The Land of Y'all

My family has the pleasure of living in a beautiful area of the country. So beautiful, that many people trade their colder areas of the country to live here instead. Warm summer nights, biscuits and gravy, flip flops year round (well...almost). What's not to love? As a true Southerner, I'm clearly biased. But....I can understand roots. Even if they're grounded above the Mason Dixon line. This painting is for a friend who is...well....



It's fun to live in an area where people come from all over. Where you hear accents from near and far.


If you know of a transplant in need of some self defining art work, I'm open for business:)

*Canvas is 18x36".

All Aboard!!!

Apparently my boys aren't the only train freaks out there. Boys, by nature, must love trains from the get go. These paintings were done for a little boy who has quite the choo choo obsession as well....



Hudson has recently moved from his crib to his 'big boy bed', and his mom wanted something train themed to go in the room. His walls are smokey blue, chocolate brown ceilings, and his bedding is brown and white striped with red piping. It's an adorable room. Apparently when he saw the paintings, he jumped up and down on the bed and said, THOMAS!!!!

I guess I know a way to at least one (little) man's heart!

The Paintshop is open for more orders. Let me know if you're lookin'. And it's never too early for Christmas shopping.

Bunny's Comeback

Wanna hear a really bunny story? Yeah, that was really nerdy, but whatever. This painting was a gift for a friend of mine who is due to have baby Lauren on September 30th. All I was told is that the room is green and brown and has a bunny theme. So I went back a few months in my brain (hard to do) and recalled the Annabelle painting. There were no bunnies on that painting, but the bedding had bunnies on it. So I searched for that bedding again to look for a clean line bunny image. Voila!

So, my friend, B, opens the gift today and looks at me like, "How did you know?" How did I know what? Turns out...She's using the same bedding as the bedding for Annabelle. Call it a painting/gift giving miracle:) I think she liked it. And who doesn't love the green and brown combo these days? Sorry for the terrible picture. This was taken at night in my house which doesn't have the best lighting. I had to lacquer this baby up and take her with me to the party this afternoon. Happy Birthday, B! We can't wait to meet Lauren!!!

Here's a valance from the bedding set. It's called Bunny Meadows. Kids Line makes it. Great stuff.

And here's the Annabelle. So cool that they look so differently but compliment the bedding at the same time.


Happy Wednesday, Paintshoppers!

The Other Sweet

We're moving on from sweet tea to another sweet THANG...Sweet Pea! I actually like the vegetable, unlike the majority of the population, but I really like how it's become a popular visual for all things baby. Invitations, bedding, gift wrap, stationary...you see it on all sorts of baby stuff! I thought it was time to see it on a canvas. Check it out....


And just because I was on a Sweet Pea train of thought....here's another Sweet Pea I know. Seriously...this is my friend, Erin's, dog. Sweet Pea the puggle. (sorry for the grainy image. I had to steal it from their blog and crop her husband out. I thought my husband might find it odd that we had a picture of my friends husband and dogs on our computer:)

And speaking of another sweet pea AND my husband...HAPPY ANNIVERSARY, BABY!!!! 6 years and counting.

Sweet Tea

Nectar of the South.
The best $1 spent at McDonalds.
What my boys beg from my Gammy.
What God made on the 8th day according to Hootie and the Blowfish.

All of these describe one thing....SWEET TEA!!!!



I've been wanting to paint something sweet tea related for a while, but wasn't sure what to do. Not long after the tea idea came the desire to paint something with lemons. Somehow the themes merged, and the above painting was created. It's a very appropriate painting for our Southern household. We love sweet tea, but can't justify drinking the sugar equivalent of a candy bar at every meal. So it's surely a treat for us on those days when we are handed the proverbial lemons of life!

If you know of any sweet tea addicts, this painting is for them.

While we're on the topic...Has anyone tried these?



As I stared at them in the Target check out line, I was skeptical. Iced tea mints??? Seriously? But I really think they're good. And so do all the people that they got passed to at church on Sunday (Because they wanted to try them. Not because they needed them.) They're definitely more along the lines of the Lipton artificial lemon flavored tea in a can taste instead of the real deal sweet tea flavor, but they're still good.

