A Kind Night In Progress

I am so happy to be back to blogging, hopefully with my normal regularity now!

Although I have come back to find that the Blogger interface has

completely changed and I can't say I am a fan of the changes whatsoever!

Anyhow...let me start to catch you up on abunch of new images...

...so bear with me as I figure out everything

and get a new font etc sorted out!!

In the meantime here's a new piece almost complete,

it's a coloured pencil on paper called "A Kind Night",

it's taking awhile as it's full of lots of detail but it'll all be worth it I am hoping.

I'll be able to show you the final piece soon XO.

Spring Waltz

Hey guys, sorry to be absent again, I've been sooooo sick

and I am still sick so I'll just pop in quickly with a new image I've been anxious to show you...

"Spring Waltz"

I am really happy with it

and I can't wait to offer it to you not only in print form but on t-shirts & bags etc really soon

(I hope!)

But first, back to my doctor ordered bedrest!

I'll hopefully be back in the swing of things next week

Hope your all feeling way better than I have been!

XOXO

Autumnal Dance

Well the rain started and sure enough about 10-15 minutes afterwards

the head pain (which turned to a migraine today) started to ebb away to almost nothing...phew!

So I was able to get into the studio tonight to finish

 

"Autumnal Dance"

 

 

I admit it, I love how it turned out.

There is no concept, no fancy story, just a play of pleasing shapes and colours.

It was an effortless dance admist autumnal colors, inspired by one of our fall kayaking days.

I plan two others to make a series of 3.

The original will be up for grabs soon & prints will be in the shop by Monday.

A New Colouring Page

This is the colouring page my "Keep In Touch" subscribers

are getting with this month's studio news issue.
 



Want to get your free monthly pages too?

Just sign up right here.

Glitter Bug 10

Hopefully I am on a better track for this week...
we'll see!

 

 

Here's a new Glitter Bug (#10).

He's up for grabs, if your interested just shoot me an email.



Lino Al Fresco

We are outside...with music, peppermint schnapps and a current read...

 

 

Working on lino-cuts in the lovely summer air...ahhhh....Happiness is Free...GRAB HOLD!

Quirky Chicks

Even though my head has been pretty bad I've been getting new pictures started.

 

 

It's a new series starting with 4 quirky chicks who will carry inspirational messages from me to you.



Lama

A lama amongst stars and clouds and hills and grass.

A lama with some pretty nifty fashion sense too!

 

 

Today and this weekend I am working on some of my little quirky creature stories...

Why???  For now it's a secret....but I'll spill the beans sooner than later, I promise!

P.S.  My monthly e-news goes out today.  If you'd like to receive them just send me an email, thanks.

She Was Nourished By Honeyed Green Tea

I wanted to show you this new image of mine...

 

"She Was Nourished By Honeyed Green Tea"

 

 

A closer look at some detailing...

 

 A portrait of sorts yes I suppose, ha ha....

I do find myself feeling greatly nourished & soothed by green tea with honey.
But it's also an image for any tea lover.

 

 

And yep...you guessed it....

PRINTS ARE AVAILABLE in my Etsy shop.

 

 



Teegan, Titus, Thibbs & Thyme

I finished this new image awhile ago...I've been so anxious to show you.

Aren't they such a lovely grouping...

In this dreamland, Teegan makes sure that foes become & remain friends...oh don't you wish!

 

"Teegan, Titus, Thibbs & Thyme"

 

 

Here are some close-ups...

 

 

Prints of her are already available in my Etsy shop...

along with her buddies in the same series "Maueve, Miles & Milly" and

"Beatrix, Balnora & Baynor".

 

I hope you love it as much as I loved making it.

 

See you on Friday.

 



Aireadney

She's an elegant little bun and her name is Aireadney

 

She is another little 5 x 7" coloured pencil on a painted wood canvas.

 

 

Her lineage is most impressive...

it goes back to Edwardian times where her ancestors were

the first hand-maidens to the sad but stately Mary Stuart, otherwise known as 'Queen of Scots'.

For 26 years, from 1542 to 1567, Aireadney's ancestors dressed the royal monarchy.

They ran the whole show from design, to measuring, to making,

they were trusted to use their indisputable elegant taste to select fabrics from around the globe,

right down to the daily selection of wardrobe and my goodness this in itself was a full time job because we all know the monarchy changes clothes for every event of the day including all 3 meals!

