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One might think living on a tropical island is all about lazy days, beach life and easy living. But not for this island girl. I'm gearing up for Maui Open Studios 2015. This is my second year participating in this event. I've been working on new paintings, rearranging my art both in my studio and in the stairwell gallery. I just ordered a case of my book "The Art of Painting in Acrylic" for the event and I've placed my order for my promotional post cards. February is fast approaching and I want to be ready. This year my open studio will be during the first weekend of the event. In the guide book and on MOS's website I am artist #2. How cool is that?!

www.mauiopenstudios.com/2015html/2015.aboutevent.html

"The Annual Maui Open Studios Event is the first island-wide event of its kind in Hawaii. It spans over 4 weekends in February (The 2015 event will begin on January 31) every year and consists of an Opening Celebration and Preview Exhibition, followed by 3 weekends of self-guided tours of artist studios and exhibition spaces."

It's never to early for Christmas shopping. I often start buying Christmas presents in the summer because I find lots of great deals then. How about you? Are you gearing up for the coming Holiday season? Do you need some ideas?

My new book "The Art of Painting in Acrylic" is perfect for the art student in your life. This book is full of information and helpful techniques by six acrylic artists. One of which is me! My four paintings are Maui scenes and each one offers a different technique to try. Learn how to create sea foam and sand in one, light rays in another. Try an underpainting as in my "Olowalu Valley" or learn how to layer the paint to create depth as in my "Twin Falls" painting. Follow along with my co-authors, Linda Yurgensen, Toni Watts, Varvara Harmon, Michael Hallinan and Alicia VanNoy Call, to learn how to paint animals, portraits, still life and fun bright pop-art.


Order your book now through one of these online retailers.

Qbookshop - www.qbookshop.com
Amazon � www.amazon.com

Barnes & Noble � www.barnesandnoble.com
IndieBound � www.indiebound.org

Indigo � www.chapters.indigo.ca

It's also available as an ebook!
Amazon Kindle - http://www.amazon.com/Kindle-eBooks/

Barnes & Noble Nook - https://mynook.barnesandnoble.com

Apple ebook - https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/ibooks/id364709193?

Today I'm excited to announce my interview with Genie Canvas is now up on their website. Go check it out and tell me what you think. If you have any questions regarding the canvas, just ask.

Christmas is coming and I want to help you get ready. So starting today through Nov 23rd I created a special discount code for you to use on any of my prints. Just use this code DEMSAJ at checkout and save.

Shopping on line has become super easy for busy people these days and it's made shopping easier for those who are unable to get out to shop. Christmas shopping is a huge chore and can be very stressful. So take advantage of this discount to help ease some of that stress and enjoy your Holiday this year.

These two miniature paintings are now featured at Village Gallery in Lahaina. The tall one is 3x6 inches and is a scene from Kapalua Bay, looking out at Molokai. The other is a 3x5 painting. The scene is from Napili Bay and again you see Molokai in the background.

I really enjoy painting these little gems. Maui I so beautiful, everywhere I go, every day I see scenes that inspirer me. Sharing these special moments by painting these little miniatures gives me great joy! When a customer buys one I get double the joy because I know that a little piece of my paradise will be living in a home of someone who loves Maui as much as I do.

I just finished this big 24 x 48 painting of Sand Harbor. It's a commission piece that is being sent to Florida. Since moving to Maui over two years ago, I discovered how beyond expensive it is to ship things to or from Hawaii. A large painting like this one costs between $400 to $600 hundred dollars to ship. That is a huge cost added to my customer's total and can be a deal breaker. But I have found a solution, Genie Canvas
( http://geniecanvas.com/ ). I found this company through a discussion thread on Fine Art America. I checked out their website and was instantly excited. I ordered one ( the painting pictured here ). It took quite a long time to decide what to paint on this canvas. In Fact it sat waiting in it's tube for months waiting for it's turn.

