"491 Crestmont Lane"

This post is especially for Erin - who has been very patient waiting for this lovely portrait to be finished.
I was originally calling this house "The House with the New Baby", as in every photo there was an indication of little one(s). I added the push cart as a reminder to them of these days. Those babies - they get big - and it happens gradually so it seems like nothing has changed. Then you look at those old photos and - wow - you remember.

So in my mind it is still "The House with the New Baby" - but officially the title has changed. I hope they love the set!

House on the Hill

I haven't received the "official" title for this pretty house - yet. I've been calling it House on the Hill just as I name all of the houses before I know the true address. My hands have been a little cramped lately - with all of the carving - but I have been so happy with all of the finished pieces. ( the third is in-process and will be printed this week.)

This will be a wonderful surprise present ( as have been most of the Custom Portraits I have done).
So - a view for you of the 2nd homey house for tonight. I hope the bad light does not take away too much. Again - I will photo in better daylight tomorrow.

Thanks so much Ali !!

2153 North Alberta

I'v been busy lately with some lovely House Portraits! Here is a view of the first of two I'm posing tonight. You know - the photos don't do them justice. The colors don't show well with flash and overhead lights. I should have taken the pictures today - with the sun... but the day just went too fast.

I think I will take some more pics tomorrow before I send them off. I hope they are well received!
Thanks so much Amanda!!

667 Melrose.

What a cutie. Just some shots of the latest house portrait.
I really love the red - and the black with the deep blue sky.

Thanks for looking!

House with Twin Peaks.

Things are crazy here at the "Camp" - but I just wanted to post these final prints of my latest house portrait while I have literally - a minute. I am very happy with how this one turned out. The layout os a bit smaller as I used a 6x9 lino instead of the regular 8 x 10. I also added a little figure to the forground. The owner had sent me some photos - which I have here too . Their little girl was in the original picture - so I couldn't resist putting her in front.

40 Parker

Here is a photo of the latest House Portrait.

I really like the more sophisticated color palet.
Hopefully Anne will approve!

Front Page..."Look at these Eggbeaters"

I am throughly exhausted - again with the paint and cleaning etc. (very boring to all - but still the reality ;)

After arriving home I checked my Etsy ( as usual), ready to see if anything happened at the shop today. Wow - 50 new hearts. So onto the search to find out why.. I use the Heartomatic for a quick review of item hearts - and found that the new post I put up this week was picked by the fabulous CuriosityKilled for this lovely Treasury in the Treasury West.

How great does this collection look together? It's just luscious- and so many of my favorites too - they make me smile!

Also - a great instant gratification for my most recent tea towel creation. I just love this red house and it's so nice to see that others do too!

OK into a hot bath - to try to scrape the paint from my hands, arms, legs, etc.. etc..

House with the Red Door.

Wanted to show the progress on my current custom house portrait. I am calling this portrait ( tentitvely) " The House with the Red Door". The owners of this lovely home contacted me via my Etsy shop to inquire about the process of having theirs captured in a lino print. I knew that the house would look great from the first photo I received. It is just so quaint. So her she is, in the first sketch. Hopefully Anne will like the progress - or it can certainly be altered!

Will give another look when the prints are all finished.

Welcome to the Neighborhood.

Whew... so glad to have these finished to photo today! I love how they turned out. The "owner" requested bright colors - and I love brights too. Really reminds me of Fiestaware.

Just thought I would post these final pieces to give the full picture of the development of the Charlotte custom house portrait. I don't know what the official name of this one is yet - but will be posting some in my shop next week. Happy to have another member of the house group!

Thanks for looking!

First Sketches.

Here are the first two sketches of the Charlotte House. The first is just a quick note to myself – just to "see" the house for the first time.



The second is getting more graphic – I am trying to eliminate and hone in on the details that capture the character.



There is something about the large tree in the image that I will try to incorporate – kind of an embrace of the structure… more to come.

Say “Cheese”.

Tonight I will be beginning a portrait of a lovely home in Charlotte, North Carolina. Because this is such a perfect subject for a linocut – I thought I would show how I go about interpreting a photo into a portrait.




I received these two photos of the house via e-mail. As you can see, the pictures capture the whole front of the house. Because this home is quite close to it’s neighbors and faces the street directly – I like the picture to be as straight as possible to the structure. If the home had some land around it – or was set back at an angle – I would request a number of different views to get a feel for it’s personality on the lot. In any case – these pictures are very nice and give me a good view of the details.

The sketching comes next. I was very optimistic this morning that I would have had an image ready to post by now – but it just wasn’t meant to be. With a morning of cleaning (very necessary) and an afternoon of fun kid’s play-date and t-ball – I’m just spent. Will have some sketches by tomorrow – so stay tuned.