Category Archives: Best Picks

Some of my favourite works…

Beastly Ideas: Put the ‘grrr’ Back into Your Wardrobe with this Unbeatable Sale!

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“I just found out it takes 5 sheep to make one wool sweater. I didn’t even know they knew how to knit.”  – Anon, coolfunnyquotes.com 

I’ve just launched my Cherie Roe Dirksen Designs TeePublic store and to celebrate, my tees (and other products) are on SALE. Get up to 35% off all products! Grrr, baby!

I’ve chosen some designs from my beasty collection to whet your appetite. ALL TEES ARE $14 UNTIL TOMORROW EVENING 4//11/2022.

From Zen baboons, bee’s with attitude and cute chubby pandas to feisty chickens, Schrodingers cosmic tortoiseshell and big cats on the prowl, there’s something for everyone’s taste. And at $14 a pop, why not take advantage and get yourself a new summer look? Not forgetting that Christmas is just around the corner! Click on the picture below to take you to my store:

ENTER THE STORE HERE

Do you have a favourite design? I’d love to know. Please leave a comment in the box below 🙂

Thanks for stopping by!

Other topics you may enjoy:

What Exactly Does a $3,000 Arty Puzzle Look Like?

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I’m so happy to announce that The Waterford Puzzle Company have selected 4 of my artworks to add to their custom puzzle collection.

They range from $325 – $3,000, which may seem a bit on the high-end but they boast bespoke wooden pieces that include shapes, like animals or your name, within the puzzle (see details below).

Such fun!

Which is your favourite one of the 4 below? I’d love to hear from you.

Get yours here or click on the picture below:

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Relax: Let Me Take the Stress Out of Your Holiday Shopping

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  • Are you in an area affected by limited shopping avenues?
  • Do you feel like you want to avoid any unnecessary stress or outdoor trips this festive season?
  • Concerned about how to get your Christmas shopping done?
  • Looking for unique, tailor-made gifts for that someone special?

I’d like to share my Christmas 2020 catalogue with you.

With unbelievable savings this Black Friday, all you’ve got to do is point, click and get ready to receive your delivery!

And you get to feel all warm and fuzzy inside as supporting products like this is supporting independent artists like myself 🙂 PLUS the fact that all products are made to order and not in bulk, reducing the festive carbon footprint exponentially.

Let’s start off with prints. Get a whopping 41% off when you buy 5 or more metal prints at Displate — I have a great selection to choose from:

Here are some fun and funky ideas for the babes, kids and tweens in your life — from Llamageddon comforters, Ninja Santa backpacks to Mary Christmas and Santa Claus jigsaw puzzles:

            

                     

For more gift ideas, please click HERE.

Here are some gift ideas for that special lady in your life; be it your gran, mother, wife, daughter, sister, aunt, colleague or friend. Spoil her with something different:

                                                                    

See more products you may like by clicking here.

It’s really hard to buy for the men in our lives, isn’t it? Here are some unique gift ideas for those grandpas and distant uncles you see once a year. Or perhaps it’s closer to home; your fathers, husbands, brothers, friends and fellow workers:

                                                                                            

Need some more shopping inspiration? Click here 🙂

And, lastly, you’re going to need some gift bags and Christmas cards!

           

Don’t forget that tea towels make great wrapping paper too (and a little extra gift!)

 

Thanks for looking! I hope you enjoyed this years collection selection and may it take some of the legwork out of your Christmas shop this year.

 

An Accidental Triptych

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Update: All 3 paintings below are now sold and with an art collector in Cape Town, South Africa. 

A Phoenix, Some Crocs and the Djinn

I was experimenting with a few of my original paintings and put these three together – I think they look rather spiff altogether as a triptych, what do you think?

These are from my 42 Exhibition (you can download the FREE booklet of art and poems here) which explored the meaning of life.

Click HERE to view the 42 Exhibition collection. Prints available too!

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Other articles you may enjoy:

The Art of Pastel Poppies — Come See the Photo Process

How To Branch Out — Painting Scenes With Trees

News Alert: Rock Music Art Originals Available to Purchase Exclusively Through Saatchi for the First Time!

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Rock Art OriginalsI started the Rock Art Series back in July of 2012. I thought it’d take me no longer than a year to complete.

How wrong I was!

I am still busy with the 10 paintings I set out to create. You can read the WHOLE enticing, dramatic and emotionally provocative story HERE.

I was going to wait until I painted the last one (Queen) before I released all the originals for sale.

What changed my mind?

