Hair Time Art ...T-shirts!

I am so excited to show off the brand new, fresh off the press Hair Time shirt! I finally found a company that was able to print them in full digital vinyl color, and let me just say, they look FANTASTIC. 

M modeling her new Hair Time shirt

If you would like to purchase one for the special little curly-haired girl in your life, please swing by my Etsy shop, www.mossyrockdesigns.etsy.com to order one!

The Hair Time shirt

Did you know that my friend's daughter M (who is proudly wearing her new Hair Time shirt) was the original inspiration for the Hair Time paintings? Her mother graciously took an afternoon to show me proper detangling, care, and braiding of M's beautiful natural curly hair.

M in her new Hair Time shirt!

Work in progress: Almost done!

I am almost done - just a few little touches are still missing, and I still need to sign the painting.

I love you, Sweet girl! 16x20

I will have prints available in my Etsy shop by the end of this month.

From a photo to a painting

Several friends and clients have asked me lately if I would mind posting a photo that I painted from alongside the resulting painting. As most of you know by now, my goal is never to create a perfect semblance of a photo - I create what I would describe as a children's book illustration version of a child.

Here is an example of a photo sent to me by my client, and the painting I created for her. She asked for a Bible verse reference to be included, along with the little girl's name.

Some clients ask me to paint with certain colors, so as to match the color scheme of the room they plan to hang the painting in. Others leave color choice completely up to me. I am fine with both.

The photo of Sierra was posted with the permission of the photographer, as well as her mother. 

Work in Progress - excerpt of a Mother and Daughter portrait

These last weeks have been crazy-busy... but I really am working hard! Just to show you that I'm not being completely lazy, here's a little excerpt preview of the 16x20 portrait I'm working on right now.

These bigger, more detailed paintings usually take me several weeks, since I under-paint them with so many different colors (it's currently in the "purple and gold"-stage, as you can see.

 This painting is a new experience for me, since I'm painting it on so-called Aqua-board. This is in essence a layer of clay that has been sprayed onto a board. It's slick, and takes water (and color) very differently from what I'm used to. I am still trying to decide whether I love or hate painting on aqua board...

(oh, and the weird shiny blob in the top left corner won't stay shiny, i just painted protective misket over it so that I don't paint over the pink flower with the darker hair color)

"First Day Home" - 15x19 watercolor

It has been so long since I last posted - sorry! Life has been crazy with house guests, a family trip to my folks' house, and more house guests.

I have been working really hard on several larger pieces, as well as several custom paintings. This one still needs some small tweaks, but is mostly finished. It is a large version of my "I'll Protect You" painting, and I've named it "First Day Home." I wanted to capture the love and promise of protection from the Mom, as well as the little girl's mixed feelings of wanting to be snuggled and loved, but also still being really darn afraid.  

First Day Home 15x19

This painting comes with a cool story. As some of you remember, I painted "I'll Protect You" as part of my Everyday Art Project last year:

In addition to selling prints of the little painting, I also sent free ones to a few of the families in our agency who had been waiting at #1 for a long time. Just a week after I sent one of the Mommas a print, her family got a referral for their daughter... and she looked so much like my little painting!

I was thrilled and honored to have been able to bless and encourage this family with my art... not even knowing how it would touch their hearts!

Once sweet Baby O was home, her Momma sent me a picture of herself posed with Baby O in the same way as the "I'll Protect You" painting. The picture she sent me is the photo that I painted from when I created "First Day Home."

Prints will be available in my Etsy shop in a couple of weeks.

Custom 5x7 - Princesses in the Mirror

I recently finished a really fun little custom piece! This painting goes with a set of wonderful rhymes about a mother and daughter that my client's husband wrote.

