Artist Spotlight : Koalarazorclock

Today we're going to be looking at some wonderful watercolors done by Erica who makes them available through her etsy shop koalarazorclock. Watercolor happens to be one of the types of painting I love to look at, but have no knack for personally. A fact I accept happily, because it doesn't stop me from appreciating the works of others.

Realistic Watercolor, Lovebirds

So first off, these sweet little birds caught my eye when I was browsing through Erica's work on etsy. They're bright and warm, with a blush of color under their beaks.

You can find a variety of different animals on her etsy page, as she does commission paintings of pets. As well as has options to do watercolor interpretations of your favorite family photos. This is a rather unique offering in my opinion. I've never seen it before, and I personally see the offer as a rather refreshing one. After all people tend to love art that pertains to themselves.

Over the Garden Wall Print

Of course I have to mention the Over the Garden Wall images. They're cute and fun and while I may not be well versed in how the show works, her watercolors catch the heart of what I do know about the show.

Her piece captures the characters youth, while also letting the viewer wonder what he's discussing. I'd like to think he might be disagreeing with his half brother Gregory over something silly.

I also have to point out the little details. Note the houses in the background with the lights on, and the dainty leaves on the tree branch that goes across a half moon. All these details add charm to the piece. (click the link beneath the image to see it on etsy)

Dog Art - Over The Garden Wall

Another piece reminiscent of characters from over the garden wall. She made this one after being inspired by an unnamed wolf character in the show.

This one is also multi purpose though, for those of you that may want to decorate a child's room with fairy tale like images. After all, a wolf with the quote "You Have Beautiful Eyes!" Sure makes me think about Little Red Riding Hood.

Custom Animal Print : Animals in Clothing 

I can't show off her pieces without mentioning this adorable as well as classically charming option. Many people laugh at the idea of dressing their pets up in clothing, often because the task itself isn't an easy one. After all pets aren't really shaped for real apparel.

But that's where these adorable paintings come in. You can have your pet painted into clothing. That's right! Your pet painted into an adorable outfit, an image to add whimsy to your home or office, while still keeping the focus on your pet.





I asked Erica what her favorite subjects were to paint. She responded: "My favorite subjects are people, I like trying to capture something about them. I also like doing animals for the same reason, I think they have just as much personality most of the time."

You can really tell this is true when you look through the pieces that she has displayed as both available and as examples in her etsy shop. She takes good care to keep her pictures true to their source, while still giving them a loving touch of her own flare.

When asked where she found the inspiration to create her paintings she had a wonderful answer.

I'm inspired by seeing other people's artwork, and since I work in a museum that's easy to come by. Richmond also has a lot of murals, which I love. Even when I don't like them I find it inspiring to see someone's vision just in my day to day life on a building I happen to be passing. They're popping up all over so it's lovely to run across a new one, or to know that your errand will take you by one of your favorites.

One of the last questions I asked is one that I feel is very important. When it comes to newer artists it's always nice to have advice from someone who has done pieces that may inspire them. I asked her what advice she has for aspiring artists.

My best advice would just be to practice without judging your work. The more you do anything the more you'll learn and get better, but if you think you suck or are no good you'll become discouraged and won't give yourself the opportunity to improve. So just keep going, try to analyze what you like and don't like about what you've done and what other people have done without passing judgement on yourself. Its not necessary to be the best and no matter how good you ever get there will be people better, and people who don't like your stuff.

If you were interested in seeing more of her work, or maybe even commissioning a piece of your own, please check out her etsy shop koalarazorclock (Just click on the name and it will take you right on over). She's a sweetheart to communicate with, and she has a beautiful collection of available pieces, all you need to do is look.

Music Monday : Not Always Serious

Sometime's there's a need to be a little relaxed. It can take the form of something as simple as watching familiar films that offer a chance to reminisce about the past. You know what's awesome about some of these films? The music! That's right, music can be very important when it comes to relaxing and having a silly time. Letting loose so to speak.

So the songs selected today is going to be coming from the realm of animated or older family themed films. Things that are fun and don't necessarily always make it onto our daily playlists. I hope that one of these songs helps to bring a smile to your face, and that you have a wonderful week. Be safe, and remember: You're magical!

Richard Marx & Donna Lewis : At The Beginning 

Hayley Mills : Let's Get Together

Thumbelina : Let Me Be Your Wings

Pete's Dragon : Brazzle Dazzle Day

Rock A Doodle - Sun Do Shine

What's on Screen? Baby's Day Out

When it comes to the early 90's there's a ton of movies that are considered to be classic. But no matter who you ask, what these films are vary. But in our house as I grew up, there were some movies that were on constantly. Mr. Boogedy, Bushwacked, Home Alone, and the movie that we're watching today. Baby's Day Out.

My father loves this movie. Almost a little too much to be honest. We've probably had almost 50 copies of it through the years. I might be exaggerating slightly, but I want you to understand how important or beloved the film is. It still is. I found the copy I'm watching for someone else. My brothers children requested it for the holidays. But it wasn't to be found in time for that. But since I don't give up easily, I found it! I picked it up at a game store in Buffalo when I was hanging out with a good friend.

Movie Poster from Web

So why is this movie so much fun to watch? It's not hugely mainstream, so it's not like everyone has seen it. It doesn't have the greatest special effects, You can tell the gorilla isn't real. There's no hard core fighting. Instead there's a baby outwitting 3 grown adults while following the storyline of his favorite book.

