Paintings With Soul

"Jingle," 5" x 11", acrylics on museum quality panel, inspired by studio kitty Mona Lisa, $349. This is a reworked painting , one from a couple years back, that needed a little more oomph. Today it got that, splashes of color and an added jingle bell. Do you want Jingle for yourself?  email me  then! Buy notecards, tote bags, cell phone cases, etc here. Hoping everyone had a wonderful weekend - tomorrow rings in a new month. I'm not ready for December! Thanks for your interest in my artwork, Kim ksantini@turtledovedesigns.com  

I cleaned out my small painting storage yesterday and found a few pieces that I really loved, which, for whatever reason, have not yet found homes. Which means that you win, because I decided to mark those pieces with special pricing, in the hopes of them finding good homes. Adopting a painting is a great way to being love and smiles into your home. And there's no litter box cleaning, poop patrol, or pasture picking involved. Complete info is here . Enjoy your weekend and thank you so much for your interest in my artwork, Kim ksantini@turtledovedesigns.com

Sitting in the Fox Theater last night (pictured above), I realized how blessed I was with all the extraordinary examples of passion present in my life. The theater itself was built with a passion for beauty and entertainment, and has fulfilled that vision consistently since 1928. A track record we can all aspire to. And I have been gifted with a circle of friends who repeatedly show me passion for (in no particular order): Creating Authenticity Grace Love Music Movement Beauty Empathy Kindness Laughter Health Living Integrity Peace . ..I could go on and on. But I'll just summarize by saying how grateful I am for being able to learn and be inspired to be a better person by my teachers and examples. Which begs asking - what's your passion? and how can you share that this coming  year? Happy Thanksgiving, Kim ksantini@turtledovedesigns.com

Two messages from me inside one month - I know, this is a little crazy!  The holidays are upon us, and can kick and scream all you want, but that doesn't change the calendar. So I thought I'd take a moment and share a few gift ideas for fellow artists, animal lovers, and fans of my artwork to help gets lists started. But first, we've all seen the meme about small businesses, right? That buying from a small business is buying dance lessons for a young princess (true!), music lessons for an aspiring musician (also true!), and team gear/equipment for an athlete (also true!). And as the owner of that small business, I want to thank you sincerely for your support in keeping my dream (working artist) alive, and furthering the dreams of my kids. Wishing you a Thanksgiving (or holiday) table full of laughter and light, Warmly, Kim ksantini@turtledovedesigns.com Kentucky Derby (& Oaks) Posters Now that American Pharoah ...

In process, "Family Outing," 16" x 24", acrylics on museum quality panel, depicting four sweet Cavalier King Charles Spaniel rescues. This is a commissioned piece started last week. It's getting closer to being finished (I'm hoping tomorrow, but I have a loooooooong to-do list for tomorrow already). You can follow along with it's progression here . Meanwhile, email me if you would like to talk about something equally special for yourself (commissioned portraits start at $399).

"Truffle III" and "Peppermint I" each 6" x 6", acrylics on masonite, $99 each. More calorie-free treats.  Email me if you would like to to own one of these paintings. I am working on smaller paintings, all priced under $100. I am SO sick of hearing about Black Friday for the past month, so I won't be hitting your inbox with multiple updates in these final hours before all the best deals in the universe implode together and create an entirely new planet. But I am preparing a few special things for my collector base. As with all my work, they are originals, so once they are gone, they are gone. I can do something similar, but I take pride in making unique and special paintings for each of my collectors. Also, if you are an artist interested in taking the Nutcracker Challenge, take a peek here . Or, if you are a Nutcracker collector, take a peek here . And keep coming back - bookmark it for repeat visits. The Nutcrackers w...

From left, "Truffle I" and "Truffle II" each 4" x 4", acrylics on museum quality panel, $99 each. The best kind of chocolate is that which doesn't go directly to your thighs.  Email me if you would like to to own one - or both for $180 - of these paintings. We are under a winter weather advisory for 5" of snow tomorrow. Tell me again why I live in Michigan? Thanks, as always, for following along with my artwork, Warmly, Kim   ksantini@turtledovedesigns.com

