"Alice and Absolem"

This week I finished a new "Alice in Wonderland" piece! It's called "Alice and Absolem (The Blue Caterpillar)".

 

The original is 12" x 24" on stretched canvas (ready to hang on the wall). You can find it HERE (if it's still available).

 

There are also glossy paper prints available in A4 or A3 size HERE.

I had fun adding in lots of little details to this one. Little flowers, dots, mushrooms, butterflies...and of course "Absolem" - the blue, hookah smoking, caterpillar with a human like face!

Now that that is finished, I'm working on a couple of commissioned paintings with Christmas deadlines.

Unfortunately I have come down with some sort of head cold - which is making it hard to work for any period of time. I constantly feel like I need to lie down. I'm trying to listen to my body most of the time and rest up where I can, but for the work part - tea and panadol are getting me through. Also - my family have helped me out a lot which I am so so grateful for!

Last night's studio mess.

A couple of days ago I also got a delivery of a bunch of new CANVAS prints! They are beautiful. So close to the original painting, you can barely tell the difference. My Mum thought they were original paintings!

 

 

 

 

 

 

See all of the new CANVAS prints HERE.

 This afternoon I'll be busy packing up colouring book orders (which are proving popular as Xmas stocking stuffers!), and continuing on the commissioned paintings.

I hope you're having a nice week!

P.S. In case you missed it: all of my mailing list have been sent a FREE colouring page from my new colouring book. If you want to get your hands on one, simply enter your name and email here:

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"Princess Axolotl"

I've finished the axolotl painting!

If you're following me on Instagram, you may have already seen the progress pics:

Adding things in to the painting - playing with patterns - working out where the little axolotl was going to go...

Layering in colours, building up layers, adding more dots and patterns!
 

The finished painting!

"Princess Axolotl" Original Painting - Side View

I've popped the original painting up for auction on eBay HERE.
 
There are also glossy paper prints available in 2 sizes HERE.


Axolotls are magical creatures. You might have heard of them as "Mexican Walking Fish". They are basically salamanders in their larval form. A tadpole turns in to a frog, but an axolotl hasn't quite turned into a salamander. They can breathe in and out of water. About 10 years ago, I had an axolotl named "Axle" as a pet. He was a black axolotl like this guy:

But what happened at Boggo Road Gaol you ask? Unfortunately, my Saturday night at Boggo Road Goal was cut short, so there's not much to tell. It certainly is somewhere I'd like to go back and tour through though. It's so eerie and interesting! A ghost tour there would be fun.

In case you missed it: all of my mailing list have been sent a FREE colouring page from my new colouring book. If you want to get your hands on one, simply enter your name and email here:

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Go to Jail, Go Directly to Jail, Do Not Pass GO, Do Not Collect $200.

I'm going to jail tomorrow night, and I'm taking my art with me!

Yep! Tomorrow night 7th of November '15 - I'm being involved in an art show at the historic Boggo Road Gaol in Brisbane. I will literally have a jail cell in Cell Block D set up as my art gallery for the night. 

This just isn't any jail. This place is a 100+ year old maximum security prison, and known as one of the most haunted places in Brisbane.

It's part of a 'party' that is being held by Flying Eyeball Promotions. It's open to the public, and you can get tickets at http://flyingeyeballpromotions.com/

Info from their event page:

The night’s entertainment includes drum’n’bass, heavy metal, rock and progressive; projection mapping on 3 storey brick walls, the Heavenly Art Gallery inside cell block D, interactive video walls, live performance art in cell block F, to name a few – and once again we have BYO status!

There will be limited tickets at the door, but the event is limited to a certain number of people, so if you're keen I recommend to pre-book your tickets on the website.

I'll be taking art prints, colouring books and postcards with me, as well as a couple of original paintings including:

"Crystal Death"

 

"Ice Cream Fantasy"

 

"Wicked Witch of the West"

and

"The Little Mermaid's Demise"

I've been here once before (during the day) for a tour when I was a teenager and I remember it being really eerie, so I am a little anxious about it...although I'm excited as well. Nervcited?

 Wish me luck!!!

Aussie Creatures + Bejewelled Fairies!

This week started off with a trip to Australia Zoo! We'd never been before, and it was great for all of us to experience it for the first time together. We saw crocs, eagles, exotic parrots, koalas, wombats, tasmanian devils, giraffes, rhinos, bearcats (I didn't even know there was such an animal?), iguanas, kangaroos...it was an awesome day out.

