Biscuit & Smudge

I'd like to introduce Biscuit and Smudge, the real life grownup cats who inspired the new children's book titled "Biscuit, Smudge and the Fisherman".

This is a delightful story about how two kittens who as tiny creatures and brothers were taken too early from their mother. They are left abandoned to face a threatening environment. The kittens encounter many challenges before the story ends happily.

Kevin Maloney, the talented writer who created this tale, asked me if I would be willing to illustrate his story.

Not only was I delighted with reading the kittens' saga, but I was inspired by Kevin, who himself has overcome many obstacles in his life, like Biscuit and Smudge. Since he was a child Kevin was diagnosed with an expressive language delay disability and dyslexia. Despite having developmental disabilities, Kevin has persevered, and with gratitude for those who have helped along the way, pursued his passion for creating stories.

Maloney not only wrote the story, but drew 25 pencil sketch thumbnails for the story which I will interpret with gouache and ink to create images for the text.

Joyful art in a new book

Zoe Meets Confucius by Joann Wells Greenbaum | Make Your Own Book

Enjoy a peak at the colorfully joyful original artwork in a beautiful book.

I enjoyed collecting some of my favorite painting images into an illustrated book. It includes chickens in kimonos and high heels as well as cozy cottages.

Each image is joined with an inspirational quote to complement the painting.

When you order now until November 30th, include the promo code BIGTEN and receive $10 off the price of the book.

A Love Story- a playful tale

Everyone loves a love story, especially when it's an unlikely match, like the one between Banana and Pear.

But who could resist his appeal? And even though she was a Bartlett and he was from south of the border, they became an inseparable pair.

That is until that fateful night when the paring knife stepped in. She was pickled when he lost his skin!

If this tale leaves you with a bad taste in your mouth, read on to be shaken even more.

After much turbulence, Banana and Pear were smoothly blended, but left behind a little Ginger.

(Any resemblance to a true incidence is purely coincidental.)

After doing a 20 minute pencil sketch of the two lovers, this story appeared in my mind. It should be read by candlelight to set the proper mood.

What do you see when you look at a pear?

What do you see when you look at a pear?

The pear for this sketch came from Argentina. Before I drew it, I held it in my hands, closed my eyes and sat quietly running my finger tips around the shape; feeling the smooth skin, the curves that dipped and bulged, the woody stem at the narrow end of the pear.

Than with eyes still closed, I held the pear to my heart and transferred the image that I experienced by touching the pear, into an image that I "saw" in my heart. I saw within the pear the seed that I knew to be in its center, and the fleshy fruit surrounding the seed. Than in my imagination, I took the pear back to the tree in Argentina where it had grown. A vast pear grove spread out before me on a sunny hill in the foothills of some mountains in Argentina. There was a breeze rustling the leaves of the tree as the pickers were gathering the fruit from the trees and placing them gently into baskets. Than going back in time I saw the pear as a blossom on the tree before it grew from its seed into a fruit. Going back further still I reversed time as the tree transformed in stages from a mature tree into a young sapling, and finally into a seed that was planted into a pot of soil by a pear farmer, whose vision it was to grow an orchard of pear trees brimming with fruit for the picking.

After 5 minutes of this visualization, I was ready to pick up my pencil and sketch my pear in front of me. The first thing that I drew were the seeds that I couldn't see, and from there I "fleshed" out the pear shape, the shadow and the negative space around it. For 10 minutes I sketched this traveler from Argentina which had transformed through many processes and been touched by many hands before it came to my hands. It's odd shape among the pile of pears in the grocery store caught my eye. Before I saw it, there was already a pear in my mind waiting to be discovered-so now it has come to fruition.

What do you see when you look at a pear?

Zoe Meets Confucius

Zoe Meets Confucius by Joann Wells Greenbaum | Make Your Own Book

See a collection of my original art, along with inspirational quotes in my newly published book. Preview selected pages from my 38 page book, and feel free to leave a comment. I love feedback.

I hope that these pages will be a delightful experience, and that you'll come back again.

To paint or to talk

How does an introvert talk about their painting? With as few words as possible. But that goes against all popular advice that says you must be able to speak eloquently about your artwork in ways that will make your audience want to look more closely, take the time to really study what you are doing.

We're in the age of information overload, how much more information can anyone absorb?

How much more can I personally contribute to the overload in a way that is meaningful enough for someone to want to listen?

These are the real questions that also keep me from writing more about what I do in the hopes that there might be an audience "out there" who is really listening.

How would you answer these questions?

Pet Portrait

"Maize" was painted in oils. Here I'm showing the painting in 4 progressive stages.

Maize is the beloved pet of AJ, married to Brandon, who commissioned this portrait as a surprise gift for their Wedding Anniversary.


The finished oil painting is 8" x 10" on masonite board. I painted it using several photos of Maize as my reference. It was a treat to do and I fell in love with Maize in the process.

House Portrait

Each home has a story to tell about the people that live there, and the ways that they love their home.

I am showing 3 of many steps of creating this particular house portrait in gouache watercolor.

After taking many photographs, on 2 different days, of this home, I chose a few photos that would be a composite from which to paint this home.

The landscape was embellished upon for the painting and gives a sense of a botanical frame around the log home.
I enjoy the play of lights and shadows to create drama in the finished piece.

After the Peters Valley Craft Fair

It's been over a week since the Peters Valley 40th Annual Craft Fair .

Now it is a memory of fuzzy details. It's amazing how much planning goes into preparing for an art show before the actual event begins. There is the most important task (which is an ongoing, year long process) of creating original paintings and then matting and framing the paintings. I also make painted jewelry. Each pair has to be mounted for display on mat board that I cut into 4" squares. Upon each of these squares I attach a logo sticker on the front and a web address sticker on the back, along with a magnet for hanging the earrings on my metal display. Then I also print my own bookmarks and insert each into a protective plastic sleeve with a ribbon attached at the top.

About a week before the show, I send out an e-mail announcement to my e-mail list of previous customers and collectors.

The entire display, inventory, packaging material and office supplies are packed into the van on the day of set up. Once we arrive at the show grounds and register, we go to our booth assignment where it takes from 2 to 3 hours to set up, sometimes tweaking the booth with some fresh touch up paint.

But once it's all in place with the paintings hung, the prints in their rack and the jewelry displayed, I am ready for the show to begin.



What I appreciate about setting up my booth and putting my artwork out for display is that it's like inviting friends and visitors to step into my own little corner of my world. Throughout the day people stop, stay for a minute or two or longer, and look at what I've created. Some offer comments or conversations, some decide to purchase something, and some are contented to just look.

Sometimes friends will stop to visit, someone who I know from another context, or someone who I haven't seen since the previous year. Often I meet people who are new to me, and it's alway fun to learn abou them.



It's all very welcoming to me, and being surrounded by my work is like being surrounded by my creative thoughts, and that's very satisfying.