"Playmobil SuperGirl," Toy #33, 6" x 6," acrylics on masonite, depicting a Playmobil caped figure. She could easily bring her superpowers to your house - $75 includes s&h. Email me to purchase (and thank you!). I'm playing teacher at the kitchen table.  Well, it feels that way at least, like playing. Today I had a private painting lesson with a student who traveled from out of state (technically, she had a couple of meetings in my area, too, so I'm not letting it get entirely to my head). My studio is kinda dinky for two people to work in, so we set up shop in the kitchen . We even put the leaf in the table so there was extra room. And played with Playmobil. And now I'm off to my journaling class . We're playing with watercolor and fountain pens and lists of gratitude tonite. Thanks, as always, for playing with me, All my best, Kim ksantini@turtledovedesigns.com The 100 Toys Album

Above, "What's a Little Mud," 18" x 24" x 1-1/2", acrylics on museum quality panel, depicting a golden retriever who had a darned good time, $2299 (includes shipping and handling to a US address). Detail of the dog's face is below - there's so many different marks and touches of color in this! And this is a cradeled panel, so the image wraps around each of the 4 sides - there is no need to frame (unless you want that visual).  Email me if you would like to to own this remarkable painting - and thank you so much for your interest! Sometimes you do the best you can, but that niggling thought that you could do better won't go away. That's what happened with this painting, which I did back in May . Loved it, but after living with it for a month or so, I felt like there was something off.  Realized after a bit that the muddy legs were too dark and I had some key value jumps that were missing in the composition. ...

An in process detail of "Family Outing," 16" x 24", acrylics on museum quality panel, depicting four sweet little Cavalier King Charles Spaniel rescues (you didn't read that wrong - the painting has 4 faces, but this detail shows 3 of them). This is a commissioned piece, still very much in process, and you can follow along with it's progression here .  Meanwhile, email me if you would like to talk about something equally special for yourself.

"Lying in Wait," 5" x 10", acrylics on museum quality panel, depicting a kitten looking for a little adventure, $329 (includes shipping and handling to a US address). Email me if you would like to to own this little guy - and thank you so much for your interest! SOLD (to the first one asking nicely!) Something else is lying in wait.  The holidays are just around the corner. Yikes. I am so not ready for them! (PSST - portraits make great gifts, and I do gift certificates. Also, custom cell phone cases and other goodies with my artwork on them. Just saying....) Thanks, as always, for following along with my artwork, Warmly, Kim   ksantini@turtledovedesigns.com

"Shelter Tabby," 5" x 7", acrylics on museum quality panel, depicting a lovely gray tabby (of course, those who have painted with me will know that gray is never really gray - there's lots of color there!). This painting is being given away to support my local shelter - please read below for details. The Princess and I visited our shelter last week to drop off a donation. We were saddened to learn that they were at full capacity with cats. And there were so many wonderful kitties there, all ages, colors and sizes, happy to be played with and loved on. There was a crew of regular volunteers grooming and nurturing and letting us know about personalities/etc, and we enjoyed ourselves for over an hour. Of course we fell in love with a couple residents. It's impossible NOT to. We can't bring any more pets into our household (we are at capacity here too) but we decided we could still help out by sponsoring a couple cats and rai...

WISHING YOU A SEASON FILLED WITH WAGGING TAILS AND GRATITUDE It's been too long since I sent out an actual newsletter. I get caught up in life at the easel and in the real world, and haven't made staying in touch a big enough priority. I got lazy. I'll admit it.  Recently in my personal life I have been focusing on being fully present and practicing authenticity. This consciousness has leaked into everything I do, which is a beautiful thing. As a consequence, I have realized that reaching out and staying in touch with you is a critical piece of choosing to share my gratitude.  I am so blessed to be able to paint and earn a living with my art, and I am so blessed to have this community of fans and friends who make it a possibility. So I'm packing this newsletter up with a virtual warm brownie and a giant bearhug. And the promise that I will work harder at nurturing our relat...

"Tandem," 8" x 8", acrylics on museum quality panel, depicting a Thoroughbred getting ponied to the starting gate at Saratoga Racetrack, $399 (includes shipping and handling to a US address). Email me if you would like to to own this lovely chestnut racehorse and his delightful gray sidekick - two horses for the price of one!. Thinking about the design elements of this composition - the weave of legs (don't you LOVE that they are in stride?), the red legwraps balanced by the red dotted silks, the tails streaming in the same direction. All intentional considerations (I had a series of photographs of this pair) when planning this particular painting. Their rhythm set off by the riders' separate poses/seats creates an interesting tension. This makes me smile. I know it'll find a home and make someone else do the same. Thanks, as always, for following along with my artwork, Warmly, Kim   ksantini@turtledovedesigns.co...

