So Close!!!

Ok my new painting is so close to be doing done, I'm expecting another hour or two of work and this thing will be ready to hang. I had been sitting too long on hardwood floors painting that I just HAD to stop and rest so it didn't get finished last night. I'm a wimp...but I also like being able to walk and stand up straight.
My impetus for finishing is this beautiful SNOW! I want to go play, I want to go play! But can't play until work is finished. WAH!
I'll post the photo of the painting later. I am feeling it is one of my best yet and already see some forms I want to explore in my next canvas.
Everyone enjoy this beautiful rare white snow!

Studio

This is my little dining room/studio and that is the current canvas I'm working on. Heres a closeup shot

As much as I'd love to go take a walk in this 17 degree weather and do a little slipping and sliding on the ice...I'm not allowed to go outside until this is done. Today WILL be the day! It is marathon painting day in the studio! Everyone have a great day whatever you do!

TGIF

This is yesterdays Hour Swap piece! I would love to do a whole wall of these, it would be so groovy! They remind me of little tiles. By the by, I love little hand painted tiles. Pretty Talavera Mexican tiles...when I'm rich I'm going to have them all around me!
Visions of grandeur this morning, obviously I'm not quite awake. Although the idea DID pop into my head that if my TV appearance made my business boom the first thing I was going to purchase was something I have never had the pleasure to purchase. It is something that I haven't even had the pleasure of experiencing in a very long time. That my friends is a real honest to goodness bed. Sleeping in a bed! Not sleeping on a shabby hand me down mattress on the floor?! THAT is my dream. I will totally be content with a bed. A BED!!!! But back to reality....
It is Friday morning and my TO DO list is so long I was considering blowing off Yoga but remembered that Yoga is doing wonders for me right now. It calms down my anxiety, limbers me up and makes my back feel good, gets my blood flowing and my brain working (hello oxygen!) and takes care of something I promised to never take for granted. MY HEALTH. No matter how busy I get HEALTH and FAMILY take precedent. So to Yoga I go and then the post office and then busy in the studio day....the day looks like a gorgeous one so Im contemplating setting up my canvas outside, hmmmm...
today feels like a good one, hope everyone has a great Friday and weekend!

Dec 9th- take care day!

Yesterday was abuzz with boxes. I finished 3 in one day- I think a new milestone for me. I finished two English Tea Boxes and this little Jaguar Box pictured above. I used my new little mosaic tiles and LOVED how easy they were to work with. How cool they look when they are dry. They really added a lot to that box!
Someday I'll do some mosaic tile stuff, will need grout and all that fun stuff.
Had some visitors yesterday too, good thing I had baked some brownies up for giving. One of my friends bought all the Christmas cards I had just made so I will need to make some more today. Maybe my Mom will want to make some too. Thats where I'm heading today, off to visit my Mom with some brownies in tow of course! :)
Unfortunately the BUG has hit our house. I've been waiting for it. But this morning my man had the sniffley, stuffies and complaints. A sure sign that the dreaded cold bug has arrived. I have yet to get it. I really don't want to get sick so I will be doing some extra care tactics today. Disinfecting all the doorknobs, light switches, phone and common handling places. Going to the store for more herbal teas (I've been drinking Good Earths Sweet and Spicy Tea-already sweet no sugar to add!), bell peppers, garlic, chicken, lemons, ginger, tomatoes, oranges and good soup making ingredients. And I'll be going OUT and away from the bug today, good fresh brisk air and biking.
All of this could be futile and my blog tomorrow may be a lot of wah wah wah Im sick! :( Sad face! But hopefully not.
Yesterday I was contacted by an interested art buyer and he is supposed to come view the piece in person this evening and (crossed fingers) buy and pick it up. I really do hope so because I really could use that sale. I love the piece but it's been with me a few years and I am ready to let it go to a nice home with spacious walls.

A good part of the evening will find me packing up all my boxes, records, cards and gridwall for the SALE on Saturday. Going on Friday to setup so theres lots to do to prepare. I don't forsee me creating any new boxes or records today so I will just enjoy Mom time and make some soup. Possibly some Christmas card making. It's a Take Care kinda day.
Everyone Take Care!

