Carmen · Keys

Hi Everyone,
It's time for two new ACEOs! I am fond of both of these, as they have a very storybook feel to them:

Strawberry Season ACEO
2.5x3.5in. Watercolor on 140lb cold press paper.
It is strawberry season again in the field! A little elfin lad has picked himself a prize and chats to his good friend Butterfly along the way home.

Welcome Back ACEO
2.5x3.5in. Watercolor on 140lb cold press paper.
Little Clarinda has escaped to the world of her imagination while she is supposed to be reading the lesson at school. Her friends welcome her back to Imagine Land with a hearty handshake, so happy to see her again!

Also there are new prints available at my website:

Cosmos Fairy PRINTS
Lavender Eyes PRINTS

Thanks so much for looking!

*****

Have to admit that second art card is quite reminiscent of my own former days at elementary school, hee hee..... I would have no idea that we were having a test that day, and worse I would have no recollection of what we were supposed to be studying for the test! It's kind of amazing that I passed elementary school, really. By highschool however I got boring and studious and did much better. ;)
It seems like I had a lot to say in this post and now I can't remember a bit of it. Ah well, another time perhaps.

Hi Everyone!
I have two sweet little ACEO paintings on auction now:

Message in a Bottle ACEO
2.5x3.5in. Watercolor on 140lb cold press paper.
Little Amalia the mermaid has found a curious treasure one day on one of her explorations – a bottle with a message scrolled up inside of it!

Little Ladybug ACEO
2.5x3.5in. Watercolor on 140lb cold press paper.
This little fairy loves ladybugs so much that she dresses in ladybug clothes and wears one of her ladybug friends in her hair.

Thanks so much for looking!

*****

We are going to Fall River tomorrow at a ridiculous hour in the morning to visit my grandparents! Just for the weekend. Still, quite a production figuring out what Little Miss needs to bring along. I've been scanning a bunch of sketches that I like from my various sketchbooks so I can beef up some of the sections of my illustration portfolio. Maybe I should have a section specifically for sketches, eh? Anyway, a lot of cute stuff that I normally haven't shown here because it is not in my usual style. Particularly silly monsters. ^_^ I'll be sure to post some here when I am done!
I really should have eaten something besides oatmeal cookies for dinner. Oh well, now I'm not hungry.

I just finished my children's illustration portfolio! It is HERE. Right now it is a subdomain of my fantasy website, but I think I will buy its own domain name eventually.
I think I'm all caught up on various website things now! I'm feeling the need to sketch out some ACEOs. I'm also thinking about doing some square format paintings, because that is a good format for children's illustrations and I need some more variety in the portfolio.
My feet have blisters on them as I wore completely the wrong shoes to walk to the post office in. :( I've been walking on my heels to avoid squishing the blisters!
Oh my, we just had a poop incident -- bathtime for Little Miss, but she decided it was too soon to take that diaper away before the bath.... ew. Sorry, just had to share. ;)

Hee hee, I just posted this in my new children's illustration blog:

I am having fun with DRAWING!!!!!!!
I have little toddler Miss here eating a whole box of raisins. She's the raisin queen of the universe.
Ah, today I must do something about this messy house. My sister is coming back here.... And I must paint some commissions. My mom dug out these 3 old dolls of mine from when I was a kid out of her garage and I'm going to fix them up. They had such dirty faces and ratty hair! They all got baths yesterday and a shampoo. :) They are those "My Friend Dolls" from the 70s. Mandy, Becky, and Jenny. So cute! They need new clothes.
Ok I think raisin time is over so I'd best go!!

I got that ACEO done!
Not sending out *another* mailing list right after the last one, so posting to the blog will have to do.

Lavender Eyes ACEO
2.5x3.5in. Watercolor on 140lb cold press paper.
A regal fairy princess poses in her velvety gown before a backdrop of lavender colored flowers to accent her eyes.

***

So now we get to the rest of the stuff I wanted to share today!
( And it's right here.... )

Hi Everyone,
At long last, a new painting on auction! Here she is:

Cosmos Fairy
5x7in. Watercolor on 140lb cold press paper.
Here is a lovely dark-haired fairy kneeling with her very favorite Cosmos flowers.

Also, I have a couple of new prints at my website:

Homage PRINTS
A Perfect Day PRINTS

Thanks so much for looking, I hope you enjoy!

***

Whew, I don't have much time to post at the moment, as Araya is probably going to wake up from nap any second. I have so many other things to share too :( -- I hope I can get them up later! Anyway, I FINALLY have something on auction, haha -- it seems like forever since I last had something. I've just been so swamped with websites and commissions, as you probably know. I did finish one of my illustration commissions yesterday and have the other still to do. I am going to try and sneak in an ACEO today as well. :) My illustration portfolio website is at last underway and I'm working hard on designing it. That article I read the other day at Living the Creative Dream has lit a fire under me to start getting all of that done. And start marketing the heck out of it.
Uh oh, there's the baby. Gotta go!!

