Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Still just a paintin'!

When someone asks what my passion is... I can answer that question with some degree of assurance. I LOVE ART! I want to make it my career. But a) it could never replace my physical therapy career (and by the way, I LOVE that too!) and b) I don't know how I could ever make a living doing it. Any ideas?!

And know how I KNOW that it is my passion.... I spent 7 hours on my birthday painting! When I mentioned that to others, they say, "awwww" as if it is a sacrifice! What they don't realize is that I hired a babysitter and CHOSE to go paint as a treat to myself for my birthday!

Staci has bought into a children's boutique and asked me to paint some things for her to use in her new store. The following are a few of the samples of the day.
This is an 8x10 little canvas! It is pretty cute! IF you are an LSU tiger, that is!
This is another of the little canvases that I made for some special little kiddo. I can sell these tiny ones for $10, but I have to see if I can find more of this size. (about 4x4")
It is surprising to me when I see the pictures on the blog and they look so flat. I try to take pictures from the side, so I can show all the texture. Can you see it?
This black and gold Tiger is the one whose high school is over by Staci's new store. She specifically asked me to make her some Tiger gear.
And Staci has a specific area of her store that is dedicated to mostly smocked Christmas dresses and outfits. I made her some canvases specific for that side of the store. I went in there to see how she had used them, and must admit... pretty darn cute!

As simple as it is, I really, really like this one! May have to be on my mantle at Christmas!
A-ha! Another Tiger canvas.
Oh, and my sweet Mary Allison came to paint with me one day and we conjured this one up together. She wanted to use the word Believe and it worked just perfectly into her power verse...
Luke 8:50. Gosh, Masson, I hope I got that correct!
and this is one of those examples of a very, very heavily textured canvas that doesnt' really look like it! I LOVE how grunge it looks! Masson's room is black and will look cool with this canvas.
Staci's new front window is all decorated for fall. She has an easel in the front window and needed something on it to kinda take up a big space and represent the upcoming season.
Likey?

And then she said they actually have a few sorority girlies who work there and they have Rush coming up, so would I do a canvas as an example for them. Apparently, since my KD days, there is a cute new trend to spell KD, KayDee!? Now I know!
I had this awesome oval canvas and couldn't decide what to put on it. I wasn't really thinking that I wanted to put a word on it, but I DID think it would be cute with a monogram in the middle of it.

Sooooo.... fleur de lis!
in purple and gold, nonetheless!
I wanted to do a couple of canvases for babies. I have a friend (the actual friend who put me and Ellie Sue's mom in contact 2 sweet years ago) who just adopted a little boy of her own!
Sweet little AJ! He has a brown chenille crib cover and tan walls. Apparently there are teal, lime green and red accents in his room. Can you even imagine how CUTE this is going to be in his little nursery?!~
And this one reeeeaaaaly doesn't show the "coolness" of itself on this blog. It is all metallic bronze paint. And has neat bronze and black circles. I may have to keep this one too. Unless it finds a loving home, otherwise. Hmm? Hmmm?
Ok, two more. Oh, and is it Lesa who keeps asking this question... about size?! Well, Lesa, I suppose I can do one as large as I can find a canvas. Right now, I am doing one about 36x 48 or so. I did one for Maddi like that. Haven't posted that one yet.
This one is about 24x 30 or so. Just taking a stab at size. I suppose I should measure from time to time!
Pretty sure Kristy has claimed this one, though!

Ok, and for my last canvas of the night... This is for Joseph.
He lives in Mississippi and was born really early and was a very tiny little thing. I hear his nursery is brown with teal polka dots. I think his mom will really love it. She made Ellie a purple and gold afghan when she was born, so I am glad to do something nice for her too.
I have all 10 of yours ready for Christmas, Natalie. Hope to post those this coming weekend. I think they turned out pretty cool. Hope you like them.

Mo (mgroves11@comcast.net) if you want to place an order. I hope to use my etsy site for custom orders to simplify this process! If you order one via email, I can post it on my esty site for you to order via PayPal. And there are a few of you who still have a canvas out there being worked on. I havent' forgotten you! Promise! Me

17 comments:

Kathryn said...

Lovely! Just perfectperfectperfect!

Michelle said...

Melanie, you have such talent! I love each painting and I want one! :) I really love the way you did the last one for Joseph... I like that a lot! Thanks for sharing your art and your enthusiasm with us! :) ~Michelle

Happy Belated Birthday! I never did get out of 'reader' to come to your site to post that! Glad it was a good one!

MLP said...

I love all of those!!! WOW!

Mary Allison said...

OMG, mine is AWESOME! I'm definiteley going to need a KD for Elaina!

See ya Saturday, txt me if you need help!

Claudia said...

I LOVE your canvases, Mel! What great work you do! I am definitely going to order one. First I need to decide what room I want to hang it in and then I'll contact you with size, colors, etc. Really, you are doing such a wonderful job! Congratulations for finding yet another thing that you enjoy doing and are so good at!

Ally said...

Awesome job! You are so talented! I love my canvase, can't wait to see my others. Did you see my post I did when I got my canvase?
How's the house coming along?

Beth E. said...

Awesome, Mo...what a wonderful gift God has given you!

Emily said...

Gonna be needing a couple of those small 4 x 4s....so get to finding some more!

Anonymous said...

I am going to have to get a few of these once I decide on a color/theme for my girls room. I also will email you about a specific one for my almost 17 yr old. She plays select softball for a team called the Royals..Their uniforms have a crown and was thinking maybe a crown or maybe not but a yellow softball with her name, number on it.....I also love the believe red/green ones. of paint you use?? I love the textures, you definately have a talent.
Can I ask what kind

Firemom said...

Mo -

I think the answer lies in one of your other true loves... CANTON baby!
If Staci is going to get into the kid shop business, you guys just need to take it on the road and set up in Canton. You can sell kid's stuff and custom or pre-made canvasses. You could hire some local (I tend to be available some) to work the booth if you don;t want to come. I think your stuff is just as unique and marketable as anything else I spend my money on out there!

DO IT!!!!!

SaraG said...

Awesome. You are so very talented!!

Defore Family said...

I have followed your family since Jake was diagnosed. My niece had AML and was going through her treatment around the same time as Jake. That being said, I have followed your site for a long time and never knew that you were a KD. I was a KD at a small college in GA.

Unknown said...

Mo,

I just had a thought...you have got to paint one for St. Jude that says Believe on it.

Cheri

~Mrs.Hodge~ said...

OK, so looking at all of those I can tell ya that I need more! I LOVE the one I bought and it looks awesome in the nursery!! I too think you need to find some more
4x4 ones and let us know! Also...tell us more, more, more about this investment of Staci's?!?!? I'm anxious!!!

Kacy said...

I LOVE YOUR STUFF! AND HAPPY BIRTHDAY! I can't believe I missed your BIG BDAY. I apologize. We've been moving and don't have internet at home yet and even if we did, I'm too tired at night to look at the computer (if I could find it).

tricia said...

Your energy and talent amaze me!

Kenzie Holley said...

those are really good. you're awesome! =)