A Mermaid's Plea

I love painting mermaids. I've always allowed for the possibility that they are, in fact, real. I started out with the intention of painting a happy, blissful mermaid, but the news of our likely dismantling E.P.A. took me in another direction. Just like all the other creatures in the ocean, she's counting on us to protect her, to see that she's worth saving.

"A Mermaid's Plea"

My original paintings are available in my online gallery.

Prints of many of my paintings are available in my Etsy shop. 

Let me know if you're interested in a print of this piece.

  I welcome commissions.

Please click the links below to share my blog.
I'd love to hear from you...feel free to leave me a comment.

This piece was inspired by instructor, Lindsay Wierich as part of the Lifebook 2017 course.

She's Got our Back

I can't help but feel that a little fairy magic might be just what our world needs.

"She's Got our Back"

For every purchase a print of a print of this painting I'll donate $5 to the ACLU...
because they also have our back. 

The original painting is available for purchase here.

Most of my paintings are for sale and I welcome commissions.

Please click the links below to share my blog.
I'd love to hear from you...feel free to leave me a comment.  

Click here to purchase my paintings. 

This painting was inspired by the work of Tamara LaPorte.

"Steampunk Mermaid" and 15 Day Challenge #1 - Day 6

I'm loving painting mermaids. And this one blends two things I love, mermaids and steampunk. I've never painted anything steampunk themed, but I think there' will be more in my future.

"Steampunk Mermaid"

Day 6

Words and feelings: village, neighborhood, doodle, peaceful, silence, serenity

12x12

Mixed Media 

This is part of a series of 15 day abstract painting challenges. If there's any point in the process when you love what I've done and want me to STOP, just let me know and it's yours. The base price will be $30 and each day I work on it will add $10 to the price. (For example, if you love it at day 4, it will be $70.) They will be ready to hang with the canvas edges painted black, sealant applied, and wired for installation. I'll be posting daily photos here (with my daily words/feelings, because that's so much fun!). If I get all the way to day 15 they'll be listed for sale in my Daily Paintworks gallery.

 

 

Click here to view my gallery 

Most of my paintings are for sale and I welcome commissions.
Please click the links below to share my blog.
I'd love to hear from you...feel free to leave me a comment.

 

Best Friends

I was commissioned to create this sweet piece featuring this trio of best friends. I adore them!

Click here to view my gallery 

Most of my paintings are for sale and I welcome commissions.

Please click the links below to share my blog.

I'd love to hear from you...feel free to leave me a comment.

Undersea Companions

I'm loving these undersea friendships! 

Mermaids, turtles, and fish are filled with such wonder.

"Undersea Companions"

Click here to view my gallery 

Most of my paintings are for sale and I welcome commissions.

Please click the links below to share my blog.

I'd love to hear from you...feel free to leave me a comment.

I must be a mermaid...

I must be a mermaid...

I have no fear of depths

and a great fear of shallow living.

-Anaïs Nin

Love this quote. It speaks such truth.

Click here to view my gallery 

Most of my paintings are for sale and I welcome commissions.

Please click the links below to share my blog.

I'd love to hear from you...feel free to leave me a comment.

Do-Re-Mi...

I went shopping super early in the morning, it's my favorite time to do it after all. And when I saw Dave, well, this is how it went.


Me: "You're welcome for that."


OK, a little explanation as that likely makes absolutely no sense. When my big guy was little and he was learning to be super polite, he'd jump the gun on the "your welcome" part. Before anyone even had the chance to say, "Thank you," he'd proudly pipe up and say, "You're welcome for that!"


Dave: "Gee, it's always about you, isn't it?"


OK, a little explanation again. We like to jokingly accuse each other of being narcissistic...though we aren't...or does that make us narcissistic? Hmmmmm...


Me: "Yeah, it's all about me."

Dave: "Your so narcissistic you think mi is the only note in the scale."


And then we broke out into song. "Doe a deer, a female deer...."


P.S. I know I should've had this lovely little note in the mi spot, but she's so much cuter without a line going through her face. :-)

 Click here to view my gallery.  Most of my paintings are for sale.

 

I'd love for you to share my art and blog with the links below.  Thanks!

The Stuff of Daydreams

As part of this amazing class I'm taking, Dancing with Your Dreams (lesson by Kristen Powers), I created a small piece about my favorite stuff of daydreams. This was super exciting for me because while I mostly remember my daydreams, I hardly ever remember my night dreams.

And what's awesome about what I daydream about is that when I'm actually doing the things I daydream about I'm at my peak of daydreaming. A lovely circle of daydreamness.


Fabulous daydream stuff...


painting

     writing
 
          walking

               loving

                    sharing


Yup, that about sums it up. Bliss.

 Click here to view my gallery.  Most of my paintings are for sale.

