Friday, September 25, 2015

Monster Squad Tribute Show

"I've Got Nards"; 4"x6" Gouache on Watercolor Paper; 2015

Greetings and Salutations all!!

Yes, it's been forever again.  We all know I'm horrible with updates.  I'll just blame work again.

So, Monster Squad!  The above painting was made for a Monster Squad Art Show taking place at my regular showing spot, Creature Features in Burbank, CA.

Monster Squad Art Show at Creature Features in Burbank, CA
Opening night, Saturday, September 26th, 2015 from 6-9pm
I'm pretty happy to say that I feel like I'm back to my normal self with this one.  I LOVE finding a way to 'do my own thing' when doing piece for tribute shows.  I like challenging myself and I usually have more fun doing pieces this way.

For this one, I had the super simple, cheese ball idea of Ollie the Wolfboy wearing a t-shirt that says "I've Got Nards".  In recent months, Monster Squad has been on everyone's mind and I've been seeing a lot of "Wolfman's Got Nards" shirts over on Etsy (in addition to "Stephen King Rules" shirts and some other Monster Squad versions of the monsters).  The idea of having a Werewolf wear the shirt was too tempting to resist.  Since it was so simple, I was afraid someone else could easily come up with a similar piece, so I decided to throw a few more subtile movie references into the back ground.  Nearly all the stickers on the skate ramp, and even the sunglasses that Ollie holds, are references to the movie.  Most of the stickers are product placement references, but I also threw one of my two favorite monsters from the movie up there, and an inside joke my husband and I have about a sequence from the film that wasn't intended to be funny, but is to us.


Coming up next on your pal the Boogervampire's "To-Do List" is the Heroes & Horror Con in Bakersfield, CA on October 18th.  Entry is $5 and located at the Bakersfield Marriott.  In addition to everything I had at ScareLA in August, the Heroes & Horror Con will be the first place you can get the 2016 Boogervampire Calendar.  If you've been following Instagram or Facebook, you'll know I've had a few printing issues with this year's calendar and it has taken a while iron that stuff out.  I'm happy to say I finally ordered the first batch of 10 calendars and they'll be with me when I vend in Bakersfield.


The week after the Heroes & Horror Con I'll be vending at the Hollows Market.  The Hollows Market will be Saturday, October 24th at the Santa Anita Racetrack and entry for that will also be $5.

Hope to see some of you there!

Tuesday, July 21, 2015

Atomic Tiki Terrors Post 2

"Go Home Brain, You're Drunk"; 8"x10" Gouache; 2015
Well, if you don't follow me over on my Instagram account, you missed out on all 1,000,000 work in progress photos of this bad boy.  If you do. . .I'm sorry you saw so many work in progress images of this bad boy.  :P

This past weekend, over at Creature Features in Burbank, CA, was the opening of the "Atomic Tiki Terrors!" group art show and the artwork was AWESOME!  I'm always excited and happy to contribute to the shows over at Creature Features, not only because I like supporting small businesses, but also because they come up with some pretty fun themes for their shows.  As I said in the last post, this show was a mash up of Tiki culture and old horror films, both of which with a focus on the 50's and 60's.  Also, if you saw my previous post, you know that I was using characters from 4 different b-movie horror films from that era.  For those that didn't see the last post, I referenced "The Brain That Wouldn't Die", "The Brain From Planet Arous", "The Reptile" and "The Wasp Woman".  The piece was a lot of fun, and although I almost didn't make it, I got the piece in JUST before the deadline.  The show is up and on display over at Creature Features until August 9th, 2015 if you'd like to see it in person.

Anyway, I hope you like it.


Coming up, in just two and a half weeks, is ScareLA 2015.  I'll be vending again and am really excited that it's going to be at the Pasadena Convention Center this year.  I'm working on some new stuff, not a whole lot, but some new stuff.  I announced on Instagram two nights ago that I had some purses made that have 11 different designs on them from my painting and sticker catalogue.  I'll be slowly previewing them over the next two weeks over on Instagram and the Facebook Page, so if you don't follow me there, and you're interested, you may want to check those pages out.  Also in the works for ScareLA a new pillow design.  I'm turning the Monster Date painting, who's actual title is "IceScream Social", into a pillow.  It'll be cropped slightly and have a pink stripe backing.  Unlike the other pillows this one will be more like a pillow slip and will be removable so you can wash it if it gets dirty.  I'm also going to try to restock some of the necklaces from last year that had Prudence and Frannie on them.

