The Owl Parade

 

 

 

 

 

New owls in the shop, eagerly waiting to be adopted and taken into a new loving home.

Just thought I'd share them with you. :)

Hugs,

Come Home to February (IF - Surrender)

February is a special month for me. So many moments to celebrate and enjoy... my son's birthday, my own and many loved ones. To me personally, the arrival of February is like coming home, a domain of time where I feel most at ease as I enter another year in life.

When I was younger, I had a fascination with zodiac signs and not a day went by for me without checking the daily horoscope on magazines and newspapers. What does the forecast say today? Will I meet a tall dark stranger and find true love? Will I finally stumble upon a huge fortune or fame? Well, I was young, and obviously knew very little about real life or how the accuracy of horoscope reading is more or less like probing around in the dark with a candle in your hand. But what I loved most about zodiac signs is how you are able to get to know yourself and your characteristics better. If you choose to believe it.

Pisces, digital painting

Pisces, for example, is symbolized by two fish swimming in opposite directions as the internal struggle of the soul within them. They are said to be extremely creative, sensitive, and artistic, with the tendency to be melancholic and imaginative. It is one of the most adaptive signs in the Zodiac. They are very intuitive, which as a result can be flexible and prosper in many different situations. Rather than taking an analytical approach to life, Pisces react to the feelings of others and can be very influential when they choose to be. They are very common as inventors, writers, musicians, painters, and dancers.

There. a whole paragraph that supposedly describes myself as a person. The only question is, should I believe it?

Pisces postcards and hang tags set on Etsy

Well, between that period of time of my fascination with zodiac signs and my present life now, I have learned that life can only be as abstract and unpredictable as Jackson Pollock's dribbles of paint. No turn is certain, no change is definite. Like the weather, it chooses to display patterns and inconsistencies at the same time. With this in mind, I have chosen to see horoscope forecasts and zodiac signs simply as complimentary. Because no human is identical and no fortune is carved in stone.

So I surrender. To life and to the natural course of fate.

I hope February turns out to be sweet and magical to all of you. And since it's my favorite month of the year, I'll be giving 30% discount for every 3 purchases of art prints over at my shop!

God bless, Amalia, oxox

Luna The Long Forgotten Witch

So it's Sunday here. Time to grab the broom and duster for a little house clean up. I heard the boxes under the stairways whispering my name, so I had no choice but to roll up my sleeves and dive in. As I opened up the first box, I stumbled across a book. It was a book I made for a studio assignment during my second or third year in college a million years ago, and I couldn't help but smile as I read the title, Luna Si Penyihir Kecil, which in English means Luna the Little Witch. Written and illustrated by yours truly!

It's about a young witch who wanted to give her mother a surprise birthday cake. But because she was still learning her magical skills, her noble intention turned into somewhat of a catastrophe.

Here are some pages from the book... Note how it was actually bound using ring binders. Of all things!!

Discovering this precious souvenir of my past, I realized that this was actually the last time I had drawn or painted a witch as an actual artwork. Would you believe it? I don't know why I haven't done so in years, but when I think of it, I suppose it's something I should look more into.

Anyway, with this thought in mind, you would think that it's best for me to just carry on with the cleaning? I thought that too, but noooooooooooo.... I had to rush to my drawing table and paint a witch! Naturally.

Luna The Long Forgotten Witch, acrylics on paper

What do you think? I'd like to think that she is Luna, my long forgotten little witch. Of course, these days she's more than capable to zap up a birthday cake all by herself! Probably good enough to cater her own annual witch bash too! :)

And what about my cleaning? You might wonder. Well, there's always another Sunday...

Happy Sunday, Amalia, oxox

PS: Luna is available as 6"x8" Open Edition Print at my shop. I hope you like her! And just a little information for you, all my Limited Edition Prints are ON SALE until the end of January...another week to go! :)

Sweetly Fragranced, From Me to You

If you remembered my last post on creating ACEOs, you'll know how much these little pieces of art have changed my perspectives completely. Of course, after that I now spend more time creating them because it turned out that it's a really good way of exercising my skills in refining details and compositions. Well, there's always room to grow and improve, don't you think?

These are my recent ACEOs. They're inspired mostly by the Inspiring Word of the month I'm using in my other blog.

Lily, 2.5"x3.5", acrylics on paper

Iris, 2.5"x3.5", acrylics on paper

 Rose, 2.5"x3.5", acrylics on paper

 Daisy, 2.5"x3.5", acrylics on paper

 

I'd like to think that each girl represents the characters of each flower...what do you think? Have I at least nudged it a little? :)

Well, I hope you like them. They're all available in my shop, spreading lovely fragrances among their fellow artworks!

Hugs, Amalia, oxox

Giving Myself Some Good Advice #2 : Memories Are Treasures Worth Saving

I have been carrying on with life recently, just running and doing, that blogging became somewhat neglected. I suppose the beginning of the year is always a rush and work is already pulling me to scurry along. Do you ever feel that life seems to be moving a pace faster and you constantly look back, afraid that you might have missed something? Well, I have been feeling like that ever since my daughter first went to school in kindergarten. I don't know, maybe motherhood makes your biological clock ticks louder and you can hear it tick-tocking in the back of your head. Makes a pretty good reason to just slow down and watch my children create their memorable moments.

