I finally titled this, and here it is all finished: Song of the Black Pearl, done in acrylic on canvas, 11x14 inches. This guy is my first eastern dragon (specifically the five-toed Chinese), done mainly to commemorate the Year of the Dragon. This year's element is Water, which is associated with the color black, so this is the Year of the Black Dragon, which only occurs once every 60 years.
I was originally going to give the dragon red eyes, but that made him look too sinister, so I toned them down with a blue wash to make them more of a maroon color. Eastern dragons are surprisingly easy to paint, even with the scales, and I had a lot of fun designing this one. These types of dragons are associated with the number nine, so there are nine orbs floating around him.
Full view of the image is recommended since the smaller version looks sort of grainy due to the canvas texture. Prints are available here: [link].
Driving to work the other day, I daydreamed up this image of Willow, a newer OC of mine. Willow is a Sian sprite (thus the wing markings on her back), but she began life as a human. She was an orphan and an outcast who lived alone just outside the Sia Forest until she was killed one day thanks to the trickery and betrayal of two humans. But because she lived so close to the forest, its energy brought her back to life and transformed her into a Sian sprite. After that, she lived inside the forest and guarded its boundaries.
In other news, the still untitled Eastern dragon painting is just about done, so hopefully I'll have it scanned by tomorrow. Plus, below are two new jewelry photos. On the left is a new photo of Stand Apart, which is made with freshwater pearls and copper materials. The original necklace was sold, but I made an identical new one. On the right is Stand Alone, made with freshwater pearls, a black glass pearl, and silver materials.
This is an idea for a painting, The White Doe of Tel-Jilan, with a couple sketches from my sketchbook. I was staring at Last Journey of the Unicorn Child the other day when this idea came to me. When I was working on Unicorn Child, my deer-fanatic dad thought the painting was going to have deer in it, but it actually has deer-like unicorns. So I thought, why not do a painting with actual deer in it? Then the above image flashed into my mind.
The White Doe is going to be 14x16 inches, acrylic on illustration board, just like Unicorn Child. I'd like to do the painting sometime this year, but I can't make any promises on that.
Yesh, I took the plunge and made a Facebook page for my art: [link]. I'm still working on getting everything set up, but now anyone who likes my art can "like" my page to stay up to date on new art, jewelry, sales, upcoming shows, and other news and goodies.
Here's also a WIP for the Eastern dragon painting that I have yet to title. The background is done, and I'm ready to start the dragon.
I'm working on catching up on my jewelry photography, so I'll probably post new photos every week or so.
First below is From the Ashes There is Life. I started it about a year ago and just recently finished it. It was inspired by various 2010-2011 volcanic eruptions. The chain is gunmetal and is covered in red howlite, pink riverstone, red coral, pink coral carved blossoms (which I was very lucky to get), red jasper, brecciated jasper, and lava rock. At the center is a real sealed/stabilized orchid blossom, plus the two handmade wire coils. It has a gunmetal lobster claw clasp with adjustable length.
Next is the less extravagant Emperor Moth necklace, made with a carved stone moth pendant, picture jasper, and seed beads, with a copper lobster claw clasp.
Here's a WIP and sketch of my newest and as of yet untitled painting. I wanted to do a piece with a Year of the Black Dragon theme, so I'm doing a Chinese lung this time (my first Eastern dragon!). I'm painting in the sky and clouds right now with cerulean blue and titanium white, but I'm going to throw in a little yellow, maybe some red, later on. It's in acrylic on 11x14 canvas.
FYI, I came up with the idea to do a Year of the Dragon theme a while back, so this isn't some sort of jump-on-the-bandwagon type of thing.
Also, below is a new bracelet, Wild Russet, made with copper chain, shell heishi, and brecciated jasper rounds. I really like this piece. Ironically, I never really wear jewelry, but if I did, I'd probably keep this one for myself.
