My Latest Creative Outlet: Cakes!

I'm still happy drawing and I've spent a lot more time practicing my photography, but I have now developed a love of cake decorating. Having 4 kids, a mother cannot escape the need to come up with a really cool cake. This year I made a pink princess castle for my daughter.
It was huge! But a big hit!!!

For my son, I embarked on the world of fondant. He really loved the Wii game, Pikmin and here are two cakes inspired by Pikmin:

It turned out really well! My son is in heaven!

Work In Progress

This portrait has been sitting in my house staring at me for the last year and a half. That's the last time I worked on it, sad to say. So spring is here, my sunroom is warm again and I got motivated to work on this portrait again. I have added about 3 days worth of work since I last touched it. I'm excited to actually stick with it and finish now!

Red-Eyed Tree Frog

The challenge for Feb. was "Metamorphosis". Loving wildlife like I do, I couldn't resist the chance to create something with animals. I chose the red-eyed tree frog because he is just so cute! Here, you see him through some of the phases of his development. I did this one in watercolor with a touch here and there with acrylics. The only other time I ever touched watercolors was one project I did long ago in a high school art class. So this was a great learning experience! I'm not completely satisfied that this is "done", but it will have to do for now, since I want to move on to the March challenge.

Mardi Gras Challenge

For February, the Children's Book Illustrator's group I go to challenged us to create a picture related to Mardi Gras. So I used this as an opportunity to play with my acrylic paints. I've never made a real attempt at using acrylics before, so this was alot of fun!

More on "The Perfect Curl"

This is "The Perfect Curl" one month later. I've had very little time to work on it. I'm still trying to figure out oil pastels, (this is my first ever oil pastel!) which is what this picture is done in. It is 18 X 24 inches done on charcoal paper. (I really need to invest in something more durable!) I really love the blendability of oil pastels! The kind I have are creamy as butter. On the larger areas, I draw with the oil pastel stick and layer it on till the paper is covered, then I use a paper stump to blend it together. On small areas, I put pastel on the stump and draw with the stump.

"The Perfect Curl" in progress...

People are always asking me, "How long did it take for you to finish that piece of work?" I usually have no idea because I don't keep track, especially since I don't work continually on anything. I might get one day to devote several hours to a piece, but then it may be a few weeks before I have time to come back and spend 10 minutes here, 10 minutes there on it. I am currently working on "The Perfect Curl" and this picture probably took less than a week to do...one day spent projecting the image, tracing important landmarks and getting those fantastic curls started and a few days working on the curls and eye. I'm calling it "The Perfect Curl" because my daughter and I try to find at least one "perfect" curl in her head of naturally curly hair every day. It's what I do to help her find joy in naturally curly hair. Those perfect curls like to appear at the nape of the neck and are often hidden, but when they pop up they are a delight to see! Kind of like my daughter.

Yellow Cat (Framed)