E-BAYWATCH

(Pirate ACEO by Lydia Velarde 2008)

No, it's not me in a red swimsuit flying down the beach in slow-mo with my floatie under my armpit (Seriously, me in a bathing suit? I always just do the favor and refrain...unless I'm in another country or at a beach where people look worse than I.),but it is me swimming through the art listings on Ebay, yet again. It's not so bad today, and I am pretty pleased with all of the items I have purchased. For the most part, I bought ACEOs (Art Card Editions and Originals), which are guilt-free and great for gifts, etc. In the process, I discovered some pretty amazing artists, who not only sell their mini-wares in cyberland, they also sell in the real world for hundreds and even thousands of dollars at brick and mortar fine art galleries throughout the country.

One of new favorite artists is Lydia Velarde of San Diego, California. As you can see in the preceding photo, Lydia celebrates whimsy in her work, with themes ranging from pirates to VW buses to sheep, which I love! It's impressive to me how she captures so much detail in a 2.5" x 3.5" gouache painting. In reading about her, I learned that she has been away from painting for a while, but is now working on all thrusters trying to regain her spot as a top artist in the San Diego area. Her full-sized paintings are lovely and are priced very reasonably for the quality of the work. Someday, it would be great to own one of her still lifes or landscapes.

In the meantime, you can visit her blog at http://artyvelarde.blogspot.com/. I also recommend going to http://www.lydiavelarde.com/ to learn about the woman behind these fabulous miniature creations.