Feline Friday: Mr. E

Inspired by the family portrait I was commissioned to do, I've decided to do one of my own happy family.  I, however, have been struggling over how to depict my beloved Mr. E.  I can't decide to go with a more tender and distinguished look for him or with a more crazed look that focuses on his enormous, ever-dilated eyes and constantly open and meowing mouth.  Decisions, decisions.  It's going to be a tough one.  I guess I'll have to see how the sketches of the rest of us turn out before committing to an interpretation of the fluff ball.  Until then, here are some of the preliminary sketches of Mr. E.  Happy Friday!   

distinguished, yet disgruntled

CRAZY.  Imagine waking up to this in your face every morning.

Monster Monday: The Legend of Bandit the Ghost Clown!

This one will take some explaining...

YEARS ago, like the year after I graduated college, I did this painting:

1984, acrylic on board, 16"x20"

This will ALSO need some explaining.  The painting above is a portrait of myself on Halloween just before I turned 2.  While rummaging through some old family photos I happened upon a set of pictures from Halloween 1984.  These photos were, how should I put this?  CREEPY!  Yes, pictures of myself at 2 creeped me out.  Seriously.  I mean, just look at one!  Doesn't it look like something from a horror movie?  Like, I could see the child in this picture doing some kind of Michael Meyers stuff.  Horrifying!  (I didn't do anything like that, so it's all good.)

Me circa Halloween 1984

To this day I'm completely baffled by my outfit.  I have no recollection of this ever happening.  Further investigation of these photos revealed that my costume, well, at least the make up, was done by my brother.  I have it in writing.  My dad was good about dating and giving brief details on the backs of photos.  Thanks, Dad!

Ok, back to the painting.  I know I had a reason for doing the painting, but it escapes me now.  It was a personal project, so maybe I was trying to work some stuff out...or maybe I just thought it'd be fun.  Whatever the case, I was happy with the painting and it has hung in my living room since it's completion.  I mean, every house needs a weird clown painting, right?  I even had to fight my mother for it.  For some reason, she really wanted this painting.  REALLY.

As I said, this painting has been in my home for years and I'm sure it's weirded a lot of people out.  This was confirmed a few weeks ago.  I had stumbled upon the 1984 Halloween photos again and kept one out and placed it next to the painting, just because.  What can I say?  I do things sometimes.  A friend was over, just hanging out, when she noticed the photograph on the wall and was shocked to discover that the thing in the photo, and subsequently the painting, was me.  Her reaction to the picture and the painting inspired me to make my 1984 costume into this week's monster!  I redid the character, of course, to make it just a little less creepy.  So, without further adieu, I give you Bandit, the Ghost Clown!  Happy Monday!

Bandit the Ghost Clown.  Coming soon to front doors everywhere!

Feline Friday: A Little Bit of Sugar

Just a little somethin' I'm working on for a group show coming up in October.  Happy Friday!

Monster Monday: Doughnuts!

The werewolf was very satisfied after taking a big bite out of a jelly filled doughnut!  Happy Monday!

copyright Geri Shields, 2012

Feline Friday: An Office Cat Update

For those of you that don't know, there is a cat that has made it's home in the building complex of my day job office.  She is the second office cat.  I was able to find a loving home for the first cat.  This one showed up shortly after that and promptly found her place in one of the lesser used chairs in the office.  In return for her day time companionship, I give her food, water, a small shelter on the side of the building, and plenty of pets.  A few months ago I gave in and gave her the name Kiki.

Over the past few months that she's been here, she's proven to be quite scrappy and keen hunter.  It looked as though she had a good handle on things and could pretty much take care of herself, until one day last week.  I pulled up to work last Friday morning to see her waiting for me by the door, as usual.  Something was different, though.  She had large clumps of dried blood on the top of her head directly above each eye.  I cleaned her up a bit and it honestly didn't look too bad so we just continued on with the day as normal.  Come Monday, the swelling above her right eye was gone.  I took that as a good sign.  Tuesday, things began to change in a way I hadn't expected.  The swelling above her left eye, which hadn't changed since Friday morning, had gotten bigger. 

Thinking over the situation on Tuesday night, I decided I need to take her to the vet.  Wednesday morning I put a cat carrier in the car and headed for work.  After arriving at work I noticed the swelling was much worse and promptly made an appointment with my vet for later in the afternoon.  Throughout the day I kept checking Kiki's eye only to discover that the swelling was rapidly increasing, so much so that her eye was swollen shut.  At that point, I decided to pack her up and head to the vet early. 

