Sunday, May 27, 2012

After the booth show...

After the booth show, I was, it's true, a little deflated.

My daughter started showing me things I could paint, and here's what I did:

This is a watercolor based upon a watercolor painting my daughter found on the computer.

This is an 8x8 acrylic based upon
a Frida 'bad ass' internet photo.
I can't find the links to either original painting, but I did try.

So that's the extent of paintings in the last month.
Oh, except for a postcard rendering:

Post Card Art Club
http://sites.google.com/site/postcardartclub/

Uh Oh. It's time to do another post card before the end of the month catches me unwares.

Off to paint and dream a bit more this next month of June!


That Art Booth Show! Saturday, April 28, 2012

Herea are some of the photos from my art booth!
Notice how I take photos with my finger showing!

My sister (on right) and my daughter (left) joined me!
My sister and her son Bowden helped me set up. :)

This is the inside of the booth. I needed signage.
If and when I have another booth, I'll need a sign, definitely.

My lovely daughter and me!

It was exciting, having a booth sale. I think the lack of signage wasn't helpful. I was situated away from other artists. That didn't help the flow of artists. I didn't sell a thing! There were a few lookers, and some expressed interest, but that was about it. I don't know that art booths are really my thing. A LOT of work goes into getting ready, loading the car, unloading the car (I still haven't managed to put everything away. I don't have outside storage for some of the items). And the heat! OH, the HEAT! It was just the end of April, but by noon, I was fading.

If I am to have sucessful art sales, at a booth sale, it might help, too, to have one not immediately following the city's two biggest art sales (Chain of Parks and Spring Fest). Also, maybe for now, I need to continue creating art that breathes my essence, allows me to explore who I am before I get wrapped up in figuring out what works to sell. I could do that, I think, but I'm not ready for that yet. Maybe I'll postpone future booth sales until mid September and work on my other loves, my daughter, my family, my genealogy, and my own art. I might work on setting up the etsy shop to see what sells there.

Maybe I'll create smaller works of collage type art and necklaces, and sew up some yoga eye rests to sell at the art booths in the fall. I love the fall anyway. That may be the time to really shine at the art booths!

Friday, April 27, 2012

My Self Portrait!

After experimenting with painting Beyonce, I decided
to take a huge leap and paint myself. I asked my daughter
to find a photograph I could paint. She selected a photo
from last year, one she had taken. Here it is, in green tones:


I printed out the photograph on regular printer paper.
Glued it to paper, and then PAINTED over my face!!!
Here is the finished product!!


Monday, April 23, 2012

Expressive Portrait!

Tried a new process today. Find a magazine photograph you like.
Scan it. Change it up. I chose sepia tones. Print it out. Glue it on
to a piece of art paper. Then paint the dark spots and the light spots,
and connect as you will. Here's my rendering!!!

Saturday, April 21, 2012

Painting Shutterboxes and Decorations

My daughter came up with this color scheme for the shutterboxes I found at an antiques shop. I'll use the shutterboxes to display my prints (which I'll be assembling with backing, mats and clear bags this week). The folding fence will be at the entry way to my booth!


I finished painting this watercolor
yesterday.
It had been languishing half-finished
for over a year!!!

A blue door in a Greek neighborhood.
I think I could live there part-time!
OK, in my dreams, and if I won the lottery, but yes, I'd like to stay in that neighborhood!

Thursday, April 19, 2012

Finally, my Business Card!

I have worked and worked on this business card. I had hoped I'd be able to incorporate my own calligraphy into the business card itself, but the lettering just wasn't as clear as I thought the lettering would need to be.  Now, on to designing and sewing the table covers!

   

















Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Some very different work for me...

These art pieces are a stretch out of my comfort zone. I am not sure I like them, but I'm am glad I'm trying to do this sort of work.


And these below are an evolution of a process...I wish it were easier to post these photos sequentially.






Getting Ready!

I am trying to think of everything for the art booth. I keep on checking off items on the TO DO list, but the list keeps getting longer!

  • Order clear bags, mats, backing for prints - http://www.clearbags.com - CHECK!
  • Folding tables - CHECK!
  • Printer Order #1 - CHECK!
  • Cloth to make covers for folding tables - CHECK!
    Bought these sheets from Goodwill!
  • Sew covers for folding tables - _____
  • Printer Order #2 - CHECK!
  • Finish a few acrylic paintings - CHECK!
  • Finish another fashion collage - _____
  • Assemble prints and mats in bags - _____
  • Create a Banner for the booth - ____
  • Create Business Cards - _____
  • Create Pricing List for Calligraphy work, packaged prints, Collages - _____
  • Create Calligraphy and Collage work sheet commission request - _____
  • Panels for booth to hang artwork - CHECK (found trellises!)
  • Order bags for purchases - http://www.papermart.com - CHECK!
  • Printer Order #3 - CHECK!
  • Create Business Logo Stamp - _____
  • Order Stamp, business cards, business stickers for bags  - _____
  • Sew eye bags for rest or post yoga exercise - lavendar and flax seeds - _____
  • Finish or redo these watercolors - _____   [Turkish bath woman, Orange and Blue Fairy, Mermaid, Street Scene in France, and the Blue Door street scene in Greece, Goat about to eat]
  • Place final Printer Order by Thursday! - _____

