Mario World 1-1 Interactive Painting

Sometimes in life, an idea just comes to you that makes you crack up and say, "man, someone should really do that." That's what this did to me. It's an interactive painting of Mario Bros. World 1-1 played with magnets. It was more of a joke when I had the idea but then I thought, "wait, I should DO that!"

So i did.

And here it is:

The background of the canvas is painted with magnetic paint and the characters (in all their pixelated glory!) are painted on 1"x1" magnets (purchased on Etsy). They can be moved wherever your little heart desires. Just don't put them on the TV cause my friend Libby did that once when we were little and she got grounded for like, a week!

For sale here.

wink! wink!

happy valentine's day!!

hope you're spending it

with someone special!!

Thomas the Tank Engine mural

This headboard mural was painted for the mayor of cute-town in Delta, CO, Corey Bill, below.

Corey Bill and his Gramma love trains and their favorite, of course, is this guy here:

Here is Corey showing me the picture he wants on his wall. He is the cuuuutest ever!! Even when barking orders at me to let me know where the eyes go and where the #1 goes and where the wheels should be and to make more rocks and where the smile goes...so helpful.
More pictures here.

Spring Fever a la the noop!

I took a stroll through my buddy Liz's Etsy shop today and her adorable paintings only served to worsen my already crippling Spring Fever! Look at these adorable little guys!

This dude is the very definition of non-chalant!! Indifference is always in style.

Go check out the rest of her schtuff. And tell her Mandee Rae sent you!

So Awesome (times a hundred!)

This is pretty much exactly what I had in mind when I painted the blank conversation bubbles and put them up on Etsy. I was really hoping someone with an awesome sense of humor would ask me to paint something totally ridiculous on the bubbles with little or no explanation and that is precisely what happened! These were painted for a woman named Jeanne in Pennsylvania and the only explanation I got was that she and her husband (of 10 years) say this to each other all the time:Hilarious!! And, after 10 years of marriage, it shows they must be doing something right!!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Copyright Schmopyright

Here is February's window in the EU. They almost look like these little cartoon mice that were around when I was little but I'm pretty sure they were just a flash-in-the-pan cartoon. I don't think they really ever made it very big. Thank god for that.
I wish I could remember their names...oh well, I'll just call them Milky and Millie.

I Really Really Really Like You!

Everybody likes to hear that they are loved. Especially if it's true. But sometimes telling someone you love them just isn't enough. Sometimes you have to reach way way down in your soul and tell people how you really feel about them. That's what these are for:

More here. Happy Valentine's Day!!

i did it again.

i kind of totally failed to remember to update my blog through the whole month of january! can you believe that?!? i can.

here is an alphabatized list of reasons why this happened that i will elaborate on in future posts i'm sure. so, i have not updated my blog in a month because i:

-am a scatter brain
-got engaged
-kept meaning to
-kept getting distracted
-spent two weeks in 'rado with my wooonderful family!
-turned 30!
-was busy making monkey noises with my niece.

see, i was very busy. it won't happen again.

scouts honor! ~m

CuteWithChris.com!!!

Anyone who's ever seen me at a computer knows that silly animal sites are my kryptonite. And one of my favorite silly animal sites, CuteWithChris.com, featured me on their site!!!

December 29, 2009

A Girl and Her Dreams.

So very exciting! Go check it out!

Compliment Bank

It occured to me recently that whenever I'm talking to one of my girl friends I hear the phrase, 'I know, right?!?' constantly. Like all the time and I realized that more than just a way to show you agree with someone, it's a phrase that only people that totally get what you mean say and I love it and wanted to use it in some way. Around the same time it also occured to me that I need to start making Christmas presents like a week ago and....EUREKA!!

Originally the idea was to paint each of my wonderful lady friends their own personalized 'I know, right?!?' painting but as I started painting quickly realized that there are so many other things that needed to be included!

Like, how could I leave out dang? I can't, that's how.

And without exception, my lady friends are all hilarious so this one was a no-brainer.

