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I have a piece about environmental issues in the upcoming show at the Aldrich Arts Collaborative show entitled "Out of Earth, Art", opening on Wednesday February 23rd at 3501 Aldrich Ave in South Minneapolis. Please come to the show from 5 - 7 pm on opening night or you can visit the gallery Tue- Thurs 10 am - 3pm sometime in the next 6 weeks, while the show is up. This is my second show since I moved to Minneapolis! Very exciting!
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I am currently teaching the below class at Simply Jane Studio and will be teaching more classes in the spring at the Bloomington Art Center. I am looking for more people to sign up for my class starting next week, so if you are interested or know anyone in the Minneapolis - let them know. It will be a fun and informative intro to illustration for all ages!
STORYBOOK WRITING & ILLUSTRATION Learn to write and illustrate a story taken from your imagination and put on paper. We will work on creating a unique and interesting short story. Then practice drawing and painting with watercolor pencils and other mediums to create colorful illustrations. Each student will create their own short storybook to take home.
Class is All Ages~ kids, teens and adults welcome! 8 Wednesdays, Jan. 19 – March 9, (5:00 pm – 6:00 pm) $100 + $15 materials
Classes are held at Simply Jane Studio 5411 Nicollet Ave South, Minneapolis, MN 55419
Here is this years holiday card and of course some are still in the mail. Its been that kind of winter so far.. It has been freezing here in MN and we had a blizzard of 18" before xmas. Then I flew home with the hubby to go to MA to visit my family we witnessed the East Coast Blizzard of 2010, which dropped 30" on some states, but about 18" in Boston. So we got tons of snow, but got to spend 4 extra days in MA visiting family and friends so I consider all the shoveling out well worth it! Happy Holidays!
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I am working on a series of paintings based on different forms of aerial arts that are taught at the circus school that I attend here in Mpls. The school is called Xelias Aerial Arts Studio and it is about a 10 - 25 min walk from my house in NE mpls. They are having a fundraiser this weekend to help fund their studio since it is a non-profit they depend alot on donations to keep the studio running. I love taking classes there and decided to volunteer my services as an illustrator and donate some paintings for an auction that they are having this weekend. I have not yet finished my series yet but I gave them the first painting so that bidders could get a taste of the whole series. I am doing a theme of elements for each painting, so the one pictured below is the "Air" painting depicting a women doing aerial silks on vines. I also have a "Water", "Earth" and "Fire"to be completed. Even if the paintings do not sell at the auction then I am happy I worked on this project. I tried a new technique of painting for me; using gouache on canvas. I used an absorbent ground made by golden, painting a thin layer over a gessoed canvas that I had bought. This created a layer that will take water based mediums such as gouache and watercolor, which I enjoy using much more than oil or acrylic. It was very enjoyable to paint on and felt very similar to the cold press watercolor that I usually paint on; the texture was a bit different but did not bother me much. The gouache was very vibrant and blended very well on the canvas as well. I hope to do many more paintings using this technique as I believe it makes paintings easier to sell. See the large sketch and (almost) finished painting below.
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A Tale from Tailsville was written by local MN author, Dan Drotzman; and it is a short chapter book for children and adults alike. It is a fun story about a town of dogs and their election for a new mayor. I painted the color cover art for this book as well as the interior black and white images. The cover I painted in gouache and the interior I used a new kind of paint for me: casein paint. Casein is a milk protein based paint that is water soluble. It worked very similarly to gouache for me so I may not be switching brands as of yet, but it was fun to try something new. I am very happy with the interior images; it was interesting to research and paint new breeds of dogs.(here are a few below) Another fun fact is that I have also illustrated two other dog books for different authors. See A Day with Bacchus on blurb.com and see Is that My Tail?on amazon.com.
