mixed media painting: sanctuary

The creative every day theme for March is mixed media, today I am sharing a mixed media painting I finished last month. This one is mostly acrylic paint with some charcoal to darken the words and oil pastel for some added pop and texture to the Queen Anne's Lace flowers. I had a Queen Anne's Lace (aka Wild Carrot) sketch in my sketchbook which was the jumping off point for this painting.

After starting the picture I knew I needed some words. I did a little digging online about the meaning of Queen Anne's Lace and the word "sanctuary" appeared. I worked on this right before my RAW showcase and the words poured out of me. It says "Be still and listen to your magic, the truth is you are enough, love yourself and awaken your secret sanctuary with your soul, trust in your magic".

I think I needed the words of encouragement before my first art show to remind myself that I can do this, I am meant to do this, I just need to trust in my abilities and try not compare my work with others. I am call it my "cheerleader piece".

I love the addition of words on artwork but, they can be tricky to get right. I went over and over the words many times until I was finally happy with them. I didn't intend for the text baseline to be in the final work but, I wasn't able to remove them easily. So, I went with it and made the lines part of the design and I think they worked into the painting nicely, a happy accident.  

Have you created art with words, do you have any tips to help the words look/read well or do you just wing it?

om: best week ever

Last week my kids had off school for Spring Break, I had to work during the week but was able to change my schedule a bit so that we could plan afternoon outing with the boys. This gave them something to look forward to each day and after going to the movies (The Lorax was great!), the park, the pool, rollerskating (love!), going to a restaurant dinner (rare that we do this), art making and attending a st patty's day parade and farmer's market they declared it their BEST WEEK EVER! Not bad considering they were requesting trips to Disneyland and Legoland at the start of the week. These little joys in life make happiness go round.

One Moment [OM] is a weekly meet up that promotes living in the moment.  Whether funny, sad, ridiculous, or banal, looking for these moments can promote balance in our lives. Anyone can join – read about it here.

zen feather art prints now available

 Zen Feather Art Print

Zen Feather is the last of my feather inspired paintings to share with you. You can read about how I ended up naming this piece here if you'd like. With this painting I focused on creating an abstract piece. I like exploring abstract from time to time. I love the final color scheme, it reminds me of the colors of the desert. The colors changed more then I can count but, in the end I think that added to the richness of the colors. I used oil pastels on top of the acrylic paint for added pop and texture; the feather was painted with watercolor on paper and decoupages to the canvas. I intended to post the original for sale today also but, it just so happen that it was sold on Monday. Although the original has sold, art prints of Zen Feather unframed, framed or on canvas are available in my Society6 shop.

mixed media: wherever your smiles have been

 The creative every day theme for March is mixed media. It's funny I call myself a mixed media artist but, I don't create a lot of mixed media art. Say what? Well, I like to create in mixed medias (digital, jewelry, paint, pastel, charcoal, ceramics, and more) but, I don't usually use mix media in one piece of art. So with the CED theme this month I wanted to challenge myself with to create a mixed media piece of art. This wood block painting has a watercolor feather that I painted, cut and decoupaged along with scrapbook paper, a butterfly and some words cut from a 3 year old birthday card. I loved the words so much I held onto the from of the card all these years. "Some people radiate love and leave happiness wherever their smiles have been." Sweet, right? I have to say this isn't my favorite work. I'm not even sure if I like it. I was a little frustrated creating it. But, that's okay. The point was to stretch outside my comfort zone and just see what happens.

Have you stretched outside your comfort zone recently? Did you like what transpired as a result?

project letter writing

This is actually my post for February's letter. I just had not gotten around to sharing. I wrote two letters last month. Linda from a la mode stuff sent me a wonderful card to use this month and with that card I wrote a note to my husband to say thank you for his support and care while I prepared for my first art show ever and my first craft show of the year in the same weekend. He was pretty over it by Saturday and it was the perfect time to share with him my appreciation and gratitude. The second letter I sent was to a good friend to thank her for a surprise gift she sent me recently. It was really thoughtful of her and I was happy to thank her with the handmade card and envelope shown above by Len of Unhibited Spirit.

