For Emilie

I suppose most everyone in this country was affected in some way by the tragic shooting at Sandy Hook elementary last week. And I'm no exception. The first person to publicly speak about one of the victims was the father of Emilie Parker - a beautiful little blond-haired, blue-eyed girl who looked as if the traditional image we see of angels might have been modeled after her. Her father described her as an incredible artist. That was what grabbed me. When I was her age I was a little blond, blue-eyed budding artist myself, so it really "hit me where I live" so to speak. I knew at that moment I had to paint something for Emilie. 
My first thought was to paint something and send it to her parents anonymously, but I knew they would be inundated with cards and letters and gifts as it was (even if I knew how to get it to them - which I didn't). It also seemed intrusive somehow. If I'm being honest, I suppose I was also afraid they wouldn't like it and maybe it would insult them. (Artists always fear rejection.)
So, then I thought I might just put it on my facebook and hope that, somehow, it would find it's way to them. My fear, then, was people would believe that I was trying to capitalize on the tragedy. (It isn't possible to post to facebook anonymously.) This is something I would never do, but people who don't know me wouldn't know that.
I suppose I could've done one and just never shared it at all but that seemed wrong too. What is the point in honoring her with a painting that would never be seen by anyone? And my point is to honor her memory.  
Still, I knew I had to paint something for her. So I did. I had seen a picture of her wearing a pink sweater so I did it all in pinks. I added a big, twinkling pink heart because most little girls like hearts and because she so captured mine. 
This is my painting for Emilie - my fellow artist:

 

Cute kawaii starfish beach wedding Save the Date Fridge Magnet by TheStationeryShop
Browse other Save the date Magnets

Wednesday Favorites

This photo in neon colors by dbvisualarts would be fantastic in a retro decor!


This serene-looking kitty by Lucia_Salemi makes me smile.


A colorful selection of glass beautifully rendered in pastels by Marionsart!


Awesomely cool and fierce Keds shoes by AntiqueImages!



I can't help loving this adorable little birthday mouse by CSiravo!

Sometimes where you start out for isn't where you end up.

Believe it or not, this design started off to be a fan. I created the pleated red damask pattern intending to make it into some kind of fan shape. I tried a few different tools and that wasn't working out so I went in this direction instead. After I had added the pattern with the little love hearts to the bottom half I still thought it looked kind of incomplete somehow. Back to the damask pattern I went using my favorite tool - the kaleidoscope (I'm addicted to kaleidoscopes) - and came up with the pretty, dimensional-looking flower which I placed on the line between the two patterns. This is the note card I made from the design, but I also made a postcard, a stamp, stationery and a "save the date" card of which I am particularly proud. Now I guess I'm glad the whole fan thing didn't work out. :-)

First sale from my new store. I'm a happy gal.