Artists Do Taxes Too

Some days or weeks I may not post as much as I usually do. Why you ask? Well life does come with certain responsibilities, yes?! There's one big one that I don't really look forward to. That's right ... taxes! Do you agree? What a silly question huh! Now if I was good at all that stuff, I'd be an accountant, not an artist. Luckily, my Mom has always been good at that sort of thing and has been kind enough for years to help me. I cringe to think back on the years when my kids were small ... I'd hand her a big garbage bag full of stuff and she'd sort through it all and have it ready for an accountant to plug in all the numbers. Slowly, very slowly, I've become a little more on the ball. I've even gotten an interest in seeing what I can do throughout the year to make the whole process go fast and smoothly for next year. I'm so darned proud of myself!

Artists Do Taxes Too

Now back to art...!




Graphic Art by Edmonton Artist Laurel Hawkswell

Glen the Balloon Guy logo

I had a great time creating this logo for Glen the Balloon Guy! I had done one initial sketch working from Glen’s vision. Then I did a few tweaks on it after Glen had a look and gave me feedback. We played with colours a bit and now he has this new image to use on his website, business cards, signs, etc....

Did I mention that Glen is a really great guy? He is, and you'll find that out when you hire him for your next corporate and community events, parties, weddings, or to make a unique large sculpture.

Contact Glen LaValley at (780) 462-3846 or email him at glenl@telus.net. Check out his website at: http://glenballoonguy.com

Glen the Ballon Guy Logo

I created this logo using Sketchbook Pro on my Wacom Cintiq Tablet.  Digital drawings are new to me so, I am enjoying creating and editing just a little bit more...

Graphic Art by Edmonton Artist Laurel Hawkswell

Going Away Gift

He looks like a happy recipient! So nice that they sent me a photo of him with his new, coloured caricature. The light was reflecting on it on the right side but you still get the gist of it. I’m really quite proud of it. So pleased with my coloured caricatures now using my tablet. I used to cringe when people would request a coloured caricature because I didn’t really like the look of it with markers. Sometimes I’d be almost done the caricature and I’d see that there was a marker smudge on it so I’d have to start again. Now, that frustration is no more, I love the final product!

Happy man with his Colour Caricature

Caricatures by Edmonton Artist Laurel Hawkswell

Caricatures at the Misericordia Hospital Volunteer Appreciation Breakfast.

Caricatures at Edmonton's Misericordia Hospital Volunteer Appreciation Breakfast. Many great volunteers. Some with 50 years of helping at hospitals.  There were mothers and daughters that came out together to help.  There were volunteers that knit hats for preemies and others that worked in the hospital's gift shop. One guy had recently moved here from Colombia and was volunteering - talk about giving back! It was a fun time and hearing so many stories while I drew was extra special.  They truly were an appetitive group to celebrate with - lots of smiles too!  It is fun to be an Edmonton Artist and meet so many interesting people.

Caricatures by Edmonton Artist Laurel Hawkswell

Drawing Caricatures Video

Check out the video of me drawing 630CHED's Brian Hall incorporated in with some of my on air interview on The Tencer & Grose Show. So great of Kelsey Wingerak to put this video together and put it on 630CHED's website. Kelsey is the Producer of The Tencer & Show.

I did the interview with Dan Tencer & Andrew Grose last week and then went in today and drew sportscaster Brian Hall. I happened to bring my daughter along with me and I introduced them and Brian chatted so positively with her about university (UAlberta) and becoming a teacher. He put her at ease so quickly. He's just that kind of man: so warm hearted and friendly. I like to talk with the person I'm drawing to make them feel more comfortable but there was no need to do that with Brian. He sat
back and talked with us and batta-bing, batta-boom, the drawing was done!

My daughter, Quinlyn, was intrigued by his office. Brian Hall has been in broadcasting for many years so he had lots of cool memorabilia on the walls and on some shelves. Quinlyn being an Eskimo season ticket holder and Brian Hall being the voice of The Eskimos for years, she thought it was pretty cool meeting him!

I'd like to thank the great people at 630CHED for having me in for the interview for their first guest on the segment ""Unique Jobs in Edmonton". Kelsey Wingerak, Dan Tencer, Andrew Grose and Brian Hall, all made my stop in at 630CHED a fantastic experience!

Laurel, Brian Hall and his Caricature

Video of my Caricature Drawing at 630Ched

Dan Tencer Caricature

Andrew Grose Caricature

TencerAndGrose Caricatures

Caricature Thumbs up for Brian Hall

Brian Hall's 630CHED office

Edmonton Artist by Laurel Hawkswell

"Really Cool Jobs" interview

Debut segment of our "Really Cool Jobs" series that will run every Wednesday at 10 a.m. on Edmonton Alberta's 630 CHED

Wednesday april 2, 2014 featuring Laurel Hawkswell

Here is their Introduction Laurel Hawkswell, who we're calling Edmonton's Everything Artist, as she draws, paints and designs everything from greeting cards and caricatures to 4-storey murals on the sides of buildings and private portraits for Alberta's elite. Dan Tencer and Andrew Grose

Edmonton artist Laurel Hawkswell interview on 630 CHED

Edmonton Artist by Laurel Hawkswell

Caricatures at the NAIT Student Association Awards Night

I Had a great time drawing at the NAIT Student Association Awards Night! Great to see a few people I knew.

It was a great mixture of school staff, parents and students. The entertainment was amazing. They had a Michael Bublé impersonator that was fantastic, a quartet playing during dinner, fire dancers (I think, I was busy drawing), two of us doing caricatures, a photo booth and an amazing meal. NAIT Student’s Association - you know how to do an event well!

Woman holds up her Caricature

Friends display their Caricatures

NAIT awards night - Caricatures

NAIT Students at Awards night

hamming it up at NAIT's Awards night

if you have a photo holing your Caricature that I drew, can you email it to me? or Tweet @hilaurel

Caricatures by Edmonton Artist Laurel Hawkswell

Look What a Nice Family Sent Me!

After doing caricatures at The Pop Culture Fair, I’d mentioned in my blog that one of the few pictures I took that day had come out blurry. A couple days later I received a nice surprise in my email box...  these two adorable kid’s dad had emailed me pictures of the exact kids and their caricature that I’d been talking about! Now I have a super crisp clear photo to look at for years to come! Little things in life mean a lot sometimes. Check this photo out and see why I was bummed out that the photo I’d taken didn’t turn out….

Children hold their Caricature

Caricatures by Edmonton Artist Laurel Hawkswell

Even Parents Want in on the Action

At a recent face painting booking at a little girl’s birthday party, her mom and dad wanted in on the face painting action! Here’s the beautiful mom…

Here’s the beautiful mom

Edmonton Artist by Laurel Hawkswell