That's all for now.  Catch you next month!

Monday, June 22, 2015

Atomic Tiki Terrors WIP Post #1

Sketch for my new, yet untitled, painting for Creature Feature's Atomic Tiki Terrors show.
Greetings again, all!

Well, as I mentioned in the last Bats Day follow up post, I'm getting to work on my new painting for Creature Feature's next group art show taking place in July over in Burbank,  CA.  I just wrapped up the sketch Sunday night/EARLY Monday morning and am chomping at the bit to get to work on the color comp.  I've only got about two and a half weeks to paint this one, so I'm already getting nervous.  Thankfully I've learned from my Sushi Gremlin painting how to handle bamboo so hopefully it goes smoothly.

The 4 movies I reference in my painting.
If you're curious, I'm referencing 4 different movies made during the mid-fifties to the mid-sixties in this piece:  Anna from Hammer Film's The Reptile, Janice from The Wasp Woman, Jan from The Brain that Wouldn't Die, and Gor from The Brain from Planet Arous.

I'm not sure if it's the weather over here in Southern Cali, or what, but there seems to be a lot of Tiki themed shows popping up here over the last couple of months.  Creature Feature's has decided to do a Monster/Tiki mash-up show and their description of the event is as follows from their event page over on Facebook:

The flier artwork for Creature Feature's Atomic Tiki Terrors show.  Opening takes place Saturday, July 19th from 12-5pm.

This summer, Creature Features presents Atomic Tiki Terrors!, a group art show that focuses on 50's and 60's monster movies, and vintage Tiki Culture, two seemingly disparate subjects...

Mid-century America, at the dawn of the Atomic Age... to dodge the concept of nuclear annihilation, our fine citizens found refuge in exotic worlds and fantastical situations:

Kids thrilled to Monster Monster movie matinees and collected Famous Monsters of Filmland magazine, where mutants, giant bugs, and space invaders all tempered (and fed on) the fear of atomic armageddon. 

Adults escaped into an exotic, make-believe world of tiki bars and backyard luaus, where Polynesian trappings and rum-based cocktails took them away from their urban surroundings and allowed them to forget their radioactive reality.

Atomic Tiki Terrors! pays tribute to this fascinating era of fads and crazes, of tikis and terrors with artwork from over 50 artists in the fields of film & TV, fine art, comics, make-up & visual FX, children’s book illustration and more!

The show will also feature a Tiki Trading Post vending area in the lot behind the gallery, live tiki-inspired music, a special tiki cocktail provided by Tonga Hut (LA’s oldest Tiki Bar!), and more surprises to be announced.

The opening reception for the show is Sunday, July 19th, from noon until 5pm. The show will be on exhibit until August 9th, during regular business hours.

This event is free, and open to the public!

Exhibiting artists include:
Abbybelle
Atomikitty
Baï
Christine Benjamin
BigToe
Robert Bowen
Kevin Cannarile
Anthony Carpenter
Ken Daly
Eric Diaz
John Eaves
Kimber Grobman
El Gato Gomez
Gris Grimly
Michael Flemming
Dawn Frasier
Thomas Fernandez
Jake Geiger
Kenneth J. Hall
Mary J. Hoffman
Doug Horne
Robert Jimenez
Phil Joyce
Junkhauler
Lake Tiki
Rebecca Lord
MP
Scott Mabbutt
Chris Mason
Woody Miller
Ken Mitchroney
Ken Morgan
John Mulder
Nesshead
Eric October
Brad Tiki Shark Parker
Doug P’Gosh
Alex Quintero
Ken Ruzic
Matt Reese
Mireya Romo-Bowen
Michael Sbicca
Ethan Spaulding
Eric Swartz
Mark Tavares
Tiki Diablo
Tiki tOny
Michael Uhlenkott
Amy Watson
Paul Wee
Woody Welch
and More!

Hope some of you can make it out for the event!  If not, have no fear, you know I'll blog the final painting (once finished).

Friday, June 05, 2015

Bats Day 2015 Wrap Up and What's Next

"In the Key of X=?"; 5"x7" Gouache; 2015
 Greetings and Salutations, followers!

Bats Day 2015 has wrapped up and I'm somewhat back to normal after the crazy, fun filled weekend.  So I figured I'd give you guys a re-cap!

