Désolée de ne pas poster plus...

....on est fort fort occupés!

A se détendre après le marché de Noël!

Marché de Noël

Tout est dit!

Et celle-là aussi....presque presque =p

J'adore travailler avec le bleu, c'est vraiment ma couleur de prédilection

Enfin finie.....

....la poupée!

Plus d'updates...

....depuis un certain temps, je suis fort occupée à préparer mon ptit marché de Noël!

Busy working on my very first christmas market, sorry for the lack of updates...wish me luck!

Ain't a photographer....

....But I wanted to share this picture with you.
Have you ever felt that the sky's the limit?
That, above the mass of rainy clouds there's something near what some can call heaven?
Well, after a lot of work and sacrifices I feel I'm approaching it.
My hopes may be too high, perhaps I'm dreaming.
But now I just don't want to just touch it with one finger before it's taken away.
I will do all I can, but I'll grab it and keep it this time.
And then, even the sky won't be the limit.

Tempête d'avril

Dans les steppes mongloliennes, le printemps est une période fraîche, de véritables tempêtes se déchaînent, rabattant les rares arbres au sol.
J'ai voulu représenter le féminité présente malgré le déchaînement des éléments, qui lui rendent presque grâce finalement....

Nouveau tournant

J'ai décidé d'ouvrir un deuxième blog dans lequel je posterai des images de mes peintures plus suggestives, parfois érotiques.
Le rapport des corps m'a toujours inspirée et attirée, et j'ai le désir d'approfondir cette partie, déjà présente dans quelques uns de mes anciens tableaux. Pour avoir le lien, il suffit de me le demander ;-)

I decided to open another blog, with pictures of more suggestives and erotic paintings of mine.
This aspect of art has always fascinated me, and I wanted to dig deeper.
If you want to know the adress, just ask me ;-)

La balançoire

Légère, légère!

Nouveau logo!

This is the colored type, I like how the texture of the canvas looks. There will be a black and white one for the cards, prints and calling card.

Voilà la version en couleur, j'aime beaucoup le fait que le grain de la toile soit visible. Je vais en faire une version en noir et blanc pour les cartes postales, imprimés et mes cartes de visite.

The midnight Surprise...

...or how things can look different under the grey light of a street lamp. More light exercise for me, was fun tho!

La Naïaide ~ The Naiad

Exercice assez complexe pour l'auto-didacte que je suis, le reflet de la lumière sur les feuilles. Et, comme c'est ma fixation pour le moment, un nuage d'étoile en forme de dragon.

Because I'm a self-taught artist, it was a hard exercise to paint the light effect on the leaves, but I loved it. And I had to add a starry dragon-shaped sky!

Night Bubble

I wanted to try something new. I like cartoons-like characters, with big round faces, and I like when they're very pale too. It was hard to try the right balance between the white-ish colors of the little boy and the dark background.

J'ai voulu essayer quelque chose de nouveau. J'aime beaucoup les personnages typés, avec des gros têtes rondes, et j'aime aussi quand ils sont pâles. Ca a été un challenge de respecter l'équilibre entre les tons blancs du garçons et l'arrière-plan sombre.

Under the Stars.

It began with the idea of a light flirt under the moon. It ended with an angel meeting under a fully starry sky...

This painting is currently for sale on my shop ~~> http://starsandroots.bigcartel.com/

Haptonomy

This is the authentic Universe Inside, now titled "Haptonomy". I made another painting with the same theme because I dreamt of it the very night I finished the first one!

Le Songe // Daydream.

I wanted to paint something fresh and dreamy, so that's what came out!
Sizing: 12X8 inches
Acrylic on canvas


Je voulais peindre quelque chose de léger et sur le thème du rêve, et voici ce que ca donne!
Taille: 30X20 cm
Acrylique sur toile.

(Glowing) Gaia

I call her the Glowy one because I used gleaming acrylic for the background (which makes her unusable for printing -_-).
I love painting pregnant women, especially when there are trees or plants included. It's my major inspiration source.

Je l'appelle La Brillante parce que j'ai utilisé de l'acrylique dorée pour l'arrière-plan (ce qui la rend inutilisable pour l'impression -_-).
J'adore peindre les femmes enceintes, spécialement quand il y a des arbres ou des plantes dans le tableau. La grossesse mixée avec la végétation restent ma source majeure d'inspiration.

L'Univers intérieur // Universe Inside.

Une des peintures récentes me tient particulièrement à coeur, elle représente ma fascination pour la vie in utero, le titre est particulièrement parlant.

