Eclectic Melsky - Art, Craft, Cooking, Decor and More

Cat Fish City Before and After

2011-08-27T04:11:00.000-07:00

I finished this one today, painting it with watercolor and then outlining in black ink. I think it turned out pretty well. Pastel colored paintings like this don't show up as well online as the bright colored ones.

House of Happy Cats painting

2011-08-25T02:24:00.000-07:00

This is a recent painting, I just finished it last week! It is watercolor, acrylic and ink.

The reason it has acrylic is that I made a mistake. I started painting sky where the house was supposed to be. So I painted over it with acrylic. The rest of the painting is watercolor and ink.

Tiger Lily Kitten

2011-08-24T01:57:00.000-07:00

Here's another recent painting. This is watercolor and ink. I started by drawing on watercolor paper, then painted it in with watercolor. Then I did the background of the sky with permanent ink marker. That was a long process. I should have made it a bit less detailed but once I start a background I usually will just do the whole thing in the same way. Then I used a permanent ink marker to do the outlining.

I've noticed that a lot of my paintings feature orange cats, goldfish and tiger lilies but I don't think I have a painting with all three of them. I'll have to do one.

Sleepy Spiral Cat before and after

2011-08-23T05:18:00.000-07:00

It's amazing how much it changes after the watercolor and ink additions. I used acrylic paint for the moon and stars, and then outlined with ink.

Another Cat Painting and a Defense of Coloring Books

2011-08-23T02:05:00.000-07:00

Here is another new old painting! It's probably four months old.

This is one I did when I first got my watercolor crayons and colored pencils. I was experimenting with the new media.

I have a couple of different techniques and styles of painting. This is one of my standard ones. I draw an outline with pencil, then color it in. Then I add details.

I have not thought about this for a long time, but when I was a child I used to really like coloring books, crayons and watercolors. I liked having outlines and coloring them in and experimenting with different color combinations. I think doing that a lot helped me as an artist.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I also had those paint by water books - where you would have a picture that was colored in by all these dots, and when you applied water with a brush it would turn into watercolor paint. I loved these!

I have heard from a couple of places that coloring books are bad for children and they stifle creativity. I don't think that's true - for me they helped me learn the use of color and how to use a brush. I learned how to stay in the lines! You don't have to always stay in the lines but it's good to be able to do it when you want to. They taught me the skills I needed to do my own art.

Watercolor Crayon Paintings in Progress

2011-08-22T01:45:00.000-07:00

These look awful! But they will be good paintings once I complete a few more steps.

I start these by drawing a basic sketch on watercolor paper. Then I draw patterns and some details with colored pencils. Next I take the watercolor crayons and put some color and shading in.

Tomorrow I'm going to do the next step of using watercolor on top of these. That will make all the crayon parts turn into watercolor. I could just use water but I like to experiment with just a little more color. I may put in some metallic detail with acrylic paint, and then ink the outlines in.

I like this technique because I can do the first part in my home office at my desk. There's no water to spill! I will do the rest of it in my studio upstairs where the cats are not allowed.

It's also really fun to get the paintings to this stage and then see what happens to them when the water is applied. It feels magical.

1 year ago

2011-08-21T01:41:00.000-07:00

I was putting this up as one of my new paintings - well, new since I started updating this blog a lot. I was surprised when I looked at the date. It was painted on August 23, 2010.

This is watercolor and ink on watercolor paper, with acrylic paint highlights. It was painted for an online auction for a cat shelter.

New paintings and techniques

2011-07-29T01:21:00.000-07:00

Did you ever have any of those children's activity books where they had pictures colored with dots, and you activated the paint by painting them with water? I had those and I found them very fun.

Recently I started using watercolor crayons. Using them feels like a cross between wax crayons and oil pastels. They are water soluble though, so painting them with water activates the colors and turns them into watercolor.

The fish painting uses water color crayon and colored pencils and then it's painted with regular water colors in the background. The lines are done with black colored pencil.

The tiger lily painting was done with colored pencils first. I did detail pattern work on the tiger lilies and the background. Then I colored them in with the crayons and painted with water.

The tiger lily painting took way to long with that background! It's a learning experience.

Catching Up

2011-07-17T04:47:00.001-07:00

I've been painting more, and also doing some digital art. I'm drawing on my Wacom tablet. It's very awkward to draw on it still, but I'm getting better. I plan on doing a line of greeting cards and other products such as magnets, t-shirts, etc.

Otherwise, I'm selling real estate. Yes, this takes up a lot of my time! I'm doing well though. I'm selling mostly to investors and first time buyers.

I am involved with cat rescue- I'm on the board of SANS - Spay And Neuter Syracuse. It's a clinic that provides spay/neuter services for homeless animals and people who can't afford full cost services at vets. Last winter I worked on Pawcasso, an art auction fundraiser.

I am going to post on this blog when I finish paintings. Besides the digital, I've been doing a lot of watercolor/ink/watercolor crayon. Watercolor is easier to do when you don't have much time. Though I like acrylic better, I can take a half hour in the morning and get quite a bit done on watercolors. With the acrylic, I have to use a lot of time for setup and cleanup.

This is one of my more recent paintings, itwas done with watercolor and resist. You paint the foreground first - the cat and fish. Then I covered them with a rubber-like substance and painted the backgrounds. When it dried, I rubbed off the resist. It was hard to get the resist just right, it took several coats. I like the way it turned out. I have cards and products with this image for sale in my Zazzle store.

Cat and Fish Resist by MelskyArt
Create a Post card with zazzle.com

A mistake and how I fixed it

2010-10-12T03:34:00.000-07:00

This is an 8x10 painting on watercolor paper. I started it the way I do most of my watercolor paintings - a pencil sketch and then working quickly to color in the painting, letting it dry between layers.

But the orange paint of the cat got away from me, I wet the paper more than usual and his ear got smudged. Orange paint made a big lump on his head.

So I finished the rest of the painting and then did the background with dioxazine purple acrylic paint. That's a very dark color and it looks almost black.

I like the way it came out. It has a bit of an Eastern European look to it, with the dark background and bright colors.

It's difficult to scan paintings with acrylic. The type of acrylic paint I use is glossy, and it looks great in real life but it picks up glare in scans and photos.

I'm happy I was able to save this painting! I may do some more with this technique.

New painting!

2010-09-23T18:45:00.000-07:00

11x14 on canvas Psycho Kitty painting. This one is sold, it was part of an auction to support a cat shelter.

Spiral Sky Cactus

2010-06-20T17:43:00.000-07:00

I'm on a roll here. Like the last one, this is an 8x10 watercolor and ink with metallic acrylic accents. I was experimenting with watercolor washes. I used some salt to give a crystallized effect in the sky but I didn't like it so mostly painted over it.

I ordered some new watercolors and will be experimenting with blocking - where you block out an area which is already painted so it doesn't absorb more paint. When I was painting this one, I wished I had some of that to paint over the cactus so I could have done more of a wash effect in the sky. I had wanted it to be in dawn colors and I had gotten an effect I liked but because I was constrained painting around the cactus it got messed up and I just went ahead and did a lot of purple spirals.

A lot of times when I mess things up I paint spiral patterns over it! But don't tell anyone.