 

Inspired by her lineage, Aireadney now proudly own her own Edwardian costume empire...

her driving inspiration of course coming from the fashions her ancestors toiled over.

Though Aireadney cleverly designs each piece so that no torturous corsets are needed!

Her biggest clients come worldwide from Stratford/Shakespearean play houses.

and she does on occasion accept custom orders from royal princesses...but only if she likes them!



Off To A Good Start

another new little inkling.

 

 

Hope your having a great day.

On My Desk

A sneak peek at what's on my desk this week...

 

 

I really hope she turns out!!!

Another Rabbit Inkling & 6 Years

On top of my exhibition, this week I am preparing for something huge...I can't wait to tell you.
 

I am enjoying more time with my ink pens & more little inklings...doesn't this one look like our Jin.
I just love it and can totally picture it on a tote bag.

Today marks my 6th year of blogging.  Wow.

 

 

I remember my very first post,
I was so nervous, tentative, unsure of who in the world would care about anything I wrote or showed, it took me hours to hit the publish button, ha ha.
I wasn't quite knowing what my blog was about or would become or even if I'd keep it up.
Now 6 years in and almost 1000 posts later, it feels like a cozy home and a labor of love,
a beautiful space for show and tell, a meeting place for new friends,
a gentle spot to lay open my heart and my tender soul...knowing I'll be met with kindness & support.
Well now 6 years down the road, I am planning on blogging for atleast another 6, ha ha!

On Being An Artist

I've been busy busy busy

(except for the last week and a bit due to this nasty cold)

but I still fear I won't get all that I want to get done for my upcoming show.
It's like this every time!  I stress out even though I know I'll pull something together in the end!

 

Aside from all of the hours upon hours of colour work that people get to see...

they don't get to see the hours upon hours of sketching time I put into each piece.

 

 

I love the drawing part...the tiny detail part...perhaps just as much as the colour part.

I do it in waves, I won't sketch for months at a time and than suddenly 'it's time'...

Time to do nothing but draw, get new ideas roughed out & get old ideas drawn out for the finals.

 I'll have my head bent over sketchbooks & tracing paper & reference books for hours upon hours.

When I am working with coloured pencils,

I have to take frequent breaks because of my wrist & neck...

but when I am drawing and sketching it's the opposite, the longer I am at it, the more fueled I am.

My honey knows I am in 'the zone' and he never complains that he's barely sees me but instead

he brings me food and hot teas and takes over the laundry etc, (he's so awesome).

 

I love that I've been doing this long enough now to know that I never have to fear.

I have no fear of my creativity drying up or just not being there.

I am now comfortable in my creative cycle.

I know that I may not get any ideas for months on end BUT in a flash every few months,

I will sit down and get enough drawn out to last me until the next creative burst.

 

 Here's a sneak peek at a new piece I am currently working on that I am excited about...

 

 

Often what's in my head isn't necessarily what I end up with...

which is disappointing and frustrating yes but it fuels me to make the  next piece better.

But sometimes, like with this bird filled one, it turns out better than I envisioned

and it's a piece you can come back to again & again with a whispered 'Wow...I did that..'

and there's such joy in that whispered moment & realization. 

For me, it's one of the best things about being an artist.

 

Coloured pencils are a tedious, unforgiving, super slow medium but I don't care...I've never cared.

Even when my professors scolded me & said to stop using them, that they weren't a viable medium!

Like my honey and the bunnies...they make my heart tick happily.

 

Tick Tock...Tick Tock...happy happy happy!

Another Tiny Inkling

Another teeny tiny inkling.
(I just bought the most delicious sketchbook to do more of these simple ink drawings in. YAY)
 



 

Tell me...would you be interested in small 4 x 6" prints of these guys if I were to offer them?

They might make lovely little notecard sets too don't you think???

Art Card GIVEAWAY

Happy Valentines Day Everyone.

 

Let's celebrate with a sweet little Giveaway from me to you.

 

The winner will receive these 3 art cards of mine.

(Beautiful handmade darlings printed on 140 pound watercolour paper)

They will be lovingly wrapped up, filled with good bunny mojo &

sent to you from my cozy Northern studio when we draw a name on March 3rd.

