See the shop here: http://www.etsy.com/shop/artpoptart

As it stands now, ArtPopTart is a one woman show but I'm lucky enough to have the assistance of three cats on a daily basis. I think of them as interns, learning the ways of the art world. They're been very helpful in tasks such as mixing cat hair with paint, stealing paintbrushes and chewing on magazine corners.

Each of my mixed media collage paintings are painstakingly made, each taking from 6 to 20 hours to complete. First, I brainstorm an idea for a silhouette. And by brainstorm, I mean an actual brain storm, sometimes I barely come out of it alive. Then, I draw out the silhouette and attempt to cut it out without cutting off a finger or two. Next I collage the entire canvas with upcycled magazine clippings. Then I place the silhouette on the canvas and paint around it. Sometimes I even sponge on paint to give it a rough badass feel. Next, if I think the piece is good enough to have prints made, I'll scan it in with a high quality but very small scanner. This takes no less than six separate scans, followed by photoshop stitching all the while expanding my curse word vocabulary. Maybe one day I'll employ a patient geek to take over the majority of my cursing. Now that I've divulged my secrets I fully expect you to be swept off your feet. Please feel free to shower me with coffee and compliments.

This is a quote that I think is most appropriate if you're thinking of purchasing from an artist:

"When you buy from an independent artist you are buying more than just a painting or a novel or a song. You are buying hundreds of hours of experimentation and thousands of failures. You are buying days, weeks, months, years of frustration and moments of pure joy. You are buying nights of worry about paying the rent, having enough money to eat, having enough money to feed the children, the cats, the dogs. You aren't just buying a THING, you are buying a piece of heart, a part of soul, a private moment in someone's life. Most important you are buying that artist more time to do something they are truly passionate about: something that makes all of the above worth the fear and all the doubt: something that puts the life into the living."

-Rebekah Joy Plett