My New Etsy Shop: Oh So LoveLee

It took some time and planning but my Etsy shop is finally up and running! Here you will be able to buy prints of my latest illustration pieces on high quality archival fine art paper. Not only that, but each print is personally signed by me as well. Feel free to check it out!

OhSoLoveLee.etsy.com

Diving Board Diva

Really wishing I had a pool in my backyard lately. This sweltering summer is starting to get to me, but I won't complain since I know that winter will be here before we know it. In the meantime, please enjoy my latest piece that I affectionately call the "Diving Board Diva".

The New Studio!

I can not possibly be more excited about my latest apartment fix-it-up project. It has always been my dream to have my own design office in my apartment, and after an excruciatingly long trip to IKEA and a full weekend of painting and construction my dream has come true! I am especially fond of my chalkboard paint wall that I have been thoroughly enjoying since it was finished.

Having this set up has really helped me get the creativity flowing and I should have more posts to share soon. Happy weekend everyone!

Puppies Everywhere

If any of you have checked out my personal portfolio you probably saw these little guys already, but I really wanted to share them on my blog as well since they showcase the less digitized side of my illustrations. It's funny, I find that when I have my best ideas they usually come to me all of a sudden and I have to immediately get started on them or else I will go completely crazy. Such was the case with this simple illustration. I came home from work one day and for some reason prissy daschunds were dancing through my head. I put pen to paper and this puppy pattern was the end result. I want to tweak it a bit more and possibly end up creating a wrapping paper from it once it is ready. Enjoy!

8000!

Today the blog has reached 8000 views! Hooray! It has been a pleasure sharing the work that brings me so much joy. I have some big things in the works right now, including the creation of my own new design haven, and I can't wait to share them with you in the near future. See you all again soon!

Fashionista

Peek-A-Boo

Experimenting a little with color and cropping. 

Summer Girl

I have really been missing St. Maarten lately. Nothing in New York can quite compare to the pristine beauty of the ocean view we had at the Oyster Bay resort. Every morning I would wake up to the sound of the rolling waves and I could walk over to my window and see the waves breaking onto the beach. It was magical, and the best stress relief that you can imagine.

Now that I am back in the states I am finding myself daydreaming about that fantastic view of the ocean. This daydreaming moved me to create this illustration that I affectionately titled 'Summer Girl'. 

Miss you St. Maarten, see you again someday soon!

Flappers!

Recently I have been immersed in the fashion and lifestyle of people from the 1920s and 30s for a project at work. I became fascinated with the flapper culture of that time, and from that fascination these illustrations emerged! I'm sure there will be more flapper girl illustrations to come, they are just too fun to make!

'Iconic Faces' Painting Series

Back in 2006 I decided that I would put my painting skills to the test and try to paint a very large (24" x 30") portrait of Audrey Hepburn as a present for someone dear to me who thoroughly enjoyed this beautiful icon. I also decided, because of my love of black and white photography, that I would do this using only black and white acrylic paint. It turned out well, but I saw that I had a lot of room for improvement. Since then I had wanted to explore how to get better texture and light illusion using only black and white acrylic, but I didn't get another chance to put brush to canvas until late this past year. That's when I started the next piece of the series, James Dean. Finally, to complete the series I created a portrait of Marilyn Monroe. 

To me, this series shows my progress as an artist, each piece showing improvement over the previous. There is also something fantastic about being restricted to the use of black and white. It really allowed me to focus on how light and dark interact to bring an image to life. 

Enjoy!