Sleepy Stars Kitty

2010-06-18T03:27:00.001-07:00

This is an 8x10 watercolor and ink with acrylic accents on watercolor paper. The stars are metallic silver acrylic. It's going to be sold as a fundraiser for a cat shelter.

Pink Roses painting

2010-06-13T04:09:00.001-07:00

Pink Roses painting, originally uploaded by Melsky.

Another new painting! I'm doing a group of spring themed paintings right now. I was inspired by two things, I got a new bed comforter that has pink roses and light green leaves on it, and also there's pink roses blooming right outside my studio windows!

Spring Snake Cactus

2010-06-08T06:43:00.001-07:00

Spring Snake Cactus, originally uploaded by Melsky.

I've been busy with work lately but I have found some time to do painting. I'm doing a batch of paintings in spring colors. This is the first one. It's 9x12 Acrylic on Canvas.

From the Past to the Future

2010-04-11T05:43:00.000-07:00

This is a painting I did while living in San Franciso sometime in the early 90s. It's watercolor and ink. I'm going to do a new version of this painting.

Rose Cat

2010-03-30T04:00:00.001-07:00

Rose Cat, originally uploaded by Melsky.

New painting! This is 8x10 inches, watercolor and ink on watercolor paper.

For Sale in Abstract Floral and Cat Art by Melsky

I'm pretty busy at work but finding a small amount of time to paint. I'm going to take some time off this weekend, maybe take a 4 day weekend.

Raw Roses

2010-03-07T05:12:00.000-08:00

This is the raw scan of the roses painting. I left the border up! I'm working on another modification of this image. I'd like to make a set of greeting cards with my floral paintings and another with my cat paintings, another with desert paintings and a some holiday cards too. I'm looking at the best online places to order cards. Then I will sell them on Etsy. I think it might be nice to do a series of thank you cards too.

Yesterday I spent all day painting ! Six hours. I was painting a house though, one of the rental properties we manage. I like painting houses though, and the money is good. I like to see how much better the places look after they are painted.

The way I got started painting houses is that I am a rental agent for a property management company. I would go to places that were newly painted and there would be paint on the floor, in the carpet, they would get paint on the woodwork. Switch plates and light covers would be either taken off and they wouldn't bother to put them back on, or they would be covered with paint blocking the outlet holes! The paint jobs don't have to be fancy or perfect, we are dealing with places on a very low budget usually. But it doesn't take much more effort to do a decent job, wiping up paint spills, using drop cloths etc.

Having a good paint job also helps me as a rental agent, it just makes the place look better.

Yesterday was a lovely spring day. Not to say that we probably wont get another snowstorm or too but it's nice to be out. Anymore snow we get will be heavy wet spring snow that pretty much disappears quickly.

Bright Roses

2010-03-05T16:14:00.001-08:00

Bright Roses, originally uploaded by Melsky.

New painting! This is acrylic and digital. I painted with acrylic on paper, scanned it, and then added highlights and changed the background.

I think I will try doing this more often. I want to try the technique with watercolors too.

I have a very nice Wacom tablet - where you can use a pen to draw in paint programs on the computer. I tried doing some paintings just on the computer but I found it very hard and they didn't look so good! But I am finding I enjoy modifying paintings I do offline.

When I paint with acrylics, the black I use to outline comes out with reflections on it when I scan it. I actually went through this one and colored all lines flat black. I deepened the colors and changed the background color to orange instead of yellow. I also added highlights. I'll have to put the original up for comparison.

I like painting with watercolors, mostly because they fit in with my busy schedule! That is, it's easy to start and stop watercolors, you don't need to worry about the paint drying on the brush and you only need a watercolor palette, water and brushes. Also, it's not that big of a deal if you get paint on your skin or clothes, it washes out.

I don't like the washed out colors though! But if I do watercolors and modify them I can get whatever colors I want.

Big Kitty City

2010-02-26T14:59:00.001-08:00

Big Kitty City , originally uploaded by Melsky.

This is my painting for the Pawcasso benefit tomorrow night! It's 16x20 on canvas. It's going to be auctioned off to benefit SANS - Spay and Neuter Syracuse which provides low cost spay and neuter services.

Garden Cat

2010-02-22T10:11:00.001-08:00

Garden Cat, originally uploaded by Melsky.

8x10 on Canvas - finished! Will be auctioned off at the PAWCASSO fundraiser to benefit SANS, who provide low cost spay/neuter services.

Painting in Progress

2010-02-15T17:58:00.001-08:00

Painting in Progress, originally uploaded by Melsky.

I'm working on another painting! This one is acrylic on canvas. It's the first acrylic painting I have done in a very long time.

Another newer painting

2010-01-31T07:11:00.001-08:00

Flowers in a Vase, originally uploaded by Melsky.

I finished this one a few weeks ago.

I still have not started my new painting. Having a busy weekend workwise and then also dealing with a furnace that stopped working when we are having temperatures in the single digits.

The Cat's World

2010-01-29T19:29:00.001-08:00

The Cat's World, originally uploaded by Melsky.

I'm painting again!

I'm going to re-activate this blog. For the last 15 months I have been employed in real estate as a rental agent. Where I am really, really, really busy! I've also become a contractor. I have two painting jobs right now! But they are painting walls, and I'm not doing the painting.

I also get paid to take photos of properties, write descriptions of them, and put the data onto our web page. I do enjoy that.

It's been hard to do paintings. A lot of the time when I come home I am tired and stressed out.

However I am determined to start painting again.

This is my most recent painting.

Soon I will start selling them again too.

Show Date Moved

2008-09-19T19:54:00.001-07:00

Tiger Lilly Kitty City, originally uploaded by Melsky.

I completed six paintings for my show so far, but I've decided to move the date up to Monday because I'm doing a web page for the shows.

I'm exhausted today. I've had a cold and it makes me really tired.

I found out why my tomatoes have big holes in them. They are being eaten by squirrels! I thought those holes were to big for bugs to be eating. I went out there today and surprised a squirrel in the act of taking a big bite! I did not know that they ate tomatoes but I have seen the evidence.

I'm having an art show!

2008-09-15T08:46:00.001-07:00

Roses and Fish, originally uploaded by Melsky.

I decided to have an art show. My show is called September Stream of Consciousness and it will be an online show. The art will all be 8x10 watercolor paintings with pencil and ink. The show will open this Friday, September 20. Artwork will be for sale in my etsy store.

The paintings all will start out as pencil drawings. They will then be colored in with watercolor, and finished off with black ink pen outlining.

This painting, Fish and Roses, is the first one. The rest will be unveiled at the show opening.

I'm having a good time creating the paintings. It's very good to have a deadline to work under. It's fun to create a series of paintings in similar style and materials.

I hope you will join me on Friday.

Melsky's Guide to Fantastic and Healthy Smoothies

2008-07-11T13:48:00.001-07:00

smoothie ingredients, originally uploaded by Melsky.

I was born and raised in California, and I grew up eating smoothies.

What is a smoothie anyway? In many restaurants they are merely a fruit milkshake, no healthier than having an ice cream sundae with strawberry topping. To me a smoothie is a healthy food, made from yogurt, milk, frozen fruit and sweetener. They are an important part of my diet. I love starting summer mornings with a delicious sweet and creamy treat that is healthy and low in calories.

Here's how I make smoothies.

First of all, it's important to have a good blender. I bought this one about eight years ago and it's still going strong.