I’ve been getting SO many requests for the prices of the originals of these pieces that I just decided to bite the bullet and set them free into the wild unknown.

I’ve grown very attached to many of them as they are dotted all over my house — from flanking my bed to gracing my hubby’s music studio. It’s time for me to detach and let someone else enjoy the depths of these works, in the flesh.

So without further ado…here they are all laid out for you to see what they’d look like in a room and to scale (click on pic’s to take you to the gallery where you can check out the prices/make an offer/buy a print at SaatchiOnline):

Rock Art 1

Read more about this ‘Radiohead’ painting here:

What Radiohead Looks Like Through The End of My Brush

Song Playlist — Radiohead Albums That Made The Art

Rock Art 2

Read more about this ‘Beatles’ painting here:

What The Beatles Look Like From the End of my Paintbrush

Rock Art 3

Read more about this ‘Jeff Buckley’ painting here:

Rock Art Series Painting no. 3 — Jeff Buckley ‘Raw’

How I Got ‘Raw’ With Jeff Buckley

Rock Art 4

Read more about this ‘Pink Floyd’ painting here:

‘Dancing in the Void’ — Pink Floyd Rock Art Painting No.4 Photographs

Painting Pink Floyd — Soldiering Through the Minefield of Emotion

Rock Art 5

Read more about this ‘Skunk Anansie’ painting here:

‘Dangerous Love’ — Skunk Anansie Rock Art Painting No. 5

Rock Art 6

Read more about this ‘Templeton’ painting here:

Rock Art Painting no. 6 — Templeton: The Photographic Process and Grand Reveal!

What on Earth is a ‘Chaoskampf Demiurge’? You Seriously Need to Know This!

Rock Art 7

Read more about this ‘Muse’ painting here:

The Resurrection of Muse — Rock Art Painting no. 7 Photographs

Decoding Muse (Rock Art Painting no. 7) — ‘Resurrection’

Rock Art 8

Read more about this ‘Nirvana’ painting here:

Cold Burn to Nirvana? Rock Art Painting No.8 is Something Different (Photo’s Included)

Get Me OUT Of Purgatory! The Emotions Behind the Nirvana Painting, ‘Cold Burn’

Who’s Next Up on the Easel?

I am still effectively busy trying to complete this series.

The next painting I announced was going to be David Bowie. I was devastated to hear of his passing earlier this month and it feels strange now to carry on with my plans knowing he is no longer with us. But, who knows, perhaps he’ll make an appearance in spirit like my Jeff Buckley painting. 🙂

Thanks for taking this journey with me.

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See My Art That Made It Onto TV!

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The Melting Pot by Cherie Roe Dirken Banner

Fresh, Fun and Funky with a bit of Ferrero Rocher!

I’ve been dabbling with a new style.  I’m still using my gold spiral patterned backgrounds but the subject matter has changed slightly.

Although I’m still (and will probably never give up) painting my poppies onto these backgrounds, I’m experimenting with contemporary form.  It’s given me a nice new platform to launch some issues and topics close to my heart.

And besides the light-hearted messages in the pictures, I am having oodles of fun with this and I hope you will too when you see them!

The colours are fabulously bright and are meant to pop out and smack you in the face and I have used a lot of mixed media (including some Ferrero Rocher wrappers in the ‘Sweet Like Chocolate’ painting amongst others — which, by the way, Ferrero Rocher themselves commented on.  See below the painting for their feedback on the concept).

Inspirations, Valentines Celebrations and Getting on the Telly

Before I show you these freshly produced works of art, I want to encourage you to click on the pictures (below) and read the inspiration behind the pieces.  You will also have the option to buy the original for those of you wanting to invest in art.

I was absolutely thrilled to hear from a dear friend of mine (who has her finger slightly more on the pulse than I do) that 4 of my paintings were featured on SABC’s Morning Live on Saturday the 14th February!

What a nice Valentines Day surprise that was!

So without further ado, here they are (I have written, below the respective paintings, which were featured on TV).

Sweet Like Chocolate Original Painting by south african artist, Cherie Roe Dirksen Valentines Day Gifts

‘Sweet Like Chocolate’ (Cherie Roe Dirksen) — Featured on SABC’s  Morning Live

Response from Ferrero Rocher about the painting above:

“Thank you for sharing this beautiful creation with us!
It’s great to see how Ferrero Rocher encourages your fantasy.
Many compliments. Regards —Ferrero Rocher Team“

Gay Pride Painting Original Painting by south african artist, Cherie Roe Dirksen

‘The Pride’ (Cherie Roe Dirksen)

The Melting Pot by Cherie Roe Dirksen

‘The Melting Pot’ (Cherie Roe Dirksen). Featured on SABC’s Morning Live

Cat Lovers Painting Original Painting by south african artist, Cherie Roe Dirksen

‘Playing with my Heart’ (Cherie Roe Dirksen)

Look Where Else You Can See Them!

