Tues. -new paintings

I don't think these are done yet. I will be fiddling with them some more at some point. I will probably redraw quite a bit of the skates, and add more layers to the background. I'm thinking about adding words or music, or something... we'll see.

4 cups of Java!

It's Tuesday, so of course I painted with Mary! I did 4 funky fun paintings for the Java N Jazz event this Friday. They are cups of coffee in bright colors with Jazz quotes... Loved doing them!

Big News!

Cara and I both received news that we will be in the Ella Sharp Museum Statewide juried show. I'm so excited to be in a juried show with my daughter! Her sculpture of me twirling got in, and my Farmscape dyptich was accepted.

Here is a copy of portions of the email that I received :) Hooray!

We would love to see you at the reception.

Dear Julia,
Congratulations! Your piece Farmscape was selected for the Statewide Fine
Arts Competition. We look forward to it being on display from January
16-March 20, 2010! Please keep these dates in mind;
Jan. 16, 2010—Opening reception for artists and guests,
(2-4pm, awards at 3pm)

Flash

Flash was a well loved hunting dog. I had the privilege of painting a portrait in memory of him. He had quite a personality! Here are the final paintings.

What a sweet mother and daughter team! It was fun getting to paint pictures for this wonderful family!

New photos

I just had photos taken of some of my paintings. I think Steve did a great job with the photos! We set up in our garage, and there were a lot of shots to take- he was very patient. It was rainy, hot, and muggy... Jamie was there to help too. Thanks goodness! It was a lot of carrying paintings in and out of the house and attic.

This is 1 of 4 paintings that go together. I started the paintings in Destin Fl. I think I showed them at the beginning, but never showed any final product...

Perrysburg Show

If you are anywhere near Perrysburg, Ohio stop in to see my work at the Municipal Building!  We just hung the show and it looks great!  It's all farm scenes and flowers.  My Summer Flower series is in the hallways of a building next door.  The women from the Art Council were wonderful! Sandra and Robin were so helpful and gracious.  

Perrysburg is just south of Toledo.  The Art Council has a lot of things going on!  They are really promoting the arts in this town!  They have a great sculpture exhibit along the river right now. 

booth pictures

Here are a couple of pictures of my booth at A2 Summer Art Fair. Thanks to Jamie, Mary, Cara, and Jena for all the work setting up! and to Jamie, Mary and Ned for tearing down! I could never do this by myself!

I had a great time. I met so many interesting people, there were over 500,000 people at the art fair- from all over the world! I really appreciated my friends that came to see me at my booth, that meant a lot to me. There was a lot of interest in my work, and great comments... I was especially pleased to have so many painters stop in for a look. I enjoyed chatting with everyone. It was inspiring! You all made my first solo Art Fair a success!

A2 Art Fair

It has been a great experience to be in the Ann Arbor Art Fair! Everyone has been so helpful to me, from setting up, bringing me food and water, giving me advice, making sure I have everything I need. So many people have stopped in to see me, I am overwhelmed! I have had great feedback, and have loved meeting so many people. Tomorrow is the last day! It ends at 6, so I hope to meet a lot more people. I really love the location of my booth. I'm across from the Cupcake Station, which I am totally in love with! You have to have the banana pudding there! And I am near the ice cream store! and, for the last 2 nights there have been wonderful banjo and guitar players near my booth. I am soooo lucky! Maybe I'll see you tomorrow...

Heirloom Love, mother-daughter art exhibit

Our show is up, and will continue through July 25th.  I love the museum it is in.  It's the Women's Historical Museum and Hall of Fame in Lansing.  It's in a beautiful old home, and it's surrounded by a gorgeous garden.  It is well worth the visit!

slow progress

I think they're getting close to being done!  This has taken a long time...

commission decision

Our dog groomer asked my husband if he or I would paint a picture of their well loved dog who is no longer alive.  He doesn't really have the time, but I think I might give it a whirl.  I hope I can do it justice since it is a memorial.  I think that is such a sweet thing to do in memory of a pet.  Pets become such a wonderful part of the family.  We sure love our pets, and still miss our old lab Gabrielle who was so dear to us.  I hope I can make something worthy for them.

the red truck, and quilts

Mary finished her painting tonight!  I love it!  It looks so real!  

...and I'm working on these quilt inspired paintings.  they're developing, this is the first layer.  Cara and I are using this pattern to unify our show in May.  It will be a part of each portrait and sculpture somehow.  