I gather together all my ingredients. I use milk and plain yogurt, either non-fat or low fat. I use frozen fruit, which I usually buy frozen. I use flavorings like cinnamon and vanilla, and I use a sweetener, usually splenda. In this case, I'll be making one of my favorites which is a peach and cinnamon flavor.

I don't have set amounts of ingredients that I use. I just eyeball them. First add the frozen fruit, then a few serving spoons full of yogurt, then the milk, sweetener and flavoring. Blend! You may need to add a little more milk if your smoothie is hard to blend.

For this smoothie I used the following (amounts are approximate)

3/4 cup frozen peaches – 50 calories
½ cup nonfat yogurt – 55 calories
1 cup 1% milk – 110 calories

That adds up to just 215 calories!

Some people use ice in their smoothies, I do not. If you use ice make sure that you have a very powerful blender.

Sometimes I add cereal to my smoothie. After it's done I pour it into a bowl instead of a glass and I top it with grape nuts and eat it with a spoon.

Another thing I add sometimes is bran or psyllium to get extra fiber. It's pretty hard to tell if psyllium fiber is added. The bran definitely adds texture to it and takes away from the creamy deliciousness of it. I usually only do this if I will be eating it with cereal, in which case I don't notice the bran at all.

Many people add dates to smoothies; in fact my parents did this. I don't like dates in general and I don't like the texture they give smoothies but if you like dates that is something to try.

There are a wide variety of fruit combinations to use in smoothies. Almost any type of berry makes a great one, especially strawberries. You can get bags of blends of fruits, usually tropical blend or a mix of berries.

I find that a little vanilla, the same bottled kind that is used for baking, really enhances my smoothies. On some fruits like peaches and pumpkin, cinnamon adds a great flavor.

Pumpkin smoothies are unexpectedly good. I freeze canned pumpkin in plastic bags. Just make sure to freeze it in small enough chunks that it can be blended. Pumpkin pie spice is great with this, or just use cinnamon.

I’ve been meaning to try this with butternut squash too.

Bananas are one fruit that you never find frozen, but it’s quite easy to freeze them yourself. Just peel them, break into chunks, pop them into a plastic bag and freeze. This is good to do with over-ripe bananas. I frequently freeze and use in smoothies bananas that I would never eat by themselves. Bananas are great with tropical fruits or strawberries.

Smoothies are quick to make in the morning when you have all of the ingredients on hand. You can even have one on the way to work, just put it in a travel mug. That is a lot healthier than stopping for a donut.

They are not just for breakfast either. Sometimes I like to eat one as a desert.

If you have any great smoothie recipes, hints or suggestions please leave them in the comments, I would love to hear about them.

Summer Fragments

2008-07-11T08:59:00.001-07:00

Summer Fragments, originally uploaded by Melsky.

This is a paining I finished last night. It's 11x14 and done with watercolor, acrylic and ink on watercolor paper.

I started this painting when I was doing the Art on the Porches festival. For some reason I had the idea to do a painting with a woman's face, a guitar and a cat. The painting was going to be kind of serious and somber and have darker colors in it.

The cat and the guitar turned out good but the woman's face turned out horrible. I wish I had taken a before picture of this painting! When I took it out and started working on it again I painted over the woman's face with green and white. Do you see the part in the middle with yellow paint and copper colored stripes with the sunflower in the bottom part? That was part of her hair.

I like how it ended up but of course it's not somber at all. I can never seem to paint things that don't look happy and bursting with good cheer.

Anyway I put it on etsy:

Summer Fragments painting on Etsy.

Flowing By

2008-07-08T18:07:00.001-07:00

Flowing By, originally uploaded by Melsky.

This is a new mixed media painting I just finished. It has acrylic paint, ink, pencil, postage stamps, and a picture of my cat Oliver and a water tower in Syracuse. I put it on my livejournal and it sold right away!

I have had a lot of business on Etsy lately - including this latest one I have had four sales in the past week. I'm working on some more paintings now too.

I have clear envelopes and stiff acid free paperboard backing for my paintings now and they look so nice and professional when I send them out.

I'm going to California a week from tomorrow. Kind of excited about it, kind of numb. Mostly I want to get it over with so I can settle down and get a job. I'm not really a traveller and I don't want to go to California really. I am going because I need to see my family and I need to get some stuff that I have had in storage in the Mojave desert for a long time.

Lots of new things up on Etsy

2008-06-25T07:39:00.000-07:00

These are signs on wood that I did for my craft fair. Only one of the new things I did just for the fair sold! But at least I have lots of stuff now. I am moving into another direction and I don't think I will keep doing these so if you were thinking of buying one of my welcome signs now would be a good time.

It's the strangest thing, one of the pictures comes out sideways when I load it on blogger but it is normal on my computer and on Etsy. So I'm not just being careless but I also am busy today and don't have time to mess with it.

I've been working a lot on my exercise. I set a personal speed record walking downtown. 38 minutes to walk 2.9 miles on a warm day. I've also been taking yoga and pilates classes and working out in the gym and on cardio equipment. I'm trying to eat better too. That is the hard part. I have come up with some good recipes though. I am working on writing a blog entry about my favorite invention, breakfast ice cream. Actually it's a smoothie that is so thick you eat it with a spoon. So very good.

Melsky Art on etsy

My first craft fair in a long time

2008-06-15T15:53:00.001-07:00

I did the Art on the Porches festival yesterday. I recorded a little synopsis of how it went. You can listen to my story on the player at the bottom of this post.

record yours

I'm living in a swamp

2008-06-08T16:31:00.001-07:00

Little Paintings, originally uploaded by Melsky.

It's 93 degrees and very humid. Yuck. Can we have winter back now, please?

I bought a chaise lounge so I can go in the basement where it is cool and read. We don't have air conditioning. Our windows won't fit an air conditioner!

This morning I went to yoga and now I have been busy painting all day. These are indoor/outdoor paintings on wood. They have a protective varnish on them. I think they would be fun on a porch, especially the welcome sign ones of course. But since I am doing the Art on the Porches festival next weekend I think these are very appropriate.

Wildflowers

2008-06-07T21:00:00.001-07:00

Wildflowers, originally uploaded by Melsky.

Also known as weeds! I got these from my back yard. This is a like an abstract floral painting, except it's a photograph.

I'm getting ready to do my street fair in one week. I'm very excited. I have a lot of new paintings. They are indoor/outdoor paintings/signs on wood. Some of them say welcome.

Tomorrow I'm going to yoga early in the morning and the rest of the day I'm staying at home and painting. I also need to design some business cards and promotional materials.

Summer Night Sky Cat

2008-05-30T12:54:00.001-07:00

Summer Night Sky Cat, originally uploaded by Melsky.

I've finished a new painting. I decided to paint with acrylics today and see what happened. This is the result and I'm very happy with it.

This one is 8x10 on watercolor paper.

Summer Night Sky Cat painting for sale

I'm going to be doing the Art on the Porches festival on June 14th. It's really exciting to be doing a festival again, I have not done one in a long time. I hope the weather is good.

That's one thing I miss about California, the certainty that it would not rain on festival days. It doesn't rain in the Summer in most of California. I do like that it rains in the summer here in New York, it's just that I would like to be able to choose the days!

Summer Day

2008-05-27T06:05:00.001-07:00

Summer Day, originally uploaded by Melsky.

