Art Candy

Shameless Self Promotion

I made this cool little ad badge for my shop so I thought I'd post it! 

The Motherhood Project

I have been working on a project that relates to motherhood... given that I have been in the throws of raising my brood for the last 14 years I definitely think it is worth exploring. My initial idea started out with the inspiration coming from 17th century Italian Madonna paintings that I saw at the National Gallery in Washington D.C.. I wondered what the Madonna image would look like now,in my neighborhood filled with soccer moms and mini vans. But the more I thought about it the more I felt like I wanted to tell the story of many mothers and their varying experiences in raising children. The project is definitely in its early stages and I am still trying to figure out how the images will convey the story and what they should look like. I decided to create a few paintings as a jumping off point to see where they might lead. This is what I have so far...they are still in progress.

 

 

 
 
 
 

First Thursday

November really zoomed by! It's time for another another first Thursday open studio tour in the arts district here in Minneapolis. I have added new paintings to my floppy hat series and have started a new series about motherhood inspired by the stories of other moms in my life. 

 

Holiday Open Studio Sale

The Elves...okay the elf in the studio has been creating away! I will be holding holiday studio hours every Saturday starting November 28 thru December 19th. My studio will be open from 11am to 4pm as will many other studios in the Northrup King Building. Everything in my studio will be %10 off the original purchase price during this event. I will also be having a collectors sale where I will be taking %30 off of original art from older series of work. This is definitely a great time to come down and find something unique!

You can also shop my sale online by visiting my Etsy Shop

 

Fly!

Just thought I'd post another little addition to my ever growing bird series...it seems that bird IS the word!

This one is a bit larger "16x16" and  called Aviary.

The Singing Imeldas

 I have been busily creating away in the studio over the past few weeks and am proud to show off my newest little creations! These are the second series of six 6"x6" paintings that I have dubbed the singing Imelda Series( think Imelda Marcos but with birds instead of shoes). 

My first set sold during Art Attack. My plan originally was to make as many as it would take to fill a wall in my studio like a painted aviary.

I have posted this second set on my Etsy Shop for sale individually...but they really do look great hanging together!

Recovering from an Art Attack

My building had its 12th annual all building three day open studio tour and it was a busy one! I had a couple of friends showing their work which added a little variety to my space and also the opportunity for the occasional restroom break. My friend Joel showed off his amazing wood sculpture and turnings and my friend Leann shared her photo realistic transparent watercolors. I showed off a few new paintings and shared some experimental monotype prints from a new series I am planning( more to come on that later)...

Mission Accomplished!

Its been a year in the making and I can't believe I am actually finished! I finally completed my 3 foot by five foot pastel painting for the Maple Grove Hospital. The Art consultant for the hospital came by the studio today and gave the final piece a thumbs up... hopefully the hospital selection committee will agree and won't have any changes. Personally, I am happy with the outcome of the project. This was my first large scale painting for a hospital and also the first time I had to get panel approval from the initial sketch  down to the full color pre final sketch(by the way I NEVER do full color sketches so it was a stretch for me). The picnic theme was chosen by the art consultant and the piece had to incorporate the color scheme of the room it is going into... but the composition is all me. It was a good experience overall and I am anxious to get the piece off my studio wall and to the framer. The hospital will be having an open house in December and at that time it will be up for all to see! 

Here is a picture of the final piece... it is still attached to my studio wall.

Funding my Bliss

As Gloria Gainer put it so aptly..."I will survive!" Artists are hard pressed in the current economy to make a living. I can only speak for myself when I say I've had to work harder this year than any other to make ends meet. I love working for myself, but to get paid I need to put myself out there more then ever before and have had to decide whether to create things that will sell or follow my bliss... which may or may not end up in a sale. I have decided to take the middle ground and do both. But to do that I have had look for extra funding to pay for my so called bliss. Lately my new obsession is grant funding and I have found a few promising grants- The Bush Grant, MCAD fellowship and the Jerome fellowships. I am new to grant writing so there is definitely a learning curve that I have had to deal with. I am an artist, not a writer so putting into words what I put on canvas is a little tough but I am slowly figuring out the process. I have learned fun new terms like narrative and my personal favorite budget. It really makes me think about what I need to get my idea off the ground and what my ultimate goal is for my current series of work.

On View Today... An Artist in Her Natural Habitat

The following is a segment from a video on artists in the Northrup King Building... or as I like to call my 5 minutes of fame running on cable channel 6.