I'm finally painting again! I have about 4 different paintings I want/need to do right now. Happily "Cosmos" did get sketched and I dove into her first. ;) I like to have a few going at once so I can work on another painting while one is still drying.
I just found a really good resource for us creative career people: http://www.livingthecreativedream.com/
Especially encouraging is the fact that the lady who runs that site, Holli Conger, is a full-time children's illustrator AND stays at home with her daughter. And her artwork is whimsically awesome! :)
I spent a lot of time outside in the sun today, hanging out with my cat and journal. I thought that perhaps my poppies had started SPROUTING (oh boy!!) but now I am not so sure it isn't a weed. The little plants have feathery leaves like a poppy does, but I am also finding them nowhere near the flower bed where I planted them. I guess I will let them be and wait until flowers appear, or don't.

ETA: Oh yes, I almost forgot -- "Horton Hears a Who" was adorable!!

Good noontide!
Don't you think "noon" is kind of a funny word? After you say it a few times it doesn't even make sense.
Doing last minute website odds and ends today, which I just finished. I STILL have to finish that commission sketch, I worked on it nearly all day yesterday. It's been a challenging one, since there is a man in it and I'm so used to drawing women that it just doesn't come easily. I should have taken more breaks I think, and watched less Hulu tv during, it kind of sucked all the energy out of me. We'll try again today -- at least the man is drawn now, I just have to draw all the little kidlets everywhere. ;) And I SO want to work on my sketch for the Cosmos show at EBSQ. I had wanted to do the Scheherezade show too, but I don't know if I'll have time to do both. Pile on those commissions!! Seriously though, I am liking having a lot of work to do right now.
At some point today I believe we are going to start painting the kitchen and office walls. Better start soon, as Little Miss will be back in just a few days...
Also I hope to sneak away to watch "Horton Hears a Who". Happy Thursday to all.

Happy Tuesday! Ooo, tax day and everything. Thank goodness mine are done. I'm going to have to start doing the quarterlies though, so I'm told...
So yay, my client likes the website I made!! I'll have to put up a whole bunch of new pictures on it soon, heheh, but at least the main thing is all done.
Mostly today I've been catching up on housework. Seems I let most things go until Toddler Miss is visiting elsewhere; so yeah, the more thorough cleaning only happens about once a month. @_@ The dog hair on the couches was just scary. Lucky looks dreadful with clumps of shedding hair falling off his rump, lol! Belle doesn't seem to shed as bad as he does.
My goal for today now is to finish a commission sketch, and then hopefully start PAINTING again with the two commissions and maybe one of my own. I have been so busy with the websites that it feels I haven't used a brush in ages. I know it's probably only been about a week :P but that is a long time for me! I'm starting to get antsy and WAAAAAAAAAAANT to paint.
My youngest brother shall be here soon, so I'd best go meet him I suppose.

I've been working on a website most of the day... ever so many images to put up! And I've at last discovered how to make a Flash slideshow. That was frustrating the snot out of me for about 3 days! @_@
Not too much of excitement to report, it was a really warm day out and we are already all in shorts and t-shirts. My little flower seedlings still have not sprouted, I hope nothing went wrong! I'm such a garden novice. I've got the laptop on my bed right now with a very squishy Kiba cat keeping me company. Some roughhousing today earned me a hurt lower back so I'm propped with my pillows. Ah, it is nice to do one's work with cat and pillows.
And now, the end of my unexciting post. :)

Thank you so much to all who offered their kind words and prayers about Grumpy Stripes! You are all dear things. I know Grumpy is in a much better place now and she is not suffering any more. I just miss seeing her little roly-poly face.
Bitsy is the only animal in the house that seems to be affected so far.... she's been a bit lost and hiding a lot. :( To be expected, as the two stripeys lived together their whole lives.
I haven't any new art to post right now, as I'm rather swamped in commissions and websites. These are good things though, certainly keeps me busy. I used to keep long to-do lists in my notebook of all the work things I had to do, and recently got a whiteboard instead -- a huge improvement!! Now there aren't pages and pages of a bunch of crossed-out items mixed with items still to be done, which tends toward only further muddle-headedness for me. Can't believe I haven't thought of a whiteboard before, but now when I'm done with something I just erase it and the rest is plain to see and organize in my brain.
A nice little thing in the mail today... I had a little logo stamp made from rubberstamps.net -- so cute with my little viola mouse and "Art of Carmen Keys" on it. It turned out beautifully! I wanted to step up my packaging and have a bit of "branding" on it, so now I'll be stamping everything with Viola Mouse, heh.
Last night I had some free time and decided to write some music again. It was fun and a nice break from all the sad. I have this program called FL Studio, and they recently had a new release come out so I wanted to try it out. The nice thing about them is that for whatever package you buy, you get free upgrades for life. I am not sure how long they will be offering that quite amazing deal, but I'm glad I bought it 3 years ago. I've already had 2 upgrades and they really do get ever more awesome with each. Version 8 is now finally what I've been looking for as far as recording multiple vocal tracks piled on top of eachother. I used to have to use a separate program for that. No vocals last night though, just keyboards. And learning how to use the new stuff!
Tonight we take the baby to visit her other grandparents for the week -- I am not sure what I shall do with myself and all the quiet! Probably visit my mom and Budge some I am sure.
Wow, I was only going to write a little bit today and look at this long post. Thank you for all the hugs, everyone.