This year's Bats Day weekend started on Friday, as always.  My husband and I headed down to the Sheraton Park Hotel in Anaheim, CA after loading up the car.  Every year the organizers of the Bats Day in the Fun Park weekend always throw a party.  This year was no exception and they had a wonderful costumed event.  Every year, I never commit to the party because I'm a horrible procrastinator.  I'm never sure if I'm going to  have everything ready for the Black Market the next day and choose to leave the party night open in case I have any last minute scrambling to do.  So, although I didn't formally attend the soiree, I was lucky enough to slip in for 5 minutes to check out the Preview night for the Gallery999: Through a Child's Eye's art exhibit!

"Rap on a Table"; 5"x7" Gouache; 2015

You can see my finished pieces above.  I did two small paintings for the event this year.  The first, the Trumpet playing ghost, is titled "In the Key of X=?".  It's a 5"x7" gouache painting on watercolor paper and turned out pretty darn cute.  The second, entitled "Rap on a Table" is also a 5"x7" gouache on watercolor paper painting.  I'm particularly fond of the little lamp behind the ghosts head.  At this time, the "Rap on a Table" painting is still available on the Bats Day website for $75.00 (plus tax and shipping) if anyone is interested.

Speaking of the ghosts, the companion piece I was working on didn't quite get finished in time.  Which really bummed me out.  I'm going to work on it and try to have it finished in time for ScareLA, and will have the original and prints of it on display there this year.  (Hopefully.)

So, the next day was the Bats Day Black Market, the spooky vending event.  I had to trim stock a little bit in order for everything to fit on the table, but what I didn't display wasn't really missed much (hair clips and earrings).  I took 4 different throw pillows to the Black Market this year:  the Candy Corn from the Spook Show in March, plus a pillow of the "Help Us Master Gracey" painting (R2-D2), and a Black and Green versions of the Kissing Bats I have available on Cosmetic Bags in my shop.  Since it's Bats Day (the day the Goth's take over Disneyland) I'm sure it'll be no surprise to anyone that I sold out of the Black colored Kissing Bats pillows, and the R2 pillows.  I do thankfully have more fabric on hand and will be making a few more to throw in my shop when I open it for business this Saturday, June 6th.  The new stickers went over well, and the surprising big seller was the Sushi Gremlin sticker. I sold out of a few of the Coin Purses and one of the cosmetic bags.  I'll be placing a reorder for those items in the next day or two so they'll be back in stock in time for ScareLA but not for the shop opening this month.

As far as non-stock related stuff and the Black Market, I just have to say Noah and the Bats Day team went above and beyond this year.  This year, the hotel layout was fabulous.  Everything in one place and it was clean, air conditioned and the bathrooms were easily accessible and tons of parking. . . my personal fave about the hotel?  STARBUCKS IN THE LOBBY!!!  I know, I shouldn't be so excited about Starbucks, but seriously, I need some caffeine or I'm cranky.  I had a wonderful time vending next to Ish and Jason from My Vicious Boutique and was super happy to be able to run in and chat for a second with the amazingly awesome Drew Rausch, the artist on IDW's limited Edward Scissorhands comic.  I got to chat with John, the man behind the awesome Killhouettes line, Kimmy from Moonlit Studios/Spooksieboo, and my good friend Queenie from Pocket Full of Posiez.

Overall, Black Market was a wonderful success this year and I'm contemplating doing it again next year (was thinking this might be my last year for a while)!

Your pal the Boogervampire made it into the LA Weekly!  I'm front and center, looking like a dork.
Big news about the actual Bats Day in the Fun Park event, that happens every year on Sunday of Bats Day Weekend, is that I went for longer than an hour this year!!!  Last two years I was so exhausted after the Black Market that I'd go long enough to people watch a tiny bit, eat some food, buy a droid at the Build-a-Droid stand and then bounce.  We were actually there most of the day and actually ran into people I know!!  I also had the great opportunity to meet a few people I didn't.  Overall, it was a great weekend.

So what's up next?

The Atomic Tiki Terrors Group show @ Creature Features in Burbank, CA  July 19th, 2015

Up first in July is the "Atomic Tiki Terrors" Group Show at Creature Features in Burbank, CA.  I just started the sketch and am hoping that I'll get it all wrapped up in time.  So follow the Instagram to see work in progress pics.  Let's just say, I'm putting a lot of brains into this one.  :P

All you need to know is in the picture!
Next, a month after the "Atomic Tiki Terrors" is ScareLA!  As I said in an earlier post, ScareLA is moving to Pasadena this year and if you haven't gotten tickets yet, guess who has a discount code?!  That's right!  Use your special Boogervampire discount code to get 25% off until June 22!  Just use the code: SCAREBOOGER at checkout.