Crikey!

My colouring books have been selling well - most of my orders this week have been book orders, with the occasional art print order thrown in as well. I even managed to give one of the pages a go myself while we watched a movie one night. I rarely sit and watch a movie without doing something at the same time (usually painting or sketching) - and I found colouring in really relaxing! I can see why this craze is taking off...

 

I used Faber Castell Polychromos Pencils for this one...I'm yet to finish it!

I'm starting to get stock out to stores in the lead up to Christmas, so if you have a shop that you think my art or colouring books might suit, please let me know at artbyjaz@yahoo.com.au 

 I've finished two new little 5"x5" paintings this week -

 

"Pearl Wings"

and 

 

"Purple Shimmer Wings"

These were embellished with pearls and rhinestones and I love the way the wings turned out! Magical! °☆。

These paintings sold very quickly, but if you would like something similar, just email me at artbyjaz@yahoo.com.au and I would be happy to create something for you. This size as a commissioned painting would be around $65. I can create them in any size, hair colour, eye colour etc...

Ok, I'm off to see if I can fit some painting in while Mr 2 is sleeping and before I pick Miss 7 up from school! 

Ciao for now,

"Colour Me In" - A Colouring Book for Adults or Kids.

Hey Enchanted Ones!

The launch of my colouring book has been crazy town. Crazy busy town! Crazy fun town!

I hand drew 24 designs - mermaids, fairies, witches and lollies - and created a colouring book.

It's called "Colour Me In" and it's available in print (delivered to your door) or eBook form (which you print out yourself, and can start colouring right away).

 The designs are quite intricate, so they are great for adults or kids.

 I'm currently waiting on some more stock. My initial print run has completely sold out and I'm looking to get my next lot in the next couple of days.

In the meantime, all of my mailing list have been sent a FREE colouring page from the book. If you want to get your hands on one, simply enter your name and email here:

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Enjoy!

This week.

 Lots of fun arty things this week...

On Sunday we took the kids to see "Dinosaur Discovery" at the QLD Museum. 

The robotic dinosaurs are pretty life-like and the kids were SO scared at first, but they ended up loving it. They keep asking when can we go back! It was probably a little overpriced for the 20 mins it takes to walk though - but I think it was worth it over all.

I loved the nature exhibits too - so many beautiful colours and pattern inspirations for paintings!

Yesterday I found this incredible make up look on Instagram that was inspired by my "Skellyfish Friends" painting! It's by the talented Maria from OldDollsStillPlay. 

  

 Also this week my CANVAS prints have arrived! At the moment I've just started out with 5 of my best-sellers to see what people think. I've had SO many requests for canvas prints. I guess it's because they don't need to be framed and they can be hung straight on the wall. They are the closest thing to the original painting!

 

I'm also taking pre-orders for any other of my prints that you might like on canvas. Just email me and let me know which one you are after at artbyjaz@yahoo.com.au

This morning I popped my "Little Peach Mermaid" original painting up for auction starting at $1!

I also reached over 2000 fans on facebook! Woo hoo!!!

Today I have Mr 2 at home with me, so I shall attempt to get some art work done, but we'll see how that goes! Tonight Miss 6 and I are going to see a play at her school called "Fairytale Extravaganza!" - should be good!! 

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Donut know when I'm going to finish this painting...

I couldn't help but begin this with a donut pun. #sorrynotsorry

I've had donuts on the brain lately. I'm seeing them everywhere. I'm pretty sure they're 2015's answer to the gourmet cupcake.

So it would seem that the only reasonable thing to do would be to create a Donut Princess. I mean, there is a Donut King after all? Maybe she should be called the Donut Queen? No...I think this one is a Princess.

I started by just roughly painting in a bust of a half pink/half blue haired girl, with several donuts falling around her. I wanted her to have a crown, and a donut tiara seemed to fit just right.

Then I did what every great artist would do, and tracked down some still life reference materials to work from. Thanks Krispy Kreme.

I continued to build up some of the layers of colour on the donuts, and start to work out what each one will look like. Sprinkles, icing, coconut, chocolate flakes...so many possibilies!

 


...and that's where she's at at the moment. I've got a few other projects on the go, and some commissioned paintings to finish up this week. So "Donut Princess" will have to wait a while...

