One thing I love for breakfast is a whole-grain English muffin and some sort of fancy jam. I found a great shop on etsy, dasweetspot. The Vanilla Bean with Pears Jam is particularly tempting.

Today, I went on a little day trip to Monterey to gather inspiration for my Haunted California series, and more Lenore paintings. There was a fantastic cemetery there. I took over 100 photos. Here are some highlights...
My personal favorite for "Spookiest Tree in the Cemetery":

Unusual cross covered in seashells:

One of the many mausoleums. This one was a little fancier:

These tall cypress trees stood like sentinels, watching over the graves:

This was a different one with an Asian theme:

And, as we were leaving, I spotted this sweet little angel statue near the base of a tree:

New ghost painting, "Bent Cypress and Blue Lady":

A local legend, the ghost of the Blue Lady walks the bluff along Half Moon Bay. She wears an evening gown from the roaring 20's. A crow (messenger between worlds) perches on one of the distinctive cypress trees. Seagulls glide through clouds in gentle shades of mauve, gray and purple tones. A golden halo surrounds the sun in the late afternoon. This haunted California paranormal fantasy seascape is an original acrylic painting on a gallery-wrapped stretched canvas (the 3/4" sides are finished off in dark green acrylic)--no need to frame. It has been lightly varnished to protect the paint and preserve the lustrous colors. The copyright watermarks on the image do not appear on the actual painting.

I am inspired to work on more ghost paintings so I looked up some older cemeteries to visit. Today, we went to Los Gatos Memorial Park (in San Jose, California). We had the puppy with us so we couldn't go in. I took some photos at the entrance gate (where there was a crow...I thought that a good omen) and where the hedge was low enough. We saw there was another entrance on the other side but we couldn't find it so that will have to wait for another trip. Here are some images from the excursion:

Happy New Year! Got my newsletter out: Click here for my January 2011 newsletter. Chock full of special offers and a nice recap of new pieces. There's a sign up on my website, or email me.

I can't really say when it started but, for years, I've wanted to go to the ocean near the new year. This year, we went to Santa Cruz. This was a particularly inspirational photo, I thought, of the light and the ocean.

And wouldn't this be a great house to have.

Full Moon over Paris, original ACEO painting (half price):

I joined a new ACEO group on etsy called ACT. The first project is a cityscape. This is not a subject I've worked much with. After some debate, I decided to spend Christmas in Paris and painted this:

It will be available for sale soon.

Got two 16 x 20 canvases gesso'd for peace tree paintings today. One will be a green background with butterflies. The other a multi-colored background with dragonflies. Not sure which one I'll start with.

New ghost painting, Lenore by an Olive Tree (from Poe's The Raven). Went into a private collection but prints are available.

In a white empire gown, the ghost of Lenore drifts among the olive trees, forgotten by all except the raven. The full moon illuminates the ghostly landscape. The night sky is in shades of dark red and burgundy. This Gothic fantasy landscape, inspired by the "The Raven" poem by Edgar Allan Poe, is an original acrylic painting on a gallery-wrapped stretched canvas (the 3/4" sides are finished off in black acrylic)--no need to frame. It has been lightly varnished to protect the paint and preserve the lustrous colors. The copyright watermark does not appear on the actual painting.

Peace Tree in Golden Glow Original Acrylic Painting:

The setting sun illuminates blossoming tree branching, arcing to form a peace sign. Some of the cherry blossom petals are dancing in the sky, which is in shades of glowing yellow and gold. A couple dark red dragonflies dance in the sky. This hope-filled piece, part of the Zen Mandala modern art series (visionary landscapes in a surreal Asian style), is an original acrylic painting on a gallery-wrapped stretched canvas (the 3/4" sides are finished off in burgundy acrylic)--no need to frame. It has been lightly varnished to protect the paint and preserve the lustrous colors. The copyright watermarks on the image do not appear on the actual painting.

