The Queen Cupcake Alice and Wonderland Painting

RED HOT HEART QUEEN

Cupcakes rule when they are Queen Alice and Wonderland cupcakes. Here the queen has her maid serve her red hot heart cookies. Her majesty has taken her cupcake wrapper and made it into a red Queenly crown. Her maid sets the silver tray on an impromtu cupcake tablecloth. So creative this maid is to be one step ahead of the Queen. But she is taller and must kneel when the Queen is turned her way. This continual exercise keeps the maid the Queen of Pilates.

About the colors that I chose for this painting. Black and white for both the queen and the maid. So very Coco Chanel styled cupcakes :-)!

Check back for more cupcake characters and their creativity in recycling cupcake wrappers.

For sale.

Baby Donkey Folk Art Daily Painting

" COME LITTLE ONE"

16x20-inches

If you've seen a baby donkey you've seen something worthwhile! When I was young I remember begging my dad to adopt one. The request fell flat. They are just too cute and I still feel that way today.

I've painted Frida Kahlo as a tiny girl who has been given a baby donkey. Frida stands in cowboy-cowgirl boots and is going to show baby donkey the prettiest patch of flowers. I think they are going to get along great! Kitty has not been convinced yet, but will be won over shortly.

This painting has some play of patterns and colors, but the emphasis is meant to be on Frida and the baby donkey. All of the other details are fun things to explore.

Available for sale.

Modern Frida Kahlo Green Earth Day Garden Art

Frida's Green Garden Painting

Green means clean

and safe for the

blooming majestic flowers,

inquisitive white rabbits

singing bluebirds

very clean black cat

Be safe and green

For sale on ebay

Cupcakes Toadstools Alice in Wonderland Painting

Painting titled: UNDERCOVER

Posing as toadstools

these two cupcake kids

are hiding from

the Queen of Hearts.

Do you think she will spy them?

They are crafty and have

used their cupcake wrappers

as toadstool hats.

Yes, there is no end to the creativity

of these cupcake people.

They are very good

at artistically recycling

cupcake wrappers.

I used to dream

of opening a

gourmet cupcake shop,

but for now

I will be happy painting

and not getting up

at 4am to bake cupcakes!

Please check back

for the rest

of the cupcake gang!

For sale on ebay.

Flower Frida Kahlo Candylei Art Painting

Blooming Frida painting

Frida starting to arise out of the bud.

How do flowers unfurl so perfectly from a small bud? Talk about vaccum sealed. They are packaged by nature in a way I wish I could pack my suitcase...and to take things out wrinkle-free like the flower petals. Tell me how to do it; please? The answer I believe is life..it is the flow and energy that enables flowers to overcome obstacles and be spectacular in their place. Life causes each petal to work together.

Is there life in my paintings?... the ebb and flow of a story to be told...an understanding feeling or emotion...a wish or a dream...We all keep dreams alive.

For sale here.

Cupcakes Outsider Art Paintings

Humor is part of an illustrator's job. Sly humor is the best road to run. Mix in a little imagination and color, stir well and pour out onto the canvas... no weight gain involved in these cupcakes...I'm finishing my Alice in Wonderland cupcakes and I hope you'll fall in love with them like I have. (I promise not to be jealous if you do.)

The cheshire cat and the madhatter titter totter on a flattened cupcake wrapper balanced on another rolled up cupcake wrapper. (There is no end what these cupcake folks think to do with these wrappers.) Since the madhatter has more frosted (frosting) hair than the cat he's on the edge...figuratively and literally.

About the colors---I am into recycling brown paper bags so I love the neutral background color for that reason. It's a crafty color. The blue grey is from one of our siamese cats. These cupcakes are similar to my other alice in wonderland paintings, but differ in shape! Fun round shapes and yet still very handsome.

Up for sale.

Heirloom Tomatoes- Name Game

Would you like a pink ping pong tomato plant? One of the things I love about heirloom tomatoes is their names. Another great one, "Banana Legs". I want these why?...because of their names alone!

