So Many Castles to Build

"So Many Castles to Build" original 6x7 inch mixed media painting on wood. Available here.

The hot weather we've been having in New York is getting me in the beachy mood! I finished this piece today and feel like doing more beach scenes. This one was so much fun. I've been working on my figurative paintings lately... trying to get the right balance between realism and whimsy. This little girl was painted almost entirely from my imagination, and I like the way she turned out. When I was little I used to fill sketchbooks with little outfits. And, I must say, a part of me likes to paint people just to dress them in patterned clothing of cut paper and paint. Wish I could make my own clothes this way, too... (not very practical, I'm afraid).

Found Art Friday: TASTE!

"Ice Cream Girl" 5.5x7.5 painting on wood by Cathy (me). Available here as a print on ETSY.

After mulling over the idea of "taste" to no avail, I went upstairs to paint with Annabelle and found myself drawing a pink ice cream cone! The "Ice Cream Girl" was born!

"Neat Freak Pizza" by Veronica Diago. This awesome pizza painting was inspired by a picnic Veronica took this week with her little girl. Apparently her little one isn't as much of a 'neat freak' as mommy. :) Are they ever???!

"Yummy" by Christophe. Again, Christophe has made me laugh. This is a photo of a dinner he made for us last week. For me, it truly was a work of found art because I was very pleasantly surprised to find this dinner cooking when I came back from the park with the babies. I had to laugh when I saw Christophe exchanging our usual plates for these fancier ones. I was like... what are you doing??! Then I remembered. Found Art Friday. He is so funny.

"Tasty" by Emma. Emma was inpsired to create this deliciously green piece after going horseback riding. I love the heart on that little horse. So sweet!

A beautiful table with handmade centerpiece by Gina. So restful and lovely. I wish I had been there for the mimosas!!

BIG NEWS

Thank you all SO very much for participating in this week's Found Art Friday. I have some good news that hopefully will not feel like bad news. This is going to be my last Found Art Friday post (sniff) My friend, Melissa Moss, and I have decided to launch a brand new blog dedicated to collections of themed artwork. We were inspired by both Found Art Friday and our own wish to challenge ourselves to create and share artwork on a regular basis. The new site will be called THEME ADDICT (like 'thematic' ), and it will be a monthly rather than weekly collection of art on the same theme. I hope that my dear Found Art Friday participants will join us for more themed art sharing & community over at the new site. It will be bigger and better!!

I will provide more news about THEME ADDICT in the coming week, so stay tuned!!! Hugs to you!

We Love You Mommy

"We Love You Mommy" new original painting available here.

I couldn't help myself. I had to paint another set of owls. This particular one really pulls at my heartstrings. It reminds me, of course, of my own little 'owls' (that love me even though they sometimes stand on my head).

25% Off Sale Ends Today

Today marks the final day of my 2009 SPRING SALE! Original paintings will still be 25% off until today (4/21) at midnight!

http://www.cathynichols.com

Enjoy!

Giving a Shout for SHOUT!

This week's Found Art Friday theme is "SHOUT." There's still time to send me your submissions. I will publish the contributors tomorrow! Just send your image and link to your website or blog to me at cnichols19@aim.com.

Have a beautiful Thursday!! I must create my "Shout" piece now. xox

Happy Easter!

Just a few images from my family's Easter celebration. Hope you and your family have a wonderful day. It's actually SUNNY here in NY for the first time in weeks. Yay!

Found Art Friday: HOPEFUL

Another huge thank you to all of the great artists who contributed to this week's HOPEFUL theme. Just looking at all of these uplifing images makes me feel better.

I don't know about you, but the theme idea seems to create such a cool, cohesive group of images. So, in the spirit of found art, I used this random word generator to come up with our next theme. And our randomly-generated theme is: SHOUT. In the meantime, enjoy these beautiful images of hopefulness...



"Hopeful" 4.5x5.5 inch mixed media on wood by me! Oddly enough, the inspiration for this piece was a scrap of flowering vines on a piece of paper that I stumbled upon while thinking about the theme "hopeful." I imagined the vines in a woman's hair, and this is what came out. Interestingly, the original vines didn't make it into the finished product, but the feeling of them remains.

"Believe" by Gina Kim. This piece is a gift to Gina's friend who just had a baby! Gina found the sticker and adhered it to her finished painting. What a lovely, thoughtful gift & the sticker really brings it together!

"Hopeful" by Christophe. Christophe always makes me laugh.


"Green Hope" by Veronica Diago. In the artist's words: "It's a seed, burried in minerals, expecting to get enough water and sunlight to grow into a tree. She doesn't mind the pesticides or other chemicals added to her "home". She's just HOPEFUL." Beautiful!!

"Hopeful" by Melissa Moss. Isn't it cool the way this little bud also looks like a butterfly?

25% Off Sale on Original Paintings!

From now until April 21st, I am having a 25% off sale on my original paintings. This is part of my recession-busting 'art stimulus' plan. :) The prices on my website have already been adjusted for the sale, and I will readjust them after the 21st. There are lots of pretty spring paintings and even some florals for Mother's Day. Click here to visit the sale (then go to "buy artwork" on the lefthand menu).

