Beginnings

Welcome to my new Elven Grove blog!

For those new to Elven Grove, I have created this blog as an extension of my etsy shop elvengrove.etsy.com.  Here I will post previous and new work to get more in depth as to what my process is, why I created the piece, what inspired me to create it, or what inspires me in general and anything else that might be fun to tell about my work.  I also plan to post some of my favorite etsy stores and products, because spreading the love is never a bad thing.  And I'll toss in a little about me ever now and then... such as, I'm going to the horse races for the first time today!

Okay, on to the good stuff.  I am a belly dancer, which brings me inspiration in many ways so I'm going to start things off with my belly dance paintings.

All of my original belly dance paintings are of belly dancers I personally know or admire.  These ladies bring me joy, inspiration and keep my passion alive for the art of belly dance.  The image above is of the woman who taught me everything I know about belly dance.  Samar is a beautiful dancer who has been performing Arabic style belly dance since she was a young teen.  She brings such a passion, enthusiasm and pure happiness to the stage it's almost physically impossible to take your eyes off her.  She is also part owner of Hipline Belly Dance Fitness for Women, where she teaches the art of belly dance to women of all different ages, shapes and sizes.

Above is the original photo I used as reference for the painting above, Samar dancing lovely in pink.  Check out the painting in my store: http://www.etsy.com/listing/67161687/samar