J'ai essayé de reproduire le regard de cosmonaute débarquant sur une terre totalement inconnue qu'ont les bébés tout juste nés, regard qui m'a beaucoup marquée durant mon ancienne vie professionnelle.

Elle mesure 70X50 cm. Acrylique sur toile. Prix: 150 euros.



One of my most recent pieces has a special place in my heart. It shows my fascination for life in utero.

I tried here to imitate that special astronaut's look the fresh newborn has when they take their first glimpse at their new universe. I think I'll remember that look all my life.

Sizing 27"X19" . Acrylic on canvas. Price:150 euros/ 225 USD.

Peindre, encore et encore....(en français)

Pour ceux ou celles qui ne l'avaient pas remarqué, j'ai sensiblement changé de style.
Je ne veux pas paraître suffisante ou imbue de moi-même, mais j'ai vraiment eu l'impression d'être allée au bout de quelque chose, et j'ai ressenti le besoin urgent de me renouveler.

Par mes merveilleux contacts internet, j'ai eu un aperçu de ce que l'art pouvait être d'autre, tout en restant évidemment dans mon domaine de prédilection, la peinture.

Et, on peut le dire, l'inspiration est venue naturellement, même si j'ai dû fournir un surcroît d'efforts et de travail pour m'adapter à cette nouvelle technique. En effet, je ne suis pas illustratrice de formation (ni même peintre en fait), j'ai donc été obligée de beaucoup observer/tester pour obtenir quelque chose de valable.

Bref, beaucoup de boulot, finalement, beaucoup plus que j'en ai eu à fournir dans toute ma carrière professionnelle, et pas moins de stress (et pourtant, le stress au boulot, j'ai connu...).
J'espère que mes efforts seront reconnus, et ils commencent à l'être grâce à vous, merci!

Quelques informations:

Je ne travaille plus avec de la peinture à l'huile. Tout mes anciens tableaux, nommés par des chiffres romains (de I à XXII) sont à l'huile. Désormais, je reste à l'acrylique dans ma "nouvelle période" plus dirigée vers l'illustration.

Ces nouvelles pièces seront désignées pas des noms, non plus par des chiffres romains.

Un récapitulatif de toutes mes oeuvres sera disponible bientôt.

Mon côté sculptrice est mis de côté pour le moment, pas le temps ni l'espace pour réaliser ce projet. Néammoins, si un(e) d'entre vous possède un coin d'atelier gratuit à proximité de Liège , je serais contente d'y installer mon bardas de sculpture =p.

Je rappelle que mes peintures sont disponibles à la vente, une liste de prix sera disponible bientôt (en même temps que le "bientôt" du récapitulatif).

Pour toute question, mon e-mail: anne@annentoko.be.

Encore merci à vous <3

Merry Mabon!

"On this day of equal light and darkness, may you find the balance you need in your life, may you be blessed with abundance of many kinds, and may you be surrounded by the people who love you."
Namaste.

XVII

Huile sur toiles, 30 cm sur 24 cm

Naked, hairless bodies are the core of my work. I've started with it and they will probably hunt me to the grave. Is it because they're easy to paint? Or because they represent the authentic Human with no frills?

XVI

Quatre huiles sur toile, 12 cm sur 12 cm

XV

huile sur toile, 20 cm sur 40 cm

This canvas was made to honor two things that have shapened me these last years.

First, the Green Goddess, always serene and peaceful, She represents the Earth, so comforting under our feet. We won't ever thank Her enough for what She brought, brings and will continue to offer us in the future, until her last breath. She

And second, the Motherhood. I've been carrying my little ones from the day I was granted to be a mom. Carrying is so important to children, and the parents as well.
I consider it as a mother's duty to breasfeed her baby. It's inculded in the baby package: pregnancy-breastfeeding-carrying-co-sleeping-and eventually homeschooling. I can be very extremist when it comes to that point: when you're planning to have a kid, there are things that you'll have to reconsider, and it's not up to your child to adapt to your old lifestyle!

But, back to our business! I thought about decorate the Goddess'hair with flowers but I found it nice just like that.

XIV

Huile sur toile, 80 X 100 cm

Wood!

Well well, seems I decided to take the time to write about another of my obsession: discovering new materials for painting.
I'd love to try stone, but as I don'l leave on the seaside or near anything you can call a river, and as when I see a stone I think sculpting, I quickly pushed that option away.
While wandering in a secondhand market (looking for cauldrons actually) with my dear husband, I noticed a very extended and interesting amount of old boxes...Idea!
Well, not really my own private idea, I must admit I saw several talented facebook friends' work on wooden boxes and loved it!
It took me some time to find a decent technique, but finally here's the result!


