in progress

Happy New Year!

I really had so many intentions of posting through the holidays...I'd intended to show off our gorgeous Christmas tree, some great cooking, and the piles of snow we had. But- as is usually the case- I was having too much fun in the moment to snap any good pictures and post them. I hope you were having just as much fun being in your holiday moments.

I thought I'd post a few pieces I've been working on this week. I've gotten into a miniatures show in Cedarburg, with a maximum dimension of 5 inches square. I typically work small usually 6-7" square...but then frame in a 10x10" shadowbox frame. For this show, 5x5" is the max- frame and all. So I'm working on cradeled boards, and it's been fun:

I'm enjoying letting the image area wrap around the sides, and the boards are really strong- very forgiving in terms of layering things on and scraping & sanding off. It's also nice to save time (and money) on framing...but to tell the truth, I really prefer my usual method of creating my own surface by layering together vintage papers and just working right on that without a heavy backer. I like the feel of the paper and the irregularities of it- not to mention the option of running it through the sewing machine for added line and texture. I also like the feeling of a finished piece floating in a shadowbox frame. However- 5" square is really tiny when it includes the frame, so cradeled boards it was!

I'm heading to a art/craft weekend in Madison this weekend- am determined to build up my sincerely handmade stock, as I've got a few local options for showing & selling cropping up.

I'm also excited to be taking my first ever online course- "in the fishbowl", led by Marisa Haedike of the amazing Creative Thursday . I've followed Marisa's blog for well over a year and can only imagine what a great class I'm in for.

So- it feels like I'm heading out into 2011 with purpose, and I'm interested to see where it'll take me.

a little birdy (birdie?) told me

I have had such a block in the studio in the last month. Then on Friday, I had just given myself a lecture along the 'just do it' vein...you know:  "just get in the studio, see what happens- you never know unless you try, I'm sure you're not a complete wash-out..." etc. etc. Just as I was getting up from the computer, who should I get an email from but the lovely and so very talented Cathy Nichols. Just a quick hello- with a little unsolicited compliment on my work that was just the thing I needed to get myself going on that particular day. This little (5x5") piece came rolling out- the kind of happy accident that makes me think "Maybe these aren't accidents...maybe I know what I'm doing and should trust myself to be able to keep doing it!"

The truth is, I still struggle greatly with what kind of work I'm doing, and whether it's good enough, or serious enough...whether it's 'real' art. I wonder if I should be working larger, or more abstractly (or more tradtitionally), or with deeper, more intellectual subject matter. I wonder if I need to prove to everyone that I really can draw/paint in hyper-realism -- that I studied all of that and know my masters and techniques. But then I find a piece that just reels out and makes me feel great and I just know is good and real. I'm thankful for these pieces...and I'm thankful for blogging about them- because I know that when I'm stuck or spiraling again, I can come pack to this post and get my perspective back in order.

at long last

I am officially announcing the opening of my second little shop on etsy...sincerely handmade!

Truthfully, I began putting items up there about a month ago, but I've got a little more variety in the shop now- and will be posting a few more things in the coming days, so I felt it was now finally time to formally invite you to stop by:

I also thank you for stopping by here...I know I've been quiet lately and I appreciate you still checking in.

I've been doing a lot of thinking about how much room I want to give online techonogy in my life - both my creative life and my personal relationships. I'm working out the balance, because it was feeling a little skewed for a while. I know that I do like posting my work here and being a part of the little conversations that can happen online...So I will be getting back to posting more, just as soon as I've got some new work to share. (Mind you, the holidays are sneaking up on us and may infringe upon my time to make anything worthy of posting...but I'll do my best!)

New print in the shop

Hey there!

Just stopping in to say there's a new print in the shop- Harvest has reproduced beautifully- I'm so happy with both the scanning and the printing of one of my favorite recent pieces:

I've been having fun lately- but haven't been in the studio much. There are so many ways to be creative- sometimes I need to shoot off in another direction. In the past month I've been in a serious nesting mood- touching up those living room walls, creating some unexpected wall-art with several huge wire wreath-forms I found at a flea market and recovering a chair with a seriously fun stripey fabric that brought a bit of circus to the guest room.