Some Kind Of Wonderful

Every morning before I get out of bed I thank the powers that be for everything. Life, Health, Friends, Family, Shelter, Food, Clothing, Love and for the ability to work with my hands to put food on the table. The feeling of gratitude is overwhelming.
Leaving the house to go to the post office with a heavy bag to ship off to customers- WONDERFUL. I will gladly carry that heavy load!
My Black Friday-Cyber Monday Sale was GREAT! Sold lots of pieces to friends and strangers. Truly a time to be thankful.
Yesterday was Cyber Monday and completely dead in my shop until the sun went down. Promptly sold both of my English Tea Boxes, a hefty handful of holiday cards and a record mirror! Thankfully my trip to get supplies yesterday was fruitful and I have lots of blank boxes and more mirrors for making. Happy, yes I am happy right now. I love making things for other people to enjoy!
Now that the sale is over I'll be getting down to the commissions I've got and still offering some deals in my shop: FREE shipping on Holiday cards until Dec. 10th and $3 off RECORDS in the U.S until Dec. 10th. Got some stuff to pack up nice and ship away, busy day! Have a wonderful day!

Good Mojo

My spidey senses were telling me to wait to go to the post office and lo and behold- another sale! This is my favorite little record that I worked super long on. Thought a lot about my Dad while I worked on this...Mexican cactus and pretty palomitas. Shipping day tomorrow and good mojo keep on flowing!
Thankful!

Style Your Sole

This Saturday I'll be at Nordstrom at Northpark from 1-4 doing a Style Your Sole event! I can custom paint your pair of TOMS on the spot! I'll be there with a few other artists working hard to customize your Toms so that they are uniquely yours. What I love most about this event, besides making your feet happy- for every pair of TOMS shoes you buy they donate a brand new pair of shoes to a child in need. ONE FOR ONE is what they call it. I'm really looking forward to participating and helping the cause along. You can find out more about their efforts on their blog and check out their site-they have some super cute shoes! Be sure and come check me out at Nordstrom this Saturday in the BP shoe department!

Have paintbrush will travel

Keeping your eyes open for opportunity is a great way to not be on the far side of the house when Opportunity comes a-knockin'. Woke up to find that I've secured a gig for next Saturday...painting! I'll get a nice days pay for a few hours of painting work and I get to get out of the house and hang out at the mall. I never go to the mall. Maybe once a year. Will have to fight the temptation to go into Bath and Bodyworks and spend all my pay.
Thank you for listening Universe and please keep it coming!

Spent yesterday finishing the Mondrian record and completing a Chinese folk paper cut design record. Read a TON about marketing, what I need to do to sell for the holidays and how to take better photos. I am experimenting with these settings I never knew I had on my camera and practicing "styling" the photo. Here is my simple attempt at staging with my Mondrian record

Staging makes the photo a little more interesting and creative. It will draw the viewer in for a better look. Need tons of practice with this but will have plenty of opportunity to practice.
Today I'm working on Christmas cards and gift tags. Found some wonderful paper in my stash of remnants I can't wait to start on. Crafty weekend for me! Look for me at the mall next weekend, I'll have more details on where I'll be this week. Until then- have a great weekend!

Hump Day

Happy Wednesday everyone! Yesterday found me busy in the studio working on vinyl, finished this Mondrian record and sold it not long after posting! I really needed that sale to perk me up, I was having one of those bouts of the blahs I couldn't seem to shake. Big thanks to my official Oak Cliff collector Kevin who bought the record. :-)
I also finished a small record mirror that looks suprisingly well on my studio wall. Hmm, will have to make one for my own keeps.

Did a lot of experimenting with materials yesterday and also different spots to photograph indoors. Trying to ramp up my photo quality. I've decided to make a small "staging" area where I can photograph some of the pieces on the wall. Will take some time to get it right but should make for some lovely photos.
Working on another Mondrian piece today and visiting the post office to drop a Beatles record off. Feeling blessed.
Theres a little rainy cloud icon on my weather bug for tomorrow...hmm, good painting weather.
Jump over the hump and make it good!