Here's my Tanuki box.
A Tanuki is a furry little creature found in the japanese folklore. Tanukis are supposed to have magical power like polymorphism.




I also worked on other wooden accessories.

Here's a pencil holder on what I decided to paint the Goddess Gaia.


A simple vase with different women figures on each side.



And, last but not least, the famous Arnold the Cat and Edwige the Rat playing cards!


Now, I have to find other old pieces of wood!

Must. Write.

As you may know, I'm not a writer. Writing is hard for me, putting words together and try to give something valuable is difficult and frustrating. Add two little children and three cats and try to imagine the mess.
But, tonight, I'm offering myself the gift of ONE hour to blog!

So, another post to go!

Here's the last "painter stuff" I made, even tho it ain't really a painting, I used soft pastels.


I love soft pastels, the effect is fluid, you can almost see the muscles rolling under the skin, amazing really!

I decided to work on a project I had many years ago (fresh, young and childless then).
The project was inspired from a novel that shaked my world: Clifford Simak's "Desertion".

This novel is about humanity moving to Jupiter. The problem was how to adapt to a environnement so hostile? The scientist found a way, called Jovian.

A Jovian is a poweful and majestic creature that can live on this arid ground. The human spirit "simply" fills his body.
O boy was I excited by this vision, partially described in the book, it opened my mind to some fantastic extraterrestrial world I can still see now!

Drawing.

I probably haven't told you before (or have I?). but I've been drawing since I was able to hold a pencil. I grabbed a ball point pen (black inked only) and started it on about everything I could reach (paper sheets, unpaid bills, walls of course, etc).

My mom let me free to explore ....mostly, and for this I'll be forever thankful to her, she understood as she was herself an artist. And yes, I must admit that she was very permissive in THAT particular aspect of my education.

When I hit that age when you consider paper and pencil not enough to hold your growing ego, I started to paint and left my drawing interest behind.

Funny how the ability comes back after years...




I finally found some nice smooth paper. Well, it's not archive but it looks great!

Here's the Prince!

I began to paint him last night, and like the other characters he ain't finished, plus I have to work on the landscapes.
It's funny how all 3 characters look like they're from different countries. This one have a little italian look, perhaps due to his Pinocchio style?

By the way.

Here's the Goddess you saw several pictures down, almost finished!



I'm gonna print her soon, I just need time to organize the printing stuff.
She'll be available on my Etsy (english) and DaWanda (french) shops soon!

For those who don't know...

I am NOT an acrylic artist. Acrylic is totally new for me, and yesterday, at 2 am I rather found it annoying. But I liked what I saw the next day, such great light and colors!

I decided to continue the Millie (that's how I named the little princess of yesterday's work) universe.

I still have to figure out what landscape I'll paint, but I feel comfortable by letting the inner Goddess in me carry my hand and my brushes.

But now, here's the King! Turns out he looks like a mix of Dr robotnic and a russian old man in folk dress, I dont't know. But I like it that way!

I've drawn in my Moleskine the rest of the family, including the Cat, of course!

I don't know how where I'm heading, but this project is exciting!

Damn...

...another project....


And when do I sleep?

My Moleskine, my love.

In my shopping frenzy, I stopped again at the shop ti buy one of these marvellous drawingbooks people were telling me about.

Once I began to draw in it, I had a wonderful gliding sensation. This paper is amazing (and The Great Goddess Knows I don't feel comfy wasting paper), but boy!

I'm a Moleskine addicted....

First acrylics...

While my 4 yo son is sitting idly in the couch watching Ratatouille, and my 18 mo sits on the potty, I want to tell you about the experience I had last night.

I've been willing to try acrylics for months now, but first I wanted to complete a decent number of canvas for the exhibition.

Yesterday then, I headed to the store and bought my first acrylic starter kit: basis colors, a few brushes, and canvas (little ones, just the web on a cardboard).

Then, as soon as the kids were asleep, I rushed to try it...and wow it was amazing!

See, I only worked with oil till now, and I didn't want to listen to other's notices too much. So when I started, I pretty much didn't know what to expect (except that it dries really fast).

First, it does not smell like oil at all! Just a light, discreet scent. And the colors, wow, are much brighter! It dries indeed very fast, but it's good because that was pretty annoying for me, who got very little time when it comes to painting.

I heard several people saying that they were mixing both acrylic and oil, but from now on I'll stick to acrylic just to get used to it.

Here's what it looks like...

Gotta work on it, but I see lots of possibilities from there!

I'm planning on working on this kind of canvas plus acrylic for a while, mainly because I want a starting stuff for my printing project.

while thinking about it

Here's the last piece of my work