Every Day Is Earth Day!

What a beautiful day it is here in Florida. Would be a shame for anyone to have to spend it indoors! Today being Earth Day brings to mind further what a shame it would be if our children could not enjoy nature and our world as we know it now. It's ever changing, and not for the good! The kids and I have been working hard as a family on little things that can help our world for some time now. Everything from recycling, using re-usable bags for shopping, turning off and unplugging appliances when not in use, exchanging the old light bulbs with the new energy efficient ones (can be costly so we do a couple at a time instead of all at once), and many other things, as we can. We spend a lot of our playtime/weekends outside enjoying nature and they are so in love with the trees, the waters, the bugs, the animals, all that is outside, just as I do! What a blessing. The old Native American proverb is so true..."We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we BORROW it from our children". I used this quote in one of my ACEO cards and would like to use it again. I'm not sure if I like how it turned out, so I will probably do another and focus on the lettering a bit more. Happy Earth Day everyone, and remember....EVERY DAY IS EARTH DAY!

Spring Break and ACEO Addictions

I feel like it's been an eternity again since my last post...although I think about posting constantly! Welcome to the life of an independent/freelance artist-mom of 2 young children-Type A personality, woman! Whew! I have had so many projects going on, not to mention we just finished with our little Spring Break staycation of fun in the sun. The kids and I spent time at the beach a lot, doing some hiking, picnics, and just enjoying life together. Hannah was off from school for over a week so I put the computer away and the kids and I had our little vacation here....I mean, hey, we live in Florida....who needs to fly away somewhere when we live in vacation capital. Spent some time with friends, spent Easter with family, it was great!

I may have put the computer away, but I couldn't put the drawing and painting away! I wanted to do some smaller pieces that were not so cumbersome, so I could take them with me while watching the kids play, or during quiet times, and still be marketable. I have always loved working in pen and ink and started some ACEO (Art Cards, Editions and Originals) Trading Cards. These cards have one main rule - they are 3.5 inches by 2.5 inches - the size of a trading card. They were originally made to be traded. And while artists were happy trading them, the public showed interest and had no way to get them. So a group of artists finally made their cards available for sale and it's become quite the explosion. I just love them and so enjoy creating them. Affordable for anyone, regardless of whether it's an original or numbered edition. Here are a few I've done and I'll post more once I get them photographed. (I have quite a few, some are inked and just need the final painting). I also started a series of crosses and have received a lot of interest in them, so I think I'll create a few more and offer them as sets as well as individual pieces. I think they would look very interesting in a long frame as a complete set. I like these as black and whites, but also want to paint them (ahhh, the dilemma), so I have to work out the details of that. Not sure how many will be printed in the editions yet, we'll see. Well, it's late, much to do tomorrow. And will try very hard to post more often! I should be ashamed....