Shout out!

This last weekend I had a major dilema. A frame I ordered for my painting hadn't come in and I had to deliver my painting on Sunday. A friend recommended a place called Sherman Gallery... they were awesome! They took care of my "framergency" and I delivered my painting on time. Yay! So if you have any framing needs keep these guys in mind. They made my weekend!

Here I am, oh so happy my painting is framed.

All Ready for the Show!

Whew! It's been a crazy week but I managed to get the painting for The Hive finished and framed.

Ezmerelda the Ventriloquist

The theme for The Hive show is Hell vs. The Monster Mash... I was a little more inspired by the Hell part.

Oohh... is that what Hell is like?

While I'm at it I thought I would give everyone a peak at my work in progress. Hansel and Gretel, this is a BIG painting so it's taking a while to finish.

Hansel and Gretel eats the witch...
personally if it was me I would eat all that candy.

Gett'n ready for October!

New show coming up in October at The Hive Gallery . Couldn't resist painting something a little sinister....

postcard for the show

postcard for the show

Sneak peek of my painting for the show...

Once upon a time....

The first painting in my series.

Remember when you were young and your imagination was so vivid? I remember swearing up and down that Santa Claus snuck in my room to kiss me goodnight... that my cat was a REAL baby and NEEDED to wear the baby clothes. And yes, I really did have a twin sister named Patty...REALLY! OK, so maybe we were never in the room at the same time and my Mom couldn't remember being pregnant with twins... I wanted a twin sister so bad, I guess I thought if I willed her to exist, she would. 

As I got older I realized you couldn't will people to exist, but you could bring them to life in a story.  I would draw funny portraits, each person with their own story. Henrietta Peachbottom lived on the lake, had 50 cats and loved to practice her high wire act in the backyard. Jacques VanTankersnitch would race cars and collect umbrellas until he was killed by an elevator falling on his head. Hey, I didn't say they were all happy tales.

Luckily I had a best friend who had her own stories to tell. So we would spend hours drawing and creating new people in magical places. And we never stopped.

When I started painting again I wanted each painting to tell a story.  For my first series I chose to paint existing fairy tale characters while putting my own twist on they're story. Haven't you ever wondered what it would have been like if Little Red Riding Hood garnished a whip and tamed the big bad wolf? Or if Hansel and Gretel were actually two headed siamese twins that ate the evil witch? It's a series I decided to call Fairy Tale Circus.

So maybe I can will someone to exist after all. If I paint them does it not make them real? After I'm done with my Fairy Tales, maybe I'll make my evil twin! Watch out world, here comes Patty!

The Adventure Begins!

A painting by my greatest artistic inspiration.. my dad.

Hello, My name is Deanna and I'm an artist.  My creative addiction started at birth and flourished into adolescence while watching my Dad paint really cool paintings of cars, candy apples and a few paint cans. On the verge of adulthood (otherwise known as 16), I discovered I LOVE to paint people. Mostly portraits of cute guys... Hey, I was 16! I went on to study graphic design in college. I didn't really think there was any other option if I wanted to make money being an artist. After working as a designer and art director in the entertainment industry for about a billion years... I hit "rock bottom".  I discovered I want to create what I want to create. No more rules, no more critiques!!!!! I want to be a creative rebel! So this is why I stand before you today....

OK, so I realize this isn't AA or anything but it's hard to start your first blog!

As I mentioned, I'm an art director in the entertainment industry.  Truthfully, I love my job, so I guess there really never was a "rock bottom", I added that for dramatic effect. But after many years of creating art for clients, I decided I wanted to create art for myself.  It took me awhile to figure out what I wanted to paint and what is to be my own artistic voice.

I will be sharing my new creative adventure with you, my faithful blog reader. Future posts will include but not be limited to: my creative process from research to sketch, finished paintings and stuff I find just plain inspiring. And since this is my creative rebellion... I might just break the rules from time to time and post whatever in the heck I want. I'm crazy like that.

I would love to hear from you, so please feel free to share any thoughts or feelings. Just please try and make it nice.

Till next time!