Hi Everyone!
I have a very sweet new fairy painting on auction now:

Homage
5x7in. Watercolor on 140lb cold press paper.
A little fairy offers up a flower in homage to the Most High King who made the Spring and all of the sweet-smelling flowers that she loves. This painting was originally created for Illustration Friday, and the topic was “Homage”.

Also, I have a new original painting on my website:

Atmospheric Memory
5x7in. Watercolor, colored pencil, and acrylic on 140lb cold press paper.
A little girl stands transfixed by awe as a sunset renders the air pure gold, and a triple rainbow stretches across the sky.
This painting is based upon one of my favorite memories from my own childhood; I’ll always remember it as the day I saw three rainbows, and it felt at the time like I was the only one in the world who saw it. This sense of awe is the part of childhood that I treasure and still seek to preserve in all of my artwork and the way I look at life.

Finally, I have some new prints to share! One has never been seen before as it was pre-snatched up :), but it is another installment in my Birthflower Fairies ACEO series:

September Morning Glory ACEO PRINTS
Pitcher Plant Fairy PRINTS

Thanks so much for looking!

*****

It is such a lovely spring day today :) -- I finally planted my seeds out in the garden! Here's hoping they grow! I planted Shasta Daisies, Purple Coneflowers, California Golden Poppies, Sweet Peas, and Sweet William. It goes in a big arc around the top of the hill that is our front yard. I've probably said this a million times before but Golden Poppies are my very favorite flower. You get a hefty fine if you pick them in California, so I wanted my very own to look at.
I am pleased with how that "Homage" painting turned out, I was having such a hard time with it colorwise at first. I finally got it through my head that dull colors make their bright complements pop. I feel like I've finally learned how to paint leaves, heheh! I'm trying to get braver with extra dark darks in the shadows, even on light colored things like the fairy's pink skirt. Now if I could just figure out dramatic lighting.... ;)
I think my grandpa is coming over at some point today and my house is a disaster!! It's one giant toddler mess. I suppose I'd better go do something about that while there is still time. Happy Spring, everyone.

Hi Everyone!
I have a brand new cat fairy painting on auction! Yes, time again for a cat -- it's been too long...

A Perfect Day
7x5in. Watercolor and colored pencil on 140lb cold press paper.
This roly-poly tabby fairy cat is sunning herself amid a patch of white bindweed flowers, enjoying a most perfect day.

Also I have new prints available at my website:

Black Unicorn at Sunset PRINTS
Little Song's Sanctuary PRINTS
Sunny Rock PRINTS

Thanks so much for looking!

****

Ugh, I am so tired! It's bedtime and I'm still working. @_@ Anyway, the above painting was modeled of course by our family cat, Grumpy Stripes. Poor Grumpy Stripes has a brain tumor and she has seizures, the aftereffects of which last most of the day. I don't know how much longer she'll be with us :( so I felt compelled to make some Grumpy Stripes art. Also, Bitsy has injured her back leg and it's swelled up like a balloon! What is going on with all of the kitties! Kiba seems ok at least. By the way, I discovered that the little dog next door's name is also Kiba!! How weird is that!! It's not exactly a common name in the US, it is a Japanese name. (It means "fang"). So now when I call for Kiba, the little dog comes running. Oh, brother! And the funniest thing is that my cat is about 3 times as big as the dog. ;)
Time for bed...

