shop news and a giveaway

Happy Friday! I hope you've had a good week. It's been a full week here. Lots of savoring of September's loveliness. The temperatures have plummeted these last couple days and it now truly feels like fall. Last night at the fair I was wearing my winter coat and hat and gloves. I have to say that although I have made my peace with September, I am not quite ready for that.

It's been a full week in my studio, too. Exciting things have been happening in my art shop.

I introduced some miniature paintings. The first two I painted are acorns.

I hope to do some more minis (and not just acorns) soon.

I also painted some black-eyed Susan flowers. I was surprised by how much I liked them blooming in my new garden and was happy to bring them up to my studio to paint.

My  2015 calendar is now finished and listed in my shop.

I liked last year's calendar, but I like this one even more. The design (and size -- each page is 1/4" longer) are slightly different from last year's. The biggest and most exciting difference, though, is that I've sized each month's image so it will fit (once trimmed) in a 4" x 6" mat or frame. The prints are wonderful quality (I love seeing the saturated colors as they come out of the printer) made with archival paper and ink. Each calendar is, in essence, a set of twelve 4" x 6" art prints.

And speaking of art prints... I am super excited to announce that prints of my paintings will now be available in my shop. I've gone back and forth about this for a while, whether to try printing my own and/or whether to reopen my Society6 shop. I finally decided to try printing some myself, just to see if I liked them. I researched papers and then fought with my printer and finally got everything working right. And, oh my. The test prints look great. The thick art paper has a lovely texture (only slightly less "toothy" than the cold-pressed watercolor paper I usually paint on) and the paintings are reproduced beautifully. Here is the first set:

They are sized so the image will fit in an 8" x 10" mat or frame (if trimmed) and the paper is 8 1/2" x 11".  I'm so happy with how they turned out. Look for them to be arriving in my shop in the coming week.

And now, on to the giveaway! To celebrate my new prints I'm giving one away. To be entered all you have to do is leave a comment here telling me which of my paintings you would most like as a print. You're not limited to the prints in this photo. If you have a favorite painting in my shop, I'll make a print of it for you if you're the winner. I'll also be announcing the giveaway on Facebook and Instagram, so if you're following me either (or both) place(s) and you leave a comment there you'll get an extra chance (or two) to win. I'll be drawing the winner next Friday, September 19. The giveaway is now closed. Thank you to everyone who participated!

Thank you, to each of you who have been so supportive and kind throughout my creative journey. I appreciate the encouragement more than you can ever know.