jazz and loose myself in the music as I paint.
Tomorrow I am going to look at another condo, it's an open house. They are expecting a "bidding war", so I'm pretty sure I won't be getting this one. It's okay to look though, right? We shall see.....

"There's no place like home" is currently up for grabs on ebay.
Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore.

Puppy love!

And they call it "puppy loveeeeeee" :)
Here is my newest painting "Frida with 3 chihuahuas". It's a mixed media piece. I used acrylic on canvas, collage papers and pencil crayon.
I love all the little butterflies and flowers :)

Give your kitty or puppy a hug for me!

"Frida with 3 chihuahuas" is up for grabs on ebay.

Frida with a basket of kittens

Frida adopts a basket of kittens! If you are looking for a pet, I suggest checking out your local humane society and adopting a sweet kitty cat. There are so many cats in need of a forever home. You'll be so happy you did! I can't image my life without a kitty in it!

Frida with a basket of kittens is up for grabs on ebay.

A few more larger pieces

I always intend to paint a lot of large paintings in the summer, the weather is nice enough for me to carry them to the post office. As winter rolls around, it because more difficult to haul a large painting in a box in the snow to the post office :)
I am going to try and get as many large paintings done in the next little while before the weather gets bad.

This is my newest painting. "Girl in striped shirt with cat". There are a lot of soft details and tonal ranges to this one. I tried a more modern approach to the figure.

Girl in striped shirt with cat is up for grabs on ebay.

Meow!

Ever have one of those days?

"Mindy was busy knitting a new scarf for her niece when
Mr. Fur Pants suddenly appeared and tried to grab the yarn!
PLUS, Mr. Fur Pants let his tail get away on him
and it almost went directly up Mindy's nose!"

I am having one of those days....

"Mindy's knitting fiasco" is up for grabs on ebay

Painting large

Hello Beautiful People!
Here in Canada this last weekend was Thanksgiving. I had a lovely time and cooked a nice meal. Opie and Lily enjoyed some turkey :)

I also had time to create this large portrait painting. I really enjoy painting large. It is so much more physical than the smaller works I do. You really have to stretch your arm when painting big. Plus I use different brushes, I find I can get a softer look on the larger paintings because of the bigger brushes. It allows for more room to push the paint around :)

Portrait with kitty and bird is up for auction on Ebay.

Hugs to all!

Kisses!

Pets love to give kisses don't they? Opie kisses me all the time. Yes, his breath smells like a bad can of tuna fish.....but that's okay, I still love his kisses. Did I mention that I love to kiss him on his forehead? I do it all the time. His sweet little velveteen forehead :)

Rain rain go away..

It looks like we've hit the rainy season here in Toronto. It has rained a lot and will continue to. If the weather was warmer it would be perfect for planting. My newest painting has Frida planting some sunflowers. I actually LOVE LOVE LOVE sunflower sprouts, to eat! YUMMY! They are bigger than most sprouts and have a nutty taste. (By nutty, I mean taste like sunflower seeds, not nutty as in crazy! LOL!)

The rain has been so strong lately that I got myself a pair of these boots:

They are neon yellow! They are like little cartoon boots and that is what I like about them. I feel like a kid in them, and want to jump in puddles! They will certainly make going to the post office in the rain more enjoyable.

"Frida plants seeds" is up for auction on ebay.

Stay dry!

Bicycles

There is a strong bicycle community here in Toronto. The city is so congested that walking or cycling is the best way to get around. Today Morgan and I went for a little walk and all of a sudden I saw a giant Egyptian sculpture! (Click the photo to see it bigger)

Is that King Tut? Help me out on this one :) I guess I better go to the exhibition and find out!

Frida likes to ride her bike around town to go get flowers for her hair:



Cycling and walking are great ways to actually stop and see what is going on around you, plus, it is better for the environment :)

Frida on her bike is up for grabs on ebay.

Frida with Cactus

I really like my new Frida painting. She is setting out the cactus in the sunshine. The cat isn't thrilled with her choice of plants. Kitty prefers something easier to munch on.

I like it when I can make the character in the painting "do" something. It's like playing dolls. I get to have my own little make-believe world.

"Frida with Cactus" is up for grabs on ebay.

New Halloween prints in my etsy shop

Happy Monday!

To start the week off, I have a couple of new Halloween prints in my etsy shop! Limited amounts on these special halloween treats :)

Tomorrow is FALL can you believe it? Summer went by very quickly this year.

Hugs to all!
xoxox

Warm Fall Colors

I always look forward to the Fall because of the beautiful colors that the trees turn to. I also love wearing warm fuzzy sweaters and corduroy.
My newest painting has a lot of oranges and reds in it. A sweet babushka getting the table ready with tulips. On the chair sits mr. meow-pants watching her every move. (I want a dress just like hers!)

"Cat on a red chair" is up for grabs on ebay.

Hugs to all!

Getting ready for Halloween

I know Halloween is more than a month away, but the way time seems to be flying lately I feel I better get a jump on things :)
Opie and Lily will have to figure out what they want to be for Halloween this year.

A lot has been going on here in Toronto lately. There is the Toronto International Film Festival. I keep meaning to go to yorkville where all the celebrities are, but I haven't gotten around to it yet. The celebs will only be here for 3 more days so I better get with it! Rob Lowe (my teenage celebrity crush) was in town and I missed him! Darn it! I would love to see him in person. Maybe tomorrow I will go check out that area. It's right where Whole Foods is, so I can get some good snacks while I'm "star gazing".

For now, my Halloween paintings are currently up for grabs on ebay. Spooky yet cutie :)

HUGS!

Frida Picking Flowers

I had this image in my mind of Frida picking flowers to put in her hair. This is the painting that came from that thought.
She is up for grabs on ebay.
HUGS!

Pet Lovers!

Hi everyone!
My two newest paintings show the love we have for our animal friends :)

First is a good ol' game of fetch. Does your dog do this? Jump up and down in excitement waiting for you to throw the ball? I remember all the dogs I grew up with doing this. Also, the famous game of tug! They have the ball, you try to get it out of their mouth to throw it again and they won't let go. A tug of war begins. You finally give up and say "fine we won't play anymore", and they suddenly drop it. You go to pick it up and they grab it again! LOL!



Plus, I have Frida taking time from her tea break to give her kitty a hug. Cats love to get up on the table to see what's going on don't they?



Both paintings are up for grabs on ebay.

Hugs to you!

Miss Babushka Dollie

Here she is! All dressed up in her dotted dress with her babushka kerchief on. Looks like she is waiting for a call.
All dressed up and no where to go. She will be staying with me for a while until I make some friends for her.
Stay tuned!

New prints and new sewing projects

Today I got the sewing machine out and started working on some projects. There was rickrack involved! YAY for rickrack!



I hope I can have the doll ready by tomorrow to show you!

I've also added two new prints to my Etsy Shop



Pssst ... *whispers* See the print below? It's for sale for only 5 dollars! Get one before they're gone!