gallery of art by alice flynn

A Shamrock Is Not A 4-Leaf Clover

aliceflynn — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 01:24:33 +0000

It is that time of year again. When I was a girl, Saint Patrick’s day was a holy day, not the commercial mess it has become in the USA. In addition to the green beer and stereotypes of drunken hooligans, the four leaf clover images used instead of shamrocks are cropping up everywhere to sell anything that is plastic and green. *Sigh* Yes, it annoys me.

Coping With Downton Abbey Withdrawals – Jane Austen & Dickens Treatment

aliceflynn — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 22:50:33 +0000

If you have loved the Masterpiece PBS series Downton Abbey, you may be feeling withdrawals from the drama after last night’s finale of the season. Until the third season is aired, where do we turn for our romantic fix? Never fear, Jane Austen is here… and Charles Dickens (a Dickens series beginning on Masterpiece) and the many books written in homage to Austen. Among the period gems from the past of PBS Masterpiece are Upstairs Downstairs, The Forsyte Saga, The Jewel In The Crown, and Bleak House. I have been a fan of PBS Masterpiece and the original Masterpiece Theater since it began. I am very glad that Downton Abbey has brought more attention to this wonderful service of PBS.

Don’t forget to tune in next Sunday night for the repeat of The Old Curiosity Shop by Charles Dickens.

Above is one of my many illustrations related to Jane Austen, and this Pemberley design was also inspired by Highclere Castle, where Downton Abbey was filmed. The design is in my aliceflynn.etsy.com shop, and on many items at Cafepress.com CLICK HERE.

A Vintage Valentine

aliceflynn — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 20:12:35 +0000

My mother collected post cards and greeting cards. In the shoe box of cards (vintage now but from her time) was this beautiful vintage valentine, die cut, embossed and layered.

Mr. Darcy, The Heart Throb Valentine of Pemberley

aliceflynn — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 16:54:59 +0000

“… and not all his large estate in Derbyshire could then save him from having a most forbidding, disagreeable countenance, and being unworthy to be compared with his friend.” Chapter 3, Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

The above design is on gifts at the link HERE (click).

What a complete turn-around it is for Mr. Darcy to be portrayed first as a jerk and then as the ultimate heart-throb that Jane Austen fans swoon over.

The many film adaptations of Pride and Prejudice have brought Mr. Darcy to the attention of women who otherwise would never have known the longing of Elizabeth and the estate of Pemberley.

Meh, A Very Happy Unvalentine To You

aliceflynn — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 02:26:25 +0000

How do you feel about Valentine’s Day? Meh?

Then I created this design for YOU!

You can find it in my Cafepress shop online in the Candy Hearts Section HERE.

(You are not alone).

BBC News – Art historians find copy of the Mona Lisa

aliceflynn — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 04:33:42 +0000

BBC News – Art historians find copy of the Mona Lisa. This is a fascinating video report by the BBC. It is so exciting to see this new discovery of a Mona Lisa work done by Leonardo’s student at the same time as the master painted the Mona Lisa.

A Typographer’s Letter to Brad Bird – the candler blog

aliceflynn — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 03:38:31 +0000

A Typographer’s Letter to Brad Bird – the candler blog.

Yes, some people do notice the font you use in your movie.

What ho, Jeeves!

aliceflynn — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 23:18:47 +0000

Do you like P. G. Wodehouse? Wooster and Jeeves? What about Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry? Or, maybe you are a hipster from Portland sporting a mustache. Here is a new design for the new year of 2012… I can’t believe my last post was in December! Time is already flying. Available on cafepress HERE.

Thanks to my blogging friend Bernadette in Ireland for jump-starting my work routine for the year!

I collect old books by P. G. Wodehouse, and one of my favorite PBS series to watch was Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie in “Jeeves & Wooster”.

You can watch many of the episodes on you tube like this hilarious video: http://youtu.be/9VGItt9cCgc

New Design For Latino and Latina Voters

aliceflynn — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 20:04:29 +0000

The 2012 presidential election campaign is heating up, and as we enter the new year, voters will be rallying around their choices.

