Orangewillow

So today is the 28th birthday of one of the coolest people I know, Josh Owens.  His favorite cake is German Chocolate cake so I set out to find the perfect recipe.  I found one but it was considered best for experts.  I took the challenge head on!  I pre-pared all of the ingredients ahead of time and followed the directions closely.  It turned out perfect!  I am not a fan of coconut or pecans and I even thought it was yummy.  If you want to make it I listed the recipe on tastyplanner.com.  Happy Birthday Josh!  Thanks for doing so much for me over these past couple years.  Without your help I am not sure where I would be.

So the button maker arrived and it was the wrong size!  I am waiting for the replacement but in the meantime I figured being pro-active would be the best idea.  I plan on printing all the images for the buttons and then I also need to choose 10 designs to have postcards made of.  I need to get these ordered so they arrive in time for San Francisco.  The problem is what should I order?  The prints I like are usually not my top seller.  The morphs sell well but so do the squirrels and bunnies so perhaps a mixture?  Buttons are no big deal since I will be making them myself I can have a large variety.  If there are any designs you would like to see on a button, postcard, or even a pillow please either leave a comment here or email me at wendy@orangewillow.com.

As usual I can’t seem to find time to blog between family time and my art. There is so much involved with running a small business I never imagined. I suppose I will just recap all the major happenings. I am not good at remembering things chronologically so I may jump around, please be patient.

Lets start with the business side of things. I completed three illustrations for the spring line of Lark and Loon. I am not sure when the release date will be, maybe April 7th, but the clothes are super cute so I encourage you all to hop over there and snap up every last item.

I have been working with other local artsy folks to get an artisan’s meetup group together. We just had our first meeting as an official meetup night this past weekend. Sadly enough I could not attend. I did a craft fair in Oxford, OH and not only did I get one heck of a sunburn (40 degrees out) but I somehow managed to catch the lovely bug going around. I was running a fever that night so decided to stay home for everyone’s sake. A good thing too because I am still sick and its very nasty. The next meeting will be April 19th since I will be in San Francisco for our normal meetup date.

I will actually be in San Francisco twice in a 2 week period. One week I am meeting with a wonderful gal I actually met through Twitter! She would like to review some of my artwork… shes in children’s publishing. Its not official business type meeting but I am looking forward to the feedback and you never know what may blossom from our relationship. Either way she seems super cool and I am looking forward to our lunch. A week later I head back for the Bazaar Bizarre at Maker Faire in San Mateo. I am very excited to be one of the chosen vendors. I hope to have lots of new postcards, buttons, and hopefully lots of pillows. Speaking of buttons I got my button maker in the mail after over two weeks and its the wrong size! 1 1/4 inch instead of the 1 1/2 inch I ordered. I hope the new one reaches me in time to make lots for the show.

I have applied for other craft shows but I want to wait to post them until I get confirmation I have been accepted. I have been putting a lot of new work up lately in the shop but that will be slowing if not halting. I have been focusing all my energy on getting my children’s book finished. Its so much more time consuming than I ever imagined. I am not super used to water color so I am sure I will pick up speed the further along I get. I tried a few different mediums but settled on ink and water color. Anyways, between the illustrating and trying to get merchandise ready for San Mateo in a month my time is pretty much tied up.

I have dramatically reduced the prices on a lot of originals in my shop to try and do some spring cleaning since I will be moving this summer. But thats about it on the professional side. My web site revamp stopped again due to the designer being overwhelmed with work so at this point it will pretty much happen when it happens. On the personal side of things I had a wonderful easter! Zoe got 4 easter baskets! Whats up with that? She was also a champ at easter egg hunting.

Zoe is without a doubt one of the sweetest and smartest kids I know. Yes I know very few kids and I happen to be her mother but others who meet her are pretty amazed by her as well. People always guess her age at 4 or 5 (shes very tall as well). There are not many 3 year and 4 month olds explaining the differences between a Raptor, T-Rex, and a Brontosaurus or explaining that Mars is the red planet. I am so blessed to be her mother.

And I think we may be officially potty trained. Panties were worn out this evening with no accidents! We got “Who cakes” to celebrate.