Scribe

Sometimes people will look at my paintings and say, "I never knew you were artistic/an artist!" And I'm so grateful. Clearly, it's flattering. Not so clearly, is the fact that I'm laughing at the thought of my brother ever hearing someone say that. Is it because he's the typical mean, older brother? No...In fact, he couldn't be farther from it. It's because he actually IS an artist. He supports his family doing what he loves. And he's really, really, really good at it. See....


Why all the hype about my brother? Well....he has decided to spread his artistic talents to the masses in a new way!!!! Without further adieu, let me introduce to you....SCRIBE!!!!! Scribe will provide stationary, invitations, announcements, greeting cards and more. COMING SOON!!!! And get excited Bluffton and Hilton Head fans, because Scribe will be teaming up with The Peanut Paintshop for a little house party in September. Details to follow. If you have a need for something awesome in the meantime, please email Matt(hew) at scribe@g-graphics.com.

Isn't this amazing? This is a wedding invitation courtesy of Scribe, and I think it's so unique and elegant. LOVE.IT.


And as an added bonus to me, Melissa, my sister-in-law, asked me to paint something for this wedding couple based on the invitation. It was difficult to paint behind my brother's brilliance, but it was fun to partner up in this way instead of our usual brother/sister antics of laughing at our parents. Just kidding of course. We wouldn't do that.


Perhaps the best announcement Scribe will produce will be coming in December. Matt and Melissa are expecting their first baby!

Maama Jaama

In our home, for whatever reason, we often refer to things that are large as "maama jaamas". (I spelled this strangely because if I wrote "Mama Jama" I thought you would pronounce it like 'mama' as in slang for your mother, but I went with the Maam spelling because that's how you spell 'maam' as in "yes, maam." and that's the proununciation I want you to go with in this case:)

Anyway...In my little painting world...this is a MAAMA JAAMA. So far it's the biggest I've ever done. 4 feet by 5 feet.


A lot of people will see my paintings and say, "You must really do some neat stuff for your own children." If I've ever said yes to you, then I lied. The nursery has some very hideous safari paintings in them that I did before Jack was born. They were my firsts. They're still hanging there for two reasons:

The reason I tell people: Because it's so sentimental to me that I painted these for my little boy before I ever even met him.
The real reason: There's nothing to replace them and the walls would be bare.

Then there's one fish painting that was a recent mock up for an order I did for someone else...so it's sort of a scrap piece of art. And then there's one in their bathroom that was something that wasn't purchased.

So...it was time to give my best, my best! How could I show these boys of mine that they are my 2 favorite little boys in the world? Well, by painting them a huge map of the US, CLEARLY!

Here's a close up of the states. I went with a more whimsical approach again. It's becoming a friend of mine, I must say. There's freedom in not having your lines be super exact and perfect (which they weren't perfect even when I did try).

It's bold, bright, and is going to be the new theme of our guest room/playroom. We're going with a travel theme since we like to travel and since it's a guest room, our guests will have travelled here to see us! Finn is making the transition into Jack's room, so that they're now sharing. So now we have room for company again!

Here are my two favorite states...For the most part, I didn't intentionally choose the color of the states when I painted them...except for a few. North Carolina was painted with CAROLINA blue because it's obviously the best color God created, it's my alma mater, and the best state ever. South Carolina, my current state of residence is orange, because there's a certain school here that tends to dominate fanhood. AND it's my son's favorite color, so I went with it.

There's nothing particularly touching about Wyoming to me. I just like the letters on it. I've never been to Wyoming, but I've heard it's beautiful. I always picture dude ranches, fly fishing and skiing when I think of that state. These letters looked 'ranchy' to me.

And here's the map lopsided. Because all things look more amazing when they're in lopsided pictures.


So where did I get the idea? I'll give you one guess and you'll probably get it right:



Pottery Barn Kids....again:) I've looked at this painting over and over again, wondering whether or not to buy it, but several things stopped me. It wasn't bright enough, it wasn't bold enough, the white background was blah and it was not a maama jaama. So, as Paula Abdul would tell an American Idol contestant, "I made it my own."

I had to have some more orange, some pink (as I am a lone pink lover in my all boy house), some purple, and a watery looking border since we live at the beach. It's not quite completed, but it's fun to look at. Thought you might like looking at it, too!

Happy July 21st!