I’m a huge Alice in Wonderland fan & have been plotting a series of Alice paintings for years. There are so many fantastic scenes that would make amazing paintings that my biggest problem has been not knowing where to start. If I’m going to do Alice, I want to do justice to both Lewis Carroll’s story and the enchanting illustrations of John Tenniel. A tall order!

I got a new copy of the book a few months ago, an annotated collection with both Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass in one book, plus lots of odd little footnotes and interesting blurbs. Every few pages a new note goes into my sketchbook under painting ideas – walrus & the carpenter, caterpillar, drink me. I have pages and pages of sketches, but this month I finally started painting and I’m tickled with the results so far.

With the Tim Burton movie coming out in March, it was high time for me to get busy on my Alice paintings. I love Tim Burton and I’m so excited to see what he does with the story, but at the same time, I don’t want his version of Alice to influence my own paintings. Influence and inspiration are a tricky bunch.

We’re all influenced by other artists every single day. Even if you never set foot in a museum or gallery, art is everywhere. From movies and tv, to the graphic designers working on ad campaigns to the packaging you see at the grocery store – it’s unavoidable. And for the most part, that’s just fine. But with this…I don’t know. I’d almost like to do two sets of paintings – one pre-Burton and one post. Would make for an interesting experiment, no doubt!

Chances are I won’t have time for that little experiment though because I’ll be busy co-organizing a local Alice-themed art show (and tea party, of course). The details aren’t quite finalized yet, but I’m going to be putting a call out to artists very soon and my brain is bubbling over with ideas. I’ll need a costume too. Oh, this is going to be such fun!

Who’s your favorite Alice character?

It’s only the 7th of January and I’ve already broken my resolution to blog more, but at least it was for good reason – I caught the ferry on New Year’s Day and took off for a few days of rest and relaxation with my folks. They have a lovely cabin overlooking the ocean that blessedly has no TV. The downside is they also have no internet, but it was good to have a real break. It felt so good to have quiet, to beachcomb (though nothing much alive at this time of year…didn’t even see a crab), to spy on the seals hanging out on the rocks. Ahhhhh!

I came home with fully recharged batteries and promptly began to push the paint around. I’ve been thinking about painting a skunk ever since my encounter with one a few months ago, but hadn’t sketched his companion until a few days ago. Happily this little gal popped up in my sketchbook and eventually sprang to life on my canvas:

She hasn’t told me her name yet (nor the name of her odiferous pet), but I expect she will soon. She still needs a coat of varnish and a good scanning before she’ll land in the shop, but keep your eye out!

I’m taking part in a group show opening this Friday at the Jem Gallery here in Vancouver. It promises to be great fun with a “Naughty, Not Nice” theme and art that is cash & carry, just in time for your xxxmas shopping. Heehee!

Since my girls tend to be more cute than sexy, it was an interesting challenge. I knew right away I wanted to paint a strong female icon, and give her the Cagey Bee treatment, of course. It ended up being a lot trickier than I would’ve guessed. I settled on the pulp era pinup girl style and came up with this sassy babe:

In the end, I’m really happy with the way she turned out. I’m not sure if she’s instantly recognizable, but I think she captures the sassy spirit of Bettie and the other pinup gals of that era. I’ll be coating her with varnish tonight and then she’s off to the gallery. If you’re in downtown Vancouver, go take a peek!

I had my longest ever market this past weekend – 3 full days. Well, almost. Friday was only 3 pm – 8 pm, but 5 hours plus set up is still pretty close to a regular (11 – 5) craft show. Phew! That’s a lotta crafting!

Though it was definitely a lot of work, I really like doing longer shows like this. If one day is slow, you still have time to make up for it the next day. And by Sunday, I was happily able to start my day knowing that I’d already covered my table fees for the show, so as long as I sold *something* that day, I was in the black. Great way to start the morning!

Before I keep rambling about markets, I want to show you a sneak peek at the AWESOME wood block prints that are now covered in resin. I can’t list them in my Etsy shop just yet unfortunately. That’s the problem at this time of year…I need so much “stock” to keep my tables full at these craft show that I can barely keep up. I’d love to take the day off and shoot better pics of these lovelies to list in the shop, if only my next show wasn’t, oh, 5 sleeps away.

Anyway, how freaking awesome are these???

I was excited with the wood block prints when I just had them coated with varnish, but all shiny and glossy? The look like giant versions of my Scrabble tile pendants and make me oh so happy. The colors are rich and saturated and wet. Love!

Back to the market…

aside: Why yes, I *have* had a lot of coffee today. Why do you ask?

I noticed something odd at this particular market compared to other ones I’ve had tables at. This past weekend was in a high school gym off the trendy Commercial Drive area, where my art tends to go over pretty well. The event itself wasn’t “craft as a movement” trendy, if that makes sense. There were no hipster mustaches or wrist cuffs made from old vinyl records. There were a few people I knew and a few young vendors, but the overall feel was more the type of craft show your grandma might attend.

I should note here that I’m not knocking either type of show. Any type of handmade expression is great in my books, but they’re not all going to have the same customer base. That’s all. Don’t ride your fixie over here to poke me with your skull-cap knitting needles. Don’t gather the blue hairs to pelt me with crocheted pot holders either. We’re all good.

Anyway, the weird thing I noticed at this non-trendy market was the type of questions I got were dramatically different than anywhere else I’ve ever shown/sold my work. I’ve done school gyms before, but I’ve never been repeatedly asked by more than a dozen different people the following:

“So, who are these?”

“Who is this girl supposed to be?”

“Are these…like…um…your own…designs?”

I usually get questions like, “Are you the artist?” or even “Did you draw all these?”, but I’ve never seen people so confused as to what I was selling. So. Many. People seemed utterly confused that I was a painter and had painted my girls simply from my imagination. I even had a couple of original canvases out sitting on easels! And still, a good many folk could not seem to fathom that I was selling prints and magnets and postcards with characters that weren’t trademarked by Disney. It was very odd. I got lots of compliments and had a really good time, but still…very odd.

Admittedly, there aren’t a lot of painters at shows like this and there aren’t a lot of local painters who paint the kind of stuff that I paint. Which is exactly why I sell at these markets in the first place! If my heart skipped a beat for abstract landscapes, I’d be circling the galleries and big summer art shows instead. But since I like painting girls and critters and things that make me smile, I’ll stick with the lowbrow venues, rad kitschy galleries and craft markets. And the internet, of course.

The Crow Keeper
prints available in my Etsy shop

The Crow Keeper has always considered herself a bit of an amateur ornithologist, drawn particularly to crows with their inky black feathers and all-around cleverness.

A bit of a strange bird, she keeps mostly to herself. She’s had little luck developing friendships over the years (possibly due to her longing for a “murder” of friends). Instead, she turns her attention to her feathered friends – and gazing up at the sky.

She’s done! I finished the painting I’ve been working on over the last couple of weeks, The Crow Keeper, and now have prints listed in my Etsy shop. I haven’t listed the original for sale yet because I think I’m going to have this one framed first. At 16″ x 20″ she’s much larger than my usual paintings and is just begging for a big black ornate frame. And possibly to hang on my own walls a wee bit longer!