To spice things up further — these designs are now part of a funky new range of accessories.  You can start strutting your stuff in the new leggings range, sleep under art, sip your tea from a painting or simply let my art hold your shopping.

Merchandise 1

Above is a collage of paraphernalia from this range including:  Clothing, tote bags, scatter cushions, duvet covers, travel mugs, greeting cards, stickers, laptop and iPhone/iPad skins.

There is also the option of having these paintings as prints, posters, canvas prints, framed prints and even metal prints too.  Just click on the pictures below and select the products from the drop down menu at RedBubble.

Sweet Like Chocolate Original Painting by south african artist, Cherie Roe Dirksen Valentines Day Gifts Gay Pride Painting Original Painting by south african artist, Cherie Roe Dirksen  The Melting Pot by Cherie Roe DirksenCat Lovers Painting Original Painting by south african artist, Cherie Roe Dirksen

Want to View the Originals?

‘Sweet Like Chocolate’ can be seen at the Barrydale Karoo Hotel.

‘The Pride’ and ‘Playing with my Heart’ are both on show at Kunstehuijs Art Gallery, Swellendam.

The other 2 paintings that were featured on telly were:

Rhinos by Cherie Roe Dirksen

‘Rhino’s — Spiral of Life’ (Cherie Roe Dirksen). Currently on show at the Barrydale Karoo Hotel.

and…

Do you get it?

‘Do You Get It?’ (Cherie Roe Dirksen). Private collection.

Thanks for looking!

Other blogs you may enjoy:

Subscribe IconExpressing Dis-Ease Through Painting and Poetry

New Photographs of Painting ‘Iceland Poppy Mix’ and Art on Duvet Covers!

Your Chance to Own an Original of Your Choosing

Photo’s: Painting the Extraordinary Life

Out-of-the-Box Arty Outdoor DIY

Help Me to Pick the Cream of the Crop

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tee header

Some of you may have already seen my ‘VegeTate’ Gallery filled with fresh and fruity produce jokes on tees.

For those of you who haven’t, below is a just taste of what’s in there.  However, I need your help…

Decisions, Decisions!

I’m going to be selecting a few from the ones below (my personal favourites) to be printed locally and I would love your opinion of which 4 will make it into the ‘best of’ print pile.

So please can you let me know (in the comment box below) what your favourites are numbered 1-4 or even if it’s just 1 you particularly like.

Thanks so much! (BTW if you are living in the US, these designs are already available for you CLICK HERE to view — they make side-splitting gifts).

fig,royal_blue,mens,ffffff

No. 1  ‘Quit Grating Me!’

fig,black,mens,ffffff

 No. 2  ‘All we are saying is give peas a chance’

fig,army,mens,ffffff2

No. 3  ‘100% Organic Nuts’

fig,lemon,womens,ffffff

No. 4  ‘Nice Pear’

fig,royal_blue,mens,fff2ff

 No. 5  ‘WikiLeeks’

fig,grass_green,mens,ffffff

No. 6  ‘Has Bean’

fig,gold,mens,ffffff

No. 7  ‘I’m Beet!’

fig,forest,mens,ffffff

No. 8  ‘Lettuce get to know each other better…I’ve turned over a new leaf’

fig,army,mens,ffffff

No. 9  ‘I only have eyes for you’

fig,gold,womens,ffffff

No. 10  ‘Warning — I come in many different layers and I can make a grown man cry’

Reusable Art for a Dollar!

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Poppy Art Greeting Cards by Cherie Roe Dirksen

Yup, you read right.  In an initiative to keep my site alive (and to raise $120 for my annual site fee) I have come up with an offer you can’t miss out on!

What You ALWAYS Need

Everyone needs greeting cards — how many birthdays, celebrations and occasions do you have coming up?  I bet at least a couple in the foreseeable future.

So, for just $1 (easily purchased through PayPal with instant delivery) I am offering you 4 custom designed greeting cards (blank for you to fill in your own message) in a ready-to-print template (PDF).

All you’ve got to do each time you need a card is pop some paper in your printer and hit the print button!

