Tosya at Etsy - A Brilliant Illustrator with a Child-like View

Illustrator Tosya is a gifted and funny girl.  She works in pen, or pencil and crayon, to create these magical pictures.  She seems to capture the child-artist that was once deep in us but that sadly got left by the wayside as we grew up. I'm happy to report that Tosya has a firm hold on that innocent view of life. These are an absolute joy.

I have a cousin who looks just like this...

And I've been to a few art gallery openings where the folks looked like this...

Rush hour crowd and a cat...

When was the last time you REALLY danced?

Or really talked?

Ah, love is in the air...

Ain't love grand?

Party Time!

I've never met a blue cat, but Tosya has, and it's just lovely.

Please see all of her wonderful illustrations at Tosya at Etsy where there are 75 items for sale.

What better way to enjoy the holiday season than with these great images? I hope they leave you smiling. Everything Tosya does is so happy! Even those rush hour pedestrians seem okay with things.

“I stopped believing in Santa Claus when I was six. Mother took me to see him in a department store and he asked for my autograph.” — Shirley Temple

Well, of course, it wasn't the real Santa, was it? Poor Shirley, not realizing she had the wrong one...

Do check out this silly video of me and my cats. You can download one with your own photographs, and it's fun.

Have a wonderful holiday, my dear blogger friends.  If you're traveling, may you all arrive safe, sound and on time, and not too stressed out. If you're staying home, pull that snuggly throw over yourself and relax on the sofa for a bit. Go ahead. You still have time before Santa arrives.

Gourds R Us at Etsy - Hilarious Critters

This crafty artist uses gourds and clay, painted and stained, to come up with some really original critters. Although I've seen painted images on gourds, I didn't know much about the gourd as an art material used with clay, so I'm thankful that Gourds R Us has conquered the technique to show us. Aren't these just the funniest-looking images you've seen in a while? The artist must be very entertaining, personally, to come up with the expressions. I'd be giggling the whole time I was working. If you can call it work. More like playtime, I think.

Check out Gourds R Us at Etsy to see more.

Have a good weekend, art lovers. I was going to suggest that you don't let Copenhagen get you down too much, but perhaps you should. I guess it's up to us now.

The First Gran Sculpture

Gran Takes BoBo for a Walk

Gran Celebrates
the Full Moon

Gran's Napping Again

I'm the featured artist today. After kicking the idea around for a while, I finally did a sculpture of Gran, the character I've painted so many times. Now three-dimensional (and what dimensions!), she is just 6.5 inch (16 cm) high. She was sculpted from polymer clay over an armature of aluminum and wire, finished with acrylic paints and then sealed.

She isn't beautiful, never was, going by my paintings of her, but she is real looking, I think.

She is looking a bit rough around the edges these days. Her first painting was done some years ago, and time is creeping up on her, although she does try. I think a few varicose veins, some more wrinkles, and a thickening body, are only to be expected, but she does have a really good lap for sitting on, like all good Grans should.

I'll make some more of these, get my sculpting hand back in shape - I haven't sculpted in years. Who knows? - Perhaps, if Gran ever looks ready for prime time, I'll offer her for sale at Etsy. What do you think? Would someone want her gracing their desk?

I enjoyed making her very much. Perhaps you'll say if you enjoyed seeing her.

Terrible weather here, although it's sunny today, but that doesn't clear the footpaths of ice and halt the winds. I have to shop tomorrow, as the cat food is getting low. I could go without, but not my babies. So tomorrow I will bundle myself up and make that small trek to the supermarket. It's a ten minute walk, nothing really, but when you take each step prepared for ice, you use far more muscles, and it's amazingly tiring.

I'm informed that a lot of you guys south of the Canadian border are naive about Toronto (and Canada, in general), and are probably wondering why I don't use a dog sled... Well - how can I put this? Do they have dog sleds in Chicago? Or Boston? We're on much the same latitude, and we also get very hot in the summer.

I chose to live in Canada. No one made me. Sometimes at this time of year I wonder where my head was - it must have been frazzled by the Australian heat. And, of course, there's always the spring to look forward to, even if it's not even winter here yet.

Have a good one, and stay warm.

Peggy Sue's Front Porch and Crossroad Studios at Etsy

Peggy Sue is the mother of six. I mention this because she's also a prolific painter, and you can't help wondering when she has time for her art.  These abstract, impressionist images are confident and dramatic, pretty and joyful. Peggy Sue will customize one for you, if you have a particular idea in mind.

I love to look at this kind of art on a gray day, because it lifts the spirit, reminds you that there is beauty everywhere, even in that leafless tree outside your window.

A three-panel painting.

Thanks for these, Peggy Sue. They are a delightful addition to my blog.

Visit Peggy Sue's store for many more lovely paintings at Peggy's Front Porch and Crossroad Studios at Etsy.

Leave a comment. In between caring for that huge family of hers, and the studio time, I'm sure she'll take a break to say hi to you.