Earlier this year I created “Latina American Voter” and “Latino American Voter” designs as shown above for the web site democraticteeshirts.com. Coffee mugs, pins, totes, travel mugs, key chains, tees, caps, and much more for the 2012 election campaign can be found at that site. Note that the design does not proclaim a candidate nor party.

Today in the news, poll results about the preferences of Hispanic voters are gaining headlines. At the Huffington Post, you can find this article, Hispanic Voters Favor Obama, Despite Record Deportations, Over Romney And GOP Rivals.

Design Emailed To You Happy New Year 2012 Do It Yourself

aliceflynn — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 22:30:20 +0000

Create a tee shirt for yourself or for a gift for New Year 2012. The design is emailed to you, print it flipped on transfer paper, apply to a white tee with a hot iron. If you are a writer or need a gift for a writer, this would be perfect New Year attire. See the link below for details.

Design Emailed To You Happy New Year 2012 Do It by AliceFlynn.

Montana’s legendary art pioneers: Bob and Gennie DeWeese – The Bozeman Daily Chronicle: Newsmakers

aliceflynn — Sun, 25 Dec 2011 22:28:29 +0000

I took every painting, drawing, and printmaking class I could from Bob DeWeese when I was getting my art degree, 1970-74. He commissioned the first work I ever sold while I was a student. He stopped me right before Christmas as I was crossing the street to Joe’s Parkway near Montana State University in Bozeman. “I’ll pay you $20 for 5 etchings of that view of Church Street you made. I want to give them to my kids at Christmas,” he said. I lived at the top of the apartment on Church Street next to Peet’s Hill, and I’d done an etching and a large painting of my view out the window, down on a house and row of cottonwoods. It turned out that it was the house Bob and Gennie used to own, and he said his kids grew up playing under those cottonwoods. He was my mentor, my most influential teacher, as he always respected that I made art about my life, who I am, what I experience.

Some people think he was a mythical character in Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, but Bob was a real person, and in my life, the person most in touch with the moment, with reality, with what he was experiencing in each heart beat.

Below is a link to an article about Bob and his wife Gennie, a touching memorial to what they brought to art, life, and the community in Montana. Alice Flynn

Montana’s legendary art pioneers: Bob and Gennie DeWeese – The Bozeman Daily Chronicle: Newsmakers.

‘Printing for Kingdom, Empire & Republic’ – Review – NYTimes.com

aliceflynn — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 17:51:52 +0000

Do you love type? I cringe whenever I think of the boxes of letterpress lead type I sold in a yard sale in the ’80′s. The person buying it planned to melt it down. The New York Times today has this great review of a show of historic artifacts and typefaces from France.

‘Printing for Kingdom, Empire & Republic’ – Review – NYTimes.com.

Death Comes To Pemberley – By P. D. James – Book Review – NYTimes.com

aliceflynn — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 18:16:07 +0000

Earlier I posted a review and interview of P.D. James about her new murder mystery, Death Comes To Pemberley. Today there is a review in the New York Times. Love of Jane Austen’s work is as ardent in 2011 as it has ever been. This is a small watercolor silver framed pendant I created for my Etsy shop. It is photographed against the envelope of one of my father’s love letters he wrote to my mother in the 1930′s. Link to the review is below this photo.

Death Comes To Pemberley – By P. D. James – Book Review – NYTimes.com.

Jane Austen, Happy Birthday December Baby

aliceflynn — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 16:15:54 +0000

My birthday is December 20, so I have sympathy for others who are December (Christmas) babies. In Jane Austen’s time, birthdays and Christmas did not carry all the fanfare and great expectations that they do today. It makes me wonder what would happen on a December 16 birthday for Jane Austen. Did they have a special meal or treat? Did she receive books as gifts (or a new pen and inkwell)?

My birthday, being so close to Christmas, and me being the last of 7 children, was rarely celebrated as a special day. There was too much going on with everyone else and with the holidays to remember my birthday. When I was 16, my family completely forgot my birthday. There was no cake, no gift, no card, no one remembered. At dinner time, I asked my parents, “Aren’t we going to have a cake or something?” and they replied, “What for?”.

