At last I have come to the end of the Tulip Series! I created the last two. Now there are five. They can either be mounted separately or together to make a bigger impact.
Created in an ACEO size (3” x 2.5”) they allow you to own an original work of art for next to nothing!
#4 and #5 to be found in my Etsy shop.
Now to see all 5!
Well, I have gone and done it! Yes, I have listed as for sale this painting entitled Autumn Fungi in my Artfire shop.
I decided to include the picture showing how I got my inspiration for this subject matter.
Inspiration!
Result!
I am slowly returning after the Christmas/New Year celebrations when I was totally laid up with flu! Great!
Then as I was getting over that, I got another cold. Now, over all that and trying very hard to get on with everything again.
And so, my friends, I have listed this encaustic painting in my artfire shop entitled ‘An English Autumn Scene’.
You may remember that this was actually one of my entries into the First Annual Autumn Arts Painting Challenge and Competition on Facebook.
Hopefully, this will be the start of my muse coming to work again!
Some of my readers may have heard of Artfire.com and some may not. If you scroll down the blog page you will see my Artfire shop with some of my artwork being shown.
Founded in 2008, the company is based in Arizona with about 15 employees, with a passion for handmade, art, and indie business. As an interactive handmade market place and craft community their mission is to support your business and your brand with innovative features and functions.
Artfire.com is more than just a marketplace, it is an artisan community. On offer are a variety of crafting social networking features to help you interact with fellow artisans. Meeting fellow artists, connecting with art lovers is the mainstay of this group. Some of the features in which the reader can get involved are: Craft Guilds, Member Blogs, Artcast (just the place to go for in-depth instructional videos!). Learn new craft tips, projects, and ideas with high quality movies specially made by the Artfire team and many more. There are so many ideas to learn about and this is what makes this venue so exciting and ever evolving!
One of the newest features is called ‘Rapid Cart’. This is a system whereby the buyer is not required to sign up for an account to check out. This is a brilliant idea and saves so much time for the buyer!
A great idea was that initially for the princely sum of $7 a month for life if you could sign up. Yes, that is all!!!! No more listing fees or final value fees etc. However, it won’t last for ever. When a certain quota, and I believe there are only a few places left, is completed the monthly fee will go up to $12. If you cost that out alongside other selling sites it still makes for a very cost effective selling point!
WHAT TO DO?
Since I have been a member at the $7 rate for quite a while one of the ways Artfire.com want to reward me is by offering a referral system reward. This is also done for other members, not just me! Now if you are interested, and you need to hurry to enjoy the lower rate, you can join and use me as a referral. As my reward I get the chance to collect a certain number of referrals and my membership will be free!! Now you too can enjoy the chance but you will have to hurry!! Simply click on this referral link Register on ArtFire.com - You will have the chance of joining for $7 a month for life until the quota runs out….. HURRY!!!! time is quickly running out, and time is money!
I promise you will enjoy the Artfire experience where everyone can interact so easily - sell with no fees and no taxation on your creativity.
For the first time for quite a while I am in the right mood to put iron to canvas! The wonder of encaustics is that you might have an idea of a subject matter but how it will evolve is up to the waxes on the day.
For the first painting I used my hot air gun. Ooooh the power! Well, actually, the heat. I am always very conscious of where I place the gun once I have used it. I really wouldn’t want to set the house on fire!
Whilst I was blowing the waxes around on the canvas and using different colours the idea of water lilies came to mind. I am always amazed to discover how diverse water lilies can be in colour. Remember the famous painting by the artist 
Now here is my interpretation. A very different view but I still feel that the title Water Lilies is right for this encaustic.
Interestingly enough, I only searched out Monet’s painting after I had completed mine. This painting is for sale on Artfire.com
In complete contrast but still using water as my main ‘prop’ I painted this one entitled Sail Boats. I loved the feeling of release and freedom that the sea and sky offer to the lone sailor. Just enough breeze to keep the boats moving!
This encaustic is for sale in my Etsy shop.
So, you see water has many moods depending on colour, application and ultimately, subject matter.