I hope everyone had a good holiday :) -- I did. I had a mini-Easter at my mom's house on Saturday with my mom and baby brother (heh, if you can call a nearly-14 year old a baby) and we ate pizza and watched "I Am Legend". I liked "I Am Legend", and I also liked how it had the constant subtle reminder of faith woven into the tale -- and the main character's struggle with it. Seemed appropriate for Easter, somehow. Oh yeah, and there were a lot of mutant virus monsters in it too. ;) Then I had another Easter on Sunday with my dad and niece and sister and company! We made a huge dinner that was super tasty. I also read the Easter story to my little niece and ate entirely too much.
Since my faith and hope is in Christ, Easter is really the most important holiday to me now. It's only the third one I've had since my conversion in 2006. (I was pagan before that). Now, I know that easter eggs and rabbits and all of those things really borrow from the pagan Ostara, so how could I make it special to my faith now? It seems I need some new traditions. I'm still working that out, heh. But what the day itself means to me now is a reminder of how death and separation from God were defeated by Christ when he rose from the grave after 3 days... and what a gift that is to me. One I can barely express in words, it is a joy that follows me no matter what disaster might be going on!
Please note that I am not trying to preach to anyone here, this is simply out of the overflow of my heart. This is what fuels me in life and what inspires me to paint, including the fairies and mermaids and everything else. I can't compartmentalize my spiritual life into a little box that only gets opened on Sunday mornings, that's just not how I am built. So in an attempt to be more honest/open about who I am on this blog, I have to include it all heh!
I truly hope everyone had a wonderful weekend, whatever you celebrated or didn't celebrate!

I have a new fairy painting up on auction! Pitcher Plant Fairy 5x7in. watercolor on 140lb cold press watercolor paper. Here is the deceptively beautiful Northern Pitcher Plant (Sarracenia purpurea) with its accompanying fairy friend, waiting to devour an unsuspecting bug! ********* I made this painting especially for the EBSQ Carnivorous Plants Show :) -- there aren't many entries yet but I am sure it will start filling up by the end of the month! Boy am I tired. I've been rather scarce here on my journal I'm afraid, I've been trying to catch up on work while the baby was visiting her other family for a week. She came back tonight! We managed to paint the living room and entry/hallway in that time, and it looks so much better. I don't think this place has been painted since, like, EVER. And it showed! It's funny how freshly painted walls make a house look uber clean. Trust me that's a miracle around these parts. ;) My cat is now trying to get attention and squishes, which includes using my butt for a scratching post @_@ guess I'd better hurry up and finish writing! Other than making a pile of sketches, I have taken on the task of doing more websites for people. Hm, this could get to be a regular thing. I am glad I have a nice collection of sketches to paint through, for the sketching is always the hardest part for me. Coming up with that initial idea. The painting is usually the fun/intuitive part -- at least when it is going well!! Now I shall have to call it a night and go to bed early.

Hi Everyone!
I have a new 40s-inspired fairy painting on auction:

Sunny Rock
6x8in. Watercolor on 140lb cold press watercolor paper.
This beautiful 40s style fairy is sunning herself on a nice cool rock surrounded by golden poppies.

Thanks so much for looking!

*************

This picture was a beast to sketch, I think I erased it about a bazillion times -- however, was a complete joy to paint from beginning to end. At least it was half fun! ;)
Man, I'm being driven crazy by children today @_@ everybody is in a whiny or extra-teenagery mood. Bedtime is sooooooooon..... well, little brother is already on his way home to get his hair straightened. Ah, adolescence.
I'm making my first garden!!! I've never made one before so have not too much idea how to do it all, but I have a few books and some seeds and I'm clearing all the weeds and stuff out of the yard. I want daisies, purple coneflowers and poppies and sunny things all the way around the arc of the hill, then down the hill I want a vegetable garden. I've been trying to work on it a little each day.... you can tell how out of shape I am because my muscles are actually sore from all the yard work!! Ha ha! Well then it will be doubly good for me. Oh yeah, I also started a compost heap.
Ok, I really must eat something besides peanut butter today so I'd better figure out dinner.

Top of the evening to you!
I have a very beautiful new painting on auction, and it is rather special to me:

Little Song’s Sanctuary
6x8in Watercolor on 140lb cold press paper.
When all the world is pressing in, Little Song goes to her sanctuary in the wooded fields and lays out her troubles before the Most High King.

Also, I have new prints available on my website:

Alice in the Tulgey Wood PRINTS - several sizes
Overcast PRINTS - several sizes

Thanks so much for looking!

********

This painting is a little bit of a self-portrait :) -- and the setting really is a place I consider a sanctuary, beautiful peaceful Fall River Mills! The rest is true too, the world is pressing in a bit @_@ ... lots going on that causes stress. Trying to just keep my rest in the King and not keep it all on my own shoulders.
I'm still not totally sold on this brand of watercolor paper (Fabriano Uno).... what shall I try next?? Watercolor artists, I know you're out there just dying to tell me your favorite brands (ha ha).
My great aunt sent us a couple more boxes of dishes, this time a couple of pretty decanters. And in the bottom of one box I found this beautiful dark plum/grape colored, soft wool shawl from Ireland! Apparently she'd just put it in there to help with packing, but I fell in love with it instantly. :) It is around my shoulders right now and probably will be every day that it is still cold.
I think I'll eat a little more dinner and go hang out with my cat for the rest of the night! We both could use some squishes.

55
Only 55? That's kind of bad for an artist, ha ha!! I was trying to figure out if they were going with paint colors or crayon colors.... looks like a smattering of each.