SALE Ends Today

My CMZ Art 3-4-2

Christmas in July

SALE

ends today!!

Last chance for a number of the prints

I currently have listed in the shop.

And, REMEMBER you can combine

prints from my CMZ Art shop and prints

from my Rustic Goth shop.

With FREE Shipping!

This will be my only sale in either shop

this year.

Beginning August 1st...

I will be discontinuing a number of

existing prints

to make room for new

items.

I may be a little O.C.D...but, I only like

to have a certain number of items in

my shop at any given time.

I occasionally will re-introduce some of the pieces

I feel particularly fond of...but then, only for short

periods of time.

My 'retired' pieces may find new 'homes' elsewhere

if I am particularly passionate about them...

others will find their way to

their little 'retirement' homes to live out

the rest of their days.

Coming soon....

Hopefully by the end of the week!

"A Cup Of Tea"

I had a lot of fun with this

'Alice in Wonderland'

piece.

I have it listed in

my CMZ Art Shop.

My private collection....

I have several paintings in my "private collection"...which mean, my children will 'inherit' them when I am "gone". I have several pieces, the only ones left, that were painted by my husband. Needless to say, those stay 'with' me.

Then I have those that I have painted throughout the years.

My very first oil painting...a landscape...that I still think is pretty darned good for my first attempt.

I have a painting of 'dandelions' that I painted in in the 80's....with one hand...while I held the seeded dandelion with the other. I love how that piece turned out...and it never has been for sale.

I have several paintings...of Jesus...that I painted when we lived in Nashville. I love those pieces..I've had several 'offers' but, those were too personal to part with. I also painted a collection of 'homeless' pieces at that same time...again...too personal to part with.

These two paintings...were painted in 2005 and 2007. I offered 'Some Kind of Blues' a couple of times...and then decided, it has a special meaning to me so I pulled the listing and hung the painting on my wall.

'Contemplating Life'...seems like such a suitable companion to 'Some Kind of Blues'...so I hung it on the wall next to it.

And on the Seventh day...

...I wish I could rest. I can't...but, I'll try to do as little as possible.

So that I can feel like I'm resting...

CMZ 'Newz'

I've got more pendants coming...

this one is from my 'Summer Solstice' painting.

They are incredibly difficult to photograph, once I put

the cabochon or resin on them...because of the reflective glare.

I coated the print on this piece with resin and I was very pleased

with the results. It's not as heavy as those with the cabochons...

but, that is what I was going for.

I'll be listing this pendant tomorrow (Sunday)...and I'm hoping

to list more throughout the week.

5 Days left on my

Christmas in July SALE

3 Prints for the Price of 2...Plus FREE Shipping!

I've made a couple of

sales combining prints from both shops.

This will be the last 'hurrah' for some of my prints.

I will be removing a number of

prints to make room for new one's that are

'on the way'

If you have any favorites

this may be the time to get them:)

Another unexpected day 'off'

Wow!! Two days in the same week that I haven't had the grandbabies...not sure how I'll be able to act!

Love ...love...love my grandbabies....but, honestly...I rarely get much done while they're here. They are sooo very curious of each and everything that I do...sometimes it's fun to explain what I'm doing and let them watch...and sometimes "help"...most of the time though...they really can't help..so it's easier if I wait until they've gone home.

Now...I've got a two day week-end to get some work done...let me see....shall I clean house or get some paintings done????

We'll just have to see.

Oh yeah....Betty, at Anna Leah Designs has listed a few more pendants with my artwork on them in her lovely Etsy shop.

It must be nice to paint...

Someone once told me...'It must be nice to be able to paint all day, everyday...like you do."....WHAT???

I had NO idea of how many things were really 'involved' in selling original art, prints, etc..online but, I did know I wouldn't just be painting. I've done arts and crafts shows since the early 80s..and there's a lot involved with those...I just didn't realize how much more 'behind the scenes' work was involved with online sales.