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

A Special Shout Out to My Artsy Helpful Daughter

I don't think I'd be ready for my first art booth on 28 April if it weren't for my lovely daughter!
I had thought at one point that I would use propanels or grid panels to hang up my art. Then I realized it was going to cost a few hundred dollars AND the panels wouldn't meet my criteria of being as lightweight as I wanted, or as 'eye catching' in the display as I hoped. So darling daughter and I traipsed off to Lowe's to look for shutters, wooden ones I discovered would be too expensive, and I'd have to order them. They wouldn't have the used look I hoped for, either. Thought I'd need to look at a salvage place and asked folks for a place here in Tallahassee. On the way out of Lowe's dear daughter suggested looking in the Garden Center. Brilliant daughter found trellises that will be perfect!


Artsy daughter then discovered something sweet to adorn the entryway to my booth! She painted them a lovely blue! And she didn't stop there, she offered to paint the window aka shutter boxes I found at an antique store last month. Look at the lovely colors!  The window boxes will hold the assembled prints in bags that she and I will work on next week...

Saturday, April 14, 2012

Finishing a Watercolor or two

I have tended in the past to stop a watercolor painting
because I wasn't sure I'd be able to complete it well.
Today I stepped up and completed three watercolors.
I have the before photos somewhere, not sure where.
What matters is the finished product, right?!
Here they are:



Dolphin swiming near Ocean Floor
Seahorse and Woman


Burro and Woman next to Sea
I love the jewel tones in her dress
and the burro makes me smile

and last, a monochromatic painting of a rocky seaside and a lighthouse....

Now the next thing I need to do is take these to
the printer so I can make some copies to sell
at my first booth on April 28th.
Maybe I'll manage to frame these, too, in time.
That would add pizzazz to my display,
wouldn't it?!





Saturday, March 31, 2012

Blue Feathered Alien Woman

Working on more portraits.
Noticing that I haven't done any male portraits yet.
And thinking I'd like to do some portraits of other cultures,
other ethnicities.
Maybe I'm on my way, because
I almost feel like this woman is an alien.
Was it Farscape that my daughter watched? This could be one of the 'blue' creatures. Maybe.

Thursday, March 29, 2012

My Panther and a Logo

In a dream, it seems panthers can mean a multitude of things: danger lurking, enemies, even darkness, death and what follows, rebirth. Life is like that, danger, death, rebirth. Seasons of life, the life cycle itself. Wondrous, really. Sometimes a hope must die before a new light can take its place. More interesting, panthers can mean power, beauty and grace. To think that I awoke from my Panther Dream realizing the panther could possibly be my friend may mean that I this creative journey is a means to my own creative rebirth? I am realizing my power, my beauty, my grace and expressing it in my artistic journey!


Here's my panther. Actually, I didn't get to see his face in my dream. I was aware of his presence, but he stayed in the dip in the meadow. I realize now he wasn't readying to pounce, he was resting, maybe even sleeping. I drew his face; I am awakening.

Next on the agenda is to draw up my business cards and create a postcard for advertisement. I have decided that BlueFeather will actually be a pen, I remembered that I LOVE calligraphy! Calligraphy could be part of my business!

Monday, March 26, 2012

Early Morning

I woke up having escaped a panther. Was it seeing Hunger Games two nights ago? Was it seeing a Florida panther at Tallahassee Museum Saturday morning? I was trying to figure out whether or not I could kung fu kick the panther and have at least an advantage to somehow skitter away. Suddenly a cell phone appeared in my hand. Like really, how would that help?! I must've called my consciousness because then I woke up.

After waking, I thought, what if that panther and I could have been friends? What if? Maybe I should draw a panther today?!

The next thing on my list is to develop a logo for BlueFeather Art.When my daughter and I were discussing what to 'name my art business,' she threw out some titles, and one was BlueFeather Road. I was captivated! I am on a road to my art, I have always loved bluebirds, my eyes are blue...

I can calligraphy, and I want to demonstrate that with my logo, too. BlueFeather answers that call, too. So today I'll be working on a logo...

and a panther...

Thursday, March 22, 2012

Banner Day!

Exuberant Hope
Thanks to Misty Mawn and her "Open Studio"
online art program, I have been painting up
a storm today. [Here's a link to her website:
http://mistymawn.typepad.com/ ]
Misty Mawn Open Studio on-line Tutorials

The assignment is to paint portraits.
So I did five total today.

Today I've worked on a few projects.
I repainted a canvas.
It WAS pretty dreadful. Now it's a lot better.
At least it seems to be. :)

Before it was "Awaiting Transformation."
Now she is Exuberant Hope.



Joanna Loving Well
Before that, I painted
a collage of mixed media.
I've done several in the
past six weeks. This one
is probably my sixth.

It's not finished,
but it's pretty close.
It's modeled after my sister,
she wore this fantastic
gunmetal evening dress,
and she loves the song,
"Glasgow Love Theme."







