VisualSmilesGallery

Although my Etsy address is LindaGJ.Etsy.com, I titled my little business "Visual Smiles Gallery" because my art always seems to end up giving people smiles. My whimsical art is natural and I do escape to a whimsical world when I work.
My shop started when I was a school teacher of art to little kids and I used to tell stories of my funny fat cat named Peanut. I wrote and illustrated a couple of books about her and sell prints from those books. The "Itty Bitty Kitty from New York City".I can recall the kids chanting those words over and over again. I also worked on a Haunted House where I learned how to make paper mache. I made one Peanut, and then more in different costumes way back in the mid 90's. I also went through a tragedy as my fiance was shot and killed by a drive by in LA. I was all about angels, so I made tons of angels as well. Then a co-worker at one of my Special Event jobs asked me to make her a big fish with big lips. There came the fish!!! I eventually took my work to a popular shop and they loved my work so I started selling there! I found 4 other stores to sell my work and they all sold very well. That's when the economy was good.I found out about Etsy through a friend and decided to try it out. This way I could make most of my money compared to the 50% taken off selling at shops. My style is changing gradually because of an illness that has me endure a lot of pain all over my body. So the only things that are strictly paper mache are my big fish and small angels. I discovered polymer clay a bit easier on my hands and I reinforce my cooked clay with paper mache. The Betty Boop head was a commissioned piece and it's all paper mache except for the eyes, spikes in her hair, nose , and lips. I then fell in love with mixed media on canvas and have sold many pieces. It's much nicer to my hand pain and I love doing it. I look at my detailed watercolor art when I was younger and healthy and can't believe I did it!!! I can still paint though every once in a while. I will add some pieces to my photos to show my detailed work. My inspiration on my Brazilian theater group in NYC where I helped out in wardrobe, just shows how much I truly loved them! I have also worked for celebrity musicians and have gotten to travel a lot along with living in NYC for 12 years and Oahu for 2 years when I graduated from a Performing and Visual Art High School in my hometown, Houston. I once got to travel to Rio for a show and took a little plane to San Paulo to stay with them for a month!!! We were also in the San Paulo Carnival and won 1st place and got our picture in one ot their magazines! They were famous in San Paulo, but I found out that celebrities aren't the same as it is here. They barely get minimum wage, even working in tv episodes and there surely isn't any paparazzi! I also got my BFA in college. Being disabled now has made me work at my own pace, no more Art Festivals, etc. But I continue to do as much as I can with my Art that always tells a story until I can't produce anymore. If you want a story about a particular pieces that I overlooked, please get in touch with me where it says: convo. I love to meet people so feel welcome at my shop and sending me an e-mail! At least. I hope ya'll get a few smiles visiting my shop!
PS: I will add more info so Ya'll come back soon! :)
Also check out my Flickr page at: http://flickr.com/photos/VisualSmilesGallery.com
You can see more of my work in detail and some write ups about me!