There's all kind of supplies to order and keep on hand (thus a certain amount of inventory is necessary)..

pictures to take, crop, correct, enhance (to get the best representation of what is going to be listed)..then, it's necessary..from time to time..to clean out all of the extra pictures accumulating on the computer..

a studio to clean...an office/printing/packing center to clean and organize...

packages to pack...and shipping to do (trips to USPS or UPS)

correspondence to do....listings to manage...sites to update (yikes!!...I haven't updated my website in weeks!!)

....and this is just the 'tip of the iceberg'...

Eventually... though not everyday... I do get to paint/ either on canvas or with my computer (in Photoshop)...and it all 'comes together'.... and I am happy:)

A few of my favorites...

I have quite a few

favorite

items and sellers

on Etsy.

Here are a

couple of those....

My Original Art...

I've had a number of questions

from collectors

asking me when I will be listing

more

original paintings.

I do understand they are

referring to

acrylic (or oil) paint on stretched canvas...

'Summer Solstice'

Original painting

11x14

Acrylic paint on stretched canvas

"Alice And The Cheshire Cat"

This piece is an Original.

It is also a print.

I illustrated the characters first by hand

then, digitally colored the piece in Photoshop.

"Good Day"

This is my own original character, based on

an original painting..but, I consider

this a 'Print of my Painting'

rather than an 'Original Print'

since the original piece

has been sold.

Wow...hope that didn't confuse anyone.

Anyway...for those who wonder

when I will be doing more original paintings..

I can only say..not as often as I would like...

because of my very busy schedule.

If you're looking for an original

by me..

don't overlook my digital originals..

many times these are 'one of a kind' originals..

MY "Newz"....

Starting TODAY...I am having a

"CHRISTMAS IN JULY" Sale

in both of my Etsy Shops!

Buy 2 Prints (of the same size)

and get the third Print (of the same size) FREE!

PLUS Free Shipping.

And...for readers of my blogs ONLY...

you can combine your prints from both shops

as long as they are the same sizes.

So

you can purchase two 5" x 7" prints from my CMZ Art Shop

and select your third 5" x 7" from my Rustic Goth Shop...if you want.

I will be ending...forever...a number of my prints,

after this sale has ended..

to make room for my new fall - prints, paintings and other NEW items!

+++++

MORE NEWZ

+++++

A few of pendants, featuring my art, can now be found on Etsy

at

Anna Leah Designs.

She only has a couple at the moment

but,

she is making more

as we 'speak':)

For the Most Part....

...I had a productive Saturday.

I didn't paint anything...but, that was a good thing.

Last week wasn't my best...it was just one small crisis after another...I won't even go into everything that transpired! So, I had planned...as I do every week...to do all of this painting on Saturday...my one day of the week that I am mostly left to myself.

I realized that there is a reason that I haven't been as productive as I want to be. I've always been a bit of a 'rebel'...I've always resisted being 'told what to do'...even if I am the one telling myself what I need to do.

So...to put all of the pressure of 'producing something worthwhile' on my Saturdays...just isn't working.

I decided to take the 'pressure' off and just rationalize everything I have going on and how best to accomplish everything in a reasonable time frame. I have a good feeling that I am going to be able to create waaaay more pieces, with a lot less stress and self-expectations!

I've got some 'news'...but, I'll save that for tomorrow's post!

Alice and The Cheshire Cat

This piece is finally finished and

listed in my CMZ Etsy Shop.

I don't know why, but this piece took almost

a week to finish!

I decided to "call it done"...if I didn't

I would never have anything listed..as I can always

find something else to 'tweek' on everything I paint.

I sketched out the characters in this piece and then

finished it in PhotoShop.

It's took a bit of a different direction than when I first started.

I have some 'exciting' news that I hope to be able to share

with you tomorrow!

Thanks for reading and ..."have a great day!"

Too much excitement....

We had such a day yesterday. Of course, it was raining...my youngest son started a new 'old' job...(he went back to a company he'd been with for several years)...his visiting girlfriend was 'dog sitting' for his oldest sister's dog...she took him outside (he really had to "go") and when they came back in...her wet shoes slipped on the basement steps...and she fell down them:(

We had two firetrucks and an ambulance parked in front of the house for well over an hour...she broke her ankle in two places:((

I'm not sure if she is going to have to have surgery or not...they have to wait a bit to find out.

