The Adventures of KJ & The Dreamy Giraffe

Adventure #168: Night & Day Ala KJ

Dear You,

As promised, two more new paintings!

"Starlight" is an acrylic painting on an 8" x 10" flat canvas panel, which has been embellished with stars punched out of glittery and metallic cardstock.

Once upon a time, there was a girl named Aja, who lived in a kingdom full of traditions and customs. One of these customs was, when a young man wanted to marry a young lady, he climbed, climbed, climbed way up into the skies, almost to Heaven itself, to retrieve a star to give to the girl's father, in exchange for her hand in marriage. There was no proposal or ring or even inquiring as to whether the girl wished to marry this particular fellow or even at all.

Aja always thought this tradition was, well, icky at best, but it never even occurred to her that something could be DONE about it, until her best friend Lane was told she was going to be the bride of some awful boy named Henry, who laughed like a mule, smelled like pepperoni (which is good for a pizza, but not a husband!) hogged the remote, and was rumored to kick puppies.

Aja went to the king and begged and pleaded with him to make a change and finally, finding her tiresome, he waved her away, telling her that if she could climb, climb, climb and bring him back a star, that he would institute a kingdomwide ruling that marriages would only occur if both parties truly desired the union. Of course, all the king's men (and the king's horses!) guffawed with laughter, because girls can't climb trees, much less high enough in the sky to retrieve a star.

Well...that's Aja in the painting, clutching the star...so I guess you know how that story ended. :)

"Little Miss Sunshine" is 12" x 16" and I cannot even begin to tell you how the scan of this painting doesn't do it justice. In person, when it catches the light, it's twinkling and shimmering and almost magical looking, thanks to the fine folks who invented metallic paint and ultrafine glitter!

She was originally supposed to be August's painting, but in the end, it just didn't feel right.

This idea popped into my head after I read what Kim from Regal Beads wrote about me on her blog. She said that I add sunshine to others' days and I have to tell you, that is probably one of the top five nicest things anyone's ever said about me. I mean, can you THINK of a better compliment? I can't. Thank you so much, Kim! You are TOO SWEET. And Kim? I'm waiting on a new shipment of mailers to come in, but after they do, I would LOVE to send you a free print of this one, if you'd like it, for inspiring this painting!

Talk to you all soon!

Adventure #167: Sometimes KJ DOES Paint

Dear You,

I have not one, not two, not three...but FIVE new paintings!

This is "Buggin' Out", which represents August, in my Very Dreamy Year series.

Amber was a very outdoorsy girl. She loved nothing more than going out into the backyard and lying in the grass and staring up in to the puffy white clouds polka-dotting the brilliant blue sky, enjoying nature and daydreaming the day away. Until, that is, one day, while doing so, she got bitten by a spider and her whole arm swelled up and she had to go to the emergency room and get a shot.  For a few months after that, she stayed indoors, unhappily watching television programs, and skittish about venturing outside again.

One day, bored, she went to the library, where sitting out by itself on a shelf, just like it was meant for her, was a book called How To Talk To Insects.

"How silly!" Amber thought. But she sat down and started reading, anyway.

Within two weeks, Amber was quite fluent when it came to speaking the secret language of bugs. When a spider came near, she politely asked it not to bite her...and it listened, turning away and meandering off in another direction. Amber once again returned to her outdoorsy ways and quite enjoys communicating with bugs -- even the spiders, since now when they get a be intrusive, she can request that they not bug her and they understand her wishes and 9 out of 10 times are cooperative (except for the mosquitoes, who tend to do what they want to do, regardless.)

 

This is "Patience, which is for September, the month where lots of kids find themselves, like Tara, waiting for the bus to come whisk them off to another year of school!

Tara was terribly impatient. She wanted what she wanted and she wanted it now (or five minutes ago, if possible). And what she wanted at this particular moment was for the bus to come and take her to school so that she could see the friends she hadn't seen since June! She missed them so.

She thought she heard a voice, chirping at her: "Sometimes we must wait...." but she was fairly certain that that was just her mother's words, which she'd heard many times, echoing in her head.

