A Little Birdie Told Me...

..that our old pals are back in town!

Two years ago, during our first year in Shanghai, we had the pleasure of making dear friends with my British colleague and his sweetheart (of a girlfriend, at the time.) Since then, we have all been married and they have had a beautiful baby girl, Mia who we have only known through photos and phone conversations. Tomorrow is the big day when we will get to meet the little toddler; a visit long overdue!

The Birdie Family is a 16"x 40" canvas scroll complete with fringed edges and ribboned top. It's dark turquoise background lends to the gentle blue, pink and lilac colour scheme, with two-toned greens for the foliage. Wispy branches bend and curl while chubby birds bounce on their tips. Sparkled sequins line their wings; Mama and Baby Bird touch beaks as Daddy Bird looks on from above. "Mia" is written in flowing font to blend in with the branches.

Wishing a healthy, happy 2009 to a very precious little girl!

Bubble Baby

Baby Bubbles is dedicated to my dear friend Dora; a wee little doll here in Shanghai.

Her mother and I work together at the kindergarten and have become good friends since last summer. In celebration of Chinese New Year, we will visit with Dora and her family and be able to bring a little token of our friendship. Bubbles frosty pink scales are adorned with shiny sequins. The fan tail and koi-like character are Asian-inspired, while the pink and turquoise are comfy colour combination for any little girls nursery.

Hoping this Baby Bubbles brings many years of luck and love to little Dora!

World Wide Web

Spidey had a little traveling to do this holiday season as he made his way from Shanghai to Canada, in search of his new owner and one of Sweet Pea's all-time favourite super kids.

In the past two years Super C has been collecting 18x18" Justice League replicas by Sweet Pea for his playroom in Guelph. The collection, now consisting of Batman, Superman, Flash and Spidey, are soaked with bold colours, strong black outlines and blunt cropping, linking the Superheroes by style.

Though Sweet Pea was relieved to know that Spidey made it safely across the ocean in time for Christmas morning, it was a shame he could not have been delivered by hand. One of the best parts of working with wee Super C is being entertained by his costume changes, as he himself becomes his favourite characters, making delivery day a favourite pasttime of mine!

Wishing C and his family a wonderful year to come & warm wishes throughout the holiday season.

Stay Tuned...
Sweet Pea Gone Bananas!

Glorious Gloria!

A big welcome to a little cupcake, Gloria Virginia Beth.
Although she resides in France with her parents and big brother Matthieu, we send our love and best wishes via Sweet Pea scroll.

Her mommy happens to be one of my dearest friends and Gloria has yet to discover what she has in store; daily lullabies from an incredibly gifted songstress!
While I could break glass with my pitch (a talent passed down from my own mother;), I will stick to painting and use her carousel pony scroll as a tribute to her mothers lullaby.

Adorned with pink rosebuds and ribbons, the white pony stands tall against a baby blue sky. High on a hill, the last few lines of the lullaby are written in turquoise script; "the blue and the bay, dapple and grey, all the pretty little horses." The bottom edge of the scroll is scalloped to break up the solid colour scheme of baby blue and sage green while curled satin ribbons of pink and lilac hang down from the finial ends.
Miles and oceans definitely make it difficult to be there to share some of these early moments of someones life, but the further you go, the more you realize how small the world really is. We are certainly there in heart.
Sending love, health and happiness to a dear friend and her growing family.

Pink Lemonade

Pretty as a pink blossom, this 1x2 foot stretched canvas was created with one of China's childrens stores in mind. My Second Hand baby shop is the entrepreneur venture of a fellow foreigner in Shanghai whom I will have the pleasure of meeting this week when I deliver her first display pieces on behalf of Sweet Pea.

These almond blossoms have been popular with the girlie crowd as they compliment a baby nursery, young girls room or even a teens quarters. The lemony yellow backdrop serves as a nice contrast colour to cocoa branches and cotton candy blooms. The branches are randomly dusted with iridescent sequins to mimic dew drops and a small space is left in the cove of the lower branches to display a child's name or quotation.

Sending big thanks out to My Second Hand for being Shanghai's first baby store to feature Sweet Pea illustrations:)

Coco Meets Ladybug

CONGRATULATIONS to the newest mommy and daddy-to-be, our friends Jane & Tony. Their little bundle is due around Chinese New Year (very lucky!), so mommy's belly is still in the wee stages of being turned into a pumpkin.

To celebrate, Sweet Pea designed for them their very own monkey mural. Jane is just as much a fan of cutesy, fun children's art, so I hope this will be a nice addition to the early stages of the nursery. There have been a few opportunities for me to add a wee little ladybird in my work, but this one is complete with blue eye shadow, luscious lashes and tiny toes atop the head of Coco's Mama (or Dada;) The fringed edge along the bottom adds to the playfulness and the calming yellow background brings the chocolate-coloured characters to the forefront.

We look forward to the months ahead as Jane & Tony prepare for their wintertime bundle!

(P.S. I promise that the next project in progress is not monkey-related;) Stay tuned....

Going Bananas!

I cannot tell a lie; I am bananas for monkeys.

For the first time, my better half and I visited the Shanghai Zoo last month and he had to drag me away from the Gorilla family with their newborn (who was the perfect model for the retro Mon Chi Chi doll) as well as a lonely Chimp on the other side of the park who had me when we touched fingers through the glass. Even the baboon who kept blowing kisses at me before turning around to show me his bare butt, kept me amused for much longer than the other visitors. I am obsessed.
This zoo excursion was purely artistic research;)
Now, I am lying.

They say you can learn a lot about an artist by analyzing their work, but mine pretty much spells it out for you; monkeys. They possess amazingly human-like qualities , are hilariously funny and make me feel closer to my sister when I get homesick! (It's ok, she never reads this blog!) When I have a freebie project that is headed to a baby shop showroom, or want to plan a gift for friends...the monkeys win every time. Soon I may have to change my name from Sweet Pea to Mon Chi Chi.

Our future children will have their rooms covered in baby monkeys to fulfill their mothers obsession and ducklings to appease their dad. Lucky chocolate and yellow is a smashing combination.

Here in Shanghai I am preparing a few projects for a baby clothing store (My Second Hand), but those are projects underway so I must keep details under wraps until official unveiling. These chocolate monkeys pictured on lime background are for a friend from China who I had the pleasure of working with in 2005. Now I will have the pleasure of meeting little Howie (and promise to publish his picture if I get granted permission;)

Wishing Naomi and her family all the love, kindness and talent she has shared with us.