EHAG News

Just a quick post tonight to tell you that EHAG (the Eclectic Halloween Artists Group, of which I'm a proud member!) is now on Facebook. So if you're there too, and if you're into Halloween (and really, who ISN'T?!) please join us by clicking here and becoming a "fan" of the group! This means you'll get updates to your home page about new works, giveaways, and events like our upcoming Skeleton Key Hunt, which begins May 4th. :)

Hope to see you there!

~ Carolee

The Witching Hour!

Can you believe it's April 30th already?! The eve of May Day and Beltane (and just six months to Halloween and Samhain!)

Since I think it's a bit of a drag to visit blogs that sound like encyclopedias, I won't bore you with a whole history lesson about Beltane Eve and May Day - it's easy enough to look up, and I'm not any kind of authority on the subject anyway...I'm just all up for anything celebrating flowers and spring and involving bonfires and dancing and revelry!


The mantle clock above was actually painted with Halloween in mind, but I think the revelry and merriment of the spring celebration kind of made it's way in there too. It's listed now on eBay. :)

I'll be back tomorrow with some new goodies, and in the meantime, I'm wishing all who celebrate it a Happy Beltane Eve (and if there's anything special you're doing to herald in the season, please share!)

¸.•´¸.•*¨) ¸.•*¨)
(¸.•´ (¸.•´ .•´ ¸¸.•¨¯`• ~ Carolee

Check This Out!

My PFATT and EHAG friend Lori Davis, of Vintage Palette Art is having a little giveaway on her other blog, The Village Gift Shoppe. Four different goodies, so run on over and leave a comment! I'm on my way now....

(Was that enough links for you? Hehe!)

♥ Carolee

Commission Fun!

I just have to share the most recent commission - soooooooo much fun to paint this one.

Meet Sir Winston Churchill.....


Winston is the resident shop cat at East Chatham Wines and Spirits, in East Chatham, New York, and a very handsome fellow indeed.

Here he is again in one of the photos I used for reference - perched atop some wine boxes, the better to survey his kingdom....


Isn't he sweet? And doesn't this look like a FUN shop?! I wish I were closer...but then, I could do some serious damage to the bank account in a place like this (LOVE my red wine!)

East Chatham is a bit outside Albany, very near the NY/Mass state line (I looked it up), so if anyone is in the area, do drop in. There's no website yet, but you can email the proprietors for info and directions at ecws@taconic.net. :)

That's about it for tonight....I'm off now to sculpt a moon face, then to the Land of Nod.....

Sweet Dreams!
♥ Carolee
PS - If you'd like your own furbaby painted, just shoot me an email, and I can give you an estimate and time frame. :)

The Enchanted Garden....and the Not So Enchanted Garden

In my dreams, this is how my garden appears - bursting with color, every flower imaginable, a little stone path....and fairies of course! Lots and lots of fairies. :)

The reality is a wee bit different....

Lots and lots of dandelions


Ivy completely out of control on the trunk of my beloved flowering crabapple tree

And aconite taking over the herb garden.

There's a short window of time in which we need to get it under control before planting the herbs and annuals, but when? Work and the dreaded flu (which has knocked John for a loop, but I've so far managed to avoid) are overwhelming at the moment, so there it it sits - like The Secret Garden, longing for someone to rescue it.

I haven't decided yet if the sight of my neighbor's garden is motivating me or just inducing guilt. He's a very nice retired gentleman who spends most of his days gardening, and taking care of all the stray cats in the neighborhood. Isn't that nice? Not only for the kitties, but it saves me from becoming the crazy neighborhood cat lady, hehe.

These photos really don't do his garden justice, as they were taken from our side of the little wire fence. I just LOVE his old potting shed too - so much more character than our rusted metal, *sigh*....

But I still have the dream garden in my head, inspiring me to work and clear and plant - a little here, a little there.

The Enchanted Garden sign shown above is up for grabs on eBay now. Maybe it will inspire a fairy garden? I hope so....

How does YOUR garden grow? Have you cleared away the winter debris and planted yet? Flowers? Herbs? Do tell, if only to let me live vicariously, haha...

♥ Carolee

Crazy Busy and Loving It!

First, I have to tell you it's absolutely GORGEOUS here in southeastern Pennsylvania! The dogwoods and flowering crabapple have begun to bloom, the fish and frogs are happily swimming around the pond (time to start feeding them again!) and birdsongs are filling the air. I soooooooooo want to be out there prepping the garden, but there are a gazillion other things I must tend to first. :)

So here's a quick rundown of the doings around here....

New treasure boxes just listed on eBay and Etsy:

This one says "Plant a garden, Feed the birds, Fly a kite, Dance in the rain, Take long walks, Smell the roses"...(Can you tell I have spring fever?!)

And these two are soooooo cute - just 3" x 3" and lined with whimsical paper...



I'm painting signs for both eBay and a commissions this weekend too - and would you believe I'm almost caught up with commission work?! Yep - just two pieces to go, and the schedule is open again! So if there's a piece you're longing for, shoot me an email. I can't make any promises, and to be honest, I'm kind of fussy about commissions anyway - they have to be FUN (I know, how spoiled am I?) It's just that I truly believe you can't do a piece justice if your heart isn't in it. Anyway, if you have a wicked cool idea (or trust me with one, hehe!) drop me a line. :)

In other news, I was soooooooo pleased to open my email this morning and discover I'm the featured artist on the PFATT blog (the "Primitive Folk Art Talk and Tea" group). Actually, I think the way they put it is that I'm their "Featured Pfattie" - the P is silent, by the way, so it's appropriate on so many levels!

Oh - and if anyone hasn't noticed the Facebook banner on the right side of the blog, please feel free to friend me there. Like the blog here, I often post info about works in progress, so it's an easy way to get the heads-up. Oh, and Twitter!! Yep, like everyone else in the universe, I'm tweeting. You can find me there under "kingofmice".

Work is also in progress for the upcoming Ghoultide Gathering show - October will be here before we know it, and I'm sooooooooo looking forward seeing everyone!

That's about it for now - I'm off to drop some tunes in the CD player and start painting. Later tonight, dinner at a friend's house. I'm bringing dessert, which would normally find me in the kitchen half the day, but with this week's schedule I'm taking the easy way out and hitting the bakery on the way there (shhhhhhh - don't tell!)

Have a magical, productive and *creative* weekend, all!

♥ Carolee

Update :)

At the risk of boring you to death with this one, I have to share I finally finished and listed it!



More goodies tomorrow....

♥ Carolee