I've been working like crazy to get art done for a local bazaar. My stuff is selling really well, which is super exciting! I love creating on metal. Here's a few of my latest creations. I finally did a couple holiday themed pieces.... I was having trouble getting into the mood but after a little inspiration browsing I put things into motion.
Mixed Media on Corrugated Metal! Here's a bite pictures of what I've been working on. I've got several fall pieces in progress and I'll get those on here soon.
I can't believe how quickly time flies. I've been working hard on trying to get ready for the bazaar. I've got a few metal pieces done but still have lots of work to do. I'm sharing a photo of my newest creation, Haunted Houses!
I'm working on a couple posts to share some tips I've learned along the way but Summer has gotten in the way. Not that I'm not happy I'm having fun with the family it just means not much "art" has happened. I've gotta get my buns in gear though because I have a major Bazaar to get ready for. I'm excited to be participating in the Red Sled Holiday Bazaar should be lots of fun!
I've been searching for a website or blog to connect with other artists. I wanted to be able to participate in challenges, art exchanges and do swaps. Thanks to Pinterest I stumbled upon Art Colony. It's so awesome! Right now I'm working on my first ATC (artist trading card) exchange. I've never done an ATC so it's been a learning experience. Their actually pretty fun, I'm excited to get mine! The theme is vacations....we haven't gone to many places this summer but we have used our motorhome. I've got a pretty cute motorhome sketched out so I'm building on that. I'll post pictures when I get them finished. I'm impressed with a Art Colony member because there was a goodie bag exchange and because I'm new I couldn't do it yet. I posted how I wished I could but I understood the rules (People get free stuff and disappear you have to prove yourself). A nice lady posted a response telling me she would be willing to do a one on one swap with me. I was so thrilled! I think it will be fun looking around my stash of stuff and picking out things to share. Maybe she's never used drywall tape as a stencil or the bottom of a flip flop as a pattern stamp? I look forward to participating in more fun!
As I've mentioned I love Suzi Blu. I've started working on a Marie Antoinette piece inspired by one of the lessons in her book. I always felt weird copying others work but I've learned that's how your going to learn. It will help me to be a better artist and come into my own style. I love how the hair looks using modeling paste. Here is my work in progress!
I'm so happy right now I want to jump up & down! I finished up my first assignment, I'm off to a friends for pictures she has a much better camera. I'm glad a took that deep breath and figured out what was bugging me. I think it worked out perfect, its exactly what I was thinking. Got my fingers crossed....maybe some toes too. Here's a pic I took with my phone.
I swore that I wouldn't dilly dally and I'd get my entry done early. Well I got stuck on the theme changed my mind several times. I finally got rid of the blank page staring at me but I was having trouble with second guessing myself. I sketched and sketched and got that dialed in but now the background was bugging me. I figured out that it was because it wasn't me. Yes I need to create something that they like but I've also got to be true to who I am. I hope the artist I am and have the potential to be comes across in my work. That's all I can hope for. I believe that if this isn't meant to be then I'm going to be ok with not getting the second but I do hope I get the opportunity. I did a Google search to see what other artists were doing (probably not the brightest idea) I started to freak out because there was amazing Journal covers being created but then the thought came to me they have a lot different style yours is just as good. It is going to come down to what Lilla and her team wants....who knows maybe it will be me? I'll post pictures when I'm finished. This is going to be a long night and early morning...lol! I have learned that if I do go on I will listen to my heart and gut first thing.
I've entered myself in Global Talent search by Lilli Rogers Talent agency. I had to have a talk with myself because self doubt came knocking at my door. Why bother there's tons of great artists out there. Do you really have a chance? After taking a few deep breaths and talking to my hubby and best friend. I was able to answer that question. Renea' you do have something to offer the world and yes you do have the talent. I'm not trying to be cocky but I have to believe in myself. I love creating and I would love to be able to share my art with the world. What an opportunity I couldn't sit back and not try. If you don't risk you don't grow this is the chance I've been dreaming of.
Here's to taking chances!
I got my first assignment. I'll be creating a 5x7 art Journal cover with Old Fashioned Playground as the theme. My mind is racing with ideas now I just need to do some sketching and choose what I want to do. No pressure...lol!
I'm having fun just playing around in my art journal. I've decided to step back ands just play around. I think it's a good thing to do help keep the mind fresh. I have been playing around with color combinations trying to find new combos I like. I gesso the pages slap color on here and there and then go back and pick a page to work on. I'm having fun with drawing with a charcoal pencil. I sealed one with a lacquer now I'll see what mediums work on top of it if any.
