HAPPY NEW YEAR!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

With best wishes for a blessed and wonderful year!

D is for Dove

D is for Dove

Okay, it is one more new letter before the end of the year!

D is for Dove, Dogwood, Dragonfly and Damask pattern!

Redesign & Update

L is for Lily of the Valley

When participating in art festivals, I often watch and listen to how people respond to my art and selection of illustrated letters. The Letter L for Leaves below became a candidate when I listened to one young mother expressing a wish that it had a lily with the leaves. 

As you can see in my first attempt on illustrating the letter L it is pretty simple. It was my first L in my project of doing an illustrated alphabet. 

A lily? Why not! Why not add lily of the valley! I think it gives it a bit more interest. Now L is not just for leaves, ladybugs, lace and lavender, but lily of the valley as well! Who knows? It will be interesting to see how well it will be received in 2017.

H is for Hedgehog and Hammock

H is for Hedgehog and Hammock

Yes, it is a new letter H! 

And yes, there are more H words other than Hedgehog and Hammock, but I will let you guess!

It gets harder as I run out of positive ideas for the letter H, but seeing that I have only done this letter 3 times before, it became a challenge to expand my offering of the letter H.

It is Beginning to Look a lot Like Christmas!

Joy for the Season!

December is a hectic month. 

So much to prepare for the holidays.

So my wish to you is finding the Joy in the meaning of Christmas 

as well as the Miraculous Gift 

 was given to all of us.

Merry Christmas!

C is for Cal the Caterpillar

C is for Cal the Caterpillar

After the shows of the summer, I do a review of my work. Some I target to spruce up a bit,

as in the case of my first letter C.

People have smiled at this one, but for some reason, it does not sell. My thought might be the color. 

So as you can see, this charming fellow has gotten a new color look to brighten him up a bit, along with a new format.

The Happy Snowman

Christmas is coming! Time to start on Christmas cards. Here is my latest. 

The Happy Snowman comes as a pillow too!

If you are interested in purchasing this design as a pillow, click on the image above.

As a card click on this link:

http://fineartamerica.com/products/happy-snowman-valerie-drake-lesiak-greeting-card.html

Butterfly Promise

Butterfly Promise

I saw this quote about miracles taking a little time as quoted by the Fairy Godmother. 

It inspired me to come up with this illustration using a butterfly. 

I always thought of the butterfly as a bit of a miracle. 

I wonder if the caterpillar knows that in time he will become a beautiful and magnificent butterfly. 

B is for Bumble Bee

B is for Bumble Bee

Here is a new letter B!

B is for Bumble Bee holding a Blossoming Branch.

I must confess designing these letters keeps me quite busy...like, well you know! 

Second Look

On the Bright Side - Flowers of Faith

With the onset of Fall, I sometimes take a second look at a piece of art that I have done and decide to make some changes. 

As you can see, I decided to add a bit more richness and drama to make the flowers pop!

I think it is due to the change of seasons. 

This one could change yet again in the spring! 

B is for Beaver with a Blossoming Branch

B is for Beaver with a Blossoming Branch

Here is a new letter B that came to mind while doing a show at the Hale Farm and Village in Bath, Ohio this past weekend. 

B is for beaver holding a blossoming branch, but is that a blue berry bush by him perchance? Butterflies too, please add to the B list.

Hope you enjoy this cute fellow, he is not to be missed! 

T is for Two Tulips with Tea

T is for Two Tulips with Tea

 

I wanted to illustrate some kind of still life with flowers, yet design another illustrated letter. 

So I compromised. 

 

Beside the obvious T words such as Two Tulips, Tea cup and Teapot, there is Turquoise as well as Tartan.

  

S is for Seahorse

S is for Seahorse

Here is a new letter S! 

His name is Sydney and he is a special seahorse as he makes the shape of the letter S. 

Check out all my illustrated letters by clicking here on:

Alphabet Soup

W is for Wolves

W is for Wolves

As an illustrator who presents work at art festivals, I find listening to comments and feedback are both heart warming and inspirational. Many like my illustrated letters either for themselves, or for their children or grandchildren, or as a gift to someone else. What does become apparent is what's missing in what I offer. While I can not please everyone, the urge to create another variation of a letter is fed by the wonderful people I meet while they view my work. 