Electric lollipop

So I took some time to revamp my website finally and you can view and give me some feedback on it if you wish. electriclollipop.com It's the poor mans website that doesn't have a fancy shopping cart feature and all that jazz but it should do for now. I need to figure out how to connect my Paypal to it for easier shopping. Learning as I'm going. Most of my customers just buy through my etsy or contact me on facebook and ask for things there. Really want this site to pay for itself at some point.
Would love to hear your feedback though!
http://www.electriclollipop.com

electriclollipop

My website has been down since January so yesterday while I was home with the crud I called up the support team and got that thing back up. Granted, it's a slow work in progress and I'm having to start from scratch but the most basic of basic info is back up and that makes me feel a little better.
Some friends offered to help get it snazzy so looking forward to teaming up with people with know-how to accomplish that daunting task.
Home with the crud again, breathing and speaking hurt so I'm just gonna shut up and take meds and sleep most likely. I do so hate being sick!
But havent been a complete slog- posted a painting on Ebay because I hear people actually buy art on there, check thelisting and you'll see the painting up for auction.
Updated my flickr with some photos of the records and will try to be better about tagging, posting and updating...all this stuff you gotta do to keep your name and links out there. Promoting yourself is feeling like the hardest job on the planet right now. Looking into google analytics and trying to figure out the ins and outs of increasing traffic. Bored yet? Me too!
The crazy winds in Texas are kicking something sinister into my nasal caves and making it hard to concentrate-so with that I bid my dear readers adieu for the day. Keep creating and finding your inspiration in the most unseemly places!
When I return to blogsville I will update you on something cool on my calendar and a little info about a new arty group I've met up with that give me hope for this town yet!

Happiness is a warm bun

I'm trying to be better about updating my blog as I work on getting my little business up and running. Yesterday I got my giant box of record mailing boxes! WOOHOO! Starting to look like a little biz around here. This morning I ordered my first roll of bubble wrap, a couple rolls of packing tape and my shipping supplies will be complete. Now I'm on the quest to research a good printer that will do some nice giclee printing so I can expand my shop into other areas and not just records. Going to learn screen printing this summer and branch out. Yesterday I got my first customer appreciation photo! So excited! That little bunny record was commissioned by a facebook friend who is starting his own little music lab and wanted it to be christened with a bunny art record. He sent me a great photo and it really made my day. The desire to do this for a living and make people happy with little pieces of my heart is in full swing.

Jacob and his bunny record

Bands, Band Aids and the Art of Breathing

I'm pretty sure I looked a lot like that for the last couple of months but lookee, it's Santa season and it's time to put on a good face now. I've been in recovery mode and let everything fall softly from my tree like little shaken leaves. Drift, drift till there was nothing on my plate. It was nice, but peace can't last forever and in true form I started getting busy just around the time of the holiday season. A quiet kinda busy though, I'm not sending out the press releases and trumpet calls yet!
I have some new works and one in progress but I'm unhappy with my digital camera (hey Santa, are you reading this?) so I'm not even going to shoot them right now. It's just about time to enlist the help of my photographer friend Sam Bortnick, almost all these new pieces need to be shot for the portfolio. And the portfolio needs to be sent to some galleries, and that is my big plan for 2010.
The Shapes are set to rev up practices this week, which is all my fault for slacking on...but I've been real careful about lifting stuff and possibly sending myself back to the house of pain. Stupid back! I really don't know how Keith Richards does it, say what you will about Keith Richards but the dude is old as dust and can still do stuff I am finding it treacherous to do right now. The album is waiting on artwork (also my fault!) but should be done soon.
The Lolli Dollies are in gear working on new tee shirts and getting ready for an upcoming shoot with photographer David Mausey (who did some wonderful stuff with The Shapes)and also have plans for VIDEO. Will update when it hits youtube.
Lollipop Shoppe will POP back on the scene after the Holiday Hooplah- backs still on the mend and standing around djing for hours is still not in the cards, plus it's REALLY hard not to wiggle when James Brown starts playing. Don't tempt me!
Thanks for reading this boring hoohah, a basic update...I'm still alive (this is a recurring theme of my blog hmmmmmm)and hoping everyone had a fantastic Thanksgiving!

