"Midnight Moon Dance"

I had such fun with this month's EHAG Emporium piece - a wickedly whimsical fireplace (or kitty privacy) screen...

The witch is waving her magic wand to bestow blessings on her black cat familiar, and all the creatures of the forest, as they dance beneath the light of the Woman in the Moon. Notice the details like the little mice playing in the pumpkins. :)

Painted in acrylics on a hinged, wooden screen, with a tiny black and orange checkerboard border on the top edge. There are a few small flaws and imperfections in the wood, all nicely concealed within the painted design. Finished with a clear, acrylic varnish, and measures 44" x 22". Comes to you signed and dated, with a certificate of authenticity included. This is the only one of these screens I'll be offering outside of a show this year.

$285 plus shipping, which will vary by location. UPDATE ~ SOLD

Have to add, I have one of these in my kitchen (although not painted as cool, hehe) which surrounds the cat's dishes, and just love it.

To purchase, just shoot me an email at carolee@kingofmice.com.

Until next time, wishing you *magic and enchantment*!
♥ Carolee

Spring Fever!

Maybe it's the unseasonable warm weather we're having this winter, but spring fever is working it's magic in the studio, inspiring a new Easter/Ostara piece...

This one listed on Etsy last night, and sold just minutes later, but look for another whimsical spring piece (possibly a bowl) coming soon. :)

Until next time,
♥ Carolee

Mystical, Magical Blues...

Ultramarine, cobalt, cerulean...I'm immersed in blue these days.

Artemis, the Goddess I chose for January's full wolf moon painting...

Chione, of February's full moon, Goddess of snow and daughter of the North Wind...

A footstool inspired by "Practical Magic"...

The funny thing is, I almost never wear blue. But painting is another story. Rich and restful colors, mesmerizing....like falling into a magical pool, mixing them becomes an an almost zen kind of process. Do you have a color that grabs you like that?

Look for more blues this weekend as I paint the first Easter piece of the season, a large platter with either rabbits or hares, and possibly a few other creatures (we'll see how it evolves).

In the meantime, I'm off to run the usual Saturday morning errands. Thanks as always for dropping by, and if you're on facebook, do drop by my page for more frequent updates!

Until next time,
♥ Carolee

Of Replenishing the Well, and Serendipity

In her book "The Artist's Way", author Julia Cameron likens the pool of creativity to a well - and as we all know, one cannot draw from an empty well. It must be replenished from time to time. ;)

It's easy to forget this, so caught up are we in deadlines and commitments, and often just keeping our heads above water...Until one day, a little voice inside us says "enough"...says "take some time"...says "slow down"...says "breathe"....

The voice has been growing louder these last few weeks, until this morning, when despite a very full commission schedule, it got the better of me...

So a word to John (who is truly a saint when it comes to humoring my last minute whims) and we gassed up the Beetle and made a run out to St. Peter's Village, a historic old mining town on the banks of the French Creek...

I have such fond memories of visiting St Peters as a kid, and climbing around on these big boulders...

(Probably break my neck these days, hehe)....

The village itself is very small and very quaint, changing very little since it's days as a "company" town back in the 1800's. Only now, many of the houses along the main street are little shops...

I remember St Peter's Village back in the 1970's, when (after the quarry was mined out), it became a popular shopping and dining destination. Many of the shops have long since closed down, but a few small businesses are still there, and hoping to make a comeback. I thought this one was interesting - you can't really see the sign in the photo, but its says "Nana's", then "storytelling and lunch", which I found so charming, and a pity it wasn't open.

There's also a wonderful little bakery...
Um, OK, big bakery. ;) And an elegant Inn, where I understand the dinners are superb...

But my favorite was the West Hanover Winery's shop. Nevermind that 11AM is a bit early for a tasting, hehe - I just had to try this Buckwheat Honey Mead...

Liquid heaven, *sigh*..... Seriously, if you're withing striking distance of either St. Peters or the winery itself, you MUST try it.