In reviewing my offering with the letter W, it became apparent more variation was needed.

W is for Wool

W is for Watering Cans

So while I was up late one night looking at the moon, the wolf inspiration hit. It will be interesting to see how people will respond. Meanwhile it will be back to the drawing board to think up of yet another letter illustration for a series I call Alphabet Soup. 

For more information check me out at www.picture-book-studio.com  

V is for Vine and Veranda

V is for Vine and Veranda

I have to admit, although I love the letter V, it is not that easy to come up with ideas for it. The word Vulture just does not do it for me. So as I thought of the wonders of summer and its lazy days on the porch, I came up with V is for Vine as well as Veranda. If you note, there are suggestions of violet and verbena in the color scheme. Okay, I know, I am pushing it.

 

C is for Cat, Cockatoo and Coo Coo Clock

C is for Cat, Cockatoo, and Coo Coo Clock

I have had a lot of cat requests at shows. So of course I have returned to the letter C.

This time my cat Katie was be my source of inspiration.

So as you can see, I went overboard on the letter C.

C is not just for Cat, Cockatoo, and Coo Coo Clock, but chair, cherries and check pattern as well! 

 

P is for Perfume

P is for Perfume

 

A while back I was inspired by a friend, who sells Mary Kay, to do a letter P as a perfume bottle.

Well as you can see, I finally got around to illustrating it. 

 

This one is for you, Carol! 

Yellow Bird's Love Song, a Second Look

Yellow Bird's Love Song

Here is a new redo. Every now and then I take an early piece that seems tired, or in the case of the original below, did not have much selling appeal and take another stab at it. 

 I hope the make over will have a better response in the upcoming shows.  

 

A is for Ark

A is for Ark

This one came to me out of the blue while doodling. 

A is for Ark and so much more! There are antelope, anteaters, alpaca, and armadillos all waiting to weigh anchor while under the arch of the rainbow while sailing in the aqua seas. 

Happy 4th of July

Let Freedom Ring!

P A T R I O T I C   Q U I L T

Let us celebrate what makes this country great. Let us not forget what our forefathers sacrificed and try to teach us as well as the gift they gave us. 

Let us remember. 

H A P P Y   B I R T H D A Y   A M E R I C A! 

Always Do Your Homework!

Always Do Your Homework!

 

I have to say I do love animals! This if for all pet lovers out there!

 

 

Second Glance

Count Your Blessings

I have been reviewing some of my artwork as of late and at times feel the need or inspired to go back and make some changes. Maybe it is color or sometimes there is just something missing for me. 

In this case, I change the wording, along with the color, pattern in the cup, and adding a few things such as the bird and ladybug. Oh and of course added a few extra flowers! Adding live interest comes from my years of living in greeting card world. Live interest such as the bird and ladybug seem to warm up the illustration for me. 

Maybe this is just like looking at a room and having the desire to freshen it up a bit by changing the wall color and rearranging the furniture. Anyway, as I worked on it, it made me think to count my own blessings and to be thankful. 

 

Art in the Village

For those in the neighborhood, hope to see you there!

For the Love of Flowers

Summer Bouquet

Finally it is feeling like spring!

The old I get, the more I love flowers and look forward to them growing in my garden as well as filling the empty vases that have been barren all winter. 

Of course I can always fill my walls with flowers as well! 

Hope this one will brighten someone's wall as well as my own. 

You can purchase a print here at Fine Art America.

 

Chasing Away the Cold Weather Blues!

Coffee Pot Surprise

This May has had its ups and downs. This morning when I looked out my window, I thought I woke up in late February! There was snow on the roof tops as well as some light coverage on the grounds! Fortunately by the afternoon it was gone.

All the more reason to finish an illustration I was working on. I pulled up an old illustration that I did called Coffee Pot Quotes.

I had done this illustration years ago, when practicing using fonts. However, it did not really resonate with people enough to buy it. I still liked the shape of the coffee pot, so I thought I would start again using the coffee pot shape. I am hoping that Coffee Pot Surprise will tickle someone's fancy this year enough to buy it.

Meanwhile, think warm and beautiful weather. 

 

The Letter Q

Q is for Quilt and Quill

A new addition to my series of illustrated letters that I call Alphabet Soup. 