Never Ending Supply

You can reuse these templates over and over again.  And, yes, all I ask is for $1 to go towards my yearly renewal fee for the site so I can keep on offering my free downloads and weekly blogs.

Want yours now?  Great…just click the button below:

Papal button

You will be redirected after checkout to my site where you’ll get a download link, if you don’t receive the link to your cards after you’ve completed the checkout, please e-mail me at cheriedirksen@yahoo.com and I’ll personally see to it that you get them.

Astonishing Ways to Make Your Home Look Like a Luxury Retreat

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Boring Is as Boring Does — Are You Showing Yourself Up?

(Photo’s at the end of blog)

Have you ever walked into someone else’s home only to feel that something is amiss?  They have a nice house, perhaps even nice furniture, but something is definitely lacking — you look around you and all you see is dull.

Perhaps this is your house?  Put your finger on the problem yet?

It’s the lack of colour, verve, spacial compensation and imagination — you need art and you need it now!  Do you know that your décor shouts a loud message about who you are?

Scary for some but true!

You Just Might Need Professional Help!

There is a fine art to balancing correct sizing in an allocated space.

Please don’t fall for the atrocity that has one popping a tiny print on a spacious wall.  Or, God forbid, having a print that is sitting skew in a frame, then there’s that old mount-board that has started to develop mold — these are all examples of BIG no-no’s.

Better to go Zen and have nothing on your wall than have sporadic paintings dotting the horizon in a haphazard formation, drowning in a sea of space. If you have a large wall space you need an equally large picture to balance that space out.

Expert Help at No Cost

Yes, I am talking as an artist but I’m also a qualified interior designer and worked for years in the art and framing industry.

You don’t even have to sink your money into expensive original art unless that’s what tickles your fancy.

This is not actually even about impressing neighbours and friends.  It’s about your lifestyle and making your house a luxury retreat and not a place of dreaded tedium.

Homes Are Relaxation Zones

It’s a case of beautifying your domicile for a comfortable and invigorating living space.  Your opportunity to present your unique sense of taste and style.  You too can express yourself through art, it’s not only artists who can achieve this.

Art displayed can give anyone the channel with which to convey what they resonate most with.

If you can’t afford originals right now then go for the alternative — inexpensive prints.  This option can be just as good as the real deal these days with high quality canvas and photographic prints.

But enough talk, let me show you — pictures can paint 1 000 word.

This week I’m going to look at a bedroom scene.  First you’ll see the bedroom with no art and then 4 variations of art examples and how they enhance the space immediately.

Let me know — in the comment box below — which is your favourite:

Bedroom Red

Bedroom 4

Bedroom 2Bedroom 5

Bedroom 6

‘Elegance’ (Lady in Red Dress) print can be viewed HERE

All of the prints above are available (just click on the pictures to take you to the print store).  There are various formats and sizes to choose from.  To check up on the technical specs of this outstanding print store — CLICK HERE. 

Call to Action — Get Your Free ‘Before and After’ Today!

  • Does anybody want to send me a picture of their ‘blank’ space (in your home or office) that you want to see transformed by my art?  If yes, then just e-mail (cheriedirksen@yahoo.com — use heading:  ‘Art in my Home’) your photo (please try to make it a good quality — focused and straight — photo).  Your photo just might be featured in the next blog. 🙂
  • If you have a particular painting/artwork of mine in mind — just send me the link (or title of artwork) to it and I will use that in your ‘mock up’.
  • To view my extensive portfolio of available prints, please CLICK HERE.

*sizes of prints as shown in photographs may vary according to what sizes are available to print

Other articles you may enjoy:

Earth Day Sparks Off ‘Green’ Boutique

Creating an ‘African’ Statement for the City that Never Sleeps!

How to See Divinity in Living Colour

Rock Art Painting no. 6 — Templeton: The Photographic Process and Grand Reveal!

7 Tips on How to Market Your Art From Behind Your Desk

 

3 Sound Reasons to Dispel the Myth that You Can’t Afford Art

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When one hears the terms ‘galleries’, ‘art collectors’ or ‘investment art’, one immediately thinks of big bucks and inaccessibility but thanks to the ingenuity of certain online sites and galleries, you are most likely in the position to buy original art right now!

