Simplicity in Art

Simplicity.

 This is what draws me to illustration and watercolors.

Less is more.

Recently I read this quote, 

"Any fool can make something complicated.

It takes a genius to make it simple." 

Woodie Guthrie.

I'm excited to have a little time to paint,

hoping to get back to the daily painter status. 

Looking forward to Christmas as well on this 

blustery, first day of December. 

 I will soon be another year wiser. 

Another year getting 'simpler.

As Martha Stewart says,

"This is a good thing."

Purchase a small 3.5 by 2.5  inch print of this illustration here.

Candylei Art photo mark not on print.

Printed on cardstock. Signed and titled on the back by myself.

A sweet deal for $5.  which includes shipping in US and Canada

Paypal accepts most credit cards and echecks.

Enjoy!

Folk Art Cat Illustrations

                                                                   Always Playful
                                                                  
A pet cat or dog brings down blood pressure.
They bring amusement and love.
Cats are forever playful and fall down and roll over and start playing. 
We used to have a cat that raced around the house at midnight
so playful and noisy that you thought someone might be breaking in.
I think they are low maintenance.
The only hard thing about them is keeping them
away from the bird feeders.

New art paintings on Etsy 

Original Aceo paintings

At the drawing board and loving it. When we create it makes me feel weight free...until I stand up! Gardening with all it's wonders and helping others has kept me busy before.

The titled of this illustration is Gentleman's Agreement. It's a small 3.5 inch by 2.5 inch painting.  Such a darling size. This boy made an agreement that he would search high and low for the largest flower. He succeeded. You think of all of the men and women who searched the globe and brought plants and seeds back to their countries and today we are enjoying them in our own gardens. Thank you all!

We have had a lovely summer with lots of rain. The plants and garden loved it. Love this new cool fall weather though! Yes!

Frida Kahlo ACEO Portraits

Flowers are a woman's best friend.

 Frida thinks that and 

her hair is the best place to 

display them.   

In this little aceo mixed media painting

Frida picks some for herself and some for you

and left some for the birds to dance on.

We are getting a good scrubbing of wind and rain

from Hurricane Sandy.  Sandy please settle down!

The good thing is we are getting family time inside!

More about painting here. 

Surrealism & Frida Kahlo Art

A new painting/illustration of Frida Kahlo. Her self portraits were so severe sometimes that I like to paint her in a fun light showing her sense of humor and her love of animals and birds. This one is titled MY CAGE.

Woodland Bears Love Berries

The berries are coming on now and the bears (in the woods far away) are loving them too. I know in Montana when our family picks berries they make lots of noise so they don't walk around a bush into a black bear. Aacck! Huckleberries are a favorite there. I love them all and they are rich in antioxidants. Bears know a thing or two about eating organic foods.

I'm offering a print of the illustration of a lightning bug fairy (yes, seen in the woods) giving some of her lightning fire to the wee bear's sticks so they can warm their midnight snack of berry soup.
Hope you've had your share of colorful yummy berries today!

Candylei Girls Horse Art Painting

The warm sunshine stirs up all kinds of things...like these two girls out to pick flowers in the pasture with their horse. I love oil paints and I haven't painted with them in months! Tonight I sat down and expressed my feelings of summer. This was painted alla prima, all in one sitting, with oils and a very big brush so that I don't fret over the little details. It's the feeling I want to portray.

My dad is doing so much better but still has a physical therapist coming regularly. I am home now and there is work staring at me in every room of this house. Outside it is the weeds versus orderly displays of plants and shrubs. Are there enough hours in the day? I've found out it's very hard to weed in the dark.

But there is so much to be happy for........!

Nuremberg Chronicles Art Wood Cuts Book

I have always admired wood block prints. I dream about carving out my own art by a cozy wood fire with a love for art fueling me late into the night by candlelight. Every night. It seems like such a romantic form of art/illustration. With the finding of a Nuremberg Chronicles book published in 1493 just recently in Utah, I am in awe all over again. Do you think anyone would notice if I pulled a loose barn board off and got a knife and started carving intricate swirls for wind, roses, and sunshine, which is also what I dream about the rest of the time?

From what I understand each print was from a wood cut in this book. All 1,809 illustrations. Some illustrations were hand watercolored. We are still romancing wood cuts after all of these years and rightly so.

Edwardian Cat Named Lester

Lester loves being outdoors even when he is dressed for indoors. Every button buttoned and bowtie tied, but Lester hid his shoes in the bushes so they will stay clean. His feet are feeling the outdoor bliss and if I know Lester he is about to race off and his toy rabbit will be para sailing behind him. He comes here to admire the birds who are not as flighty as the birds at home. The topiary birds move ever so slightly in the breeze just enough to make them seem a bit real.

This is an original watercolor painting on 140 lb. cold press watercolor paper and has been finished with a light acrylic varnish. For sale here.

Bunny Rabbit Doll Folk Art

Bunny has slippers that look like Easter peeps marshmallows. This new little rabbit is about as sweet as you can get without any sugar.

One might be surprised at how long each clay doll takes to make. I make them without molds and I shape them with my hands over a wood and foam base that I have assembled first. This makes for a good, sturdy clay rabbit. It takes a day or more to dry. Then I gesso it, paint it, antique it and varnish it. By that time Bunny and I have shared many conversations about life and know alot about each other! Thus the big ears. They are good listeners and all the while Bunny is as pleased as punch about the pink slippers and is not moved by any of my stories.

Life is good. Especially when cute shoes are involved.