Art workshop at Joan's

I have a wonderful neighbor named Joan who is an artist. She creates colorful monotypes- very beautiful.

My daughter, my painting buddies, and I recently spent the day at Joan's workshop. It was super fun. She had a lot of sunflowers in bloom and she invited her art friends to come down and capture them in the media of our choice. There were about 15 of us that spent the day creating. It was interesting to see how different each of us chose to work; different compositions, different media, different set ups... everyone was unique! I still haven't finished my painting- but I will! You can see what I have done so far on the top right- those of you that know how I paint know that it won't look anything like this in the end. I drew all over it with a sharpie, so we'll see what happens with that! It seemed like a good idea at the time :-)

Joan also demonstrated oil pastels. She has such a bubbly enthusiasm for her artwork, it's just fun to be around her. I also really liked how she put up artist quotes on stakes all over her yard, and each stake had a cheerful little stuffed flower at the top- it was cute! Thanks Joan for a great day!

back from camping

Just home from camping. We were gone for 3 nights. It was beautiful on Lake Michigan. I need to paint a sunset, I never have...
I got home and received in the mail the application for the Guild review of Standards. So, that's my next thing I need to do. I have to send in slides of my work and a booth slide for review to see if I can get in next year. Hopefully, I will get my booth slides from the photographer soon! I want to send this in right away!

What's next?

Here's a photo of our shared booth. The sign above our booth said "Art as a Living". That was the name of the workshop that the Guild sponsered for teachers. Michigan art teachers could participate in the workshop then send in slides of their work to be juried. 5 of us were selected to share the booth. The Guild provided the tent and display units, and guidance from professional artists. It was very generous of them. This gave us the opportunity to experience what it is like for professional artists firsthand. I know this experience will benefit my students.

Now that the Ann Arbor Fair is over, I'm on to thinking about what I should do next. I sent some prints up to a local coffee shop for display today. I need to get more work up around town. I have a lot of original work for sale, and quite a few prints in a variety of sizes.

My artist friend down the street stopped by today to invite me to a workshop she's giving on Aug. 14th. That will be fun! I'll get to spend the day painting. She also invited me to participate in a small show at her house with a few of her other artist friends. That will be in Sept. Sounds like great fun to me. I'll get to meet her friends and try to sell some more work! So, I have to get ready for that now. I'll need to send postcards, and work on some display racks. Hopefully, we'll have good weather! Can't wait!

The Ann Arbor Fair was a good experience, I'm so glad I had the opportunity. I can't help but be disappointed however that I didn't sell enough to cover my expenses. Hopefully, I will get back the money through later sales. I have a lot to figure out on the business side of things... It would be great if I had some sort of manager to do all that for me. I need a rich patron!

I'm also thinking about the direction of my painting. I'm in the middle of 2 paintings that are barn scenes. They are off to a great start. I need to get back at it. We'll be camping next week, so I'll probably get some drawing done there- although, I am bringing along Harry Potter... that might be all I do for the whole trip, read and relax. My daughters just finished the book and loved it, it is sad that it's the last book... I'm going to take my time and really savor it. Talk to you soon.

Fair is On!

Just taking a quick minute to update. I've been at the fair for a few days. It has been a great experience! I have met so many friendly, talented people! One of my favorites so far is MJ- Emily Joy who is a 6 year old artist. She has already had her own show! She's on her way! I also loved meeting Sally and Connie, and Sally's daughter Erin (sorry if the spelling is wrong). They are artists who are at the same stage I am, looking to get beyond the hobby stage and really do something with their work. I met many others who I don't even know their names, but enjoyed our conversations so much.
The artists that I'm sharing a booth with are incredibly talented and so sharp. I admire their work, and the people that they are. They are such hard workers to have accomplished so much at such young ages, I am totally impressed with each one of them. Nels has popped in to check on us, I'm so thankful that she made this happen and really cares about this program. This experience will be important to my students.
Many professional artists who have been doing the fair circuit for years have been willing to share advice and encouragement. I enjoyed talking to a lady who makes beautiful masks, she gave me some great inspiration for my students. The man in the booth next to ours has been super helpful. He is the voice of experience. He has the whole fair thing down to a science!
Another great person has been the man with the restaurant behind our booth. He has been so kind to us! He was born in Greece, and he has had this restaurant for over 30 years.
There's an awful lot to tell.... I haven't even mentioned the tornado yet! I'll have to make another post later, I have to go for now, lots going on today. Check back!

