via ffffound.

Well, the new year is nearly upon us, and with it I'll be kicking off a new series in the shop. Stay tuned for more of The Wild Children in 2010!

Well, as of today I have 49 sales logged in my shop since Oct. 8, which means that if I make at least one more sale before the New Year, I'll be able to give $50 to Love Without Boundaries on January 1st. Not to shabby for less than three months of being in business! Thanks to everyone who has visited the shop this year! The business has started off far better than I ever expected, and I'm very grateful for all the support!

Joyful wishes for the new year...

- Maia

First new image from the second collection of Mathilde and Evelyne's outfits! Stay tuned for more.

Today I am responding (belatedly) to the lovely gift of Art House Design, who was sweet enough to pass me the Honest Scrap award.

My assignment was to reveal 10 things about myself. And, I have to admit, this month I am so overtaxed that it's hard for me to even think of ONE thing about myself...Also, I have shared so much over the years on my other blog that it seems extremely self-indulgent to reiterate. Therefore, I give you here a random selection of entirely useless trivia:

1. I have French, Dutch, Spanish, Indian, and Persian blood running in my veins (and probably a few other things that I don't know about).

2. There was a time that I thought I'd never be able to live for more than two years at a time in a single location, and it still amazes me that I am now the owner and inhabitant of an actual house, with a back yard, an apple tree, and a play structure. I have never owned the comfort zone of a hometown - that which, for some people, is the ultimate grounding factor. For the bulk of my life, I've felt most "at home" on the road.

3. I drink espresso and bear a strong grudge against latte (with apologies to all latte drinkers - it's just me. I like my coffee, much like my whiskey, neat).

4. I really enjoy sleeping in the desert.

5. I wear socks to bed.

6. I believe fervently in the power of positive thought on one's life, physically, metaphysically, spiritually, emotionally, subconsciously, practically...whatever you've got. This conviction served me well when I had cancer at the age of 29, and if I believed it before that, I have believed it even more firmly since.

7. ...HOWEVER, I'm a lone wolf. An introvert. I will stop short of misanthropic, because I think I usually manage to rise above that designation, if only just barely. I work better on my own, and need a lot of solitary time. I can go for days camping or road tripping alone with no human contact outside of gas stations and convenience stores, and that kind of solitude is most likely the most difficult thing I have had to give up by becoming a wife and a mother. Fortunately, my husband understands and is independent in his own right (and my daughter is a rockstar), so it works out for us.

8. Although I have been forced to watch Curious George (the movie) at least four times a week for the past two months, I have to admit that I enjoy it. I enjoy it a lot. In fact, I might be even just sliiiiiiiiiiightly more addicted to Curious George than my two-year-old daughter.

9. I never believed I'd have any sort of desire to have children. When I finally did (rather late in the game) adoption was my first choice.

10. I drive a station wagon. An AWD station wagon, granted, with a stick shift (I object to automatic the way I object to latte), a roof rack and hardcore rubber floors. But a station wagon nonetheless. If I were single, childless, and had any sort of mechanical skills (I am not, I am not, and I most definitively don't) I'd drive a jeep, one of those old-school, three-speed, canvas-topped ones like my dad had when I was a kid. Sigh.

I pass on the Honest Scrap award to:

- Musings
- Lupus in Flight
- Passage Paradis
- Capers and Olives
- Caramel Caramelo
- Muguet Everyday
- Wu Feng Road

That said, I know that many of my friends are very private, and prefer not to share much of themselves publicly. So, take it as a compliment, not as a mandate, my friends! OX - M.

New in the shop this week:This painting was inspired by the Christmas tree we used to have when I was a child. It was a simple tree - no glitter or glitz, no tinsel and just a few select ornaments collected from countries around the world. My parents would place it every year in a large, heavy earthenware pot which would then be filled with and surrounded by the smooth white river stones that my mother had collected in the tails of her shirt (I can still remember the way she would stroke them meditatively with her thumb while she talked). It was not a tree like any other in that decade, but it was my own personal kind of magic, and I would spend hours crouched beneath the fragrant boughs, dreaming of places far away.
This painting was inspired by a small girl I saw playing in the honey-and-cypress-scented hillsides of Tuscany while on one of my sketching walkabouts near the village of Vagliagli.

This was originally sketched on site from a garden overlooking the rooftops of Rome. Rome is one of my favorite places on earth, with its deep layers of history and purely magical light. I spent hours walking its streets and plazas up and down, back and forth - sketching its rooftops and fountains, alleyways and stray dogs, its layers of ancient history emerging through the crumbling earth into the present.

They've been a long time on the drawing board, quite literally! But I'm very excited to announce the arrival of my first set of paper dolls in the shop!
The deluxe set includes two dolls, Mathilde and Evelyne, along with an interchangeable wardrobe of EIGHT pages of exotic outfits. Each 8 1/2 by 11 sheet is printed on cream linen cardstock with archival Vivera inks, ready for cutting or framing as you prefer. Packaged in a kraft envelope and stamped with our trademark biplane and seal.

I will be adding new wardrobe sets to the shop as time goes on. This makes a generous gift, or the start of a beautiful collection.

Back in the studio, and still working on the details of the paper doll costume pages.

Hi!
We had a lovely (if short, and also slightly frigid) time in the mountains. Our daughter learned all sorts of new things, like ice skating (whoa, did that ever blow her mind!) and a taste for yellowtail rolls. And if I weren't so very tired (in a good way!) I'd tell you all about it right now. But for the time being I'm deep in the process of fulfilling all the Holiday orders that came in while we were gone. Look for our mini-vacation photos in a day or two on my personal blog. I was just a bit bombarded with shop orders while we were away, and I'll be quite busy printing, packaging and shipping for the next 24 hours. Meanwhile, check out the lovely post about my illustrations at Bloesem Kids.

Hope you're enjoying winter as much as we are! ooxx