Broken Hearts and Sweet Tarts! (mildly nsfw)

 When asked to describe what I do as an artist (and believe me, that's a thing I'm struggling to clarify) I suppose I could say that I paint animals and other creatures set in imaginary worlds.  Rarely do I depict actual humans.

Well, I've been invited to take part in another S.P.A.C.E. show this February, and as I sketched out ideas for it, they all turned into burlesque ladies!  Stylized humans, to be sure, but I have to crow a bit, I feel like the things I've learned from life drawing and also soaking in the work of artists I admire are finally paying off.  Here are the first two ladies for Sweet Tarts:

©Sweet Enemy Art 2013

©Sweet Enemy Art 2013

Such a treat to return to one of my favorite combinations: watercolor with pen & ink.  The third piece for this exhibit is still in progress, I'll try to post an image of that one soon.  Until then we're having a blast looking at pin-up art, both contemporary and vintage, as well as various videos of burlesque dancers.  Oh heck, I can't tease without sharing!  Here's one that Arkonbey found:

If you're in the area, Broken Hearts and Sweet Tarts opens on First Friday, February 1st, 2013.  Here's the link for The S.P.A.C.E. Gallery in Burlington.  

See you there!  Or here.  

Chickens, chickens, chickens

Pippa in the Garden ©Sweet EnemyArt

Close up on Sass Chicken  ©Sweet Enemy Art

Cripes!  We've had our flock of hens since June, but I've barely let them make a peep here.  Well they're making their debut in the shop, and I found some early summer photos to introduce you to a others few as well:

Little Big Red, with Big Red in the upper right

Dustbath!

goodbye garden!

UPDATE:  Arkonbey just pointed out that the way we call our chickens when they're out and about is by going "coo-coo-coo-COO-Coo" and, well, you should listen to this.  Perhaps the Canadian influence has leaked down over the border!

Recent completions and so forth

Ghost Bun and Bros ©Sweet Enemy Art  Acrylic on canvas 2012

Hello!  It has been far too long, my friends.  I've been working away on several commissions and getting distracted by life in general.  But Neil Dixon of Yankee Imaging has been getting some great images of my recently completed work, so I thought I'd share.

"This May Sting a Little" ©Sweet Enemy Art  Acrylic on canvas, 2012

Having tried taking pictures of these guys myself, I do so appreciate someone who can really work the camera.  Focus on doing what you do well, and let others do what they do well.   Well...  Yeah.

The best part of this process is loading up the image onto my screen and suddenly going "holy crap!  I painted that!"

I'm happy to report that "Ghost Bun and Bros" has made it safely to the West Coast.  "This May Sting a Little" got some very nice comments during this year's Art of Horror show and is now back home waiting for me to find some wall space.  Unless you have room?

See you again soon, once we get the camera batteries to play nice so I can show you the commissioned works-in-progress.

Seven Goat Coat, 24 Hour Comics Day 2012 preview

Hello there!  So to catch you up, we're at hour 13.5 in our 24 hour stretch of drawing comics here at the Winooski Welcome Center in Winooski VT.  That means it's 11:30 p.m. E.S.T. and I'm feeling pretty punchy.  Here are three more page previews.  Once we're settled back at home, real scans will be made.
Which reminds me!  I will also try and post my 2011 twelve-page comic.  I don't think I have yet!

I am at page 7 so far (not counting the cover) so there is some semblance of hope.  I'm also the blogger for our event (which means also FB & Twitter, etc.) so I have to be kinda realistic.   One bonus with having the computer right here at hand:  GOAT IMAGE SEARCH.  I am so happy with my goat on the right.  He's a pretty boy.

five hours in and three pages finished...

It's 24 Hour Comics day, once again & around the world!  I'm at the Winooski Welcome Center with many of our usual crew from previous years at Artists' Mediums.  Once again I'm just attempting a twelve page story where everyone else has hopes of doing a full 24 page piece.  

The story seed I pulled out of the bag was "A Seven Goat Coat."  Which has a lot of potential, but right now I feel like I'm just treading water with it.  Five pages plotted out loosely and I'm not sure if it's going to turn into a teenage angst story (don't we have enough of those) or a magical realism story.  

Just one more comment for now:  Urgh, why in the world did I choose to do a story with humans!

(Edited to add that I'm feeling a bit better about the characters now (page 7), but it was a rough climb to get there.)

Brought to you by the Department of Shameless Self Promotion!

Digging through the vault (the external hard drive, that is) I found these for your viewing pleasure.  Some may be new to you, some have been posted before (but a loooong time ago!)

The bonus is that all of these are now up on Society6 as mini-prints.  Free shipping on anything in my shop* through October 14, 2012.

I've added nine new pieces since yesterday, and there may be a few more that I post there before the week is through.  So in the spirit of Shameless Self Promotion, if you want to buy something from there, it gets me that much closer to purchasing a plane ticket to Colorado for a wedding next Spring!  

Traveling Cloak, Mode de Monstre

Beatrix Rabbit

Afternoon in the Sky

**Offer excludes Framed Art Prints and Stretched Canvases.

Art of Horror Returns!

This art show is when I get to really celebrate the Halloween spirit, because we live in an area with zero trick-or-treaters.  Sad!  So break out your own costumes and join us this Friday to check out the  "sinister but lovely images" on view throughout the S.P.A.C.E. Gallery.  

Meet the artists, see art, more art, lots of art, plus costumes, tarot card readings, 

and a Day of the Dead shrine for the spirits of artists who have passed!  

I have three works in the show, here's a very reflective snapshot of one:

This Might Sting A Little  ©Sweet Enemy Art 2012

And what's right around the corner?  24 HOUR COMICS DAY!

More to come on that soon, or check out the basic info on our page here.

Poster by Rick Evans of obscurius.org !