I love shopping for antiques as much as I love photographing and painting nature. On Mother’s Day I went shopping at Kudzu Antiques in Decatur, Ga. I could have spent all afternoon combing through their treasures. The photo above is what I brought home: a large antique key, a glass ink bottle, and two Shiva Lingam Stones. There’s a good possibility this photograph will inspire a painting.

My Sugar Glider painting tied for 1st place in the EBSQ Marsupial and Other Australian Oddities Show. It also won Cloud’s Choice award for having the most Facebook Like’s, over 240!! If you voted for my cute painting, thank you!

Today I’m working on a small self-portrait painting for the Art House Coop’s Self-Portrait Project. Here’s my initial sketch on the canvas.

The first painting from my 6 piece commission is complete. Blue Crab is a 5 x 7 inch watercolor. I do plan to have prints available for this painting and the others later this summer. I’ve been posting images of my progress on my Facebook Page.

**Also, my Etsy shop is on vacation right now. I’ll be reopening in June.

Back in January I accepted a challenge to enter one EBSQ exhibition each month for the 2012 calendar. So far so good! This cutie is my painting for the Marsupial and Other Australian Oddities. I hope you’ll vote for him (if you’re an EBSQ member) or hit the Facebook Like button if you’re a non-member.

April’s IndieGoGo art cards were indeed inspired by the art of Mark Rothko, one of my favorites. But they turned out to be more than just color field paintings. When I sat back to look at the colors I’d chosen I saw (from left to right): Desert, Plains, Northwest, and Woodland. Do you see it too?

These card are going out to my remaining 4 subscribers first thing tomorrow!

Use the Etsy coupon code: EOLFREE for free shipping in the United States!

My Jar of Good Books is one of 200 small jars that will be on display in the Brooklyn Art Library! As you can see, the jar is a swirling pool of first lines from just a handful of great books. I also included some images of book covers, small printed illustrations I created myself, and even a match. In the center is a miniature poster with a quote from Harper Lee: “The book to read is not the one that thinks for you but the one which makes you think.”

See all the photos of my Jar on my Art House Co-op Page.

I’ve already received from great feedback too!

V cool! RT @amandamakepeace My Jar of Good Books for the @arthouse project! bit.ly/H4Iksu Mailing it bright and early tomorrow.

— Emma Pass (@EmmaPass) March 30, 2012

@amandamakepeace @EmmaPass That’s beautiful! I want to make one with my favourite book quotes to keep at home…gorgeous!

— Lisa Shambrook (@LastKrystallos) March 30, 2012

@amandamakepeace I love your concept for this project!

— Art House Co-op (@arthouse) April 2, 2012

Storm Chaser, a new art print in my Etsy shop, was inspired by a clever crow in the YA Fantasy books of Jenna Burtenshaw. In fact, she owns the original painting! Storm Chaser is printed on Innova Art Soft Textured Matte paper, 100% archival, with the finish of fine art etching paper.

Buy Now on Etsy

I’ve added a new subscription scheme to my Etsy shop. This ACEO subscription will give you two limited edition ACEO art prints every quarter. It will run from 2012 through 2013, so you can purchase a subscription at any time. This is a child friendly subscription too (ages 10+). ACEOs are baseball card sized artworks (2.5 x 3.5 inches) and are just as collectible. What does ACEO stand for? Art Cards, Editions and Originals. The ACEOs in my subscription are Limited Editions, a fancy way of staying Fine Art Prints.

Each ACEO is printed on Innova Art Soft Textured Matte paper, 100% archival, with the finish of fine art etching paper. All printing, cutting and packaging is done by me, the artist.

Quarterly subscriptions are shipped on April 1st, July 1st, October 1st, and January 1st. You’ll receive a total of 8 ACEO prints. If you purchase a subscription mid quarter I will mail those ACEOs immediately. The Quarterly Subscription is a more affordable alternative to my 12 Month Subscription.

Purchase a Subscription Today!

I’m having a Spring Giveaway on my Facebook Page! Up for grabs is a 5 x 7 inch print of the artwork shown above, Mornings at the Beach. To enter the giveaway you first have to Like my page and then leave a comment on my page post. The deadline is Saturday, March 31st!

http://www.facebook.com/MakepeaceArts