Entries Tagged as: art for sale

Leap!

February 29th, 2008, Comments (5)

I nearly forgot that today is Leap Day! Hehe, I just wrote Leah Day. Close, but not quite! Anyways, I always think that Leap Years are kind of special and this year it feels like a reminder to leap and go for it now!! Inspire Me Thursday has a theme of "Leap" this year. I think I'll do something with that.

In the meantime, here's what I was up to today. I stopped by the coffeehouse where I just put up some art. I took some quick pictures to put in my art blog, but here's one of them. I'll update this with a link to the art blog when I get that up. In this pic, you can see Blue Mermaid and Mind as Ocean.

While I was at the coffee house, I stayed for a sandwich and read some more of A New Earth. There was an interesting part in the book talking about ego and shyness. Tolle writes, "The fear is that the attention may take the form of disapproval or criticism, that is to say, something that diminishes the sense of self rather than enhances it. Shyness often goes with a self-concept that is predominately negative, the belief of being inadequate." Perhaps by seeing my hesitations about putting myself out there as my ego, I can let go of those fears and go for it more. I know logically not to take things personally, that my work won't be for everyone and that's o.k. But I do have fears of rejection that I'd like to not necessarily get rid of, but move forward anyways (like that book, Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway.)

In regards to the book, so far it's interesting. It's not new concepts, but sometimes I need to hear things many times for it to sink in. I'm not sure exactly how I feel about it honestly, but I'm intrigued and I'm going to keep reading. Plus, I'm very curious about Oprah's online class!

While I was eating my sandwich at the coffeehouse, a mom and her young boy sat down next to me. The boy was wearing a crown he had made in celebration of the hundredth day of school. His mom put it on her head and he exclaimed, "Mom! You are the King of Silliness!" It was too cute. This kid had energy galore. His mom said on the way out, "I hope we weren't too loud!" But I didn't mind and I told her how cute her son is.

This weekend and next, along with the weeknight overnights in between, I'll be keeping an eye on the teenager I used to nanny for along with their dogs and the house while her parents are away. It's a nice house, but I always miss the hubster and kitties while I'm away.

I also realized that I forgot to make a post for leaving links regarding the Creative Every Day Challenge. Sorry about that! I'll make Monday's post for two weeks.  Hope everyone has a wonderfully creative weekend!

Nahcotta’s Enormous Tiny Art III

February 11th, 2008, Comments (10)

Nahcotta's etaiii

Here are a couple pics from Friday night. I managed to snap a few shots of the evening which can be found in my Blue Tree flickr album here, although I didn't get any shots of myself there. Doh! I was feeling incredibly shy the night of the opening, but I did manage to meet two wonderfully sweet artists whose art I adore, Jennifer Judd-McGee and Betsy Thompson. Seems like there are so many cool chickadees in Maine, some I've had the pleasure of meeting in the last year (hello to Jes, Tammy, and Susan!), it makes me wish I lived there! But I don't know if I could take winters any chillier than down here and there are certainly some cool people in the Boston area. Speaking of cool Mass. folks, thank you Mindy for coming out to see the show and I'm so sorry I missed you! The picture below is from Jennifer Judd-McGee's flickr pics and you can see one of my paintings along with one of hers in it.

It was a cold night with a snow and a chilly breeze, but the opening was packed! I sold a couple pieces so far and the show runs til March 9th. If you're interested in purchasing any of the pieces, feel free to contact Nahcotta directly.

Updated to add: Nahcotta has a flickr album with all the pieces from the show (my pieces are on pages 1 and 4 of the album. The prices are listed there.

I've gotta hit the sack. The hubster and I are trying to fight off colds. Thankfully, we have a pile of fuzzy kitties to help us get better. :-)

Inspiration Treasure Hunt

February 4th, 2008, Comments (4)

Yesterday I was feeling super tired and in need of some extra rest and I got it. Today, I'm feeling brighter and have art to share, which I think I'll spread out over a few posts. First off, the finished "Subway Stories" pieces. The first one above is "Park Street" and the one below is "Wollaston." Both are 8"x10" with collaged paper, acrylic and ink on panel. These were the last of ten pieces that I brought up to Nahcotta on Saturday.