Here’s why:

'COSMIC COSMOS'--- Original Acrylic Painting by SA artist, Cherie Roe Dirksen ---460 x 610Bid or Buy (a trustworthy and reputable online auction/shopping site that I have used for over 8 years now) has a PayLater plan for approved, secure sellers.  Now you can buy original art and pay it off monthly.  For example: The painting on the right works out to R340.00 per month (approx. $34.00) with PayLater (click on the picture to take you to Bid or Buy — the PayLater symbol is on the right of the page, underneath ‘add to cart’).  They also conveniently accept Paypal, EFT’s, credit cards, Discovery Miles and loads more other payment options to make life easier for your online shopping requirements.

CLICK HERE TO EASILY CONVERT TO YOUR CURRENCY 

Saatchi Online offers original art from around the world at every income level.  They even have a curator who scours the site every single day for fresh and exciting work by artists from every corner of the globe to put in collections that range from under $1000 to under $100!  There are so many great works and diverse artists to choose from but here are a few to get you going:

   

RedBubble is an online print site that offers excellent, high quality canvas prints, cards, photographic prints, matt prints, framed prints and posters at incredibly affordable prices. There is something here to please every pocket.  Here are some tasters of what to expect at this site — an array of artists and a sea of colour, different styles and ingenuity:

Afternoon Shadows by Lynda Robinson  'Raw' — Jeff Buckley (Rock Art Series) by Cherie Roe Dirksen Rain Rustle - Original Oil On Canvas by Leonid Afremov by Leonid Afremov

Proverbs 31 Woman by Eva C. Crawford Leopard Attack by Cherie Roe Dirksen Gypsy Firefly by Aimee Stewart

So, with all these options, can you honestly say that you can’t do anything about those empty wall spaces?

Do you own original art?

Do you prefer to buy prints?

Other articles you may enjoy:

Painting Pink Floyd — Soldiering Through the Minefield of Emotion

How to Artfully Get into Your Element

Zebra Fever — Jazzing Up Your Walls With Stripes!

Healing Through Art — The Gates to Wonderland Just Got Flung Wide Open

Can Using Yellow in Art Enhance Your Mood?

Do You Own White Bare Walls? Spice Them Up Today with Affordable Style!

“2 Peas in a iPod” Wicked T-Shirt Designs

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It starts off with a simple yet witty design…

Then you add the coloured T-shirt:

…and Voila!

A perfectly good gift for that special geeky someone…yes, you know the one!

Get yours here:

“2 Peas in a iPod” T-Shirts & Hoodies by Cherie Roe Dirksen | RedBubble.

What Nature Can Teach Us About Art

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Getting Bored With Painting/Drawing Your Average Flower?

A few years ago I decided to mix and match the medium of chalk pastel with acrylic liner on Coloured Canson Paper.  The result I got was rather pleasing and led me to do a whole collection of floral themed artworks with a distinct difference.

So What’s The ‘Difference’?

What I like to call the x-factor about these works is found in the background, which I do with an acrylic liner.

They represent the life-force of the universe — cosmic energy.  The famous golden means ratio that is found in nature;  the flower of life — sacred geometry.  I first started off just mindlessly doodling these shapes, spirals and patterns and only later, when I looked into it, I found out that I was pretty much tapping into the universe and my subconscious mind.

Injecting Your Talent

The pattern is done by hand.  I stipulate this because a lot of people have asked if the backgrounds are a stencil and they most certainly are not (no offense to people who use stencils in their work).

Needless to say, a lot of time, effort and ‘cross-eyes’/squinting goes into these pieces.

Some Favourties

Today, I’m going to showcase my Top 3 favourites, in no particular order (all the originals are sold but prints can be purchased if you click on the photo’s below):

“Lilies on Parade” 

“Red Poppies”

“Arum Lilies”

Survey Time

What’s your favourite flower?

Which of the above 3 pictures did you enjoy the most?

If you enjoyed this blog, you may enjoy these too:

Confessions of a Tree-Hugger

My Top Art Picks for 2012

Best Selling Art as Prints and Posters

Best Selling Art as Prints and Posters…no’s 6-10

Thanks for looking!

Don’t forget to claim your FREE copy of ‘Creative Expression — How to find your inspiration….’ (along with other bonus free gifts)

My Art Portfolio book is also available as a glossy paperback (click on book to take you to the bookstore)

You can follow me on Twitter and Facebook for daily inspiration and articles:

    

Confessions of a Tree-Hugger

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Branching Out With Trees

Cherie Roe Dirksen - Official Tree HuggerI love trees.  Any kind.

They are captivating, calming, beautiful, mysterious, life-giving (not only converting carbon-dioxide into oxygen but housing many a life-form), shade-providing and gracious.

So many poems and great works of art have taken root around trees — they certainly capture the human imagination.