Since I was in the middle of getting my shipping done, when the accident happened...I've been up all night working....I'm Exhausted!!!

Rain, rain...go away!

Oh but, I am sooo tired of all of the rain! It is that time of the year in the Midwest USA that the temperatures are averaging in the 90's...with all of the rain we've gotten this season...it's like living in a sauna. We've gotten so many hard rains that I've had it raining from my ceilings on more than one occasion...enough already!

So...with that out of my system...I wanted to share a couple of my newest items available in my CMZ Art Zazzle shop....

You can't see it from this picture...but the ladybugs on this mug...go around the mug...I like it a lot! I designed the images on both of these items, especially for my Zazzle Shop!

Coming THIS WEEK...

Coming THIS WEEK to my

CMZ Art Etsy Shop...

Pendants!

The pendant shown here is

'Resting'

and it really is gorgeous in person.

I'm very thankful to Jaime for putting

these together for me.

I wasn't sure I was going to offer

these in my shop...then she made a few for me...

and I was sold.

I'm hoping to have a a couple or three

listed in my CMZ Art etsy shop by the

end of the week!++++++++++++

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

UPDATE!!!

This pendant sold very quickly!!

I am hoping to have more pendants...although the setting may be different...as soon as we can get more pendants backs in.

A quick rant...

I almost always avoid forums and discussions, where folks are mad about something and sharing more negatives than I feel comfortable witnessing.....I really think people should try to get along...though I don't believe in being another's 'door-mat' either.

Back in my ebay days, when I was new to selling my art online, I happened across a very negative discussion concerning two artists...one was accusing the other of copying--and, if memory serves--I think the accuser threatened a lawsuit...I don't know what happened...I think the accused left for a while and then came back with a whole new style.

I really don't follow artists that aren't members of my family. I admire a lot of artists and what they create...but, I try very hard not to be consciously influenced by anyone else. (I'm sure there are more subconscious influences than I'm probably aware of...especially by cartoon artists, given the number of cartoons I have on, while the grandbabies are here!)

Anyway...back to my quick rant... someone messaged me today, to tell me that they believe my style is a little too similar to theirs and that I was using their 'copyrighted' title for one of my prints. (This is Me ranting....) "If my style is similar...it is very coincidental...since my style hasn't changed much in the thirty plus years that I have been painting ... no doubt longer than this artist has been alive...and as for titles...again --coincidence.... though I did reply that, titles cannot be copyrighted . Believe me...I've been around long enough to do my homework whenever necessary...I think I saw one of my 'titles' used on someone else's work once and after investigating..but, before any confrontation...I checked into it.............it is allowed! So, I no longer 'check' to see if a particular title I am using is being used by anyone else...and why I use a lot of song titles and lyrics as titles for my paintings. I just title my pieces whatever seems to 'fit'."

The irony of this.............the person who messaged me...... the same artist accused of copying in the forum discussion I stumbled upon in ebay....and to think...I really felt sympathy for her back in the day:(

Oh well....sorry for my little 'tirade'...it just upset me a little bit and since the kids had already gone home I felt the need to "get it out'.... I'm better now!

And......I finally got a couple of pictures of my daughter's dog...'Willie'.....they aren't the best...but you can still tell how cute he is:)

I have noticed...

I read quite a few other blogs...at least, once a week...and I have noticed something.
I post waaay more blogs than most of these authors do. Maybe they wait until they really have something to say, before they write.
Perhaps, I should try that. Heavens knows that I don't have the most exciting life...at least at this point in my life...to share with others. ( I sometimes feel sorry for my children, who sit and patiently listen to me go on and on about things like..why I think my left wrist has been hurting lately...or why I can't eat anything with garlic anymore. Wow...that bores me and I'm the subject of the 'conversation':(
Maybe I'm just boring....I think I'll try to work on that....I used to be interesting...once!

A Quick Peek...

This is a sketch I did today for a new 'Alice' piece.

