Illustration Friday: Teeth

Illustration Friday : Tattoo

Working on a painting but I couldn't resist this quickie on a scrap of rag paper 
for Illustration Friday's prompt. I love making a neighborhood "Tattoo" Parlour.                         
 Many cities have a lot of closed storefronts, Tattoo shops survive the times.

Wear your heart on your skin in this life~Sylvia Plath

tender moments from an "Old" Story

The tragedy of old age is not that one is old, but that one is young.     

OSCAR WILDE, The picture of Dorian Gray

Flower Shoppe

Let us dance in the sun, wearing wild flowers in our hair...~Susan Polis Shutz
submission for Illustration Friday's "Work" theme. Happy Friday!

dance card

"You've gotta dance like there's nobody watching,
Love like you'll never be hurt
Sing like there's nobody listening,
And live like it's heaven on earth"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dance_card 
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Illustration Friday: Egg

My submission for Illustration Friday's " Egg

" is one of my Home Town die cut greeting cards. This card  is a shoppe that features Easter items  and like all of my Home Town cards it stands on it's own and when you collect all 5 you have a little town :) The original is Liquitex acrylics on Canson AirBrush Paper. Each card is a different die cut and there are 10 different buildings in total for holidays, birthdays, important anniversaries or simply just to say I am thinking of you.

Happy Easter and Happy Passover!

An egg is always an adventure: the next one may be

different. ~Oscar Wilde~

Illustration Friday: afterwards

This little house started out as an illustration on Arches and is printed and diecut and afterwards it becomes a garland of houses. It has one side that can be folded which enables it to stand alone or in groups and I used non-traditional colours for the holiday or anytime. Notice you slide the ribbon through the open windows :)

Illustration Friday: spooky

Somewhere in the Transylvania countryside is the idea behind my submission for Illustration Friday's "spooky theme. I love this word so I did this last minute quick and dirty on stonehenge using acrylics and prismacolor pencils;)

2010 valerie walsh

Illustration Friday: acrobat

My submission for Illustration Friday's "acrobat" is a painting I have done many times in many ways for lots of peeps. This is a version I did to a song by Los Lobos :) You know the saying "once in a blue moon" which means seldom or rarely? Well this is a lavender moon and that means as rare as it gets! The title of this painting is "Balance" which is required when you are an acrobat ;)

valerie walsh 2010

Illustration Friday: double

When I paint illustrations for cards, calendars and stickers I often have to make 2 of the same image and sometimes 4 if it is a seasonal item. I have a game I play with myself to see if I can make them look identical. Sometimes I have to make the same item in reverse and I enjoy this as well. Here are some examples of my submission for Illustration Friday's "double" theme.

1. Love Grows (greeting card)

2. Homes for the Holidays Stickers (spring/summer)

3. House Paint stickers (LOVE & Happy Birthday)

Illustration Friday: diary

I got quite excited about this word :) What sprang to mind is "Diary of a Mad Housewife" so I decided to make a moleskine into a house and use the idea of the text viewable through the door and windows ( I have done this before and loved it!) This helps the diary resemble the cover for Sue Kaufman's book. My version and my writings are modified from the original of course and illustrates the madness that plagues me in my constant creating of buildings and homes. My submission for Illustration Friday's " diary" theme is a journal called "Diary of a Mad HouseMaker.

photos and art valerie walsh 2010

Illustration Friday: Giant

When you live in LA you tend to get asked to do a lot of unusal jobs. I have had my fair share of unique opportunities and I welcome them :) This illustration is from one of those very times. This took place in 1990 at Sunset Tower Hotel in Hollywood. It is a landmark hotel and in those days The St. James Club of London and Antigua bought it and operated it as such. My friend was the head doorman and asked if I could make a special remembrance for Whoopi Goldberg because she loved the hotel and had been staying there for some time and he wanted me to make a quick valgal version of the hotel to make her feel special. I only had a day to paint and I wanted it to look like the work I was into at the time. I was making 10 layered dimensional towers and castle-like structures for a show in Santa Monica. This illustration was mounted on a lovely thick piece of paper that I made. This place is considered a giant among the old art deco buildings and many wonderful people have stayed here including my mom and me :) we had a delightful and memorable time there.

