May the Fourth be With You

#MayTheFourthBeWithYou

For this special Wordless Wednesday,
I've curated a few of forceful artworks currently featured on Society6.

Yoda,
 Mercenary Art Studio

Idilliard
Luke in Rebel Flight Helmet

Leia,
Seventh Wonder Witch

Obi-Wan illustration, 
Tom Deacon

Rey Watercolor, 
painting by Hector Trunnec




click highlighted links for prints and apparel with this awesome artwork & more from these artists.

Are you a Society6 artist, too?
Connect with me over there so I can see your work, too. 
I love helping to promote beautiful work!

May The Force Be With You!

April showers bring...

I'm busy as bee putting the final touches on paintings and framing work for the Mayfaire show this weekend in Lakeland, but I have created the first four printables for my Patreon Patrons.

May is full of flowers, and a few bees! 

These downloads are free for Patrons, and they will be available in my Etsy shop sometime in the next week or two.  

Now, I've got to get back in the studio! 

There's lots of work to bee done. ;)

Imaginarium: Natural Wonder Reception

Poster art Green Turtle by Jeanette Schuerr

This beautiful exhibit was curated by Arts Hub Org, and is hosted by Chapman/Leonard Studios from February to May, 2016.

It's almost the end of this inspiring show, and I'm honored to have my art hanging next to several other established and emerging Florida artists.

To view the art, an appointment must be made with an Arts Hub representative, so the artists' reception is a chance for many to see the art in this installation for the first time.

It's a family friendly event, and light refreshments will be served.

Artist closing reception for Imaginarium: Natural Wonder

will be held Saturday, April 30 from 6-9pm

at Chapman Leonard Studios Live.

For more information on this exhibit, event, and directions, click here.

Contact Jason Lee of Arts Hub Org  for appointment to view the work outside of reception hours.

The Blooming of a Bird of Paradise; In the Studio

Here's a quick peek into the process of a small w-i-p painting using sennelier and mission watercolor on Yupo paper.

 It is definitely a medium with a mind of its own. 

I'm a bird nerd, so you know the Bird of Paradise is one of my favorite tropical flowers. 

This flower symbolizes staying open to new possibility and seeking freedom wherever you can find it. It's also given in congratulations and in recognition of gracefully getting through a sticky situation.

 

Have you worked on Yupo?

It can be tricky, but I like things with a challenge and unique final outcome.

What do you like about it? Let me know in the comments.

Stay tuned for the finished piece. I'll be showing it during the Polk Museum of Art's Mayfaire by the Lake fine art festival in Lakeland next weekend with my other watercolor work.

 

Have a colorful day,

World Penguin Day!

Today looking a little black and white?

It better be.

Boom! It's World Penguin Day!

(Different from National Penguin Awareness Day, and still cool.)

"How adorably awesome",  you say!

I totally agree.

It's also not complete arbitrary nonsense.

World Penguin Day coincides with the northern migration of penguins. They start to waddle north  in March and April throughout the world. They can be found in Antartica, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Chile, Peru, the Falklands & Galapagos. 

Yay penguins!

Here's a link to 5 things threatening the little guys & things you can do to help penguins.

Here's a B&W collection honoring penguins on Etsy. 

May your World Penguin Day be awesome, and if it's not, may someone or something carry you through it.

Searching for the Queen Bee

I'm a busy bee this month, with a show coming up, 

finishing and starting new projects, and (ugh) taxes. 

So, I'm posting a short clip of my latest preoccupation-

BEES!!!!

This clip from shows Lucyann looking for the queen.

(It's really hard to work a phone with beekeeping gloves, so excuse the vertical orientation.)

By finding the hive where the queen is located, and then relocating it, the bees will produce a new queen. 

I won't go into all of the details, because I know I can go off on tangents with my nature/animal nerd jargon and ramblings, but

it's a process called splitting hives, and it's one of the ways that bees are really flippin' amazing.

This helps beekeepers to grow colonies in the spring, and is especially helpful because some are losing up to half of their hives every year to colony collapse disorder. 

(so scary, sad, and not cool- don't use pesticides, especially systemic!)

The myriad of substances that these tiny creature create from flower juice and water boggles the mind.

They all have specific jobs, they are extremely practical, they are incredibly effective at communicating with each other, and know when to communicate certain things.

They dance out complex routes to the best food and water within teensy eensy itty bitty spaces.

It's absolutely amazing.

I need to get back to work, so I'll leave you with a quote from the 50+ year beekeeping veteran, Lucyann~

"If people worked like the bees, we'd have very few problems."

buzz buzz

wiggle wiggle

A queso fountain and Freebie Friday

It's Friiiiyaaaaayyy!

I was traveling last Friday, so I am a week late getting this freebie up on the blog.

(Today's freebie is on my Patreon page!)

This week has flown by, and I'm glad it's the weekend-

but it can't compare to last weekend.

I got to visit my old home of Tybee Island, GA, and one of my oldest friends from SCAD.

A true "seeester" during my days romping around on one of prettiest, and quirkiest, places on the planet.

The affair was graciously held at the astonishing Drazek abode.

Keith & Jen are the owners of Latitude 32. My personal favorite place to shop on Tybee. Super nice people, great apparel, and the bride designed the company logo!

My friend Kelley was a gorgeous bride, and she really deserves her own post, but I'm actually happy to say that I didn't take many photos after the wedding began.

I was really enjoying myself, and I was sans phone most of the weekend.
The photographer, Travis Sayre, was doing a much better job than any of us amateurs could, anyway.

  I do wish I could have gotten pics of the flowers, though! My god, they were gorgeous! I showed up a bit early to help with any extra loose ends before the ceremony, and I got to help put the arrangements on tables. Unbelievably pretty. Two close friends of Kelley's (and also super awesome people!) are amazing floral designers and flew in to do the wedding.
Andrew Zellmer and Sarah Rheaume of Bowerbird Atelier.
The wind was seriously kicking and they still made it work. It was like a fairy tale.

The Sunday Bloody Mary bar brunch at Marlin Monroe's 
softened the blow of the open bar reception and The Wind Rose Cafe after party.
(Yes, the after party; the bride insisted.
The bar where the couple met was having its 20th anniversary.
No one refuses the bride!)

Best wedding favor in the universe!

Marlin Monroe's is where my husband and I had our wedding reception five years ago after our beach wedding,
 so it was really nice to reminisce and walk the beach before brunch.

Brunch wasn't the end of the parties, there were still more beach houses and friends to visit.
Sunday Funday may have originated on Tybee. I'm just sayin'; they were living it there well before hashtags.

Monday was a day for Husboo and I to stroll around Savannah, shop, eat, visit a couple more friends, and pick up art supplies. (I especially miss that part of living in an art college town.)

It was a fabulous trip full of friends and fun,

but you really do need to see the magic that is the queso fountain. I did shoot a quick video of that, because I knew the bride was super excited about it. I mean, yeah. 

  Check my Instagram to be mesmerized.

I'm so very happy that one of the most beautiful, fun, and unique souls I know has found a partner that appreciates and cherishes her like she deserves to be.

Ahhhhhh. I love love.

Okay- back to life. Back to reality.
Back to work.
BUT-
I love my patreon Patrons, too!

Here's a little sampling of the April rewards 

posted, so far...

Click here to get to the FREE download.

I'll be getting artwork ready for the Mayfaire show this month, 

so there won't be any more freebie downloads in April, just download rewards for Patrons only posts, and today's freebie will switch to Patron only soon.

Thanks for swinging by.

Have a great weekend, Beautiful!

I think we might just take it easy...