Why helllloooo there. Got a minute to chat, er...ummmm...read? Good, because I finally have a moment to sit a update my blog. So here goes. Have I mentioned I love summer? I think I professed my love for summer in a previous post...just want to reiterate that feeling. One perk to the teaching gig is having summers off. But I am by no means 'off' from my twenty-four hour a day job, which is maintaining my sparkle and making a go of this art thang. I digress. The week before our trip to NYC and the wedding in NJ was a busy one. I made a quicl slideshow to show some of the week in pictures, but I didn't do captions and I don't know if the pictures were very self-explanatory. So here is a brief explanation of some of those pictures... Well, for starters...Art Hive Magazine was in the news! Hooray! Co-Owner, Angela, was on the South Florida Business report talking about how the magazine started, what we do, who we are...you know all the good stuff. She looked amazing and did a great job...all that acting and modeling experience helped out, no doubt! I hope that the news station knows that they picked up a new demographic thanks to this story- the 13lb. cat demographic! Next up in the slideshow...John, Jessie and I headed over to Ink and Pistons to ear cover their one year anniversary event for the Art Hive FB page and blog...and to see my work, of course! Hooray! The weather has been pretty bad around here (still is!), but they lucked out- no rain and a great turn out to celebrate their awesome establishment, see art, check out some hot rods, eat from the food truck and there were even some folks getting tattoos! ...next in the slideshow...some pictures that don't really look like anything else on my site...and with good reason- this was totally new for me! Jessie forwarded me an email from a guy that wanted a commission for his father's upcoming birthday. Of course I said, 'Yes! I can do it!'...and then had a mild nervous breakdown when I realized just how intense it was going to be...a 16x20 version of desiderata in the Middle Ages 'Illuminated Manuscript' style painted with acrylic on vellum. It was tough, but I did it! And not only did I surprise myself, but the client liked it, too! And I earned some money for my trip! Hooray! The last part of the slideshow shows me finishing up the last pieces in my June series, 'Childhood'. For the last part of the month I was working on these pieces all at once rather than one at a time due to the materials and techniques I was using. I did gel medium transfers on the canvas boards, using my favorite childhood character from coloring books and I even used my own drawings that I had changed over to coloring book images...then I did a little painting here and there with acrylic paint, mostly backgrounds and large areas...then...the fun part. I used a heat gun to melt the crayons I had been using all month, switching the angle of the heat gun, standing up the canvases to create drips and move the melted wax the way I wanted. I also made drips and splatters and in a few pieces put the heat directly to the crayon and just drew right on the canvas with it. Very different from how I usually work, lot's of fun and experimenting...made a bit of a mess. You know what? Kind of made me feel like a kid again...what an proper ending to the series! So that was the explanation of the happenings pre-trip. Then we went on our trip to New York. New York is always a good idea. I love going to New York, I just wish I had more time! In our short amount of time there we visited John's cousin in Brooklyn (our host, thanks Cat!), visited with old friends and one of my fav former students, got a tour of Kenneth Cole from a buyers/designers perspective...swoon!! (thank you, Kerri!) checked an amazing exhibit at the Met (see below), and even left some angels and crayon tags here and there to brighten someone's day. We were only there Monday afternoon til Wednesday mid-morning...it was busy, and fun! Oh...and I packed for the ENTIRE trip (including my cocktail dress!) in one bookbag! I can't believe I did it! I wish I did have a full week in NYC...if I did I would need 2-3 days to truly experience the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I feel so overwhelmed and wonderful every time I enter those hallowed halls. This time was no exception,
For this trip, we had a specific goal...to make a beeline for the Punk: Chaos to Couture show..and we did! It was amazing! I was really struck by the overall setting for the show, how much work must have gone into creating the backdrop for these punk-inspired fashions. As for the clothes- what's not to love? Being Inches away from a Vivienne Westwood, Alexander McQueen...Dolce and Gabbana? Yes, please. There are no words. I wish I had pictures, but alas, not allowed to take pictures in the exhibition. Sigh. But here are two from the Met page, directly linked to that page...please, please, please check it out! Even if you aren't into fashion you can appreciate the music side of the exhibition, or social/cultural ramifications, or just the way they transformed the exhibition space!
