A few things for spring, and a new website

All this week I've been working on bringing my little art web page up to date from 1999 to...well more like 2005. I'm not much for web design, to the point where I've been nostalgically content to leave things there the same way for over a decade. But as long as the tools are available that even someone like me can make something semi-pleasant to the eye and only 10 years out of date, as opposed to 15, I might as well utilize them.

So far I only have artwork up in Gallery 1, which is Halloween, gothic and horror art, with a couple dozen paintings represented, along with links to the items which are available for sale. I'll be adding more including many images that have been hiding in my vaults for ages. The custom page has information for new original art and repaints of previously painted images.

I know that personal web pages are about as relevant as landlines at this point in time, but it's still nice to have a little place to call your own, right?

Meanwhile, with spring around the corner (in some places more than others....I realize it doesn't feel like spring in many places) I have some Easter/Ostara and spring-friendly prints and paintings ready for the season, for decoration or gift-giving. First up is a new version of a painting from about a dozen years ago that I resurrected from the vaults...

"Ostara's Basket" available as an 8 x 10 original painting

or a 5 x 7 photo print

"Spring in the Witch's Garden" is now available as an 5 x 7 print

and the original is still available as well.

"Stardust and Dragon Dreams" is available as a 5 x 7 print. Not spring specifically, but the pastel colors are very appropriate for the season!

 

"Sleeping Among the Seaweed" is available as a 5 x 7 print. Mermaids put me in the mind of summer, but it's not too early to think about that, now, is it?

"Sisters of the Crypt is now available as a 5 x 7 print

and the original is available as well. Because it's always Halloweeen...

Even when it's St. Patrick's Day. Which has its own charming lore and traditions as well, which have absolutely nothing to do with drinking (despite what every store on earth would have you believe in their 'holiday' section this month...geez...). Click the link below for some haunted crafts for non-Halloween holidays....or follow the suggestion to find them on Etsy! Happy spring, whenever it comes!

Antarctic travels, and lost paintings

My last post here was Halloween, as the winter holiday season is typically a time that I try to step away from the computer for as much as possible. While it's a brutal winter back home in the Northeast, I've been living my own version of the frozen wasteland, by reading a lot about Antarctica recently.

There's a classic travelogue of Capt. Scott's journey to the South Pole (with special focus on a side trip to gather penguin eggs) by Apsley Cherry-Garrard, written in the 1920s but taking place in 1910-1913. It's available free as a public domain text from all the usual places (I got mine from Manybooks because those are always formatted nicely). The writing style is humorous at times, and at other times gets bogged down in a lot of description of coordinates, numbers of ounces of pemmican consumed at various meals, etc.

One of the most delightful things I learned in this reading was that one of the members of the expedition, Dr. E.A. "Bill" Wilson, did watercolors throughout the journey, some of which have been preserved. These photos from the Terra Nova expedition can be seen at various places online -- I am borrowing a glimpse of them from the Cool Antarctica website. It lists them as courtesy the NOAA. I love the soft colors and the otherworldly quality of these paintings -- they were done under extreme, freezing conditions, with the few materials he had at hand, and that is part of why I love them so much.

by Dr. E.A. Wilson "Scott's Last Expedition" 1913

by Dr. E.A. Wilson "Scott's Last Expedition" 1913

The past few years have been full of "Scott of the Antarctic" related news, in fact....in 2012 they found his ship, the Terra Nova, off the coast of Greenland... and incredibly, one year ago they finished retracing the Scott expedition, a wondrous event I wish I had been following in real time.

At any rate, whatever the reason for my interest in Antarctic (and Arctic, which I also want to read up on) exploration, I like doing paintings of icy world landscapes as well so here is my contribution to the genre for now, "Penguin Peak" --

I made a special trip to the aquarium pyramid at Moody Gardens in Galveston to meet some penguins in honor of my recent interests.Unfortunately, there is not a "swim with the penguins" option.

Here are a few other things new in my Etsy shop. First, a new version of a painting I originally did in 2003, but I wanted to recreate it and eventually make prints from it as well. I don't have hi-res pics of my paintings from that far back, but I also like to repaint, and hopefully improve upon them. "On the Green Moon" is available as an original painting for a mere $50 for a limited time.

I also uncovered some older paintings that I haven't had up for sale anywhere in a long time. I kept them in my personal stash but I'm willing to put them out there, for now....if there are no takers I'll put them back in my personal stash. :)

This butterfly fairy is 9 x 12 and only $60 for the duration of this listing. She is based on a vintage postcard photo but I added all the fairy and butterfly elements.

And finally, a D&D inspired piece showing some classic dungeon monsters taking a coffee or tea break. Also at a special price and for a limited time. I can make prints of any of these on request but I haven't specifically listed prints on their own yet.

We do, however, have some of the most popular prints back in stock right now...including ghosts, banana slugs, cloaked witches and this, possibly my most popular piece...these always sell out quickly when I get a few in stock!