My hubby and kiddos are going for a daddy daughter overnighter. I'll miss them but I'm excited to have a 24 hr period of being able to do as much art related things as I want to!
Here are some pictures of what I've been working on....enjoy!
I'm a tad disappointed I haven't been able to do much on the artwork side but we went on vacation over Father's day. It was a great time had by all on the Oregon Coast. There was a mix of family and friends. In typical Oregon Coast fashion it rained but we were blessed with no rain when we needed it not too! Zach and I took the kids to see a movie when it was really rainy one afternoon, that was a fun treat. We saw Epic everyone liked it. I was so happy to be able to use our motorhome!
The bees have been keeping us busy too. It's hard to have time for art when your dealing with regular mom wife stuff and swarming bees. The hubby was on duty when we had one hive swarm. Guess who got to get them? Me that's who! It was a large group of bees too. I'm very proud of myself I had to do some problem solving to get it all to work, but I got them in the box and they are doing well. I figured if I'm going to call myself a beekeeper I need to buck up and give it a try. I had seen Zach do it a couple times so I knew what needed to be done. It was just a tad bit more intimidating when your the one looking at putting 30,000+ bees into a box! Luckily all went well!!
Peace
I've been up to my neck in life and haven't been able to blog. I hate long periods in between posts but stuff happens. I've mostly been messing around in my art journal because that's what I've had time for, it's actually been quite nice. I recently bought some pan pastels (finally) what beautiful creamy goodness! I can't wait to use them on something other than my journal. I've also gotten some faber castell big brush pens they are also wonderful. I love being able to highlight and shade with them. For awhile now I've wanted some faber castell gelatos but their price tag has made me wait. I stumbled on a youtube video where the lady used faber castell gel sticks from the kids section. Her opinion was that they were the same thing as the gelatos. I bought a pack of 12 gel sticks for $12 and even if they aren't exactly the same I love them anyways! I like the price and they work fantastic. I'm curious now to buy a pack of gelatos and compare them. I'm also having fun playing with a pair of flip flops from the dollar store....that's no joke they have the best pattern on the bottom! As a mixed media artist I've learned to always have my eyes wide open it's amazing what you can find.
I've completed a couple custom pieces this week. It felt awesome to get paint allover my fingers(found some clear up on my bicep this am too!). I don't bother with barrier cream, the paint makes me happy because it means I'm getting to do what I love! I'm including pics of the custom pieces.
The bees also take up a lot of my time we've had lots of adventures with them over the past few weeks. I'm also posting a pic of one of our queens just because I think she's beautiful!
One if my next big goals is to get an Etsy store up and running. Gotta get my work out there...
I'm so glad I listened to my heart and made those poppies on metal. It completely changed how I did at the bazaar! I sold all but one of my metal art. I've got some great momentum going and I'm excited to try and get my work at a few local stores. My brain is swimming with lots of ideas! Listen to your heart!! What a lesson....
Also had to share a pic of my new mother's day boots.....sooo cute!
I wanted to make a piece of art for outside. I took my love of making little houses and went crazy! It's 6 1/2 x 11 3/4 and is sealed with a glossy lacquer. I got an order from someone who saw it on facebook...whohoo! I didn't want to take the one I made out of the shop it's in so I'll just make another. Oh darn...lol I'm so happy I decided to play with metal it seems to be a hit. Back to painting I go!
I'm so excited about this video! http://www.katu.com/amnw/segments/Flea-Market-Makeovers-205986911.html
So the owner/creator of the Red Sled went on a local tv show this morning. She did a segment on Upcycling and flea market finds. My poppies on metal were shown and also one of my canvases. A lady came into the shop today and bought the poppies and I've got three more orders in varying colors. I think I'm onto something! Whohoo its a great day!
I got an email from the owner if the Red Sled Bazaar. She told me that she'll be taking some of my artwork with her. The segment is about upcycled art....perfect for me! It's got me thinking I should contact AM Northwest later and propose doing a how to segment on my box top canvases. I need to go for it! Here's to believing in yourself and being brave.....
Soon I'll be loading photos on another metal project I'm working on. I'm so excited with where it's going!!