A new painting. This one is a watercolor and ink, but with brighter colors.

I've listed it on etsy:

Summer Day Watercolor Painting for sale

I've been working a lot with my Wacom tablet. That's a method of using a pen to draw digitally on a big tablet so you can do drawings that will show up in an illustration program. It's hard to get used to drawing and painting with it but I am getting better.

I plan on starting a new watercolor soon, something with a cityscape theme I think.

I also went horseback riding last weekend which I enjoyed a lot, and to a picnic.

I did some gardening, mostly pulling up weeds. I'm not sure if I'm going to have any sunflowers in my garden though. I found a lot of sunflower hulls where I had planted them. In related news the birds and squirrels around here are looking fat and happy. Maybe I should try again and bury them deeper.

Spring Makes People Happy

2008-05-18T20:39:00.001-07:00

Spring Makes People Happy, originally uploaded by Melsky.

Spring even makes me happy, grouchy old lover of winter that I am. But I am enjoying doing some gardening. Most of what I planted is seeds and I can't wait until they come up. I planted four varieties of sunflowers, dill, marjoram, basil, cilantro, chives, mint, cosmos, and a a bunch of packets of mixed flower seeds.

I've also been doing more watercolors. They are coming out great, I'm very happy with them. This one is for sale - Spring Makes People Happy Painting for sale on etsy. It's an 11x14 watercolor.

Orange Sunflower Watercolor

2008-05-15T16:29:00.001-07:00

Orange Sunflower Watercolor, originally uploaded by Melsky.

I just finished another painting. It's good to be back to painting again!

Orange Sunflower painting

I've cleaned up my studio too, so it's a lot more pleasant to paint in here.

Today I was walking to the library and I walked into a branch on the sidewalk and it punctured the top of my foot. That really hurt! So now I am trying to stay off it and I will go to the doctor tomorrow if it doesn't get better.

Oh and I quit my job, if I didn't mention that already.

Surreal Joshua Tree Watercolor

2008-05-06T04:29:00.001-07:00

Surreal Joshua Tree Watercolor, originally uploaded by Melsky.

This is my first new painting for quite a while. I started and finished it this weekend.

It is watercolor over pencil and I didn't do any ink lines on it. I wanted to do a familiar subject but with new materials and style.

I have been accused of laying watercolor on with a trowel. Yes, I know that watercolor is supposed to be much more watery, but this is the way I do them.

I tried doing my tumbleweeds in a new style. They look just like cabbages! Little desert cabbages. That's a funny image.

Ollie and Minty

2008-04-25T17:16:00.001-07:00

Ollie and Minty, originally uploaded by Melsky.

Hi, sorry I haven't written for a while. I'm working full time now, and not that much time for internet. Don't have much time now, as a matter of fact! But here is a cute photo of my kitties.

2008-02-27T08:50:00.000-08:00

Busy painting today, but not on the thing I should be working on. I have started a painting that I want to enter into a show. It needs to be finished. But here I am finishing up these little paintings I started a couple of years ago.

But at least I'm painting!

Psycho Kitty

More Watercolors

2008-02-24T05:52:00.001-08:00

New Watercolor on my Studio Table, originally uploaded by Melsky.

I haven't titled this one yet. It's the second one in my series of spring watercolors.

I am having a hard time scanning it because my scanner renders the image in too high of a contrast, making the background all blotchy.

Happy for Spring

2008-02-23T06:39:00.001-08:00

Happy for Spring, originally uploaded by Melsky.

I've been in kind of a funk lately, about painting. I've been finding it hard to get motivated and paint every day. So I decided to work in some other formats. At first I did some collage/assemblage pieces, and they were ok, but I still wasn't feeling excited about the art.

Then I got out my watercolors and I'm really enjoying them. This first painting turned out very well. I've decided to do a series of spring themed watercolors.

I've already completed another painting in the series but it's not scanning well. It has a lot of variations in the coloring, and these are not coming out in the scan, it's showing up at a much higher contrast than it should be. I may have to use photographs, which will be hard to set up. But anyway, I'm happy that the paintings are coming out well.

This painting shows up very badly in this blog, click on the picture to see it larger.

39

2008-02-19T07:24:00.000-08:00

39
Originally uploaded by Melsky

Yesterday was my birthday, it was pretty low key but enjoyable. My husband took me to dinner at a seafood restaurant which we have been to several times and like. He gave me a new edition of the CD London Calling by the Clash which has extra songs on it and video footage of the Clash recording some of the songs on the album.

I also got this Dutch Oven , which I picked out myself. I really love cast iron.

This morning I found that I had sold something on Etsy which I was very pleased about.

The snow has mostly melted, but I did manage to go skiing twice this weekend before the dreaded rain started.

Today I will be taking a long walk, part of which will be to the post office to mail my etsy sale.

Crock Pot Black Bean Soup or Dip (and it's vegan)

2008-02-10T10:03:00.000-08:00

This is great for a cold winter day.

Melsky's Crock Pot Black Bean Soup or Dip

All amounts are approximate; it’s a good recipe to experiment with

3 15oz cans beans

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 tablespoon red pepper flakes

1 red bell pepper

2 onions

3 cloves garlic

3 stalks celery

2 large carrots

1/3 cup olive oil

Slice red pepper and put in crock pot with cumin, red pepper flakes and olive oil

Slice and add onions, carrots, garlic and celery

Cook on high for at least an hour, preferably two. Stir every half hour or so.

Add 2 ½ cans beans and cook for several hours

With a hand blender, blend until soup is smooth, adding water if needed

Add the remaining beans.

If you want to make bean dip instead, just don't add water. If it's too liquid, cook it for a while with the top off.

You can also make it chunky style, just don't blend it.

Another distance in time painting

2008-02-08T09:55:00.001-08:00

Woman and Leaf, originally uploaded by Melsky.

This is a painting I started in 2003 or 2004. I remember I was still living in the desert. I've been going through and finishing up a bunch of my half finished work.

I like doing this, sometimes it's as if the painting was started by someone else.

Unseasonable Thaw

2008-02-06T18:55:00.001-08:00

Unseasonable Thaw, originally uploaded by Melsky.

I went on a long walk yesterday, from downtown Syracuse up Erie street to Eastwood. It takes an hour. The snow was melting and there were rivers of water everywhere. I was glad I was wearing my waterproof snow boots.

I really wish it would snow though, I want to go skiing in the park. I should have bought water skis instead of cross country. It's supposed to snow for the next few days so hopefully it will.

I haven't been doing too much creative the past few days except for photography.

Syracuse Street Scene

2008-02-04T19:30:00.001-08:00

This is an Artist Trading Card (atc). It's the same size as a baseball card. It's my first painting of Syracuse. I don't know what happened with the scan. It's kind of blurry.

I'm happy to be painting some more local things. I started this last fall.

I drove for the first time the other day. It felt very natural and easy, I forgot that I hadn't driven for three whole years. I just need to schedule the actual driving part of the test and take it and I will have my license.

Easy Pumpkin Muffins - so moist and good.

2008-02-01T07:24:00.001-08:00

Best Pumpkin Muffins Ever, originally uploaded by Melsky.