Assembling the canvas was super easy and fast. The canvas it's self is great quality "the heavy weight, 100% cotton canvas is triple gesso primed". Once my painting is dry I will be re-rolling it up and putting it back in the tube it was shipped to me in. Then I will ship it off to Florida at a fraction of the cost to create it and ship it. Just a mere $35! How exciting is that!

If you are an artist reading this blog, go check out the Genie Canvas website listed above. You can thank me later.

Fineartamerica has made an announcement this past week about their new print fulfillment center in the UK. Fineartamerica is the parent website for my www.daricemachel.com website.


"We are very pleased to announce that we've begun producing and shipping orders from our new fulfillment center... in the United Kingdom!
Effective immediately, if a buyer purchases a canvas print and ships it to any address in the UK or Europe, the order will be fulfilled by our UK fulfillment center.
What does that mean?
It means that the order will ship to any address in the UK within one business day... and to any address in Europe within 2 - 5 business days!
It also means low shipping rates... no import taxes... and a whole new market of buyers for your artwork!
We're starting out with canvas prints, and we'll be expanding to include other products at the UK fulfillment center very, very quickly.
The UK center will be fulfilling orders for all of our websites, including Pixels.com, FineArtAmerica.com, FineArtEurope.com, Instaprints.com, ArtistWebsites.com, and all of the others. This includes your personal Artist Website and your shopping cart widgets, as well.
If the buyer is shipping the order to the UK or Europe, then the order will automatically be produced at the UK fulfillment center so that the buyer receives the order as quickly as possible with the lowest possible shipping charge. If the order is being shipped to the United States, Canada, or anywhere else in the Western Hemisphere, then the order will continue to be produced at one of our U.S. fulfillment centers.
If you've read this far... here comes the fun part. Starting now through August 31st, we're offering FREE SHIPPING on all canvas orders that get shipped to any country in the UK or Europe. You don't need a special code to receive the free shipping offer. Just add a canvas print to your shopping cart, select a shipping address in the UK or Europe, and you're all set. In less than a week, we'll deliver a museum-quality masterpiece to your doorstep with a 30-day money-back guarantee!
Tell your friends... tell your family... tell your followers on Facebook and Twitter... your online art business just went global!
This is just the beginning of our expansion all over the world... stay tuned... "

This is such great news. My prints are now easier then ever for purchase globally.

Tomorrow morning we will be leaving for our trip to Chico California. My partner, Charlie Osborn's grandson is getting married on Saturday the 23rd and I'm doing my first book signing on Wen the 20 at Avenue 9 Gallery. I also get to meet my newest grand baby who was born last October, I can't wait to get my hands on her!!! I'm really looking forward to this exciting trip. So much going on in such a short amount of time.

The Chico Enterprise Records did a nice write up on for my book signing event. The books have all arrived in Chico safely and are waiting for me. I'm getting pretty nervous, I've never done anything like this and hope it all comes out well and I don't make to big an ass out of myself.

lick on the link to read the article.

I am so excited to be able to hold this book in my hands. Look, see that image I'm pointing to? That is my painting. I'm on the cover! The long journey that started back in November 25th 2013 has come to a rest for the moment. Seeing, touching and smelling this book has given me chicken skin (as they say here in Hawaii, goosebumps on the mainland), all over my body. Walter Foster Publishing has done a marvelous job putting this book together. They found 6 artists who's works blend well together. I'm having a hard time putting this book down! I want to keep touching it to assure myself that it is real. I really am one of the authors, I really do have four paintings featured in this book. I'm not dreaming!!!! In just a few weeks I'll be doing my first book signing in Chico California at Avenue 9 Gallery.

Two years ago, when I left Chico to move to Maui, I knew a great adventure was waiting for me. Little did I know just how great it would be!

Today I'm happy to announce the winner of my first Facebook contest. I had my friend, Pam Web pull out the name.......drum roll please.............. Bonnie Markley is the winner......Wooooohoooooo!!!!