I've been toying with the idea of using some corrugated metal my hubby has in the shop. I couldn't sleep the other night so I started this little project and went for it. I'm so happy with how it turned out my brain is now full of ideas. I started with a paint wash if blue and green. I wanted it light so you could still have the metal showing through. I randomly tore circle-ish shapes from book paper. I layed them out and adjusted until I was happy then adhered them with collage podge. I first used Golden Vat orange on the circles (let that dry) then a mix of Golden Pyrrole Red, Quinacridone Magenta, Vat Orange and a few drops of Acrylic Glaze. I used two coats of the mixed paint to get the look I wanted. I used a Liquitex black paint for the stems and archival black ink with a couple stamps. I happily went through my button stash and glued them on with Glossy Accents. Doodled with a gelly roll 08 white pen and a micron black pen. I'm so so happy with it!
I've tried to keep this blog mostly about my art life so I haven't mentioned the bee side of life. Yes, bees! They actually will have something to do with my art because I plan to use the wax we collect in some of my work. We started looking into bees about a year and a half ago. Now we have 13 hives. The more I learn about these little ladies the more fascinated I become. There are many things in our environment that hurt bees, they have many things against them (pesticides, mono-croping, mites). As a beekeeper it's a very delicate balance to try and keep them healthy and try to take care of them naturally. We'll do our darndest to make this work! I'm including a couple pictures the one where I'm in my vail is a picture of me on our way home from picking up our last batch of bees. They weren't in the back of a pick up so we had a few stray bees flying around I was trying to make sure I didn't get stung! I relaxed about half way through the ride....lol
Over the weekend I had one sale at Red Sled. It was my Petite girl, I was actually shocked that was the first to go. I think it's because I'm not quite comfortable with my ladies yet but it's definitely increasing my confidence. This girl is on a wood frame. I'm still deciding on a quote and need to cover her in beeswax.
Happy creating!
I just added the pic that shows her finished with a quote and sealed with beeswax. Hoping she finds a good home. It was hard to let go of that one!
I was challenged to make a canvas with the Americana theme. In the March/April Somerset Studio magazine Sara Naumann has an article on that very subject. I followed the base idea but changed it to fit my style. I gathered pieces of cherry red, blue and craft paper brown papers and some ephemera in the same colors. I started with a 12x12 thicker piece of scrap paper. I used Golden Matte Medium to randomly adhere the paper & ephemera. I'll be adding some Navy blue and liquitex gesso stamped with bubble wrap. Now I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it but I'll post the upcoming results! Give it a try!
I tried to verify Pinterest on my blog and it didn't work. It was the most irritating thing I've worked on in awhile. I'll be consulting my bff to see if she can help me. I followed the instructions to a tee and even watched YouTube videos. Oh well, I've got more important things going on!! Like working in canvases for the Red Sled Spring Show. Hoping and praying people like my work. I delivered 22 canvases which was pretty close to my goal. The nice thing is I can bring in more to replenish as the month goes on. Hopefully I'll need to add more product. There's a part of me that's prepared for a bust but I wouldn't let it get me down. I believe in my work and that's what matters! I just keep trying to a learn more and grow a an artist. Keep on keeping on everyone!!
Here's a couple pics of my most recent work. The Paris is always a great idea is covered on beeswax. Love the results from doing that!!
I'm amazed at where ideas come from sometimes and how you end up going down certain creative roads. I started this canvas and in the middle I thought oh no I'm not sure if I like it, but I just kept going and I love how it's turning out. It's almost wrapped up thought I'd post a couple pictures.
I was brave and posted on facebook that I was looking for places to display and sell my art. I got a few great suggestions. One of my husbands classmates told me to look up the Red Sled Spring and Garden Show. I emailed the lady who puts it on Donna and went to the informational/jury meeting. I was absolutely floored by the compliments I got! When friends and family say your artwork is good it feels great but when someone you don't know gives you praise it's even better. I know their not just trying to be nice and supportive. Donna said, "sometimes I see someones art and think they should be famous". Holy smokes I think my mouth dropped open! Lets just say I have a renewed enthusiasm about getting more canvases done. The Spring Show is only a couple weeks away. One nice thing is that it's open for 4 weeks, I can continue to make canvases if they're selling I can restock. Back to painting I go! Here's a couple pics of what I've finished lately...
Here's my first girl and first canvas covered in beeswax. I have to say using the crockpot to melt the wax and applying with a brush was so much easier than using an iron. I used my best gun to move the wax around and it was rather easy. I was so worried turns out that wasn't necessary!