These were so good! They were also very easy. I used this recipe, but I used whole wheat flour. I did use the whole can of pumpkin like she did. They are incredibly moist. I didn't add the sugar/cinnamon mixture on top. I think they would be good as cupcakes with frosting on top. Next time I make them I plan on adding walnuts, which I meant to do this time but forgot.

They are not good when warm, they were a bit gooey at first but when they cooled they reached a perfect moist yet firm texture. It's a little bit like pumpkin pie, with the large amount of pumpkin and the two eggs.

Instead of pumpkin pie spice called for in the recipe I used a quarter tablespoon each of powdered ginger, cloves and nutmeg, and a tablespoon of cinnamon.

On edit: I have made these muffins a bunch of times and have included my version of the recipe since I've made so many changes.

Melsky's Pumpkin Muffins

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup whole wheat flour

½ cup bran

1 tsp baking powder

1 15 oz can pumpkin

1/3 cup vegetable oil

2 eggs

1 tsp cinnamon

½ teaspoon ginger

½ teaspoon cloves

½ teaspoon nutmeg

1 teaspoon vanilla

1.25 cups sugar

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350F.

Generously butter a 12 cup muffin tin, or use paper liners

Whisk together flour, bran and baking powder in a small bowl.

Whisk together pumpkin, oil, eggs, spices, vanilla, sugar, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl until smooth, then stir in dry mixture until just combined. Do not over mix, that can make muffins too dense.

Divide batter evenly among muffin cups

Bake until muffin springs back when touched, 25 to 30 minutes.

These are best eaten when cool, because they are slightly mushy when you first take them out of the oven. If you would like to eat them warm, I recommend slicing them in half and toasting them.

Variation: Add ½ cup walnuts, dried cranberries or raisins if desired

You can also omit the bran and just use another half cup wheat flour.

Sky Fish Mirror

2008-01-30T13:59:00.001-08:00

Sky Fish Mirror, originally uploaded by Melsky.

This is a mirror I just finished and put up on etsy

Sky Fish mirror.

I passed my written drivers test this morning on my first try with 100 percent correct. Now I have to take driving classes and then the driving part of the test.

I already know how to drive, I learned when I was 16 and drove for 20 years, so I'm not worried about it.

Sky Fish Heart

2008-01-29T19:32:00.001-08:00

Sky Fish Heart, originally uploaded by Melsky.

This is a new painting, another one in the Sky Fish series. All of the other Sky Fish have sold so far. It's kind of like the Pieces symbol too, so I'm hoping someone might buy it for that.

Pieces Sky Fish Heart painting on Etsy

I just finished a mirror that matches this and I will put it up tomorrow because I'm too tired to scan it right now.

I have a few more things I've put up lately that I haven't blogged. Oh dear, I am being lazy on my blogging!

This is one of them, a collaged card with Frida Kahlo and a deer.

This is a magnet called CALL ME

Recently I had thought about going back to selling on Ebay. Well, I just read that Ebay lowered their listing fees and now gallery is free. Great! So am I going to sell on Ebay now? No, because they raised their final value fees (that's what they call their commission off the final price) and you can no longer leave negative feedback for buyers, and paypal won't release your money until you get positive feedback! So, no way. My big fear is that ebay will buy etsy. Shudder!

Last week I took a lot of photos of downtown Syracuse and now I'm thinking about painting something based on them. I'm excited about the new project and I hope it will spur me into getting some offline exposure.

Cross Country Skiing

2008-01-27T11:24:00.001-08:00

Cross Country Skiing at Tug Hill, originally uploaded by Melsky.

Yesterday I went cross country skiing at Tug Hill with my friend Adina. We had a great time. The conditions were perfect.

Today I am going to stay at home and work on some artwork and house stuff.

More Miss Gabrielle Ray

2008-01-22T18:21:00.001-08:00

Miss Gabrielle Ray magnet, originally uploaded by Melsky.

I've made another item with that same picture. This is made in the lid of a paint can. The color around the rim matches my bedroom walls. It's kind of a steampunk look - that is something that has a Victorian or Edwardian kind of aesthetic mixed with a kind of machine age modernism.

Miss Gabrielle Ray magnet for sale on Etsy

Miss Gabrielle Ray

2008-01-20T12:46:00.001-08:00

Miss Gabrielle Ray, originally uploaded by Melsky.

This is a greeting card I made with a photo of the Edwardian actress Miss Gabrielle Ray (a lot of her photos say Miss Gabrielle Ray on them, so I always put the Miss in there because that's how I think of her.)

She was a very popular actress and postcard model. There are hundreds of postcards of her, if you Google her name you will see lots of them.

The border and background is hand painted.

Miss Gabrielle Ray card for sale

Something Old

2008-01-20T08:51:00.001-08:00

This is an assemblage collage multimedia piece that I did in the early 90s when I lived in San Francisco. My ex boyfriend has it and took a few photos of it for me. It's interesting to look at it now that I'm doing some other collages.

Messy and productive studio

2008-01-19T09:43:00.001-08:00

My Studio January 18 2008, originally uploaded by Melsky.

I'm working on some collage/assemblage multimedia mirror frames. I haven't done this type of work in a long time. I'm also finishing up my Sky Fish series. Pictured is the Sky Fish mirror and a Pisces heart painting. I'm working on a two canvas day and night Sky Fish painting that is not pictured.

The painting on the easel is something I started over a year ago and am going to finish now. Soon, I hope!

Oddity City, an abstract floral city painting

2008-01-12T19:40:00.000-08:00

Oddity City
Originally uploaded by Melsky

I finished this today.

For this painting, I did two things I don't usually do. I scanned it in different stages of progress. It's also on a new material I'm trying out, it's a think piece of masonite with a textured coating that is supposed to be good for doing detail work. It was ok, but it's more expensive than the canvas I have been using and I don't like it as much.

I may try some new types of canvas, maybe some with a finer weave than I've been using.

Oddity City painting for sale

In progress:

and

and

Oddity City Work in Progress 2

2008-01-09T17:14:00.001-08:00

Oddity City Work in Progress 2, originally uploaded by Melsky.

I worked a little more on my painting today. It looks terrible, they always do at this point. It helps me to look at photos of my past works in progress so I don't get discouraged in this middle point.

I'm happy to say all the Christmas stuff is packed away and the tree has been recycled. I think they chop them up into mulch or something.

I'm working on painting the upstairs bedroom. It's a buttery yellow glaze. That means it's kind of streaky and uneven, a bit like parchment. I waver between liking it a lot and thinking it looks terrible.

Crown Martini on Wood

2008-01-07T08:08:00.001-08:00

Crown Martini, originally uploaded by Melsky.

This is a new painting in my Etsy Store, Crown Martini.

I'm still having my Melsky art 2008 New Years Sale

I just sold two paintings privately, both fish paintings to a very nice person who lives in England but went to my same high school, but different years.

I took a break from listing stuff on Etsy while I thought about where I was going artistically. I had though about not selling any more of the smaller paintings, to possibly do nothing smaller than an 8x10 on canvas. I was thinking about just doing larger, more expensive paintings and selling mainly prints in my etsy store. But I've decided not to do that, at least for the time being. I'm going to start doing larger, more complex expensive works and make prints from that. But I will also keep doing my smaller, simpler paintings of fish, cats, martinis and those sort of things. When I get ready to sell prints more complexly I may get a seperate etsy store for them, like Melsky Fine Art, so I will have a craft painting division and a fine art division.