She ignored it, thinking: Hurry, hurry, hurry.

And it was quite a shame that she didn't pay attention, because had she only turned around, she would have seen that it was a little birdie speaking to her -- and what a story for show and tell that would've been!

And this one, of course, is for October. It's called "Family Portrait".

I had this idea in my head for so very very long but thought it would be too complicated to do -- but it really wasn't and was such fun to paint. I love the little mummy baby!

All three of these are in the shop as originals & prints. The originals are 9" x 12" ("Buggin' Out"), 8" x 10" ("Patience") and 11" x 14" ("Family Portrait").

Originally, back last December when I became determined to do the "A Very Dreamy Year" series, my goal was to, at the end of this year, to produce a calendar. I've at this point in time decided not to do that this year. I'm a perfectionist and I don't want to put something together haphazardly -- and I've just not had the opportunity to figure out a way to produce a calendar in a quality and cost-effective way. 2009 has been a rocky one for me and also filled with new opportunities (like designing the rubber stamps!) as much as I want to offer new products, like calendars, I'm just going to try to finish out this year getting as many new paintings done as I can and keeping things simple. I would love, love, love at some point to be able to offer them as a set of mini-prints, if nothing else.

I do have big plans (as always) for all sorts of things in the future, but one thing this year has taught me is that sometimes we just have to do as much as we can possibly do...and when it's the right time for bigger and different adventures, they'll happen.  Sometimes, like Tara, we just must wait. :)

Wait...that's only three paintings!

I do have two more, but this is insanely long already, so they're going to get their own adventure.

Love,

Adventure #166: KJ Is Behind The Times

Dear You,

I simply cannot believe I have not blogged about this yet!

La-la Land Crafts is now open for business and the first release of the line of stamps I am designing for the company is now available.  Here is Lala as a fairy:

You can see all six of the stamps here. Also check out the gallery, where there are some beautiful examples of crafts made using the stamps.

In other news, the super sweet and super talented Stephanie Fizer interviewed me for her This Artsy Life blog feature last week & if you'd like, you can read my interview (and those of other artsy types she's interviewed) here.

And last, but not least, I am also now involved with We Are..., a monthly collaborative coloring book type* publication from a group of Etsy artists and illustrators. Yael Frankel is putting it all together and you can see the We Are Scared, the Halloween issue (which includes a little mummy girl drawn by me!) in her shop.  We Are Happy is also available and though I was not a part of that issue, lots of wonderfully talented other folks were! So check it out, too! I think it's a wonderful project.

This very cut and dry and long overdue adventure has been brought to you with love by the letters

K & J

* I say "coloring book type" only because though it technically is a coloring book...you don't have to break out a box of crayons to enjoy and appreciate this little book of art!

Adventure #165: KJ In La La Land

Dear You,

Since the end of May, I've had a new project in the works and I've had to keep it a secret, which was difficult, but now, I can finally tell you!

Well, I'm not going to tell you.

I'll give you this little bitty sneaky peek.

Want to know who this cute little girl named Lala is?

The big news is right here.

I could not be anymore excited about this new venture and can't wait until I can show you even more!

Talk soon,

Adventure #164: KJ Screams For Ice Cream

Dear You,

So, far, in my Very Dreamy Year series, we've had:

The Resolution (January)

The Girl Who Loved Love (February)

Carried Away (March)

The Girl With The Most Colorful Umbrella (April)

A Floral Affair (May)

Havin' A Ball (June)

It is now July 13th, so I think it's high time the seventh month was represented in that line-up, don't you? There hasn't been a little blonde girl since January, so I thought it was time for one of those, too.

Did you know July is National Ice Cream Month? (You can thank Ronald Reagan for that (and my best friend for pointing it out to me).

I'd struggled to come up with an idea for this month, but I think this one would be fitting even if July weren't National Ice Cream Month, because, at least where I am, it is so freaking hot, eating ice cream (and other frozen treats) IS necessary.

Stay cool, kids!

 

P.S. This piece is now available as a print in the shop!  I'm not listing the original (which is 11" x 14" on a flat canvas panel) right now, but it's available if anyone happens to be interested!