On wanting to play hookie, and my painting process

I went to my studio this morning and was greeted by 7 new pieces that I started last night, and I didn't want to leave. Forgive the iphone photos!

5 new canvases, 2 new sizes (8x8 and 5x7)

My studio, 8:15am 5.7.2013

In the studio shot above, you can see I'm working on a sign for Amy Carden Creative to hang up at the festival (it was postponed, so now I have more time to plan out how I want the tent to look). 

I love it when I have new art happening. I went to Michael's last night and craft stores always fill me with such inspiration. Since their focus is scrapbooking (mostly), I found a lot of really cool stuff -- paper, new clear stamps, and inks. I told Ryan that I would be painting and he needed to get his own dinner. I put in "Garden State" and got to it.

I love painting to movies. It gives my brain something to concentrate on so that my ego is out of the way and I can simply play. This process wasn't something I really thought about beforehand. I realized that my favorite work happened while I was listening to other things happening in my house, like friends playing a game. So my work becomes more intuitive, less "commercial" or even a copy of someone else's work. I'm more able to listen to what my heart wants. It's a really cool way to paint. Meditative almost.

I've noticed I also begin paintings two different ways. I either begin by painting the canvas, or in this case the primed wood (this is a new thing I'm trying that I'm very excited about):

Or, I begin by adding paper first:

Either way, it's a ton of fun!

Another product I'm looking into doing are greeting cards. Blank inside, with my art on the front. Haven't fully figured out what I'm doing with it yet, but I know they will be beautiful!

I'm still working on how I want my booth to look. I have a lot of inspiration, and I think I will just draw up some plans and get to work. The festival is now May 19th.