Be Mused Art » Events

Valentine listed – a busy year

Melia — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 20:53:56 +0000

The past year I have felt a bit overwhelmed at every turn. I think I might have taken on a bit too much. Valentine never got submitted to the show she was created for. But no loss, because now I can list her on etsy.
The new year means new projects. I have already started to work on my first painting for the new year. It is my submission for Enchanted Visions for this month. Yes, I am starting later than is usual for me. But there is so much coming up this year. I am going to finally learn to paint digitally – one way or another. I am also on a quest to get out more and see folks – which means conventions and art shows. And if I can’t make it, I will try and send my art anyway.
So far, this year’s schedule includes ConDFW in Febuary as a panelist and Octopodicon in October as a panelist or ummmm Vistiing Professor. I ended last year an started this one presenting art and crazy quilting at The Difference Engine in Ft. Worth.
Do you have a favorite convention that you would like to see me at, or maybe just get a chance to see my work in person?

Summer is Done – Thank Goodness

Melia — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 04:15:02 +0000

This has been a horrible summer here in Texas. We broke the record for number of days in the triple digits. We have had no rain to speak of. And now we have wildfires destroying homes and farms across the state. And our area has had an energy shortage and we were asked to use as little energy possible in the afternoons when the heat had everyone relying on their air conditioning. It was even too hot to be hitting the pool, so our local pools closed up shop in early August.
So the result was us sitting at the local library sketching and reading during the hottest part of the day in order to reduce our personal energy use and still stay remotely comfortable.
For me as an artist, it has meant that little painting got done. But the sketches have been turning out beautifully. I have been doing more detailed work in my sketchbook. And now that the heat wave, if not the drought, has been broken, I have been taking the time to scan my drawings to show off.There are so very many, some taking days to complete, that I just can’t post them all here. If you would like to see some beautifully detailed dragons and mermaids and wise old wizards, go check out the Summer Sketching folder on my facebook page.
This summer also brought new licensing contracts for new products from Queen Kat Designs. Please go check out their website for fabrics, iron on transfers and coasters as well as the usual whimsical rubber stamps.
Later this month, I will be at FenCon in Dallas. My work will be in the art show and they tell me that I get to talk about steampunk art on that Sunday and will be forced to draw other people’s ideas on Saturday. Both should be lots of fun. Despite being terrified of drawing for an audience, I am looking forward to other people having to do the hard part of deciding what I should be drawing. And since FenCon will be Deep South Con, this year it should be even bigger and better than usual. And considering it has always been a pretty great event, I am just giddy about this year. Stop by, look at art, meet some great folks and enjoy some great discussions on fanzines, art, writing and some cool sci-fi literature.
And since you all are really just looking at a some purty pictures – here is my latest painting when I did just as soon as the temperatures droped to the low 90′s.

Neo the fairy winged dragon

Melia — Sun, 20 Feb 2011 04:29:49 +0000

Here wwe have Neo the fairy winged dragton. I worked on while at ConDFW in Dallas. BTW, if you have never been to a science fiction convention, but love the genre in art or literature, you so need to go to one. They are a blast and there are so many cool people to meet.
I am sorry that it has been a couple days since I posted. The dog tried to do me while on a walk and I hurt my ankle pretty bad. Not broken, but the doctor was surprised the xray didn’t show a break from the looks of it. But I have learned that pain meds really hinder my creativity and I now have one more good reason to avoid drugs. I will suffer some pain for my art, so I am painting again. Just 2 days off isn’t so bad, I guess. So check back tomorrow for some another purty picture.

A Busy Time of Year

Melia — Sat, 04 Dec 2010 14:02:24 +0000

This is the time of year that everyone is busy busy busy. Art usually ends up taking a back seat to art shows, handmade gifts, cooking and shopping. But well, even taking a back seat I still have to make art if I am to stay sane.
I made Luna as part of the Enchanted Visions Project. It isn’t up yet, but until it is time to update check out some of the cool art they are exhibiting on the site.
Last night I work on sketchfest. That is going on until this afternoon. Maybe I will find time to do a sketch or two today, but depends on the art show at the Grapevine Library. I got a sneak peek at some of the art while setting up, and boy do you all need to stop by that can. There is some cool photography and pottery. Brad Foster will be there, and he is my favorite fantasy artist. And I am debuting my new large size coloring book of Winged Cats. They won’t be available online until later in the week.
Oh and of course I am working on a new project that I hope to be able to show soon…..