While this might sound absurd, I have to admit it's actually enjoyable. The movie itself has a lot of the classic comedy physical humour that you would associate with other humorous film, such as Home Alone or most of the Three Stooges material. It is a great example of how exaggeration can be used to create amusing situations in unexpected manners.

If the weather has you feeling a little down and you need a laugh, I highly recommend this movie. I don't know how hard it might be to find, but if you can find it, I hope you see why it makes me laugh. Not just small giggle laughs, mouth grin laughs. And I hope it turns the corners of your mouth up too.

Artist Spotlight : Seph Jocuno

 When it comes to art there's all kinds of things to see and explore.  And with this being the new year and all (finally!) It's time to look at some fresh new faces, and expand our horizons. Which means we're going to explore art work and get excited about the unique pieces each artist offers.

Today we're going to be looking at art done by Joseph Norwood, who offers his work to the world through Seph Junco. You can find more of his work on instagram here at @sephjocuno3 or on his tumbler page The Art of Seph. The image to the left here is a self portrait of the artist. Cute isn't it? And he's a real sweetheart when it comes to contacting and discussing his work and other possibilities.

Below you're going to find a variety of pieces completed from the artist that you can find either on the instagram page or the tumbler account. He's also got some amazing hand painted shirts. If you're interested in contacting him for a commissioned character or other piece, am sure he'd love to hear from you at sephjocuno3@gmail.com. He's willing to help with logos, graphic design, portraits and illustrations. Pretty well rounded right?

Anyway! Let's start looking at some of Seph Jocuno's art! I picked 4 pieces, and to be honest it was difficult to narrow it down. But i'm pleased with the images contained in each piece, the colors are vibrant. The images are fun, and not to mention fresh. I'm a sucker for rounded edges, and these are wonderful for that. Especially after all that political stuff that flooded 2016.

The first picture is a knockout! Let's be honest here. There's not really a ton of curvy girls out there easily found. At least, not always drawn as appealing characters. The example to the right is appealing for a number of reasons.

One being her legs and hair. I love how rounded her legs are, and they're not dramatically elongated like you can see in a number of toon style art. The shading is also fun giving the illusion, in my opinion, that she's possibly floating on water. Her hair though! I LOVE her hair and facial expression. It's not something I see often, and as someone with a lot of hair when I let it loose, this appeals to me.

The image to the left intrigues me because of all the detail in the dragon instead of in the person who is possibly going to attempt to slay the dragon. I like the way it's balanced also.

I was a little surprised when I realized that it is a PNG so it has a clear background, leaving the figures almost like stickers here in the blog space. Definitely a unique idea.

It even seems to illustrate the answer Seph provided when asked what inspires his artwork. His response was :

Well the most inspiring thing to me as an artist is the ability to create something from almost nothing. I have the free will to make totally new worlds, people, creatures, and scenarios that I can just get taken away by.

Lola is freaking amazing! Seph also has a dragon type character named Moe that's available for viewing on tumbler, but I was advised she might be a bit lacking in clothing for me to keep my family/worksafe rating.

Lola is a type of furry in my eyes, and she made me smile because she's not done up having HUGE assets, which with bovine characters I've frequently seen.

To further endear her to you, I'm going to quote directly from the artists tumbler page :

Lolajane Belle is a very mild mannered girl-cow. She loves to have nice chats on the porch and make new friends. She has a spot on her chest that is shaped like a heart that she unconsciously rubs whenever she gets nervous.

Seph Jocuno is also working on a graphic novel that he's titled Unloved. If you're interested in taking a peek at some of the pages that he's currently has the first 4 pages available for viewing, they're available on his tumbler page. This is the first page of it: Page 0. It's intriguing and hopefully he'll continue the story.

Well I suppose that's all for now. Remember to check out more art by Seph Junco on instagram(@sephjocuno3) or tumbler(The Art of Seph), and also feel free to contact them about custom work. (Seriously! I love his anthropomorphics!) 

Music Monday : Finally!

One thing I have to say about the new year starting, is I've had a pleasant two days into 2017 so far. So with that in mind I don't want to jinx it. But so far I spent a lot of time playing Final Fantasy Online and Dream Chronicles on my DS. It's been very relaxing, and I'm not really looking forward to going back to the usual grind tomorrow. But as they say, all good things come to an end at some point.

So where do I want to start this year when it comes to music? I'm having a bit of difficulty deciding, which is why this post is so late in the day today. But I have decided on one thing, the past isn't to be forgotten, but it is to be learned from. So let's start the new year remembering some of the artists we lost, but also appreciating the works they left with us. Not everything comes out the same way, we've all grown up with the influences of these artists on the fringes of our lives, even if you haven't listened to them directly. So while some artists associated with specific fields have a strong presence, the loss of others broke many hearts.

Music has become background noise to our daily lives. It fills in the time in stores, cars, and elevators. It provides the core soundtracks to films. It entertains as well as stirs emotion.

Each song selected was chosen for a reason. I'll leave it up to you to deduce what it is. But we're starting 2017 on a high note. We got this. We're not going to give up.

David Bowie : Dance Magic

Prince : Let's Go Crazy

Merle Haggard : Mama Tried

Beastie Boys : Fight For Your Right To Party

Wham : Careless Whisper

Hope your new year is off to a strong start. I hope you had a safe holiday season, and get ready. There's 12 months to go until we reach 2018. But we've got this. We've got our friends, and our family. We have the lessons we've learned, and the lessons others have learned to help us.

Hope you have a great week!