Getting Organized

I keep dabbing around on this one, still reworking the lace hankie... These things belonged to our Grandmas. Grandma Z's hankie, Grandma M's flower pin, Grandma J's pink earring... everything has a memory...

Getting organized. Last night I labeled, numbered, and wrote the size on the back of each piece. I made an inventory list. I'm working on labels to put next to each piece- gallery style. I bought foamcore yesterday for the backs of the labels. I'd like to get that done tonight.


I'm working on pricing. I'm thinking the smallest pieces at $150, mid size $300, and large will vary $500-$800. The gyclee prints will be $75, small photo copies $8, and postcards $1.50. I think these are very reasonable prices considering the time I put into some of them.


I actually do think that time-wise I would make more money this summer if I would have gotten a part time job at Walmart. Last fall I made $150 one day working at Walmart- all I had to do was stand in the school supply aisle with a Crayola apron on and hand out free markers to kids. I used that money to buy a new mattress- our old one was killing our backs. That was more money than I will make on one of my paintings- bummer... I don't want to be a "starving artist"! but, I do love to paint! I love playing around with color, I love how surprises happen in the process, I love how one color can look so different depending on the colors you put under it and around it, I love how mediums can change the whole effect, I love my brushes and my pallet, I love the feel of the canvas- especially bumpy canvas, I love the beginning of the painting when anything is possible, I love the struggle of knowing how to procede at each step, I love it that I never really know when I'm done, I really do love the whole thing!

finishing touches

spent the day today looking everything over. I reworked a couple things, changed a few things, added signatures, measured for frames... I feel like I really improved a couple of paintings that I wasn't too sure of. The 2 crabapple snow scenes are starting to pop better, I might just leave them alone. I keep dabbing at the littler sunflower painting- since it doesn't feel like a very important painting I feel a little freer to play around with it.

I still have to decide whether or not to spend the money having them professionally photographed. Today I will also order more frames- can't decide how many...

prints available

I just remembered to tell you that I had gyclee prints made of 4 of my paintings that I guessed would be the most "sellable". The titles are:
"Jena and Mickey", a painting of my daughter holding our black cat. It was in a show at Ella Sharp Museum a few years ago. It won an award of $250.00!
"Back to the Field" (that's the sunflower painting I posted earlier), this painting was in a MAEA show.
"Last Bouquet", I think this is a very likeable painting. I did it last winter. I noticed some pansies and rosebuds still blooming in February in my garden on the dining room side of the house! I hope it's not another global warming indicator! Yikes! In honor of their accomplishment, I stuck them in a little vase a did an a la prima painting of them. I love the memory of it.
"My Backyard" was also in an MAEA show. It won an honorable mention. This is my backyard, you can see the afternoon shadow of my house in the foreground.
I'm really excited about these prints, and I'm especially hoping something sells. This gives me another pricepoint. It really is difficult to price things.

getting more done!

Today I ordered business cards, so it's official! I'm in business! Or, at least it feels official. I'm not really sure what makes a business, but it's probably not just having a business card. This is the picture I put on the back of my card, and I also wanted a little pink on it to match the lettering so I also added a part of the bleeding heart painting. It does look a little sappy, but I guess I just need to admit that I'm a little sappy. I can't help it that I love flowers and the color pink. I also ordered 4 frames online, I hope they work out well because they are way cheaper than anywhere in town.

Yesterday I drew at Ave's studio, she's the one that told me about the online frames. It was fun to see her since it's been so long- probably last summer... I haven't been figure drawing for quite a while so it was nice to give it a whirl again. Part of me feels like I don't have time to mess around like that right now, but I do love to draw people even though I have trouble with proportion when it is so direct like that.

I tried to see Laura's work in the show that's at the same building that Ave has her studio, but her stuff was in the locked part- it won't be open until the weekend. I'll have to go back and check it out. It's an Urban Artwork show, what I did get to see was fun stuff -graffitti like.

My gyclee prints should be in today, I'm anxious to see how they turned out. So, I want to get hooks today and pick up the prints so I can show them to my art fair booth-mates tomorrow. We are meeting at noon at the restaurant that will be across from our booth. It will be good to see them again and talk over the details. It would be nice if I could have a draft of my pricelist before tomorrow so I could get ideas from them.