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Lop-eared Bunny

I have added a lop rabbit to my sketchbook menagerie. I am trying to stay the course and make them into watercolor paintings. I have a terrible time trying to make decisions about “how” to do things. There are sooooo many options. I am always trying to come up with a one-size-fits-all solution, something everyone would like. And that’s just crazy.

My current distraction has been that people seem to have a preference for paintings on canvas, at least when collecting originals, but I know that my work will be of better quality at this size if I work in watercolor. I’d like to expand my portfolio of artwork, for licensing and for printmaking, and quality is important to me. Things just get twisted up in my mind when I try to incorporate marketing everything into what I am doing. But, then, do you ever know your market? Opportunities come along that you never anticipated, and it seems that you should have been doing that other thing you came up with last year. Or someone wants that painting for which you never thought you’d find a use.

Underneath the tranquil, pretty, or whimsical exterior of all your work, lies a long sequence of risks. Maybe it’s called “art” in recognition of the skill you exhibit in choosing what to let show in your work.

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“Love is the Sweetest Thing” Treasury on Etsy

Deidre at dedesbeads included my “Angels’ Kiss”, also know as “Peace and Love”, in her Etsy treasury “Love is the Sweetest Thing”. Thanks Deidre!

The print is available on our Ruffing’s site here, and in my Etsy shop. I imagined it as a heavenly reunion when I painted the original watercolor, and even when I’ve posted it as “Peace and Love” (white lilies for peace and red roses for love), I’ve been told it represented a heavenly reunion to someone else. It’s one of those paintings that touches some people on a very personal and private level, when they have a story of their own that ties into it. So I feel, in regard to the painting, saying less is more when talking about it.
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Cats On Bikes

I’m so glad I found these bikes. I had no idea how much kitten dolls enjoyed bikes until I got them. They actually got a bit rowdy.

They had a game of Chicken.

Their mama managed to redirect them.

Then they rode tandem. No hands! Er, paws.

Then they rode off on their own.

I’m not sure where they went.

If you see them, let me know.

They’re about, well, kitten-sized…several inches tall, and not considered dangerous.
Special thanks to Max Bailey’s cat Hedda for minding them as best she could.

From left to right, “Fiona“, “Ziggy“, and “Hedda“. Please visit our online doll gallery to see more of our original, one-of-a-kind, folk art dolls.

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“Fiona” the Calico Kitten

Here is “Fiona” my one-of-a-kind, original folk art kitten doll, finally all painted and dressed and photographed!

She looks very alert, mischievous, and ready to play, as a kitten should.

I put her with “Ziggy“, her little brother, on the handmade doll quilt I made for her. They played with Ziggy’s toy car.

Then they had a game of Patty-cake.

Fiona modeled her dress. Three-quarter view…

Front…

And back.

I took a better photo of her butterfly quilt.

And got a closeup of the hand embroidered butterfly I designed for the center block.