I SUCK

It's been two years spent in a hot little room with a recording machine, microphones and redoing, redoing, redoing everything we've ever written. A zillion takes later and the cd is getting MASTERED as we speak which left us free to do this thing called PLAYING LIVE SHOWS again. So here we go and I'm totally LAME for not posting this sooner but I think everyone that reads this is in Australia and Timbuktoo anyway so whatever. A little info about the album- it goes to 11. As in it's 11 songs! Pretty much just documented to the best of our ability- all the songs we've written up to this point. We got our friend Mark Ridlen (local badass DJ and musician, read: LITHIUM XMAS, The Klogz, Quad Pi, etc)to help in production and sound layers and we're pleased with the flavor of the album. We've enlisted Reid Robinson (you may know him from the Texotica stuff as well as one of the DJ's for Sonic Assembly Power Hour on KNON)for the fun task of mastering this monster. The album is not out yet but thats not stopping us from our getting our feet wet on the stage again.
Our show is tonight at the Lounge On Elm St. Our first gig in TWO YEARS! And of course we're doing it the night that the DOMA's (big music thing in Dallas)are going on but that's how it rolls. That's how we roll. I'm really curious to see The Flying Eyes who have a bit of a moody Doors-y thing going on....and I'm curious to see who shows up to see us rise from the dead.
Speaking of rising from the dead- HAI! I'm back and I've been busy with art and music, here is the latest piece I've finished

and before that it was this monster

There is word that I'm going to be showing some work at the Capitol One building in Frisco later this month-I'll keep everyone in the loop when I get details. (Really! I will this time!) and aside from all that hooplah just working my 9-5, trying to write some new Shapes songs, dancing with the Lolli Dollies girls and trying not to melt. Hey-it's been like 105 too many times this month. This is Texas summer allright...rather be in Australia! Thanks for reading, I will try to be an active blogger again. Happy Summer to you all!

I'm still alive in this hive

Yes, I suck. And now that we've agreed on that I will get on with the post.
Spring is kicking my butt. Stuff is blooming and flying and sprouting which makes me sneezy, stuffy and turns my mouth sideways. I love the Spring but it kills me. Time to go back to Doctor for nose spray. Sigh!

I've just wrapped up a huge painting I haven't posted and started a new one and started another little experiment. I'm painting on vinyl as in records. Somehow a disdainful LoverBoy lp made it's way into my house and it has become my first experiment. Muah ha ha!

Also I have discovered Facebook and it is a little addictive but annoying, I admit. But that's only a small part of why I've been away from this blog so long. The other part is that I've kinda hit one of those energy slumps and I just don't feel like my vitamin c or octane is kicking in. I'm sure this has everything to do with allergies! But I will try, I have lots of photos to post and catch up on this blog so buzz along with me if you're still here!
Will post photos of LoverBoy desecration art when it's done!

I Just Want To Be With You

I am working on the followup painting to the one pictured above and I must say...I can't stop thinking about it. I longingly gaze at it as I throw my scarf on before I zip out the door to work. I promise to spend time with it "the very next day" I say, before going to sleep. I stare at it. I scheme. And this weekend I will finally have time to spend painting. I can't wait. A little obsessed? Perhaps. Every time I finish a painting I get a little goosebumpy just thinking that I'm that much closer to my very own show. Someday...but for now I'm having so much fun creating them.

Free Love Friday!

End Of March

Marie-Josée Létourneau paints some lovely pictures and then she makes prints of them and tells such sweet little stories with each one. This one is entitled "Jackalope Trapped". Don't you want to know the little story behind it? And also to behold the Unicorn girl? These whimsical sweet paintings are done in acrylic and marker and then printed for your personal collection. Visit End Of March on etsy.com

Inspiration Trees

SANY2161
Originally uploaded by tigerbee

Todays Inspiration of the Day....I call them inspiration trees because they make me want to paint. Most likely I will be using these photos in my next series of paintings. Ah the colors! Oh the strange organic shapes! Love, love, love it!

Krabappel 2- Swedish Style

Krabappel 2 is one of those rare myspace friends I've never met but feel a kinship to. Uber talented. Gorgeous redhead. Full of passion and a love for music and art....oh yeah and she likes "snus" (swedish word for chewing tobacco!) If I ever visit Sweden I'd like to meet my friend Krabappel 2 and see her lovely works in person.
I really liked this series she posted, reminds me of glaciers and Richard Diebenkorn. The muted colors and spacial breaks are really up my alley.

Work In Progress

I don't really show my work while it's in progress but I thought it would be a good process for me on this painting. For one, I can look at it and think about it while I'm away. It's pretty wide and the camera didn't get the whole canvas but it will serve it's purpose. Well, this is my newest painting. It's like a fusion of my newest paintings, some of my older paintings and who knows what? Subconscious filtering.