 ...it's late, but I did want to write just a little bit about the first ever Art Hive Indie Bride event. The event was a huge success and I am so proud to have been a part of it. All the hours spent prepping for the event were worth it! We had over 300 folks come through the doors to meet with vendors, get inspired, watch the drag shows and fashion shows...and to just have fun! I think that it hit me after the fact just how exhausted I was...but it was well worth it! Can't wait for AHIB 2015!  ...some BEEhind the scenes footage of AHIB...one of the most exciting things was that the event was picked up on The List- Around South Florida segment! I didn't say anything...but I was in the background working on my wedding dress for the Armory show and I am in several shots, kinda cool!  ...some scenes from AHIB...DYI details EVERYWHERE,drag queens, famous tattoo artists, body painting, fashion shows and entertainment...and, of course, the queen bees responsible for the whole event- Angela and Jess. So proud of my friends!!  My dress, and some msc art pieces I had on hand, made an appearance at AHIB. I was tucked away in the corner, my intentions were to work on my dress some during the event...but...I was too busy talking to everyone and having fun! Still have work to do on this dress...tsk, tsk...
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Dusting off the cobwebs...time to post some updates about some recent art shows/exhibits! For starters, I have had several opportunities to share my work in various shows and exhibits and I could not be more pleased. First up, the Square Show at Bear and Bird Gallery in the upstairs of Tate's Comics. (Lauderhill, FL) This is the second time i have participated in this exhibit and I was happy to have a chance to show the mixed media piece I made in honor of my friend Jess a few weeks back. John and I ventured out to see the show, TONS of amazing pieces on the wall...and right there it was- my art! Feels great to have my work on display among such talented folks! Now, if you have never been to Bear and Bird, be forewarned....you ain't gettin' outta there in less than thirty minutes. Too many fun distractions in Tate's Comics! John found the Star Wars and assorted action figures...and me, well I got myself lost looking for Ugly Dolls and then looking at the cool art books. I seriously love that place, so fun! 
Now showing! Square Show, Jan 8- March 2
Next up, I was lucky enough to be featured as the Downtown Hollywood ArtWalk artist (again!) for SMASH Beauty Lounge. It feels great to have someone that believes in my work enough to let it hang in her venue!! (Thank you, Sally!) I woke up that Saturday morning so excited that...I painted almost twenty additional pieces to add to the work shown that night...because I am crazy like that! (Seriously, I really did do that!) Even better than having work up again...my friends came down to show their support! It felt great to celebrate with the folks I care about. Special thank you to John (always!), Sofie, Jen, Jake and Jess for making the trip down south to see my art and go out to dinner. 
All eyes on YOU!....stop by and see my paintings at SMASH Beauty Lounge!
 Silliness ...AND...special THANK YOU to my friend Maria from work. She called me the day of and said, 'hey, I want to go see your work!'. So she did! And look, a guest appearance by JLo! Wait a minute... So silly. That's not really JLo! ...and lastly...the Continuum Black Tie and Sneakers Silent Auction! This was a super fun and fab event that I caught wind of a little late in the game...I kept seeing my artist friends posting on FB and IG updates about these shoes they were creating to benefit charity and I wanted in, too! Lucky for me my man JaFleu was local and could pick up the shoes for me since I couldn't make it before the gallery closed. I met with him to pick up the shoes and to sketch...and to plot and scheme some artistic collaborations...heeheehee 
Epic art play date with JaFleu
My idea for the sneakers was to work with the shadowbox since that is what I have been doing for my daily art this month. I also knew I wanted to do something figurative and sparkly...so...well, I went with Gustav Klimt- my favorite artist! I even watched a movie about him while I worked on part of it for inspiration. The finished piece came out great, and when I arrived at the event I was so excited to see it already had some bids. Not sure how much it sold for, but the money went to Faith’s Place Center for Education, Inc. ...so that's kinda awesome! Special thanks to my 'date' for the event, Maria! I wish we would've started hanging out sooner! 
Continuum West Palm Beach event...my shoes sold!