We also visited a little antique shop, where I (with John's, ahem, "help") resisted the temptations of several antique pinkeeps - but not so this antique clock case. It was speaking to me, saying "Take me to Ghoultide!"...and well, I just couldn't ignore it, could I?

Of course I couldn't. Not sure what's up with the baby blue interior, but rest assured by the time I finish with it, it will be the most wicked cool, Witch's apothecary cabinet you've ever seen. ;)

So yes, not only did I replenish the creative well - I replenished the wooden painting surface supply as well.

Serendipity. ♥

And now it's back to work! I'm very close to finishing a super-fun clock commission, and then it's on to a Practical Magic inspired footstool, another Goddess painting, and more commissions and Ghoultide Gathering pieces. If only there were more hours in the day!

In the meantime, prints are available in the Etsy shop, and there are still a couple of commission spots open for 2012 (December completion). Just check the commission guidelines on the above right, and shoot me an email if you're interested. :)

I'll be back very soon!

♥ Carolee

♥ Happy Hearts Day! ♥

A little variation on the blog giveaway today: the Facebook giveaway. Pop over to my art page to enter. :)

Happy Valentine's Day, all!

♥ Carolee

Winter Madness...

I'm torn.

One one hand, I'm ever so grateful for this mild winter we've been having, as it's kept heating costs well, if not low, then certainly lower that they could have been. And trust me, this is a big deal. ;)

On the other hand, I'm longing for a good old fashioned snowing-in. The kind that blankets everything in white and forces us to slow down and spend a few days enjoying the comforts of hearth and home; simmering soup and homemade bread, wool shawls and down lap duvets, quiet evenings spent reading and knitting and playing board games...

It's been a strange winter so far, with just a couple of dustings which were gone in a day or two. Nothing like 2010, when we had those back to back blizzards...

We called it "snowmageddon", remember?

Not that we need anything quite so dramatic - but one good snowfall before spring would be nice, don't you think?

Maybe I need to break out the snow wand? I have this fabulous little folk artsy piece by an artist named Brigitte Holsten, of Paint the Moon Primitives (whom I've since lost track of, and so wish I could find her work again)...

The wand hangs on the dining room hearth, beneath the far too dusty teapots, and there's a little spell card attached which says:

"God and Goddess that I seek
I hope this doesn't sound too meek
I ask of you to make it snow
and make the cold winter winds blow
Now that I have asked this of you
I will help you to make it true."

How fun is that?! You're supposed to chant the verse, and wave the wand in all four directions.

John says he'd much rather we had a wand for springtime weather, but I suppose that's because he's the one who gets to drive in the snow, and I'm the one who gets to watch it while sipping hot cocoa. ;)

How about you? Is it winter in your neck of the woods? Or are you missing it as I am?

Before I run, I must share one more little bit of winter madness, this newest eBay auction. I swore I was finished with eBay, but a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do, and this week it means selling the Mad Catter box...

My favorite part is the message inside, which pretty much sums things up around here, hehe. ♥

That's about it for today. I'm off to work on commissions now, and perhaps do a bit of sketching for the new Practical Magic piece. I'll be back very soon, and in the meantime, I hope you're enjoying your day whatever the weather...

Until next time,
♥ Carolee

Many, Many Things...

Have you ever felt completely overwhelmed, but in a good way? Like there are so many projects, so many people, so many groups and guilds and shows, so many friends, so much beauty, and so many ideas percolating that you just might burst with the excitement of it all?

I don't mean to minimize life's challenges here (and believe me, we've had more than a few), but the older I get, the more I believe that happiness lies in our focus. I can look at another heart procedure for John as "Oh no! Hasn't he been through enough!?", or I can see the miraculous technology and skill which allow his doctors to fix something that fifty years ago would have been completely unfixable. I mean, that's HUGE, right?

So yes, things are looking pretty amazing on the home front, I thank everyone for the prayers and positive energy once again - it means more than you know.

