Le Sapin Magnifique

My husband's family is visiting from France, and he took them on a whirlwind tour of sub-zero Manhattan yesterday. Despite the frigid temperatures, the tree at Rockefeller Center still warmed their hearts. It is so beautiful & will always embody a special spirit of Christmas for me.

Things are hectic around here, and I am fighting an ear infection (probably from creating all of those wax paintings with the windows open on my sunporch -- oops). Nonetheless, I am SO excited for Santa to come tomorrow. It will be our first Christmas in the US in our own home. :)

Wishing you and your family a wonderful Christmas Eve. If you have a moment, I am featured on SprayGraphic in an artist interview. You can read it here.

7 Day Sale!

I'm having a 20% Off Sale this week (Dec. 14-20) on my original paintings. Stop by the Etsy shop to puruse the selections! :))

New Encaustic Painting: "I Know That You Love Me"

My first large 28x20 inch wax encaustic painting on 2" cradled wood:
"I Know that You Love Me." Original is SOLD.

Here I am posing with my painting in the studio. I figured I would take the picture while wearing a matching sweater!

Detail of girl holding flower in the forest.

A detail of the forest.

And here is "I Know that You Love Me" temporarily hanging in our living room until moving to Caffe Portofino this weekend.

This painting is my first foray at making a larger-sized (28x20) encaustic painting, and it is my new favorite piece ever. It was quite an interesting (and somewhat challenging) process. The hardest part was applying the wax in my semi-freezing studio/sun porch. The porch is heated, but when I turn on my heat gun, a fuse blows all the time. So I usually just forgo heat in lieu of art-making! But with such a large area to cover with wax, it was tedius to apply the big sections of color (and to fuse them all with the heat gun). Yet I truly love this painting, and it will be hard for me to part with it.


Yet "I Know that You Love Me" will soon be hanging in Caffe Portofino in Northport. This is because this beautiful cafe has sold 8 of my paintings in the past week!! So I had to create something new to replace them. I can't wait to put it up on the walls this weekend (though it does really match our living room!).

Beach Flowers

My new "Beach Day" 10x10 Art Block on 2" Cradled Wood Panel. Available here.

Beautiful Flower Arrangement commissioned by Dionne from Flores del Sol.

I just had to share this beautiful flower arrangement created by Flores del Sol. I have never had flowers designed from one of my paintings, so this is a true milestone. It doesn't hurt that they're gorgeous, either. And, by the way, Dionne has a great blog and is doing lots of fantastic giveaways right now. I've entered them all! :)

Speaking of which, I have a winner for the Matteo Pericoli book, and it is none other than the lovely Gina Lee Kim. Thank you, everyone, for participating and for sharing your beautiful "out my window" views. And congratulations, Gina. I will be shipping your book shortly!

A Very Special Giveaway -- ENDS tonight at 7 pm 12/5/09!

The City Out My Window: 63 Views on New York by Matteo Pericoli

Pericoli's drawing of the view from Mikhail Baryshnikov's window.

By a stroke of luck, I was contacted by the publisher of this wonderful book, The City Out My Window: 63 Views on New York, and asked to do a giveaway on my blog. Well, after reviewing my copy, there was no way that I could refuse! This is a gorgeous book illustrated by the amazing (and handsome) Italian architect, Matteo Pericoli.

The book captures New York as seen through the eyes of New Yorkers both famous and ordinary, whose particular window views reveal a hidden perspective of the city—and of themselves. Each image provides a unique perspective, as seen by Tom Wolfe, Tony Kushner, Nora Ephron, Stephen Colbert, Richard Meier, Oliver Sacks, Mario Batali, David Byrne, E.L. Doctorow, Mikhail Baryshnikov, and other artists, writers, and thinkers who help make the city what it is. Accompanying each window view is a comment provided by its ‘owner.’

I am going to send this book to the lucky winner of this giveaway (though it pains me not to be able to keep it myself -- i so love it). Just leave a comment below describing what's out your window today, and I will choose a winner from the comments for a copy of the book. I'll ship it to you free of charge, of course! :)

AND PS -- THANK YOU SO MUCH for the comments and support for my Holiday Boutique show last night. It went really well & was lots of fun. Love you all!!!

Etsy Sale this weekend!

I hope that you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and are now happily full. I'm still looking forward to celebrating Thanksgiving tomorrow with friends and many toddlers. I am battening down the hatches! In the meantime, I'm having a SALE at my Etsy shop this weekend (starting right now!). FREE SHIPPING shopwide & 20% off prints. Please stop by .... no need to stand in line at 5 a.m. for a designer tote bag door prize. Just sit comfortably at your computer and have fun!

Busy busy busy & Last Day for 20% Off Coupon

10x10 inch original painting: "Moon Song" encaustic on 2" wood panel - available here.

10x10 inch original & customizable encaustic painting on 2" thick wood panel : "Forever Tree." Original is SOLD.

5.5 x 6 inch encaustic painting on wood: "Resilience." Available here.

Oh my goodness, have I been busy lately. And today I finished 3 new paintings. Yes, there was a lot of coffee involved! I also had started them earlier in the week (or weeks), and finally had a chance to get them all done & uploaded to Etsy & my website today.

Big news: I'm having a HUGE SALE this weekend (me & the universe, I know!). In addition to my Etsy Black Friday/Cyber Monday sale (news coming soon about that), I will be sending a 20% off coupon for my entire website at www.cathynichols.com to everyone on my email list. Today is the last day to sign up, so please add your email to the subscribe now button here on the blog if you'd like the coupon code. And everyone on my subscriber list is eligible for my free 10-pack of holiday cards random drawing. The cards just arrived tonight, and they are gorgeous. The image is of "Skate Away."

Wishing you many sales & happy Thanksgiving preparations!!! I bought Nicky a blazer & bowtie for the event. Can't wait to see him in his outfit. xox