FlitterBlog

Meet the artist!

Danita Stallard is the peculiar personality behind FlitterMouse Studio's collection of snack-sized paintings and quirky comics. As an intrepid adventurer and indiscriminate tree-hugger, Stallard finds her inspiration in the rugged forests of Northern Manitoba, Canada. Her creativity is fuelled by copious amounts of Earl Grey Tea, a fascination with folklore, and the occasional infusion of pure silliness. She remains, as ever, a firm believer in the many uses of salt.

Find me on the interwebs!

Website: flittermouse.ca

Shop Tiny Artwork: flittermouseart.square.site

Facebook: facebook.com/flittermouseart

Instagram: instagram.com/flittermouseart

Discord: https://discord.com/invite/A3UpMbFPGG

Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/g83tKH

I love winter, which I guess is a good thing since I live in northern Canada, where winter seems to make up 75% of our year. Even so, it's exciting when we start to feel that warm sunshine burning through the frost!

Today was an extra-sunny sort of day, and it got me thinking about the sunflowers that "volunteer" to grow in my yard. I've never planted a single sunflower, but my neighbours like to leave birdseed out, and the local squirrel is always stealing that birdseed. He tends to forget where he's buried his hoard over the course of our long winter, so I tend to find "surprise sunflowers" in places where sunflowers probably shouldn't grow. It always brings me a smile to see a bright yellow sunflower poking up between my columbines.

I'm under the impression that I don't like orange. It's never my go-to flavour, and I rarely choose it out of a line up. In fact, if asked, I'd say that orange is my least favourite colour.

But then I remember sunsets. And creamsicles. Bonfires. That one toy my dog likes best. Monarch butterflies. Tiger lilies ...

I think every artist gets the urge to paint expressive eyeballs sometimes. Why are we like this? The world may never know ... but I DO know that I love painting brightly-coloured eyes!

This set of bookmarks was originally painted on a wooden board, which had a weird texture on it. I had to do a lot of sanding and several layers of gesso to smoothen down the surface before I started painting. The prep work is never my favourite part of a project, but I'm always happier with an end project if I take the time to properly prepare my surface. I guess it's a necessary evil!

Every week, the ATC (Artist Trading Card Club) has a new inspiration word to get our creativity flowing. This week's word was "FRECKLE."

There are so many different ways to play with the word "freckle." I thought about freckling a night sky with stars, or using stipple-shading to do an entire card. I had too many ideas!!

When I have too many ideas, I tend to fall back on easy-art ... the kind of art I make all the time ... and before I knew it, an inkling goober had emerged once again!

Is it a particularly inspired art card? Nah. But I had fun making it, and that's what counts!

PS: Here's our weekly prompt list, in case you get inspired! You can find more info about my ATC Club (and how to do an art swap with me!!) here: http://flittermouse.ca/atc-club

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