It seems Q and X have been the only letters that I have tackled just once. Finally I have gotten around to illustrating another letter Q.

To see more of my letters you can check out my website: picture-book-studio.com 

Happy Mother's Day

Pansies Stand for Thoughts

There was a phrase from a piece of verse copy that has stuck in my head: "pansies stand for thoughts". For years as a greeting card designer I would design to that piece of copy. Now I think how appropriate it is for today, on Mother's Day as we think of our moms and all the wonderful things they did for us; those little things that really turned out to be big things as we look back. I think of those things often now that I am old and my mother is gone. She is always in my heart and my thoughts.

So for all you women out there that chose to one of the hardest, yet most rewarding job of Motherhood...

H A P P Y   M O T H E R ' S   D A Y 

Home is Where You Bloom

Home is Where You Bloom

A while back I did a piece that was about home. It was an early piece and though I sold one, it really did not blow up my skirt, as my husband would put it. Because I have always thought of home as a blessing, whether it was the home I grew up in or the home I live in now, I thought to take another shot at it.

Inspired with the feeling that spring is upon us as well as seeing the birds starting to visit the abandoned birdhouse outside my window, this is new illustration I created.

 

 

C is for Cal the Curious Carp

C is for Cal the Curious Carp

 Okay, I was looking at the letter C and decided to add yet another one to my collection. My husband laughed at my choice of using a carp for the letter C, but then was pleasantly surprised. 

Cal swims against the current.

 

B is for Butterfly

B is for Butterfly

This April has had a touch of February in the air. We've been having a cold spell. 

By now I long for warm days and flowers. 

So with all this cold weather, I was inspired to illustrate a new version of the letter B. 

Here is Byron the Beautiful Butterfly on Blue with Blossoms! 

This design is also available as a pillow on Fine Art America.

 

A is for Anteater

A is for Anteater

Between getting ready for income taxes and a presentation that I have to do later this month, I have had little time to have fun illustrating. Finally I got a break! 

So here is my newest letter A!

A is for Alvin,

the Audacious Anteater 

holding  African violets 

with his buddy Alex 

the Ant 

illustrated with a Aqua color look 

of course! 

O is for Owl

O is for Owl

Yep, I was revisiting letters of the alphabet again. This time the letter O became a candidate for another new illustration. Although owl is obvious, it still was fun to tackle. Besides, I have been getting some owl requests from owl fans, including my 3 1/2 year old grandson, Oliver. Not only is the O for owl, but for opening in an oak tree. 

 

A Second Look

Tulips on a Spring Day

One of the many things I do while watching the flows of people at art festivals, is to watch how they react to my illustrations. Which ones make them smile, which ones do they buy. 

A while back, when greeted by the first tulips of spring, I illustrated 3 pink tulips in a pot. I was so happy just to see the first signs of spring.

But for one reason or another, these sad little tulips did not have much appeal. So it was added to my list of so called do overs.  

Now that I look at the first version, maybe it just was not finished. Maybe they just looked too lonely. It will be interesting to watch and see how people will react to the new version this year. One of the biggest payoffs is seeing people light up with a smile as they walk through my tent, and best of all is making one of my pieces of art their own. 

Revisiting the Letter P

P is for Poppy

Every once in awhile I revisit a design I have done to see if it could be illustrated better. In this case it is The Letter P which I designed years ago. I am glad I did in this case. Here is the new updated version. 

The Visitors

The Visitors

 I miss my cat. She succumbed to old age after 19 years. I have had many pets; cats, birds, fish, and yes, even turtles. They have added so much joy to my life. This is sort of a tribute to the many pets I have had over the years. 

 E N J O Y! 

Feeling a Little Squirrelly - S is for Squirrel

S is for Squirrel

Yes, winter makes me feel a little squirrelly. I want to hibernate. 

But alas, it was in my notes from my last show to illustrate another letter S. I know snake seems to be the obvious, by the sly squirrel won. Besides he is picking strawberries and that should bring a smile to one's face.

Chasing Away the January Blues

Reflection of a Promise

Cleveland winters are known to be filled with gray skies and snow. Today is no different. However, it is great down time to start on a few more illustrations. 

Here is my latest, where the picture tells the story. 

Only 69 more days till Spring!