Check This Out!

My art is featured on Other Cool Birds today! Thank you so much, Lafayette Wattle, for the lovely write up! You can read the post here.

xo
nessa dee

Narwhal

There's still time to get this guy before Christmas! He's for sale at Cherry Tree Creative in Taylor, TX, along with a whole collection of vintage and handmade items. They stay open late on the third Thursday of every month, which happens to be tomorrow!

Are you ready for Christmas?

I'm not...yet.

xo

nessa dee

Well, Hello Again!

Why hello little blog! It's been quite a while since we've chatted. A lot has been going on in our life the last couple of months, so much that it's hard to fit it all in a post. I didn't intend to wait so long between conversations, but the busyness of life left little time for us to talk. I've missed our little chats. I've missed being able to reminisce with you, and show you what we've been up to. We've got a lot of catching up to do, so I hope you're ready for an earful. For now, I'm going to give you a little peek at one of the projects I have been working so hard on...

I'll tell you more about this exciting project tomorrow. 

Nice talking to you again, little blog!

xo

nessa dee

On the easel

xo

nessa dee

Lifelike

I love going to art museums. I love dragging my family to art museums. Even if they're not as excited as I am at first, I know they'll have a change of heart once they see the art. So when I heard about the "Lifelike" exhibit at the Blanton Museum, I knew we had to go for one single reason, which I'll tell you about in a bit. When we decided to go, it happened to be the last day of the exhibit. It also just happened to be museum day, which meant we got in free [bonus!], and also meant that we had to fight the scores of people who knew it was museum day and were taking advantage of the free admission [bummer]. But we braved the crowds, and saw some amazing art from eerily lifelike busts, to miniature working elevators [a Finn favorite], to bronze sculptures of cardboard and trash which looked so real, I thought someone had forgotten to clean up after themselves. We also saw an excellent exhibit of Cubist art [another bonus!]

 But the piece de resistance, the reason I dragged three reluctant gallery goers and a baby downtown on their Sunday afternoon, fought crowds, and stood in lines was for this single piece:

This is Chuck Close's first self portrait. It's 9 feet tall by 7 feet wide. If you don't know about Chuck Close, you should read about him. He's an amazing artist with an amazing story, and his art is, well amazing. Seeing this portrait in person was inspiring, to say the least. 

Even when we sat in our car at the top of the parking garage for an hour with hungry kids and a tired baby, waiting to get out, I kept thinking, "My kids will thank me someday."

xo

nessa dee

Art Nuseum

I had to post a few more pictures from our visit to the art nuseum [as Finn used to call it]. I love going to art museums. I love hearing the clacking of shoes echo through the voluminous interiors. I love being dwarfed by massive paintings, shocked by color, amazed by details, and overwhelmed by concepts. I love standing amidst the works of masters and being awed by the history. I'm pretty sure that my mouth stays agape with its corners upturned the entire visit.

    

A visit to an art museum always leaves me reinvigorated, ready to create new art. The same rang true for this particular visit, not just for me, but for Audrie as well. She filled half of a new sketchbook with drawings that same afternoon. Seeing my daughter so inspired reminded me so much of my younger self. It made my heart swell just a bit. 

Just a note: We visited the Blanton Museum of Art at the University of Texas. Right now they have an amazing exhibit of a variety of art on loan from UT alumni. I'm eager to go back and explore because there's only so much you can see in two hours. 

xo

nessa dee

Hello, Monday!

Today...

:: I carried my new and improved chair back into my studio, and realized how poorly a job I did painting the thing. Three coats, and I gave up. This paint did not cover that well, but we'll just say it's antiqued and leave it at that.

:: I'm working on a little project for the baby's room. Yes, I know I'm missing an H.

::Look what I snagged at some garage sales this weekend. My globe collection has finally increased to more than one.

:: The baby's quilt is finished! So far, Audrie, both of the baby's grandma's, and one great-grandmother have had a hand in making this quilt. How special is that? Now, if I add a few stitches, I can say I helped as well. :)

Happy Monday!

xo

nessa dee

Hello, Monday!

This afternoon I’m…

:: Trying to play catch up…the day’s half over and so far, this is what I have marked off my list:

                            -take a shower

:: Enjoying my pretty fall flowers.

:: Attempting to put our Halloween costumes together. Nothing like waiting until the last minute.

:: Loving our new art/photo display wall.

Isn’t it fun?