On the art front, things are pretty amazing too. First, there's work to be done for the sixth annual Ghoultide Gathering...

The show has a new home this year, with all the artists under one roof! The energy is going to be absolutely electric, and it will be so much easier for collectors too. If you've been, you know what a magical time it is, and if you haven't, please consider making 2012 your Ghoultide Year!

I'm so excited, there are a few pieces already in the works, hehe. ;)

There's also tomorrow's PFATT Marketplace, where this dapper fellow will make his debut...


He's rather large (18" tall), but I think he would look fabulous sitting on a dining table or mantle. This is just one side though - check the Marketplace tomorrow at 10AM Pacific/1PM eastern to see the other side. I know, I'm a tease.

In case you're not familiar, the PFATT ladies ("Primitive Folk Art Talk and Tea", pronounced with a silent P, hehe) are a wonderfully supportive art group - a sort of sisterhood of folk artists - and I'd be remiss if I didn't share the blog giveaway the group has going now...
Click here to be transported to the PFATT blog, where you can enter to win one of the many original giveaway items. I have a little mouse print in the mix. :)

I also have the privilege of belonging to the Eclectic Halloween Artists Guild - or EHAG, as it's better known - a juried group of some of the world's finest Halloween artists. Our monthly EHAG Emporium goes live on the last day of each month, at 9PM eastern. So there's a wicked cool Emporium piece in works too. More on this later.

Oh, and just by way of useless but amusing info, some of the EHAG artists (such as myself) are also PFATT members. We call ourselves the pfatt hags, teehee.

Commissions are in the works as well, both new and old, and I can't tell you how incredible it feels to know I have commissions scheduled for most of the year already! Like Sally Field at the Oscars: "You like me!! You really LIKE me!"

Ideas for new work are swirling around in my brain the February full snow moon has passed, but the Snow Moon Goddess piece is yet to be completed. There's also a Practical Magic footstool waiting patiently in line. And a St. Gertrude piece as well - the patron saint of gardeners and cats, whose feast day is March 17th.

Meanwhile, there's housework and cooking to be done, knitting and stitching, and I'm trying to squeeze in some reading time. I'll tell you, I do not understand how anyone could ever say they're bored! Sooooooo much to see, to do and to accomplish. A hundred lifetimes would not be enough.

That's about it for today. There are two Aussies here, nudging my left elbow as I type, wanting very much to go for a walk. I think they want to play in the snow before it disappears. ;)

I'll leave you with this beautiful, wintry song. I've been listening to the Wailin' Jenny's in the studio quite a bit lately. Such lovely harmonies....



Until next time,
♥ Carolee

Cute as a Button, Part Two. ♥

I'm having such fun with these button paintings! Here are two I finished today, which will be up for grabs tomorrow in the Etsy shop, unless they're snapped up first (larger than the previous ones, at 8" x 8", and $75 + $10 shipping)

You can't really see it in the pics, but there's a white rick-rack hanger at the top. Sooooo cute.

UPDATE - Both now sold. :)

I'll be working madly on commissions and a piece for the PFATT Marketplace this week, as well as catching up on a few things around the house, and applying for a new passport. Hard to believe the big road trip is just about 3 months away now!

Must run now, but I'll be back very soon...

♥ Carolee
PS - if you'd like one of the button paintings, just shoot me an email at carolee@kingofmice.com

♥ Cute as a Button ♥

Four chunky 5" x 5" canvases, with button accents and rick-rack hangers, up for grabs on a first-come basis at $45 each + $10 shipping in the U.S. (email for rates elsewhere) ...

SUCH fun painting these, hehe...

To purchase one or several, shoot me an email at carolee@kingofmice.com. Anything left tomorrow will list on Etsy. :)

UPDATE - As of this writing (just a few minutes after posting), the Dormouse and cat are sold and the other two are most likely sold (pending confirmation). Thanks so much, and I hope to have more of these soon - including a few Halloween pieces! :)

♥ Carolee