My parents were killed in a car accident in July of 1979. In December, I was still going through their old clothes to pack and give away. At the end of one exhausting day, I suddenly realized, I had forgotten my own birthday!

I hope Jane Austen had happy birthdays.

Here is a portrait of Jane Austen I created this month. It is available in my Etsy shop HERE.

Out Of Chaos – Art

aliceflynn — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 20:35:15 +0000

On the left is a plastic basin and lid I use for acrylic painting, and on the right are the palettes of my watercolors. In the cold winter weather we have in Montana this time of year, I tend to move all my work in to a smaller room that stays warm. In the large room near the bay window of the house, the drafts are much too chilly for working. Today I placed these palettes and brushes together on a drawing board in the small, warm room, to get ready to work.

I’ve owned this house since 1987, and I’ve never solved the problem of the drafty large room in winter, except for the years I could get a couple cords of free firewood from a friend and keep the Lopi wood insert burning in the fireplace.

At some time before I bought this house, the previous owner tore off the west wall and expanded the dining room/kitchen/living room and added a wall of glass looking out to a deck and the west lawn. I know the guy did most of the work building this house himself, and as I’ve never been able to figure out how to access the space underneath this addition, where some heating vents from the gas furnace were extended, I’m sure there should have been a more professionally finished heating system.

On my frugal budget, I haven’t been able to replace the old door and windows, nor explore the added heating vents, but I did get all the insulation added to the attic that it could stand.

Back to the painting palettes…. when painting, an artist is lost in the “zone”. After painting, a look at the palette shows a beautiful chaos. I love the look of used paint rags and palettes with their chaotic colors built up over time.

In news, it is time to renew your Directory of Illustration page for 2013, if you are an illustrator. As self-employed artists know, advertising and marketing has to be part of our job as well as the “fun stuff” of creating. Many people in this new, post-recession economy, have found that the old jobs are not coming back. We have to re-invent ourselves and our work to fit the world of now.

BBC News – ‘New’ Jane Austen portrait unearthed by author

aliceflynn — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 15:51:34 +0000

BBC News – 'New' Jane Austen portrait unearthed by author.

Jane Austen Portrait Painting, watercolor

aliceflynn — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 20:57:26 +0000

This is the painting done today, another portrait of author Jane Austen. Are you a Janeite, or an “Obstinate, headstrong girl!”?

The original is for sale in my etsy shop HERE.

In ‘Pemberley,’ James Picks Up Where Austen Left Off : NPR

aliceflynn — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 16:23:10 +0000

In ‘Pemberley,’ James Picks Up Where Austen Left Off : NPR.

I just listened to this wonderful interview on NPR with the author P. D. James about her new book written about the continuation of Jane Austen’s story of Pride and Prejudice.

The link above has both the audio and a printed transcript of the interview.

Gift Ideas For The Nature Lover

aliceflynn — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 18:28:20 +0000

This Rocky Mountain nature watercolor is a painting I initially created for a souvenir tee shirt manufacturer. It’s a timeless design for people who love nature. Now I offer it on numerous gift items online, like jewelry, mugs, shirts, tiles, phone and computer cases, tote bags, aprons, and much more! See all available at this link Cafepress.com/AliceFlynn.

Jane Austen original portrait, watercolor and ink by Alice Flynn

aliceflynn — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 23:21:03 +0000

NOW SOLD 12/7/11

This is the painting I created today, a small ACEO sized watercolor and ink portrait of Jane Austen. It is for sale priced at $30 in my Etsy shop at this link CLICK. I believe my version of Jane Austen’s countenance captures a younger Jane than most of the portraits one sees, and more like the girls who are characters in her novels. I have also a portrait of Mr. Darcy in the Etsy shop, same size, same media.

In Jane Austen book news, the Seattle Times reports on “Jane Austen Made Me Do It”, a collection of Austenesque stories.