RAW: stimulus artist showcase

I realized that I shared my video interview from the RAW artists showcase on my facebook page but, never shared it here with you. So without further ado, here is my You Tube debut!

It was such a great event. It was truly wonderful to meet local artists, hear their stories and experience their work. I hope I can make it out to the June showcase and see who is there and enjoy the event from a different perspective. Today, I wanted to share with you some of the talented artists featured alongside me at Raw: Stimulus. There were many more but these are the artists that were near my setup and whom I was able to chat with. Click on their names to watch each of their video interviews if you want to learn more.

Peggy DErrico
Visual Artist

Bill Nash
Photography

Ashley Clark
Sonic Styles Upcycled Vinyl

Jennifer Jansen
JNZ Altered Art

 Larry Stone
12 North Photography

Check out all the photos from the RAW Stimulus event at Martini Ranch by Tavits Photography

Raw: Natural Born Artist Showcases events are in cities across the country every month. Check out their website rawartists.org to learn more, showcase with them, or check out a RAW event in your area!

butterfly fairy vibrant painting and prints

This beautiful piece was commissioned by Fairy Vishous (that's her roller derby name!). She is a lover of fairies, butterflies and hibiscus flowers. I so enjoyed creating this painting for her and hope it brings much love and joy to her home!

Butterfly Fairy
Acrylic, Oil Pastel on Canvas 20x24, 2012
Original Sold
Prints Available: http://society6.com/CreativeStash

Butterfly Fairy Art Print

iPhone cases available in my Society6 shop.

Stationary cards available in my Society6 shop.

new abstract work

The creative every day theme for May is one, today I am sharing a painting I worked on last week. This one is mostly acrylic with some watercolor and oil pastel thrown in for some added pop in color. 

I used the sketch below that I created a few weeks ago in my sketchbook as inspiration and decided to paint in "one" direction for this month's challenge.

I painted the artwork intending to hang it vertical but, when I brought it in my house I decided I liked it better horizontal. That could have a lot to do with the space I ended up placing it in as well as the fact that the piece took on it's own life separate from the sketch. I am wondering about whether or not to sign the front, this way the direction of the art can change based on the space it's in.

 
When I started I was trying to mimic the sketch but, as you see the feeling and colors don't match at all. There is something in the quick strokes, splashes of color and color choices that got lost on transition to a canvas. I didn't realize what a difference it would make going from watercolor / paper to acrylic / canvas. Good lesson learned about art materials with this project.

Which direction do you prefer the artwork, vertical or horizontal?

ladybug flowers whimsical painting and prints

Ladybug Flowers Original Painting

 

Title: Ladybug Flowers
Date: 2012
Medium: Acrylic, Charcoal, Oil Pastel, Marker
Surface: Canvas
Dimensions: 16" x 20" x 0.5"
Kristen Fagan ©2012

While on a road trip I turned a quick sketch of flowers into whimsical ladybug flowers. I love sketching while in the car, it frees your mind to wander. The movement from place to place and surrounding scenery inspires and evolves with the passing miles. After a few years living in my sketchbook, I was ready to bring the sketch and all it's joyful whimsy to life in this painting.

Ladybug Flowers Art Print

iPhone cases available in my Society6 shop.

Stationary cards available in my Society6 shop.

blogiversary giveaway winner!

Congratulations to Pratima! 

You won a signed 8x10 print of my newest painting Willow Tree along with 2 art bookmarks. One for you and one for a friend.

 

I chose 1 winner randomly via random.org. Thank you to all who entered and shared a favorite childhood memory with me. I loved reading them and getting to know each of you a little better. It is sweet to hear what things you cherish from your childhood. I hope remembering these little moments brought joy to your heart.

Thank you again for your support and for being here, it means so much to me to share my passion with all of you. Much love, gratitude, and blessings today and always!

xoxo
Kristen

art masterpiece: cezanne

Art Masterpiece is an art appreciation program offered to elementary children by parent volunteer guides. The goal is to help students look, think and talk about great masterpieces of art. I'm a volunteer guide and I am sharing my art discussions with you in this weekly post. Hope you enjoy it! 

 

Flowers and Pears by Paul Cezanne

About the Artist: Today I am teaching you about an Impressionist painter name Paul Cezanne. He was born in Paris, France in 1839 and lived to be 67 years old. He was quiet and moody but loved art. Paul Cezanne liked to paint everyday things, landscapes and self-portraits.

He created 30 self-portraits. Show self portrait. Do you think he looks happy in any of these paintings? Some say he was unhappy because no one seemed to like his paintings; he didn't sell any of them and never won any awards. Today though his paintings are worth a lot of money and he is known as one of the great painters of the 19th century.

Let’s look at the painting.

Cezanne painted this from 1888-1890; it took 3 years to paint. The actual size of this paining is 19 3/4" x 24". (show on ruler)

What would you name it? This painting is called Flowers and Pears and it is a still life painting. Paul Cezanne enjoyed still life paintings (everyday objects). He spent a lot of time arranging the objects. In his life he created 200 still life paintings!

Why would any artist want to paint a still life? Cezanne liked working with fruits, plants, bottles and vases because they didn't move or talk back to him. He spent a lot of time arranging the objects.

