Chickadees Galore

The season is changing outside here in Las Vegas but it has been slow coming with November temperatures still in the upper 80's but in my studio there is snow all around.  Winter and the holidays has arrived in full force. With December approaching I am finding that every gallery I affiliate with has decided that a holiday themed show is the thing to do and I have 4 of them I'm busy trying to create for not to mention my recently completed ornament that is on it's way to Washington D.C. to be hung on the National Christmas Tree.  I've been one very busy artist!  This ornament features the Mountain Bluebird, which is the state bird of Nevada.






After finishing the ornament, I focused on creating more unique Christmas designs including a painting.  As you can see this week has clearly been a Chickadee kind of week.  I finished this 12 x 12 acrylic snow scene and what fun I had painting it.  I'm calling this one "Chickadees in the Snow" and I'm thinking of hanging it in the Boulder City Art Gallery for December.












Then I decided to add a couple of more sketches that featured a similar pair of birds and those adorable red berries by having them appear to be stringing garland or decorating their nest.  I thought it was a cute idea and the "Stringing Garland" piece looks really great on a greeting card.







Speaking of greeting cards, I have also been working on improving the look of my cards by adding a border around the 4 x 6 print with a slightly larger rectangle of Christmas designed card stock.  I bought a pad of 60 sheets at the Michaels Store  just to see how I could spice up the design on my cards and I think they have turned out really nice.  I'm looking forward to filling card orders and making these available at a number of local area galleries and hope to take some out to the store in Pahrump.




A final design created this past week is more in a cartoon style but those little Chickadees are still going strong.  This one I have called "Decorate to Impress".

If you enjoy my work please leave me a comment below and check out my website at JulieTownsendStudio.com or follow me on Instagram or like my Facebook Page.

 

ODE to SPRINKLES

One thing that my 3 year old curly headed grandson always asks me for when he comes to visit is SPRINKLES.  You know the colorful little edible spots that you can buy by the jar or the tub in the cake decorating section of the grocery store.  We actually have to buy our sprinkles in a larger quantity like you get at bulk stores just to keep up with his frequent requests for the little delights.  

I have been telling him for a little while now that I was going to draw him with sprinkles on his face. He always gives me his cute little smile and you can just see the wheels inside his head turning as he is trying to visualize how that would look.   So to be true to my word, yesterday I came up with this little rough draft sketch.

I am still working out the details of how I want the sprinkles to look but I wanted to share with you this morning my rough draft and the little poem, "Ode to Sprinkles" I have written so far to go along with the concept.  

I though this blog might just add a little COLOR to your day and hopeful a smile to your face.

Ode to SPRINKLES 

      by

Julie Townsend

Let me sing a song about SPRINKLES

On the roughest days you smooth out all my wrinkles 

I love you and all your tasty brightfulness 

Like magic tiny rainbow sugar pills of delightfulness 

A spoonful of SPRINKLES before I get out of bed 

Helps me think more clearly in my head 

SPRINKLES with my lunch 

Just for color and added crunch 

Give me more SPRINKLES   with my supper meal 

There is really no denying that my love for them is real 

Give me SPRINKLES by the spoon 

I like to eat SPRINKLES by the light of the moon 

Or SPRINKLES in a bowl

SPRINKLES before my evening stroll 

SPRINKLES are perfect anytime of the day 

Give me more SPRINKLES!  Are you listening to what I say? 

First Rough draft that I did.  I added to my artistic Journal page