Beef has alot to do with naming tomatoes even though tomatoes still are vegetables when I last checked:

Beefmaster

Supersteak

Park's Beefy Boy

Park's Whopper

Then there is the plum connection:

Black Plum

Beaverlodge Plum

Lemon Plum

The empty sections-- already sold out heirloom tomatoes:

Great White

Hillybilly

It's amusing shopping for tomatoes. Most people were very serious bent over looking at the plants and names and I was laughing outloud. Who could think it would be so fun buying tomatoes?

I need blinders - Garden distractions

I need blinders just like these horses have so that I can make a straight shot when I go outside. I start out for something and then get distracted by all the plants unfurling around me. Soon I am down on my hands and knees looking at nature's intricate beauties.



Look at the dewdrops on our ladies mantle leaves. It's a wonder any of these are clear because once I get down on my knees the cat starts biting my toe (for fun, mind you) or licking my fingers.



These dew diamonds are little miracles. All these hidden jewels to be discovered today. Did you know that dew will not form if it's windy? The moisture in the air will be fog instead. Nature is amazing.

The silver mound is so ferny you just have to run your hand over it and tussel it a bit.

The peonies are loaded with buds and the ants are rushing around snacking on the sap.

Look at the texture of the leaves and stems of the rhododendren.

I round the bend and the flowering quince wakes you up with it's splash of red and a jolt of sunshine. This ornamental shrub is about the size of an outdoor building. The bright light reminds me why I went outside again. I went out to check on the lambs and to take a short break from painting. It also reminds me to adding weeding to my list of things to do.

I'm loving the paintings I'm working on! Check back.

Candylei's Deer Art Critics

Today is misty, cloudy and it's so green outside that you still need sunglasses. After looking at brown for how many months...it's still shocking to look outside. Did I wake up in Ireland?

When I stepped out a bit ago my deer art critics were waiting to see my new daily painting. Look at them lounging around. What a easy job they have. Eat, sleep and run and sleep some more. Kind of like us humans but with a stress factor involved called the clock and taxes.

I ended up just showing them my camera and told them to wait til tomorrow and they didn't flinch...only the camera clicked. There are actually seven deer that get mail at our address. Do we get to claim them on the census form? Age? Gender? I'll let the deer check that part off.

Frida Kahlo Burning Heart Folk Art

"Love Leads the Way"

Love is like a flaming light that shows us the way when we are uncertain. Frida is always beautiful with her flowers and cat. How does she manage to always look great? This is the second large painting I'm offering of Frida Kahlo. It's an inspirational one that would look great in your office or home. Kitty with paws curled in front looks like he/she is praying. I think that every time I see our cats with their paws folded just so. The painting measures a large 16 x 20 inches and makes a colorful statement.

I looked at lots of sedum plants (Autumn Joy and others) today and if you are familiar with them they are a beautiful blue and green depending on the lighting. They are about the same colors as agave plants. This is the color I carried around today even into this painting.
Up for sale on ebay with a low start price for a large painting.

Frida Kahlo's Secret Garden Folk Art

We gardened all day Saturday so when I came in I was still gardening on canvas. Here is Frida's Secret Garden where she can always find her friends...look at all of the little birds lined up for their turn in Frida's hand. There are so many benefits when you have a garden. Birds bring you the best seeds from other people's gardens! We all look for little surprise plants in our flower gardens every spring. Little gifts of love they had left for us to find <3.

Frida's Secret garden is on a large 24-inches tall and 8-inches wide canvas. Lots of brushstroke details and the colors are magical and bright. To see more pictures click here where it is listed for sale.

Did anyone else outdo themselves gardening on Saturday?

Island Surf Hula Girl Cat Original Cupcake Art

Another great cupcake cutie on the island shores. This hula girl wears her cupcake wrapper so appropriately as a hula skirt. Now we all know what to do with the green cupcake wrappers. If only they fit!

