Brown Pelican

This is one 6" tile, another in the series of Florida Water Birds tiles I am painting for a client. I have really enjoyed this project, living in Florida as I do. When I told the client there were 480 birds in Florida, which ones did he want? He gasped, then said, "Do some water ones, you choose." That's what I like, letting me pick the ones I enjoy looking at lol.

Flamingo

Here is another tile in the Florida Water Birds series.

Great Blue Heron

This is one 6" tile of a series I am doing for a client, all Florida water birds.

New Style of Christmas Ornament

This is Jericho, a Bearded Collie! He is the first of my new line of Christmas ornaments, Purebred Dogs. The facial features on mixed breeds are too unique for a medium that allows NO mistakes or corrections, so I am doing only purebreds at this time.

Arctic loon

This is a 6" tile I just completed to go with the Canadian wilderness mural. It will be mounted in a cheese board, showing off the mural as a kitchen accent.

The mural is complete!

I am pleased and proud when I gaze at this huge mural laying out on my worktable. More importantly, the client is pleased. I was less than confidant when I began, as the recession had hit me hard. But the people were great to work with, which ALways helps, and I felt my old passion and confidence return almost immediately. I call it my masterwork, for several reasons, one of which is the slim likelihood I will ever do a project this huge again. Not because I do not want to---bring it on! :)

A Masterwork

Shame on me for sharing a project before it is completed, I have never done that before now. But I am so excited about this huge mural of a Canadian wilderness. It is a romantic place where a lovely couple got engaged, and I have gotten caught up in their excitement. I will post more images when it is finished. Wish me luck!

New Herb Basket Mural

I just finished a mural that has blue celadon field tile. I used that color all through the mural to show off the color, some you can see and some you can't.

Cool project in Austin

I've finished up a couple of cool tiles that are going to be installed on a bridge being built in Austin, Texas. More details to come (and hopefully my customer is happy enough to provide a testimonial). Happy new year! Work is picking up a bit, yay!

Almost the New Year!

My tile work has been excruciatingly slow in the last few months. I have a regular customer who asks me for two of my house tiles every year, and this time I forgot to snap pics of them for my portfolio. Rats. Ever have those times when you wish you could turn back time to fix those things big and small? I also wanted to ask her for a testimonial while there was still time to encourage holiday sales, but I didn't do that either.

Now's the time to admit to myself that I'm less the marketer and more the artist. Yes, yes, it's important to do both, but I'm a business of one (and 3/4, if you include my awesome husband G, and my social media marketing company, FunCity) and sometimes it's all just overwhelming. Grrr, if I had a nickel for every "missed opportunity."

But.

I have stayed on top of learning how to sew, which is brand new for me, and it keeps me feeling and moving creatively even when my tile business slows to a crawl. It's an amateur hobby for me, and I've become frustrated often. I made my sister a cool-looking shirt and her wife a bag to hold her crochet stuff for on-the-go. The pattern on the shirt didn't go over with fanfare, but the bag (quilted, six pockets, two handles) was a hit. She said she owns some of my tile that has the same southwestern feel. Here is a pic of my newest handiwork. Suggestions, comments?

Creativity can be a fickle bear. How do you feed your creative "monster"?