A watercolor Sketch and A Ferret

Melia — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 03:52:33 +0000

This weekend, I worked on my ferret fairy and then went to Dr. Sketchy’s in Dallas. I actually did one sketch all in watercolor, not even pencil for a preliminary sketch. BTW it is availble on etsy for only $5. I have been selling off sketches to help motivate me to scan all the sketches, instead of storing so very many sketchbooks.

And then of course my ferret fairy

Illustration Friday – Spooky and Stamp Release

Melia — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 00:53:08 +0000

Pumpking Haunted House

I combined my work from Sketch Fest and Illustration Friday this week. One theme was “Haunted Pumpkin Mansion” and the other “spooky”. That was fun to do.

My big news this week is a special stamp release at Queen Kat Designs. Wednesday October 20th, QKD is having the largest yet release of my designs. It looks like my favorite angel wings will be available for all to enjoy. There are also several fun fantasy critters to been seen. Stop by and check it out.

Oh and to celebrate this fun collection of stamps as well as reaching 200 Face Book fans, I am having a giveaway on my FB page. Stop in and post to enter a chance to win a print of Tigerfly’s Tea.

Blog Giveaway Winner is….

Melia — Sun, 02 May 2010 02:41:15 +0000

Amanda! Congratulations.

Well that was fun. I am going to have to come up with another giveaway soon.
Keep watching. More art to come.

New Fairy Cat bookmark Design

Melia — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 22:33:26 +0000

Well, this is my next project. Took all day just to get to this point and it is only 3×9 inches. I am hoping to get it painted so I can make some bookmarks from it before Friday.
Why Friday? Why this weekend is my first outdoor art festival in a couple of years. If it goes well, I might try and talk J into doing more of these again. If I rent a tent, I can get by without a van. Which is good, because the old van bit the dust and we have no plans to replace it.
Anyway, if nothing else, I will get some bookmark pages for folks to color to have at the festival, as well as coloringbooks, original art, prints and other fun things. So Saturday stop by the Thrill of the Grill festival in Plano and get yourself some art.

Blog Giveaway! 100 Facebook Fans!

Melia — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 14:55:17 +0000

I reached 100 fans on facebook. And i am celebrating by giving away some nifty gifts to a lucky winner.
First the prizes:
1. An 8×8″ print of my painting Lotus Blossom, that is matted to fit in a standard 11×14″ frame.
2. A Cute Dragonette Stamp, designed by me and produced by Queen Kat Designs.
3. A one inch button featuring my Fairy Face artwork
4. A really cool laminated bookmark featuring a reproduction of my Night Mare Painting
5. A cute little pocket mirror with a fun little fairy cat design on the back.
That is a $37 value for free.

So how do you enter? Well first you can enter multiple times between now and the end of the month, so be sure and check out all the ways to enter.
1. Become a fan on my facebook page, and comment here that you did so. If you are already a fan, go ahead and comment on it. The comments are important, because they are your official entry.
2.Follow me on Twitter, and comment here with your twitter ID.
3. Tweet about this contest with a link to this blog entry, and comment here. You can do this one once a day to be counted as a new entry in the drawing.
4.Blog about this contest in your blog with a link to this blog entry, and post a link to your blog post here.
5. And of course just to be contrary, you can purchase something in my etsy shop and comment here with your etsy ID. And of course you can do this as many times as you like to enter the drawing. LOL
6. You can create a craft project using a Queen Kat Design stamp and post the image somewhere online that the general public can see (flikr, your own blog, twitter, ect), and post a link here. You can do this once a day.

The contest ends on the last day of the month (April 30), and I will use a random number generator on the 1st day of May to choose a winner. Please remember to check back on the evening of the 1st to see if you won.

Stamp Release Sneak Peak at QKD

Melia — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 06:51:49 +0000

The first week of the month is always my favorite because it is when the new stamps come at at Queen Kat Designs. And to wet our appetites for all the nifty new stamps coming out later this week, they are having a blog hop starting at the QKD Blog. There are some fantastic new stamps coming out, and some of them I even designed.
Of course my favorite part of these blog hops is seeing how the creative and brilliant designers interpret my little drawings and what wonderful thing they can create from a simple stamp. The ones on today’s blog hop are Penny’s Curious Kitty and Kimee’s Pop Dragon.
But start at the beginning with QKD Blog, because there are some other amazing things by other fantastic artists working with Queen Kat to bring you some quality stamps. We are talking mermaids and steampunk folks, you gotta check it out.