Etsy is here!

It's true.  I made the jump!  I now have an etsy account!  Wooo hooo!

Here's a little glimpse of what I have to offer:






If you click the picture it will take you to my etsy website.  Enjoy!  And tell your friends!  

Enjoy the Journey

A couple months ago some of my wonderful friend that I met in Korea got married.  They were gracious enough to allow me to create a wedding sign in book for them.  All they asked me to do was create a piece with the colors turquoise and orange, and to have it be about travel.  They let the rest be up to me.

So folks, here it is:

The book is about 10 by 10 in (or so).  And all of it is done by hand: hand cut, hand designed, hand bound.

I would be very happy to make more for anyone else who is about to tie the knot or maybe have a baby.

Number 49

Number 49

pastel

22" by 15" 

Sept 2012

We had a guest here who loved fishing.  She went fishing everyday and on her last day here she caught 49 fish!  Holy cow!  Even our fishing guide was super impressed.  She took a picture of a fish she caught in a net and she thought it would be an interesting piece to draw.  This is my attempt. 

Traveler

"Traveler"

pastel

5" by 5"

Sept 2012

The Ascent

22" by 15"

pastel on Rives BFK

and yes, i completed a background.

Make up, schmake up

Drawing people with make up is difficult.  Things usually appear to be quite dramatic and/or severe.  I have learned this first hand.  I am not really happy about my final product, but i am ready to move on.  I also hate backgrounds, but i thought i should add on to see if it made it any better. 

before

after

Learning Lessons

Drawing a face is hard.  Especially when its at an angle.  And especially, well, anytime.

However, I am amazed that i can put colors on paper and create this.  It's not perfect and there are problems to the drawing, but i have figured them out and will try to better next time.  It's still a little crazy to think that all i started with is white paper and pastels.  

Pastel on rives BFK

11" by 14"

and yes, its suppose to be a self portrait

Finally! geez...

So it's been while since in've done any art making.  I guess taking a ton of photos on my Holga counts, but not really.  I have finally mustered up some courage to attack and revive my art making skills.  I also got to use my beautiful easel for the first time.  Yippee!  I couldn't find a photo of my own to use, so i found a painting by Jennifer Anderson who i think is amazing.  I don't think the color is the best on my drawing and its a bit skewed too.  However, i think i did get the sculptural part f the head down, which usually is a bit tricky for me.  Capturing pale skin is extremely difficult, mastering any skin color is pretty difficult actually.  But alas, here is my attempt:

almost finished

pastel on rives bfk,  10.5" by 14"

Another Show!

This month I get to have my work hung in not one but two places!  I have that super large painting at the C Gallery in Los Alamos.  Go check it out if you're in the area!  Or go on a road trip and go check it out.  While you're out there visit Flatbread Pizza.  Its amazing.

Holga

I got a cute new toy. 

She takes pictures that look like this:

I think this will be a nice addition to have in my new home town of Jackson, WY.

Showtimes are...

Hey, I'm in a show!  I have two small little pieces and they will be up in Santa Maria for a couple months and then down in Santa Barbara for a couple months.  I hope you can make it and enjoy!

doilies and books

Awhile ago I had an idea to use old lace doilies on my book covers.  They are a little more difficult to find than i thought they would be, but alas i found a handful of some unique doilies.  Its hard to make the book not look like its supposed to be in your Grandma's house.  So here is my first attempt at using doilies: 

book size: 7.5" by 6.5"

about 60 blanks pages of sketchbook quality paper

my new stamp!  From now on i will stamp all my books signed "get carried away!"

Transformations

4' by 4.5' 

acrylic

 Some details

All those pictures I just posted about inspiration, well they helped me get this painting to its final stage.  This painting took on quite a transformation from to initial sketch to now.  Funny, because that is what this painting is all about.  It will be in a student show at the C Gallery this June.  Yay!

Inspiration

Where do artists find inspiration?  I hear this question often.  Well, some people are inspired by very specific things and others are not.  We are all different.  It can also vary for what type of art or project you are creating.  For me, it starts with an image i see in my mind which is usually first evoked by a feeling.  From there, I find artists who I admire and want to emulate their style or feel.  Then I find images that I can pull from.  I might just use it for one part, for color, or for form/shape or all of the above.

I am currently working on a very large canvas painting and have acquired a number of images to pull from.  Some of the artists I have been looking at are Alex Kanevsky and Chloe Early.  The rest of the images are for color and for working with water and reflection.

Retract

Today I drew with an eraser.  In the art world we call this retractive drawing.  It s fun little exercise and can make for some truly beautiful creations. 

They say...

A sketch a day keeps artist block away...

Lost in Paradise

I'm currently taking a figure painting class throughout the C Gallery in Los Alamos.  This week we had our class at the teacher's house up in the rolling hills of Los Alamos.  We couldn't of asked for a more beautiful day.  The rustic italian/spanish house sits atop a hill which then over looks more hills covered by vineyards, mustard, and cows.  Its a home for the sophisticated cowboy.  

Back to class.  For the first time ever, I'm working on a huge canvas.  Its probably at least 4.5 feet by 4 feet.  I can just barely carry it.  And I'm also tackling overlapping figures.  Why?  Well why not?  I have a feeling this painting will take me many hours to complete and will most likely go through many transformations.  I've learned that skin tones look really great behind a blue wash, and that i prefer to use a rag to paint with rather than a brush.  

For this painting I was thinking about light vs. dark, life vs. death. in terns of being a Christian.  Who we are before we know the Lord, and who we are and the life we have after we have began a relationship with Him.  I envisioned the top half to be the "light" and the bottom half to be the "dark."  The bottom half has a broken, fractured person, the one on top is whole, complete.  I will bring in other elements later (rocks, water, light).  I am excited to see where this will go.  

After class we took a cruise in the ranch mobile and began looking for places to do landscape painting.  I won't attend that class, i just went for the ride.  

unfinished

pastel

I've adjusted back to America.  I have a hard time adjusting to a free schedule.  As beautiful as it sounds, it was harder to be ok with doing nothing.  Thankfully Connie Rohdes let me sit in and sketch in her pastel class.  I've been working on portraits and trying to nail the face down.  So, cheers to starting.  Sometimes thats the scariest part.  

I am also taking a paint class and am working on a huge canvas.  Unfortunately it won't be in encaustic, but it will be in acrylic.  I pray my painting skills will come back to me.  

soon to be

Im in the process of many books, but for starters here are some book covers:

This book will be stitched in a different style, Japanese stab binding.  

Its about 5" by 7"  

The paper is of old posters of different cities in Italy. 

Sunrise at the Pond

7 in by 5 in

full of lovely sketching paper

Kaleidoscope Kingdom

about 5 in by 7in

filled with lots of lovely sketching paper