Entries Tagged as: art for sale
Art and cats…what could be better??
September 18th, 2007, Comments (14)
I started this piece awhile ago and then I finished it up in Maine. It's 8"x8" with collage, paint, caran d'ache, and bronze powdered pigment. And I'm calling it, "The Key to These Roots." The roots and the bird came in towards the end and I'm liking them.
All in all, I'm keeping my sanity in the midst of weddingy stuff. I'm not being as good about food and exercise as I'd like, so I'm not going to be the most svelte I've ever been for my wedding. Ah well. I suppose it's better that I don't look the best I'll ever look in my wedding photos, so I don't have to worry about it all going downhill after that and never being that skinny or beautiful again. Geez, lovely the way my mind is working, eh? I'm being generally healthy and exercising here and there, had a great yoga session yesterday. So, I won't beat myself up and I'll just keep doing what I'm doing. I can't seem to motivate myself to be the most fit girl ever for my wedding. 10 years ago, I would have been totally obsessed about this, but today, well, I want to look my best, I want to be healthy, but I'm not going to kill myself over it either. I've got a lot of other wonderful things to attend to.
Helping to keep me grounded are my adorable kitties. With the weather getting a little cooler, they're ridiculously snuggly with me and with each other. Ack, the cuteness! Can't resist!
I've added a new print and a new piece of art to my store and wrote about it all on the Blue Tree Blog, so go check it out!
Weekend Inspiration
September 16th, 2007, Comments (8)
Loads of artsy inspiration this weekend. Friday night was the opening of the Tiny Enormous Art Show at Nahcotta in Portsmouth, NH. There was a great turnout and lots of beautiful art to see. I'm already a fan of Cathy Nichols's art and now I'm also smitten with the art of Amy Ruppel, Jennifer Judd-Mcgee, and Tara Hogan among others. There's my art below and you can see more pictures here.
Saturday we did some shopping around, getting the fiansor fit for a tux and suit for my brother's wedding which is this Friday. Then getting all mesmerized by the fish at a tropical fish store. We saw a baby shark still in it's egg sac, craziness! Last night, spent printing things out, writing thank you notes, and recording rsvp's that have come in. Stayed up far too late and then slept a bit later than I wanted to, but oh well.
Sunday I went into see the open studios in the South End, visiting the open market and as many studios as I could before my brain was overstimulated and my legs were overtired. I especially loved viewing the art of of Julie Shaw Lutts, Cheryl Warrick, Janet Bartlett Goodman, Jessica Burko, and Yuko Adachi. I also enjoyed the art at the Jules Place gallery, especially that of Karen Tusinski and Lisa Occhipinti. So as you can see, I've seen lots of beautiful art and I'm full up with all the artsy inspiration I can take for awhile. It was nice to have a bit of a break this weekend and I feel refreshed. Ahh.
The Weekend and some Art
August 26th, 2007, Comments (10)
The shower was really lovely. My mom and best friend did such a great job putting it together and I had a great time. They did a tea theme with iced and hot teas and finger sandwiches which reminded me of when I was little and my mom would cut the crust off my bread. My mom found these adorable tea bag rests for favors and my best friend set up a scrapbook table for guests to make their own page as my guest book. She also arranged some games including one with questions and answers that she'd asked the fiansor by email earlier and people had to guess how many I'd get right. There were questions like where was your first date, what's your most annoying habit, what do you love most about her and what do you think she loves most about you? Some of them just didn't apply to us (like who is your (and her) celebrity crush? I guessed Fabio for both and he said Carrot Top for both. heh.) , so I got 12 out of 20 right which was pretty good I think. 
Yesterday's art was decorating little thank you bags for my mom, sister, best friend and future sister in law for their help with the shower. It said "From my shower to yours" and had shower gel and a loofah thing inside. I got that idea from the best friend who got it from the knot. I decorated the bags with little umbrellas and rain drops, but forgot to take a pic. Ah well. Thursday's art, "Bird Silhouettes," is above. I've been playing with it and I want to do another version of it at some point cause it's not quite what I want. I still like it, I'm just having trouble bringing my idea into reality as it's a very fuzzy vision. It's on watercolor paper with watercolors and ink. And then the piece below, Friday's art, "Butterfly Woman" is a just playin around with caran d'ache piece and that's just what came out.