 

I'd love for you to share my art and blog with the links below.  Thanks!

Cat Woman

Sometimes I'm a nag. Well, a lot of the time if you ask my family. Tonight my nagginess was aimed at my little guy.


Me: "I need you to go close the chickens in the coop and take care of both of our neighbors' cats."

Little guy: "In a minute."

Me: "Bawk, bawk, bawk, meow, meow."

Little guy: "You're annoying."

Me: "BAWK, BAWK, BAWK, MEOW, MEOW!"


And he went out to close the chickens in their coop.


Me: "Meow, meow."

Little guy: "Stop it, mom."

Me: "MEOW, MEOW!"

Little guy: "You are really annoying."


Annoying, perhaps. Effective, absolutely.

Click here to view my gallery.  Most of my paintings are for sale.

 

I'd love for you to share my art and blog with the links below.  Thanks!

Blissful Sleep

I took the best nap EVER the other day. Don't even try to tell me that you've taken a better nap, it's simply not possible. So, if you want to have the best nap ever, let me tell you exactly what to do.


1. Place your pillow in the middle of the couch.

2. Rest your calves on the arm rest.

3. Tell you husband that it's NOT okay to tickle your feet (yes, your shoes must be off during this nap).

4. Ask your husband to put your dog on top of you so you have an 80+ pound blanket of love.

5. Wait five minutes for your dog to fall asleep and begin softly snoring.

6. Close your eyes and tune out the background noise of whatever T.V. show your husband happens to be watching ("Once Upon a Time" in this case, but any show will do).

7. Fall asleep.


I promise it'll be your best nap ever...now go give it a go.

Click here to view my gallery.  Most of my paintings are for sale.

 

I'd love for you to share my art and blog with the links below.  Thanks!

Dream Castle

What makes me wish I could dash away to my very own dream castle?

Mornings like this....


Me:  "What, honey?"

Little guy:  "That was my butt."

Me:  "I responded to your butt?  This is a new low for me."

Click here to view my gallery.  Most of my paintings are for sale.

 

I'd love for you to share my art and blog with the links below.  Thanks!

Happy Halloween and Happy Birthday to my Little Guy!!!

Sixteen years ago today we welcomed our little guy to this world of ours.  He was born at home in our bed and and that evening when Trick-or-Treaters rang the doorbell, my very proud husband introduced all the little ghosts, goblins, and witches to our very own little spook.  He gave them candy, too, of course...because, really, those kids weren't all that interested in a baby.  But soon all the neighbors showed up to meet the newest resident...and then more neighbors...and then more.  I'm pretty sure he set a world record that day for meeting the most people in the first twelve hours of life.

And maybe it's how he would've turned out regardless of the day he was born, but my little guy is obsessed with tricking me.  Here's what's happened to me in just the last twenty-four hours.


• A sticky slug toy was shot at me and it went "splat" on my neck and stuck there.  Bleck!

• The same slug was left for me to "accidentally" step on when I was barefoot.

• I've turned my head only to have my cheek poked by a waiting pointer.

• As we went through my brother's awesomely scary haunted house I was touched or had things thrust at me to "enhance" my experience.

• Ice has been put down my back.

• A skeletal hand has been placed on my shoulder repeatedly.

• A walking hand has graced the top of my head.


And I freak out.  Every.  Time.  It's my little gift to my little guy who has given me so much happiness, joy, and bliss over the years.


Happy Birthday, Little Guy...We love you!!!

Click here to view my gallery.  Most of my paintings are for sale.

 

I'd love for you to share my art and blog with the links below.  Thanks!

Crooked Smile

The little guy is gonna get something tomorrow that I always wanted as a kid.  It seemed like all the cool kids were getting them...alas, it was not in the cards for my young teenage self.  While I had bad hair, bad skin, ugly glasses, and a terrible sense of style, I had naturally straight teeth. 

Well, tomorrow the little guy, who has great hair, reasonably good skin, contact lenses, a great sense of easy-going style, and crooked teeth with a funny bite, gets braces.

Unfortunately my excitement for him has not proven to be contagious. 

Click here to view my gallery.  Most of my paintings are for sale.

 

I'd love for you to share my art and blog with the links below.  Thanks!

Meant to Fly

I do so love chatting with strangers.  Late yesterday I was walking my dog and caught up with a lovely woman with enchanting tattoos and a fabulous skirt.


Me:  "I like your wings and your bird."  She had wings on the outside of her ankles and a bird rounding her neck.

Lovely woman:  "Thank you...but they don't make me walk any faster."

Me:  "That's because you were meant to fly."

Click here to view my gallery.  Most of my paintings are for sale.

 

I'd love for you to share my art and blog with the links below.  Thanks!

Driven by Distraction

We seem to constantly be nagging our little guy. 


Us:  "Do your homework!"

