Happy Birthday, Cathy!

Jordan commissioned this painting for his girlfriend Cathy for her birthday, which is today, so Happy Birthday Cathy (even though I know you don't read this)!

That's Lola on the left, and of course Uncle Wiggles is on the right, drooling over the birthday cupcake!

"Lola and Uncle Wiggles"

December Nibblefest - Chickens!

I just finished and listed my December Nibblefest painting last night at 2:30 AM, thanks very much to my husband Chris for some excellent last minute suggestions! It's not a great time of year to be listing new artwork, but last January I had made a commitment to enter every Nibblefest contest, and I made it!

Yay!

"This is not a Peep"

Well, the title pretty much says it all – this is Peepy and, as the painting says, Peepy is not a peep (despite indications to the contrary) so you probably won’t be finding him in your Easter Basket anytime soon. In case you’re wondering, that’s not a pipe either.

This painting is an homage to Rene Magritte, one of my favorite artists!

Just click on Peepy to go to the auction, which starts at only 99¢!

Illustration Friday - Similar

Similar, yet somehow different...

The Tower

What do you think would happen when the Boston Terrier meets the Anti-Boston Terrier? Would it be like what happens when matter meets anti-matter? Or would it be like that Star Trek where those two guys with the black & white faces just want to murder eachother? I don't think that's it since these two Bostys seem to be getting along just fine, but sometimes you don't know until you see blood.

Our Little Grandpuppy

Introducing the newest member of the Knowles family:

Lola Bones (a.k.a., our grandpuppy)

Lola is our son Jordan's puppy, she brightened our Thanksgiving by spending the day with us. If there's anything cuter in the universe, I'd seriously like to know what it is!

Lola and Jordan (we obviously raised Jordan right!)

Lola with Aunt Violet (lookit how tiny she is!!)

Lola with Grandpa Chris, on whose lap she spent the better part of Thanksgiving.


Uncle Mr. Wiggles was less than overjoyed, in fact he was terrified!


Lola just being cute!

Illustration Friday - Opinion

4th Scariest

Maybe we can’t all win ”Best in Show”, but I say “4th Scariest” is pretty darned good, and it really is just a matter of opinion anyway. Those 4-H judges can be pretty tough on contestants like Clucky & the other chickens, roosters, ducks & such.

Illustration Friday AND Nibblefest!

So it happened that this week's Illustration Friday themes overlapped and I was able to do one painting for both. I love it when that happens!

Illustration Friday's topic is "Pretend", and Nibblefest's is "Christmas Trees," so the obvious solution was to paint a squid pretending to be a Christmas Tree. I'm just worried now that more people will have done the same thing. Oh well.

Anyway, here's my entry:

"Merry Squidmas!"

(Click painting to see the auction)

Sparky is really excited for Christmas and is having so much fun wearing his little elf hat and decorating the tree! Too bad it isn’t a real tree – I hate to say it, but either Sparky’s really stupid or someone spiked the eggnog.

Remember, all Nibblefest auctions start at just 99¢, no reserve! This one ends on Thanksgiving, so if you're thinking of bidding, please do so early or use a sniping software such as esnipe (which I swear by, btw. I'd do a commercial for them!)

Illustration Friday - Wise

I haven't done Illustration Friday for awhile, but when I saw this week's theme I knew I had to participate.

Jowly

4"x4"
Oil on Canvas

You all know how owls are supposed to be wise, right? They're pretty much the poster birds for wisdom, and none are so wise as Jowly, the quintessential wise owl (who also happens to be my personal advisor).

More Vintage Inky Wibbles!

So I was organizing my closet a few weeks ago and came across an old sketchbook mixed in with some photos. Generally looking at my old work makes me cringe a bit, but frankly these made me wonder what the "F" was going on in my head! These drawings were pure stream of consciousness and similar to the rapidograph drawings I posted back in May, although older (maybe from around 1989ish) and a bit darker - I confess they do frighten me a little. I suffered from depression for a long time and I think it's interesting to see the changes in my artwork as I started feeling better over the years.

Anyway here they are, they're all pretty small (3"x4") and a little beaten-up. Unfortunately I don't have clever titles or stories to go with them, but oh well:

I was pretty lucky, for some reason after I found these drawings I took them downstairs right away - the next night we had a fire in our room and these probably would have been ruined if I'd left them lying around (the way I usually do). I'm not sure, but there's probably a lesson in there for me!

I think the original plan was to do paintings of these, maybe I could do something along those lines (eventually).

21 Years!

Just wanted to say Happy Anniversary to my husband Chris, to whom I give equal credit for all things Wibbley (and I do mean ALL things)!

Narbles!


(two posts in less than a week - please somebody stop me!)

GLAX

This is my latest Nibblefest piece, our theme for October is Native / Tribal. It was listed a little late & I had actually forgotten to post it here (a lot of stuff has been going on to keep me from working, October has been a particularly difficult month!):

"GLAX”

Ever wonder about the origins of Totem Poles - who started them and such? Contrary to popular belief, it wasn’t the Native Americans - it was the Martians, and here’s your proof! Glax is really proud of her creation, but can you blame her? Especially when you consider what a trend it started?

Big Spooky

Hi,

I'm pretty late in posting this - I actually have a bunch of stuff to post but wanted to do this one first since the auction ends tomorrow (the 27th). Been very busy lately!!

This painting is my September Nibblefest entry, our theme is "Smiling Black Cats". It's a little bit different for me in that it's in acrylic (will post more about that in a bit).

Anyway, here's Big Spooky (who really isn't so big, he's an ACEO)!



Click on Big Spooky to go to the auction!

Don't forget to search eBay for NFAC to see more great entries!

Mint Chip Disaster!