Like our artist last week, this artist is also an impressionist painter. Impressionism was an art movement. We know it’s an impressionist painting because of …

E - everyday life / objects
L – focus on light
B - brush strokes
O – outdoor scenes
W – weather

What colors do you see? Greens, blues and yellows show a cheerful mood in this painting.

Are the colors warm or cool? He uses both.

His art is special because he used color and shapes to make his painting look 3 Dimensional. How did he do that?
- overlapped things
- warm colors brought items forward
- cool colors took things back
- mostly concerned with shape color

What shapes do you see? He always used cubes, cones, cylinders. Do you see any of these shapes in your classroom?

Cezanne was a perfectionist. What does this mean? He worked on a painting until he was satisfied. He spent a lot of time arranging the objects. Once he painted a portrait of a friend and re-did it 115 times! Until he thought it was perfect.

How does this painting make you feel?

Where would you hang it? This was a neat way to end the discussion. They said all sorts of places, bedrooms, hallways, office, living room but most thought the kitchen was a great place due to the pears.

may goals

"Every worthwhile accomplishment, big or small, has its states of drudgery and triumph; a beginning, a struggle, and a victory."
~ Gandhi

April moved at a very quick pace. It was filled with lucky moments when I won not 1 but, 2 giveaways! Really how lucky was that? One is an adorable book about Cinco De Mayo illustrated by Holli Conger that I can't wait to enjoy and share with my kids. The other is 100 postcard portfolio's from Next Day Flyers, a printing company I often use. I am excited about the possibilities of what I will have printed.

Remember, how excited I was to get I'd Rather Be in the Studio by Alyson B. Stanfield in the mail last month. Yeah, well I haven't opened it yet! I think I've been scared to start it. Well, I need to face my fears and dig deep and empower myself this month! I have been painting a lot. I finished the butterfly fairy painting and after varnishing, it will be ready for delivery. I have a mermaid painting in progress and have been exploring watercolors in my sketchbook. I brought it with me everywhere last weekend and painted in the car, on the couch, while visiting family, it was awesome!

Last week marked this little blog's 4 year anniversary! It has been an amazing journey and I am excited about what the future holds! Thank you to all that visit, comment and read along with me. To celebrate, I'm having a little giveaway. Check it out here.

April Goals 

Business - Check out www.score.org. They have great resources on their website, and offer free mentoring sessions with a seasoned professional. I need to get my business setup properly for growth. Connect with artist's I met last month. Oh wow, I haven't even thought about this. Moving to the "later" list.

Art - Begin custom butterfly painting and continue to work on mermaid painting.Custom painting needs a varnish and it'll be complete and mermaid is in progress.

Blog - Create a Wedding page. Think about blog series and schedules. Eek another area I have not thought about.

Design - Begin on new wedding invitation design client, continue work with logo design clients. Still ongoing. I also worked on a Spring Boutique Flyer and birthday invitations for friends.

Shop - Add art necklace, note cards and 8x10 prints to Etsy. Add "Willow Tree" and "Ladybug Flowers" to Etsy, Society6, FAA and Facebook. I got "Willow Tree" posted this month. Still have much to do.

Read - Wheat Belly and I'd Rather Be in The Studio. Well, I didn't start one of these yet but, I did finish Wheat Belly and have been wheat free for 1 week! You can read my review on that book here.

Family - Celebrate Ethan's 8th Birthday, Easter and Earth Day! We celebrated Ethan's 8th birthday for an entire week. He has been enjoying all the extra attention and activities. He loves Super Mario so, I placed him in Mario's race kart for his invitation. He was thrilled! I went on Hudson's first field trip to the zoo. It was great to spend a day with him and his classmates exploring.  With only a few weeks left of school our calendar is filled with events to celebrate the end of the year. 

Health - No snacking after 7:30 pm. Start my day with hot water and lemon (somewhere I stopped this). Check out the yoga class at my local recreation center. No snacking is doing well, without wheat this last week has been a breeze. I'm just not craving food and that is amazing. I keep forgetting to pick up lemons! Hopefully, I will remember next shopping trip. I have not gone to yoga but, I did finally check out the schedule and write it on my calendar!

Soul - Meditate every evening, journal (written or art) weekly. I am meditating a couple of nights a week. If I am having a hard time falling asleep I turn to it and it works every time.Little bits of journaling and used my sketchbook this month which is good.

May Goals 

Business - Work on portfolio postcards. 

Art - Continue to work on mermaid painting, explore an abstract painting, complete two custom necklaces. 

Blog - Create a Wedding page. Think about blog series and schedules. 

Design - Finish wedding invitation design client, continue work with logo design clients. 

Shop - Art necklace, note cards and 8x10 prints and "Ladybug Flowers" to online shops. 

Read - I'd Rather Be in The Studio and Beyond the Sling: A Real-Life Guide to Raising Confident, Loving Children the Attachment Parenting Way


Family - Celebrate the end of the school year with recitals, presentations, open house and teacher gifts. 

Health - Continue wheat free diet and go to a yoga class at my local recreation center. 

Soul - Meditate in the evening, journal (written or art) weekly. 

Creative Every Day *One* - Suggestions: create art in a monotone theme, focus on a single object in a piece of art, take yourself on a solo artist's date, make art using one kind of mark.

 If you would like to join in The Meetup biz goals fun, head on over to Athena Dreams.