Lady in Gold

12"x 12"

Acrylic on Canvas

$175

Lady in Blue

Following the popularity of the piece I painted live at the Fashion on the Town event a couple of weeks ago, I decided to paint a few smaller pieces in a similar style. This is one of four ladies that I painted this past weekend. This fancy lady is soon to be hanging in the "Fair and Square" show at the Metropolitan Arts Council Gallery, running from October 26- December 3. This show features a 12"x 12" (x 12") piece from the 140 artists participating in this year's Open Studios tour. The tour happens November 2,3, &4. For more info, visit www.greenvilleARTS.com.

Painting on the Town

24"x 24"

Acrylic on Canvas

$500

I mentioned on Tuesday that I would be painting live at the VIP night for Fashion on the Town at The Lazy Goat here in Greenville. Fashion on the Town continues today and tomorrow, and the VIP event was a pretty big affair. Above is the piece I painted during the event. I am pretty happy with the outcome. It captured the energy of the night, and is very much an Emily piece.

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Getting back in gear

Sometimes following a show I have a hard time getting back in the normal swing of things. I spend weeks getting everything ready and organized, do the event, and then crash at the end of it. I took part of last week off following Art in the Park the previous weekend. This week has gotten off to a slow, creaking start, but the gears are once again moving. Most of the art from the show is still in boxes or leaning up against the wall, but I have gotten a few things back in place.

Here's another look at that piece in progress that I posted a few weeks ago. I am still loving it, which is good. I am not sure yet what the background should look like. I am leaning towards doing a scene around her, as if she is strolling through town. I think I might do it in muted colors, though, so that the dress doesn't get lost in it.

Any Greenville folks planning to be at the VIP party for Fashion on the Town tomorrow night at The Lazy Goat? I will be at the event painting live. Come see me!

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Fun and Flirty (and 800)

8 1/2"x 11"

Watercolor and ink on cardstock

I found a photo of this dress in a book recently, and fell in love with it. It is from the 1920's, and seems to have an elegance, combined with the fun loving flapper attitude. I imagine this little gal is going to a fancy party that will dissolve into a bit of mischief as the evening wears on.

Oh, and yesterday's post was my 800th. That seemed worth noting.

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Already in love

I love this piece already, and it is only a sketch on a canvas. I decided I wanted to do a larger oil paint version of yesterday's walking dress, so I quickly sketched this gal on a 16"x 20" canvas. It makes me nervous, though, when I like paintings this early on in the process. Usually, as long as I am fairly happy with the sketch, I will start the painting, changing things as I go along until I love it. But, when I love a piece from the very beginning, as much as I love this one, I get hesitant to paint over the sketch.

Well, here's to bravely going forward, even if I might mess things up in the process.

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Behind a Mask

6"x 6"

Oil and Acrylic on wood

$85

This is another piece in what I am calling my Masquerade series. I love the black and white dresses, and the mask adds even more to the anonymity. You don't see the girl at all. All you see is her dress and her mask. She could be anyone at all.

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At the Ball

6"x 6"

Oil and Acrylic on wood

$85

I finished reading a book last night (The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern. If you haven't read it, you really should!), and my head was filled with images of beautiful flowing ball gowns with huge rustling skirts. I make my paper dolls for a lot of reasons, which I have talked about on occasion, but a big reason I make them is because I love pretty dresses. 

Sometimes I like to escape from my everyday life of work, blogging, teaching, paying bills, jeans and t-shirts, and running errands, and jump instead head first into a world of gorgeous gowns and the unexpected. The girl wearing this dress is not concerned about whether she will have enough time to go to the gas station before class, or about finding the right health insurance. Much more mysterious and beautiful things will happen to her in this dress. (Although, she is probably concerned with not fainting because her corset is too tight, and not knocking down anything with her bustle, but besides that, her life is magical.)

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An Everyday Occasion

11"x 14"

Watercolor on paper

$100

To purchase, email me with the title in the subject line.

Can you imagine maneuvering around wearing these sleeves?

You may notice that this is the first of these pieces that has a price on it. That is because I did the first few on the wrong paper. They were originally only experiments, and I didn't expect to like them so much. I am currently repainting the original 5 or 6 pieces on watercolor paper, and all new paper dolls will be on this better paper as well.

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Wearing her best

11"x 14"

Watercolor on paper

Something fit for Queen Guinevere. 

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