That's it for this blog entry.  Later!

Sunday, May 24, 2015

New Disneyland Tourist Stickers for Bats Day 2015

Disneyland Tourist Gillian will be available as a 7" tall sticker.  Larger than all the others 'cause I made a mistake.  >_<

Well, with only one week left before my annual outting to the Bats Day in the Fun Park weekend, things are frantically coming together.  Last year I introduced my Disneyland Tourist sticker line featuring some of the Boogervampire's buddies.  This year I continued by adding two more of his friends to the lineup.

First up is Gillian!  She's a pirate lover (remember "Pretty-Pretty Pirate Playset" from a couple of years back?) and thought she'd probably love Pirates of the Caribbean and Captain Hook.  Well, more specifically probably love Peter Pan.  So she's decked out in some actual park mementos as well as some made up accessories.  She's got her little Peter Pan hat (her trusty Star Fish buddy is hitching a ride on it), a replica of Mr. Smee's t-shirt, Jack Sparrow's boots, Captain Hook's Sword and brought a little stuffed animal of "Tick Tock" along with her for the day.  She's getting ready to munch on one of those tasty Mickey ice cream bars too!

Disneyland Tourist Sheldon will be available as a 5" tall sticker and is in scale with last year's Disneyland Tourist Frannie.

Second is Sheldon.  Last year's second sticker was his girlfriend Frannie, so I really wanted to 'complete the set' by making Sheldon this year.  He's a bit of a gear-head so he totally loves going over to Cars Land at Disney's California Adventure.  He picked up a Flying Tire hat, a tasty beverage from the Cozy Cone and grabbed a finish flag from the Radiator Springs Racers (his car must have won)!  Sheldon has a ton of tiny little details including a Disneyland 60th Anniversary t-shirt and a Haunted Mansion 40th Anniversary Shag Hawaiian shirt.



Next weekend, if you choose to come out and visit with me at the Bats Day Black Market, in addition to the two new stickers I'll also be debuting 3 new pillows.  I decided to turn the Haunted Mansion meets Star Wars painting from 2013 into some throw pillows.  They look really awesome and have a custom made brocade on the back.  Currently there are two color options, but only by accident.  The first batch of pillows' brocade was too dark so the second batch of fabric I ordered I fixed the brocade which resulted in a bolder,  more turquoise brocade.  The second and third new pillows are of the Kissing Bats design I've had around for a couple of years on pins, cosmetic bags and coin purses.  I'm trying two color styles with them.  The first is my 'classic' two tone lime green background color and the second is a two tone gray background.  I'm still determining the pricing for the pillows right now, but they will probably be $30, just like the Candy Corn pillows are.

I will also have my regular assortment of goodies with me next Saturday, May 30th (2015).  I did a relatively large restock of my regular assortment of Cosmetic Bags and Coin Purses after the Spook Show, so if you're finding yourself needing one of those, I'll have it!


So, once again (and in closing), if you're heading to the Bats Day in the Fun Park weekend at Disneyland next weekend, I'll be vending at the Bats Day Black Market on May 30th from 3-10pm at the Sheraton in Anaheim, CA (the one on Harbor Blvd.).  Hope to see you there!

Wednesday, April 29, 2015

Sympathetic Vibrations WIP Part 1



Greetings all!

So, with the Bats Day weekend rapidly approaching, I'm already starting the mad scramble to get things in order before May 30th (2015).  One of the many things on the list for this year was my annual submission for the annual Gallery999 art show.  This year's theme was "Thru a Child's Eyes" and although I can't show the official pieces until the 30th of May BUT something funny happened on the way to completing this year's pieces.  I initially read my contract wrong this year and got nearly 75% done with the sketch when I noticed all the small print.  This year's pieces are intended to be small pieces and, as you can see from the above sketch, I kinda got carried away again.  Instead of just throwing this in the trash, I decided the best course of action would be to make a COMPANION piece to the two appearing in the art show!  The best part about the companion piece is that I can show all my usual work in progress images!  So here's the first post.  Stay tuned for more updates on both "Sympathetic Vibrations" and my other new goodies for Bats Day 2015.