Mixed Media Valentine Frog Girl Mushroom Art

Caps come in all sizes, shapes and colors, but these two wear the cutest caps of all. Mr. Frog has an acorn cap. You have to love the rich burnished color of acorns and they are so little, yet a mighty tree is tucked away inside. Which is exactly like Mr. Frog, small but has a mighty jump. The girl has a mushroom cap hat to shade her lovely face. She will be wise in her old age, but never weathered because of her hat. You see that is where her and myself will part camps. I will go to the weathered one and she will stay in the cute one because I love to be outside gardening.

These two share a love for caps but today they are going to share their love for chocolates, that is what best friends do, with a valentine box! This original mixed media/altered art painting is for sale on etsy today. More information here.

I've got some exciting/nerve racking news. It's rather like falling in love. You're excited and yet the butterflies are fluttering in your stomach making you feel sick. Flat on your back one minute and jumping for joy the next, saying, "How can I do this?" More soon.

Art Dolls Alice Mixed Media Sculpture

Alice in Wonderland so short and sweet with her pet rabbit handsculpted by myself. They were hand sculpted, hand painted, hand antiqued and hand varnished. I love working with clay even though I'm new at it. I really never dreamt I could make sculpture but it's not much different from painting. You just turn the clay around and around and work as you go. This is my version of Alice so small and sweet. It is up for sale on etsy.

Alice in Wonderland Party Planner Art Banner

THE PARTY PLANNER

I'm feeling like a party planner myself. We like fluffing up our nests for parties and Alice wants her party to be fun as well. She has cut a bunny banner to hang. Do you see the woodland evergreen rabbit topiaries in the background. It's been said they come to life for tea parties.

A mixture of papers, paint and graphite pencil were used to make this original mixed media piece. I am offering a print of it on etsy. It is soft and sweet with a dreamy quality about it and the background stirs up more imaginations. Imagination is very healthy when it comes to creating art.

The countdown is on and I wonder if I have enough pieces to sell and all of the other worries people have when they show their art. It definitely makes one pick up the pace from a slow stroll to a mad dash. Yes, I feel like the white rabbit! I have the calendar memorized every day of the week, this week, number and day!

Print for sale on etsy.

Frida Kahlo Snowman Sculpture Snow Art Painting

Frida Kahlo loved animals and birds like we do. A little girl made a Frida Kahlo Snowman or Snow Girl. She used shiny river rocks for her eyes and sticks for eyebrows and liner, a cranberry mouth (so cute) and she used some cranberry juice for her cheeks and a carrot for her nose. An apple for a red flower and she made Frida as a Tree! (You would remember I had started Frida as Tree series of paintings and I wanted to add some new ones.) The little girl is in my head and
is me as I haven't completely grown up.

Frida Snow Sculpture is also a great bird feeder and the wee girl has put apples on her "branches" for food and places for weary birds to rest. The blue birds love it.

We've only had spits of snow flurries every day. I can't wait for snow to try some snow sculptures!

Painting is 4 by 4-inches and for sale on etsy.

Scandinavian Mixed Media Westie Scottie Paintings

These colors are so soft and sweet like new fallen snow. I lightened up in my colors in these two mixed media originals and I feel like I am in Europe with the brightest lights and soft pastels. But I'm really here in Maryland at 44 degrees and no snow on the ground...yet! See the westie racing down the hill. That is exactly what our westie does when our son sleds. They have energy and then some. Both little boys and westies.




I put westie's cousin, Scottie, in this painting. A sweetheart. Karina is ice skating in Sweden! We are going around the globe here. Both of these will be on ebay for sale. 5 by 7 inches each and on stretched canvas with collage papers and acrylic paint. Pink colors are so restful and calm.

Sushi Girl Mixed Media Folk Art

We've eaten sushi twice in the last few days and it was delicious. Last night after salmon and avocado rolls I came home and with my recylced paper made this 5 x 7 altered art painting. (I painted her as full as I felt.)

Around here we have quite a few sushi bars and they are all doing well, none have had to close down due to lack of business. Do you like the wasabi sauce? I do because it heats it up a few notches and clears up anything that is wrong with your head. The thin ginger is tangy too for a treat.

Up for sale on ebay now.

Westie Art with Alice in Wonderland

Westies are among the tiniest wee ghosts on Halloween. Boo and Boo are looking for treats!

This is up on ebay now for sale.

Christmas Santa Woodland Gnome ACEO Art

When you go deep into the woods this is what you see. Gnomes and wee folk with their pets collecting pinecones. (You also see poison ivy but we won't mention that.) This is a santa gnome with his pet squirrel collecting pinecones.

Aceo - Art Cards Editions and Originals which measure 2.5 by 3.5

For Sale on ebay.

French Rose: Marie Folk Art Painting

History is full of interesting people. Fictional books are written about their lives interwoven with some true facts and that makes the person even more fascinating. Take Princess Marie Antoinette who had an arranged marriage, missed home, loved flowers and ate cakes. (We do share those last two loves.) She also made powdered grey hair very popular. The more the merrier and we thought it was the 60's that gave us that look of teased hair and ringlits cascading down.

I painted this folk art portrait of Princess Marie because she loved roses and wee animals. It's titled "FRENCH ROSE: MARIE" and you can read more about it here.

Original Fox and Rabbit ACEO Paintings

Boys will be brave especially if they have company. These two scouts have camped out by themselves all night for the very first time. Yes, they are very happy to see the sunrise. I tried to make this one those colors somewhere between night and morning. This is an aceo which measures 2.5 by 3.5 and it is an original small acrylic painting.




More boys, bunny boys, mind you. How can you read a book when you are next to a ball field? This bookworm bunny can. Another aceo original acrylic painting. Up for sale on ebay.

I really love baby animals. I might chase out the rabbits and ground hogs from the gardens, but when you see the babies, it brings you to your knees. They are so cute!