...the weekend flew by, per usual...highlights include an Art Hive staff meeting in Boca (and I now have a hardcopy of the latest issue- it is amazing! Great job, Jess and Angela!) ...watching many art-related documentaries (and football, of course!)...hours of cutting and gluing for a TOP SECRET project that is just around the corner and will be revealed at a later date...some fashion illustrations inspired by Louis Vuitton's Spring/Summer 2014 line...and...my daily art pieces...yep, the weekend went by quickly. Looking forward to a busy ART-filled week 
...I cannot express how much of an impact Zora Neale Hurston has has had on me as an artist. Without going into too much detail...I did search my blog because I am sure that I have address this somewhere, but was unable to find it...I attended a Florida Humanities Council workshop, 'Jump At the Sun: Zora Neale Hurston and Her Eatonville Roots' in the summer of 2010. (TEACHERS, DO YOURSELF A FAVOR AND APPLY FOR THIS...IT...WAS...AMAZING!) I had a chance to go to Rollins College and meet a group of teachers from all over the country, I participated in scholarly discussion on the life and writings of Zora...to visit her hometown and to discuss the social and historical significance of her life and work. It changed my life. When I returned home from this workshop I bought sixteen canvases in various sizes and just...started to paint. ...and it took me a little while, but I finished most of the pieces- I even formally exhibited some of the pieces later that year. Some of the works that I did not complete I at least painted over...but the point is...I made that first step toward making time for my art. So anyway...Zora...wherever you are out there...happy birthday...and thank you! 
 ...I made a lil' art! This will be my attempt to catch up on some things here in the blog that I didn't get a chance to write about. Let's travel back in time, shall we? Waaaay back in December, before the break, I spent an afternoon with my fav art friend Jessie Prugh. I filled up my car with twenty paintings in various stages of being finished and drove down to Lake Worth for some QT with one of my own personal muses. Jess worked on the computer and I took over her entire kitchen and bar area with twenty canvases. So I finished them that day. Then I packed up the car again and took them down to Hollywood, FL.  ...hip, hip HOORAY! My new paintings have a home! Go visit them...buy them...tell yer friends! My destination? SMASH Beauty Lounge. Sally has re-opened in a new fabulous space and I took her up on her offer to show and sell my work. I was especially excited about the eye paintings (so was Sally!) since she does a ton with eyebrows and such. The most exciting part? My work was up in time for the December ArtWalk.  ...and I guess it didn't occur to me until after I had delivered the work and saw it actually hanging up in her venue...this was my first solo show. To be honest, I got a little emotional, My friend Jess said I didn't make a big enough deal about it, and I guess she is right...but it just didn't occur to me. But yeah, my first show! John and I walked down to see my work hanging the night of the Art Walk and it was exciting to see my work up on the walls and around the store and gallery space. The work will be up for the next Downtown Hollywood ArtWalk, the third Saturday in January 2014. I am excited, hopefully some of my friends can make it down to help me celebrate...and I am already planning some additional paintings to add before that Saturday!  ...pics from the December 2013 Art Walk...guess that makes me an 'Art Walk Artist' now! Wow! Next up...remember that collage piece I made for Jessie over the weekend? Well, I dropped it off at Bear and Bird Gallery in the upstairs of Tate's Comics on Sunday for the Square Show. I participated in this group show last year and I was excited about having a piece in the show again. Artists could do basically whatever they wanted...just had to stick to the square format and I believe some dimension restrictions. Looking forward to the opening for this one is Friday, January 17th from 6-10pm in Lauderhill, FL.  