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I can say one thing...that the week has flown by, I have been busy with various art and art related happenings but I have still managed to make my daily nap club meetings with Mackie and Scooter, which I am probably most proud of. Hey, there is always time to nap. And make art. And sparkle. No excuses. Tuesday I initiated my first (self-imposed of course) #textiletuesday on Instagram. For the first TT (of what I hope to be a weekly commitment to do something textile/fiber related, hold me to that!) I invited my super talented friend, Giselle, over. She wanted to learn how to bead. Folks, she is a natural! Behold, the birth of another fiber-fanatic and beadin' babe! It certainly was not all fun and games...there were a few needles that came unthreaded, some fallen beads and, of course, the return of the dreaded #frockblockers...two cats that love to sleep on top of vintage fabrics and eat the lovely embellishments...sheesh. We survived it though...and I got to witness the 'spark' for fiber art in someone else, nothing beats that! After Giselle left I kept working on a project I had started...I was distracted... looking at my beads and random embellishments... all I could think was...(in my best Marty Huggins voice) So...five hours later, my beads, threads, random trims and embellishments, etc are all grouped by color and sorted into plastic bags, etc. I came out of what was almost like some kind of daze and was happy with what I saw. And then Wednesday morning I woke up and cleaned/organized my wee little art space in the kitchen...and that made me (and John!) happy...nice open space to create more work, everything put away. Yes, please. Wednesday it was off to Ink and Pistons to drop off my pieces for the show this weekend (Amanda and JR are so nice!, congrats on your one year!) and the head on over to Jessie's for randomness. Amanda gave me some postcards to distribute....but first...yep. Impromptu photo shoot out on the patio for Art Hive Magazine and Ink and Pistons promoting on social media. Yeah, I know, we are silly. So silly. What happened after the photo shoot goes as following...Jessie attempts to make cauliflower rice...I eat leftover spaghetti squash and turkey meatballs (amazing! more, please!)...Jessie gives up on her culinary endeavor and makes stir fry with regular rice...I post to Art Hive blog and FB about Ink and Pistons and then take a hour and a half nap...Jessie is a creeper and takes a picture of herself watching me sleep...don't ask...then we plot and plan to take over the world! (...not really, we started talking about sparkly stuff and then I went home) Awaiting me at home...a large box from my father-in-law. Inside- magic! Raffaele has been experimenting with transferring images onto wood...and now I know why. He made me a cool wood block based on an image from my website, it is sitting on my art desk as we speak, er...read...er..write. You get the point. Also in the package, a 'drawing box'. It looks like a big wooden book, but it actually opens up and has storage for my 11x14 drawings. I can close the box and use the top as a work surface. Its...kind...of...awesome. Inspired by the 'mail magic' I received...I packaged up some things that I have been wanting to make, spent time collaging and embellishing each package....I shipped those off Thursday morning. Which brings me to last night (Thursday) and this morning. I kind of have...ummm...alot going on. I feel a little overwhelmed, and excited. Not sure where to start.
I will make a list, cause I am weird like that.