The fiansor's family has left for NYC and we're home relaxing at last. Ahhhh.
p.s. The show at Nahcotta where I'll be showing my Subway Stories is running from September 12th - October 7th. And the opening is Friday, September 14th from 5 - 8 p.m. And I'll be there!
For Now
August 24th, 2007, Comments (6)
Art to be posted later. Started something last night and I'm not sure where I'm taking it. What I know is that I wish I had a big wooden panel to paint it on. Something tall and skinny. I wonder if I can get a panel cut like that locally?
I've got a new post up at the Blue Tree blog with all my Subway art together with sizes and prices and information about the show they can all be seen at next month at Nahcotta in Portsmouth, NH. Nahcotta also has a blog here and they featured a piece of my subway art there the other day which was awesome. Nahcotta is a gorgeous space and I'm excited to see (in person) the art of so many talented artists I've admired online (and meet some of them too at the opening!) Oh, I just popped over to their blog and saw the postcard for the show (looks great!) and saw that they're running a cool contest, so do go check it out!
Last night, after a very full day, I found myself feeling exhausted. I sat down and watched a long documentary on Katrina, When the Levees Broke, on HBO. It was devastating and at one point, out of nowhere I started to sob. I know I can get overwhelmed by the smallest things, but it's the big things on top of the small things that really overwhelm me. Sometimes there is too much sadness to know what to do with it. I contribute in my own small ways, through charities, through art, through being a decent person. But I feel so small in comparison to so much suffering. Of course, it's the stories of individual people and their suffering that broke my heart. It certainly puts things in perspective and makes me grateful for the life I have. But it also makes me furious with our inept government. How could they turn their backs on such a disaster? I don't understand.
For bit of a lighter tale, here's a conversation I had with my mom this morning about my bridal shower tomorrow.
her: "So, what time are you going to get there tomorrow? I'll be there an hour early."
me: "Ok, so do you want me to be there early?"
her: "Well, I'd like you to be a little surprised."
me: "Ok, so would you like me to show up on time, with the guests?"
her: "Well, it might be nice to have you there a little early."
me: "Mom, just tell me. What time would you like me to be there?"
her: "Oh. Well, let me think about it."
Oy vey. From our conversation I'm guessing she'd like me to be 15-20 minutes early and I just want to make her happy, but I wish she'd just tell me what she wants sometimes! I do this sometimes too, this beating around the bush. I'm working at being more direct and this crazy-making conversation makes me even more determined to do so. So, I'll be driving up with my future mother and sister in law and showing up early, but not too early. Heh. I've just gotta laugh. I get all uncomfortable with the focus on me, so this will be a nice, but tiring day. And I'm sure I'll come home with my arms full of new towels and kitchen appliances and maybe some lingerie. 
Hyper Adrenaline Loopdie Loops
August 23rd, 2007, Comments (7)
Up wayyyy too late last night, fiddling around with this and that. I'm all hyped up about this weekend with the fiansor's family visiting and my bridal shower on Saturday, plus I had a wedding dress fitting today and dropped off eight "Subway Stories" pieces for the show at Nahcotta (which is going to be so great! more on that later.) I just wanted to drop in to show you the latest in the Subway Stories series.
The top one is "Central Square" and is 8"x10" with acrylic and collage on panel. And the second is "Longwood" and it's 6"x6" with acrylic and collage on panel. Both of these were named after particular subway stops. Longwood was the stop closest to where I went to college (hence the artist with the big portfolio) and it's also the stop closest to the hospital district of town, where I spent much time as a child with all my (now resolved) kidney/bladder issues. Not fun. So, that stop is a weird mix of memories for me. Central Square is a real funky place in Cambridge, just a stop away from Harvard Square. It has an odd mix of stores and a diverse mix of people. I particularly love it because of the two great art stores there and the club where I had one of my very first shows.
