January 16, 2010

Wow! It's a whole new decade. If it is all as busy as these first couple of weeks have been then we need to hold on for a wild ride!

There are three big things happening right now but I'm only going to tell you about two of them. I'll save the other for a few weeks.

First is that I am now a writer for the Jerry's Artarama blog site. The link is http://www.jerrysartarama.com/blog/. Every day they post a new article by a different writer. Mine will be featured about once a week.

Second is that I'm taking my art work to SURTEX and the National Stationary Show May 16 through 18 in New York City. This will be my first trip to New York and I'm extremely excited about that. The shows are held adjacently in the Jacob K. Javitz Convention Center which is very close to Times Square, so I'll be close to all the excitement of the city. But the real excitement for me is actually attending these shows. SURTEX is a trade show where the exhibitors are artists and artist agents. So at SURTEX I will be hoping to connect with an agent and also learn about what other artists are doing. The National Stationary Show (NSS) will have manufacturers of paper products such as stickers, paper party sets, greeting cards, scrapbook supplies, and school supplies. At NSS I will be working towards a licensing contract for some of my art.

All of which means that right now I am furiously preparing the art work that I will be taking. I will take four art collections. I have the art work completed for the first collection and have it in the computer for the exhausting amount of work that goes into preparing a tear sheet. Above is ONE of the finished pictures that will go on the tear sheet. (You can click here to see a larger version.) These tear sheets are interesting because the components are all separate files on the computer. So that little piece above is actually 5 separate pieces of art. Then all the pieces are combined in various ways and will also be put onto mock-ups of a few pieces of merchandise such as paper plates, cups, and napkins. Finally I also have to create an electronic portfio which will again feature all the permutations of the art collection and include supporting artwork that isn't featured on the tear sheet. Whew! I'm exhausted just thinking about it. I'm pretty good on a computer but this is making me learn more skills and midnight is a real familiar time for me right now.

That leaves big item number three.... nah, not going to tell you, not even a hint.

 

July 5, 2009

About my recent trip to the Grand Canyon. I want to share some of my photos. So I narrowed it down from 850 to about 150 and put them into web pages. I'm not going to add these to the regular parts of the site since they aren't really art. So this is the only way to get to that page - click HERE (or on the photo above) to go to my Grand Canyon Photos page.

 

June 25, 2009

Okay, so it's been a very long time since I wrote. It has been an extremely busy year. If you haven't looked around the site lately you will find that there is lots of new stuff so far this year.

I just returned from spending three weeks in Arizona including two solid weeks rafting down the Grand Canyon. That was definitely the trip of a lifetime. I can't express enough how grateful I am for this experience and the people who made it possible, especially the wonderful folks at AZRA (I highly recommend this company - they are the absolutely greatest) and my wonderful, supportive husband and mother. Click HERE to look at my sketchbook of the trip.

While I was traveling I also was working on a new line of abstract paintings. An example is above and you can click HERE to read more about on of these.

Stretching more, I also recently took some classes in paper sculpture and you can see some of the results of that class in the Mardi Gras Mask (yes, it is all paper -painted, cut, folded and glued) and illuminated art piece. Click HERE to go to the page for the Mask and HERE to go to one of the pages for the illuminated paintings.

Finally, I have begun a line of Tattoo style paintings on recycled aluminum drink cans. Click HERE to go to the page for one of those pieces. Watch for more of these as I am quite enthused about them. Tattoo is a beautiful form of art that is only recently being accepted by the art community and society at large as a bona-fide fine art style. I am proud to be able to support any effort that helps us all be a little more open-minded and learn about each other. No, I do not have any tattoos and don't plan on getting any, but that doesn't stop me from appreciating art whenever and wherever I find it.

There are also some new paintings of the standard "paint on canvas" variety. The site is getting larger and I'm continuing to paint as fast as I can. As a matter of fact, I still have several pieces that I haven't had time to photograph and add to the site, but I'll get onto that chore as fast as I can.

Finally, I'm teaching some drawing classes at the local Jerry's Artarama in Antioch. Hope to see you there.

And, as always, thank you for spending a piece of your life visiting me on the web.