CED13- 30 and CED13- 31 Last...two pieces of my January series. Finally posted early this morning. I have been working on both of these at the same time since Wednesday...wanting the pieces to 'end' my series but also have some sense of a flow between these two works. So I would draw a little. Erase. Redraw. Think. Look back at the whole body of work. Repeat. Maybe commit to going over some of it with my watercolor pencil or ink. Repeat. ...now, they are finished... CED13-32 and CED13-33 The new Creative Every Day theme is...light. I have my first two pieces finished, posted them this morning. Trying to stay away from my black watercolor pencil, watercolor, acrylic and india ink. I will allow myself some light rendering with a regular ol' black pencil and some skinny Micron lines- but that's it. Gotta keep it light. Light colors. Most likely jeweltones. Light touch. Going to try to to belabor the piece, keep it looser. Splats, drips, doodles, block rendering, extended life, welcome back into my life. How I have missed you. And note to self...geez, lighten up! Don't be so regimented. Got back to some sparkle and whimsy girl! And the day is young. Finished with my daily piece, but next I have an unresolved commission I need to contact and complete...some more pieces to show to a new friend in CA, hopefully these can push me closer towards my goal...got a second chance to turn in my sketchbook for the Sketchbook Project (long story short, I missed the deadline and was so bummed but I can still finish it and turn it in, YES!)...gotta work on my marketing materials...mail out some art...clean up? nah, skip that one...make some angels for future angel bombings...take a break to look at some sparkly thangs...oooooh, nap break for sure!...write up a final cheer newsletter...check my short/long range plans for what I am teaching for the rest of this year...finish up and post the Youth Art Month Flag slideshow...write up my new article for Art Hive...and, you know...maybe find some time for some fashion illustrations.Or a tattoo. Or both. Or all of it. ..just some work from Dec 17th...a small peek of part of a commission that I completed and delivered, will post the whole piece after Christmas...my piece for Sandy Hook Elementary, slowly but surely happening one butterfly at a time...and my CEDs 351-352...one started yesterday but both finished today!
And all of the Christmas presents are WRAPPED!! Yes! This year I decided to be smart and post ahead of time that...well...I can make art if you want art for your holiday gift-giving. I usually forget, or wait too late...but just putting it out there.
Yep, I make stuff if you want to give art for the holidays, or if you want custom holiday décor. Some things that folks have ordered in the past include custom-order whimsical trees with family names painted in the ornaments, shoe paintings that spell out names, random fun shoes, various fun and funky angels, painted stemware, and also hand painted ornaments. Some prices are listed below, contact me with any questions. Most 'available' art in my CED blog (originals unless otherwise noted, not prints) is available to purchase, inquire about specific pieces for pricing info. And I do commissions, they start at $100 and then go up depending on how much work it will be for me, size, materials, etc. Contact me with details about what you want, including size info and I will give you an estimate. Once I receive the $50 deposit I will begin the piece(s). I have a few commissioned pieces that are on my drawing table now, if you are wanting delivery by Christmas I would need your order info as soon as possible so I can do a good job and get it to you in time. You can also purchase adult or child art lessons, or contact me to find out about fun at-home art parties, a venture Jessie, Sofia and I like to call Tipsy Art. There. That's it, I think. If you don't buy my art, buy someone's- support your local artists. We are putting ourselves out there, making stuff with our own hands and just doing our thang ; ) ...the usual Friday-after-school-coma, then an art show for PBCATA, a workout and some artin'... ...a bridal brunch for my super-talented, beautiful friend Giselle, a live art event at the Armory... ...spending time with family napping with cats, another workout, beach time with the husband, some art time at Barnes and Noble and...finally...sitting down to update this here blog and then attend to the pieces on my drawing table. Yep, that was my weekend. Lot's to blog about...not sure where to start. Hmmmmm...awesomeness first? You bet. I received and amazing package from my girl Jen in Charleston SC and I must say...it made my day. Sparkly bow, new jams, fun eye shadow and a beautiful handmade Frida Kahlo-themed bag created by Danita of http://danitaart.blogspot.com. Seriously, it is so nice to get handwritten letters and fun packages...expect one soon, muse! Love you! And...yes, I am starting a sentence with 'and' (again)...my 'call for suggestions' did merit a few responses, but not enough to get me through the month...so here is what I am going to do. My original idea was to complete a 'timed' drawing each day. I thought of this because this is something that I often use with my students, I am actually doing this right now with my 5th graders this week. (will write about that over the weekend...it's getting late!) There is something intense about having the time limit, getting that piece of paper and materials out and then...GO! I like how it keeps me from focusing too much on any one area because I have to get enough infiormation on the paper for the image to read. Sketching like mad...light at first...and then as the image starts to appear going back in with darker line. So...here is what I have so far for this month...time limit, 10 minutes...not sure if I will leave it at 10 minutes or go up in time each week...or down...hmmmm... So I am going to one of these sketches every day, Conté crayon on newsprint, art school style. But I do plan on going back to the pieces that were suggested, just won't do one of those every day, maybe 1-2 a week. So far I have received suggestions to revisit the first ten trees I made from my series of thirty completed in August of 2011...my cupcake pics from April...my shoes and angels from January...and a few specific pieces from last month. These should keep me pretty busy...well, in addition to the commissioned pieces that I am working on and a few for specific shows....wow, it's going to be a busy month! Yes!