Peace Sign Tree with Monarch Butterflies Handmade Art Pendant on Cord on ArtFire. From my original painting :-)

Got a good start on the golden glow peace sign tree painting. For this one, I started with a 16" x 20" canvas and used my new Golden open acrylics. The background went on very similar to oils. I then wanted to get the main branches & some blossoms in while the paint was good & wet. You can't really simulate that after the fact. Worked for hours. Time for a break. The open acrylics will stay wet through the day and can even be reactivated. I was planning on some dragonflies as well, however, and I may want the paint to have set for those (easier to do the transparent wings).

New zen painting, The Moon in a Teacup

A blue dragonfly lands on an earthenware yunomi (Japanese teacup). The luminous full moon is reflected in the green tea it holds. Steam rises from the black tetsubin (cast-iron Japanese teapot), which is sitting on a woven mat. In the background, a couple more blue dragonflies flit among the green bamboo forest, twilight turning the sky lavender. This zen landscape is an original acrylic painting on a gallery-wrapped stretched canvas (the 3/4" sides are finished off in black acrylic)--no need to frame.

This is one of those paintings that's been on my mental "to do" list for I don't know how long.

Through Dec. 9th, get free shipping on *any* order by entering the code SLEIGH: http://shop.cafepress.com/zenbreeze. My CafePress Shop has various wonderful things...T shirts, sweatshirts, jackets, mugs, pet dishes, cards and calendars.

I've had in mind that, for my next Lenore ghost painting, I'd set her in olive trees. Olive trees always look kind of spooky to me to begin with. Since I was there anyway, I asked Steve to take a couple quick photos of me (pretending to see a raven);
Then, I remembered there was a great olive grove at a nearby convent.

New art pendant, Lenore in Lavender Moonlight:

New little dragon sculpture, Maggie:

New pendants:

New ponytail holders. Each one handmade from durable polymer clay.

On Sale Now...Spring Morning Meditation, original green Buddha sakura painting from my Zen Meditation series. Regularly $650, only $119 today!

I'm thinking of spending this month doing a chakra series of paintings. I've been meaning to for years and I got a bunch of canvases on sale. I thought I'd do just the branches & sun/moons first, take photos for prints, then probably add cats, a different type for each painting.

New painting, Summer Sunset Meditation. Features a Native American woman meditating with a bobcat or lynx.

New painting, "Spring Morning Tea":

The morning sun rises through the green bamboo. A beagle dog curls up on the ledge of the teahouse window. Steam rises from a black tetsubin (Japanese cast iron teapot), a cup sitting nearby, waiting to be filled. A few daisies sit jauntily in a purple pottery vase. Inspired by the Japanese tea ceremony. This zen landscape is an original acrylic painting on a gallery-wrapped stretched canvas (the 3/4" sides are finished off in brown acrylic)--no need to frame. It has been lightly varnished to protect the paint and preserve the lustrous colors. The copyright watermarks on the image do not appear on the actual painting.

ETSY SELLERS

************** Join Us Today at 4PM EST **************

Promotional Frenzy:
* Gain exposure
* Promote others ... and be Promoted in return!
* And have fun doing it :D


That's 4pm Etsy time, in this thread

New painting, Lenore in Lavender Moonlight:

In a white empire gown, the ghost of Lenore drifts among the tombstones of an abandoned cemetery, forgotten by all except the raven. The full moon illuminates the ghostly landscape of cypress trees and clouds. The night sky is in shades of lavender and purple, dotted with stars. In this haunted graveyard, calla lilies and red roses replace the flowers that were once brought. This Gothic fantasy landscape, inspired by the "The Raven" poem by Edgar Allan Poe, is an original acrylic painting on a gallery-wrapped stretched canvas (the 3/4" sides are finished off in purple acrylic)--no need to frame. It has been lightly varnished to protect the paint and preserve the lustrous colors. The copyright watermarks on the image do not appear on the actual painting.

These Anasazi pottery shards are so intriguing.