Heh, I just noticed, I can see my signature in these. It took me a long time to remember to sign my work. And in this case, I remembered to do so because I knew I was taking them to a gallery. I've always tried to make my signature small and inconspicuous. I don't want my name to interfere with the art. But I've had people have to remind me to sign my art before (and after) I sell it, so I'm trying to be better about that. Ahem. I've got issues.
Anyways! I got 90% of the invites out the door today. Whew! What a relief that was! The remaining ones are going to some of the fiansor's relatives (mostly in Greece) who won't come, but we'll send the invite anyways. So, I need to go and get special postage for those. And there are a still a couple friends who seem intent on not giving me their addresses. Grr. And the dress fitting...I've had such issues with the dress. I bought it after trying on sooo many. Spent more than I was planning to, but got a good deal as it was a sample dress. It needed some major fitting work and when I tried it on at the first fitting I got a little spooked that it wasn't going to come together well and that I'd look like a sparkly disaster. Well, today was the second fitting and the bodice part fit perfectly. It allowed me, for the first time, to see what my dress will truly look like on me (without clamps all over the place). The hips need to be taken in, the hem has to come up some, but it's coming together. And she also began to pin my bustle. Who knew I would care about these things, but I had a particular kind of bustle in mind and the seamstress, without my saying a word, suggested just the one I wanted and pinned it so I could see what it would look like and oh, yay, it's awesome. So, joy of joys, I feel thrilled about my dress. The fiansor couldn't understand why it was so important to me, saying I'll look beautiful no matter what (insert awwws). But I want to "feel" beautiful. Know what I mean? So, I'm thrilled that I felt beautiful. Now, I just need to figure out this hair debacle and we'll be all set with the beauty side of things.
What a big to-do this wedding stuff is! Ack! Ok, I've got more fun stories about my trip north today, but they'll have to wait as I'm off for a quick dinner with a friend who I haven't seen in ages. (I'm a terrible hermit of a friend.) Ciao for now.
Letting Go and Making Art
August 5th, 2007, Comments (11)
One of the things I try hard to do when making art, is to find the place where I let go. It doesn't always lead to great art, but it's still important because it's how I get in touch with that quiet inner well within me. When I can let go, I feel like I'm on a path with an unknown ending point. And me, the planner, the one with trouble letting go of all the ifs and buts, I finally feel at ease with not knowing. When I allow art to come through me without forcing, I'm often surprised, but that's half the fun, really. It's an adventure, an unplanned road trip, the only way to fly.
Carla at Zena Musings quoted Jennifer Louden in her blog saying, "Our job is simply to show up and let go." I totally agree. Seems funny how hard it can be yet how lovely it can feel to truly let go.
Today, I wanted to let myself be playful. I wanted to let go and release after a stressful evening. I gathered art materials around me, including little cups and straws (yes, straws!) and paint and paper. I used a method I learned last year of putting a little dish soap, water and paint in a cup and then using a straw to blow bubbles which I then dip the paper into or push the bubbles onto the paper to create cool patterns. I let my intuition guide me and saw shapes or figures in the way the paint landed, so I started to draw them in with pencil and then with ink and this is what resulted. I resisted it at first. A centaur? But that's what came, so here it is. It felt like the centaur was making some kind of offering or sending some kind of wordless message through the bubbles that floated up through the sky and blew the young woman's hair into a frenzy. "The Centaur's Message" is 9"x12" with acrylic and pen and ink on watercolor paper.
And then there's the moon piece that I mentioned awhile back. This was also a playful piece. This time I was playful with a new material, some Pearl Mica from Golden. So sparkly! It's a little hard to see the sparkle in a picture, but I think it comes across pretty well. I laid it on thick in the moon and then lightly around it for the stars. Little did I know as I painted it that I was painting a full moon on the night of the full moon. Funny how things happen like that. My cancer sensibilities must have been picking up on my favorite planet. "Full Moon" is 6"x6" on gallery wrapped canvas.
