bead and button show recap

I am overflowing with beady inspiration thanks to working at the BeadandButton Show this month. I took a week long trip to Milwaukee with Soft Flex Company to help them out in their show booth. It has been a few years since I helped in the booth and it was really nice to get out from behind my computer desk and spend time with my co-workers in person.

I don't talk about my "day job" much on this blog but, I am a full time graphic designer for Soft Flex Company and have been for 9 years. Soft Flex Company is a beading wire manufacturer that sells tools, beads and beading wire to make your own jewelry. How cool is that?! Way cool. It's really nice to work for a company in a creative industry and that is full of creative employees.

The first few years working for Soft Flex, I traveled to a few shows to help out, learn our products, meet customers and vendors face-to-face and check out how other companies display their products and signage. It was always great fun. After becoming a mom of two, going away for a week to help with a show just wasn't do-able for me and my family anymore. This year, now that my kids are a bit older, I was asked if I wanted to go. I was a little hesitant at first but, knew it would be a worthwhile and I'm glad I said yes.

 
While there, I helped run our daily Make-It-Take-it projects during the show and assisted customers and demonstrated how to use our tools and wire while in our company booth. In addition I was able to meet many people I talk to via email face-to-face and that is always nice. I also got to see new products other companies have and feed off the creative energy that is bouncing all around. It's amazing to be around so many creative people - bead makers, jewelry designers, book authors and teachers oh my! You can't help but get excited talking with people about their passion.

The BeadandButton Show is a really well run and inspired show, I highly recommend you check it out someday if you have any interest in the beading / wireworking / metalsmithing / lampwork jewelry world. They host an amazing number of classes and the booths are just brimming with wonderful pretty things to inspire your designs and tools to make designing easier. The show is held in Milwaukee in June every year.

Stay tuned as I gather the treasures I brought home and share them with you ...

june goals

Hemp Watercolor Affirmation Art Note Cards in my Etsy Shop

“An artist cannot fail; it is a success to be one.”
~ Charles Horton Cooley

I only recently learned of the quote above. I find it be really motivating and comforting and reminded myself of that quote a few times since I learned it. It rings true, allowing yourself to pursue the passion of art in and of itself is a success. When I am feeling down or like I'm not as far along with my "art career" as I would like to be, thinking of this quote snaps me out of my funk. Instead of worrying about whether I am in the right place in time, it has reminded me that practicing my art at all is success.

I started reading I'd Rather Be in the Studio by Alyson B. Stanfield. It is a wealth of information and I am an writing notes all over it, using it as a workbook instead of just a book I read and then place on my shelf. I also read Leo Babauta's book The Power of Less and really enjoyed it (I am a long time reader of his blog, Zen Habits  focused on simplicity and living in the moment.) I am often overwhelmed by my "to do" list, information, emails and visual stimulation. Finding my focus and calm is really important for me to practice. This book guides you on how to simplify and refocus on what's important. It's a quick read with short chapters (my favorite) and has a wealth of actionable tips. Highly recommended.

As for creativity, I created early in the month but, slowed down the last two weeks. We had lots of wonderful events celebrating the end of school and now the kids are home for the summer so, my schedule has shifted a bit. Plus, my husband has been sick for an entire week. He is a tremendous help with household chores, cooking and caring for our children. Having him not well for so long had me focusing on the basics of just keeping everything going. I am grateful he is feeling better today and thankful for all that he does to help keep our family running smoothly. I missed my partner in crime and was so happy to see him crack a smile or two today.

May Goals 

Business - Work on portfolio postcards.I had good intentions but, this was pushed aside again.

Art - Continue to work on mermaid painting, explore an abstract painting, complete two custom necklaces.  I finished mermaid painting and need to share it with you, I explored abstracts with this painting and finished two custom dragon pendant necklaces. I also created a second knitted bracelet which I love and also need to share with you! I began sharing "Sunday Sketches" from my sketchbook each week over at Creative Stash on Facebook. 

Blog - Create a Wedding page. Think about blog series and schedules. Soon, very soon.

Design - Finish wedding invitation design client, continue work with logo design clients. Wedding invitations done. It turned out beautifully. My most intensive design assembly to date but, well worth it. I am waiting on feedback from logo clients. Both are in no hurry so, not sure when I will finish them up.

Shop - Art necklace, note cards and 8x10 prints and "Ladybug Flowers" to online shops. Note cards and Ladybug Flowers Painting and Ladybug Flowers Prints were added to online shops. I sold one set of note cards and one print this month! woot!

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 Finally started I'd Rather Be in The Studio. I'm reading it slowly and writing notes in the book. I didn't finish Beyond the Sling. I was looking for something to help with older children. The title had me thinking this was for older kids but, it is geared to new baby's and young children. It is a great book just note for the ages I thought.

Family - Celebrate the end of the school year with recitals, presentations, open house and teacher gifts. My oh my, we had lots of events and each once was a great chance to see my children shine. Loved all of them. Hip Hop dance rectial, Violin recital, Bug Chorus recital, Classroom "Coffee Break" where kids shared poems, yoga poses and songs and an end of the year party at the community pool with DJ, Laser Tag and Waterside. Great end to the school year, 

Health - Continue wheat free diet and go to a yoga class at my local recreation center. Wheat free has been fantastic. I am sleeping better, waking better, more focused, less controlled by food craving (biggie for me) and I lost 8 lbs in 5 weeks! This has been a great change and one I plan to stick to.

Soul - Meditate in the evening, journal (written or art) weekly. I meditate on an doff. Basically on nights I have trouble falling alseep I use it as my sleep aid. I have been journal writing on and off - maybe 3 times this month. I think this would be good practice to help me write more deeply here on my blog. I find I am more inclined to write at night then in the morning.  

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. I played with this abstract painting with this prompt in mind. I stuck to one direction.

June Goals

Business - Work on portfolio postcards. 

Art - Custom Alphabet Bunting painting, share mermaid painting, one new painting. 

Blog - Think about blog series and schedules.

Design - Work with a new wedding invitation design client, continue work with logo design clients. 

Shop - Art necklace, and 8x10 prints and add one new painting to online shops. 

Read - I'd Rather Be in The Studio and Raising Freethinkers.

Family - Drawing classes and activities from the Being your Best book with the kids, lots of movies, pool time and water play. 

Health - Wheat free, drink 64 oz water a day and try a yoga class at my local recreation center. 

Soul - Meditate, journal (written or art) weekly, find some quiet time for myself.

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

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.

blogiversary giveaway!

Thursday marked the 4 year anniversary of this blog a.k.a. my blogiversary!!! I can't believe I have kept up with this and how far i have come. What started as a way to entice myself to use my wacom tablet more turned into so much more with creative adventures in paint, jewelry, crafts, cooking and participating and building communities around my art. I am truly grateful to all who follow along with me and my creative adventures on this blog today and since its beginning.

To celebrate, I’m having a giveaway in honor of all of you! 

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

Comment to enter ... Since this painting was inspired by childhood memories playing under my grandparents willow tree, I'd love to hear in the comments one of your favorite childhood memories!

Bonus entry 1 ...  Like Creative Stash on Facebook, and let me know in a separate comment.

Bonus entry 2 ...Share  this giveaway on Facebook or Twitter and let me know you shared the love in a separate comment and link. * please tag @CreativeStash

Winner ... 1 winner will be drawn at random from the comments on this blog post and announced next Saturday, May 5th.

Thank you for your support and love and for allowing me to weave in and out of your lives. It means so much to me to share my passion with all of you and to hear how it connects with you. Much love, gratitude, and blessings!

xoxo
Kristen

Note: This giveaway has ended. To see the winner click here.