I'm having a sale!

2008-01-06T17:31:00.001-08:00

Mornings at the Money Laundromat, originally uploaded by Tom Q.

I marked down some things in my Etsy store, some by as much as 50 percent. Since it's the new year, I want to get some old stuff out and get new stuff in. I do have a lot of new paintings to put in and those should be going in over the next couple of days. I listed that red cat one today.

Sale will be going on at least until the end of the month.

Visit the SALE at MELSKY ART STORE

Oddity City sketch

2008-01-05T19:04:00.001-08:00

Oddity City sketch, originally uploaded by Melsky.

This is a sketch of a new painting I'm working on. I'm going to scan it at various stages of it's completion and make an animation of it's progress.

It is on a new material I am trying out. It's white, not blue but it scans blue and shows every erase mark. It is a gesso mixture on top of wood.

I don't really like it so far. I was hoping that it would be very absorbent but it's not.

I'm trying to decide if I should go to California now or wait until the spring. I don't want to miss any skiing so I kind of want to wait until spring. Then again, the wildflowers will be blooming in the desert and I would love to see that. I'm so excited about walking around LA and taking photos.

I'm toying with the idea of doing a book blog. Yeah, I know i have a lot of blogs already. But this is the last one, I swear. I started using a site called Goodreads to catalog my books, but so many of the books I'm reading are odd old obscure things that are way out of print that don't even show up on the searches. It would be kind of cool if you could add images of your covers but you can't.

I've actually had this idea of the book blog for a long time now and need to find the reviews I wrote over a year ago. I wish I had started it when I was writing those reviews!

Heart and Olives

2008-01-04T18:30:00.001-08:00

Heart and Olives, originally uploaded by Melsky.

This is a multi media painting on a wooden block. The other side is painted too. I'm not sure whether to attatch a hanger in such a manner that it could be hung up with either side showing, or leave it as it is, a freestanding piece. I have a bunch of these that were started over a year ago. I have been looking for them for a while now, and it turns out they were in with my Christmas stuff. So I'll be finishing up a series of ten or so of these.

I'm planning on having a big sale in my Etsy store starting on Monday. Time to clear out a lot of stuff and put in new stuff.

Red Cat

2008-01-04T08:06:00.001-08:00

Red Cat, originally uploaded by Melsky.

Another day, another cat. I think I am going to do a big series of these with different colored backgrounds. I may put them up on Etsy. Still trying to decide what to do.

Happy New Year

2008-01-01T17:03:00.001-08:00

Three Fish square, originally uploaded by Melsky.

This is my first painting of the new year. I haven't put it up on Etsy yet. I'm not sure if I'm going to. I may stop selling the smaller works of art online and just sell larger paintings and then prints or greeting cards of them. I'm not sure where I'm going.

monkey oranges

2007-12-30T17:08:00.001-08:00

monkey oranges, originally uploaded by Melsky.

I'm still sick, but it's not as bad as I thought it would be, I'm just slightly uncomfortable. It's not turning into the full fledged sinus infection from hell that I was worried it would be. At least not yet!

I bought a whole bunch of books, mostly about ghosts and New York State history. There's a great book store up the street from me. It's been nice being sick, reading about ghosts under my electric blanket with my cat by my side. I guess if I have to have a cold this is as good as it gets.

Ollie and Minty visit the sick

2007-12-29T14:25:00.001-08:00

Ollie and Minty visit the sick, originally uploaded by Melsky.

I have a cold. The cats love it when I'm sick and spend a lot of time in bed. Oliver likes to be held like a teddy bear.

Christmas Cookies

2007-12-24T21:16:00.001-08:00

Christmas Cookies, originally uploaded by Melsky.

Merry Christmas!

Looking Serious

2007-12-24T07:00:00.001-08:00

Looking Serious, originally uploaded by Melsky.

This is me. I have been taking a lot of photos of myself because I need a really good one for some of the sites I am selling prints of my work on.

I think I need one where I am smiling though, so I modified this one to look vintage.

My Studio, December 22

2007-12-22T17:33:00.001-08:00

My Studio, December 22, originally uploaded by Melsky.

These are some of the things I'm working on now.

I went skiing again today and it was great! I'm tired now and it's only 8:30.

Me in my living room, with an insane look

2007-12-19T20:35:00.001-08:00

Me in my living room, with an insane look, originally uploaded by Melsky.

Here's me without glasses! I had a pretty uneventful day, post office, cleaning house, laundry, grocery store. Then I went out to dinner at Kitty Hoynes Irish Pub. We enjoyed ourselves very much except for one thing, they were playing Frank Sinatra, which I am not a fan of at any time but when I'm in an Irish place that is about the last thing I want to hear. So we went to the Limerick pub which was almost empty so I got control of the juke box!

My cat Oliver is trying to crawl on me as I type this.

Adventure in Space: Space Pilots

2007-12-18T17:55:00.001-08:00

Adventure in Space: Space Pilots, originally uploaded by Paula Wirth.

Didn't do much today so here is a cool picture of space pilots.

I shoveled a lot of snow to make room for Dave's car, did some cooking and housecleaning and a tiny bit of painting. Never made it to the grocery store. I cuddled the cats a lot, that's important.

It's supposed to snow tonight but not stick. I'm going to try to go skiing in the park, and go to the post office and go to the grocery store... I hope.

I did make a lot of high resolution scans of my paintings to make stuff on Zazzle. That's something at least.

Snow

2007-12-17T18:41:00.000-08:00

Well, I spent most of the day shoveling snow. A lot of the day. It felt like all day. I am tired. I just keep telling myself it's good exercise. I actually kind of like doing it, just not for this long!

It's still snowing.

Tomorrow I plan on painting no matter what.

Our House Decorated for Chrismas

2007-12-16T19:18:00.001-08:00

Our House Decorated for Chrismas, originally uploaded by Melsky.

Big storm today, which is still going on! There's enough snow that we could ski on the street. We also went to the park to ski but there was too much snow there and we were sinking in to far even though the ski trails were groomed.

Skiing by our house, originally uploaded by Melsky.

Colorful Painting, Blah Day

2007-12-15T20:33:00.001-08:00

Colorful Excitement, originally uploaded by Melsky.

This weekend we were going to have company on Saturday and Sunday was a big Christmas party for David's work. Both events were cancelled, the visitors due to illness and the party due to a huge snowstorm that is supposed to come through here. I was kind of looking forward to both things. I think I need to make some more friends in meatspace. I'm lonely.

I did no painting today, that painting I'm showing is pretty old. I did some cleaning and I made blueberry muffins and a stew.

Our Christmas Tree, Cats and New Couches

2007-12-13T20:04:00.001-08:00

Our Christmas Tree, Cats and New Couches, originally uploaded by Melsky.

We finally got somewhere to sit in our living room. Since we moved in last August, there's only been one chair in the living room and nowhere to be comfortable and entertain guests.

We got these very cheap, they are lease returns, which means that someone leased them and returned them, and then the leasing company sold them to us. I'm not crazy about the blue color but they were the most comfortable and also the cheapest.

The cats really like them. As soon as they recovered from the terror of having deliverymen in the house they had a great time exploring the new furniture. In addition to the couch and love seat, we got four coffee tables, two nightstands, an office chair and a dresser. So we won't need any more furniture for a long time.