Now that I have a minute to sit and process...even though it's almost 2am on June 6th...I am going to rewind and go back to June 5th. One of the first things that was significant was checking my email to find that my angel paintings from my first Etsy order made it to Missouri and Nevada- and that they liked my work. (see pic below) More important- the work served as a tribute to their friend. Awesome. Looking at that email, and seeing my work in the hands of the folks that I made it for, and feeling like it really did serve the purpose for which it was created...truthfully? I teared up. I got a little verklempt. I.love.sparkly.flamingo. And then it was on to my adventures in flamingo embellishment, which I wrote about in the previous post. (scroll down) I really would love to go all Sandy Skoglund style and fill an entire room with an entire flock of these fabulously sparkly fowl. Hmmmmmm...maybe I will. I started off really motivated...worked on the flamingos and then, well...there was some lost time. But I did get back into my creative zone, started pretty late, but I made some art nonetheless. Well, let me back track...I figured out what I wanted to do for the next ANE show. It's a Star Trek theme and I had some ideas, but I wasn't 100% sure of what I wanted to do...and I will post more about it later as I start creating the work, but let's just say that the pieces will fit my pinup theme for the month of June. Back to my CED #157. It's done. Found a cool picture of Bettie that really inspired me...and well, here is the work, shown as I worked on it (below) Bettie+ flamingo. While I was working on my CED I had the idea to combine my Bettie-esque figure with the pink flamingo that I worked on earlier today. It isn't finished, but it is well under way. Just something for fun. Or maybe this is a small-scale study for a larger work? Either way, you can bet that there will be some sparkle. And finally...when I was getting my workspace ready I found some old sketches in one of my pinup books. I have no idea what I was planning, or when these three pages were completed...but I felt like I found buried treasure. Even though these may not go with my current projects, I may revisit them for future inspiration for works.
So...after the usual nap...I was up and ready to take advantage of the amazing weather. (A big THANK YOU to Jennifer and Jake Moffitt for the awesome table! Now I can draw on the balcony without dragging a bunch of stuff in and out!) Good light, nice breeze, some Avett Brothers playing in my ears...and, well...CED #113 AND 114 came to me. Looking through the series, I am concerned that I abandoned the literal 'sweets' imagery and light colors too soon...the last week's worth of work is really, well, dark. But I feel that the facial structure/exaggeration is consistent, as is the curvilinear line in the hair...hopefully that is enough to hold the theme. Only seven more new pieces in the series...got to bring it back full circle and relate some of the original imagery or move on to a next step...not sure what I will do as of right this second. Finished and framed. Another artistic happening around here today, I prepped Paul's piece and put it in the frame. (this is my $2 frame, folks) Love. I love the way a piece changes when you mat or frame it. It's like some kind of transformation. I wish I had the means to mat/frame everything I create. Since the weather was so nice, I dragged my work all over, looking for the just the right backdrop for a final picture. It was a little windy, but I did find a good spot by the pool area, and despite the pesky reflection the picture came out pretty good. So that's it. Just have to deliver the work. And get started on the rest of my projects. I have to complete my Star Wars paintings this week, and my entry for the Magic Hat Art Contest due to delivering them to Coral Springs this weekend. Gotta figure out what I am doing with the remaining CEDs for April (maybe I will set up a suggestion box...) and work on my monthly self-portrait, which will revisit all of the things I have worked on this month. But for now, gonna run. Literally. |
AuthorArtist and Art Teacher
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