A new ACEO or two

Clearing my workspace out for the new year is not only a physical act for a mental clearing of the creative clutter. I do seem to need a certain amount of 'art' clutter to get my inspiration in gear but by the end of the year my space starts to resemble - oh heavens - a scene from those hoarding news articales. Time to re-organize.

After looking around at the stacks of buttons, boxes of paints, teetering piles of paper, I decided to start resorting tomorrow. Just the sheer amount of clutter started my mind thinking about steampunk genre. And since I always come back to animal art I decided to combine the two and paint this little steampunk weasel. To be listed soon for sale:

Strings Forte Please!

I just love the little porcelain ornaments Zazzle has come out with this year. I'm busy adding all of my 'Wild Things Orchestra' members to those designs available in my shop.

My newest is a green crocodile playing his violin. I think no one will challenge him for first chair. I have several more to be added but if you have a budding musician - ahem make that budding classical musician - then take note of these adorable ornaments. Tuck one away for a special occasion.

Christmas Angel Icon

Even before I took a course at Mesa State College in Colorado on Russian history I was fascinated with religious icons, all religious art in fact. I would find Greek Orthodox churches wherever I traveled and go to see the marvelous painted walls and ceilings. And although not Catholic, I studied all the saints and their symbols in art so that I could recognize them in sculpture, paintings, illuminated manuscripts, etc. It was a whole quiet language that I found I could read in color and symbols.

This painted icon is assembled in a very traditional way, the back is pieced and left rough. Knotholes are not filled. But the front is richly painted in shades of blue and gold - the colors of heaven. The columns at the sides are painted in a brighter type of golden paint along with the angel's halo.

Icons were necessarily smaller works of art as they were often carried from town to town by the priests for worship services. This one has a slim base (about 2" deep) with a shelf at the bottom to hold rolled up slips of paper written with the applicant's prayer requests. I have not painted one of the 'named' angels of scripture but a simple angel of the night skies with stars and a sliver of the moon.

This is not necessarily a Christmas item but could be displayed year round.

It is my monthly item for sale at the American Holiday Artists Marketplace. If you're heading on over there to see everything on offer this holiday season, check out this sweet, sweet ornament from artist Vania Cruz-Perez:





I think it would be a perfect gift for someone with a new baby this Christmas. A little boy's first ornament. Nothing like a artisan crafted ornament - you won't find one like it at every card shop!

Time perhaps this weekend to get out the boxes of holiday decorations and relive wonderful past times. If you're like me you always smile at the one-of-a-kind things, the unique, the vintage pieces of times gone by.

Happy hunting thru old things from the attic and browsing thru new art too!

Golders

Spooky Old Owl

Just listed on ebay is this watercolor owl. I live waaaaaay out in the country and in the eucalyptus trees behind my house I have a nesting pair of great horned owls. This last year they hatched a chick. A very large chick. One day he got a little disoriented and flew into my bedroom window! Thankfully owl and window were not harmed but he was a huge baby and sat for a while getting himself together. Time enough for me to grab my camera and walk right up within arm's length and take some pics. When he flew back to mamma his wingspan was impressive.

Ornament Giveaway Winner!

Our Holiday Ornament Blog Giveaway is over and the winner for my blog is 'Jill' of That's My Cat! Jill, congrats and please drop me a message (my facebook identity is 'Golders DeWitt') so I can get your mailing address. :) Thank you everyone who participated! More fun stuff coming from the American Holiday Artists' Marketplace.

Golders

American Holiday Artists Studio Marketplace

Welcome to my marketplace tent for this virtual Christkindlemart!

Please look around! I work mostly as a painter. Acrylic on wood surfaces, acrylics and oils on stretched cavas, and watercolor on professional weight watercolor paper. My subjects vary but I always return to painting animals of all kinds. Dogs, cats, wild animals including my favorite hedgehogs seem to pop up all over. I paint pigs in suits, dogs with crowns, all sorts of silliness.

To celebrate our American Holiday Artists Studios Marketplace debut we're hosting an online Christkindlemart! Please read the previous post for information on how to win my give-away gift of a porcelain Christmas ornament.

I'm giving away this Christmas ornament imprinted with my whimsical painting 'Hedgehog Sled'. It's made of high quality porcelain (2 7/8" round) and comes with a red ribbon for hanging.

Thank you for coming by and be sure to visit the other aHa artists' tents listed below for this fun give-away event. The winners will be posted on our individual blogs on Sept. 12th.

Happy Holidays to you and yours!

Alycia's Art

Back In The Day
Originals

Elysian Field Originals

Fantasy Whispers

Folk `n Fiber

Folk Art By Penny

Folk Art From The
Heart

Ginny Diezel Studios

Golders Creaky Gate

Granny Wolf Originals

Grunge Goddess Primitives

Howling Mood Designs

Lowell Country
Designs

Mother's Dream
Artworks

Seasonal Whimsies

Skellyton Art

Smirking
Goddess Studios

The Christmas Corgi

The Goode Wife Of Washington
County

The Snippets

Whimsical Endeavors

Wings And Paws
Whimsies

AHA Celebration Grand Opening Plus Giveaway!

The aHa Studio Marketplace will be open for business August 25th!

And to celebrate this momentous occasion the artisans will be participating in a Blog Give-Away! The Give-Away will run from August 25th to September 25th. The rules are very simple and you have a chance to win more than one prize.

Here's how it will work.

First, each artisan will post a picture of their item for the Give-Away clearly marked on their blog. Next, each artisan will have chosen a number.

All you have to do is post a comment under the picture of the Give-Away item. Now if your comment corresponds with the artisan's chosen number, then hooray you win the prize for that blog! So the more comments you post, the more chances you have to win the prize on that blog. Easy!

Each of us have listed our fellow aHa artists on our blogs, so just check out everyone's blog and comment on that blog's Give-Away item and you'll have a chance to win that prize too!

All contest prizes will be posted on August 25.

Good luck and thank you for participating in the American Holiday Artists' Studio Marketplace Great Give-Away!