Sparkling Grey Hair

I have written about my grey hair before, and I feel it is time for another update. I just want to show some photos of me with my grey hair in hopes to to show people that it is okay to be yourself. No matter what society tells you. Beauty is always within. Here is a link to my original grey hair post: Original post

Holiday season already?

Is it too early to paint winter wonderlands? I don't think so. I find every year that Christmas sneaks up on me. This year I have an early start!

I have added 3 sweet originals to my Etsy Shop. Grab a cup of cocoa and browse :)

Last DRAWING CLASS for 2012!

Hello friends! I have had some requests to offer my drawing class one more time before it is put away until the spring/summer of 2013. So here it is!

DRAWING WITH TASCHA SIGN UP PAGE
I throughly enjoyed the students that have taken this class already! It has been a blessing! I was so impressed by the artwork that they came up with. Here is an example of some sketches from my first group of students:

Come join us for all the fun one more time!

There is an early bird special of $55.00 (the price goes up to $60 on Nov. 17th, so get in now!)

Click the link below! See you there!

Sign up page

wooden bracelet sketching

I bought a wooden bracelet at the craft store the other day. It was so smooth I felt it to be a crime to paint on it. I got out my black ink pen and began to draw. Free hand, no sketching out ideas ahead of time. I just let the lines go where they wanted to. Then, when the black lines were complete, I colored it in using pencil crayons. I topped it off with a clear gloss varnish. The image is of a girl holding an orange cat. Her long patterned skirt going all the way around with her little red shoes almost meeting her head.

New products hitting the shelves this month!

Greetings! It is always such a thrilling feeling to see my artwork take on different forms and spread it's wings and fly all over the world. This month I would love to show you two new products hitting the shelves.

The beautiful people at Jelly the Pug have made sweet lunch boxes that feature my little babushka with a pug :) Peanut butter and jelly never looked so good ;)

I am also thrilled to see the new display of Halloween cards from Allport Editions! Can you spot my cute little halloween girls and the cute little witchy-poo? Squeeeeel! So exciting! That is what is new around here for the month of September. Oh and did I mention my online class is up again in case you missed it the first time?

Class just started and already everyone is drawing up a storm! The class runs till Nov. 3rd so there is plenty of time to jump in on the action. Sign up here! Cheers everyone! xoxo

July has been BUSY!

Hello beautiful people! This month just flew by! I can't believe tomorrow is August! I have been busy with my online class. It's been a blast. My students are so talented! I am blown away at how quickly they picked up the techniques. I have added new photos of their work HERE. They are drawing up a storm!

I tried taking my art to the streets in an outdoor art fair. It was fun to get out and meet people and see their reactions to my art in person.

It is also that time of the year ago for the Square Foot Art Show. I love being a participant in that art show every summer. Hundreds of artists joining together in one show, each of us painting a one foot square painting.

Another neat thing that happened this month was finding out that my art appeared in the magazine Romantic Homes! There she is, can you spot her?

I am pumped and ready for August. How about you?

And we've only just begun!

I am going to sound like a proud mama right now. The students of my drawing with tascha course are doing AMAZING for just the first week! Check out some of these darling drawings done by my students!

Seriously! How cute are these?!!! We just started and they are already doing so well. There is still time to sign up and join us. The class runs until Sept 1st and the videos are rolled out weekly. All videos stay up for the whole course and can be played over and over again. Plus PDFs to print off and keep! WOOT! sign up here!

Happy sketching!

My e-class starts in just FOUR days!

Ohhhhh I'm so excited!!! I am counting down the days. JUST FOUR! Four days until my on-line drawing course starts :)) I am going into total depth with instruction of creating the character in drawing. Loads of valuable info in this course. I talk and draw in real time explaining everything. I am confident that my students will come out of this drawing the cutest characters that have movement and life! The group who signed up early are all so friendly! I am thrilled to have them. (Can you tell I'm excited?!) The Early Bird Special is available until Saturday when the First video class starts. Then the price goes up. If you haven't signed up yet, NOW is the time. You won't regret it! Click HERE to sign up! HUGS! xoxo

SIGN UP HERE!

ONLINE CLASS - SIGN UP

DRAWING FROM YOUR IMAGINATION!

ON LINE ART CLASS STARTS JULY 14
sign up now!

Instructor - Tascha Parkinson graduated from the Ontario College of Art and Design in 1997. Since then she has worked as an independent artist selling her artwork through such websites as ebay and etsy.
Tascha has also worked in the commercial art industry teaming up with large companies such as DEMDACO in developing artistic giftware. Tascha also has a line of greeting cards that are distributed in gift shops throughout the USA and Canada.


Welcome to the e-course you have been asking for!


Bringing characters to life is my passion. There are basic drawing skills that are needed in order to create the character that you can see in your mind's eye. This e-course is a class that teaches step by step instruction in drawing to create cute characters from your imagination, and bring them to life! I will teach you the concepts I use in illustration as it relates to movement and emotion in the character. Once you learn these drawing skills you can use them to draft out your paintings, make illustrations or design children's books! This is a solid foundation for your future illustration projects.