I'd originally planned to head up to Nahcotta, which is in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, on Friday, but we were experiencing some yucky weather, so I put it off. It worked out well anyways because on Friday I needed to clean up a bit and then go pick up my youngest brother. My mom and step-dad had bought tickets to see Blue Man Group, but then my step-dad had to be at a conference out of town, so they asked if the hubster and I would take my brother. Of course I was more than happy to oblige! I've been to Blue Man Group twice before, but it was a long time ago, so I was excited to go again. And the hubster had never been. Our seats were awesome. I'd sat in the balcony both times I saw it before and this time we were on the floor. It was a lot of fun. Afterwards, we grabbed some dinner in the city and then got out just in time (on the way home there was a thunder and lightening storm and it poured!)

On Saturday, after dropping my brother off at home, I drove up to Portsmouth and dropped off my art at Nahcotta. And I really lucked out because it was such a gorgeous day. Especially after the nasty weather we'd had the day before, I was really grateful to be able to walk around outside and soak in some sunshine. Portsmouth has such a great downtown area and because the weather was perfect for strolling, I decided to do a little inspiration treasure hunting. It is easier to do this when you're alone and you can turn your awareness on fully. It's fun to do this in a place you don't visit often or somewhere you've never been before, but really it can be done anywhere. It simply requires that you shift your perception, open your eyes and soak in your surroundings. On my inspiration treasure hunt, I took in the sights and sounds of the bustling downtown area. I peeked in the windows of cafes, gift stores, a typewriter repair shop, and went inside some of them. I touched smooth ceramic bowls, handmade purses, and loads of books in an independent bookstore. I got lunch in a popular lunch spot and savored the tastes of a warm homemade sandwich. I smiled while watching kids (and kids at heart) get all wide-eyed in a funky toy store and scrunched up my nose at the bin of rubber cockroaches for sale. At the end of my treasure hunt, I was tired, but full of inspiration. A successful hunt!

And speaking of treasure, I received a lovely prize from Bridget over the weekend too! For a cartoon caption contest, Bridget sent me the sweetest collection of pins for my inspiration board and gorgeous magnets all featuring black and white drawings. I love them!

I hope that there was loads of inspiration to be found in your weekend adventures!

More Creativity Snapshots

January 30th, 2008, Comments (11)

Today was spent finishing up last touches on work that I'll take up to Nahcotta at the end of the week. You can see two of the latest pieces in process above. I've got some other ones in progress too, but I'm going to put them up at the coffee shop where I'll be hanging art at the end of February.

I was going to write about my inspiration board for Wellness Wednesday today, but my pictures came out too dark. So, I'm going to wait and get some daylight shots of it. Last Wednesday, the hubster said to me, "Isn't it Wellness Wednesday or something?" Haha, too funny. That cracked me up.

Yesterday was spent working on my book about creativity. As the Creative Every Day challenge has been developing, it has been giving me all kinds of ideas, which shifts around the direction of the book. I recently picked up Eric Maisel's The Art of the Book Proposal which has been helpful in getting me to think about the focus and framework of the book.

Ideas, the wording of a sentence for example, often come to me soon after I turn off the light and put my head to the pillow. Fortunately, I have a collection of pens, sticky notes and a blank journal, so I can pop up, turn on the light and scribble out my ideas. I'm always glad I write it or draw a little sketch because most of the time I won't be able to remember exactly what came in a flash right before I fell asleep the night before. I didn't realize this time between sleep and wakefulness had a name until recently. I was listening to NPR's "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me" and their guest for the game "Not My Job" was James Lipton of "Inside the Actor's Studio." The hosts kind of made fun of his use of the word in the first chapter of his book, Inside Inside, but I thought it was really cool! The term used for this in between time is called "the hypnagogic state." Lipton suggested that creative artists, musicians, and writers were familiar with this "dream-like and sometimes fruitful state between wakefulness and sleep." Is everyone aware of this state? Does everyone experience it? I think the hubster, who is a musician and very creative, may fall asleep far too quickly to have any ideas come. But maybe he experiences that state when he wakes (between sleep and waking, it's called the hypnopompic state.) I'll have to ask him.

So, I'll make that my Wellness Wednesday tip for this week. Pay attention and see if ideas, answers to questions, or art compositions come to you in this hypnagogic state. And be sure to have some paper and writing tools tools by your bedside. If you can't turn on the light in the middle of the night, try keeping a flashlight or booklight that you can use without disturbing your bedmate. Or just write in the dark, which I do sometimes. :-)

That's it for tonight. See you tomorrow. And happy creating!

Where’d it go?

