(Inside A Black Apple)

Alice Update - Friday June 3rd!

**** UPDATE: I've just aadded all the paintings to the shop!****

Work on my Alice series has drawn to a close, and Friday all twelve of the paintings in the Alice series will be available in the shop!
I'm thinking the update will take place at about 1 pm Pacific time.

I spent the weekend framing + photographing, and seeing them all together makes me even more certain that I'm going to miss them when they go on to new homes.

Below is a gallery of the 12 all framed up, starting with the four portraits that started the project:
(Click to view larger)

 

 




I'm so happy with the way the images co-exist...the colors that appear and reappear make for nice connecting ribbons between them.

I'm excited about new ideas percolating and floating about, but this project has really been a pleasant fall down the rabbit hole. Illustrating something besides my own imaginings was a nice shift, and though I agonized over how to interpret a story that's so dear to me (and many others!) I think the challenge was all for the better.

Thanks for visiting here & see you soon!

Alice and the Caterpillar

The time has come to share the last painting in the Alice series!

Number twelve in the series, depicting Alice's conversation with that tempermental caterpillar.

Alice and the Caterpillar      8"x10"     Acrylic on wood

Why are there so many mercurial grumps in Wonderland/Looking Glass world?

To me, the Caterpillar is one of the main grumps, but I knew from the start that I wanted to do a painting of the two of them. I also knew I wanted to make him somewhat realistic...so here we are!

Happy Thursday to you!

The White Rabbit's House

Enough about cookies...back to Alice!

I didn't expect it, but this painting might be the one from the series I most want to keep for myself.

The White Rabbit's House       9"x12"     Acrylic on wood

Of course, the thought of being crunched up in a tiny house makes me feel vicariously claustrophobic, but I do like the funny little scene going on outside.

Particularly Bill's fancy sweater.

 
Or the White Rabbit's worried stance.

Only one more painting left to show here, and that'll complete the twelve! This means the Alice update (when all the originals will be available in my shop) will be very soon.

Happy Tuesday to you!

Homemade Oreos

I'm interrupting the rest of the Alice work to mention that I made some from-scratch Oreos last night, via the Smitten Kitchen recipe.

I should preface this by saying we bought a package of real Oreos at the store the other day, and they...well, they just weren't very good. So I went on the hunt for a homemade version to get some proper chocolate sandwich cookies in my life, and found the above recipe.

And they're really good.

I should also mention that my cookies turned out gigantic. They're probably 3 x the size of an actual Oreo...I wasn't being very scientific when portioning out these cookies. I was making pizza dough at the same time, so maybe I can blame it on that?

This really isn't such a terrible problem, because you can just eat one instead of 2 or 3 smallies. But they'd definitely be cuter if you made 'em the size of real Oreos.

The only changes I made the recipe was to cut the white sugar down to 1 c, and add 1/4 brown sugar (so they'd be a bit softer/more chewy...just a preference.)

I also used all butter for the filling, since we never have shortening in the house, and it has that funny waxy aftertaste. Originally, I thought the filling would be much too soft, but since my cookies aren't super-crisp, and it's fairly cool here, the filling holds its own just fine...even if it does smoosh out the sides just a bit when bitten.

These are going to be really dangerous to have in my repertoire...because, like brownies, we always have the ingredients!

Drat.

Humpty Dumpty

Humpty Dumpty       8"x10"     Acrylic on canvas

Oh, how I love an egg in old-man pants. I couldn't pass up the chance to paint another one, especially because he's an Alice character that seems to be overlooked sometimes.

 
I was talking to Josiah about Humpty Dumpty's part in Through the Looking Glass, and he said that's his favorite part of the second book. I think he gets lots of English-major kicks from the fun linguistic bits of H.D. & Alice's conversation.

So, one more reason to include the egg-man in my Alice series!

All of my frames for the paintings are here now, and they're all really looking fancy framed. I've gotten lots of folks inquiring about when the Alice work will be for sale, and I promise it won't be too much longer.

I'll post here the exact time & date the Alice update will be, so stay tuned!

 

Alice and the Piglet

Alice and the Piglet        11"x14"       Acrylic on canvas

Another from Alice-land!

This scene always resonated with me, because as strange as the whole Wonderland/Looking-glass world is, having a baby turn into a piglet on you seems particularly scary and bizarre. It seems strange to have a maternal nightmare in a story about the adventures of such a little girl.

But then, of course, strange is the lay of the land.

I also think it adds an extra layer of peculiarity that Alice is small during this part, so that little piglet must be extra tiny!

There are three more paintings still to show from the Alice series, all finished and waiting to be shared! All that's really left to do is get all the paintings framed up now. There are 12 in all, and I've been having a fun time looking at them all together.

Back with more Alice soon!

PS: Thanks so much for all the Miette-sweater tips/leads! Hopefully a very nice peppermint striped pal will come of it.

 * To peruse & order, you'll find 'em all right here *

A Miette Sweater

In the category of things I fruitlessly search for, a sweater just like Miette's perfect red and cream stripe beauty in City of Lost Children is really high on the list.

And I got to thinking today - there are all these people on Etsy, Ravelry, etc. with nimble fingers doing much more ambitious knitting than I could ever undertake. And I'd love to pay a pretty penny to one of them who'd be willing to make me a Miette sweater.

So,  clever internet-pals, I need your help:

Do you know of a shop or a knitter who takes commissions from silly girls who get sweaters in their minds and can't seem to get them out?

If so, please send a link to the shop/site.
And thank you kindly for any leads!

Lockets are Go!

I just finished up adding all 17 of the lockets to the shop, so hop over and take a peek!

This is the new packaging I designed...pretty matte labels on petite kraft boxes with matching black velvet bags. I'm really happy about this redesign. I love that black on floral motif so much!

(Oh! And forgot to include the lovely, fairy-tale Snow, Rose & Bear locket image in the preview from the other day, but it's available as well.)

Lockets in the Shop Tuesday!

I'm excited to post that I'll be adding all of the new (and old favorite!) lockets to the shop on Tuesday.

You can click to enlarge each of 'em individually below!

 

I'm all mixed up about which is my favorite of these. It's hard to play favorites with such pretty things!

But if I was forced to choose just one, I think I'd say the "Bear Dance" round locket (middle of the second row.) I just keep admiring that one in particular - what a perfectly circular little scene is trapped behind the resin, ready to hold tiny treasures or photos of a darling one.

Can't wait to put these in the shop Tuesday, and I hope you'll stop by and visit your favorite one.  

Mama

This is one of my favorite photos of my mom. I stole it away from my grandmama, because I think its just the sweetest.

She's the sweetest.

I love you, Mama! Today & everyday.

Locket Peek

There's a whole bunch of new wearables coming to the shop...and some old favorites, too!

I love seeing how the tiny prints look underneath that beautiful glassy little dome of resin, in their pretty brass frames. (This is just a peek, but I'll let you know very soon exactly when they will be available for order in the shop!) 

I have been so excited to reveal that my collaborator, the lovely locket lady, Lori (alliteration!) & I have been scheming & dreaming up a new collection behind the scenes. Finally, the Lost on the Midway pieces (and a few other newbies) have beeen miniaturized!

 
I've even redesigned the packaging for the Fancy Wearables, so they're the sweetest and nicest possible little art lockets you're ever likely to find.

Can't wait til' I can put them in the shop!!!