I haven't quite worked out how I'd like to use them yet but I could see them wirewrapped as focal pendants, or maybe even worked onto an ACEO or something.
I found these on this great thread on etsy. If you're an etsy seller, you should check it out.

Linda B's Blog: Etsy Forum Thread Frenzy Promotion

Linda B's Blog: Etsy Forum Thread Frenzy Promotion

Today, I finally got a chance to get to these historic cemeteries in Half Moon Bay and take pictures. There are two adjoining, Pilarcitos Cemetery and Odd Fellows. You can't go into Pilarcitos Cemetery, but the white picket fence was low, and it's small, so it was easy to take photos. I hope to use these for future paintings in the ghost series.




Both cemeteries are overgrown and no longer used. Pilarcitos said it quit taking new "residents" in 1923. This was my first experience actually in a graveyard. It was quite peaceful.

Tomorrow night will be the first of our Promotional Frenzies.
Be here at 9:00 PM EST ;
http://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php?thread_id=6652194&page=1

We hope to attract alot of Etsy sellers and would love to see a variety of different mediums represented. If you have a food shop, we'd love to see you too! The holidays are coming and that means lots of feasting on all kinds of goodies! This is a wonderful opportunity for cross-promotion, so come and tell your friends to be there too!

Small rattlesnake moving across the trail at Arastradero Open Space Preserve (Palo Alto, California).

In a white empire gown, the ghost of Lenore communes with a raven (inspired by the "The Raven" poem by Edgar Allan Poe, "...when, with many a flirt and flutter, in there stepped a stately raven from the saintly days of Yore."). With a touch of the steampunk, her necklace has a silver key dangling from a chain with burgundy glass beads. The full moon outside the open window illuminates the ghostly blue landscape of distant cypress trees and drifting clouds, the night sky dotted with stars. In this haunted Victorian parlor, calla lilies climb the striped wallpaper. This Gothic fantasy landscape is an original acrylic painting on a gallery-wrapped stretched canvas (the 3/4" sides are finished off in red oxide (sort of an orange-brown) acrylic)--no need to frame. It has been lightly varnished to protect the paint and preserve the lustrous colors. The copyright watermark does not appear on the actual painting.

Finished the room today:

I was going to do dark drapes but then I realized it was pretty likely the raven will end up in front of them and I wanted to make sure he shows up.

I hope to do the ghost of Lenore & the raven tomorrow & finish it up :-).

I very seldom do work-in-progress shots but I'm working on a new piece that combines my "zen moon" with more gothic elements. My favorite poem has always been Poe's "The Raven" so I thought I'd take a hand at doing a painting or two from it. This will (eventually) be the ghost of Lenore with the raven. I started out with a blank canvas and used artist tape to mask off the window. This was to both help give me guidelines to work with and to keep me from unnecessarily filling up canvas with sky, then covering it over.

Next, I painted in a night scene using prussian blue, white and a little pthlalo blue:

I still had prussian blue on the palette so I blocked in other elements (deciding on striped wallpaper):

And now, I added some warmer tones with raw sienna and red oxide:

That's it so far. I plan on doing a "sponge" effect on the wallpaper, and hopefully adding calla lilies to the stripes. After that, it's the wooden window frame. Then the drapes. Then the ghost of Lenore & the raven.

Starbee, an ice-white maltipoo puppy, curiously approaches the seashells and rocks scattered on the pebble beach. A maltipoo is a maltese and poodle mix dog. The inspiration for this piece was that amazing purple rock, which I saw at the tidepools in Moss Beach.

Starbee is my mom's puppy and she will be keeping the original painting. Prints and pendants are available

It's the time of year when I particularly start thinking about all things spooky. Here's the new painting, The Halloween Tree, with black cat and crow:

Prints and pendants are available.

Been working on a new haunted tree painting (getting in the mood for Halloween, I gues :-)). Mostly in oranges & purples. The background and main part of the tree are in. I think I will finish the tree, then decide what other elements to add. Probably, a cat & crow.