Thursday, August 25, 2011

New Art and Inspiration

I finished a mermaid commission, a psychedelic drawing and a new painting with my new Aquarelle crayons (my new LOVE! Stay tuned for more art with these fabulous things) and threw in a few inspiration photos to boot. Happy Fall, Everyone!  Summer is over but here in Hawaii that doesn't mean much as far as weather, summer will continue forever~


 "Leimomi the Mermaid" ~ an original commission (watercolor and water-based acrylic)


"Underwater Disco Jellyfish" ~ Created with Aquarelle crayons, my new LOVE!!  Stay tuned for more


"Luscious", the Queen  is now content in the new house~


 "Doodle-Flower Sunset" ~ a sharpie creation 5" x 8.5"

Relaxing at Kaimana!

Thursday, August 18, 2011

More Stand-up Comedy

I rocked the comedy open-mike last night at the Dragon Upstairs again with a Facebook/Library set, hooray!  It's been a month since I performed so I was a little nervous, but killed it!  Boy, am I hooked.  Everyone liked my set and cheered and laughed.  In these rough economic times, laughter is sometimes the best medicine~ Here is an exerpt from my set and some photos:


"Hi, my name is Erika Swartzkopf and I’m the tallest blondest Haole you’ll ever see here in Hawaii.  I’m originally from the mainland, where I was 6 feet tall. Here in Hawaii I’m 8 feet tall. You people have some SHORT, dark people here, I’m not kidding! My husband doesn’t need a flashlight, we can see our way by the light of my glow-in-the-dark hair!  I can lose my Filipino husband in a large crowd of Asian people 10 feet away. He will be 10 feet away and completely disappear: “Whoosh! He’s gone.” Meanwhile, he can see me at least 2 miles away “Oh, there she is, I can see the blond head!”

Any facebook fanatics, I mean addicts, in here? You know, I’m running a support group for FB addicts: we meet every day on FB from 1-12 pm and discuss things, it’s working REALLY well for me, I am SOOOO much better now!! 
Facebook is the only place where people can talk to a wall and not be considered a loser! (goes over to wall near stage and talks to it with face really close: "So how ya been?") You can write on a wall and not be considered a graffiti artist. In the news lately, there was an article about a hacker group vowing to destroy Facebook. That’s one way to get Zuck to hire you!..."




Wednesday, August 17, 2011

My daily walk in Paradise

I walk. A lot. I walk a minimum of an hour a day and sometimes two hours and get to see interesting things that people in cars often miss: flowers. trees, fabulous clouds, nature's tropical gifts. I gave up driving 22 years ago and never looked back, the beauty of Hawaii still shocks and astounds me daily, with its' fabulous colors so I thought I'd share a few of my favorites today. Noticing details in the natural world really inspires my artwork and gives me a sense that all is right in the world:


 Desert Rose




Banyan Tree

Kaimana Beach

Monday, August 15, 2011

Red seaglass pendant necklaces - NEW!

Red is the new trend for Fall!  Feeling very productive this past weekend, I made four, red, seaglass pendant necklaces (actually they are faux, or tumbled glass).  They are wrapped in copper-core, silver wire with beads and shells and I put them on a sterling silver  24" or 18" chain or green, silk cord.  Special price; $15.  Email me if interested: swartzkopf@yahoo.com




Monday, August 8, 2011

"Darth the Dragonfly"

Here he is, fresh outta the studio: "Darth the Dragonfly", my latest and greatest original, watercolor and water-based acrylic (the gold parts). I chose the name because I think his head looks like Darth Vader's mask-like head, so he may appeal to you Star Wars fans, too, lol:


Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Jellyfish Paintings

I have created lots of Jellyfish paintings in the last three years. They lend themselves easily to my creative, abstract style. I love how they are full of motion and color, free and yet they are also dangerous creatures in real life, a wonderful contradiction. I plan to do more Jellyfish paintings soon~


"Hawaiian Warrior Jellyfish", prints available here:http://fineartamerica.com/featured/hawaiian-warrior-jellyfish-erika-swartzkopf.html


 





 
 "Gold Jellies"~ Original available, email me:swartzkopf@yahoo.com and prints available here: http://fineartamerica.com/featured/gold-jellies-erika-swartzkopf.html 


 "Sunny-Side-Up Jellyfish" ~ Original available (email me:swartzkopf@yahoo.com)