Artist Eugene Clark demonstrated his process of layering imagery at this evening's Romeo Guild of Art meeting. I was mesmerized, inspired and ready to run to my own easel afterwards.  The earlier part of my day was spent figuring out all sorts of computer issues - internet connectivity, runaway processes, program lockups, and the like. Not how I like to burn calories, that's for sure, but my brain was churning away madly. I rewarded myself with a little easel time (it was productive!), then some family time (dinner was a wonderful black bean salad with corn, peas, avocado, mango, quinoa, and cilantro) then a trip out to Romeo for my monthly art guild meeting. I was especially looking forward to meeting our guest artist, Eugene Clark, who's reputation had preceded him - he's been teaching locally and jurying exhibitions and crossing my radar frequently, but we had not yet met (and, as things sometimes work out in this ever shrinking wor...

"Nest II (daVinci)," 12" x 12" x 1-1/2", acrylics on museum quality panel, depicting everyone's favorite studio kitty daVinci. I think I can part with this painting. Well, provided the right family comes along. The piece is $699, which includes shipping and handling to a US address. Email me if you would like to bring daVinci (the painted, sleeping, well behaved daVinci) home. This painting has been on my wall for over 2 years. I loved it, but it was a sentimental sort of love for that particular memory of a tiny kitten. It wasn't the sort of love I have for pieces that are exquisitely painted which I can't believe came off my brush. Today I thought I'd try to capture that second sort of love. I repainted the entire surface with a combination of spatulas, wedges, fingers and tiny brushes.  There is a fabulous amount of texture and subtle layering of color happening here that just makes me grin ear to ear. And ...

"Champion (Inspired by American Pharoah)," 6" x 8", acrylics on museum quality panel, inspired by none other than the Kentucky Derby, Preakness, Belmont, Haskell and Breeder's Cup winner American Pharoah. $329 includes shipping and handling to a US address, going home with the first one asking nicely. SOLD. And if you are so inclined to add a bit more of The Sport of Kings to your life, this link will take you to cell phone cases, shower curtains, tshirts and other products. Fans of my work will remember that about this time last year, I was FINALLY able to share the honor of being chosen as the 2015 Kentucky Derby artist  (the painting was created in secret last summer-fall).  It was such a crazy thing to be offered the job, out of the blue - a perfect validation of the years spent creating and my horseless-yet-horse-crazy-racehorse-studded childhood. Had anyone told me that 2015 would also be the year of a Triple Crown winner , ...

"Chippie II," 6-1/4" x 6", a repeat of yesterday's chipmunk, but this time acrylics on copper. Chippie II is $599, which includes shipping and handling to a US address. Message me if you are interested. You need to experience Chippie II in person - sections of the surface are exposed copper, and the metal reflects and absorbs the light as the viewer moves about. Here's a video short of the piece in process. You ARE Seeing Double! And I'm seeing a mess of chipmunks, too. We built a flagstone patio this summer, and it's coaxed them out into the sunshine. I've enjoyed watching their antics from all sorts of different angles inside and out. I think there might be more paintings to come. But meanwhile, continuing to think about the differences between painting on a panel vs painting on copper, I took yesterday's composition and gave it a whirl.  I also worked out a way to add more glint/reflec...

"Chippie," 8" x 8", acrylics on museum quality panel, depicting a tiny little chipmunk, packing his cheeks, $399 includes shipping and handling to a US address, going home with the first one asking nicely. SOLD (thank you very much!) Working out ideas on light and form today - I spent a significant amount of time sipping tea and watching the early morning sun travel through our brilliantly yellow maple. I might have figured a few things out about value and light.  I'll let you know - gonna try my hand at another chipmunk. Thanks, as always, for following along with my artwork, Warmly, Kim   ksantini@turtledovedesigns.com

Get the Calendar Here You can download the file directly from my website . I've set up a couple different ways to do this, either via the photo album or a direct link. I am not an expert on operating systems, so if you don't know how to change your desktop wallpaper, please don't email me - I will indubitably steer you wrong. Your computer's help files will be more concise, more knowledgeable and more responsive than I could ever hope to be.    I've sized this to fit a standard screen height of 768 - I realize there are lots of variables that could impact how the file displays on your screen. Let me know if, once you get the file installed, there are display quality issues (keep in mind, too, that options such as "stretching to fit," "tiling" and "cropping" will impact your display, so check those first!). Thanks, as always, for following along with my artwork, Kim