A final painting before France...

This one is called "2 Songs," and it's a companion piece to "Secret Garden." I imagine that this scene is taking place behind the garden gate.

This is the last painting I'll be completing before setting up my studio in France this summer. I am starting from scratch, so it should be really fun! I am so thrilled to have a place to create while everyone around me is speaking French. Perhaps I can use my artwork as a form of communication. I hope so, or it it will be another vacation of smiling and frantically rifling through my French/English dictionary.

I look forward to sharing my adventures abroad! Please comment if you are reading ... I will be so happy to hear from you.

Secret Garden

Well, the crying has sort of subsided... and I managed to finish this new painting today. I've called it "Secret Garden," and it kind of reminds me of all of those locked gardens here in Manhattan. I always imagine amazing things happening behind the gates. The original is not for sale, but prints are available at my ETSY store.

Vaccination Blues...

Today my head is swirling with thoughts of new paintings, but I can execute none of them. Poor Annabelle had her 6 month check-up and shots today. And she is very unhappy now. Crying. Crying. Crying.

More crying.

For those of you without babies, take a moment to inhale deeply and appreciate the glorious, pure, blissful gift of silence. I celebrate this silence for you. Please do something amazing with it. Someone should.

4 Songs

Here's a new painting I just finished. This one was really fun to create because I splurged on some metallic "flash gold" paint for it at Benjamin Moore. I've never used house paint before in a painting, but this was so pretty that I couldn't resist. There's just a little touch of it in the left corner and on the middle birdcage. "4 songs" is available as a print at my ETSY store.

I'm Inspired...

"The Fall" by Anne-Julie Aubry

I am just in love with the illustrations of French artist, Anne-Julie Aubry. I hope to discover more wonderful French art when we go to France for 6 weeks this July/August. In fact, I'm going to be compiling a wish-list for artwork for our new apartment outside of Paris. We just need to figure out our colors. So far we have two orange couches. Who knows what treasures the others rooms will contain! :-)

"Day Off" makes the ETSY front page!

More importantly, my little painting is right next to my good friend, Melissa's beautiful painting, "Fruitful." Hers is really awesome -- and so timely as she is about to give birth to her first baby any day now! Yay, Melissa.

"Fruitful"

"Day Off "

And, coincidentally, I could really use a day off. The curator of this treasury (Janelle Utheim) must be psychic.

Featured on "Rare Bird Finds" Today

"Spun"

My painting "Spun," is listed as a "Fab 5 Friday" pick on the great gift shopping site, Rare Bird Finds. Yay! This is a really cool site with lots of interesting, unique items. My piece was picked by a great designer, Vanessa Brady, from Gerbera Designs.

Now if only the construction workers would stop interrupting Annabelle's nap, I'd be having a Fab Friday, myself!

Two New Paintings (the story continues)...

"where you go i follow"

8x8 inch mixed media on wood panel

"House of Music"

8x8 inch mixed media on wood panel I've just completed these two new paintings, and, while the originals are not available, prints are up and ready for purchase at my ETSY store ($28 each on velvet fine art paper).

What is your name?

This is a painting I completed today. It will be for one of my upcoming art shows, but I'm not sure which one yet. It's going to be paired with several other paintings that include bluebirds... the story is evolving. Actually, I don't even know its title -- but please let me know if you have any suggestions.

On a side note, I once was so excited to put up a new painting in a gallery that I wrote "still untitled" on its title tag. Someone thought this was the real name and purchased the piece (they apparently loved the 'title'). :-)

Happy Father's Day!

Today I want to celebrate a great father -- my boyfriend, Christophe! There couldn't be a more loving Papa to our little girl (and he does occasionally feed her and change her diapers, too).

We love you Christophe

Despite his busy schedule as a real estate broker - with his own company (CRENY) and father to his other little girl, Axelle, he still cuts all of my wood for paintings and prints. He even separated our living room into two rooms so that I could have my own studio. Here he is, building a wall for the room.

If you are traveling to NYC and need a furnished apartment, Christophe has promised to offer 10% off to my blog friends. Just let him know that's how you found him. :-)



And, of course, Father's Day wouldn't be complete without a special thank you to MY daddy who is also a new grandfather. Here he is at the train station getting ready to venture from his tranquil upstate NY sanctuary in order to meet baby Annabelle in big, noisy NYC.






To all of the fathers out there, thank you for everything you do! Have a wonderful day!!

Good things come in small packages

Good news! I've been invited to participate in the "Enormous Tiny Art Show" at the Nahcotta gallery in Portsmouth, NH this fall! Here is a picture of the space.