Thursday, March 19, 2015

Spook Show 3 Wrap-Up and Vending Event Announcement

My husband took this picture of a crazy guy running around in a full Barlow  (Salem's Lot) costume in 90+ degree weather.  That guy had to literally be undead to survive the day in that outfit.

Hey All!  It appears that 2015 will be the year of bi-monthly blog posts as I'm obviously off to a bumpy start posting stuff this year.  So, let's get this show on the road!!


Spook Show 3 happened back on the 7th of this month (March 2015, if you read this in the future) and just like all things, it had it's ups and downs.  Overall it was a fabulous experience, again, and I look forward to next year!

Here's the play by play of events:

As good as the booth could get.  The new pop up canopy has removable walls, so it looks fancier than normal.
My normal booth 'babe' Natasha couldn't make it to this year's event so my husband had to help.  He did a really great job, and I say that because at all my past events he usually just runs around the whole day having fun and buying cool stuff from the other vendors.  But this time he had to actually work.  He was super nervous but realized it was no big deal after a couple of hours.  I decided to invest in my own pop-up vendor canopy and decided to be rebel and get a purple one.  It was pretty sweet and made me feel so much more professional having not to borrow from friends.

I unfortunately woke up late so I couldn't get breakfast or a caffeinated beverage, so the first couple hours were the most stressful of the day because 1) I'm sooo not a morning person, 2) as I get older the angrier I get if I don't eat regular meals, and 3) if I don't get a Pepsi first thing in the morning to help me wake up, all hell breaks loose.  BUT, even though I didn't eat until noon, I was still able to get us to La Mirada in time for set up by 8:30am and we were rearing to go at 12 when the first attendee's arrived!

My husband took photos of one of the Hearses at the Hearse Show all lit up after dark with Purple lights.

I sold out of nearly all the cosmetic bags and coin purses and would have sold out of the three pillows I made, but I didn't find out until the end of the day that the one pillow I had placed on reserve for a client could be released to the public and they would buy one at a later date.  (GREAT NEWS:  There is one Candy Corn Pillow for sale in the Crypt of DOOM!! if anyone would like to snag it for themselves before I do a restock.)  I'll be receiving a restock of the cosmetic and coin purses very soon as I'm starting to prep for the events I'll be mentioning at the end of this blog post.

Candy Corn throw pillows!!  6 more on their way soon.
Also in the great news category, the pillows had a very positive response from people online and at the event, so I've decided I'll be making a couple more pillows for future events!  Check out my Instagram and Facebook for working progress images or announcements as to when new product will be dropping.

Janice, the crazy happy owner of the Sushi Gremlins painting.
As for the Sushi Gremlins, we orchestrated a 'Extreme Makeover' type surprise for the recipient of the Sushi Gremlin original painting.  As I may have said in previous posts, I don't do commissions.  I'm just too busy and stretched too thin to add all the worry that is involved with custom work to my plate, but the Sushi Gremlins piece was an exception to the rule.  A very dear family friend asked me to 'do my thing' and paint his wife and two daughters as monsters eating sushi, the result was the Sushi Gremlins.  He told me their favorite colors, told me a little bit about their personality types, and most importantly he related to me stories of when they go out to eat together and what happens at the table.  Oh, and since they love Hawaii he asked if I could somehow make it look like they were eating sushi in Hawaii.

Anyway, our dear friend decided that he was going to bring his wife over that day, knowing that the painting was finished and that I had chosen to put it on display at the event.  She literally gravitated strait to it like it had a tractor beam engaged.  She just kept staring at it and smiling and commenting on all the little details.  My husband was as excited as I was to have it delivered and being admired by the person who it was secretly painted for, that he was like "Oh, so you like that painting huh?  How much do you like that painting?"  When she said she loved it we told her it was her's and that her husband had secretly commissioned it for her nearly two years ago.  She was overcome with surprise and joy.  It was the perfect ending and I couldn't have asked for things to go any better.  I just hope that their daughters like it as much as they do.

Got to see my old Neopets pal Irene!  Thanks for coming by Irene!  Oh yeah, that's me and my husband.
That pretty much wraps up Spook Show 3.  I got a chance to visit with followers, which always brings me great joy, visit with good friends like Irene, Alan, Tom and Nicole, and meet other vendors whom I only see at these kinds of events but are equally sweet and fun to be around.

Now, onto announcements!!!

