Just want to give a shout of thanks to two of my favorite blogs for featuring my work and hosting holiday giveaways.

First on the list of thank you’s is my good friend Steph at Bondville for a lovely feature on my new line of ornaments, brooches and necklaces.  You can read it here and while you are browsing, be sure to spend some time on the site looking at her gorgeous site for “mums who love design.”  She is also hosting a subscriber giveaway so sign up to receive her newsletter and enter to win a necklace or 3 ornaments of your choice!  The winner will be announced tomorrow (10 December) so be sure to pop over there today.

The second on my list of thank you’s goes to Shavani at My Owl Barn.  If you love owls, then you will just fall in love with this blog — it showcases owls in art, design, vintage, food, parties and more!  In honor of her birthday, she is hosting a holiday giveaway to two of her lucky readers to win either a necklace or three ornaments.  You can read about how to get your name in the draw here — but hurry up, winners will be chosen soon.

Happy holidays and good luck!

Join us this Saturday, 10 December, at the BrisStyle Indie Designers Christmas Market to fill your stockings with handmade art, craft, beauty and design.  The markets are at St. Augustine’s Church on Racecourse Road in Hamilton from 9am-4pm.  (You can read more about the markets and all things crafty on the BrisStyle blog.)

I will be inside the church hall sharing a site with the lovely Amanda from Easy Peasy Organic.  If you are not familiar with Amanda’s blog or her work, she’s an amazing vegetarian mom with a passion for organic food, beauty, education and photography.

You can check out a post she has written about the markets here — while you are there be sure to browse around her site for great inspiration and recipes (yum!).

We hope to see you Saturday!

It has been a framing marathon around here… trying to get everything safely inside a frame is quite a job!

These three pieces are the first not-book-related illustrations I did following chemo.  They are a little different from my usual, but I like them and I hope you do too.

Ornamentals: Barn Owl

Ornamentals: Boobook Owls 2 & 1

These pieces follow my favorite theme of relocation and habitat loss — where will our birds go when their are no more trees?  In this case, the owls are treated as pretty ornaments on decorative orchids (although I don’t think the boobooks approve).

I have finally dismantled the triptych Who Needs Trees? and framed them as three separate pieces.  They made a lovely trio, but the frame was just enormous and way too heavy.

So, here they are in their shiny new Australian-made frames, ready to hang in an upcoming benefit exhibition for the RSPCA.

Who Needs Trees? (3 & 2)

Who Needs Trees? 1

The original triptych was awarded Highly Commended in the 2009 Caldera Art Awards and Who Needs Trees?2 was featured in the demonstration piece I wrote for Artists Palette Magazine two years ago.

As usual, my photos do not do them justice, but I was in a rush to get them online before I hand them off to the exhibit organizer today.

Invitation to the RSPCA Benefit Exhibit in Rosalie at the Blueroom Cinebar

If you are interested in attending or want more info about the benefit exhibit, please contact Jacqui Vial at jvial@rspcaqld.org.au or 0416 251 319.

I finally caught up with my photographer-friend Bevan and we had a lot of fun taking new product shots for the brooches and necklaces.  Of course, I did not think to coordinate another model, so I had to pose for all the shots!  It was a little awkward at first, but fortunately, I have a stash of wigs from the chemo days and we both have a good sense of humor.

My favorite serious shot wearing an awesome new top I picked up at Finders Keepers last weekend.

Bevan did a wonderful job capturing the delicacy of this sweet little brooch.

Did I mention we had a good time taking all these photos? (Note: this one did not make the final cut.)

If you want to see the other photos, click on over to my Etsy site and check out the brooches and necklaces.

This has been a very exciting spring for new products. As promised, here are details about my new line of limited edition necklaces.  These are available in three designs and only 50 will be made of each design.

Small Owl, Cardinal and Large Owl Necklaces

Each necklace is hand cut, signed and numbered by the artist and strung on a sterling silver chain.  The pendant is plastic, so they are super lightweight and extremely durable.  They are also slightly curved to lay smoothly on the chest.  Although they are well-sealed with a UV and waterproof coating, I would not recommend wearing them swimming or bathing.  Each necklace is packaged on a recycled card stock.

Finished Product

Big Owl measures approximately 100 x 35 mm, cardinal measures approximately 90 x 30 mm and small owl measures approximately 75 x 27 mm.

These will be available online very soon (I just need some better photos!) and for wholesale (although these did not make it into the catalogue).  Please email me at ReneesArtwork[REMOVE]@gmail.com if you need details about how to get a necklace.