And lastly, a piece I posted earlier over at the Blue Tree Blog, "Fly Away", which is up at the store, here. Another improvisation that I'm loving; she's 6"x6" on cradled wood board with cut paper collage, acrylic and ink.
Ok, that's all the art I've got for you today. I hope the rest of your weekend is a creative one!
As I started to picture the trees in the storm, the answer began to dawn on me. The trees in the storm don't try to stand up straight and tall and erect. They allow themselves to bend and be blown with the wind. They understand the power of letting go. Those trees and those branches that try too hard to stand up strong and straight are the ones that break. Now is not the time for you to be strong, Julia, or you, too, will break. - Julia Butterfly Hill
The Pleiades and further Synchronicity
July 14th, 2007, Comments (8)
Here's the piece of art that I mentioned yesterday, "Dreaming of the Seven Sisters":
With the Inspire Me Thursday theme of 7 last week, I popped around at the response of others and over at Bee Creative, I read about the Seven Sisters constellation (the Pleiades.) I did a little more research about them and the story just stuck in my head. In the Greek myth, seven beautiful sisters were pursued by Orion. Zeus helps them to escape by turning them into seven doves. You can read more about what I discovered in researching this story and see some details of the painting over at the Blue Tree Blog.
I had a very cool bit of synchronicity as I discovered last night that among the names that the constellation was given in different cultures, it was also called "Freya's hens." This cracked me up after all that I wrote about Freya and Friday the 13th yesterday. Hehe. Circles and circles and circles again.
Shopping, Travels and Inspirations
July 12th, 2007, Comments (4)
My tummy is super upset today. I woke up in the middle of the night with awful pain and then well, I won't go into any more details than that. Yucko. I feel a little better today, but not great. I've felt kind of tired and drained all week actually. I'm sure it will turn around soon. I think all the traveling over the weekend threw my body for a loop.
While we were in Boulder, I really enjoyed walking through this one area full of shops. The fiansor commented that it was like this place was made for me. All the colors and designs and funky hand-made products were so up my alley. It was some serious eye-candy. I also stopped in a wonderful interior design store-front that made me ooh and ahh, a bunch of galleries, and a couple antique stores. The only place I got some things at was a little shop called Bliss, just off the Pearl Street Mall area. I would give you a link to it if they had one. How can a store not have a website? Arg! But it was such a cute store full of all sorts of goodies that I just loved. I even got to see a bunch of Anahata Katkin's cards in person, which I'd never seen before. While there, I got a pair of sunglasses (I crushed mine on the plane ride trying to find a comfortable position to sleep in on the plane), a new wallet, two adorably painted tin birds on ribbon, and a silky headband. Here's a pic of the outside of the shop from jessicagonacha's flickr photostream:
I enjoyed some of the galleries we visited and was struck by the art of Maria Neary in particular. Again, no website to share for her alone, but I did find this video of her speaking about her art which is very cool. It's the third video from the top. Turns out she used to be an animator, but I'll let you listen for yourself. I also found some of her work displayed at the Blink Gallery website here. While searching for art by her I came upon an ad that someone was selling a print of hers for a great price, so I scooped it up. Since I'm working for myself now I don't feel like I have the luxury of buying too much for myself. I'm not depriving myself or anything. I'm just trying to keep a more careful reign on my spending habits. (Those items I got from Bliss, were all a gift from the sweet fiansor). There is so much great art out there I'd like to purchase! All in good time.
I've got a new post up at the Blue Tree Blog. While writing it I had a funny bit of synchronicity around the image, chakras, and lotus flowers. I love synchronicity. I do, I do. The Lotus Heart painting is now up in the shop here. Shortly, I'm going to cozy up with some art materials and fuzzy kitties and watch my not-so-guilty pleasure of the summer, "So You Think You Can Dance."
Angel Update
July 11th, 2007, Comments (1)
Wowzers! Some beautiful art has been donated for the Angels for Brianna auction. I got an email this morning saying that the total raised so far is $11,164.00, including cash donations of $2,670. Isn't that amazing?! This is an example of how beautiful the internet can be and the wonderful things it can do. It holds the power to unite and bring people together in such wonderful ways. Here's my art for the auction, an angel just barely touching the surface of the ground, surrounded by butterflies (which are messengers of spirit.) It's 8"x10" on cradled clayboard and is ready to hang.