I think I'll call it

'Alice and the Cheshire Cat'

This is all I have completed at this point...

I am going to do a series of Fairy Tale pieces...I've already sketched out 'Red Riding Hood' and part of 'Snow White.'

I am hoping to have this piece finished by the middle of the week.

I am sooo busy today!

I decided to take a quick break and check the internet...and just do a short post!
I am hard at work...on some new pieces for my CMZ Art etsy shop. (A sneek peek will be posted tomorrow.)
I'm doing something a bit different with these pieces...I'm working on illustrations that will be completed in PhotoShop. Usually, I work from completed paintings..digitals...or a combination of the two. This is the first time I am illustrating specifically for digital creation. We'll see how it works out:)

My daughter's dog

My oldest daughter and her family are headed for Minnesota, for a wedding...(I do hope they miss all the nasty weather predicted for that area)...so, my youngest son and I are presently "dog sitting"...I actually pawned it off on my son ...I think little 'Willie' will probably just get too nervous with the grandbabies...Ava can be pretty quick..and to a little dog..that might just be too much.
He's a cute little thing...I'll have to post a picture as soon as he settles down long enough for me to get one:)

Out and about...

I was sooo tired yesterday! Jaime and I had so many errands to run..grocery shopping to do..supplies to purchase..etc. And, we had to bring the grandbabies with...whew!

They are pretty well behaved when we go out..but, they are three and four...and putting them in the same grocery cart...well...maybe not such a good idea. Truly, they do enjoy each other's company..even in such close quarters..but, it is a bit distracting and I forgot a whole bunch of things.

I'm just going to have to do without them this week.

In their defense...we did do our supply shopping first...so they were ready to go home long before we went to the grocery store.

I think we'll do our supply shopping separate from our grocery shopping from now on:)

Coming yet this week....

I have been working, all week (at least the first three days of the week)

on some new digital art pieces.

For CMZ Art...

here are three new original pieces

I will be listing

yet this week.

A few things of note....

One of my favorite things to do..is read other blogs.


I try to do it whenever I have some free time. I've worked so hard lately that I've 'had' to take a couple of days...just to re-coup. So..I read a few blogs.


I wanted to share a couple of my 'finds'...

I don't use other people's pics, without their permission...so I quickly put together this homely little illustration, to accompany this little 'find'.

Ever wondered what you could do with all of those plastic grocery bags that tend to accumulate, because you'd rather not overload the landfill with them?

I found several crafty ways to recycle these little gems...here.

And...Finally...I found a wealth of crafty 'how-tos' at this little site.

Sneek Peek this Week

I put together some digitally manipulated

pieces

based on original paintings

that have been sold.

I will be listing these prints in my

Etsy Shop

beginning

Monday.

My life...in a nutshell!

I've gotten so many convos lately...from the sweetest people who have read my bio in my CMZ Art Etsy shop. I really appreciate people taking the time to comment on my artwork and offer me words of encouragement. I means a lot.

(This is my Etsy bio...)

"I am a self-taught full time artist. I grew up in a very small community of 1,000 people. While we did have a public school...we didn't have art classes, girls sports, or a lot of other things most schools offer these days.
I 'dabbled' in art, whenever the opportunity presented itself, but I didn't get "serious" until I was confined to bed while carrying my fourth child.
My dear husband, sensing how boring it was to just lie there and look at the same old programs on TV, bought me an art set, some canvas paper and "set me free". I came as close as I could to the paintings on the backs of Reader's Digest magazines. Every member of my family got an original painting for Christmas the following year.
Thirty years have passed and I have been painting ever since.
Now I am alone, my husband (and best friend in the whole world) passed away in June of 2006. I paint to survive. It is what keeps me going..not to mention, it is my only income. I'm not old enough for social security..and it will be a while yet!
I do have six children (five of them live close by) and nine grandchildren (again, five live close by.)
They are my sources of inspiration...truly!
Most of the paintings I paint are directly inspired by them..and I include subtle references of them in most of my paintings..
It has been an extremely difficult two years, having to try to cope and adjust to life on my own.(it hasn't been pretty.)
My husband spoiled me to the point that, I don't think I made a dozen pots of coffee total in the course of thirty five years. He always made coffee and brought me a cup every morning when he woke me up. His very last day at home, even though he could hardly walk on his own...he made coffee and poured me a cup before he woke me up!
I wouldn't be painting today if it weren't for my husband. Not only did he buy my first set of paints...he encouraged me for thirty years to make art my career..it just took most of those years to convince me that it was possible.
I really do miss him...
and while my sadness is reflected in many of the paintings I have done the past two years...I have begun to mix in some 'lighter' pieces that reflect the gratitude I have for what I have been given."

