Songbirds painting and developing my voice

The above painting is something I finished last year and I’m very proud of it. I enjoy the layers seen and nearly seen. I love the quote, which I incorporated into the landscape. I love that this was very organic as it was created. I had no idea what it would become, simply used my own intuition to create it.

hello again. On growth and the classes I'm taking currently.

First lesson from LifeBook 2015

I’ve left you in the lurch for much of last year and the beginning of this year. Yet, I don’t want every entry to be “update” so let’s just say hi and move on. (this post is image heavy, so I've added a jump)

Kelly Rae and aesthetic

I’ve spent a few moments during my lunch break today reading Kelly Rae Roberts’ early blog entries before she became the artist and teacher she is today (link is to one of her first art class reviews, where she went to learn in 2006). While she was creating and learning…when she doubted and her art was in the learning curve still. When she had to ignore to her inner critic. When her inner critic told her she wasn’t good enough.

It brings to mind the writer Ira Glass’ quote about (paraphrasing) just doing a lot of work, that everyone starts out in the same sucky place, but the ones that make it just keep going. It's incredibly inspiring!

Spring means Festival Season!

I've been a busy bee since my last post. I'm gearing up for this weekend's Bluegrass Festival. Then in two weeks I'll be at the Sandy Springs Artsapalooza. I've also been wait-listed for the Buckhead Arts Festival. And I've applied for 5 other festivals for this spring. woot!

We have a few things to do, but since I don't have many new paintings since the Savannah festival in December, and I'm already really organized, I'm not nearly the ball of stress I would be. So that's very good.

This last weekend, Ryan and I decided to organize my studio so that it's a little more user friendly and tons neater. I have no pictures, but once I'm finished, I'll get some and post those. I cleaned out the closet and have put shelving in there. So I have tons more storage space. I also want to get a cabinet with doors I can close off, to keep the clutter under wraps. We want this room to do double duty as a guest room, but as of now, it wouldn't work because I'd have to have notice well in advance to have anyone stay in there, due to my art supplies spread out all over the bed...and desk...and table...and other table...and floor......seriously.

What is taking up most of my time is LifeBook 2014. An incredible class with 24 different teachers, online. It is over the course of one year. I get videos of classes every Monday for inspiration and of different projects and techniques that I can try my hand at. I'm having a lot of fun with that as well!

30x30 Project recap

Day 1

After the jump, you'll find the rest of the paintings I did during this project. I learned a lot about my process. I had some goals for this project: (my comments in black)

Here are my goals:

1. COLOR: I want to gain a better understanding of color. Stretch myself to use different colors that I may not be comfortable with right now. Use more than one or two colors on a painting (I tend to stick to few colors, but most of the painters/artists I like use a lot more than that. I want to figure out how to do this, too.) I learned it will take longer than 30 days to learn about color. I did stretch my color spectrum into oranges, greens, and darker blues.

2. EPHEMERA: Use the materials and things I’ve collecting so far in my studio that I may not actually use in one of my canvas pieces. Learn not to be “precious” and “save” things for that painting “one day.” Use it now, enjoy it now. I think I really succeeded using my "stuff", I probably could have done a lot more of this.

3. TYPE: Experiment with hand-lettering and learning typefaces and how to make the font look great by hand, not printing it out or stamping it. I did this, with some success. I'd like to do more.

4. DRAWING: Stretch your drawing muscles Also work on shading and understanding light sources. I think this is one that I could continue to stretch and work on. I did a little drawing and tracing, but no one picture was JUST my drawings.

5. LAYOUTS: try new layouts, techniques, media. Don’t be scared. I don't remember what I meant by "layouts", but I think I really succeeded in working with media and new techniques.

6. Don’t think. Do. I did!

7. Make lots of mistakes! I think my mistakes turned into some of my favorite pieces.

Overall, this was a lot of fun. I learned that usually I like and want to work on more than one piece. It keeps my mind busy and allows me to work fast.

Day 30! 30x30 project — Bloom & Grow

Day 29 30x30 project

Day 28 30x30 project

Day 27 30x30 project

Day 26 30x30 project