Plushies

Original Sale

Lots of originals officially going on sale on my etsy site -- www.theoleanderblack.etsy.com

A quiet Halloween

Winston dressed up as the dreaded Dogula of myth and legend.....



...... and sacked out early.



This is Olaf, the deformed pumpkin. He stands on his side, is covered in warts, and was shocked that someone took him home and carved him up. Poor Olaf...

"The Hive Queen"

Don't think she can't take care of herself or her hive.

watercolor, graphite, paper

original - 9" x 12"
$175 USD

Some pictures I'm loving right now

I have to do something cool w/ these two-----





Brandon and I -----


Some pretty vintage perfume bottles that were my Grandma's ----

"I Can't Afford To Be Lazy"

The end of the year is coming, the air is getting cooler, the leaves are falling off the trees, and I really need to get my nest ready for the winter....

watercolor, graphite, paper

original - 9" x 12"
$175 USD


Inspiration:



The White Stripes - Little Acorns

[When problems overwhelm us and sadness smothers us, where do we find the will and the courage to continue?
Well, the answer may come in the caring voice of a friend a chance encounter with a book or from a personal faith.
For Janet, help came from her faith but it also came from a squirrel.
Shortly after her divorce, Janet lost her father, then she lost her job. She had mounting money problems. But Janet not only survived, she worked her way out of despondency and now she says life is good again.
How could this happen? She told me that late, one autumn day when she was at her lowest, she watched a squirrel storing up nuts for the winter one at a time he would take them to the nest and she thought if that squirrel can take care of himself with the harsh winter coming on so can I.
Once I broke my problems into small pieces I was able to carry them, just like those acorns, one at a time.]



There was even a squirrel in my watercolor palette.

"Goldfish Mermaid"

As she swam through the swirling water, she met a school of shining goldfish. Their eyes were wide and their bellies were big, and they met her with a calm air about them.

"I have been swimming alone for so long now. Can I join your trio? I can see, we were all made to be together" she said.

watercolor, graphite, paper

original - 9" x 12"
$175 USD





My favorite goldfish is a Moor - with the big, buggy eyes. "The Lonely Mermaid" has been my most popular print, so I decided to do another mermaid painting. Why not throw in my favorite goldfish? Of course, I did take some artistic liscence in the coloration....

"A Chance Encounter"

A little fairy met a large snail traveling across the forest floor.

The fairy said to the snail, "I have a simple question to ask you: Why are we here? I'm only asking you, Mr. Snail, because you always seem to crawl along with indecipherable purpose, and you seem indifferent to the goings on around you. This is surely a sign of enlightenment."

Of course, the snail only looked at her with detached curiosity before moving on with meandering purpose, leaving a glistening trail behind him.

Watercolor on paper.

original - 5 1/2" x 8 1/2"
$95 USD



The sketch... The snail in the painting was just a flash of inspiration while painting and was added spontaneously. After I painted it in, I had another flash and knew what their conversation would be! Serendipity.

"Down the Rabbit Hole"

"I wonder if I've been changed in the night? Let me think. Was I the same when I got up this morning? I almost think I can remember feeling a little different. But if I'm not the same, the next question is 'Who in the world am I?' Ah, that's the great puzzle!"

- Alice, "Alice's Adventure in Wonderland", Lewis Carroll

Watercolor on paper.

original - 5 1/2" x 8 1/2"
$95 USD



Original sketch. Ironically, I got the vision for this picture while watching "Pathfinder", one of the bloodiest and most pointless movies I've ever seen. I don't think I was really paying attention.....

"Dimestore Cowgirl"

She walked in off of the dusty street, and the bustle in the store stilled.

"We're not looking for any trouble here, lady" the skinny man behind the counter whined.

She replied, "Just give me a pack of Lucky Strikes and nobody gets hurt."

watercolor, graphite, paper

original - 9" x 12"
$175 USD



The Indian in progress..



The sketch. This is one of my favorites so far.



This is the photo that inspired "Dimestore Cowgirl". It is from a malloween party my friends throw in Little Rock (Halloween in March). You have to come dressed up, or you can't stay for the party. Some of the attendees had the most elaborate costumes, which is pretty hard to manage considering it is in March. You can't see them, but she was wearing the coolest little red cowboy boots. I just loved her costume so much!



The invite to malloween. The catgirl on the right made a perfect reproduction of Catwoman from the movie. She watched it frame by frame and every stitch, patch, and fray is exactly the way the movie's costume was. She made it piece by piece from a vinyl cloth ---- I helped her out of it, and it was like peeling a slimy fish out of a vacuum seeled plastic bag, but you have to suffer to look awesome, right? The photocopy really doesn't do it justice. It was awesome.

Discipline and kittens, in that order....

These are from a local magazine called "exposure" I picked up at a Fort Smith art show. It's all art and poetry from local AR artists and musicians. I'm allergic to yeast now, so I can't eat the yummy glazed donut, but I used to be able to horc down half a dozen crispy creams w/o missing a beat. They are so very tasty. I think I'm just torturing myself...






I know this is so wrong, but it is so funny.... The little kitten running from the completely non scary monsters cracks me up. It also looks like the kind of public announcement poster that you see during political campaigns. It can make me smile even in my worst bad moods. I'm giggling just putting it on my page.

:::::: To do.........

Why not make a booze lamp? I'm pregnant, so I can't help w/ the bottle prep right now :( but it still looks really cool.

From huirub on instructables.com

http://www.instructables.com/id/ECQCOO5F5Y3YUFG/



I cannot wait to make this bag!!! It's all recycled plastic bags ironed and sewn together!

http://blog.betzwhite.com/2007/07/bag-this.html

From Betz White, who also has a really cute blog.

Shadows

New paintings, a little break from my Oleanders.... A huge difference from what I usually do - these are sparse, graphic, monochromatic instead of complex and colorful.

A rainy Friday......

It's such a rainy day today. I wanted to go outside so bad, but I'm stuck inside all day today.... waaaa waaaa..... How about some happy things to chear me up?

These are some pictures from my house - I am really getting into monochromatic right now. Maybe it's because I have been doing so much colorful art - black and white looks so fresh right now. The bottom right picture in the bottom right picture is one of my favorite pictures of my husband and I. There's also a snake skin, a couple of mini French style plates, and some postcards....

This kind of a look inspired my shadow paintings.

Say hello to my little friend

Black white wiggly
Handsome in his new haircut
Get in line ladies

Shih Tzu Haiku










Winston got a haircut today. He hates going, but he is so happy when he gets home and is all comfortable again. His groomer loves to see him so much, she refuses to take a tip from me.