I should say that this is the point where the story might get a bit unpleasant.  Just thought I'd worn you.  Now, we all know that getting any cat into a carrier can be a challenge, and even more so with a stray.  This was the case, only it was much worse than I had ever expected.  She did put up a bit of a struggle, but that wasn't the bad part.  She tried to dart out as the cage door was closing and hit her head against it.  I guess this applied just enough pressure on the swollen part of her face, that, and I shutter when I say this, it popped!  I was moritfied!  My poor office cat!  Now, with blood streaming down her face, I put Kiki in the car and raced to the vet.  It was a tortured car ride, though more for me than for her, I think.

Anyway, the visit to the vet offered nothing but good news!  The swelling was due to one of the wounds on her head getting infected.  The popping of said abscess ended up being an "ok" thing, only because the vet didn't have to lance the wound to drain it.  Still, it seemed like a traumatic way to go about it, but stuff happens.  So, Kiki got cleaned up and was given antibiotics to help fight the infection.  Since I had her at the vet I went ahead and had them test her for feline leukemia.  She tested negative and was vaccinated.  Way to go, girl! 

Kiki is now back at the office and things have pretty much gotten back to normal.  Her face looks a million times better than it did on Wednesday.  I still have no idea what happened to cause the wounds, but at least I know she's going to be ok.  

After visiting the vet.

Looking better!

She was napping in the "wrong" chair, but I didn't have the heart to move her.

Monster Monday: An Intro

The spurt of fall like weather around these parts has me thinking about Halloween already.  The fact that certain stores have already put out their Halloween goods for this year is also helping me get into the spirit.  In response to this, I've decided to add a new little feature to the blog, at least for a while.  Welcome to MONSTER MONDAY!  From now til Halloween, I'll be posting something from the creepy, crawly files every Monday.  To kick things off, I created this fun little creature.  He seems like a happy, and VERY satisfied werewolf, but what did he eat?  Check back next week to uncover the mystery!

copyright Geri Shields, 2012

Feline Friday is Out and About, sorta...

Just droppin' in this Friday to announce a couple of things. 

First:  I will be at the Fountain Square Indie Craft Market tonight in lovely downtown Cincinnati.  I'm not on the master list of vendors, but my goods will be represented.  Look for my stuff next to the talented Saint Lexi!  Festivities start at 5pm.  See you there!

Second:  If you haven't noticed, I like to have at least one new thing to bring with me to each crafty/arty fair.  Tonight, I will unveil the prints of my favorite version from my "experiment" series.  It will be available in an 8"x10" size, as well as smaller, but equally cute 5"x7" size.  The 8"x10" print will also be available in my shop shortly. 

Happy Friday!

8"x10" print

5"x7" print

Feline Friday: Experiments: Round 4

This week I've been getting back into the swing of things and found I had time to revisit my experiments.  I tried my hand at digital painting, which I haven't done in quite some time.  It yielded some good things, I think.  Anyway, I liked the outcome of this one.

 





































To refresh your memory, here's all 4 versions.  Happy Friday!

Mission Completed: A special painting and new prints!

A few months ago I found out that some of my very close friends were expecting their first child.  Congratulations Jon and Melinda!  Over the next few weeks I set out on a mission to create a special piece for their nursery.  The painting was completed well in advance of the baby shower and it took everything I had not to let the secret slip out.  The shower was held a few weeks back and the painting was lovingly received, along with an adorable companion painting that Zach did.  Now that the secret painting is safe in it's new home, I can share the image with you!  Here is "Ollie." 

OLLIE, acrylic on canvas, 12"x12"       copyright Geri Shields, 2012

And, because I loved it, here is the little number that Zach came up with for the nursery. 

acrylic on canvas, 12"x12"         copyright Zach Kestermann, 2012

Although the original "Ollie" is spoken for, I ended up loving the piece so much that I went ahead and made prints of it, mainly so I could keep a little piece of it with me, but also to share it with others.  The prints are now available in my shop.

Ollie 8"x10" print, available now!

Also newly added to the shop are prints of the painting "Big Rock Kitty Meowtain."

Big Rock Kitty Meowtain 8"x10" print, available now!