Mommy and Me

Done! "Little Friends" 22x22 inches

I know it has been a while since I last posted... in part this is due to finishing my big gardening/landscaping project in the front yard. In part this is because I have been painting some custom pieces that I can't post online because they are gifts for people who also read my blog. In part this is because I've been working on some bigger "for fun" paintings! *Surprisingly* a 22x22 inch painting just takes longer than a 2.5x3.5 inch painting... who would have thought?! :o)

Little Friends - 22x22 inches

8"x22" - Princess on a Pea

I have been pretty busy painting custom pieces for the past few weeks, as well as wrapping up my projects for my watercolor class.

I was in bad need of a 'just for fun' project!

I had this 8x22 "scrap" of nice 300gms Arches hot press watercolor paper that was waiting to be painted on... so I decided to revisit my little Princess on a Pea theme, this time in a larger size (the original one was 5x7), and with many more mattresses stacked on top of each other...

Thanks to the violinist, this princess is sleeping soundly through the night!

I'm working hard on completing a few other paintings - stay tuned!

Work in progress - Kirsten - Finished!

I finished another painting a few days ago. Remember the 12x14 painting of my youngest sister Kirsten, playing her Cello that I've been working on in my watercolor class? Well here it is!

I feel pleased with how it turned out. I have learned so much in my watercolor class!

Work in Progress - Kirsten

It has been a few days since I last posted. Right now I am working on a 12x16 painting of my youngest sister, Kirsten, playing the Cello. 

I still need to add in the dark shades and shadows, but I think this painting is coming along nicely.

Here's a detail-view of her face. 

"Miheret" - 8x8 watercolor illustration

‎"Miheret" - 8x8 watercolor - thank you to Cindy Burt for letting me use her fantastic photograph of her beautiful daughter dancing in the evening sunlight.

This painting was HARD to do, with all the transparent whites that in reality aren't white, but many colors... I'm pleased with the end result though, especially the sun glow. 

Sorry folks, no prints will be sold of this painting, by request of Miheret's mother.

Woven Together, 6x8 illustration

A few weeks ago I was approached by an adoptive Mom who asked if I could paint a picture that honors both of her daughter's mothers - her first mother (birth mother) and her Mommy. It took me over a month to come up with a good solution - I wanted the picture to be pleasing to a child, so it wasn't allowed to be sad or too serious, yet I wanted it to convey something deeper, too.

While reading a book about adoptive parenting, I came across a beautiful metaphor for an adopted child's life: the daughter, her birth mother, and her adoptive mother are each holding a ribbon or string of a different color. As the daughter grows and matures, those three strings become intricately woven together, because they are all part of her identity, her past, her future.

I will have prints of this painting available in my Etsy shop in a week or so. Shoot me an eMail or an Etsy message if you would like to reserve one. I'll have 5x7 and 8x10 available.

June 3 ACEO - very over-due

I apologize for the long lapse in posting. Between having a garage sale, cutting my finger (in prepping for the garage sale), and travelling to a wedding, I just haven't had much time to paint. Of course I had the brilliant idea to paint some more detailed and realistic paintings of children NOW, so the 11 paintings I've been working on are just plain taking a longer time. I want to post them as a set, but here is one of them, just to give you a little taste for what is to come. The other 10 should be finished in the next 2 or so days.

Here is the pencil sketch before any fine black ink lines or color were added.

June 3 ACEO (18 days late): Here is the finished painting. I am always amazed at how much of a difference color can make.

I felt like painting some more high-quality, detailed, realistically shaded paintings. I've been doing simplified illustration-style paintings for so long that I wanted to see if my other watercolor skills had gotten rusty. I would say, they might have, just a little, but it shouldn't be hard to re-activate them...

March 25, 26, 27 ACEOs: Hair time!

I am a few days behind in posting... sorry folks!
I've been reading about how to "do" African hair, among other things on http://www.keepmecurly.com/ ...this inspired me to paint this little ACEO mini series...

March 25 ACEO: Beautiful natural curls!

March 26 ACEO: ...half way!

March 27 ACEO: Done!

Jan. 4 ACEO

The kids having fun with more sparklers...!