A baby surprise!

Well, I kept a fun little secret from you for a little while....and now I'm ready to share. Elena's Easel is in a local baby boutique!!! It was very exciting and fun to meet Heather of Ulabu Baby Boutique in Niantic. She was very enthusiastic about putting my artwork up in her store. The store is geared towards kids ages 0-5. Everything there is so cute, cuddly, snuggly and beautiful! I could spend hours talking to Heather about her kids and ooh-ing and ah-ing over the adorable baby things.


Heather loves to showcase local artists and crafters so if you're looking for a local find that was handcreated by someone in the New England area, go check it out!

For more info you can visit Ulabu on the web:

http://www.ulabu.com/

http://www.ulabu.blogspot.com/

or in person:

Ulabu Baby Boutique
Niantic, CT 06357

Illustration Friday: Celebrate

When you're young, even small things are cause for celebration.....like the birthday of your kitten friend! The sad thing is, I did this very thing to my little Yoshi when his first birthday rolled around....only I was not young at all! And look at him now...all grown up. He seems rather disinterested in his illustrated self so I guess it's okay to post on this blog!

I'm proud of this illustration, not necessarily because of how it turned out but because I am amazed that I was also able to sketch it, redraw it and color it in one evening!!! This is an amazing accomplishment for me....I agonize over things, drawing and erasing, drawing and erasing for so long. I really need to get to the point where I can confidently make a piece of art from beginning to end in a reasonable amount of time. It's a challenge and a matter of practice and determination. AND you have to let go of perfectionism and take it easy!

Here is the sketch I drew on scrap paper. I hope you can see the many eraser marks from all of the times I changed something (for my beautiful friends that wish they had the confidence to be artsy. Aimee! Chris!). I am amazed when other artists show their sketches or artistic journal and the rough drawings are so.....not rough! I am unable to draw that clearly and perfectly the 1st, 2nd, or even 3rd time. I ALWAYS need a good eraser and a paper that can withstand all of my minor corrections. I guess life is kind of life that....lots of new paths and possibilities and a billion little refinements and corrections. Hmmm.....

Illustration Friday: Time

“I’ve run out of time”
“I don’t have the time”
“That takes too much time”
“Maybe another time”
“This is a waste of my time”

The topic for Illustration Friday this week was time. My immediate thought was of people who resist the belief that their time must be constantly and frenetically spent doing grown-up things. Sacrificing their ability to make more money, cultivate hobbies, have leisure time.... some people realize that the greatest gift you can ever give someone, is your time. Whether you're a stay at home mom, foster parent, youth worker or Sunday School teacher....I admire you! Giving your time to the children in your life will not go unrewarded!

This illustration was done with Prismacolor, colored pencils on bristol vellum. As always, constructive criticism is welcome.

Illustration Friday: Flawed

He stared at miles and miles of perfectly pristine toys; each little plastic face grinning back, their immobile expressions gleaming under flourescent lights. His mother urged him to go pick one and as he scanned rows and rows of perfection, his eyes alighted on one not so perfect face. He walked up and inspected it closer. This one was flawed, a little broken and didn't quite shine like the others; and because of that, he loved it all the more. - words by Katie Coleman

My first Illustration Friday submission. Hooray! The first picture was my first sketch, the second one I wanted to show a more close-up view of the little boy with his new friend....couldn't decide which I liked better....

Constructive criticism is very welcome!

Taking Requests

The latest turtles I've been drawing have been at the request of a couple of people who've caught the Turtle bug! Thanks to Jen and Heather for thinking up these ideas and ordering them....

Here you have:


Carpenter Turtle, Teacher Turtle and Sailor Turtle! The carpenter and teacher turtles are for a couple who are employed as, you guessed it, a carpenter and a teacher. They have the Singin' in the Rain turtle already for their baby, so the three turtles will be a little family portrait.


The Sailor or Navy turtle will hopefully be the start of a series of military-honoring turtles. I've got some sketches for an Army turtle already. What fun!

Psssssst.........

hey, look over there..... no not there, over there to the left.....down a little bit....see that! It's me! I'm on Etsy!!! Don't know what that is? Well you should find out! It's a great site for amazingly wonderful, handmade things. A huge setup just for people like me, living a dream, making things on our own, at home. I'm so excited! I have a shop! Come visit me!

Craft Fair Fun!

Well, the November 8th Holiday Craft Fair was definitely a success. So many people turned out to see about 125 Crafters featuring holiday items, jewelry, ceramics, wreaths, quilts, pet items, scrapbooking, fudge, candles, woodcarvings, and so much more! Even more exciting for the kids was the Children's Winter Wonderland with photos and storytime with Santa and Mrs. Claus!

If you were there in those crowded hallways enjoying all the local artisans, it was great to see you! Thanks for coming out. Stay tuned for pictures from the show and the grand prize winner of my portrait raffle!!!

Still workin'!

Got a new shipment of art supplies...watch how the "kids" help me unpack them....

Starting off!

Woohoo! I'm blogging! We'll see if I can keep this online web log going longer than I did my childhood journals. I wrote wholeheartedly, just sporadically!

For the past few months I've really been looking into children's room art. I love the idea of helping people decorate their child's room or the nursery for their new baby with beautiful, peaceful, fun artwork. I started painting some cute little jungle animals. It seems to be a popular theme among my friends who are having babies. This is the second time I've painted these little guys. This set I did with acrylic paint on an 11x14" canvas. Then gave them to my friends Sam and Beth at their baby shower. I was working so hard on them for a few weeks, I was almost sad to let them go!

Let me know what you think!