Not only was yesterday a special day for me (my birthday and what a brilliant day that turned out to be!) but someone I recently came across on the internet by the name of Mel Avila Alarilla who lives in the Philippines has posted an amazing recount of my work! http://literatti-aliteraryblog.blogspot.com/ is the link if you would care to visit.
His critique made me blush uncontrollably! Not a pretty sight but I was so honoured to have someone look at my work and enthuse in the way he did. I guess more than that it was an even bigger honour to be caste amongst so many hugely talented artists. Very humbling.
Thank you Mel!
My husband and I went for a walk on Saturday in one of our favourite parks run by the National Trust in UK. This particular park, called Sheffield Park, was designed by 'Capability' Brown in the eighteenth century when he created irregular belts and clumps of trees and cleared informal paths through the woods. 
There are truly some wonderful views.
Meanwhile, in encaustics, I have painted some flower images similar to crocus flowers or tulips.
This one entitled Windswept Flower reminded me of a delicate flower being buffeted by a fresh, cold wind in early spring.
Here I tried to convey how delicate the petals could be.
This one called Meadow Flower could be seen as more of a crocus or even a tulip!
Isn’t wonderful to be able to b
If you are interested in viewing more like these please visit my Etsy shop, Artfire or Zazzle. If you wish to contact me I would love to hear from you too either through my Etsy shop or directly through my blog!
Thanks for visiting and I hope you enjoyed your stay? Do come again soon!
I am sure you have seen much chat about ACEOs? Trouble is often you hear about expressions and because everyone appears to know what they are talking about you feel nervous about admitting you don’t actually know what an ACEO is!
Well, do you remember the old cigarette packets that contained small cards which were collected and traded? That’s how ACEOs came about! Originally, termed as an ATC or Artist’s Trading Card, people loved the idea of collecting these cards but unless you already possessed one, how on earth did you start to trade since this was the only way in which to secure others? Answers on a postcard!!!! No, seriously, someone came up with the bright idea that you could call it something else and therefore now you could not only trade but also buy and sell them! Eureka!! 
An art format started by an artist on 
So, an ACEO or Art Cards, Editions and Originals. They are small at 2.5 x 3.5 inches, or baseball card size. That is the only rule that governs this little critters! They can be created in any medium you wish from a painting to print, from polymer clay to glass. You name it, you make it. It’s that simple!
ACEOs are avidly collected all over the world whether bought/sold or traded and is a wonderful way to collect original works of art at a sensible price.
When I began painting ACEOs in a wax medium called encaustic I found it an exciting way to experiment. There are many collectors out there who all belong to many wide and various groups. Even Ebay has a collectors group!
ACEOs can be presented in a selection of different ways. For instance in an album or slipped into a card as a surprise present! They can be matted and framed to be displayed on the wall either singly or as a collection.
Although the concept of an ACEO is still in its infancy you will find more and more people, like you the reader, learning about them as they are being offered for sale on more and more websites, as well as in some real-world galleries.
Like what you see? Why not check out my Etsy shop or Artfire where you will find a varied selection of ACEOs.
So, what is stopping you? Want to buy or sell an ACEO? Just remember that whatever you do they can become addictive. You won’t be able to stop at just one! Best of all enjoy!
I don't know about you but I guess I must be showing my age since I was brought up on the fairy tales created by The Grimm brothers. Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm collected stories in the early 1800s that were neither sweet or soothing. In fact they often tended to be more on the cruel side as in Snow White, Hansel and Gretel. I so remember wanting to hear more but being terrified as well!
When I completed the painting that I entitled Fantasy Fortress I couldn't help but remember some of these stories! There was always a dark, cruel side to them
However, I hope this painting doesn't frighten you too much! By looking deep into it you can see shadows, birds, mountains, castles and fantasy fortresses where a giant might live or a dragon, or even the wicked stepmother! Oh wait, I am a stepmother! NO, NO I am not the wicked caricature, honestly!
As we change the focus onto the painting again I have to admit that this painting started out as an abstract painting of pansies! I was not totally happy so decided to experiment with my hot air gun to see where the waxes would take me. Here, you have it! Fantasy Fortress which is for sale in my Etsy shop. Please follow the link for more information and thanks for looking. 