January 27th, 2008, Comments (12)

Oh, that's frustrating! I wrote post yesterday with all these links and then last night I saw that it wasn't there. Where'd it go? I don't know! How frustrating! Anyways, I'll try and replicate it to a degree. I've got some new "Subway Stories" art to share with you. This first one (above) is 10"x10" and it's titled, "Kenmore." The father and son figures are thinking about the baseball game they're headed to. And the woman is a graduate student and is going through her to-do list.

This next piece is 8"x8" and is titled, "Newton Center." The  man on the right has twin babies at home and he's exhausted. He keeps nodding in and out of sleep and hoping that he won't sleep through his stop like he did last week. The woman on the left has noticed the man behind her is snoring. She's thinking about her plans for the evening and a friend of hers she hasn't seen much of lately because she's tired of hearing about how her boyfriend is treating her like dirt when she won't do anything about it. Both pieces are on cradled wood panel with collaged papers (subway maps, phone book pages, train schedules), acrylic, and ink. These pieces will be available at the Nahcotta show in Portsmouth, N.H. next month. I'm so excited about this show and the opportunity to see the artwork of some truly awesome artists in person. You can check out the postcard for the show here and see the list of artists involved. All the artwork in the Tiny Enormous Show III, will be 10"x10" or smaller and affordable. If you can't go to the show, you can still contact Nahcotta directly and make a purchase through them. More about this later in the week.

It's snowing here and I'm feeling sleepy despite the yummy coffee that the hubster made for us. But I've got a soft kitty on my lap, so life is good! :-)

Yesterday, some of my creativactivities involved re-vamping my inspiration/cork board. I'll share some pictures of that later on. I'd actually love to get some new and bigger cork boards. There's actually a very cool flickr group of inspiration boards and a blog dedicated to them too! Do you keep an inspiration board?

Etsy Updates

January 20th, 2008, Comments (1)

3 of the prints I put up on my new Etsy store sold today. Hoorah! So, I've replaced those prints and added one more "Subway Stories" print there.

Blueline

I also wrote about my etsy store along with some cool etsy shops I've enjoyed (just a few out of many I love to watch and buy from!) on my Blue Tree Blog. So, go check that out for some fun linkage. I'm going home in a couple hours and I'm so excited to snuggle up with the hubster, his homemade cooking, and some cute kitties to keep me warm. It is frigidly cold outside today. Brr!

Creatactivities = Creative Activities

January 16th, 2008, Comments (9)

I've coined a new word. See definition above. Creatactivities. I like it! :-)

Feeling a bit overtired today, but I've been keeping busy and I'm excited for a new Project Runway tonight! I met my best friend in a nearby town this afternoon to keep her baby entertained while she had her hair cut and then we got some lunch together. Making a baby laugh is a sure-fire way to brighten your day! In the afternoon, I plunked myself down in the cute coffee shop where I'll be hanging art next month and worked on adding items to my Etsy shop. I joined Etsy years ago just to buy things there. Watching the site blossom has been incredible and sometime last year I decided I'd add some of my art to the mass of wonderful products there. Well, I got the banner up and then never added anything to it. It's been on my to-do list for a little too long. Well, I started on it today. So far I've added four prints, they're all printed on 8.5"x11" velvet fine art paper and they're available for $25 each. I'll add some more prints there over time and hopefully some greeting cards too! Getting the Etsy store up and making the baby laugh were great creatactivities (creative activities) for me today.

I've been working on this new "Subway Stories" piece called "Boylston" for a couple days now. I just need to do some touching up, seal it with varnish and then it'll be done. This one is a slightly larger 10"x10". When it's complete, I'll add some close-ups with the stories in them. In the meantime, I snapped a picture of it this morning, taking advantage of the bright sun reflecting off the snow. Speaking of snow, driving around in this winter wonderland we've got going on in New England has been really fun. Everything is just coated in the stuff. And with the roads clear and the tree branches hanging over the road, it feels a bit like I'm driving through these dream-like snow tunnels. I have to admit, it's gorgeous.

There has been some totally awesome creativity going on, so do pop in on your fellow CED2008 participants! And by the way, I believe the list is current, but if you don't see your blog on there, please let me know. And if you've just discovered this challenge, it's fine to join in now!