 

 

How to enter???

Just sign up for my monthly studio news

(sign up is right here)

or email me at MandySaile@BijousWhimsy.com with 'Giveaway Yes Please' in the subject line

and I'll add you to my newsletter list & enter your name for the draw.

 

p.s. If you already receive my studio news by email you must still enter your name if your interested.

Just let me know that your already on the list.  Thanks.

Solo Exhibition

I am booked for another gallery exhibition.

 

This will be my 4th solo show.

 

This time around it'll (hopefully) be all brand new works (if my head cooperates) and all figurative.
The message of this exhibition will again be along the same theme that I always try
to hit with my work...one of connection & kindness to animals & to our own tender hearts.

 

I am excited.

 

I am excited because I know that when I have a gallery show coming up,

I'll be pushing myself to do the more conceptual pieces that I really enjoy making the most.

My last show was 'Birds of a Feather' and it was a cool showing BUT
When I think on a year of work where I was really super crazy in love with what I was making,
it wasn't for that exhibition but for my solo exhibition a few years back in 2009
called 'A Woman's Work' (click here to see the archive site).

I want to capture that feeling of utter pride & excitement with my work again this time around.
Exhibition work just tends to be a time when I make the pictures where my story-telling &
messages can flourish and grow in more depth and with more room.

Sometimes blogging can be passive-aggressive, ha ha

because it over time quietly captures me into this tight cycle of doing smaller, quicker works

for the sake of making sure I am continually showing you all new pieces!
I always try to do a fair balance of new artwork, life sweetness's & rabbit goodness...
I am not at all saying that I am not in love with what I've been making & showing you, not at all,

It's just time to do some more conceptual figurative pieces that tend to take a tad longer to make,
and I've been feeling that need for a shift in artwork...which is why I jumped on the offer to exhibit.
 

 

But whiles I will not let this show be all consuming like my last exhibition was!
I will allow myself to work on what I need to work on so I can feel awesome about what I am showing....and my dear little blog will just have to follow suit!

because the images I have in mind for it are pieces that must be made even if I wasn't having a show.

They've been tugging on my creative heart for a long while now,

begging to make an appearance outside of my sketchbook! 

So in order to bring them to life, I'll succumb to the fact that perhaps

I'll be showing you more 'works in progress' more often.

But you all won't mind that will you?!!

You all seem to like it when I show you

the beginning & middle parts of pictures and not just the end results? 

 

So my show is next year.
The public run is slated for April 26 to May 16 of 2014
at the WKP Kennedy Gallery in my small city of North Bay.

and I am sending out a giant wish to the universe...
I want this show to travel to other galleries far beyond my little town.
I want to use this exhibition to push myself further
to exhibit and get into galleries I've never shown in before.  To reach new audiences.

I don't quite know how to do it, even with my gallery history/background BUT I'll figure it out!!!

SO, if you are a gallery director or you know one, or you think my work would suit a
cool gallery in your part of the world, send me a message & lets chat!

Whimsy, Quirkiness and COLOUR...Check Things Out

Christmas is coming fast...

 

Don't forget that I have oodles of beautifully colourful,

whimsical and quirky prints that would make excellent presents.

All of my prints are 8 x 10" and are super easy to frame with your favorite 8 x 10 frame.

 



 

I hop you'll hop by for a look.

Don't forget to check back often because lots of new goodies are on their way too...

such as smaller 5 x7" prints, mounted prints, greeting cards and other whimsies.

 

My website newsletter sign up isn't working at the moment
but if you want to keep up to date on new artwork & additions to my shop
just send me your email to MandySaile@BijousWhimsy.com and I'll add you to my newsletter list.

Flutter Jewel

I finally finished it up...finally!

and I am really happy with the end results.

 

The coloured pencil hummingbird was done ages ago

but it completely eluded me on how to finish the background...

I usually don't have such trouble like that.  I think because I was so in love with the bird,

I wanted the background to capture and showcase the essence of the birds character too....

 

 

...and I think I've achieved that.  I hope I did anyhow!

I think the line work and colours around the bird capture a warm spirit & an immense energy,

not just the incredible movement such a bird would have.

 

It's been titled  "Flutter Jewel"

 

(the Original is SOLD)

But Prints are in my shop.

 

Have an amazing weekend and I'll see you next week.