Well, actually I am finding it very interesting to see how my style of painting in wax is evolving as I gain more confidence and experiment more with the supports and techniques that can be applied in encaustic art.
From the descriptions of my paintings you will note I tend to use block waxes. This is simply laziness on my part and for ease of use/storage.
However, I have been experimenting with different types of supports from encaustic card, canvas panels through to box canvases. I must admit that I am rather taken with canvas panels at the moment finding it easier to manipulate the waxes with the various hot tools such as iron, hot air gun and stylus. The stylus actually has different tips to create different effects which I found very useful for my latest offering.
An English Field is the title of my newest painting. 
Yes, I know! I am extolling the virtues of selling my goodies in my different selling venues/shops but if I don't, who will? I must admit it is one of my least favourite things to do and is so time consuming! I would much rather just play with my waxes and have someone else do the marketing and listing etc. However, that will not happen so you are stuck with me doing the dirty work. Someone has to!
Today, I listed quite a few ACEOs and paintings on my Artfire.com shop. Have you seen them recently? They certainly vary in subject matter but do suit all sorts of budgets and I do try to make my art affordable for all pockets.
This is an ACEO entitled 'Looking out of the Cave'
If you have ever visited UK you may have travelled to Somerset and seen the Cheddar Gorge, a natural formation where many like to walk, climb or visit Wookey Hole which are awesome caves. In this ACEO I have tried to convey the magnificence of the rock formation that could be found.
Cheddar Gorge, UK
In complete contrast here is a painting created using the inspiration I have of underground passages, water and caves. 
Like what you see? Then why not visit my shop on Artfire or my Etsy shop where there are more examples of my encaustic art. Thanks for looking!
I am very mindful that in today's economic climate when money is not as prolific as in past years that there are still folk out there who appreciate art enough to want to buy it! After all, it is a luxury that many of us cannot not indulge in however much we would love to.
And so, that brings me to today. I fired up my laptop to discover a sales notification from my Etsy shop! The sunshine is shining and a sale. What else does a girl want?
My buyer comes from overseas and graciously decided to purchase an ACEO entitled Springtime in the Alps. This is the time of year when we are struggling with bills, trying to stay warm but remain ever hopeful of the stirring of spring. Even now I can see my daffodils starting to show their flower buds, the snowdrops are out and the crocus greenery is showing through a couple of inches. It won't be long now!
Can't you just smell the spring?
Off now to wrap up the ACEO safely for its long journey!
Perhaps nothing on our list of disappearing Europe and America is so dire; plummeting so enormously; and so necessary to the survival of our food supply as the honey bee. 'Colony Collapse Disorder,' or CCD, has spread throughout the Europe and the US over the past few years, wiping out 50% to 90% of the colonies of many beekeepers -and along with it, their livelihood."
FOR THE MONTH OF FEBRUARY, A GROUP OF ARTISANS ON ETSY ARE DONATING 5% PROCEEDS (of participating items) TO BEE RESEARCH. Look for the red bee logo in my shop, and see our team web site for more details www.beeswaxteam.com
Since I am proud to be a part of the Beeswax Team on Etsy I have offered some of my paintings to be considered in this sale. All you have to do is check out my Etsy shop to find which items have the above bee sale logo!
To give you a head start I will let you cheat and help you by listing the three paintings that are part of this sale.
So, do check out all the paintings which are listed on the Beeswax Team's web site for further wonderful examples of what can be done with beeswax! alternatively check out the shops on Etsy that show the logo as their avatar.
Many years ago I lived in Tokyo and saw some wonderful temples in Tokyo itself as well as in Kyoto. The peace and tranquility that surrounds these places just envelopes you as you approach. The actual act of passing through the gate is supposed to purify the soul.
One of the most famous is the Tori, or gateway to a temple, at Miyajima which is a boat ride of about 40 minutes from Hiroshima.
I have not tried to depict this Tori but wished only to convey the feeling of calm and so this painting is not a true replication but only one based on such a sight!
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