It just so happened that I came across this picture the other day. Yes, that little girl is me, stuffing myself with a very curious sort of snack. And the boy is my older brother, who was a friend and a foe back then, all in a loving sort of way. Take no notice of his unbuttoned shirt and opened fly! Makes you wonder about the kind of things he was up to those days... Well, this is one of the very rare tokens I have of my early childhood. Sadly, I don't think my parents were the photographing type, so most pictures I have as a child are the embarrassing ones my siblings took when we were older. Which I'm afraid will never grace the walls of this blog! (^_^)

Later on that day, I created these paintings, inspired by the two little birds in my life... and both are available in my Etsy shop.

 The Philosopher, 4x6", acrylics and tea stains on paper

The Clown, 4x6", acrylics and tea stains on paper

So with all the flashbacks and memories flowing in, I realized that time can, in fact, stand still. All I have to do is slow down and just sit quietly as I watch every little thing marvels around me. After that, life will carry on as before, but I'll always have my chest full of treasured memories.

I'm sure your chest is as full as mine.

~Amalia~

oxox

Giving Myself Some Good Advice #1: Small is Often Bigger Than It Seems, So Look Closer

Ten long years have passed since we entered the year 2000. Looking at it that way, I can't help but think about all the leaps and stumbles that have brought me where I am today. What kind of advice would I give myself this time, when I can still see repetitions in my long list of resolutions? Here I am again, reenacting my previous attempts to make myself a better and hopefully wiser person. So, good luck to me.

Well, one of my biggest flaws, I'm afraid, is the tendency to underestimate the tiny details in many things. I've always focused more on "the bigger picture" than I need to, especially in my own work. For instance, I've never quite understood why some artists dedicate their time to creating such small scale original art like ACEOs. Prints I can understand, but originals? Why bother? But then something tickled my curiosity when I saw the delicate pretty little cards my friend Lauren had created. So I set out on a quest...

After several unsuccessful attempts, a few crumpled papers and oodles of erasing, I watched these two sketches with blurry vision in amazement. How small they were compared to my other sketches and yet, it took me twice as much time to make just one!!

And now the next trick was to have them painted without losing my patience completely... or better yet, my sanity!!

...and I was, at the end, proven guilty as charged for my lack of appreciation in these small things. I realize now that size can be misleading, and it's good advice to always experience before passing out judgements. So here they are, the fruit of my labor, Ophelia and Marian. They will be reminders of a lesson learned.

Both are available in my Etsy shop.

Sunshine kisses to all of you! 

~Amalia~

oxox

Afterwards

 After dark, comes light

After silence, voices speak

After grief, enters life

~A.K~

My dedication for the grieving victims of Mentawai - Merapi disasters. 

Hope and faith, always.

All images are available at my shop, where you can still reach out and help donate for them.

Again, my warmest gratitude for all friends who have bought my original black and white drawings. Your generous donations are deeply appreciated.

My best,

Amalia oxox

Sow Your Light #5 & Donations with Every Art Print Purchase at My Shop!!!!

I'm overjoyed by the amazing enthusiasm I get from my wonderful blogger friends for this donation! And some of you may wonder why I have decided to donate original drawings instead of prints, which obviously involves more work and definitely more time consuming. Well, the reason is simply because originals are unique and special. I feel personally involved while creating them and I believe people deserve something special in the exchange of their helping hand. Nevertheless, given the slow speed I'm taking to create these drawings, I've decided, in addition to the original drawings, to donate $5 off each art print sale over at my shop throughout this month, until further notice. It may not be much, but it's the best I can do for now, while more people would have the chance to reach out. So please, help spread the word.

Anyway, here is my fifth drawing for the donation...

Sow Your Light #5

Original drawing
Size: A4
US$25.00
( not including shipping cost)

***** SOLD to a dear friend *****

Better Late Than Never

Have you ever had that guilty feeling when you promised someone something but just never have the time to get around and do it? Well, I plead guilty of all charges. A few months after I started blogging, I have had e-mails from friends and friends to-be asking me if they could somehow purchase my work. Flattered beyond anything else, of course I promised them that soon I will open up an online shop to make this possible for them. But then things got in the way, work, family...well, you get the picture. So my apologies for those promises. They were never false and I truly meant every word.





So after long overdue, we have finally (yes, finally!) set up an online shop over at Etsy.com. We, as in myself and this super cool elf I met while picking mushrooms in the woods (^__^). You see, although I am blessed with many talents such as finding lost socks and peeling off price labels, unfortunately managing a shop is not one of them. At least not that I'm aware of anyway. So bless the super cool elf for saving the day and volunteering to play manager for me! Feel free to visit the shop here and see if anything captures your heart.

You'll notice that we only sell limited edition prints because I think that the art becomes more valuable that way, both to buyers and myself who slaved away making them (just kidding!!). Also, I feel that it would be a good way to help push myself and keep on creating more art. In case I ran out of prints! (Haha!wouldn't that be swell??)

And to show you how much I really love all of you, I'm giving away a free set of 2 mini prints for each limited edition print purchase within the shop. Just let me know which images you would like to be on them and I will gladly send them to you along with the order.

So I guess I'll see you there! Happy browsing, and hopefully happy shopping! (^_____^) oxox



***POST UPDATE***

I'm just so lucky, lucky, lucky! So it's true what they say that Etsy is full of wonderful friendly people with a lot of love... Our shop had just barely opened, and we were already included in these Treasuries:

http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4c8194aa6e556d911443182a/just-pouncing-around

http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4c8241bc6d3d6d91014fd41d/because-its-saturday

http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4c8244476d3d6d9105c4d41d/pounce-on-saturday

http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4c8365f271756d9197f5075e/an-itsy-bitsy-shot-of-yellow

http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4c839e1eecb68eef1d40af55/taking-flight-with-birds-and-butterflies


All the more reason for a huge grin on my face!!! (^____^)

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