The past half a year or so, I've discovered Blythe dolls and decided to get into customizing them. Even though I'm not an expert yet, I've customized and sold 6 so far - you can see them under the "Lavish Studio Blythe" tab. And I wanted to create a video for all those interested in the process, whether you're a beginner customizer or a collector, to talk about the various steps involved from start to finish, as well as all the tools and supplies you will need to customize your doll. I hope you enjoy the video! If you have any questions, please let me know.

In the video, I go over taking the doll apart, carving, sanding, faceup, sealing the work, sleep eyes, boggled gaze, gaze lift, eye pull charms, hair styling, and more.

Today, I'm sharing my latest painting, which will be in the upcoming "Fight Like a Girl" group show at East End Studio Gallery in Texas. It's a show celebrating female comic superheroes, and of course I had to do my favorite - Cat Woman! The show is this Saturday evening, so if you're lucky enough to live in the area, be sure to check it out.

The painting is acrylics on 8x10 canvas, with sides painted and wired in the back so it's ready to hang. It's titled "Meow"... no explanation necessary, I'm sure :)

I'm excited to say that I will have two mini paintings in the upcoming "Coaster" show at La Luz De Jesus (link HERE) gallery in CA. It will run Sep 1 - Oct 1, so if you're in the LA area, be sure to stop by. It's really a fun show to see in person - they'll have tons of tiny coaster-sized paintings lining the walls, and smaller sizes of course makes the art affordable for everyone.

So I wanted to share the two paintings I completed for the show, and pictures of me holding them as well, so you get the idea of just how cute and small they are. The first is "Enchantment", and it's acrylics on a 4x4 wood plaque. The second one is "Cosmic Love" and it's acrylics on 4x4 chipboard.

I've done a couple live streams recently, painting on camera. HERE is a live stream I did for Vango's Facebook page (The painting that I was working on, "Dispensable Parts", is completed and you can view it in my Portfolio.

​And here's one on YouTube from earlier today, of a painting in progress:

My son is turning 8 tomorrow and we're going away for a few days to celebrate. Ordinarily, I paint with acrylics, but they don't travel well. The tubes are bulky, the set up takes a lot of space, canvas is easy to tear, and they require a lot of focus and dedicated time set aside since they dry so quickly. However, there was a year in my life where I painted with nothing but watercolors, and I still have a great collection of professional watercolors. Watercolors do travel well, especially if you have them set up in a pallet. They don't make a mess, and all you need is some paper, a few brushes, a little travel container of watercolors, and you're good to go. An added bonus is that you can paint for a couple minutes, walk away, and return to the painting with no harm done. The dried paints re-wet easily on your pallet. I love being able to switch mediums, as each one teaches me something different about paints and colors in general. So when I'm traveling, I'll be bringing my watercolors with me. What do you like to bring on your vacations?

All of my original watercolor paintings and original watercolor artist trading cards can be found in my Etsy store. Here's a recent 5x7 painting, "Windy Swing", done in Winsor & Newton Professional Watercolors.

And below, I will share a video on some ideas for creating your very own DIY travel watercolor pallets.
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Can you believe it's March already? February always seems to fly by. And today we are in full Spring more, with rain and 70 degree weather, and by Friday, they're promising snow in the morning. It's been a crazy winter all along.

Now onto my blog post. For my first one, I wanted to talk about something that's a factor in most artists' lives - fitting art into your busy day. Even for those artists who create as their full time job, time is still a factor. And if you start adding things like a day job, family, children, household maintenance, etc. into the equation, it quickly spirals out of control. So I wanted to share something that has worked well for me. I'm lucky enough to have a room that I would classify as a "studio" (it used to be a scrap room :) And I store my art supplies there, and used to create there as well, for the ability it gave me to have some peace and quiet and get away. But I've recently discovered that I can fit even more in if I set myself up to paint in the kitchen, and that's what I've done. I brought down a table easel, and just the paints I need for each project. This allows me to still spend time with the family, be there for whatever the kids might need, but paint at the same time. This way I don't have to wait for those magical moments when no one is home or the kids are already in bed. I can paint and be productive even during family movie night :)

What have you found that's worked for you to help you find more time to create? Share your tips and ideas in the comments below!

And thank you for visiting my brand new website that I launched yesterday (so exciting!).