Diamond Trump, an insect Faerie with card game symbols

Diamond Trump, the Insect Faerie

© 2011

detail:

another detail:

Did you notice the play on the name?

This is one of the more bizarre art pieces I've made (ever). It is certainly one of the most bizarre faeries I have made! But, occassionally I am inspired to create something weird.

I presently have it for sale though this link in my Artfire shop. I also put it up in my Etsy shop (for at least 4 months) -- thought it might be fitting for their Keep It Weird series. 

links:

My Website

MY ART IN ON-LINE STORES:

Artfire (widest selection)

Etsy

MY MUSIC LINKS (hear clips):

Music MYSPACE

My band, Saratoga Faire’s MYSPACE

My Renaissance band MYSPACE: The Spirites Consort

MY MUSIC IN ON-LINE STORES:

CD Baby

Amazon

InandOutRecords (Europe)

My band, Saratoga Faire, on CD Baby

latest exotic bird with playing card symbols

title: Go Fish, the Exotic Bird
© 2011

So happy to be doing something else besides making holiday greeting cards (although this one may turn into an art greeting card at some point). Always check through this link and through this link if you are interested to see whether I make it into a greeting card.

At the moment, however, I am selling these as prints through my Artfire on-line shop. Oh, yes, moon included with the bird!

MY WEBSITE

MY ART AND MUSIC IN ON-LINE STORES:

Artfire (widest selection)

Etsy

MY MUSIC LINKS (hear clips):

Music MYSPACE

My band, Saratoga Faire’s MYSPACE

My Renaissance band MYSPACE: The Spirites Consort

MY MUSIC IN ON-LINE STORES:

CD Baby

Amazon

InandOutRecords (Europe)

My band, Saratoga Faire, on CD Baby

Queen of Hearts

(note: copyright watermarks do not appear in actual art).

This is an old design (2005), but it is the first time that I am selling prints of her on-line (through Etsy).

2005 was the beginning of starting a theme of Renaissance-inspired art (the inspiration came to me as a flash when we were performing at the Killington Renaisssance Faire toasting our actor and musician friends at the Renaissance banquet). The Queen of Hearts was the first design in this endeavor. Previously, I was making art in any style and theme that took my fancy and I was finding that I felt like a perpetual student of styles (I have a masters degree in Art Education which explains why I am all over the place-- the more a teacher knows about each medium and style, the better she can teach it).

I am no longer teaching (I have replaced that profession with being a musician and visual artist), but I still have a tendency to scatter. Yet I always try to have a few pieces going in the Renaissance-inspired theme. Last year, I was in a 5 person invitational juried exhibit called "Once Again" at Lower Adironack Regional Arts Center in Glens Falls, NY where I featured my pottery, sculpture and painting in this theme.

One other reason for focusing on this theme was that in order to keep my sanity, I decided to focus on art that might go with my music: Renaissance, Celtic and originals about heartbreak and hope, spirituality and peace, shape-shifting and wings. Thus, 2005 was the year I also started those themes on my website gallery.

Here is the queen of hearts in detail. You'll notice that the queens' faces are not the same:

This is is what the greeting card looks like (a little different, eh? Maybe bringing out the gold tones more?):

And this is the back of the greeting card:

My Website

Music MYSPACE (hear clips) 

My Etsy on-line store for purchasing some of my CDs and some of my art

My band site: Saratoga Faire

My Renaissance band MYSPACE: The Spirites Consort (hear clips)

Card Games Tree I and II

Note: copyright watermarks do not appear in actual art.

You never can plan anything in art. I originally designed this piece as a tag. Yup, that's right, very small with string through it, nothing too consequential. I acually painted the tree and border seperately. The original painting of the tree has red & black to match the border design. However, when I married the 2, I didn't like it. The tree did not differentiate with the border design enough (which made it look like a muddled mess). I fudged around with different experiments to try to resolve these issues. Then I found I liked it much more with the leaves turned a different color (to make it autumn-like while still keeping the playing card symbols). Success! I also decided to make prints from it. I will see if they make good tags, but for now I like them as prints.

Then I decided to try a different version. See below:

 

In this one, the tree has the same colors as the original painting while the border design does not.

The original mediums are: pen & ink, watercolor and a little oil based colored pencils to make the grass.

My relatives from my mother's side of the family are avid card players. Card games include bridge, Oh Hell and hearts with trumps. My grandfather insisted on games every night with all family members participating. Card symbols bring forth memories for me of good times with my family.

Both pieces are available in my Etsy store as small 5 x 7 prints. Perhaps there will be tags and other products with these designs after the date of this post. I still don't know what kinds of products will manifest for the brick and mortar stores that I am in.

My Website

Music MYSPACE (hear clips)

My Etsy on-line store and Artfire on-line store for purchasing some of my CDs and some of my art

My band site: Saratoga Faire

My Renaissance band MYSPACE: The Spirites Consort (hear clips)

A Unicorn Escapes (also titled a Pawn Escapes)

Continuing with my love of millefeur (see my last 2 blogs)!

The second title refers to chess: any being that is not a king, queen, rook, castle or bishop is a pawn. I also blogged about a raven pawn here.

This is available at this point in time as a limited edition archival print at Lower Adiroindack Regional Art Center and through my Etsy shop.

This is a piece I did in 2008, but it is the first time I have posted it here. It goes with the general theme I have been working on since 2005 which you can find on my website here (the theme includes pottery, painting and fabric). A lot of it was shown for the first time at a 5 person show called Once Again at the Lower Adirondack Regional Arts Center.

All of this is "additional" work and meant to fulfill artistic longings, so I don't have as much of this work completed as I would like. My "real jobs" at the moment are greeting card designer and musician. I try to work on my "show" themes when I can find time.

In this piece, I am just starting to get into millefleur mode. The copper border and unicorn choker is much nicer and richer than the scan depicts. It features playing card suits (hearts, spades, diamond and clubs).

Here is a detail of the unicorn:

My Website

Music MYSPACE (hear clips)

My Etsy on-line store and Artfire on-line store for purchasing some of my CDs and some of my art

My band site: Saratoga Faire

My Renaissance band MYSPACE: The Spirites Consort (hear clips)

Pawn in Autumn and A Raven in Autumn

Note: the copyright watermarks do not appear in the actual art (needed for on-line display only).

This is my newest design and was finished & scanned today. The design measures 12" x 16 1/2 ".

The reason for the two titles is that the prints will be named "Pawn in Autumn" and the greeting cards will be named "A Raven in Autumn." I thought it was best to decipher the two as I have found customers of greeting cards not understanding the reference to "pawn" outside of its context. The prints are more likely to be shown together with their kind and thus will be clearer as to what the theme means.

For those of you not in the know, the pawn relates to chess. In chess, any being that is not a king, queen, bishop, knight or rook is a pawn. This one is obviously a pet pawn because of its collar.

I probably won't have the greeting cards printed this autumn (as autumn is nearly done, at least around here), but I am hoping to have some prints of it for the upcoming holiday shows.

I may not have any new designs for awhile as I prepare for these shows. On the other hand, it is likely that I will post pieces that have never been seen or scanned before.

My Website

Music MYSPACE (hear clips)

My Etsy on-line store for purchasing some of my CDs and some of my art

My band site: Saratoga Faire

My Renaissance band MYSPACE: The Spirites Consort (hear clips)

Purchasing our Saratoga Faire CD on CD Baby