Weekly Wrap-Up #11!

Hi everyone! It's been a busy couple of weeks! After we thawed out from the snow down here, I had a lot to catch up on since I had been stuck inside for a whole week. A big thank you to everyone who had outstanding orders for being so understanding. I couldn't even walk down to the mailbox, let alone go to the post office! One day, I tried to walk down to the mailbox, but stopped halfway down because I was afraid that I was going to fall. It was the worst snow/ice storm I've ever seen in the Atlanta area in my 20 some years of living here. It sure was beautiful, but also caused a lot of headaches. If Atlanta was better prepared to handle a snowstorm, it would be much more enjoyable!

Besides the snow, Willow, our new cat, is adjusting nicely to her new home. She is becoming my best buddy and follows me around everywhere. She jumps up in my lap constantly and will purr non-stop when you're petting her. Besides a few little scratching issues here and there, she is the perfect cat and is just content to be on your lap or by you. She likes when you play with her, but is perfectly content to play by herself too. I just adore her and I'm so lucky to have found her! She must know I'm talking about her, because she just crawled into my lap. =)

On the art front, I've been super busy as always! I am trying my hardest to produce more artwork more frequently for you all to enjoy. I'm working on three new pieces currently. I also have some new cross stitch patterns to tell you all about from Heaven and Earth Designs!

New Witch Painting - Heather

I have been working feverishly on a brand new painting titled Heather after the lovely lady who won my Christmas giveaway! Heather won a commissioned painting and she had some fantastic ideas about what she wanted! She requested a witch with a lot of gothic background elements, roses, ivy and several cats who are near and dear to her heart.

I decided to draw the witch sitting on a gothic stone throne surrounded by all her kitty friends. Each kitty has different wings! I bordered the painting with stone columns and wove the ivy and roses around them. I am very proud of the linework in this painting! I think it is some of the best work that I have done and is definitely one of the most detailed paintings that I've created.

Heather requested shades of purple, cranberry and dark red in her painting which are some of my favorite colors! I can't wait to get started painting it. This is a picture of the linework. I just finished transferring the painting to watercolor and inking the final version, so she's all ready to be painted! I hope to start putting color on the painting this week. I will surely keep you all updated on my progress.

New Mermaid Painting for Valentine's Day

I also worked on another fun sketch while we were snowed in! This is a pretty little Valentine's Day mermaid. I will be working on her at the same time that I am painting Heather, so that hopefully she will be done by the time Valentine's Day rolls around. I am done with the Photoshop linework on this mermaid and I will be announcing the winner of my name contest in the next couple days! I hope you all enjoy her. =)

New Nikki Burnette Cross Stitch Patterns from Heaven and Earth Designs

Heaven and Earth Designs has released three new cross stitch patterns based on my artwork! They have released Aelita and Jax, Kirra and Ryla which are all really fun selections with Valentine's Day fast approaching.

View my cross stitch patterns here.

This week is sure to be as busy as last week! Along with working on Heather and my Valentine's mermaid piece, I also have another commission painting that needs my attention. This one is just in the beginning stages, but I will hopefully be sketching it out soon. I'll be working on all three paintings at one time, so I will have a lot of fun things to show you all along the way! I hope you all have a fantastic week and thank you so much for your support of my artwork!