Currently I am now permanently showing and selling my artwork at two places in Solvang - Wandering Dog Wine Bar and the Mirabelle Inn. Between the two places, there are probably about 65 - 70 watercolor paintings being exhibited throughout each location. This has been a nice leap forward for me - having the permanent exhibits - because there is a lot of time and energy that goes into setting up and taking down each individual Show.
My jewelry is also being shown and sold permanently at Carina Cellars Wine Bar in Los Olivos- a short drive from Solvang, both in the Santa Ynez Valley.
My other venues are the monthly artisan events in Santa Barbara. On the first Saturday of the month, I am at Whole Foods Market on upper State Street; this event has grown over the past year from a small 10-vendor event to one of nearly 30 vendors. All vendors show items that they have made themselves and it is quite fun to stroll around and see the variety as well as the incredible local talent that is showcased. On the third Saturday of the month (June and July excluded) I am found at an event sponsored by the Santa Barbara Charter School; this location is currently in the parking lot of Goleta Jr. High on Stow Canyon Road in Goleta.
The artisan events are fun for me because they give me the opportunity to mingle with other artisans as well as with the wonderful people who come by to visit the event. While the permanent exhibits that I mentioned above show ONLY my watercolors or my jewelry, these events give me a chance to try creating new things along with the more "traditional" ones above. I have a selection of individual note cards made with prints of my more popular paintings and I've created packaged note card sets made with feathers; while a large selection of prints of my watercolors is available for sale, I have also created some small paintings that are originals for sale - watercolor, acrylic, and some are painted with coffee as the medium.
One of the most exciting additions that I have made to these events is the knitted items. It began as baby sweaters and baby hats only and has grown as the demand has grown. I now make what I like to call "Toddler Diva Sweaters" - these are sweaters of various sizes that are made with exceptional yarns, carefully chosen complimentary buttons, and crocheted rosettes that are attached like a corsage on the front. Then I made "Small Socks" that are knitted out of quality yarns of cashmere, wool, and acrylics that would fit small children through 3 years of age. Knitted stuffed animals and dolls seemed to be the next logical progression and on any day one might find elephants, lions, bunnies, giraffes, frogs, dolls or even owls. Then I moved into blanket sets - relatively small knitted blankets for a stroller or car seat with a matching hat or doll. These have been received well as a "complete" gift set for baby showers.
Adult knitted items were asked for and so I began making the simple scarves and hats for adults, sometimes even socks. These have done well also during the winter months.
With my confidence high, I have started a new line of specialty toddler knitted items that I will introduce in the coming months that include tunics to wear with leggings, vests with hearts and other designs knitted into them, dresses with designs knitted into the front, knitted T-shirts, and tweed ruffle sweaters with matching tam hats. While I will continue to knit the more traditional sweaters and the Diva Sweaters, many of these items will be one-of-a-kind using superb yarns such as hand dyed cottons, Peruvian wool, Merino wool or Alpaca that I have purchased as discontinued yarns that give me the ability to keep my prices far below what one would normally find. I look forward to finishing this line, taking photographs of it and posting it on this site.
Finally, I have a very exciting project coming up that I will begin working on shortly. My brother, Mike, is a wonderful oil painter and he and I will be doing a complimentary Show at Carina Cellars in Los Olivos in October and November of this year. While he has painted about 15 paintings of local sites around the Santa Barbara area in oils, I will take the same photographs and create a set of paintings of the same sites in watercolor. Brother and sister, same view, different minds, different creative expression. The Show will be called "Reflections" and it should be quite fun to see.
In closing, I am looking to begin expanding this site by photographing the knitted items, the jewelry, and making more of the paintings available for viewing. Please continue checking in with me over the next few months and one of these times you might be surprised!
