Giraffes and Poppies

 I first fell in love with a Slow Loris at the Berlin Zoo where they have a very interesting exhibit where nocturnal animals are kept in the dark with some sort of special lighting so you can see them and they walk around very slowly and softly. These animals are so adorable with their huge eyes, sadly for them, because many are taken from the wild and kept as pets.

Slow lorises are a group of several species of nocturnal strepsirrhine primates which make up the genus Nycticebus and are found in Southeast Asia. This painting in watercolor and oil pastel was added to the primates group for Week 35. Go to 52 Weeks - Nature Painting Challenge for more info.

My head was also in the clouds this week when I concocted my whimsical watercolor 'Giraffes in the Poppies.'

Hope everyone had a wonderful week!

Happy Paint Party Friday.. Do check out Sunday Sketches too ....


giraffe paintings for sale

Fairytale Deer

It's been a hectic week but I took a few hours out of my busy schedule to paint this fairytale deer in watercolor and acrylic inks.

Items can be purchased with this print on it from my shop at Redbubble such as cushions, mugs, prints.

What do you think I made the white circles with?

Yes of course it was that trusty artist's tool, the toilet roll.

Linking up to Paint Party Friday! Let's PAAARTTAAAY

Elephant Pals

Photo by Gary Jones of Paint Your Photo

I just joined an amazing group called Paint Your Photo. As well as having tons of great art advice, interactive forums etc etc it is also a fabulous resource because it solves that age old dilemna of where to get terrific photos to create art from without infringing copyright. These photos are free to work from and this week I did this painting of some boisterous elephant pals.

They have a whole range of subjects: humans, flora, fauna and animals and they are all of a very high quality. You can also submit your own photos so other artists can work from them.

'Elephant Pals' is available to buy at Fine Art America.

Elephant Pals 18 x 24" acrylic inks

Linking up to Paint Party Friday!

elephants art for sale

Jacutinga Birds

This week I found inspiration in the endangered Jacutinga or Black-fronted Piping Guan (Pipile jacutinga). Such a visually arresting bird with such colorful markings and expressive eyes. I couldn't wait to get started!

I started painting this with watercolor but then I felt it needed a little extra pizzazz so I dripped some ink onto the damp surface and loved the way the ink formed a criss-cross pattern like a batik.

Also I'm very excited because my friend Vicki who writes a fun, stylish blog called Honest Mum has featured my cushions on her blog. She and her sons are the perfect models against my colorful cushions that will make your room POP! Do go over and check out her feature and enter the competition to win the cushions here.

Linking up to Paint Party Friday!

Love Birds

I'm not really sure why but I'm already getting ready for Valentine's Day! It might be because I recently had a three day celebration for my birthday so I felt like I wanted to infinitely extend the celebrations! After all you can never have enough chocolate cheesecake or romance! Although of course the most wonderful sort of romance is when your hunny bunny is nice to you every day in thoughtful ways...................although Belgian chocolates are very nice too! [Can you tell I have an, er, problem with chocolate?]


So inspired by the nature artists group I am part of I painted these Sayaca Tanagers against a shifting, dissolving watercolor heart. You can also buy this as a print or throw cushion for a loved one.

What have you got planned for Valentine's day or do you give it a wide berth reckoning it's just an excuse to sell a lot of schmaltzy Hallmark cards and cheap scratchy pink lingerie?


Linking up to Paint Party Friday!