Star Gazing?

"Star Gazing"          CalliGraphy by Calli and Beth

I am beginning to have a theory about Calli's "visions" when she has her seizures - I think her nickname "space cadet" may have some justification, since star shapes frequently appear in her markings on the door. Her style is so different from my wild and crazy Cassie's; she is very quiet most of the time and her marks are a bit more controlled and less expressionistic than her predecessor's. She is rarely interested in what's happening outside - maybe this pup is an introverted, more precise personality who is recording her "notes" on her interdimensional travels. Of course, I play with what she's done, in this case using a brush to emphasize some of her lines, but all of the marks you see are hers.  I never saw stars in Cassie's work - lots of other things, but not stars - and most of the time I used whatever natural elements showed in the photographs of the storm door (trees, the porch clutter, garden or whatever) and they worked because Cassie was solidly grounded in the reality of our life here. With Calli it doesn't work, which leads me off in other directions - not really a bad idea. Here are three more of her star paintings, although you'll have to search for the tiny one in "Miley Takes a Lickin" (I used to be thought of as a "serious" artist - ha!).

 "Calli's Blue Star"  CalliGraphy by Calli and Beth

 "Flower and Star"  CalliGraphy by Calli and Beth 

"Miley Takes a Lickin"  CalliGraphy by Calli and Beth

Cassie's Water Lily and How It Grew

Recently when I was looking for new jewelry designs, I reconsidered one of the early PiCassieO prints which I titled "Cassie's Monet", because it reminded me of Monet's ethereal water lily paintings . I loved the tranquil water colors with the subtle hints of pink. Sure enough, it worked wonderfully on the bracelet, pendant and earrings below. The earrings sold immediately (I like that!); the bracelet ($35 + $5 S&H) and pendant ($30 + $3 S&H) are still available. Message me here if you're interested! BTW - the print is available for $30 + $6 S&H. It is sized to fit on an 8.5 x ll" sheet of Epson Premium Matte Paper with an adequate border for matting and framing and is signed and numbered on the bottom border.

"Cassie's Monet"       ©PiCassieO 2009

Silver Plate Bracelet, 1" setting, fits most wrists

Silver Plate Earrings (by special order)

Silver Plate Pendant 30mm (H) x 22mm (W)

It All Started As "Snool"!

Sometimes it's hard even for me to believe that what I'm doing with my digital art all started from my Cassie's "snool" on the door and windows. For the uninitiated, snool is (to be indelicate) a combo of snot and drool, which dogs make in abundance. Most of them will get creative when there is glass between them and the object(s) of attention, but few of us humans recognize the beauty of their expressive work. It helps to be an artist, because part of our job is to bring attention to things that others might not see. The print below is a PiCassieO work titled "Laughing Lion", named for the cartoon-like image of some sort of feline that I saw in Cassie's marks (imagination I have in abundance!). I decided that the colors were too far-out in this first version, so I did the actual print with a more subdued palette. Last fall I took another look at it when I was playing with fabric designs, and abstracted a couple of tiny squares to put in repeat. The results blew me away! The colors and patterns remind me of art from India - but Cassie's big Airedale nose was the source of the striking patterns. Inspiration can come from the weirdest places!

I call the two resulting designs "Laughing Lion Geo" and "Laughing Lion Geo Diamond."  It has been so much fun putting them on items in my Zazzle store - the two stamps are incredibly bright, and the candy tin and wine charm can be monogrammed. They make great small gifts - I did a tin and charm for a friend's birthday and was really pleased with the way they turned out. That is my idea of FUN - slapping my art on unlikely items in the wild colors I love so much, and secretly laughing and remembering where the art started. I have only scratched the surface in these first two "LL" abstracts.Thank you, Cassie girl!

"Laughing Lion, Version 1" by PiCassieO

"Laughing Lion Geo" Postage by PiCassieO

"Laughing Lion Geo" Candy Tin by PiCassieO

"Laughing Lion Geo Diamond" Postage by PiCassieO

"Laughing Lion Geo" Wine Charm by PiCassieO

BTW: Young Calli continues to give me ideas, although her style and our connection is still in development. Her epilepsy is a constant impediment, but her "snoodles" on the door make me laugh! I think this girl tends to be a cartoonist - more of her work in another post.