Now to go get something else marked off my list. Perhaps…

                                        -Eat some candy

xo

nessa dee

Dapper Dan

I know I promised pictures of the progress on our house, but that’s going to have to wait. The pictures I took weren’t great partly because I took them in low light, and partly because I didn’t bother to clean up the rooms beforehand. I don’t have the time to edit them or crop out all of the junk right now, so I’m giving you something else….a new friend.

Meet Dapper Dan:

I’m not sure if he’s done yet, but I thought I’d let you all get acquainted. I kind of like his look, whimsical yet sophisticated. He’s a product of my growing obsession with the mustache.

Anyway, I’ll post house pics as soon as I get good at cropping out clutter.

Have a great weekend!

xo

nessa dee

New in the shop

These little characters joined the rest of the crew in the shop.

Ophelia Owl:

Dapper Bot:

They’ll be on display at an art installation for Etsy at SXSW here in Austin. If you’re in town for the event in March, stop by and check ‘em out along with other items from the Etsy Austin crew.

xo

nessa dee

Art Evolution

After working to create an Anthropologie type backdrop for my prints, I gave the kids artistic freedom to fill the chalkboard frames with original art. Here is our latest in chalkboard art:

Chalkboards are so much fun!

Have a great weekend!

nessa dee

Sea Creatures

Well, we’re off to the coast for a couple of days where we’ll be sure to see lots of sea life at the Texas State Aquarium.

[Art by Audrie]

We’ll be back soon with a ton of pictures, I’m sure.

xo

nessa dee

Art Camp

When we let Audrie pick summer camp to attend this year, it was no surprise that she chose one that covered two of her favorite subjects…art and animals. She was in camp heaven drawing and meeting a variety of living creatures that not only posed as her subjects, but fed her craving to be the next Jack Hanna. She spent the week learning different shading and watercolor techniques, creating patterns and textures, and holding snakes and observing tarantulas, scorpions and hedgehogs. Oh yes, Audrie was in animal art bliss, and at the end of the week she returned with some beautiful works of art.

To say I am a proud mama would be an understatement. These works, once framed are going to take their place of prominence on the walls of our house. I can’t wait to see what this little girl has in store for her future, whether it be a career in art, or working with animals, or both.

xo

nessa dee

On the Easel

This little whimsical house finally made its way into my shop.

I’ve held off listing it because I liked the way it looked in the kid’s bathroom {see pic below}, but it was never my intention to keep it. So, it’s listed, waiting to find a new home that isn’t mine. {sniff, sniff}

I’ve also been trying to find the time to work on paintings for the Blues on the Green summer concert series. The Etsy Austin team has snagged a booth for the entire event, and we have a variety of artisans out there each concert to sale their wares and promote their shops. I’ll be out there myself on July 29th, hopefully with a lot more stuff than you see in this pile. {and hopefully the paintings will be finished!}

If you’re in the area, stop by and see me, do some early Christmas shopping, support local and buy handmade!

xo

Nessa Dee

This One’s A Keeper

If you were to come to my house, you might notice that there aren’t many pieces of children’s art like you see in my shop hanging in my house. I’m notorious for making art to sell, but never taking the time to create pieces for my own home, or my own children. Well, I finally sat myself down and made a piece to go in the kids’ bathroom. The idea was Audrie’s, and she has several other ideas for a whole matching set. I don’t know when or if I’ll get to the other paintings, but the fact that I made one to keep is a big accomplishment. Meet Miss Umbrella Bird:

She’ll be hanging in the kiddos’ bathroom soon, and I’ll post pics once she’s up. And speaking of posting pictures of rooms, I had some requests after this post to show pictures of my kids rooms and I plan to soon…I just have to add a few finishing touches before I do so.

xo

Nessa Dee

Art Gallery

For some reason, in my house, tape tends to disappear. I can never find it in the designated tape drawer because it’s usually carried off by little fingers that belong to little kids who have big plans. One of the most common uses for the adhesive is to hang recent art projects. If you step into Audrie’s room, you’ll find her latest drawings and paintings arranged neatly above her bed. Finn’s, well his is arranged in a fashion suited to his height and age… low on the wall behind his bedroom door wherever there’s space to stick something. Sure, with the addition of their makeshift art galleries, their rooms don’t contend with the perfectly decorated pictures in the Pottery Barn Kids magazine. But I can’t expect our house to be magazine perfect. If it was, I don’t think I’d smile every time I looked at their walls.

xo

Nessa Dee