VIDEO 1: Here we go! I will give an intro to supplies. Then we dive right into learning to draw the face, and drawing the face from different angles. Also facial expressions and mood.


VIDEO 2: Now that we have drawing the face, we learn drawing the body from the front. Then drawing the body from the side. Also drawing different clothing.


VIDEO 3: Now we bring the characters to life! Learning drawing the body in motion. Action poses, body posture, and body language.


VIDEO 4: Our little characters will have friends! Learning to draw two figures interacting together and how it tells a story.


VIDEO 5: Finally for fun we learn how to make a few alterations and change our character into an animal! You will see that once you learn the basics, you can draw a wide range of characters.

Learning with Tascha

Learning with Tascha is a social network. It's a website that I have set up that will be a place for me to teach a virtual class room of students. The class starts on July 14 and will have weekly videos for 5 weeks. I will be keeping the class open until Sept. 1st. During this time you can play the videos as often as you like. The website has a forum where students can discuss projects and ask questions. I encourage students to share their artwork in photos on the website. It's a friendly place where we will all cheer each other on in our artistic development. I will be available if anyone has any questions throughout the semester.

SIGN UP DETAILS:

The FIRST video will be released on July 14th, but the sign up starts now! The class is $60.00 USD. 5 Videos will be rolled out weekly and will remain on the website for the full time of the course (until September 1st).

SIGN UP INSTRUCTIONS:

To sign up, pay via the paypal button at the bottom of this page. In the box type the email address you would like the invitation sent to. Then, when I receive your paypal payment, I will send you an invitation to the email address you requested it sent to (It may take up to 14 hours for your invitation to show up in the email. Be sure to check your spam folder as well). Open the invitation and it will request your email to sign in, plus you will create your own password to use for your own page in the class room. Then you are free to make you page look however you like and to join in on forums and watch the videos! Once you do enter the class the fee is non-refundable. See you there!


PAYPAL $60.00
This class is currently full. Stay tuned for new classes.

And the winner is......

CONTEST GIVE-A-WAY!!!!

HI everyone! I would like to introduce you to a game I illustrated called "Grandma's Trunk". It is a fun educational game for kids :)) It is loaded with illustrations! The game is from Educational Insights and is a perfect gift for kids!

See the video below to get a peek inside of it:





I am having a contest to win one for yourself! YAY!!! All you have to do is leave one comment below and on June 18th I will be drawing a winner! Yippy!

Thanks so much everyone, the contest is now over, I will be making the draw shortly :)

Little wooden dolls chat amongst themselves

Hello sweet bloggers in blog-land! I really need to come by here more often. I get so wrapped up on facebook that I come to notice I am not here that much. I am sorry. I hope you all do come see me on facebook when you can. I post almost daily over there. Oh so many different outlets now! It is hard to keep up isn't it? Just wanted to pop my head in and show you my little wooden peg doll babushkas. Hugs to all! xoxo

Movie trailer?

Travelin'

I noticed that lately, my paintings have the urge to travel! Four new paintings with three different modes of transportation!

New paintings are available over on etsy

xoxo

Pinterest

Hey everyone!
Have you heard of PINTEREST yet?

Welllll, if you haven't you should check it out! I am just LOVIN' it! It is a website where you add pictures to your page in different sections. For example, I have a section of food that I like. When I see something on the web that is a nice photo of food and is followed with a great recipe, I "pin" it to my page. Then everyone can see it and if they like it too, they can pin it to their page. Think of Beonce's song "If you like it you should have put a ring on it", but change "ring" to "pin", haha, I saw a poster with that on it on etsy. So funny!

It is great for people who are redoing their decor and are thinking of different color combos, it's great for wedding planning, wardrobe ideas, hair and make up, the list goes on. So if you are interested in following me and seeing what turns my crank,:), here is the link to my page " Tascha Pinterest ". To join you have to either get an invite, or you can ask pinterest to let you join. I think you need a twitter or facebook account. Happy pinning!

Getting real

Every once in a while I try painting "real". Painting in a realistic way that represents something as it appears. I find it fun, like doing a puzzle. I think I do prefer my usual folksy, fun, wacky, imaginary style. See, when I paint that way, there is no right or wrong. I get very caught up in what isn't right about my realistic paintings. I do like the pigs that I painted recently.

I like the soft pastel colors in that one, and the expression in his eyes. Once I do paint an animal in a realistic way, I learn more about what they look like for when I stylize them in a folk style.

I painted this self portrait today. It was challenging, that's for sure! Just thought I'd show you something different I've been working on. It's always good to try something different every once in a while to keep your imagination sharp :) xoxo

The sketchbook project 2012

Last year I was going to take part in the Sketchbook Project, but things got a bit busy for me and I didn't get a chance to complete it. The Sketchbook Project is an art show of all the same size art journals from participants from around the world. I love being a part of shows like this. What made the 2012 show special is that they are going to take the sketchbooks on the road and have shows with them all over the world. One of the stops will be right here in Toronto, so I decided I just had to be a part of it this time!