Finally, a place to sit in the living room.

2007-12-12T18:12:00.000-08:00

We got our new couch and loveseat today. It makes a big difference to have somewhere to sit in the living room.

This is another Psycho Kitty painting I finished on wood. It's hard to scan or photograph it because it has a glossy coating on it and they don't turn out well.

Earnest Cat

2007-12-10T18:48:00.001-08:00

Grey Cat, originally uploaded by Melsky.

Doesn't this cat look earnest? Like he wants to go home with you maybe.

This is a painting I did very quickly and it's already been sent off to someone! But you can buy prints and greeting cards of it in my store: Melsky Art on Zazzle. This is a new store I just opened. They sell greeting cards, prints, magnets, t-shirts and mugs. I ordered mugs and cards the other day and I'm really looking forward to seeing them.

I'm working on Christmas Cards right now, ones that I made and am sending.

A blah day

2007-12-09T18:43:00.000-08:00

I wanted to go skiing but it's been melty. We were supposed to go to Binghamton to see a friend of Dave's but there was a weather advisory so we didn't. Supposed to be freezing rain. Dave decided to spend the afternoon getting snow tires put on his car but nowhere was open. I put the tree up but we don't have enough lights and I've kind of stopped in the middle until I can get more lights. I feel unmotivated.

I made a half batch of chocolate chip cookies, made six cookies, which we ate, and then intended to put the rest of the dough in the freezer for next weekend except we accidentally ate it all. Haven't got much painting done either.

So that was today, not a great day or a really terrible day but just an unsatisfactory one.

Welcome Sign

2007-12-08T20:31:00.001-08:00

Another welcome sign available on Etsy

I got our Christmas tree today but haven't set it up yet. Tomorrow we decorate! I'm going to take a lot of photos. It's a smaller tree than I had planned on but I carried it home for one and a half miles so I couldn't get a huge one. It's still a good size. I just wish we had a couch or something comfortable for the living room so we would like to hang out in there. It's a cold and uncomfortable room, though it's very pretty.

Yellow Syracuse Fire Truck

2007-12-06T12:14:00.001-08:00

Yellow Syracuse Fire Truck, originally uploaded by Melsky.

Can you see where I did the clumsy editing job here? I took this from my window and my next door neighbor had a big pile of trash in his driveway that showed in the foreground. So I duplicated the snow and covered it!

Today I went cross country skiing. I love that I can walk to go skiing! Sunnycrest park is about three blocks away and when it's not covered in snow it's a golf course. When the snow comes they make trails in it, and there's a ski lodge where they rent skis on weekends. This was my first time cross country skiing ever and I loved it. But I would like to find some place flatter. I did great except for the parts with hills. And there's lots of hills! I don't mind going up the hills but down is very scary and I actually just took my skis off and walked down a few of them.

After shoveling the driveway and then skiing, I was very hungry and made myself a nice piece of salmon and some rice for lunch.

Welcome

2007-12-05T11:43:00.001-08:00

I'm on a sign painting rampage! I love these signs. They look so cute in the house all together. I guess I should take a photo of that.

Welcome Sign for sale

I'm really sleepy today.

Wine Bar Sign

2007-12-05T06:46:00.000-08:00

Ok, if Martinis aren't your thing, how about a nice glass of red?

Wine Bar Sign painting for sale

I do actually drink wine, about two or three times a month. I did not drink any before painting this sign though.

It's still snowing! I decided to slack off on clearing the snow out of my driveway. A lot of my neighbors have not cleared their driveway or walks at all. We have a clause in our lease that says they have to be clear but last night my husband pointed out that even if we had hired someone to do it, they would only be doing it once a day tops. Then someone on my LiveJournal pointed out that they only do it every 24 hours. So I am going to slack off today. My back and shoulders are very sore, but it's a good sore not painful.

Today, more painting and I may also take a walk to go to play it again sam to get my skis.

Snow in our Backyard

2007-12-04T05:31:00.001-08:00

Snow in our Backyard, originally uploaded by Melsky.

Wow, did it ever snow. And it's still snowing. I have to go shovel the driveway. That's probably going to take over an hour. I do actually enjoy it though, once I get out there and get going. It's great exercise!

Pink Peony Mirror

2007-12-03T18:04:00.001-08:00

Pink Peony Mirror, originally uploaded by Melsky.

This isn't a new item. i didn't finish anything today! I just thought I would post this because it's one of the things I'm surprised hasn't sold and I think it turned out really well, especially the green pod parts.

Pink Peony Mirror

I did sell a bunch of stuff to someone who was my very first Etsy customer! He also bought stuff from me on Ebay. I think he owns some of my flying saucer paintings. Anyway, I was thrilled to wake up to a big sale.

Today it rained, then a big snowstorm came in, the kind with lots of wind where the snow looks like it's snowing horizontally. I had to walk to the post office in that! I kept putting it off, then as I was finally getting ready to go Dave came home early and was able to give me a ride. So procrastination paid off for me, for once.

Back to the Martini Bar

2007-12-02T12:29:00.001-08:00

The other bar sign I made sold very fast! So here is another one.

Martini Trio Bar Sign For Sale

I also am working on a wine bar sign. I love these signs! I may do a separate Etsy store for just signs eventually. I'm planning some changes in my store, will probably not be selling the smaller items in my main art store, but just selling large paintings and prints. But I do enjoy painting these small signs. I'd also like to do some street fairs with them.

Anyway, I have to go shovel snow. My mantra when I shovel snow is: It's good exercise, it's good exercise, it's good exercise. I imagine my abs becoming very firm by spring. But I totally don't want to do it right now.

More Olives Please

2007-12-01T18:41:00.001-08:00

When my husband saw this martini magnet I just painted he commented that it made him want to eat olives. He really loves olives. I like the black ones ok but I don't like the ones with pimentos, the ones I paint all the time. I like the way they look though. I like martinis but probably have about one per year.

Martini with Extra Olives magnet

Chili Lights Margarita Holiday Card

2007-11-30T07:00:00.001-08:00

Chili Lights Margarita, originally uploaded by Melsky.

This is another one of my entries in that contest.

Make a MOO Greetings Card with this image and help raise money for Médecins Sans Frontières

You'll be taken straight to a page on MOO with my image selected, ready for you to customise and buy.

Find out more about MOO Greetings Cards

Martini Bar

2007-11-28T18:55:00.001-08:00

When I lived in San Francisco in the early 90s I used to paint a lot of bar and cafe signs on wood. Now I am revisiting my past. This is one I just finished.

I got all these pieces of wood that have holes drilled in them with metal reenforcements and really silly pieces of string as hangers. So I got rid of the string and put brass wire, with spirals at the ends to hold it and I think it looks very good.

Martini Bar Sign on Etsy

Cosmic Cafe Sign

2007-11-27T19:39:00.001-08:00

Cosmic Cafe Sign, originally uploaded by Melsky.

I've started doing a series of signs on wood.

In the early 90s I used to make a lot of signs and sell them in a store on Haight Street when I lived in San Francisco.

I love painting on wood. Once I mentioned this to someone and they launched into this long series of instructions for how to paint on wood: first, sand the hell out of it. Then put on many, many coats of gesso until it is totally smooth.