 

January 20, 2009

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!! I hope everyone had a marvelous Holiday Season and is ready to have a wonderful 2009!

I'm starting the year with in Chattanooga, Tennessee, called The Artsy Affair. I have been invited to participate in this very worthy art auction and will be donating two paintings, New Hope and Bristlecone Pine #02 (somewhat similar to Bristlecone Pine #03, shown above). The affair benefits Children's Home / Chambliss Shelter. Click HERE to find out more about the event and click HERE to find out more about Children's Home / Chambliss Shelter. So if you can arrange to be in Chattanooga the end of this month and want tickets, please let me know and I'll ask for an invitation to be sent to you.

Other happenings -- I'm teaching the February classes at the local Murfreesboro Rutherford County Art League and I'm still teaching frequently at our local Jerry's Artarama. I've been busy making art but haven't gotten much posted lately. I'll try to work on that in the next few weeks.

Meanwhile, my best wishes to all.

 

November 26, 2008

Holidays are SOOOOOOOOO fantastic! I'm going to the grocery store today and FILLING my trunk with ALL sorts of GOOD stuff. Okay, they say you're not supposed to use capitals a lot, but it's the HOLIDAYS!!!!!!

And, just in time for Christmas gift giving I am releasing "A Silly Book" for children. Hot off the press - okay, actually, it hasn't quite gone to press yet, I'm supposed to receive the first pages tonight so that I can spend my Thanksgiving afternoon assembling and binding. Yep, every copy is hand assembled and bound. It will be so GREAT. Click HERE to purchase your copy, or buy several.

 

October 21, 2008

The class at Jerry's Artarama was such fun! We had limited it to a very small group so that everyone could receive individual attention and it was great. We created some interesting pieces even though we all agreed that we needed much more experimentation and practice before we could actually produce what we wanted. Monotypes and monoprints are a challenging medium with truly unique results. Look for some pieces to start appearing in the 4th Gallery soon. Meanwhile, click here for some pictures of the class.

My next public event is at Cannonsburg this Saturday, October 25th. Hope to see you there.

 

October 17, 2008

Well, the new site is up and running. I still have a LOT of art that I want to get added, but I also have a LOT of painting I want to do (and a LOT of other things dealing with life in general).

Tomorrow I'm working with monotypes and monoprints for a class I'm teaching next week at Jerry's Artarama in Nashville. We're doing Artist Trading Cards and it should be fun. (Click here for a link to the Jerry's page.) I haven't turned out much that is really high quality yet. When I do I will post some.

A word about the 4th Gallery - Little Stuff. These are the little things that I do in the evenings when my husband is watching a movie or the news and I just can't stand to sit and just stare at that tube thingy. So I curl up on the sofa with art stuff in my lap and two little doggies at my feet. The latest pieces are the bookmarks made with "inktense" pencils. They are sort of like watercolor pencils except they are ink, which of course is permanent. Also the colors are SO INTENSE. When I was flying home from Denver a couple of weeks ago I actually was painting with them on the airplane. I had the bookmark drawn in pencil and then inked in all the black outlines. Then on the plane I was starting to fill in the colors by coloring in a section and then brushing it with water. Anyway, the flight attendants came around with drinks and peanuts and asked what I wanted and I held up my little water container and asked for about 1/4 inch of water in it. ... I love the weird looks I can get sometimes!

Speaking of weird looks - another time I get them is when I am face painting with the art league at some community event and I talk one of the men into letting me paint his face. I never tell them what I'm going to paint and always paint a bright red kiss! They always laugh and all the women or girls in the vicinity get a big laugh. Some of the guys even leave it on! Face painting is fun and it's getting to where some kids come back from previous times and ask for me instead of just going to whoever is painting. That feels good. Kids are so special. If you're in the area I'll be face painting at the Cannonsburg Fall Festival next Saturday, October 25th. Stop by and mention the web site and I'll give you a special discount on any of my art work.

Meanwhile, I've rambled on about enough for one evening. More again soon.

 

September 25, 2008

This is a brand new web site so I am starting the BLOG page all over again. Right now I am just trying to get everything up and running so it's a little rough. There will be more to come. Soon, I promise. For now, how about a picture of my husband and son playing pool.