To cut what could turn out to be a long blog short — pictures speak louder than words, so…

Today’s art blog is going to look at some of my favourite tree paintings (please note that all the works below can be purchased as prints, posters and greeting cards — just click on the pictures):

Thanks for looking!

Don’t forget to claim your FREE copy of ‘Creative Expression — How to find your inspiration….’ (along with other bonus free gifts)

My Art Portfolio book is also available as a glossy paperback (click on book to take you to the bookstore)

You can follow me on Twitter and Facebook for daily inspiration and articles:

   

My Top Art Picks for 2012

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I’ve had rather a busy beginning to 2012.  What with my book finally being released whilst  keeping up on the art front to hold the fort in place.

For today’s art blog I thought I’d show you my favourite 6 painting picks from January’s busy and tousled easel.

I hope you enjoy them.

Red Poppies in the Forest

Zebra Love

Blue Poppies in the Meadow

Vase of Poppies

Rhapsody in Blue

Blue Poppies — Finding Beauty in Chaos Series

All the paintings above are sold but they are available as greeting cards and prints (just click on the image to take you to RedBubble).

Have a happy and productive Wednesday!

FREE BOOK GIVEAWAY

Get your FREE copy of ‘Creative Expression’ HERE

Or, alternatively, it can be purchased as a paperback at lulu.com.

“Bite size teachings on how to express your creative flare and how to ignite your passion for life.

Learn how creativity is food for the soul and that the world is just waiting to be shaped and moulded by you – the co-creator of your reality.”

My art portfolio book is available HERE to purchase or just to browse through (click ‘preview’ under book icon at lulu.com)…

Some More of My Best Selling Art Prints

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If you want to see my top selling art prints then click here.

These are some more of my best selling art prints online.

I love doing the backgrounds for these paintings.  Many people have asked me if it is a stencil – definitely not!  This is all done by hand and no pattern is ever the same.  It is like a fingerprint.

White Poppies

The Poppy Collective was a huge painting, the first large one I ever did of poppies.  It was definitely a challenge to do, especially the background as you can well imagine.  The painting measured 760mm x 920mm.

The Poppy Collective

Sunset Reflections was purchased by my sister and hangs in her bedroom.  It was a marriage between the poppies and the sunset/landscape.

Sunset Reflections

Another poppy painting has made it into the best sellers list ~ Poppies in the Rising Sun.  This particular one was featured on the RedBubble homepage.

Poppies in the Rising Sun

And there you have it — some of my Best Selling Art as Prints and Posters via RedBubble.

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My Best Selling Art as Prints and Posters

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What the Public Want

I’ve strung together some of my best selling art prints (taken from online sales) over the years.

I thought it was quite interesting to see what was popular in my collection and perhaps, you the viewer, will get a kick out of seeing what people are buying to beautify their spaces.

Heck, maybe one of them will even tickle your fancy!

To visit the print store — where you can buy not only framed and mounted prints of all the art below but an array of other products from canvas prints to skirts (select ‘Available Products’) — just click on the pictures below.

Let’s Get Started…

Number 1 is ‘Raw’ (painted to the music of Jeff Buckley) and is part of my Rock Art Series (read more about that HERE). At the moment, this painting is hanging above our bed and I’m in love with it.

No. 1 ~ Raw (Rock Art Series – Jeff Buckley)

Jeff Buckley --- Raw 24 x 36 LR


Number 2 was also somewhat of a surprise as it has turned out to be not only a best-selling print but also the most viewed item on my RedBubble portfolio, clocking up a whopping 15 254 views as of December 2015.

No. 2 ~ Tree Silhouette

The next one was inspired by the Lord of the Rings trilogy and is called ‘My Precious’.

No. 3 ~ My Precious

Frodo by Cherie Roe Dirksen

My Tree of Life Series watercolour called, ‘Dusk’, is in at no. 4.  It’s currently clocked up more than 14 000 views.

No.4 ~ The Tree of Life Series – ‘Dusk’

Tree of LIfe by Cherie Roe Dirksen

In at no. 5 is ‘Zebra’ — a macro painting of a zebra’s face.  I just happened to sell a poster of this one today!

No.5 ~ Zebra

And here is Three Pink Poppies.  I must admit that this is one of my favourites as well.  Just because I loooooove poppies so much! 🙂

No. 6 ~ Three Pink Poppies

Pink Poppies

Number 7 on the list is my reproduction of Starry Night.  Vincent Van Gogh is my all-time favourite artist and I wanted to re-create this work.  This does come as a surprise for me as one would think that if you were going to buy a print of this, you would buy the original as a print.