In closing to this long catch up post I want to express some of my joys in life. Zoe is obviously one of those joys but there are so many other wonderful things I have been thinking about. I have a job that allows me to be my own boss and travel all over the country. I have a really swell guy who always wants to put me and my dreams first in his life. I have one of the most loving families a girl could ever ask for. I have a sister who is my best friend and makes my world a brighter place. I am trying to live every day to the fullest and instead of looking at things as a bother look at simple tasks as an adventure. Cooking for example, I love it but clean up is a pain. I have realized its only a pain if you put it off and allow it to be. Procrastination was making so many things my enemy and as I have begun to do things in my life like there may not be a later I am feeling much more at peace with the small annoyances.

Recently I have had a lot of people contacting me from the cyberspace world and I am so thrilled with how many sweet and totally awesome people there are in this world. I want you all to know I am thankful for you and you are one of the great joys in my life.

I had so many new pieces yesterday I forgot to post one. This is my Fishy lady, “Lady in Scales.”

Wendy Allegree

One of Wendy’s earliest memories was sitting at a huge antique oak desk at her grandma’s house drawing pictures every day.  Her entire family encouraged creativity and they were all touched in one way or another with artistic talent.  Growing up most of Wendy’s wardrobe was handmade, the art on the walls were all family masterpieces, and even a bulk of their home was constructed by her father.  Once she became an adult this mentality followed and everywhere she looked she saw an opportunity to create.  A few years ago Wendy became a single mother of an amazing little girl, Zoë.  This change in her life made her examine what was important and in an effort to provide Zoë with the same wonderful values she had as a child she quit her job and used her self-taught artistic abilities to begin a career as an artist selling online, at craft fairs, in galleries and in boutiques.  She is inspired by the whimsical things in life and often by the fantastical creatures that live in the realm Zoë reigns over as princess.  One of their favorite things to do together is to visit the Zoo or aquarium, which is quite evident by Wendy’s work.  Currently Wendy resides in Cincinnati, OH but she is always looking for the next great adventure and where it may take her.

So I have tons of things to write about but am pressed for time at the moment.  I promise to sit down very soon and write a well detailed post about all the great things happening right now including upcoming craft shows.  For now I just wanted to get some pictures out because I am so excited about how the new Morph series turned out.  Also due to high demand I have released a SECOND squirrel series.  I just love the blue one, go check them out.  For now enjoy these high fashion morphs of love.

Monkey See, Monkey Say I Do

Jungle Lover Print

 The Bandit of Lover

 The Midnight Rider

A Hoot of A Bride 

The Lioness

The Debutantes 

So the new fun product I have been working on has arrived! After some experimentation I decided on using ink jet safe fabric sheets to make throw pillows. Each pillow features a print of my artwork. Let these functional pieces of art adorn your couch, crib, bed, chair, or anything you can think of. I also plan to offer custom pillows so if there is another piece of art you would like to see on a pillow contact me for details.

The first four are available in my etsy shop, 2 small and 2 large pillows.

Heart in a Box is one of my new favorite pieces I finished.  Its an original 12 x 12 watercolor painting based on an idea I had which has to do with when you find love you put your heart in a box and guard it from anyone else because it is only to be shared with that special someone.  I am so glad I went with watercolor on this one!

I was feeling in a “love” kind of mood as well as spring time so I did a few more water color paintings that focused on what I was feeling.

Smell The Flowers

Contemplation 

Stream of Dreams

He Loves Me 

I also managed to finish the three paintings that round out my Children of the World series.  They include Clementine’s Sad Eyes, Kai Lan’s Smile, and Mariposa’s Blue Eyes.  My daughter helped name them and I doubt the originals will last long so check them out.

Craft Fair Season will soon be upon us and I have a lot of prep work to do.  This year I plan to offer, buttons, post cards, perhaps even pocket mirrors and t-shirts along with a surprise I am still working on the details of.  Now comes the question which designs do I offer on these goodies.  If any of you have requests on what you would like to see on buttons and what not please email me, wendy@orangewillow.com.  You can check out my etsy store for an idea of whats could be available in designs.

I have been working on a few new paintings and while a couple are almost complete I want to wait until all three are before I reveal them.  I also hope to have some more ink drawings soon so definitly stay tuned for more.

This past Monday I went to rally at University of Cincinnati to hear Barack Obama speak.  While standing in the insane line that wrapped around the arena…

a sweet little Bassett was nice enough to make us all smile.

Even though the Bassett was cute the main event was even better and well worth the wait in the freezing cold.

Over 13,000 attended the rally.  My sister and I went together and we left feeling something I have never felt since I have been a legal voter in this country…. HOPE.  Though many say hes all talk his voting record backs up what he says.  The energy in the building gave me goose bumps and I had little doubt I was watching the next president of the United States speak.