Would you like to join us in project letter writing? There are no hard and fast rules, just mail a card or letter to someone each month and with it a little happiness unfolds.

om: cooperative abstract painting

We picked up a "new" old couch for the boys playroom at a rummage sale two weeks ago so, we reorganized the room and added art to the walls. I had a large frame (about 2ft x 3 ft) with a cardboard backing that was sitting in the garage.I pulled out the paints and let the boys paint away. At first they each had there own idea of what should be on the painting and they were pretty far off from one another so, instead of battling who paints where and what I suggested they create an abstract painting. They both knew the term from my art masterpiece visits in school so, excitedly they both agreed "to create nothing".

 

They worked on this piece very cooperatively. It was a nice calm painting session where the only rule was to have fun and use all the colors.   

 

The finished artwork is about 2ft x 3ft and hangs in their playroom. I love putting my kids art on the walls and especially love when they create with that purpose in mind. I think seeing your artwork displayed at a young age makes it easier to imagine when you get older and I want my kids to feel like their art is always worthy of being displayed.

One Moment [OM] is a weekly meet up that promotes living in the moment.  Whether funny, sad, ridiculous, or banal, looking for these moments can promote balance in our lives. Anyone can join – read about it here.

black and white love: birch trees and chunky bracelets

Birch Trees in Winter Art Print

Birch Trees in Winter Original Watercolor

Title: Birch Trees in Winter
Date: 2011
Medium: Watercolor
Surface: Strathmore 300g/140lbs windpower watercolor paper, cold press, acid free
Dimensions: 8" x 10"

Inspired by birch trees I saw during a road trip in northern Arizona this black and white watercolor of nature is classic and simple. Original for sale in my Etsy shop and art prints are available in my Society6 shop.

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Chunky Glass Bracelets

On a black and white kick, I created two chunky glass bracelets. 

Classic, versatile, dramatic. The smooth chunky glass beads lined with gold foil are dramatic and comfortable to wear. Combine that with a classic color palette of black, white, silver and gold and it creates this casual chic bracelet. Strung on Soft Flex beading wire and finished with lobster clasps. Bracelets are only $15 each in my Etsy shop.

what is in a name? pondering a title on abstract artwork.

I created the above abstract piece of art recently and have been thinking about a name for it. 

I thought about Untitled because every one I asked saw something different in the piece. But, I then thought about how confusing and uninspired it felt to me to have lots of works named Untitled. Kandinsky uses a generic name (Conception No. 11 etc) on many of his works. This fits in with his theories of art coming from the subconscious and without a specific definition in the real world. Which is a nice theory. If I was working on a series of studies I think naming it that way wold be great. But since this is a one off piece, I like the idea of a name, it helps me as a viewer to see the meaning behind the art and look at it in a new way. Naming a work I have created indicates that the work means something to me, the artist.

So, in my quest for a name, I remembered there was a cool online abstract art title generator I came across awhile back. I flipped through some titles and then one stopped me. It was Meditation and Energy. It struck me. The meditation being the the very still, focused feather and the energy being all that is going on around it. That also summed up the last few weeks. I have been putting myself to bed with nightly meditation to help calm me down from my action packed and inspiring days of energy. Using that as a jumping off point, I have played with words that are similar to "meditation" to see if something else says it better. Stillness and Serenity keep popping in mind for the feather but maybe Muse and Focus fit too. I settled on the title Energy and Stillness last week but, now that I have some space to think on it am contemplating the name again. Stillness explains the calm but, it doesn't necessarily say  "focus" as much and the focus feels important to me. The title Zen Feather appeared to me this weekend and the more I say Zen Feather the more it feels right. I'm going to sit with that title for a little bit longer.

I was wondering what you think about naming works.   

Does naming an abstract piece give away too much about the painting, and tell the viewer what to see. Should the viewer come to an artwork and view it fresh from their own perspective, without the artist telling them what it is. Does naming a work in a defined manner constrict the possibilities that being abstract offers? Do you think naming adds to the work, bringing a sense of poetry and deeper meaning to the piece?

RAW: natural born artist showcase

It's been a week since my RAW Artist Showcase and I think I am finally floating back down from cloud 9. This was my first art show and it was ah-maze-ing! I was floored and so grateful by how many friends came out to support me (in person and in ticket sales) and by how well received my artwork was.

