May 13, 2009

The Booth Revealed

All the little bits and pieces of the booth I’ve been working on came together for the show over the weekend. The booth made me happy. Here was my total vision put together.

Unfortunately the show…well not so great. My firstborn will not have her first year (or first days!) of college paid for. I could blame lots of factors (you know now that I’m a veteran)…the crowds didn’t come, the hotel (in the process of a brand switch) was poorly marked and hard to find, parking was bad, the crowd was museuming rather than buying, the economy stinks, etc. And finally, maybe I didn’t fit this particular show after all. Not trying to make excuses, rather wanting to learn, put things into perspective and most importantly not blame myself. But don’t think I was that clearheaded on Saturday. Hearing compliments was wonderful, but they sure don’t equal the wonderfulness/confidence build of booming sales.

I will do this again now that I have a booth designed. I just need to find the right venue…and if you think you know of a good fit please e-mail. Suggestions are most welcome.

“Move out of your comfort zone. You can only grow if you are willing to feel awkward and uncomfortable when you try something new.”
—Brian Tracy

No regrets. : )

p.s. thank you, thank you, thank you for all of the positive comments as i prepped for this. i can’t tell you how much
your words mean to me!

May 7, 2009

framing, packing, wondering

framing prints and originals…

packing craft kits, magnets and cards…

wondering where she’s taking us….at least we have extra bird seed.

If you’re around Hudson, Ohio on Saturday make sure you stop by booth #48 and say hello. Until then, you know what I’ll be up to. I’ll tell ya how it all went down next week.

April 10, 2009

Bloom today

I am always a bit shocked (especially in my garden) when those kinda-ugly bulbs planted in the fall, peek up through the ground the following year and bloom into the beauties they truly are. (what a message, wouldn’t you say? )

Wishing you and yours a blossoming spring and a happy Easter. I’m giving myself a blog spring break, but I’ll be back in about a week. Big projects to wrap up including prepping for the show and hustling to get my entry done for this. ~enjoy your weekend!~

update: “bloom today” print is available for sale in my etsy shop.

April 9, 2009

Rolling out the Blank Canvas

After flag garland, the next thing on my list for my upcoming first ever art fair booth was the main sign. I purchased a 3′ x 5′ piece of primed canvas from Dick Blick. And I really have to remember this stuff for future sign making, kid projects, etc. This huge piece was a steal for under $8. Plus I can roll it back up on the sturdy cardboard roll it came with for easy transport to wherever my show tour may take me.

The first step was to transfer my nameplate to the canvas. I printed out my name (in tiles…this was huge) from the computer. After I drew lines and knew where everything should go, I attempted to hunt down carbon paper. Stuff I knew I had somewhere, but for the life of me could not find. Refusing to go to the store, I came up with an alternate plan for transferring that works just as great. I took charcoal sticks (wowza! that’s my box from college!) and charcoaled over the letters on the back of the paper. Then I flipped the paper right side and traced the outline of the letters with a pencil. The charcoal left a perfect line on the canvas.

Next I recreated what you see at the very top of this blog (‘hey did ya notice the new header…up there?!’ …me pointing to top of screen.) Paint flew and things got pretty messy at this stage, but that’s okay. You gotta have a little fun to sell it. I laid the canvas out to dry in the guest bedroom a.k.a. warmest room of the house with a threatening sign. Maybe a “Please DO NOT STEP ON” would have been nicer, but that might have taken away from the strong message I wanted to communicate to the eight other feet in the house.

Tah-dah!… here it is all finished. Well, almost finished. I still need to give it a coat or two of protective varnish. Plus an edge trim. Checking this off the list + flags is HUGE. I’m starting to see my vision come together. Next up is bags. Believe it or not, over thinking bags for customer purchases is what threw me into logo redesign mode in the first place. I’ve got a thing for a good store bag. More prep craziness coming soon.

March 24, 2009

flashcards + paint = a PIF giveaway

As promised, here’s the second flashcard-inspired illustration I created over the weekend. This piece plays off the idea of paying it forward. And speaking of good deeds multiplying, I’ll send a free 8″ x 10″ good deeds multiply signed print to the first two commenters here. The only thing I ask in return is that you agree to play, which means that you also give something away on your blog. Positive multiplication. Happy Tuesday!

March 22, 2009

Free home addition

Subtracting can be a funny thing. Especially when you think about it in terms of cleaning out, decluttering, organizing, rethinking all of that “stuff.” Sometimes you have to subtract to add space, gain perspective and enjoy what you already have. Less IS more. Drawers, closets, maybe even a room can be added free of charge just for subtracting. I’m a big believer in the one bag in, two bags out rule. When one bag comes in from the thrift stores, yard sales or wherever else, I try to make sure I’m sending out an equal amount…better yet more.