But that's not painting on wood, that's painting on gesso! I like painting on naked wood, so that the grain shows through. Sometimes I use transparent colored glazes on it so the wood shows through even more.

A lot of what I like is the way the paint absorbs into the wood very fast. If you gesso the wood, you don't get that beautiful absorption.

Anyway, here's my Cosmic Cafe sign on etsy

My Muse is also my biggest distraction

2007-11-27T07:49:00.001-08:00

Oliver Loves My Hair, originally uploaded by Melsky.

This is Cousin Oliver the cat "The Muse that mews".

He does inspire a lot of my art but he also wants to be picked up all the time so he can stick his head in my hair.

He also doesn't like it if I wear anything in my hair, such as hair clips, headbands or hats. He will remove them with his teeth!

Martini Madness

2007-11-26T18:03:00.000-08:00

Martini Heart Ornament

Spiral Sky Martini Painting

The painting is the first of my paintings on a bunch of wood I got. I love painting on wood! I like the way it absorbs the paint.

It's raining and all the snow is gone. I walked a half mile to the post office to mail a painting to someone and then I realized I forgot something I needed to mail so I went back and got it. I was glad I got in a two mile walk, even though half of it was just because I am forgetful.

Mojave Desert Christmas Card

2007-11-25T15:56:00.001-08:00

Mojave Desert Christmas Card, originally uploaded by Melsky.

This is a painting I did for a Christmas Card contest. You can order cards with it and I also have the original available on Etsy:

Mojave Desert Christmas Painting

I did a lot of other artwork today but my scanner is not working all of the sudden so I'll have to put it up tomorrow.

Sky Fish

2007-11-24T20:05:00.001-08:00

Sky Fish, originally uploaded by Melsky.

This is a silly new painting. it's 7x5 inches and is actually the sketch for a larger version I'm planning.

Sky Fish painting for sale

Have a lot of art in progress and did a lot of work today as well as watching cartoons and cooking, and eating, and not exercising. As of tomorrow I consider the holiday over and I'm going to go back to long walks, cardio and eating healthy which I was doing so good on before. Next year I think we will go out to eat and then not have to deal with feeling like I want to make tons of food and then dealing with the constant temptation of the leftovers.

Contemporary Abstract Floral

2007-11-23T19:49:00.001-08:00

Contemporary Abstract Floral, originally uploaded by Melsky.

I used a different color scheme than I usually do, but I like it. I call it a contemporary abstract floral because I was trying to make something modern but nonthreatening, something you might find in a hotel or restaurant. It sort of looks like that, at least more than a lot of my paintings.

Contemporary Abstract Floral Painting

I ate too much, despite my best intentions

2007-11-22T21:53:00.001-08:00

Pink Peony Mirror, originally uploaded by Melsky.

I've been busy painting. I'm almost done with my cat and desert themed Christmas painting that I am going to use on my cards.

I sold a painting today!

Since I don't have anything new I thought I would put up one of my older pieces that I think is really nice. It's a mirror but when I scanned it, it came out black!

Pink Peony Mirror

2007-11-21T04:59:00.000-08:00

Floral Fun, originally uploaded by Melsky.

Isn't this a fun painting? It's one I started about a year ago. I had the backgrounds painted and they didn't look like they would work. Now I put on some foreground colors and black outlining and I love it!

I'm especially fond of the way the lilacs came out. That technique of painting lilacs is something pretty new for me.

Flower Fun abstract floral painting for sale

I took a long walk today and it was beautiful. The snow is all melted and it's fall again. Everywhere you look there are carpets of brilliant yellow leaves. It's not so pretty for people who have to rake and don't like it though.

I just got my first spam comment! Now I feel like a real blogger. I haven't been really worried about spam because I figured if anyone left a spam comment I'd just delete it. To my surprise, this blog does not seem to have an option for deleting comments, unless I'm missing something really obvious here. So I turned on the moderate comments setting, which means that I have to approve comments before they are added but at least no one is going to put links to porn sites on my blog.

To get rid of that comment I had to delete my whole post and put it back up again.

Blue Psycho Kitty

2007-11-19T19:21:00.001-08:00

Blue Psycho Kitty, originally uploaded by Melsky.

More Psycho Kitty! This time in blue on a yellow and red background. Canvas panels always scan so badly! The original image looks so much smoother.

Psycho Kitty art for sale

Untasted has made avatars out of a lot of my paintings for her avatar community on LiveJournal. So if you use avatars for LiveJournal or any other blog or message board, check them out: Melsky Avatars

I bought four cardio exercise machines on craigslist and they are being delivered tomorrow! I'm exited about it. I have been staying pretty much on my plan, based on Body for Life, and I have not been overeating and have not missed any days exercising. The plan calls for eating six small meals a day, with a serving of carbs and protein in each one, doing twenty minutes of interval cardio three times a week, lifting weights three times a week, and one free day where you get to eat whatever and not exercise. I have not been weighing myself but I can tell I'm losing some fat. It makes me happy that I'm looking forward so much to getting these new cardio machines because I think they will get a lot of use and give me some more variety. Right now all I have is a Nordic Trac.

Orange Psycho Kitty

2007-11-18T18:38:00.001-08:00

Orange Psycho Kitty, originally uploaded by Melsky.

Here's my painting for today.

Psycho Kitty is a reoccurring character that pops up in my paintings a lot.

I started drawing Psycho Kitty in high school. I used to doodle a lot. Psycho Kitty originally had an owner named Druid Bob but I stopped drawing him.

Psycho kitty represents the insane side of all cats, like when they run around and chase invisible things.

Psycho Kitty painting for sale on Etsy

Fantastic Eclectic Fragmented Mysterious Painting

2007-11-16T20:50:00.001-08:00

Fantastic Eclectic Fragmented Mysterious Painting, originally uploaded by Melsky.

I wrote the longest item description for this painting on Etsy. I hope it doesn't put people off. It's kind of weird but I think people who like my art might think it was funny. At any rate, it's what was on my mind.

Fantastic Eclectic Fragmented Mysterious Painting for sale

Cat Crown Fish Artist's Trading Card

2007-11-15T20:52:00.001-08:00

Cat Crown Fish Artist's Trading Card, originally uploaded by Melsky.

Here's my painting for today!

Cat Crown Fish painting

It's trading card size, 2.5x3.5

It's supposed to snow tonight.

Sunny Day In The Mojave

2007-11-14T17:52:00.001-08:00

Joshua Tree Sun, originally uploaded by Melsky.

Another desert painting. I wonder sometimes if I ever moved back to the desert if I would paint a bunch of stuff inspired by Toronto and Syracuse. I've noticed that when I leave a place or a time in my life that I dream about it. For a long time my dreams were set at my grandmother's house in La Mesa, California. There was almost always something bad happening in the dream, the house was on fire or people were breaking in. In one memorable dream Bruce Springsteen was breaking in through the laundry room!

I didn't dream about San Francisco much until I left it. I dream about the desert surprisingly little for all the impact it has had on me artistically. Now I have started to have some dreams about Toronto. It's like I'm filing things away and sorting them out since I am no longer there.

It's been a lovely fall day today. I went on a long walk and took some photos of leaves and stuff. There is enough fuel for the artist's imagination here. I love fall colors and old buildings.

Anyway, here's a link to today's painting: A Sunny Day in the Mojave with Joshua Tree