It really was more then I had hoped for and the event made me realize two things:

1. I need to get "out there" to show my art. Wow, what a confidence boost. I enjoyed talking with people about my art and meeting other artists. I chatted with all the artists setup around me and hope to continue relationships with them.

2. I need to look at this event as a blueprint for the types of events I should participate in the future. Due to the nature of the event, my art was center stage and that felt great. It far exceeded my expectations and I realized that this type of event, one in which people are coming out to admire and shop for fine art is where I need to be. I have done craft shows in the past and my sales barely break the fee and that has been discouraging. Since they are a lot of time and work. The key is the find the events that work best for you and this seemed to work. 

Many thanks to my friend Jill who let me borrow two pro panels to showcase my artwork, they made a huge difference in time and presentation. Silly me took these pictures at the end of the night instead of the beginning so, some things are happily missing. 

This year I wanted to make an effort to make more art and get my art "out there". I think setting that intention helped this opportunity come my way and allowed me to say yes when I had no idea how I was going to pull it off. It started with a message on Etsy from the event planner. I submitted an application and we chatted about the event details. After jumping up and down, hugging my husband 'till he turned blue and calling a few people to share in the excitement, I got down to business creating and planning.

I was consumed with the show for the 2 weeks leading up to it. Every moment I had I spent reading about artist statements, certificates of authenticity, title cards, wiring a canvas, how to price my work and why I needed to inventory my art. But more then that I could not stop creating. I had multiple art pieces in progress (usually I work on one or two) and more ideas flowing into my head then I could act on. All I could think about was this blank canvas and that blank wood panel in my garage and how I could make more art! What a rush. I had to balance creating as much as I could with staying sane and making sure if someone where to buy my art I had everything in place for an easy, professional transaction. I did way more then I needed to really, but that's me. I like to be prepared, over-prepared even. Big thanks to my husband who picked up a lot of slack around the house, cooking, cleaning and taking care of the kids while I was all consumed.

The RAW Stimulus showcase was at Martini Ranch, a bar/music venue in downtown Scottsdale. The night of the show, I got to the venue at 4pm. I had a quick interview by the Raw team (should have this to see later this month!) and then setup for the show. During a venue walk thru a couple of weeks before I picked out my space. Since the event was held in a bar/music venue I choose a space with good lighting available since I do not have any lights of my own. I also chose a space with two tall poles on either side which was a nice place to string up my art prints and add a sign. I thought I had so much time to setup (and I did really) but, before I knew it people started to arrive. There were featured musicians and fashion shows that took place during the show which added to the excitement of the evening.

I brought my easel and a work in progress because I thought I would have time before the show to work and I thought it would be fun to work during the show. Yeah, no. It was a good idea but, I didn't have much down time. I was way to excited and eager to talk with friends and meet people. But, I found that people enjoyed seeing the work in progress, it opened up conversation and I would totally do that again. I ended up walking away selling all three of my cute little wood block feather paintings, a pair of earrings, an art jewelry necklace and earring set, my large fireflies painting and a got deposit for a custom painting. I also had an inquiry on my work in progress and hope that will find it's new home once complete. This blew me away! I am honored that my art was chosen to brighten and enliven their most cherished space, their homes.

It was touching to see so many smiling faces there to support me. It made the night more fun and made me more confident then if I was by myself. I sure did miss my family and friends from back east though. I hope to arrange a RAW event in New York when I visit sometime. I am also thinking about doing a RAW event in California and another one here in Phoenix. We'll see ...

They have Raw: Natural Born Artist Showcases in cities across the country every month. Check out their website here to see when you can attend an event or submit an application to be featured in a city near you!

new tri-color feather art prints and drop earrings

 

Tri-Color Feather Art Print

Here is the third work I created on a small wood block. Feathers have been a great muse and have appeared in four of my works so far this year (I have shared three with you so far). With this painting I focused on pattern and the tri-color effect on the feather. The grayish blue background with a hint of mustard yellow turned out beautifully weathered. The original wood block has sold but, art prints are available in my Society6 shop.

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Wire Wrapped Drop Earrings

I created a colorful mini-collection of wire wrapped glass drop briolettes in bright copper and silver. Big and beautiful glass drops in warm honey, aqua blue, classic black and rich olive green are simple, bold and modern. Earrings are only $12 a pair in my Etsy shop.