Next show...the 'Square Show' and Bear and Bird...come visit one of my latest piece, 'the Queen Bee'! And finally...the last area to 'catch up' on...my new theme for January 2014. I signed up to participate in the Creative Every Day challenge again for this year, making this my third year in a row. After a very productive year and pretty close to 1,000 works of art (seriously, I haven't finished....ummm...okay so I haven't STARTED...my inventory of the pieces from 2013 but it is on up there.) I am ready to jump whole heartedly into another year of daily art making. The suggested theme for January 2014 is 'Past, present and Future'. I have not yet decided if my current pieces fit this theme or if I am totally off on some tangent...that remains to be seen. All I know is I bought Jennifer, Amy's mom, some scrapbooking items for Christmas and one of the items was this cool book. When you open it there are twelve little boxes inside, and you can take them out and rearrange the boxes different ways. I bought one of these for Jennifer...but I was already thinking that I might want to make one myself. So I went back and bought one (actually used the gift card that John and Jennifer gave me for Michael's to purchase it!) and I just put it aside. Until January 1st, that is. On the first day of the new year, I started work on my first shadow box. Now, I should mention...there IS an element of past in the work, at least so far. A while back...like, maybe close to two years (?), I had bought a book on mail art, and I sat down and started drawing on some blank envelopes. What did I draw? My ladies, of course! I guess I worked on about 10 drawings...then abandoned them for some sparkly thang or art adventure. Typical. So...long story short...right now I am working with those images until they run out and I have to make some new ones. Each day so far for the new year I have sat and worked on one of the small shadow boxes, my intention is to work on one each day, then take them all out and work on the inside and outside surfaces of the larger 'book'...and depending on how many days are left in the month make another one...or maybe even a total of three...not sure yet. I haven't taken final pics of the completed pieces so far...might not do that til this weekend, but for informal 'final' pics (and in-progress pics!) are up on my FB page and Instagram.  ...closed book...view of the inside with the first two shadow boxes...box of supplies (thanks for the leopard print box, ma! I put it to good use!)...close up of the first shadow box... ...check out the new issue of Art Hive Magazine...it's on-line! The printed versions will be out later this week! Here is the link! 
 ...another Wine and Paint Party at Muzart, sign me up! This was a special event because the owner, Tina, threw the party for her staff. She told me that each person would be bringing someone with them and they would work on one large canvas together. I immediately thought of a Gustav Klimt-inspired tree...which is not too dar of a stretch for me because I love Klimt and I have revisited his not only his linework and pattern time and time again, but also the tree motiff. Back in August of 2011, when I was just starting the roller coaster of artmaking that I have been on for the past few years, I made a series of thirty 18x24 tree drawings based off Klimt's, 'Tree of Life'. Here is a link with a blog post and slideshow that show all of the pieces; http://www.jenniferlovegironda.com/1/post/2011/08/tree-series-final-pics.html 
(Left...Gustav Klimt's 'Tree of Life' (1909), Middle...two of the trees I created back in 2011...Right, me with a tree I created for Giselle and Bill's wedding, Dec 2012
And on the walk over I thought about dividing the canvas in half so that each person could work on their 'half' of the tree, that way each person would have ownership over a specific part of the painting...and for the risk takers in the group a chance to 'switch' midway through. Everyone seemed to really enjoy the idea and the works turned out great! I love it when folks take the idea and just go with it...what a great group! 
...hmmmm...what to paint? Oh, I have it- a tree! And the fun that followed...
My example with the pieces created during the Wine and Paint event...yes!