An illustration about subtracting was the perfect opportunity to finally use the vintage flashcards I picked up a few months ago…decluttering the art related stockpile is another story by the way. It was the last day of this retreat, when instructor Michael deMeng announced to us eager students that we should look through and take anything we wanted from the shared mixed media goody pile. I spyed boxes of vintage flash cards and admittedly geeked out. I shoved them into my already overflowing supply bag while holding the art created in class plus my 50lb+ art bin. Well the cards spilled. Everywhere. Michael joked, “you’re losing your flashcards.” Which was really funny…since it was true literally and figuratively. I laughed, blushed a little and reasoned that he understood (artists and our cool junk) as I hurried to gather up the ever multiplying cards.

As I was finishing up the piece above, another idea came to me. While I was on my flashcard kick with numbers and signs floating around I went for it. More flashcard inspired art currently drying. I’ll be sure to add that piece later this week.

March 10, 2009

the secret to happiness (well one of them anyway)

Don’t you feel all content inside when your coop…errrrr i mean…house is clean?? Not to be confused with the actual ‘cleaning of’, but you know what I’m talking about…the aftermath when everything is in order, nobody sticks to the kitchen floor and there’s not a dust bunny or stale crumb to be found. ahhhhhhhhhh…Happiness.

I took a trip across my studio into the craft supply closet to pull out a few tricks for this one. I reasoned that old latchhook canvas would be perfect for coop walls, as would raffia for nesting. Then I chose a funky paper for the hen. Yes, everything you see above was attached to canvas with some big dollops of matte medium. My paint brush took over from there. This silly hen print can be found over in my etsy shop. I’m thinking it’s a nice reminder to have hanging around for the rooster (and peeps if you have them.) Everybody knows there’s nothing worse than a grouchy hen.

March 5, 2009

Fruits of labor

Here’s a peek at one of the bigger projects I’ve been working on over the past two months. I was commissioned to do a total of fifteen paintings for a Catholic Motherhouse cafeteria of fruits, vegetables and in one case flowers. I came up with the idea to incorporate Bible quotes that involved food and harvest in a modern, more unexpected way.

These are 18″ x 18″ paintings on gallery wood paneled canvases. I used a mixture of xerox copies, acrylic paints, matte medium and charcoal. The paintings have lots of earthy texture.

I finished wiring the last of the fifteen yesterday.Today, they all got a second coat of satin varnish. I’m actually kind of sad to be finished with the project. I absolutely loved taking a closer look at the subjects working to capture their simple beauty while translating into my mixed media style.

To keep parts of the passages showing through I used a rag and even my fingernail. The selective reveals also served as highlights.

Tomorrow I’ll be putting my designer hat back on as I tackle several projects lined up for the next few weeks. I so enjoy the variety of work I do. Much to be thankful for.

February 22, 2009

A little bird…

…told me. All of those whisperings. Did they start in my head or my best girlfriends? Are the whisperings instincts gently leading me or was it something I read? I’m not sure…so I’ll just say I must have heard it from a little bird.

Above is a look at the beginnings of this piece. First, I primed muslin with gesso adding lots of texture. Once the gesso was dry, I painted with various shades and sprinkled paint droplets on top. I then cut a piece of the muslin to size for the canvas of “A little bird” saving the leftovers for another project. I matte mediumed paper scraps, trim and ribbon on top and then went in and painted more detail. I used embroidery floss to hand stitch the lettering and outlines on the bird. I finished with a variety of swirly machine stitches to suggest all of those whisperings we hear. Zigzag stitches enhance the texture of the grass. I think throwing sewing into the mixed media pot adds unique elements of interest and charm. I’ll definitely be experimenting with more of that.

A little bird is now available as a print over in my etsy shop.

February 15, 2009

a chip off the old block

Congrats to Illustration Friday’s newest proud parents Penelope and Colin. To celebrate, I created this party hat out of a…

…wooden children’s block and bits of vintage feathers, trims, beads, papers and fabrics. I found these blocks at a yard sale last summer. The nice seller had a very hard time giving them up and hoped that my kids would love the blocks as much as hers had. I felt slightly guilty and didn’t mention exactly what I had in mind for those smooth wooden shapes. In addition to the hat above, I’m seeing a plethora of future 3-D mixed media projects. How about you?