The Conductor

Saturday we celebrated my brother's birthday and I gave him the present to end all presents...a painting of him conducting his students at Severance Hall!

Back story: My brother's life is music. He lives, sleeps and breathes it...and I think he'd eat it if he could find a way. He's made his love for it a career with teaching music at a local school and with private lessons, as well as directing marching band! He also plays trombone and guitar...and, naturally, could kick your ass at Rock Band.

Getting the opportunity to conduct his orchestra of students at Severance Hall is a huge deal. Severance Hall is the home of the world-reknowned Cleveland Orchestra, so for him to have the honor of conducting on that stage is epic.

It didn't occur to me to try an attempt at painting this moment for him until I saw the photos and thought it might be possible. I don't paint non-cartoon people that often, so I was a little nervous of doing a whole orchestra! But, the idea took shape and after doing my photo-shop magic to the pic, I broke it down into a picture I could actually paint. Here's the results:

1st, here is the original picture:

 

 

And here it is after I photo-shopped it:

 

 

And here is my work:

And finally.......

"The Conductor"
10" x 14" original acrylic painting on canvas board

I was a little nervous that you wouldn't know what the heck this was a painting of if you didn't know what it was to begin with. But he knew right away, before he'd taken it completely out of the wrapping. Success! Only problem now: I will never, ever be able to top this present for the rest of my life. He better get used to Amazon gift cards from now on!

Happy birthday!

Halo Top Ice Cream Review

*Disclaimer: I am NOT being compensated for this review. I just love ice cream!*



Those who know me, know that I'm just a little obsessed with ice cream (just a smidge ;-) ). I have long gotten over my embarrassment of ordering 'Gotta Have It' sizes, or that my towering mound of fro-yo weighs a good 3x more than the Turtle's when we go to the pay-by-ounce places.

But, I'm also very calorie-conscious about what I eat. Quite the predicament...Until I discovered Halo Top Creamery's amazing low-fat ice cream. And it's been love at first bite ever since! Halo Top's pints ring in at a measly 280 calories a pint (70 calories per 1/2 cup serving, but really, who only has a 1/2 cup of ice cream ever?!). It's very creamy, like ice cream should be (ahem, Arctic Zero, you should be taking notes). Each flavor is very rich, so no need to worry that its just a whiff, like most low-fat ice creams. I prefer to eat my ice cream, not smell it! This stuff gives regular ice cream some stiff competition. In fact, the Lemon Cake flavor is so good, I'd pick it over a full fat ice cream any day!

Speaking of flavors, I'm perfectly happy having the vanilla all on its own, no toppings added. And I am not a plain vanilla girl. They also have chocolate and strawberry.  Hopefully, as the company grows, more tasty flavors will be created!

A very happy couple

Anyway, I take my love of ice cream very seriously, so I decided to share my love of Halo Top by painting their logo and sending it to them! I'm always looking for ways to get my work in front of more people, and why not also perk up the offices of my new favorite dessert makers? So, here's how I spent my Friday afternoon:

And finally.....

"Halo Top" - 10" x 10" original acrylic painting on canvas

Hopefully, they'll like it, and the painting will brighten their day, just as much as their ice cream brightens my evening snack time. So far, I've been able to find it at Earthfare, but you can check their site for a store close to you. I already handed in a product request form to Kroger so I don't have to drive 12 miles to get it! I highly recommend you go find some of this right now!

More paintings coming soon! I'm definitely keeping busy!

Ponyo

When I was asked to paint a picture for a client's nursery, I was happy and honored. That's a very special little place for a very special little person....the pressure was on!

I was asked to paint a scene from Ponyo, a Japanese fantasy cartoon about a goldfish who befriends a boy and wishes to become a human girl. I'd never heard of it, but it sounds and looks cute. The writer says he was inspired by The Little Mermaid and the movie is distributed by Disney...so there's 2 ties to the mouse house, so it must be great! :-)

Here's the screen shot from the film I was asked to paint:

And here's my take:

 



Normally, I don't sketch out every single line and detail, but since this is for a client, I wanted to make sure I got every wave and section right.

 

I knew this painting was going to take extra time because blues are one of the colors that really need a second coat. This can get frustrating when you mix just the right shade, only to know you didn't mix enough to do another layer...and good luck mixing it exactly again. I was starting to go batty trying to mix the blues just slightly different from the blues next to it. If you look closely at the original, there really are quite a lot of different shades of blue going on. Very subtley different. Arrrrrrg!

But it was all worth it, I think it turned out pretty awesome. I was asked to paint Ponyo and her sister's clothing a deeper shade of red, to match the trim that will be on the walls of the nursery, but otherwise, I think it looks pretty spot on to the original!

Ponyo
18" x 24" original acrylic painting on gallery-wrapped canvas

As always, I'm frustrated with how the picture of the painting really doesn't do the real live thing justice. But, it really is a beautiful painting.

On to the next piece!

Alice in Wonderland

I have a confession to make, I do not like Alice in Wonderland. Just like Winnie the Pooh, Alice and her friends can take Tigger and Pooh back into the Disney vault, never to come out again....Unless someone requests me to do a painting of them. Then, I'll gladly welcome them out with bells and whistles!!!!!