This is my newest painting for Nibblefest, our theme this month is "A Dog's Life".

Click on Scottsey to go to the auction!

The Mint Chip Disaster:

A Tragedy of Cataclysmic Proportions

Starring

Scottsey and the Squirrelipede

Some people think a dog's life is nothing but fun & games - I think Scottsey here would disagree. Just imagine that you're about to take a bite of your delicious chocolate chip mint ice cream cone when it falls to the ground -

Kersplat!!

Then imagine that a squirrelipede comes swooping in out of nowhere and starts licking it! Ugh, don’t you just hate when that happens?!

FIVE SECOND RULE!!

Goode and Eebil

Just listed for Nibblefest, July's theme is "Angels and Demons":

(click image to go to the auction)

Who says Angels and Debils always have to be at odds with each other? I happen to know that’s just an act they put on, they’re actually quite close and enjoy each other’s company when no one’s watching (no one that is, except the angel kittens, Cerberus, and me of course)! They’ll probably be pretty mad when they realize I’m plastering this picture all over the internet, but oh well.

What I’d really like to know though, is what exactly is this painting saying about dogs and cats?

Violet's Creatures

I have some things I'm working on, but nothing ready to show yet since most are sketches for the upcoming EBSQ "Ripped Off" show, in which I'll be interpreting the work of Lori Rase Hall, Valerie Jeanne, and Noelle Hunt . I always love doing this show, I find it challenging and inspiring. I've also been working on my July Nibblefest piece, our theme is Angels & Demons.

Anyway, my daughter Violet spent a good part of today making ridiculously cute little creatures she calls "Ghosties" (I generously allowed her to raid my secret stash of eyeballs). When she was done we had a little photo shoot:

A close up:

The rejects (didn't get to be in the show, I'm not sure why but maybe they have trouble controlling themselves):

Surrounded by PINECONES - Look out!!!:

And finally, the artist and her creations:

Sparky's Dream

I created this little painting for the June Nibblefest contest ("In the Mist"), it also works for Illustration Friday's "Fog" theme:

"Sparky's Dream"

You know how sometimes when you’re sitting on a bench, pretending to read your homework assignment and you just can’t stay awake? Then you sort of doze off, but you’re not really sure anymore if you’re awake or asleep, and all of a sudden squids start barging out of the mist in droves? Don’t you hate when that happens?

Please search NFAC on eBay (starting the 20th of each month) to see all of the other Nibblefest entries!

Illustration Friday - Forgotten

This week's topic is "Forgotten," and I instantly thought of poor Little Red, who is sadly forgotten on the shelf:

"The Secret Garden"

I have a little garden
I keep it on a shelf
My garden is a secret
For no one but myself

Hurt Feelings

Why do there always have to be hurt feelings? Why can’t anything just be happy and good, and stay that way? Little Red used to like to pretend he was one of his plant friends, but sadly was left behind on the shelf. It sucks to be forgotten, doesn’t it.

Poor Little Red.

I'm going to try to create another piece for this theme too, if I have the time. The problem is that everything I can think of is really sad, and, well, sad is just so sad!

Illustration Friday - Baby

I've finally decided to participate in Illustration Friday - how could I not when this week's topic is "Baby"?

My piece shows the first meeting of Sparky and the squid (since I know you've all been wondering how it all started). Look, they've known each other since they were in diapers!

Babies
(The First Encounter)

I just listed it! Click here to go to the auction.

Doodles (not the noodley kind)

So I was looking through some old stuff over the weekend and came across a sketch book from a few years ago. I used to do work like this all the time, pure stream of consciousness - I was always surprised at what would come out. Technically I know these drawings aren't that great, but I do think they look kind of cool (especially when the whole page is filled up). Just seeing this again makes me want to go order another rapidograph (since they don't make rapidoliners anymore) that would probably get clogged up and rendered useless within two days.

Anyway, here's one of my drawings:

and another:

If nothing else I think it's kind of interesting to see how much my style has evolved over the years. Speaking of which, I finally found photos of some paintings I did ~20-23 years ago! The paintings themselves are still lost somewhere in my house, and when I find them again I want to get decent scans. There are a couple that didn't make it to the photo session so I'd especially love to get pix of those. Anyway, I was pretty depressed back in those days & my paintings were a lot darker. Now I can finally update the "Oldeys" section of my website! Yay!

Chirpy II - an experiment

I thought I'd give watercolors a try again - about once a year or so I give watercolors and/or acrylics another go, determined that this time I'll figure them out! I really don't know how you water-media folks do it! So anyway, I dug out all of my watercolor paraphernalia again & came up with Chirpy II:

I had a little bit more success this time. I may never be a "watercolor artist" but maybe won't wait another year before trying them again!

Hamstey is a Winner

Hamstey doesn't know it, but he's a winner. All he needs to do is look in the mirror and see for himself (or take off his shirt and read it).

This is a little colored pencil ACEO (Artist Trading Card) I had originally created for the February Nibblefest art contest (Rodents), but I changed my mind at the last minute. It was a tough call - on the one hand you have hamsters, on the other, capybaras - ultimately the capybaras triumphed.

Wow, I hope that' not why Hamstey is crying.

Lunchbox, Lost in the Jungle

Introducing Lunchbox!

Lunchbox is a true innocent, stumbling through life, oblivious to lurking dangers and the fact that his little world could come crashing down at any given second. But it’s ok - Lunchbox just keeps plugging along, because at the end of the day, when you’ve got your lunch pail and your diaper, what more do you really need?

I like to think there’s a little bit of Lunchbox in all of us.

Click on Lunchbox to go to the auction!

This is the first in my new "Lunchbox Gets Lost" series. Lunchbox was a collaborative effort between my husband Chris and me.