I had some trouble getting going and came this close to giving up and not doing it again. I was getting all caught up on worrying about making it "good enough". Finally with the deadline looming, I decided to throw caution to the wind and just start drawing, something, ANYTHING! I did the above drawing quickly. Just a quick sketch of me trying on different glasses. The theme I was given for my journal was "in 10 minutes". I went with that and made each page in 10 minutes. FAST with no regrets.

You know what? I finished it. Is it my best work? Heck no! But that's okay. It was very freeing and I learned a few things along they way. Now I can look forward to the show when it comes to Toronto this summer. YAY!!! I wanted to show you guys the whole journal as if you were flipping through it, so I made a video:


Thanks for joining me today!

xoxo

hello sweethearts!
Love is in the air. Soon it will be Valentine's Day. I really love (no pun intended...okay maybe a bit of a pun) Valentine's day. I love making Valentine's Day art. Pinks and reds and lots of hearts.
I've been pretty busy getting some deadlines done. I'm working away on the Author's Series paintings. They are going to look great as a collection of cards. I also am working away on the Sketchbook Project.

It's a good way to just let loose and try different techniques. The sketchbook project is an interested art show featuring art from around the world. They are going to be bringing all the journals to Toronto, I can't wait!
I have a new Valentine's Day painting over at My Etsy Shop. Frida with one of her loves, her kitty!

I should have a few more lovey dovey things in my shop soon. xoxo

The Authors Series

Hello Friends! As you may already know, I've been working with the greeting card company Allport Editions for close to 10 years now. My current line of cards are really fun! It's called the "authors series" and features my rendition of famous authors painted on wood with collage papers added.

These cards are doing well in museums and gift shops. I throughly enjoyed painting them! If you are interested in getting a pack of these cards the company Bas Bleu sells them on-line. Now I am starting work on a brand new authors series. So many authors, so little time...haha... Here is a preview of Charles Dickens:

Here is Mark Twain too :) :

Wishing you all a fantastic day! It snowed here. The first time this year that the snow actually is sticking to the ground. I was hoping we could squeak through to Spring with no snow, but no such luck. Keep cozy!

Lily says "hi"

Lily requested a shout out. She wanted you all to know that she loves each and every one of you out there in blogland.

Silver Fox

Today I would like to talk about "natural beauty". Beauty that comes from within. Deep in the soul and radiates out like sunshine. This is what I strive for. I want to be beautiful on the inside....both spiritually and health wise. I want my body to be healthy and functioning at an optimum level. I want my inner peace to shine. This is a tough battle living in a society where looks are everything. The exterior. I am constantly having to *explain* my grey hair to people. They will ask things like "why don't you dye your hair?" and "What's going on with your hair?" or "what happened to your hair?" I say "I like it like this" and of course, they look at me like I'm crazy.

I know about hair dye. Yes, I've heard of it before. In fact, in college I had my hair purple. I liked being different....and I guess I still do. I like being a rebel with my grey hair. I like going against the grain of societies norms. But more than that, I like being natural. I am proud of who I am. This is me. My grandmother had snow white hair, she went grey early too. I feel a kinship knowing the grey hair "gene" was passed down to me. This connection I feel is far stronger than what some fashion magazine says I should do.

Sure, I may look "older" than I would if I dyed my hair chestnut brown.....but does that matter? Age is wisdom. Age is love. Age is enlightenment. As I get older I feel so much more compassionate and insightful. Why try and hide that by looking younger and less experienced? ;)

This is my life. I choose to look like this. I want to focus on my mind, body and spirit. It is all that matters.

I have a lot to say on this topic that can't be covered in just one post. I will post more later. But for today I want to leave you with this photo of a beautiful woman.
The author and illustrator Tasha Tudor. She aged gracefully. Pure beauty.

Welcome 2012!!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Yes, I've been gone for a while....what? A year or two? I was kind of taking time off. My kitty-love-of-my-life Opie died in 2010. I got into a bit of a funk after that. Some may find it strange to be so attached to an animal. Those people must have never met a cat like Opie. He was magical. One in a million.


xoxo

I decided to start fresh for 2012. I am taking on a whole new way of eating, and I might try a whole new way of doing art too! I am so excited about nutrition! I am reading all kinds of books on it, I just can't get enough! I bought a juicer and that is my new thing. Everyday I make juice. Carrot, apple and ginger. It is sooooo tasty and sooooo good for you too! I am eating raw greens and all real whole foods. I'm staying away from anything processed. No canned, packaged, frozen or fast food for me. I'm *trying* to cut out sugar. I think I'm doing pretty good. I am also not eating meat. I feel so strongly about my love for animals and I just don't think I can eat them anymore. I had been weening myself off of meat for a while now. But I think this is it. No more. I want to get myself well. I bought a movie on itunes called Food Matters. I highly recommend watching it. They said something in the video that really resonated with me. It was "the body can heal itself." What, what? For some reason I never fully knew this, or believed it....Now that I do, I am going to do everything in my power to heal myself. I want to be healthy and strong. Here is the movie off of youtube. I highly recommend it:





I plan to post more frequently, thank you all so much for sticking around :)