There were some problems with the website yesterday, but they're all fixed now, so if you checked it before, be sure to stop by again and check out the diverse range of art. The auction ends this Saturday at 6:30 PST. You can read more about Brianna's story here.
Destruction/Construction
July 4th, 2007, Comments (13)
I spent most of yesterday digging through my studio space, moving furniture to make room for a new scanner, and throwing away loads of trash. I've been avoiding this job, but it had to be done. A studio space outside the house hasn't yet worked out, so I decided to let that go for now (it'll show up when it's right) and fix up the space that I have right now. I'm so grateful to have this space in our apartment. The room I have now, is a decent size, it's main fault being that it is the holding space for many different things such as files for business, all my life files (health insurance, car insurance, warranties, tax info, the cats' veterinary stuff and so on), rubbermaid containers of old journals and stationery, a big bookshelf full of books, photo albums and all sorts of paraphenalia, my nicer clothing (dresses and formal stuff for the obligatory events), my shoes (not a very big collection, but enough to take up space), desk with computer and printer, my sewing machine, and then there's all my art stuff...finished and unfinished art, full portfolios, art in frames, art on the walls, art supplies in boxes and rolling plastic carts, and an easel. Pack this all into a 10'x10' space and there isn't a lot of room left. But with some arranging and purging yesterday and some more to come, I know I'll have the space in enough working order to work in, which is very good. Plus, there's something very satisfying about a newly reconfigured, organized space. It's a good feeling. I'm only half-way there and I already feel a good bit of that satisfaction.
I've been at a loss lately as to where to keep my lists and calendar info. I have a nifty calendar thing on my computer, but for me it's out of sight, out of mind, and I forget to look at it. Plus, I like being able to physically write on a calendar, to doodle and play in the margins. For a long time, I used a sketchbook as an all-in-one organizer. It was my journal for morning pages, keeper of to-do lists, and sketchbook for ideas and inspiration, plus there were great little pockets to keep bits of paper, postcards, or whatever I came upon and wanted to hold onto for later. I haven't been using my sketchbooks for this in quite awhile, they've only been used as places to draw and doodle, and my to-do lists have been spreading all over the place from my mini-calendar and moleskin that I keep in my purse to my computer calendar to the little sketchbook I keep by my bed, to the bigger sketchbook, to scraps of paper. As you can imagine, this isn't the most efficient process. I need more organization in my life.
All this was rolling around in my brain when I came upon Mindy's fabulous post about her homemade life book. She put together a binder with a calendar that suits her needs with loads of space for catching inspirations. I love, love, love this idea and perhaps I'll try and put something like this together. I don't know what it is, but my mind doesn't think three dimensionally. I can't see spaces put together (which shows in my lack of interior design sense in my own home. It's rather frightening.) And this leaks over into how I organize things. I can't see in my mind how to arrange things. I need to see a layout. I can't picture how things will go together. Another example of this: I took wheel throwing in college and was so hopelessly bad at it. (I still loved it, but I made the ugliest teapot known to man.) So, for things like this, I really need to lean on those organizational innovators like Mindy to get inspiration from. So, thank you to Mindy and all the great 3-D designers for helping me out! Later, I saw a similar type of binder, this one for organizing fabrics, at "Cut Out and Paste" which reminded me of Mindy's binder a bit, but more specialized. Very cool. I've got some more organizing and mailing out of art to do tomorrow and then we're off to a wedding in Colorado (Boulder and Denver) for one of the fiansor's childhood friends. This summer has been full of so many fun adventures and I'm looking forward to traveling to a new place.
p.s. Ladders is up for sale on my website now (update: It has sold. Thank you!), Wind in Her Hair has already sold, and I should have prints of both available next week. The above kitty helpers are Emma and Tabbers. Happy 4th!!