Some juicy inspiration for you:

- This article from Lucia Cappacchione is about creativity as a spiritual practice. She begins by saying what I've heard over and over, but still bears repeating because I don't think we all feel this deep in our bones, and that is, "we are all creative." Cappachione writes,

The medium in which you create is irrelevant. It doesn't matter whether you write a business proposal, play a piano sonata, or prepare a delicious meal. You may be seeking to resolve one of life's mundane problems or express deep feelings and insights through poetry. Embrace your creation as a lover and you can break through to another realm. When you stick with it for better or for worse, your creation pbecomes your guru (Sanskrit meaning"from darkness to light").

- Geoff emailed me about his site, artistaday, which profiles a different artist every day of the week. It's a great site to see some new and interesting art!

- And I really liked this blog post from artist Deb Chaney about celebrating small successes. It's so easy to forget to do this. I know I'm always wishing I did more. But stop for a bit, right this second, and feel great about all that you have accomplished. Breathe that feeling in. It's important.

O.k., I'm going to take my sleepy self into some cozy pajamas and relax.

More Subway Stories to Share

January 15th, 2008, Comments (12)

So these are the finished products here that I've been working away on. And I've got another one that's nearly done and now I've got my camera too, so I can take some pics. I'm calling this one "St. Mary." All the "Subways Stories" pieces are named after subway stops. It's 8"x8" with acrylic paint, collage and ink on a wood panel. Below is a detail of the piece above. The man on the left is whispering prayers, someone he loves is ill. The woman on the right has noticed this man is distraught and is wondering what she can do.

This next piece (below) is called Prudential. It was made with the same materials and it's also 8"x8"

The detail below shows a bit of the story that I've written within their bodies. The woman on the left is bringing home ingredients for a dinner she'll be making for a new boyfriend. She's worrying about it and hoping he likes Greek food. The man on the right is listening humming along to music, feeling motion-sickness from reading on the subway, and pondering the story he's reading.

These pieces and a bunch of others will be shown and for sale at Nahcotta next month.

And it's time for dinner, so I'll be back with more art and some fun links soon. Happy creating!

Word’m-up!

December 6th, 2007, Comments (6)

I've got a new post over at the Blue Tree Blog featuring some of the new goodies I've got up on my art website.

Feeling sleepy, but good. Going to get a much needed haircut today. Ah, bliss. There's nothing like getting your hair washed and pampered.

I saw a commercial for this kid's toy recently which made me feel old. lol. I saw it and thought, when I was a kid, we made art with paper and crayons. (now imagine that said in a granny voice). But I was also thinking, what a cool toy idea! It looked like so much fun! Of course they would make a digital art studio for kids! Why not? Kids will grow up knowing how to do things with computers that will boggle our minds. I just hope I'm not as inept as my parents are about computers or whatever it is when I have kids. Heh.

Got new Subway Stories pieces in the works and lots of holiday prepping to do, so toodaloo for now!

Day 13 – She Sewed All Their Clothes

November 13th, 2007, Comments (11)

I had fun with this one! It was a total experiment. I have a couple vintage magazines that I used images from and then using gel medium I did a transfer onto patterned paper. Then I glued the patterned paper onto a sturdier paper for backing and did some more collage, added a few touches with colored pencil and I even threw in some stitching with blue thread, stitching across part of the page and then letting the thread come down in another part. It wasn't intentional or conscious really, what I was doing and choosing, but in the end, this piece reminds me of my grandmother who has Alzheimer's (who I seem to be making a lot of art about lately.) For awhile she would always repeat to us that she had sewn all her children's clothes. It was one of the few memories that stuck and it seemed like she was clinging to it for dear life. I haven't heard her say that for awhile, although sometimes things will come out that surprise us. The sweaters are significant because my grandma used to knit all her grandkids sweaters and we each got a specially hand-knit Christmas stocking. I chose the letter "w" randomly, it just seemed to fit somehow and of course after the fact, it's clear that the "w" stands for my grandmother's last name which starts with a w. Go figure. The subconscious mind works in mysterious ways which is why I so love to do collage work. The seemingly random usually has a story to tell.

It's about 7.5"x11.5" with collage, colored pencil, transfers, and thread on paper. I want to do some more experimenting with transfers, but I need to do some laser copying. A trip to the copy store is in order. I was super productive today, I was way overdue for a day of tackling business stuff and it felt good to sit down with a list of goals and check them off. I feel a productive week coming on. Hallelujah!

I've got a new post up on the Blue Tree blog about a cool connection I had with an art buyer and lots of new prints available for sale.