I got a request to paint Alice at the Mad Hatter's tea party for an Alice-themed birthday party. With all the requests I've gotten lately, and my trip coming up, I got to work right away.

Here's the screen shot from the movie that I was asked to paint:

Original screen shot from movie

And here's my version...

 

I grew to really hate tea cups and kettles doing this! Making very fine lines, whether straight, curvy or intricate designs is very, very difficult to do. I was starting to go as mad as, well,  a hatter doing these!

Now, at this point I should have been finished, as the original shot from the movie was just a plain, black background. But, I thought it was just a little empty. It was missing something and I knew I had to jazz it up. So, I put the dormouse in the corner and added fireworks and stars that are from the scene where the mouse drifts down with an umbrella.

Here's Alice:

"Alice in Wonderland"
18" x 24" original acrylic painting on gallery-wrapped canvas

 



I must have done a good job, because not only did my client really like it, but the Turtle (who loooooves Alice in Wonderland) keeps saying he doesn't want me to give it to them. So, that's one done, and a bunch more to do. I better get crackin'!

Busy Bee

No, I haven't dropped off the face of the earth! In the matter of 3 days, I got 3 orders for different paintings, so I've been a busy little bee.

Add in a painting for a fall art show, extra hours at work and family stuff, and I've got a lot on my plate! But the good news is, the paintings are coming along quite nicely, the running is cruising and, ahhhhhhhhh, a vacation is just around the corner. Well, around the block, but I'll take it!

I will update you with paintings as soon as I finish up!



Let the vacation countdown begin!

Run for Pierogies 5k

Run for pierogies! Is there a better reason to run? Yes, running for pierogi medals!

Last Saturday was the R for P 5k and I was soooo excited for it because not only was my mom and brother racing, but it was my sister in-law's first. race. ever! It was a family affair and I couldn't wait!

You know you want one

The morning started with my mom discovering shot bloks......My mom can't even handle pepsi. She had four, FOUR, FOUR shot bloks (does she not have taste buds?!). Needless to say, the normal slap happiness that follow us to every race, started before we even got a mile from the house.

She was in rare form

We got to the race, which was on the community college campus, grabbed our gear and waited for the race to start. Moondog, the Cleveland Cavs' mascot, gave us a pre-race pep talk before the start.

Moondog says, "Do it for the pierogies!"

This wasn't a chip-timed race (grrr), so I was sure to set myself up at the very front of the pack. And then I was reminded why I hate 5ks (other than its a 3 mile sprint)...high school kids. The track and x-country stars were all lined up next to me, comparing notes of which races they've already won this year. Well, yeah. I could win 5ks every other weekend too if I had a coach and didn't have anything to do but go to school and train. Bah.

I'm the glowing-blond head to the right of the orange tanktop guy

The first mile went by in 6:30, and I passed my family as I headed off to the rest of the course. There was a lot of looping around and criss-crossing to the course, and of course, running thru the finish line (this is becoming a nasty little trend).

  

I passed by my family one more time and then headed toward the finish, I was flying and felt great!

3/4 of a mile to go!

After crossing the finish at 20:58, I turned around and headed back to find my mom. She'd been really worrying about how her Achille's would hold up for the race, so I wanted to help her cross the line. Plus the ham in me couldn't help but think what an awesome picture my mom and I crossing the line together would be....

I was right!

I was so proud of all of my family for how well they did! My brother hadn't run a race since 2005, my mom's Achille's was killing her, and my sister in-law came in 2 minutes under her goal!

And best yet, Mom AND daughter got the coolest medals ever......

1st & 2nd in our divisions!

Now you know where I get my speed :-)

Birthday Running

Nothing rings in a birthday like 23 miles! I went up to Cleveland to celebrate my birthday, my neice's birthday and a bridal shower....whoow, that's a lot! It was a jam-packed weekend that included running every day, and it was awesome!

First up, running (swimming?) 10 miles on the Buckeye Trail, including the infamous Puke Hill. RRB and I could barely breathe, and I was sure to remind him how much I hated him every step of the way...until he bought me a coconut popsicle... then all was forgiven!

Best popsicle of my entire life

Then, after celebrating the birthdays, I ran with my sister in-law from the party back to her house, and my 8 year old nephew came along too! I mentioned back in the winter that my sister in-law was just entering the crazy world of running, and now she's signed up for her very first 5k this Saturday, the Run for Pierogies (absolutely appropriate for us Polaks!). We're all going to do it as a family, I'm so excited! Hopefully, my mom's achille's issues will let her join us as well, she can always recover after ;-)

Then, for my actual birthday I dragged my mom out of bed for an early morning 9 miler. It was swampy again, but I managed a 7:19 pace, which is my best non-racing pace of the season, so I was thrilled...no wonder I felt like crap!

Make way for the crazy girls!!!!!!!!

The weekend was so much fun, and I can't wait to go back up for an extended weekend for the 4th of July. Hope everyone has a great 4th!

Who needs birthday cake when you can have pie!?

29 and still asking for stuffed animals!