Painting

Yes, I have been a terrible blogger lately, but honestly, Oklahoma sucks so bad that we don't do too much exciting stuff.  I have been looking for jobs, but the only stuff available won't even pay for my gas to and from work...so forget trying to pay for day care too.  I applied to a job at the closest Air Force base working in the lab at the hospital, it paid pretty well and seemed pretty interesting, but one of the requirements was to have taken Microbiology in college...which I chose not to take because I didn't need it.  I am looking into taking it as a summer course here so that hopefully when a job like that opens back up I can snag it.

Anyways, I am slowly (very slowly) converting Mikey's room to Curious George since that Monkey makes Mikey's world go 'round.  I decided I was going to go all out and paint/make everything myself (much like I did in Raleigh when I did his Hungry Caterpillar room).  So far I have done 2 paintings and I am pretty happy with how they turned out.  I posted pictures on a few local forums and have had some inquiries as to how much I wanted for them.

I am seriously thinking about trying to make a little money off of this.  I just don't know how to begin pricing.  I have some projects lined up for some family and friends so that should keep me busy for awhile.  For those of you that I have promised paintings to, here is where you are in line:

Morgan: I've got 1 more for you, its a surprise, if you hate it you don't have to take it.
Maddi: I'm not telling you what I'm doing, but I have 2 coming for you.
Alex: You asked for a Brooklyn/Broadway theme...I have something in mind and will send you a picture once I get it sketched (my sketches usually look like crap, but the paintings turn out ok, so keep that in mind).
Linda: I'm really stoked to do your Minecraft painting!
Alicia: You asked for a butterfly thing, I've also got some ideas on this one, same deal, I'll send you a sketch and we will go from there.

Anyways, some other stuff that I've done recently are Maddi's graduation cap and a project for my friend, Morgan's, nursery.  Maddi was going to go get some paint and have me help her decorate her cap when I got to MD and then my wheels started spinning the more we threw ideas out there.  I got an idea in my head and practically hung up the phone on her so that I could draw a sample for her.  She liked it, so she overnighted the cap to me and I got going on it since I didn't know how long it would take.  I am pretty happy with the way it turned out and she seemed really excited too.  I can't wait to see it on Sunday sitting on her smart little head.

Morgan is going with a Nautical theme and I started thinking about some of the sailboat paintings I had done back in art class at Ravenscroft.  I actually sold one of the paintings when I was in high school for a few hundred dollars, so I thought that I could do something that wasn't half bad.  When I expressed interest in doing something for her she sent me a picture of something that she wanted that her mom had found on Etsy.  It looked simple enough, but when I sketched it out I had some serious doubts about my ability to make it look good.  Thankfully, when I started painting they started coming to life and looking pretty good (if I do say so myself).

The original picture that Morgan sent me

trying my hand at sketching...not thrilled with it, but hopefully I'll get better

with the original...apparently I have issues with angles

We also planned a mommies night out and when to a Wine and Canvas painting at this new little place in Elgin called B'cre8hive.  The woman who owns it is really sweet and we had a great time.  there were 6 of us and it was just so good to have a night away from the kiddos to socialize, drink a little, and paint.  Bethany, the owner of B'cre8hive had a couple paint by number things, some pre-shaded things, and some blank canvases.  There weren't enough paint by numbers for everyone so my friends nominated me to do something on a blank.  Since I was looking to do something large that I was unsure if I could do I decided to try it out on the small canvas.  I couldn't think of anything else on the spot...so it seemed like a good option.  I did the Old Well at UNC, a pretty famous image to us North Carolinians.  At first I didn't think it was going to be very good, but the more I worked the better it started to look.  There are a few places that need touch-ups, but I am confident that I will be able to do this on a larger canvas.

The original

While we were at B'cre8hive I learned that Bethany sells local art and I asked her how I could get her to sell my stuff.  I showed her a few of my paintings and she immediately knew who I was from one of the forums that I joined!  We are going to meet and she is going to sell for me!  I'm hoping that between that and my custom orders I will be able to make a little money without having to put Mikey in daycare.

I promise I will do an update on him soon.  He's growing and learning so quickly that I really do need to document some things.  He's not really talking yet, but he signs a lot and his understanding and communication skills amaze me more and more every day.  There is NO question about what he wants.   Anyways, that's all for now!