So dreamy.

HOT DAMN: that detail and the different textures conveyed with oil paint is incredible.

I did eventually realize that I ought to be taking photos of the artworks’ placards to identify them after the fact; however not when I snapped this photo. But not to fret, Google to the rescue! Goodness gracious, how I love Google’s reverse image search. This painting is by Jacques-Louis David and is called Portrait of Madame Charles-Pierre Pecoul, nee Potain, mother-in-law of the artist.

Notre Lumière. Outside Notre Dame in Paris.

Crystal & Frayed Wire in the Hall of Mirrors at Palace of Versailles.

Container Zéro, 1988. Jean Pierre Raynaud. at Le Centre Pompidou. 

Turn up the lights in here, baby… extra bright… I want y’all to see this.

Psyche revived by the kiss of Love. Antonio Canova.

From our October trip to Paris. We got caught in a rainstorm just after discovering the Catacombs at Notre Dame were closed. We got soaked hunting for cover so we could figure out where the nearest metro station was. Ducked under some gothic architecture and found our way via iPhone. Spent an entire rainy day wandering around the Louvre with my favorite person taking a gazillion photos. Heaven.

Syrinx. Simon Mazière. in the gardens of Versailles.

I’m such a photo hoarder! I’m trying to go through and edit (& therefore share) about a bazillion photos I took when I went to Paris (!) in October with Scott. I hope you don’t mind the slow trickle of photos that shall begin to descend upon you. I’ll do my best to tell a tiny story with each.

October. Paris. Versailles to be more specific. It was chilly and the perfect change from our sunny spot in California. I’ve missed weather. So being in the rainy chill of early October in Paris when all the leaves are changing colors was a dream. Sweater and boots weather. Something like the autumn I miss in Chicago. We spent the whole day walking around Versailles, through the palace, the gardens, to the hamlet and even the farm in the very back. This sculpture watches the swans all day while she hides amongst the reeds.

The First Unicorn; mixed media on watercolor paper. 5.5 x 8.5"

I made this for my darling friend, Zac’s birthday. He loves the book The Last Unicorn and I wanted to do something that related to that. Another friend of mine had loaned me the DVD of the animated children’s movie of the same title. Which I may or may not have watched while creating this. I also might have a few others started, hence “the first”. There might be a few more unicorn silhouettes popping up in the near future.

MAKER NOTES: I referenced the dvd cover for the general unicorn style and created a modified silhouette from it on parchment paper (hot damn, I love Bienfang; a design professor got me hooked in college). I then used my portable light table to transfer the final silhouette (there were a few drafts) from the parchment paper to the watercolor paper. I used masking tape to affix the watercolor paper to a large drawing board to keep the paper from warping from the moisture. Anything flat and sturdy will work; I’ve used clipboards, random pieces of wood or cardboard….pretty much anything I could get my hands on. My masking tape didn’t seal perfectly as illustrated by the small bits of feathering around the edge. I painted white acrylic for just the silhouette and then lined with a pen/nib/ink & filled in the background with the same ink but with a small nylon brush for a smoother (& less tedious) fill.

9x12 Watercolor and Acrylic

Happy Halloween!

It has been a crazy few months! My career path has taken to meandering a bit at the moment. I left my job as an art director in July to work for an artist, where I was supposed to take over marketing, design and social networking but that wasn’t what my job ended up being. So I’m once again in the midst of a job shift; I’m taking a part-time graphic design position with a local center for the arts which I am eager to begin. I am also pretty excited about getting back to design! In the midst of my career turmoil, I have kept creating though clearly this blog has fallen to silence.

Frankly, I don’t know what I am doing. Is that ok to admit?

The part-time portion of the new job is bit nervewracking. The uncertainty of my next steps has me a bit frozen at times. I’m drumming up some freelance clients and trying to get this next version of rottencupcakes back in gear.

I’m often hesitant to share these bit of indecision and fear; I am afraid. I am afraid of failure and I am afraid of judgement. So, yes, sometimes I need reminders to be brave, even if they’re cheesy, brightly-colored watercolor and gold paint reminders that I make for myself. I still don’t know what I’m doing but maybe I’ll figure it out as I go. I’ll be posting more frequently, playing catch up with the things I’ve made and the adventures I’ve had over the past few months and making new stuff all the while. I hope you’ll enjoy the ride with me. Cheers!

Jj is for jerboa

What is a jerboa—other than amazingly awesome?