Next, I really want to tackle an upholstered headboard for our bedroom and a re-covering and skirting of two small benches in the living room. Eventually it would be nice to strip the wallpaper in the boys' bedroom and get to work in there. (They want it painted black...so I'm stalling, hoping they'll change their minds.)

But- in an effort to motivate myself to get back onto a bit of a regular schedule in the studio, I've got a few ideas floating around in the back of my head that I'm anxious to start working on. So...I'll post some new stuff soon!

new painting

veils

Here's a new piece I finished up last week. I started this over the summer, but then was stalled for a while...I had originally laid down some oranges and greens that were great colors, but the piece just wasn't saying anything to me. I think a lot about all of the different 'selfs' (selves?) we each have- how many mes make up an I. I see all of my selfs as sort of aspirations I have- for my ultimate I. Somtimes each self is very clear, concrete and in command. Sometimes they're a little harder to find.

I let the green and orange start of this painting hang out on the wall for a while while I tended to other work. I knew it wasn't a lost cause- just needed to wait for the right day to re-work it. I found the day and changed everything over to a white/cream pallette- which gave it the sort of dream-like quality I was looking for. I'm happy with how the stitched lines create both visual texture and a sort of veil falling before the smaller houses floating, and love the way the gold leaf areas break then entire thing down into a sort of patch-work field.

shop's open!

I've finally opened up one of two planned shops on etsy! Click above to head over to the shop I set up for the sale of my artwork. So far it's just prints...I'll post some originals soon: I'm not sure if I'll post every original I have, or just ones that are not destined for shows etc.

I'm still working on re-building my stock for the sincerely handmade shop, so that's fallen a little behind my original schedule, but it'll get there. If you're visiting here because you're out of notecards or giftcards and are desperate for more- just shoot me an email (my address is on my profile page). I don't want to leave ya' hanging!

To be honest, I think I'm sort of balking at having too many deadlines and obligations on the art front...I'm trying to figure out how to balance a desire to really get sincerely handmade off the ground, with an equally strong need to slow down and let new non-deadline related paintings develop ( I have a new one done- I'll post on Monday). Add to that prints that need to get down to a shop in Illinois and a potential for teaching a class and an application to fill out for an art fair in January- I'm pulling a bit of the ol' procrastination and denial approach that was so helpful in school when I'd taken on too many classes.

In addition to my 'artist-me' my family-me' is going full-bore as we head toward my eldest's 8th birthday, Halloween and a visit from my grandmother. I also, quite frankly, am in a bit of a home-improvement mood so much of the last week was dedicated to re-covering a chair. Then today I began re-painting the living room, only to find that I'd grabbed the wrong shade of white...so while I'm embracing the project-mode, I'm clearly a little scattered because of how much I'm trying to do at once!

So: it's a beautiful fall Friday, I have plenty of time to re-re-paint that living room and I trust that you'll make it through the weekend without access to a sincerely handmade shop. I'm heading out now to take a few pictures of my latest painting, and to drop a bunch of invites to an upcoming bowling birthday party in the mail. Then I'll take some deep breaths of this clear autumn air, and come back in to find the right bucket of white paint.

lovely weekend show

The show I was in this weekend was a little different than expected- much more low key than the super-busy, very crowded art shows with row after row of artist booths...but in a lot of ways, that meant it was a perfect first taste of the whole art show world for me. People trickled into our space steadily all day as they toured artist studios througout the town. Because there was never a huge crush of people, I actually managed to have several really lovely chats with those that stopped at my booth. It was wonderful to have so many positive reactions to my work and the mix of familiar friends with new visitors was perfect.

My booth space was so fun- my amazing husband constructed these four wall panels to hinge together and fold like a folding screen- they made a really nice little space for my hanging work:

The other edge of my space was defined by a table set up with sincerely handmade products:

This marked the official launch of the line, and it was a huge, huge success. I was so thrilled that people responded to the things I'd put together- it's such fun when I see someone crack a smile over a quirky little notecard that I wasn't sure would appeal to others as much as it appealed to me!

I'll be opening an actual etsy shop for sincerely handmade in the coming week or so...I've got a little 'administrative' work to take care of before it's ready- but I promise, you'll be the first to know when it's up and running.

Thanks so much to everyone that came out this weekend- it was so nice to visit with you, and your support of my work means the world to me.