The Smiles Paintings Collection
I knew i wanted to do something special for the big launch of Smiles n Friends plushie line… and the Limited Edition plushie was only the beginning…
I created 3 paintings to celebrate Smiles big entrance into the world!!!
“one Big Smile”
“as i learn and grow as an artist, the more i understand the concept that there are no mistakes in art and i get to create whatever i want.”
“one Big Smile” was painted on an 84” x 72” canvas and is a really big, larger than life painting… even though i have done paintings of this size before, “one Big Smile” is decidedly the biggest cRaZy stuFFed aniMAL painting i have ever done! I also broke one of my big rules as an artist when i created this piece… I did not paint extreme textures on all layers of the canvas. Instead, i preserved the energy and momentum of the light layer, something you can see throughout “one Big Smile”... especially in the dark green background.
“Best Buds”
“we are always in the process of learning and growing. we never ultimately reach our destination but there are many moments that show us that we are on the right path.”
“Best Buds” is a very special painting that turned out exactly how i envisioned it would and it conveys the same sense of playfulness that was very much present in the act of creating this painting…
in “Best Buds”, you not only get a sense of the light and shadow, but also the scale and the depth from to the background of the painting… everyone loves the little electrical outlets :)
you can also sense the playful rhythm and tempo throughout the entire piece… the highly energetic and exuberant brushstrokes in the 2 Smiles and the background of warm dark violet and dark green colors.
“Best Buds” was named in honor of my dad. I truly believe that the key to a great life is great relationships and “Best Buds” is ultimately about the power of those great relationships :)
“Different is Good”
“I hope Smiles encourages us all to take positive action and bring to life our own unique creations and make the world a more beautiful place.”
“Different is Good” is a pile of more than twenty “Smiles” teddy bears! but even though they are all Smiles plushies, each of them is uniquely different, each with their own life to them…
Creating has the potential to be an incredibly emotional process, where you find yourself completely immersed in it and it can feel overwhelming… BUT as i completed “Different is Good” i experienced such an incredibly positive shift in terms of growth! The lessons i learned while painting “Different is Good” allowed me to further the message to understand the beauty in our difference, in the unique beauty we all have to bring to the world.
photo credit: Michelle Mosqueda
Join the world of Smiles n Friends!
→ get on the email list, one of the first 100 subscribers will win a White Tag Smiles plushie!
→ follow Smiles n Friends on instagram and/or Tiktok, we’re giving away super fun Smiles stickers to ALL of our first 150 followers :)
→ join us IN PERSON in LA at Westfield Century City for The Smiles Pop Up Experience July 12-14! Plushies, prints, oil paintings, apparel, AND a claw machine!!!