I Want to Be Held

Oh to feel your arms around me! Let's see....hint hint it's two weeks till Valentines Day...

"I Want to Be Held"

5 x 5 inches, Oil on Board

Available

I See You

I've been painting the square format for my little animal paintings but this one just seemed right in the landscape 5 x7 size. I haven't named this one yet...
Photographing black is very tedious!

I Want to Hold Your Hand Forever and Ever

Is there someone who's hand fits so comfortably in yours? Valentine's is coming...

By the way - if you're a regular to my blog you know that I'm half Japanese. In Japan, Valentines Day is sort of a Sadie Hawkins day when girls give chocolate to the boys they have crushes on.

"Holding Your Hand"

6 x 6 inches, Oil on Raymar Board, Palette Knife

Best Friend - Collie

"What? Timmy has fallen down the well?" Ok, am I the only one who thinks that was funny? I'd heard that Lassie was played by a boy-dog - would it be right to name this painting "Lassie"? At any rate Timmy thought his collie was his best friend - my dogs are my best friends too.. This painting is a little larger at six inch square.

"Best Friend"

6 x 6 inches, Oil on Raymar board

Available

Be Mine

Someone asked what the significance of "kissing the Blarney Stone" was. It's said that if you kiss the stone, it gives you the gift of gab....hmmmmm... And I am lost for words as I type this blog thinking of how to explain what I was feeling when I painted this fellow and the whys, hows, etc.
I don't think kissing the stone improved my gabbing one way or another. Sometimes I chat and sometimes I don't.

"Be Mine"

5 x 5 inches, Oil on Board

Available on Etsy.

This Kiss, this kiss, this kiss....

I heard Faith Hill's song on the radio the other day and I got to thinking that in no time at all it will be Valentines!! So inspired by the song "This Kiss" I painted this with a red background.

"This Kiss"

8 x 6 inches, Oil on Board

Available on Ebay

Make My Day - A Pug Painting

To everyone who checks out my blog, you really make my day. I did this painting the other evening during my weekly paint with friends night. It is almost like a sketch but I like to painting as is so I stopped. It has broad strokes and the colors are not tooooo blended. I loved the red for the background too.

Hey I got a lot of comments about the running with the bull and teaching English at 13, but no one commented on my kissing the Blarney Stone. Did ya know that in order to kiss it you have to climb to the top of Blarney Castle which is mostly in ruins and dangle backwards off the side of the stone wall while a little old guide holds your waist? And then as you arch your back and lower yourself backwards - held by a man who weighed no more than me, you kiss the stoney protuberance which probably has been kissed by a million people. Yeck...And if you're not praying you don't pick up germs from the stone you're praying the little guide doesn't let go.

"Make My Day"

5 x 5 inches, Oil on Board

Available on Etsy - Click Here

Six Degrees of Separation

Last month, December, I was tagged by North Carolina artist, Atul Pande. I was surprised, flattered but sadly I was a bit too busy to follow up on it. I was in Japan at the time visiting my family. So I'm catching up and doing the tag thing now. The rules are simple. List seven (7) interesting things about myself and then tag seven (7) artists I find interesting.

Enoshima Island as seen from the beach road.

If you're ever in Japan, you've got to find a department store and go to the basement floor. Known as "depa-chika" in Japanese, it's where you find the groceries and prepared foods. Most are prepared on site. This man is cooking a traditional Japanese sweet treat, waffle type fish shaped cakes with sweet bean paste.

Vendors in the "depa-chika".

At the train station near my parents' home. I used to ride this all the time while growing up, but the trains are now more modern.

So here are my seven interesting things about me...

1) I was born in Japan.

2) I lived in Spain for two years.

3) I did the running of the Bull at a small town called Arcos De La Frontera and was caught in the street while the bull was rampaging.

4) I was a model for a brief time when I was a teen-ager.

5) I kissed the Blarney Stone in Ireland

6) I had my own business at age 13 teaching (tutoring) English to Japanese students.

7) I'm bilingual - English/Japanese.

And now here are seven of the artists I find interesting. love, admire and are inspired by:

Nancy Medina, Alex Perez, Lori Woodward Simons, Linda Blondheim, Filomena Booth, Sheila Tajima, and Melissa Langer

Thank you!

Got Mice?

I was honored today by being mentioned in Sheila Tajima's blog, "From Forensic to Fine Art". Sheila happens to be an alumni of my high school whom I've reconnected with through facebook. There really is a six degree of separation and the world is small.

This kitty reminds me of Morris the cat, remember him?

"Got Mice?

5 x 5 inches, Oil on Board

Don't Leave

Oh the sad eyes when you tell your dogs that they have to stay and guard the home when you close the door...but the ovation and cheers when you come home...

"Don't Leave"

5 x 5 inches, Oil on Board