Little guy:  "As soon as this episode is over."


Us:  "Clean your room!"

Little guy:  "After I get back from playing basketball."


Us:  "It's your turn to empty the dishwasher."

Little guy:  "I'm about to take a shower."


So today when I was driving him home from football practice and he commenced picking his toenails and pretending to flick them at me...I yelled because, well, obvious!


Me:  "Don't do that in my car!  Do it when we get home and use a toenail clipper instead of ripping them off!"

Little guy:  "Hey," he said as he continued picking at his toenails.  "At least I'm not putting off doing it."


The kid had a point...but I still told him I wasn't going to make him food for a week if he kept doing it.

Click here to view my gallery.  Most of my paintings are for sale.

 

I'd love for you to share my art and blog with the links below.  Thanks!

Summer Love

Tonight we say good-bye to yet another fabulous summer.  Did we travel?  Nope.  Did we do anything deliciously over-the-top?  Not at all.  Did we enjoy pretty much every moment of it?  You bet. 

We had a delightful summer of just doing our own thing on our own time table.  Our house was overrun with teenage boys and one particularly lovely girlfriend.  I painted and wrote with absolute abandon every day.  Dave took his photography to an all new amazing level.  And he and I even self-published a book of his photos and our haiku poetry.  You can look at it in its entirety here.

This summer rocked! 


...and now the kids and I go back to school and Dave gets to blissfully have the whole house all to himself.  If you don't count the two dogs, two cats, and four chickens, that is....

The miniature easel is included with the purchase of this miniature painting.

 

Click here to view my gallery.  Most of my paintings are for sale.

 

I'd love for you to share my art and blog with the links below.  Thanks!

Sweet Nothings

Last evening I was in our chicken yard getting our chickens into their coop for the night.  And like every night, it goes like this.

"Hey, lovely ladies!  It's time for bed, beautiful girls!"  And I walked around getting Red and Fuzzy to scurry into the coop.  "OK, Piper and Phyllis, you, too, ladies."   I picked them up (because these two like to be picked up).  "All right my precious girls, it's time for bed.  I love you!!!" 


And then I hear something to my left.  And Dave was standing there watching me.  He'd clearly been there for a while and had witnessed all of my carrying on with our chickens, telling them sweet nothings, and whatnot.  Gee...

Me:  "Hey, you know you talk to them when I'm not around, too."

Dave:  "Yeah, I do."


Sweet chicken love....


I saw these tiny canvases at an art store and I could not resist!!!  The canvas is 2x2.  I'll be selling it as a package with the easel.  So cute!!!  I will definitely be painting more of these sweet little miniatures!

Click here to view my gallery.  Most of my paintings are for sale.

 

I'd love for you to share my art and blog with the links below.  Thanks!

Celebrate Love!

I painted this for an amazing and beautiful woman I'm ever so grateful to call my friend.  She just married her long time partner and as I thought of my friend and the love she has for life, for others, for this amazing woman with whom she shares her life and love,  this piece welled up in me and landed on a canvas.  This is a celebration of who she is and how she lives life each day...with passion, kindness, empathy, appreciation, humor, strength, humility, contemplation, compassion, generosity, enthusiasm, gusto, fortitude, and love.

Celebrate love...celebrate life!!

Click here to view my gallery

 

I'd love for you to share my art and blog with the links below.  Thanks!

Sweet Dreams

I've been taking a wonderful year-long online class, Dancing with your Dreams. I completed this piece just this afternoon and soon it will find its home over our bed.

It's layer upon delightful layer...colors, symbols, fun, whimsy, and love. 

Ooh, and it's my biggest canvas to date, 24" x 30", not counting our hallway, of course. Hmmmm...I don't know if bigger is better, but it sure is fun!  Come on by and visit me and my paintings!!

Sweet dreams!

Click here to view my gallery.

50% off of everything in my Daily Paintworks shop through the end of the month.  
Email me the one(s) you want and I'll adjust the price.  Thanks!!!  kalilparsons@gmail.com
 

I'd love for you to share my art and blog with the links below.  Thanks!

Polly Want a Kiss?

I heard on the radio not long ago that there was an increase in salmonella poisoning.  And do you know who were the most likely to be coming down with it?  Chicken owners.  And do you know why there were coming down with it?  They had been kissing their chickens!

Now when I heard this I thought, "That is so freakin' weird!!! Icky, bleck, patooey!"

Of course you know that I own chickens, right?


Well, I have to confess something.  The last few times I've been holding my chickens and looking into their sweet little glassy eyes, I've felt the urge to kiss them on their little feathery cheeks.  What has come over me?!?!

So I've officially started a new trend.  Air kissing chickens.

Mwah!

Click here to purchase this piece.

I'd love for you to share my art and blog with the links below.  Thanks!