Please watch this short film about Sunset Tower Hotel.

valerie walsh 1990

Illustration Friday: Equipment

You are not seeing things, come closer, this is the dance of the hammer and the nail. It is a rare treat to catch a glimpse of this elusive happening! My submission for Illustration Friday's "Equipment" theme is an illustration I made while the painting I am working on is drying so this is quick and dirty and down to the wire ;) This little painting on paper is called "Home Work". You cannot build a house without the proper equipment. The humble hammer and the nifty nail ;)

2010 valerie walsh

Art is not a mirror held up to reality but a hammer with which to shape it.

~Bertolt Brecht

Illustration Friday: Fearless

The person that moves in here might enjoy living on the edge and could be considered fearless.

Or they could just be a bit crazy ;)

My submission for Illustration Friday's "Fearless" theme is a quickie called "hilltop house".

I have been away and now i am back. Cocoon would have been a better word for me but I had to miss last weeks theme so i was certainly challenged by this word as it does not come to mind when you think of a house or home. There are a few buildings in Topanga that remind me of this one :D

valerie walsh 2010

Illustration Friday: ahead

Spring ahead! My submission for Illustration Friday's "ahead" theme is a spring infused diecut gift tag. Have a nice weekend ;)

photo 2010 valerie walsh

Illustration Friday: expired

The lease on this Pear Pad has never expired. Why? Because it's purrfect ;)

My submission for Illustration Friday's "expired" theme is a painting on Stonehenge paper for the King of Maybe and my friend, Fernando Pereira.



2010 valerie walsh

Illustration Friday: subterreanean

My submission for Illustration Friday's " subterreanean" theme is an idea that I started to work on quite a while ago, i think two summers ago I was planning on working out this painting called "DownTown" but I was sidetracked by so many other "Houscapes", paintings. greeting cards, etc. Sometimes this happens, I have a lot of ideas just not enough time to get it done. I try to use the summer as my time to do art and ideas that I have wanted to explore and I always have the best of intentions. I hope I can get back to this some time in the future. This painting shows me, I might have lived in Topanga a little to long. I started thinking the ants and bugs and rodents have little condos and it is like a little underground town. I am sure that I am right ;) On a side note sometimes when I create an image in a layered dimensional way I do a flat illustration as well so I have one version for a reproduction image and a dimensional image as well. So that gives me two unfinished pieces I need to work on :P Happy Friday!

Illustration Friday: brave

My submission for Illustration Friday's "brave" is a cropped version of my idea of "Home of the Brave". I had to crop an illustration I have already submitted before because I am pressed for time but I love to submit for the word :D it is a joy to play along each week! This is from my 2004 HomeMade calendar and it is called "Field House". I live in an area where the Chumash Indians lived.

I am taking care of Nomi and I walked her behind the house into the park and we stumbled upon

the most beautiful mushrooms. So I thought I might share a little slice of my world and it is very spring-like today :) Enjoy and have a lovely weekend!

art and photos valerie walsh 2004 and 2010

Illustration Friday: perspective

My perspective is pretty much the same, houses and buildings, painting and having fun.
My submission for Illustration Friday's "perspective" theme is a drawing I made for my dear friend artist Pam Jones. It is her birthday on Saturday February 27 and she is a fellow pisces. We belong to a music sharing blog called Kings of Maybe and I am playing her a few songs this weekend as well so if you click on you may follow along too. This drawing called "Going Up?" is her birthday card and I thought on Pam's way up she might need to bring along a few things she could use: Fishie Friends, a monster, a valpal hat to receive songs and messages and a birthday cake! of course it is chocolate :P I hope you have a fabulous birthday sweet Pam Jones! Big love from Valgal, babe!

birthday card for Pam Jones 2010

Illustration Friday: adrift

Do you catch my drift? My submission for Illustration Friday's "adrift" theme is a colour pencil study on StoneHenge paper and the frame is clay and resin. Eventually this boat will drift and be adrift...

valerie walsh 2000