However, I am flattered but have to give all recognition to the original artist for the beautiful rendition of the night sky.  The original was never sold as my husband did not want to part with it, so I gave it to him and it is in our bedroom.

No.7 ~ Reproduction of Starry Night

This painting was the first I did in my Rock Art Series and it was painted to one of my favourite bands, Radiohead. This is now hanging in my hubby’s new music studio.

No. 8 ~ Escapism (Rock Art Series — Radiohead)

Escapism - Rock Art Painted to Radiohead by Cherie Roe Dirksen

And, again, another one from my Rock Art Series makes it into the top selling prints — ‘Metamorphic Dilatation’ (The Beatles). This one is quite funky, vibrant and colourful and also hangs in the music studio.

No. 9 ~ Metamorphic Dilatation (Rock Art Series — The Beatles)

Beatles Rock Art by ©Cherie Roe Dirksen

The next one has a similar theme to the previous painting but was a mural I did on the wall of my husbands music studio in our previous house. Alas, we had to leave it behind but at least I have the photo!

No. 10 ~ Musical Mural

musical mural hi res

I would love to know which of these stands out the most for you?

Thanks for looking!

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Christmas Gift Ideas…Part 3

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A Recap

In the past 2 weeks I have discussed great sites such as RedBubble and Zazzle for creating your own gift designs, whether it is from photographs or your own personal artwork.  See Part 1 here and Part 2 here.

Need inspiration?

Today we are going to go behind the scenes and discuss getting inspired.  It’s not an easy thing to obtain if you are stuck for motivation or ideas.  This is where perusing other artist, designers and photographers websites or works on sites such as RedBubble is such a great way of seeing what other creative beings are up to.  Not that you want to copy their ideas but it does, more often than not, lead you to do something that is triggered by someones idea but made completely different by your creative style.

A lot of these gift ideas use captions along with images that can really have that added ‘wow’ factor touch.  So, to get you going on some inspirational visuals, I have been introduced to a site called Pinterest and I want to share this wonderful site with you.

Pinteresting…

For those of you who are not acquainted with the site, it is a really great visual social network.  Displaying not only art, design and photography but also captions, short quotations, illustration, fashion, home decor designs, food and a whole lot of other fantastic things to stir up your creative juices.

“Set aside some good quality time for this as I guarantee the candy feast your eyes will be lapping up is going to make time fly…”

It is a fairly easy site to navigate and it allows you to ‘pin’ any image you like, adding it to your pin board on the site where others can have a look too and repin if they desire.  You also get to check out what other people have pinned on their boards, whether it be their personal creations or other images they have nabbed off the web.

Again, these pictures do fall under copyright laws — so obey!  But have fun getting inspired and motivated to start your own creations.

Set aside some good quality time for this as I guarantee the candy feast your eyes will be lapping up is going to make time fly out the window…next thing you look at the clock and hours have passed as you have perused the many visual delights!  Enjoy and, most of all, have fun.

Future projecting

Can you imagine how impressed your family and friends will be when you present them with a gift of your very own design?!

It is a great way to express yourself, feel a sense of achievement and to get that Christmas list looking good.

If you still feel like making your own gifts is just not for you, here are some more gift ideas from my store:

  

Christmas Gift Ideas…Part 2

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A little bit of silliness never went astray!

Over the past couple of months my husband and I (no, I am not the queen) have been trying to plant our own vegetable garden.  This is not as simple as it would usually sound as we live near Cape Point and have baboons for neighbours.  And as you can surmise, baboons eat vegetables.

So the plan is to build frameworks with chicken wire around our vege garden to protect it from our hairy adversaries.  A challenge to say the least.

So what has this got to do with art?

Well, during our spates in the garden, we have come up with some witty vegetable ‘catch-phrases’.  I was wondering how to incorporate this new avenue into my art and have come up with a bold solution.

The vegetables have given rise to new unfounded inspiration…(picture opposite – ‘Can you handle me?‘:  Warning!  I come with many different layers…and I can make a grown man cry!!!).  This has led me to create the….*drum-roll*…

The Vege-Tate Gallery

In a moment of pure silliness I invented a joke shop, which I have named The Vege-Tate Gallery, that hosts a number of incredibly cheesy vegetable quotations accompanied by my digital artwork of these tasty morsels.

I wanted to make the designs simple yet effective.  At first I contemplated freehand drawings and then scanning and cropping them into a T-shirt design but decided to go the digital route.