It does rather sum up my life..in a nutshell.

I make my living from the internet...from Etsy..Zazzle..Art.com..and a few others. (Mostly Etsy!)
I paint, as often as I can...usually only one or two originals (per site) a week...sometimes less..sometimes more (depending on my schedule).
I create several digital 'paintings' each week..sometimes using bits and pieces of original paintings...sometimes photographs of some of my possessions..sometimes using vintage photos from public domain.
I try very hard to list, at least five new pieces...per site...each week. Sometimes I am able to list more....sometimes less.

I take care of my two youngest grandchildren weekday afternoons, so their parents can work. My daughter Jaime, also a self taught full time artist with two Etsy shops, helps me...little people can be a handful..so I'm thankful for her help.

I do my artwork late..late nights (usually until about 6 a.m.)...grab a few hours sleep, before the grandbabies arrive..watch a lot of cartoons...have backyard 'adventures'...do some crafts...study planets and the solar system (my youngest grandson is very interested in our universe)...do packing and shipping.
Most evenings are spent with several of my children, eating together...watching some TV best watched in groups...our current favs are...'So You Think You Can Dance'...(we think Mia Michaels is a choreograhic genius)..........'The Next Food Network Star'.....'Design Star'.....and we have 'Project Runway' coming soon!

Saturdays are MY days...I can spend them in the studio...cleaning my house...'chilling out'...or whatever! It rather depends on how my week has gone.
Sundays are 'family days'...

It's not nearly as boring as it sounds...usually:)

R & R

Independence Day was quite enjoyable.

Bar-B-Q Ribs...Potato Salad...Corn on the Cob...Baked beans...Watermelon

Family

Yard Games

Fireworks

Now...I need the day...for some R & R...just putter around...do whatever....

I deserve it:)

Happy -- Independence Day!!

I'm taking a 'long' week-end-----Have a Wonderful Fourth!!

"Today's Best"---July 2nd

I designed this little lady bug...especially for my CMZ Art Zazzle Shop...and this little Lady Bug Tote Bag was selected...'today's best'...for July 2nd...I'm quite pleased and wanted to 'share'.

One Of My Favorite Things --- Lasagna

Ever sat down and made a list of things that you like?


I decided to do that a while back. While I had to think about it at first, once I got started, I could have kept going.





LASAGNA


The secret to my husband's recipe, so glad he showed me how to make it....it really is wonderful, is that one must use REAL Ricotta Cheese, NOT cottage cheese. Ricotta Cheese helps the lasagna to 'stand up straight on the plate' instead of running all over the place, like a melting ice cream cone. He always put the Ricotta into the ground beef and stirred them together, spooning the mixture into the different layers of noodles, sauce, and Romano, Parmesean and Mozzarella cheeses. And, always make enough sauce to pour over each piece of lasagna as it was served.

Whenever I get to 'pick' what we have for a family meal...I choose Lasagna...even if I have to make it myself:)

I'm a "collector"...

I have SEVERAL collections going...and most of my collections are ones that I didn't even start myself.

Let's see...I collect...

oil lamps

snow globes

bells

clowns

pottery

vases

dolls

teapots

just to name a few of the collections I have.

I've 'inherited' my late husband's PEZ collection...

he started collecting PEZ because his initials...you guessed it...P.E.Z!

I also have a small collections of old paperback cookbooks...you know, the kind they sell to raise money for groups and churches...I simply love these little treasures! They have so many excellent recipes tucked between the well worn covers.