 Scooter is super excited about 2014! Well...several days into 2014 and it's been a mixed bag so far. I posted some slideshows featuring (most of) my daily pieces from 2013 and my fashion illustrations for the year...and honestly, my intention was to have my 2013 digital catalog of work posted by now...but...well, it's not. I haven't started working on it yet, but I will...and I will try not to freak myself out that it isn't ready yet. It will include 365 daily pieces, 101 (!) fashion illustrations, I think over 20 canvas paintings and other msc. 'side projects' that I always seem to get myself into...probably a little over 500 pieces again this year. Wowza. And to me...that is important. I like to work within a very specific structure. For me, its my daily pieces I create based on the Creative Every Day Challenge (sign up! Join me!!) and my fashion illustrations. This is just the way I work. I figure if I can be disciplined enough to explore an idea every day for a month...for every month out of the year...that in the end I will end up with at least a few ideas/pieces I like. Kinda madness....but it's how I have to work. Side Note: One question I get is where do I keep all of my work. I have most of the pieces, I do sell work when folks inquire about it (...guess I should try to do more with the selling of my work...add that to the to-do list...) but yeah, I have I guess under just 1000 pieces of work at home. Dang. That sounds crazy when I just read it. I have an extensive inventory and filing system. I did not do a great job keeping up with that in 2013 so I need to sit down and do that soon before the 2014 work gets out of control...will do a separate blog post on that later this month.  So for me, the new year is all about a fresh start...just like everyone out there I guess. I am hopeful that in 2014 I can be a better version of myself, be healthier, kinder, more sparkly and of course, more creative and productive. But before I can do anything...I have to clean and get organized. As much as I love my Christmas decorations..taking them down makes me feel like I am accomplishing something in the new year. I usually take them down on New Year's Day...but this year we decided to have a pajama/do nothing day...so January 2nd it was! Decorations all taken down and put away, laundry and cleaning done...I even bought a new cart to go my next to my easel for organizing my paints...I was off to a great start! (I took pics of Scooter's reaction to me taking down our birthday cards...guess he didn't realize it was just a string the whole time!) ...and then... I discovered that my car battery was dead...(womp womp womp) but after getting a jump and a trip to Auto Zone I was back in business, which for me meant visiting with my friends up in Palm Beach county after staying down here in Hollywood all week, and let me be the first to say that I am a new fan of 'staycationing'! I needed that! One thing that my friends know...I am really into organization...like, as much as art. I love organizing, especially closets. So on Friday after meeting my friend Jen for coffee I headed over to see Giselle to help her with her closet...it went something like this...  The transformation of Giselle's closet. I was feeling accomplished as I drove to my next destination...I had scheduled some time to sketch with my art friend JaFleu in West Palm Beach...and along the way...more car woes. So...a trip to Advanced Auto Parts...then to Firestone...and, well...I had to cancel my plans. But here is where it gets weird. Friday was my nephew Noah's birthday. He lives in NC, so obviously I wasn't able to see him on his birthday. When I got to Firestone there was a little boy there with his mother and he sat with me and drew and made a cool snowflake while we waited. He loves Spiderman and the Miami Heat and art, just like my nephew...and when we had been working together a little while I found out his mother is from where I went to high school...and when I asked him what his name was (I always forget to ask people's names, I just start talking)...his name was...Noah. So, I didn't get to draw with my friend JaFleu (I will take a raincheck on that, sir!) but I met this cool little kid and named Noah that would not have happened if I had not been there.  Sadness...impromptu art therapy and creative session...and my new friend, Noah...and happy birthday to my nephew Noah!  I love these girls. ...and...my car wasn't ready three hours later...so lucky for me I had was able to have a night with these crazy ladies (left). Totally not planned, but awesome and much needed. ...but just another one of those things...here I am making this tight schedule to go here and there, and see this person and that person...but all plans were put on hold and it turned out for the best. (Except for the money I had to spend to fix my car...of course) And another thing that wouldn't have happened- the piece of art I made at Jessie's Saturday morning. Jess has been working on the magazine non-stop and I was just really overcome with a feeling of gratitude that I am a part of it all...so I made a piece of art for her, kind of to say thank you...for believing in my and my art...for giving me a chance to share with others and hopefully inspire and motivate them...and just a thank you for all those hours she spends in front of the computer, obsessing over every detail of every page of Art Hive Magazine. The piece is one of the ladies I like to draw in Jessie's likeness (notice the pink hair!). The background and details are all from a copy of the first Art Hive Magazine, the background is the cover with layers of paint washes, texture and writing. The halo behind the figure and the details in the dress are all made from the text of my first Artin' with da' Muse article in that first issue. And I don't know if this piece of art would have been created if my car had not broken down...if Sof had not picked me up, if I didn't have dinner with the girls, if I did not have stayed over at Jessie's and woke up and started making art in her studio while she slept. Funny how things happen. And this will be the piece that I am submitting to the Square Show at Bird and Bear Gallery, that way everyone knows how awesome my friend(s) are. Hmmm....I just got an idea...more on that later...  "Queen Bee", 8x8 inches, Mixed Media...dedicated to Jessie Prugh
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