This involved my hand, the mouse and the simple paintbrush program that most Windows packages come with.

I then transfer these crude drawings into Photoshop, where I can put them on a transparent background and ‘clean’ them up.  Finally I add the text and upload it to the site (at the moment I am using RedBubble but you can also do this on Zazzle – see my previous article for all the goodies you can create there).

Voila!

Another gift idea for Christmas in the (shopping) bag…

How can you do this?

If you struggle with the graphics side of things, you can use photographs instead.  Ever taken a funny photo of a child or pet? – well, use that! Everyone has at least one crazy catch-phrase they can use as an excellent and unique gift idea for that someone special.

The wonderful thing about both these sites is you can have the gift sent directly to the person, so it is simply fantastic for those relatives and friends overseas!  No excuses.

Can’t be bothered?

Visit my ever-growing store and have the hassle taken out of Christmas shopping.

This is my first batch of vegetable produce:

Feel free to post some of your creations here for others to see and get ideas from.

Gift Ideas for Christmas…Part 1

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Part 1 – Getting an Idea

As unbelievable as it is, Christmas is starting to loom over the horizon.  I don’t even want to go into the fact that time is definitely speeding up because it is of no actual help to us when we start to think of the panic and mayhem of the ‘silly season’.

So, this weeks art blog is going to be one of many, leading up to Christmas, on getting creative with gift ideas.

Feel free to post/comment anything that you have discovered that is of help in the great gift ideas department!

Today I am going to be talking about the wonderful idea of designing your own products.  There is a great store called Zazzle, that allows you to customize designs that are already available or, if you are feeling creative, to design your own products.

Zazzle Dazzle!

It is easy to open an account with them and only takes a few minutes to get started.  They also offer tutorials on how to make a start.  Click here to go to the store.

The excellent thing about Zazzle is that you can send the product directly to the person you are making it for and you can add a personal message with the gift for them.  Nothing could be simpler!  Just the click of a button.  This makes it so easy for those loved ones overseas that you want to send something to.  Zazzle also offers affordable products – there is something to suit every pocket.

All that you need to do is upload a photo onto a mug, T-shirt or any one of their massive product selection.  Or you can really get creative and start working on your own masterpiece (maybe you already have some art or sketches ‘lying around’ gathering dust from yester year).  All that needs to be done is to get a good quality digital image of the desired picture and you can start designing your own product.

Sounds easy?

Well, it is!  Get creative – design your heart out (you can even slip in a bit of doodling at the office while no-one is watching…although I don’t want to get you fired – perhaps leave it for your lunch break).

There is no excuse for not finding some idea that will work and that is yours…this is your chance to show your family and friends at Christmas how innovative and productive you really are.  And besides a little head-swelling, you are giving them something from the heart.  Your personal creation.

Right, this all sounds really fantastic but I have no ideas – where do I start?

To get you started, here are some useful tips…

  • What are you passionate about?  Horses, dolphins, flowers, a great sunset, anime, stick art, collage, patterns?  Start from here and brainstorm…
  • What style do you like?  Simplistic, photographic, 70’s retro, digitally enhanced images, hand drawn?  Figure out how you are going to implement the design…so for instance you have a great photo of a flower but you like impressionist style painting – well, most computer programs offer special effects that you can apply to your image.  Play around with different effects and most important, have fun!
  • Do you have a great photo of someone that you can use to create a personal gift with – this has to be the most simple way to give a unique gift.  Just remember to make sure that they also like the photo – there is nothing worse than getting a beautiful photo framed for someone only to find out that they think they look ‘hideous’.  If you do this you may have to redirect them to my article on yesterday’s blog ‘Do you take things personally?’…just for a laugh. 🙂
  • Try recognizable signs and symbols if you are having a tough time figuring out what to do.  Peace signs, hearts, stars, emoticons…there is a wealth of stock available for you to use.  Just make sure you add your personal touch to it.
  • If you are really stumped then do a Google photo search for images that you are interested in and start to work out a plan from there.  Be careful not to use someone elses work for copyright reasons.  You can get ideas but don’t be a copycat.

If you truly don’t feel like going to the effort of creating your own masterpiece then here are some unique gift ideas from my store that you can personalize (add a name or phrase to)…

    

Or you can visit the store here…

Remember that you can personalize these products when you are in the store (click on the ‘customize’ button at the bottom right hand side of the product).

Stay tuned for more gift ideas in the weeks to follow and don’t forget to share your comments and inspirational ideas for the festive season.