Jennifer Love Artwork BLOG

It's Nibblefest time again on ebay! :) Search NFAC to see all the great entries by great artists. This monthly art contest always gives new meaning to the words "artistic license" as you browse the many interpretations of a theme. This month's theme is "Mushtrooms." At first, I wasn't plannig to enter for December. It has been such a crazy busy month at work and home. But then, as is typical more often than not for me, I had a little glimmer of inspiration at the very last minute. So, here is my little interpretation of the theme....with a butterfly spin of course! :) You can click here to go directly to my ebay auction if you wish. This is an ACEO (size 2.5" x 3.5") and is done in watercolor and ink. The Nibblefest auctions all start at just $0.99 each, and the winners are determined based on the number of unique bidders to your auction. Thanks for checking in on my blog today! Happy Holidays to each of you. :)

My apologies to those of you who follow my blog. I have been a blog slacker in the past few months! Now, December is here...and a time to reflect on the things that really matter in your life, things you are happy with, and things you want to do better on. In my defense, my blog slacking (and art slacking for that matter) have been due to family issues. Myself or one of my kids or my husband have been sick from one week to the next, literally since mid-September. So, I have been paying more attention to my family, trying to get our household running and organized (yeah, right - like that will ever happen), and trying to get my kids well, myself well, my husband well - and still keep up with work at this busy time of year. Crazy!!  Unfortunately, the time and attention to my artwork and my blog have paid the price. But, I can't say I'm sorry about it. While I wish I had more time in the day to paint, think wonderful "artistic" thoughts, and blog away...the reality ...

It has been one crazy summer...and now Fall is coming and the crazy hasn't died down. I am still alive! For those of you who read my blog regularly, so sorry I haven't been "regular" in my posting this summer. Now that our summer vacation is over (Yellowstone National Park and Mt. Rushmore...lots of fun!), and the kids are settle in new school/daycare, it is time for me to get into High Gear to get illustration work done! Meanwhile, here was a little ACEO I did for the September ACEO Theme Week on ebay (the theme was "Old Houses").  The auction did not sell during theme week, so I have now listed the ACEO at my Etsy shop here . For those who are unfamiliar with an ACEO - the acronym stands for Art Cards Editions and Originals. It is any small work of art that is the size of a baseball trading card (2.5" x 3.5"). A great way to collect some original works of art when you are low on cash or wall space. :) This one is titled "Red Roof, Bl...

Early this summer, I planted six new flowering bushes in our yard - four lilacs in the front yard, one lilac in the back (to replace a butterfly bush that had died last year), and a Rose of Sharon (which is in the hibiscus family). This Rose of Sharon is called "Freedom" and is supposed to turn out a red blossom. I planted lilacs from the same nursery a few years before and they took about 4 years to grow big and give us blossoms, so I knew that we would be waiting a while on these bushes. But, surprise for us this week...the Rose of Sharon is already blooming! :) The flowers are actually more of a pink color than red (probably due to the different acids in our soil). They are beautiful flowers and I am so excited!

So, I have been busy, busy, busy getting to know the ins and outs of Etsy. Trying to keep my shop looking nice, renewing listings, creating treasuries. I even started my own treasury team for fine artists on Etsy (fpartists). You can find us on FaceBook at  https://www.facebook.com/fpartists  and on Twitter at @fpartistsTeam ( https://twitter.com/fpartistsTeam ) if you want to see some of the great Etsy treasuries being created by our team of talented artists! The point of creating treasuries is to feature one item from 16 different shops on Etsy (not including your own shop), all centered around a theme. People will search through treasuries in Etsy for things they like, but Etsy also features various treasuries on the front page of the website (one per hour). So, if you create a beautiful treasury that gets selected for the front page, you not only get good exposure for all the shops and items in your treasury, but also exposure for you and your shop since you are the...

So...I know I did Sea Turtles for Nibblefest a few months ago. But, I just enjoyed them so much that I decided to take the opportunity to do another one for the ACEO challenge this month. I was also having a brain cramp trying to think of "cute" Beach Critters that I wanted to paint. The only "critters" I could think of were sand crabs and little sand bugs...none were really appealing to my painting sensibilities - so, here is a little turtle for the collection instead. True...turtles aren't really "critters" either. But, I figured since they come onto the beach to lay their eggs in the sand, then it qualified as "beach-ey" enough. :) Here is my offering for ACEO Theme Week July - Beach Critters: "Beach Crawler" Click here to go to the ebay auction. ACEO is an acronym that stands for Art Cards Editions and Originals. The only rule is the size, which is 2.5 inches x 3.5 inches (6.4 x 8.9 cms) - just the ...

Nibblefest - June 2012 This month's theme: Birds (and other Feathered Friends) I thought a peacock would be a fun subject...especially for summer. Peacocks always remind me of gardens and the zoo...and other fun summer activities! This particular guy is so confident in his ineherent appeal to "the ladies" that he doesn't even feel the need to spread his feathers. He struts around the grounds knowing who's boss! He's "The Big P!" Click here if you'd like to go to the ebay auction (auction ends on June 27th). :)