Another Saint Expeditus

Another piece to St. Expeditus...

This piece was created in one half of a wooden checkerboard box. The old watch at the top of the work symbolizes St. Expeditus' choice to act now. Today, this is most often depicted as a cross with the word "hodie" ("today") on it. At his feet there is a feather and the word "Cras", which sounds very much like the call of a crow but is also Latin for "Tomorrow". You'll usually see a dead crow under his right foot with a scroll or ribbon with the word on it, a symbol of his defeat over procrastination. This saint can be called upon when you need action, quick money, or overcome your own bad habit of procrastinating.

A thousand hymns to glorious Expeditus,
Who shed his blood in Armenia,
Whose name was written in the sky,
And gained the laurel of martyrdom.
—Hymn to Saint Expeditus

Gypsy Cards

Just a quick post to show off two of three Gypsy themed cards that will popped in the mail tomorrow for the current alphastamps.com Gypsy/Fortune Teller swap. Hope my partners like 'em!

A busy week

Last week Mr. Pixie took some vacation time and we did loads of lovely things. There was a trip to Canada's Wonderland. A night at the Mustang Drive-In which was fabulous and allowed me to relive my movie going childhood memories. We hiked a few times through Proctor Park which is only minutes away and one of my new favourite photo taking places. Just look at all those mushrooms growing on an old mossy log!

Or how about this little frog prince debating on leaping into D's hand.

We rounded off the week by attending the Picasso exhibit at the AGO. It was the last day. It was jam packed. It was fantastic. I won't lie and say I adore every piece Picasso ever created, but he does make me swoon and the exhibit was wonderful.


But it's back to the real world now. Here's a bunch of paintings I'll be showing at Lola's Coffeehouse in Brighton in September.

 ... and I'm scanning and fixing like a crazy lady to get a slew of new pieces ready for an October show.

Things will be fairly quiet on the blog over the next couple of weeks but I'm hoping to share a bunch of 'in-progress' posts when I begin my collage work with these old photos. Maybe you'd like to join along? Check back soon and we'll make a grand mess together :)

xoxo

P.S. I'm pleased to say that "You-know-who-you-are" made the right decision. As far as I am concerned the matter is now settled.

An open letter to a thief.

Dear You-Know-Who-You-Are,

This site and my work is mostly pretty damned happy, airy fairy, hugs, kisses, candyfloss and butterfly wings, but I take my work very seriously.

As you know, I have a number of tutorials on 'how to' make several of the items I offer. I do this because I love to make stuff and to encourage others to do the same. I think that creating is just about the greatest thing in the whole wide world. It lifts the soul, engages the mind and is the best therapy around.

Now, while I don't want people to follow my tutorials, make exact replicas and then sell them...  I sort of expect it's going to happen. I'd be thrilled if my work inspired you to make your own 'what-cha-ma-jig' or 'doo-hickey' and you made a bazillion dollars selling it. But just plain old copying my work to sell? I'm not so happy you chose to do that.

BUT EVEN THEN I can get over it because I know how much work goes into making that stuff and that eventually you'll get bored. Perhaps you'll realize that you're making less than minimum wage, that sales are slow or that you might even lose money making those silly things. I mean, if you're too lazy to come up with your own ideas the hard work and long hours might put you off.

What DOES bother me is thievery on a magnificent scale. Copying my work, my photography style, my wording, my philosophy and wrapping it all up and calling it your own and labeling it as 'unique'. Not cool. Not going to lie, I'm pretty angry right now. I'm sure the other artists you've stolen from aren't impressed either.

Here's what I propose, I think you'll find it VERY reasonable: Remove all of your listings that clearly violate the intellectual property of others, rewrite your "About me" page so that it's actually about you, then buy a journal and write in it every single day to develop your own ideas. Never ever swipe other peoples work again and we'll call it a day. Consider it a lesson learned in etiquette.

Not keen on doing that? No worries! In three days I'll be submitting the appropriate documents to etsy pointing out that you have violated not only their terms of services but also international copyright and intellectual property laws. As an added bonus I'll fire up the cauldron and pull out my trusty wand. Trust me. I'll do it. Really, it's just better all around if you don't steal my stuff.

I look forward to your decision!
Nichola

P.S. I hate to tell you, but I'm not exactly rolling in dough. It's not money that keeps me motivated... it's passion, and you can't copy that.

Jaida in the Grass

Here's the other painting I've been working on. It's a portrait of one of my very favourite little people, the little sister of D's best buddy.

"Jaida in the Grass" Acrylic on canvas. 16" x 24"

I've got one more painting in mind but I think I may attempt it in oils. I hate oils and they rarely work well for me but the image I have in mind would really work best with that lovely (though frustrating) stuff.

Painting and peanut butter

First of all, congrats to Diane at Craftin Your HeART Out! for preforming some sort of voodoo and getting the random number generator to select her comment for the Gypsy blog hop giveaway!

I've got a number of paintings on the go at the moment. Today I finished (I think it's finished anyway) a portrait of my kiddo. Here's the big guy hanging with himself.

People often ask if D is creative. They wonder if he likes drawing, painting and making. He likes photography, LOVES taking video and, like most boys, enjoys building things. Being surrounded by paintings and art and craft... he doesn't really take notice of my sort of making. He's far more interested in that peanut butter sandwich than the square thing he's holding.

The end of the tour...

Our open house has come and gone. The fairy tour was a great success and I'm looking forward to inviting some of the wee folk back next year. Here's a few pics of a few stops on the tour...

The super sweet Vineeta Moraes took some fabulous shots which can be found on her flickr account HERE

Someone did voice concern over if the wee folk would approve of revealing their spots. I can tell you, as someone who gets along rather well with the little people, that they didn't mind one bit. They were the ones who showed me the way, who sparked the idea, and it was done with the greatest of respect.

Now that's over it's on to MOAR MOAR MOAR stuff. This month I'll be hauling ass to try and finish a couple paintings for September. Then September will be Halloween madness and a super secret project in October that I think you'll think is pretty damned nifty. It'll be the biggest sneakiest thing I've ever attempted!!!

Until then there's a few new goodies in the etsy shop. Hop over and take a gander....

 A Little Happy Moon Shrine

Fairy No. 247 - A little shrine

A Tiny Fairy Town in a Tarnished Dish

Grumpy Mandrake Roots

...and lots of other new listings too. Hop over and take a peek PixieHillStudio  xoxo

Alpha Stamps Gypsy Fever Blog Hop!

Woo hoo! It's the Gypsy Fever Blog Hop!

If you visit all 4 Design Team Members' blogs and figure out the fortune, you will have a chance to win over $100 of art supplies chosen for the Gypsy Fortune Teller Swap! Be sure to leave the Gypsy Fortune on the Alpha Stamps Blog!

Now on to the crafty gypsy goodness...

 Here's my gypsy caravan made with lush papers, trims and other bits and bobs.

Inside there's a fortune wheel, a palmistry hand, a crystal ball, and all sorts of ways to find out if you're a lucky duck ;)

Those tiny chairs inside are made of twigs and cork. They're just like the ones from The Squirrel's End pub I created not long ago.

Now, were you paying attention? Did you find the secret word? If you think you've figured it out (and collected the words from the other blogs) jump over to Alpha Stamps. If you're feeling lucky, you just might win that fab prize!

Leave a comment here and I'll pick one fabulous visitor to win a little something too. What exactly the prize will be I don't know yet... but I do know it'll be WAY better than getting a bill in the mail ;)

xoxo