I'm so excited. Just reading through the other artists on the list makes me a bit intimidated, but I've already done a new painting for my collection of six. One of six isn't too bad, I guess. The only problem is that today is my last day with a babysitter for Annabelle until school is back in session. Hopefully, Annabelle's kind grandma will take care of her in France during July. She may never speak English again, but this is a small price to pay for my ART. :)

Zoom zoom zoom

Excuse me if you're just here for the art, but this is the part where I gush about my baby. I'm so proud of her -- she had her first meal of "solid" foods today! At first she cried and cried, throwing what appeared to be a mini baby temper tantrum. I tried to reason with her, but she wouldn't look at me. Then I remembered a game I used to play with her bottle where I said, "blast off, zoom, zoom, zoom," and applied it to spoon eating. To my amazement, she smiled & eventually grabbed the spoon and put it in her own mouth! I am just thrilled to pieces. She is smiling at me right now with the most pleased expression on her face. So cute.

Ooooh ETSY Front Page Today!

Oh, and how exciting... my painting, "Coda," is on the ETSY front page today. Yay! Well...it's down now, but you can relive the excitement by checking out the whole treasury.

More Artist Moms

Just wanted to say thank you to the artist moms who stopped by my new blog --Amy, Roxanne and Deanna. Amy is a wonderful painter and poet who was at Ten Women Venice when I first joined the gallery. Roxanne & Deanna do amazing encaustic work -- something I used to do, too, when I had a studio space outside of our apartment. Here's a sample from those fun days... it's called "My Palace":

I might be able to do more encaustic work this summer when we go to France. I'll have a garden there, so I can keep the kiddies away from the fumes (I hope). In the meantime, check out Roxanne & Deanna's work if you are an encaustic fan! :)

I've started an Artist Moms list here, too, in order to keep track of fellow sleepless, delusional travelers. Who knows? Maybe I will find enough of you out there that we can start our own studio/workspace with built-in babysitting. Everyone has a dream...

Back to the Garden

We had a lovely trip to Woodstock, NY over the weekend, and I managed to create this new triptych. These are little 3.5 x 3.5 inch mixed media paintings that go together as a set. I'm calling them "Summer's End," because the little birds are flying away into the distance (probably to sunny Florida to escape the coming frost). Visit my website to purchase it. You can see a larger view of these images at my ETSY store, and also purchase prints there.

We had a great time visiting with friends, and Annabelle & I also dropped off prints with the lovely Serena of East Village Collective. The gallery's new location is right in the center of Woodstock and has gorgeous natural lighting. I can't wait to have my show there this December. It should be a great holiday event.

It was a happy day for everyone. A special thank you to Corbin & Olivier for being such great hosts!

In Honor of Father's Day

Well, I was all set to do a series of browny/ orangey paintings when I realized that Father's Day was just around the corner. I don't know about your dad, but my father absolutely loves sailing. He used to have several sailboats and still dreams of owning one again someday.

This little beauty is called "Day Off," and it's crafted from acrylic, wood and gold leaf (that's the darker looking stuff in the image -- the scan didn't pick up on its gleaming shine). It sits on a 6x6 inch maple wood support with pre-cut back for easy hanging. The original is $100 and is for sale on my website at www.cathynichols.com.

If you would prefer a print on velvet fine art paper, visit my ETSY store.

I hope you have a great weekend. We're off to Woodstock with some friends and will be dropping off some fresh giclees with Serena from the beautiful East Village Collective.

Color Palette for New Series

Good morning! I woke up today ready to get started on a new series of small paintings using this color scheme. I'm going to call the series "Late Summer."

I was inspired by this pretty halter dress I picked up at Anthropologie (on sale, of course) during my recent trip to LA.

Welcome!

Hello out there, and thank you for taking the time to stop by and learn a little bit about me and my artwork. :-) I hope this can be a place where we can keep in touch, and where I can share some of my inspirations and new paintings before they hit the galleries.

Me & My Girl

I also wanted to create this blog to give hope and inspiration to other artists out there who are also mommies. I'll always remember the scene in the movie Pollock, when Lee Krasner says "we're artists, we don't have children." For many women artists, this is a fact of life. It's tough to balance two such all-consuming passions. Yet I am trying to make it work. I love my daughter to pieces, but I also can't imagine life without being able to create new paintings. So if you're feeling a bit like Lee Krasner or just looking for a kindred spirit in this pursuit, please share the ride with me.

New Painting!

Here is a new little painting that I completed today. It's called "You and Me" and is part of my Green Day Series. The original has just sold! But there will be more paintings coming soon. You can look for them here on my blog and purchase them under the "Artwork and Notecards" tab in the "New Paintings" gallery at www.cathynichols.com.