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. 

found art thursday?

I look forward all month to posting something new in reaction to the theme Cathy Nichols picks out for her Found Art Friday challenge. It's just a great no-pressure goal to create and post something over on her site on the last Friday of the month. I find that it's a helpful motivator to have that little deadline, and it's a great chance to connect with people that stop by her blog regularly, but maybe haven't 'met' me yet.

So, this month, I was feeling pretty proud that I felt I had a piece that responded nicely to her September theme of "Change", and was just holding off on posting it here until it was time for FAF.

Well, hello...tomorrow's Friday- but it's also October! So I totally missed the last Friday of September! Check out the response Cathy had to FAF- for sure. In the meantime- I'm posting my own piece today under the sheepish heading of Found Art Thursday:

harvest days

remember these?

I am so excited...the above are images you may recognize- they're are all pieces I did over the past year.  And though (lucky, lucky, lucky me) they all sold in my summer show, I'm able to post them again because I've ventured into the confusing world of having high-end prints made! So yep- the above are prints- which I'll be selling framed and unframed versions of at that Cedarburg Arts Weekend I keep going on and on about. They really turned out so nicely- check out the detail: (I think my camera's a little out of focus- but really, the scan and the print picked up so much detail- all of the layers and textures look so real!)

And now for something new, sort of:  Here's the final version of one of the images I posted in progress a few weeks ago...I love it, it feels friendly and sweet and easy to be around:

full circle

I'll be back with another one on Friday - my submission to Cathy Nichols' Found Art Friday. Imagine that- I'll have put up 5 posts in September then- whew!

shameless self promotion

Just taking a moment to do a little admin work:

I'll be taking part in my first ever weekend art fair in a few weeks. I'm participating in the Cedarburg Arts Weekend, by exhibiting at a booth at the Cedarburg Cultural Center. I'll have a wide range of original pieces, new archival quality prints and a selection of Sincerely Handmade products. Many area artists will be opening up shop for studio tours that run all weekend, so it's definitely worth a trip. Maps to participating studios are available at the Cultural Center, so if you're in the area- come on up, say hi, and then grab a map and go tour!