Wishing you a "Hopeful" day!

"Hopeful" --Theme for this Week's Found Art Friday

"Hopeful" collage 4.5x5.5 inches on wood. Available here.

This week's Found Art Friday theme is "hopeful," so I put together this little banner to celebrate our efforts. :) It's not my actual found art piece, but it was a sweet little exercise in expression. And, of course, it ended up having elements of chance & synchronicity within it. As I was looking for paper to create the letters, I found this nest and floating egg wrapping paper. It fit perfectly with the word and theme!

Please submit your found art piece by Friday morning of this week. Looking forward to seeing your creations!

And speaking of "hopeful," a special thank you to kind Leigh who blogged about buying my "Room for Everyone" print for this adorable newborn baby. I am so honored to have my work hanging in his nursery. He is beautiful.

New Original Paintings for Sale!

original paintings now for sale on my website: www.cathynichols.com

I've finally uploaded all of my new original paintings onto my website, so they are now up for sale! The better news, though, is that I will be announcing an unprecedented 25% off sale on original work shortly. The sale will last for 2 weeks only and will be announced to everyone on my mailing list on the day it begins. Of course, if you have a favorite here, you are welcome to snatch it up pre-sale right now.

Please sign up in that cute pink box in the upper righthand corner of the blog if you would like to join the mailing list.

Hope you are having a fantastic day. It's SUNNY here! :)

Sweetness

Some moments just melt my heart. This shot of Annabelle (2) feeding her baby brother, Nicolas (8 months), is one of them - and I couldn't resist sharing it. I love the way he is looking up at her with big, blue smiling eyes and pure trust. And she is concentrating so hard as she aims the food into his mouth. I'm so glad that they have each other.

And speaking of babies, I painted a new "hopeful" piece today for Found Art Friday that I am dying to share with you. I'm not sure if I can wait until Friday... I found the theme "hopeful" to be very inspiring!

Happy Found Art Friday!

A huge thank you to all of the artists who were kind enough to share their Found Art this Friday! I am enjoying this project so much that I have decided to spice it up a bit by creating a theme for each Friday's "show." I think it sometimes can make us even more creative --especially when working in a spontaneous, free-flowing, synchronistic way -- to have a few limits. What do you think of the idea? Next week's theme will be "HOPEFUL." I hope it inspires you!

Here is this week's FOUND ART:

"Night Fairies" by Kaili. This piece evolved when Kaili was trying to cover up an older painting using pieces of paper and gel medium. The result was this beautiful set of flying fairies upon this great textured background. Read more about her process on her blog.


"April Shower" by Emma Talbot. Emma experimented with cut pieces of paper from magazines for this piece. I think they add an interesting twist to the idea of rain (and I love the expression on the bunny's face!).

Melissa Moss snapped this beautiful photograph while looking for inspiration for her paintings in the backyard. I love the vibrant color, and the intense detail of the leaves reminds me of that same attention to detail in Melissa's work.

"Flower Records" by Veronica Diago. She created this piece by gluing retro-looking circles from a ceiling fan catolgue on a piece of board painted with woodgrain texture. I love the title!!

"Happiness." I added this one in just for fun. It's a snapshot I took of the most delicious cupcakes on earth. We got them from the brand new Crumbs bakery that opened up in town. And, coincidentally, after I wrote this, I found out that their logo is "delivering happiness." Synchronicity!

Have a fantastic weekend! I am so looking forward to seeing what you come up with for "HOPEFUL" next Found Art Friday. XOX

New Sugarzoo Line of Print-it-Yourself Notecards

Printable Sugarzoo "Bunny & Bloom" Notecards now in my ETSY shop.

I'm so happy to announce the release of the first notecards in my new series of Print-it-Yourself items from my Sugarzoo collection! Featured above are "Bloom" and "I Picked these For You" (with Chester the Bunny). To create these notecards yourself, you will just need my downloadable PDF file, a printer and a set of inkjet notecards like these from AVERY. My downloadable PDF file is perfectly formatted to create these cards with the push of a button. Enjoy!!

And, don't forget, tomorrow is Found Art Friday! Please email me your submission by tomorrow afternoon. I'll be posting in the evening!

Jacqueline & Kim (Tiny Portrait Commission)

"Jacqueline & Kim" -- 4.5x5.5 inches. Acrylic and cut paper on wood panel.

Commission for the lovely Jacqueline.

I chose a soft pink for the background for this piece as it is Jacqueline's favorite color. And I decided to feature Jacqueline wearing one of her beautiful embroidered creations. Pictured on her blouse and above is "Chibi Penelo" from her collection. Kim's shirt is an abstract made from itsy bitsy pieces of cut paper that I glued onto the support using gel medium on the tip of a tiny metal sculpting tool.

Here you can see the size of the final piece as it sits on my studio easel beneath one of Diasyflores's glass heart suncatchers.

I so ADORED creating this piece! If you would like your own tiny portrait, contact me at cnichols19@aim.com. The price is $150 for individuals and $185 for a couple.

You can also visit my post on Poppytalk Handmade to see several of the Tiny Portraits.