Bats Day in the Fun Park WEEKEND!!!  May 29th thru the 31st, 2015

Yes, I'll be back at the Bats Day Black Market this year!  2015's Black Market will take place on May 30th at the really fancy Sheraton in Anaheim.  It's always fun and I'm planning on making two new pillows for this event!  I'll be turning the Haunted Mansion/Star Wars mash up painting that I call "Help Us Master Gracey, You're Our Only Hope" into a throw pillow as well as the "Kissing Bats" that you can see in my shop on cosmetic bags and a button.  I'm also planning on expanding the Disneyland Tourist Monster Sticker line up by adding two new stickers.  2015 will be bringing Sheldon (Frankenstein's Monster) and ONE of the following: either Prudence, Gillian (Creature), or Booger (as in Boogervampire).  I still haven't decided, but stay tuned in and you'll find out!

My 3rd year doing this event!  Past paintings were "Help Us Master Gracey, You're Our Only Hope" and "Little Leota's Fortune Telling Kit for Beginners"


Speaking of Bats Day, I'll also be participating in this year's Gallery999 Haunted Mansion Tribute Art Show again this year.  This will probably be my last year doing it, and I'm in a bit of a funk with the piece (if you've been following a while, you know I signed a contract that prevents me from showing any of it until it has debuted at the show on May 30th) but I'm hoping to get over that this coming weekend.

One of my two favorite Conventions!  This and Monsterpalooza are the only two I actually BRAVE crowds to go to on purpose.  It's that good!!  If an introvert with a fear of crowds won't miss it, you shouldn't either!
Lastly, I'll also be vending again this year at ScareLA!!  We sincerely had SUCH A GOOD TIME last year, that we couldn't WAIT to go back this year.  What's more exciting is that they've moved it from Downtown LA to the Pasadena Convention Center!!  It's a much larger place, and the lazy little turd that I am can't deny having it closer to home is AWESOME!!  You can get tickets now to the Event by visiting the official ScareLA website.

That's it for this month!  Hopefully I'll have stuff I can post soon that's new or in progress, but until then, head over to the Crypt of DOOM!! before I get to busy at work and have to close it again.  Going to try leaving it open for another week.  Fingers crossed things at work stay calm enough that I can handle both with out pulling all my hair out!  LATER ALL!

Wednesday, February 18, 2015

Sushi Gremlins and Spook Show 3

Sushi Gremlins; Gouache 8"x10"; 2015
I'm relieved, and overjoyed to say that this last weekend I was finally able to finish my Sushi Gremlins painting.  I started it back in November of 2013 and is the most time I've ever spent on a single painting.  I honestly lost track of how much time I invested in it, but I'd say it was close to 600 hours (if not more).  It's the most detailed piece I've managed to pull off and probably the most fun.


I also want to announce my participation in the Halloween Club's 3rd Annual Spook Show in La Mirada this March 7th (2015).  For more details, see Halloween Club's Facebook Event and get your free tickets are available here.

In addition to prints of the Sushi Gremlins, I'll have a new sticker featuring one of the gremlins available which you can see here:


And testing new product of the following items.  I'll only have one of each on hand, so be sure to get there early if you'd like to take one of these bad boys home:


Hope to see you there!

Monday, January 19, 2015

2015 Begins! (Sushi Gremlins WIP Post 3)


Greetings blog followers!!

2015 is starting out much better than I'd hoped it would thus far.  2014 was a doozie of a year for  nearly everyone I know, myself included, and not in a good way.  A lot of things I didn't write about here happened, most on the negative side, thus being the reason I didn't blog about them.  Bad news is, 2014 was a horrible year of art posts as I was too depressed and distracted to work, BUT the good news is that I am now in a good place and my head is firmly screwed back into my body and I'll hopefully do better at being productive this year!


So, why have I delayed posting thus far in 2015, quite simply because what I've been working on is taking SO LONG that I was trying to wait until it was finished before sharing it.  Since I've still got at least another two weeks worth of work to go on it, I decided to give up waiting and just post a work in progress post.

As a few of you may remember from earlier in the year, I've been working on a painting 'for fun' (just means it doesn't have a deadline and isn't for an art show of any kind).  You can see the first posts here and here.  In all honesty it's been in some state of work since August of 2013 and I just couldn't either get the time or motivation to work on it, but with the new year and my better outlook on things recently I decided that it was time to wrap this baby up!  I've been working on it diligently now since just before christmas and am hoping to have it done before the end of January.  I hope you enjoy some of these work in progress photos from my Instagram account, and a happy, belated, New Year!  May this year be better than the last!