Happy Birthday Tim!

i love to make birthday cakes.

i actually don't get to do them that often, except of course for my own family...

so when julie walz (i just did her daughter emma's bedroom) contacted me and asked me to do a birthday cake for her brother tim, i was excited!

tim and i have been friends for about 11 years, as long as i've lived in illinois.

he is a great guy, and a great big iowa hawkeye fan!

happy birthday to tim!

HOLIDAY ART SALE!

i'll be participating in my first ever holiday art sale this friday, december 10th.

the sale is an annual event at my friend molly's house and this year i was asked to be involved.

it has been awesome creating so much of my own work again...

just wanted to announce it here, in case anyone wants to attend!

a still life is hard work!

okay, i was an art major in college, but i haven't painted a still life since oh, college?!?

so this was definately difficult.

my friend robin found this image in a catalog and asked me to reproduce it.

i was like "sure no problem!"

but when i actually sat down to paint, i was amazed at how difficult it was.

thankfully i kept at it, because i think it is one of my best works as of late.

i hope robin thinks so too!

Painted Furniture for 3 Special Little Girls

About a year ago I started painting children's furniture, and it has been such a fun thing to add to my repertoire!

The first piece I painted was this little chair for my "Aunt" Mel, my mother's dear friend for many years.

She wanted a special chair for her little grand daughter Jo to sit in while she was at her house in New Orleans.  It's bright and cheerful to capture the feeling of the city itself, and fun and whimsical like Jo herself.

Along the same theme of painting furniture for little girls...

I wanted a table & chair set for my own daughters, Maddie & Charlotte.

I wanted them to have a place to sit and color, or eat a snack in the family room of our home.

My mother was gracious enough to give me a family set that had been around for years, and that I have used as a child.  It was stained a dark wood, so my mom sanded the pieces down for me and I painted them white, then painted them as directed by my older daughter, who loves all things PINK.  They came out beautifully. 

Baby Boy Zanowick's Nursery

I am so excited to share the recent work I have done for this very anticipated baby!

Not only is Baby Boy Zanowick inheriting a beautiful nursery, he's inheriting ME as his auntie.

What a lucky baby, I know.

Here are the paintings I did for his mommy & daddy this past weekend, as well as the rocking chair I did for them last month that I have been anxiously waiting to share.

XOXO Baby, cannot wait to meet you.

some pretty pink pictures for emma

i painted a mural yesterday evening for julie & chad walz's daughter emma.

julie wanted emma's name painted above her new "big girl" bed and some flowers that she had seen in the latest pottery barn kids catalog. 
the mural came together beautifully.  It's simple, but really lovely for a little girl's room,
and is the type of decor that will last for a long long time, not just through the toddler years.
it was so much fun to create something pretty for emma, thanks julie & chad!



kerry & elsa get married!

my first wedding cake in a while was a pure joy to create...because i love the bride & groom so much!

kerry hermann & elsa andreson have been our good friends for years, way back when the boys worked at NuFX, haha! it makes me so happy to see these two so in love.

elsa and i worked together for months on the design of the cake. it was three seperate tiers, each on their own cake pedestal. she wanted a more "rustic and not your typical wedding cake" look, so we did a three layer, red velvet cake, making them taller than the average wedding cake tiers, and iced them with a swirly-stripey pattern with a snow white buttercream. the cake was complete when my husband dan added the finishing touch of some hand-made gum paste love birds for the happy couple!

when you can contribute to a great friend's special day like a wedding, and do so by using your creativity & passion for art, it truly is a win-win situation.

thank you kerry & elsa for making me a big part of your special day!

allow me to introduce myself!

hello, and welcome to my blog...

an artist's statement for your enjoyment...

thanks for reading!

Artistry with Paints & Pastries in the Chicagoland Area

I have always been an artist, and I love to express myself through my art.

I am a trained studio artist, with my Bachelor of Fine Arts from the State University of New York at Oswego.  The emphasis of my studio work was in Ceramics and Painting, but one of my favorite mediums to work with, came to me earlier in life, when my step-mother taught me the basics of cake decorating. I went on to become a cake decorator at a bakery in high school and college. 

I have always found tremendous satisfaction working with people in celebration of happy and exciting milestones in their lives. Those milestones could be a birthday, a wedding, a bridal shower or the birth of a baby.

Expressing other people's visions and happiness through my art is a gift that helps me give to others as well as a gift for myself, through creative expression.

I'm always thankful to help someone else have something beautiful and inspiring!