In betwixt and in between the above endeavors, I was drawing self-portraits.
I didn't really want to draw myself at age 50+, so instead
I found photos from
when I was nine,
seventeen,
and twenty-six.
Here's how that's looking...
Self-Portrait Practice


Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Blue Feather Girl

It looks like I haven't posted (or drawn) for nearly two weeks. That's not quite true!
My daughter sent me a link to a site called "Scribbler Too" and I drew this little
Blue Feather Girl. I like her! I think she could be the motif for my ART!

I painted, I painted!

I've been avoiding painting. Didn't think I could do it. But sometimes, you've got to just PUT paint on the canvas and see what happens. Know that you can paint over it. Or get a new canvas, or more watercolor paper and start over...

I've been working on the "Golden Runway Model" for over two weeks now. I think I've almost got her, finally! I will have to post all the versions of how I worked on two pieces tomorrow. Here's how she looks before I gave her more brunette streaks:

Inspired by (and commissioned by)
Joanna Francis Living Well
Runway Model Darcy
14 February 2012






A sketch for an eventual birthday painting

All in all, a day of sucessful painting!
O Happy Day!!


Friday, March 9, 2012

Speaking a Truth, "I am an artist."

I am an artist. It's something I've realized for a long long time. It's only been in the last four years I have allowed myself to BE an artist. This becoming is hard work!

I know I am many other things. I am a wife, a mother, a sister, a niece, a daughter. I am a teacher, a retired AF officer. I am a thinker, a learner. I am an ARTIST!! I need to put art first, as it truly captures all of the essence of who I am and how I express myself. If I allow my art to surface, the rest of me flows more peacefully.

I am journaling in the early stages of this blog, recording how I am learning to market my art. I have applied for a Tallahassee City License and a Florida Sales Tax ID. I have applied for a booth at Downtown MarketPlace. I hope to begin by April. That'll be a year since my mother passed away. I wish I'd been able to do this before she danced the staircase into Heaven. I wouldn't wish for her to have lived long enough to see me do this. Dementia had riddled her brain and she was missing her parents and was desperately trying to reach them. I wish I had acted earlier to achieve living as an artist. She could have sat in the booth with me, no matter how forgetful she was!

Art Booth Items
In order to have a booth, I realized I needed to find out how others have displayed their art. I visited the booths last Saturday. I googled art displays and art booths. I'll need to order some standing grid panels or art panels. One of my favorite artists, Kelly Rae Roberts, had some art displays (although most of her work has been online). I modeled some of my sketches on her type of vintage look.

While I've been at it, I have been looking through art books to see what other artists' work appeals to me. Then I've looked at their sites to see more ideas. It's so inspiring to read of and hear their stories!




Here is a "sort of" sketch of how I expect my booth to appear....

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Early Morning

Early Morning 3.7.12

I've been up for hours. Right now birds are singing outside. I've completed my city business application, my Florida Revenue Sales License Application, and the Downtown MarketPlace booth application. It''s only 6:33 am and I've done a lot!

Yesterday I painted background canvases. Put them outside to dry. Then I 'found' a painting. I went outside to get my canvas and behold, shadows had painted an image upon the canvas:


Shadow Art


Saturday, March 3, 2012

RAIN wind and scoping out DownTown Tallahassee

Today started with a bit of junking, looking for furniture or tables or OLD suitcases to use in the art booth I hope to establish by the end of this month. Not much success in the table or suitcases department.

Tried to go to my nephew's baseball game, but it was tornadoed. A tornado watch cancelled it. Next step was to check out DownTown Tallahassee. Every Saturday morning, from March through November, Tallahassee hosts artist booths. Iwanted to get a feel for what it might entail to set up a booth.

I had so much fun there! I talked with several other artists and gleaned information on where others get prints of their work made, what kind of panels they use in setting up their booths.

Then my daughter and I dropped by GoodWill and found wonderful old books, and sheet music I can use in my collages.

All in all a good day. But it has rained so much, water has risen nearly up to my door twice today!

Thursday, March 1, 2012

My New World

My paintings have been dormant inside me for years. Fifteen years ago, I realized I had to wait for my art to be expressed. Ten years ago, I began developing some parable type stories. I wrote of story line and outlined a few others. And I waited. I started back drawing. I drew a few pages. Again I waited.

My mother began showing signs of progressive dementia. I was teaching full time. Taking graduate courses for full certification to teach high school English. So I waited. Then my husband and I realized he was struggling with quelling memories of Vietnam. We began going to the Veterans Administration for help.

Three years ago, I took art courses at the local art museum. I started out full throttle. I signed up for Drawing, Watercolor and Jewelry Making. I discovered I could draw pretty well after all these years. Somehow the drawings had been mixing up inside me. The watercolor paints flowed out of me and I created as I hadn't dreamed possible. I was on my way.

My life begins anew. I am an artist. I have an art blog and this is IT. BlueFeatherArt. This is my new world, and it is a wondrous place to be-come.

And this is Beryl. The Burdened Burro.