So now it's more of a collection of nice (&/or silly) things to say to people. Be it your BFF since grade school or that chick at work who you kind of know but not that well and you think you could totally be besties- who doesn't want to hear that they're liked or smell good or that their bum looks nice? I'm mean really? Who? No one I can think of.

So buy a painting and spread some love. And if there's something ridiculous you'd like written in a bubble, contact me and let me know. And did I mention you look great today? Cause you do.

A Penguin in a Yarmulke

December's window.

What? You act like you've never seen a penguin in a yarmulke before.

Bonus drawin'!

Happy Wintering!

oh look, I drew a book!

Months ago I was presented with the task of illustrating a book a co-worker wrote for her son for his birthday. It's a true story about her son, DJ, and his best buddy, Bear. Naturally I said yes.

The author, Meghan, has since told me that DJ loves his book and brings it to show-and-tell every chance he gets. Awww, warm fuzzies. Here are some shots of the book. Or, if you'd prefer, I could read it to you.

It's not published yet but if you're a publisher or know one please contact me. You look great today.

I wanna be where the people are

I received a special request from an Etsy customer today- a mermaid for her daughter's room. After an initial period of doubt I painted her and now I want to quit my job and paint mermaid's all day.

I'm sure that somewhere in the world they'll pay me to do that, right?

Also- I've had 'Under the Sea' stuck in my head since the moment she asked for the painting. Make it stop!!

Horn Of Plenty

November's window is a cornucopia. Legend has it that the first cornucopia was a goat horn given magical powers by Zeus and that the keeper of the horn was granted whatever they wished. My cornuopia also has magical powers...well, power. From the back side of the painting (seen below) you can see that the apple was left unpainted.

Thus making it an enchanted apple serving as a porthole to the great lobby beyond!

So maybe it's not as good as a wish granting horn-of-plenty but it's the best I could do.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Face Painting at Rylie's 4th Birthday!

Little Rylie Mia turned 4 today and was nice enough to invite me to her party to do some face painting. All the kids were great! Happy birthday Rylie!

Little brother Nolan didn't get his face painted but he was too cute to leave out.

Sppoooooky!!!

Happy Halloween!!!

It's ok, she's nice. Don't worry.

Eeek! They're up!!!

OmG! Woah! My signs are up all over the greenway! So exciting! I went there and tried to hunt them all down but I couldn't find all 5 of the designs!!...let me know if you run into the trash loving rat or the fat pigeon! I'll draw you something with my wrong hand if you find the other ones and show me a picture!

Until then- here's this:

That's me!

Thanks so much Hannah!!!

It's a Gift!

My new favorite paintings:

The Ladybug by a local Somerville artist-



Acrylic paint on construction paper.



And this one, Untitled by Cledwyn Jones-





Mixed media on posterboard.
I bought these paintings at the It's A Gift gallery down the hill from my house. What's interesting about the artists is that they're both enrolled in a day program at the Walnut Street Center a nonprofit, human service agency that provides comprehensive support services to adults who have developmental disabilities. There are so many great pieces there- paintings, t-shirts, a children's book, handmade purses, collages, jewelry, greeting cards, you name it. It's really worth taking a trip over to have a look for yourself.

And buy something!! The prices are VERY reasonable and you'll be making one of these lucky artists incredibly happy...not to mention scoring a great piece of art for yourself.

Goes to show ya never can tell.

Clog Blog: Part II

My co-worker came to me with a special request; she had a pair of clogs that she adored but that were too uncomfortable to work in all day and another pair that were super comfy but had seen better days. She wondered if I could combine the two. But of course!

Before:

And after:


Left: inspiration shoe
Right: new shoe





I hope you and your new/old clogs are very happy together Michelle! ;)

I learned a new word: triptych

Triptych: A painting or carving that has three side-by-side parts, panels, or canvases.


And here I was just calling them "three side by side canvases"...who knew there was a word for that? Probably everybody but it's news to me so I thought I'd share. Here is my first triptych since learning the word, a planes, trains & automobiles theme for Little Vincent's nursery in Medford.

Hmmm, I don't know how to fix this. Let's just pretend I did it on purpose to be edgy!

Ciao!