Do you see the cat lounging there so comfortably? That is how our siamese cat spends most of her day on the chair...half sitting half lying down and that is not a half truth. That is exactly her.

Also can you see the tradewinds in the sky on the left? They keep everyone cool and comfortable and bring the wonderful scent of the flowers around the islands in a circle of fragrance. Mmmm.

I ventured out into a few background colors on this one because it's the weekend. Who can stay calm and cool and collected on the weekends?

For sale on ebay.

Dandelion Loving Spring Lambs

Spring brought us lambs. These two are the ones we are bottlefeeding and they are our little shadows along with our westie doggy boy, Sir Salty. Should we name them tweedledeedee and tweededeedum? So many opinions here and so little agreement on names but we all agree they are so sweet.

I made a little dandelion head lei the other day and just about everyone modeled it. Puppy rolled on it once or twice. Each lamb had a turn nibbling on it like it was a hawaiian candylei. Sheep love dandelion flowers.... and so do litttle boys to give to their mothers. Grown men groan when they see dandelions but little boys run as fast as they can to pick each one. Mothers get the small vases ready.

ALICE IN WONDERLAND Cupcake Art Daily Paintings

Cupcakes are cute, sweet and perfectly round. Here is Alice and White Rabbit acting. They have found their stages on top of their cupcake wrappers. Once an actor or actress always an actor or actress. Drum roll........

Did you always know that there is never a bad hare, yes, or bad hair, day in the cupcake world? Frosted hair never looks bad nor do frosted ears!

For the background colors I have been thinking about recycling alot and I have lots of recycled paper brown bags. The color is beautiful when lightened and also it is a beautiful color of summer linen!

I have a print on etsy and the original painting is now up for sale on ebay. Search the word candylei to find my art.

Giveaway Cupcake Folk Art Note Cards

Darling Frida shaped like a cupcake steps out to have some fun. Don't you love her chocolate frosting hair? An original painting for sale now on ebay....and I am giving away some small cards printed from my painting that measure 3.5 by 3.5-inches with handmade envelopes. CUTE! The great part is that I also am giving some away on facebook as well so you two chances to win! Just leave a comment on this post and the computer generator will pick a number for the winner on Wednesday noon EST time, April 7th.

To enter the other giveaway go to Candylei Art. Good luck. I do love little cards and I think you'll be tickled with these.

Westie Dog Voted Best Model of the Year

Hopefully you've not eaten too much Easter candy by now. Our west highland white terrier, Sir Salty, has been voted BEST Model of the Year, by me. He wasn't always fond of sitting still for the camera. No, too wiggly. Sometimes he couldn't control his emotions and would jump to my face for the speediest kiss... which by the way would be only two feet away. Get a cat involved, see gray paw in foreground, and he is super competitive. He can outsit the cat even though squirrels are scampering about. Add some lambs to the photo shoot and he turns into a total show off. Stop by tomorrow for more cute pictures.

Happy Easter Weekend!

Frida Kahlo Pop Popsicles Outsider Folk Art Paintings

Cool folks. Both Frida and Diego pose as tropical popsicles. I try to add some humor and fun to my folk art paintings. Did I succeed? All artists can relate to these two.

Frida Kahlo Diego Rivera ICE CREAM CONES folk art

Never paint on an empty stomach or your imagination takes over...Tonight was one of those creative surges. Frida has two red cherries in her hair and Diego put a green olive on top of his head for a hat.

I love the color of brown paper bags. They have a vintage look even though they are brand new. I took the colors from there. Did I say I also like coffee ice cream?! For sale on ebay.

Frida Kahlo Art Labels Cards Notes

We are in love with small pieces of paper and sticky notes. I have a new love called labels and hang tags. You can use them as gift cards or just write "you are sweet" on it and give it away to your child's teacher. We could have a contest on all the uses for them.

I made these myself and am offering them in my etsy store now.

Stop by my new Facebook page Candylei Art