In the meantime I would love to hear from you if you have any ideas for a painting! And if you're not on my email list, jump on there and every now and then I will send you special messages. :)

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"Ice Cream Fantasy" Mermaid Painting

This painting really just came from the heart. I had no idea where it was going to go when I started it. I had no idea that she was even going to be a mermaid. Just slowly, bit by bit, day by day, I worked on it at any spare moment. Slowly a mermaid emerged and I spent hours painting whimsical details around her. I found it to be quite meditative actually! Tiny dots, swirls, starfish, lilypads and shells...

"Ice Cream Fantasy"

It's a big painting. 12" wide x 36" long x 1.5" deep.

The original painting is available HERE.

A4 and A3 sized glossy paper prints are available HERE.

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"Little Red Riding Hood"

This week I worked on two paintings - "Little Red Riding Hood" and "Little Dragonfly and Daisies".

They are now both finished! You can find "Little Dragonfly and Daisies" HERE...



...and I decided to pop the "Little Red Riding Hood" original painting up for auction starting at $1! You can view the auction HERE.



For any of my other art prints or original paintings, I suggest you check out ArtByJaz.com - there is FREE SHIPPING on EVERYTHING there! I will try to get prints of both of these paintings up on my website tonight. :)

That's all for now. I hope you're enjoying your weekend!

 

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"Little Dragonfly and Daisies"

I've just popped this little 6"x6" original painting up in my shop:

"Little Dragonfly and Daisies"

A little fairy with blue-green eyes on a background of bright yellow daisies. She's looking at her dragonfly friend who's stopped by to visit! Right now there's still free worldwide shipping on everything in my shop, including all original paintings (which can save you up to $200 in shipping on some of the big ones!).

I'm also saying goodbye to my old 80s style kitchen tonight, because tomorrow we are ripping it out and putting in a new one! Woo hoo!

 I look forward to posting updates on the new one!

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School holidays are over and the last few days I've been working on some line work drawings for a project.

 

It's actually been nice to work with ink and paper rather than the usual paint and canvas. Black and white as opposed to lots of colour. Mixing it up.

The house is finally starting to look a little more organized. There are still boxes everywhere, and we're currently working with a make-shift kitchen (and studio) but it's starting to feel a little bit more like home. 

I'm arranging my studio slowly, and in line with the New Moon on Tuesday, I put my original "Moon Phase Angel" painting up for auction, starting at $1! You can go to the auction by clicking HERE.

The weather is finally cooling down today. It's been the longest Summer here in Brisbane, Australia. I thought it was never going to end. It's nearing the end of April and we're still wearing t-shirts and shorts. I love the heat, but we're definitely ready for a cool change. :)

What's the weather like where you are?

 

 

  

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New beginnings.

Exciting times!

A few months ago, we bought a house! It's in the perfect location for us, but it does need some work. Luckily, we were staying at my parents place in between houses, so we had time to paint it before we moved in. For the lounge, I wanted a dark grey colour, with thick white molded trims. And after carefully considering literally more than 50 shades of grey, I chose "Afternoon Storm" by British Paints, paired with Antique White U.S.A. by Dulux for the rest of the house.

Testing paint colours

Work in progress

The nearly finished wall, except for the molding along the bottom.

The finished wall and molding.

If you look closely you will see the molding along the bottom is thicker than before. I found this awesome trick to make your baseboards bigger by simply leaving the existing ones there, and leaving about an inch of wall space before adding another trim of your choice.

Once it was on there, we painted the entire thing in glossy Antique White U.S.A. and we had the thick molding I was lusting after! Hooray!

We finally were able to move in on the weekend, so I'm currently surrounded by boxes and thank goodness my wonderful Husband has finally got the internet up and running on my computer. (Hallelujah!!) Between Easter and moving, there may be a slight delay in art orders, but I'm trying my best to keep them as up to date as possible. :) There's still FREE Worldwide shipping on all Original Paintings and Art Prints at ArtByJaz.com, so there's been plenty of orders to fill today. My studio is all over the place, but I'm having fun sorting through things and beginning to set up the studio of my dreams here in our new place. All in good time.

I also have a really crappy kitchen that is going to be ripped out in the next few weeks, and a new one is being put in - but more on that one later! Time to get back to work.