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I participated in the Grand Old Day Fair on June 2nd this year and although it is supposed to be the biggest one day fair in the midwest I was sorely disappointed in my sales. I did a few craft fairs in CA and was somewhat successful selling my greeting cards and block prints but not so this time. I believe most of the failure was due to the fact that this fair was not exclusively an art fair, but an all around family day fair, including a parade as well as music stage with bands. So it seemed that most of the people there had not come to shop but to see the free events, such as the parade; which went down the art fair street for at least and hour, stopping all foot traffic past the sale tables. I also realized once there that most of my art is rather small and priced accordingly so next time I would definitely have a larger range of sizes and items to diversify my price points. Overall it was a learning experience of what to not do at large art fairs, and also a good lesson on what to bring. Sunscreen being top on the list, as well as lots of snacks as the food vendors were far away from my table, and more small bills for change than you think you need, as well as weights for my cards which kept blowing away. In the end I got a bit burnt from the sun but sold a few cards and prints, no original paintings, but gave away a lot of my new business cards. Hopefully I will get some work from one of those business card recipients, that would be an added bonus to the learning experience. (see my table below-looking a bit too empty)
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Now that the summer has arrived in full force in Minneapolis, we have all had to try to keep cool, this includes our dog, Onie too. So instead of just going to the off leash park in our neighborhood, I have started driving south to Minnehaha Park which is at Hiawatha Ave and Minnehaha Parkway in Mpls. It has become an oasis in the city for both Onie and I. It is over 193 acres of park which includes many wooded areas, long walkways and even a 50 foot waterfall; all within the limits of the city! It is a great escape on especially hot days since the off leash dog area is in the woods down by the Mississippi river. It is a nice leisurely walk down through the woods where only one fence is visible and no buildings can be seen. Although I am a bit afraid of pollutants in the water of the river, I feel confident enough in my immune system to still stick my feet in while Onie romps around with all the other dogs. It is a nice long beach with over hanging trees and plenty of stumps to sit on and watch the dogs go crazy. Here are some pics below from one of our wonderful visits.
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Got the results from the NAVS contest and I received an honorable mention for my works (see below). My artwork will be used in their quarterly newsletter and also on their website! I am hoping to get a copy of the newsletter for my portfolio and will be posting links to the webpages when I get them. Glad I entered the contest and got some great pieces from the project. I definitely had to think outside of the box on this one.
Here are my entries for the National Anti- Vivisection Society contest "art for animals".(logo is theirs) I was working on them till 2:30 am the night before they were due- a throw back to my old college days of procrastination! But I am happy with the results. Lesson learned: Hand painting tiny letters over and over is not as easy as you think.
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This is my final painting in the frame, taken with my phone camera since my real camera is still not working at the moment. (need to get a better pic when I get it back) The theme was "Exploration and Creativity" it opened on April 8 and runs thru June 20, 2010. I unfortunately missed the opening because I was back in MA visiting family. The show is being put on by Minnesota Children's Book Illustrators Guild (CBIG), which I am now a member. The show is at the MN Center for Book Arts in downtown Minneapolis. You can find some pics from the opening on the CBIG blog.
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I made this sign while working today at The Green Goober, the eco-friendly toy store I work at. I wanted to get into the feeling of spring, even if the weather today is cloudy and cold. So I made a display of some of the "spring" products that we carry - recycled plastic handled jump ropes, grow a sunflower in a pot kits, as well as some other flowers in a can. I threw in some cheesy rhymes to complete the cheery theme of the signage, about some of my favorite wood products: a tree swing made of a slice of a tree, (bark still intact), and also a nice birch wood sling shot with real leather ammo pocket. I may be getting a tree swing for my backyard just to welcome spring in. Gotta work on that whole gardening thing too.
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Springboard for the Arts and Mnartists.org, two great organizations for artists based in Minnesota have joined forces to create a project that uses the abbreviation of CSA in a new way. Many of us local agricultural enthusiasts have come to use this term in reference to vegetable boxes delivered to your kitchen from local farms. Now we can use CSA in a new way to describe locally supported art; the project entails the creating of 50 pieces of art by each artist in the program. Each artist will receive a stipend for their time in creating these pieces, and copies are allowed. The call for artists to submit work just ended yesterday, and I managed to add my submission to the ranks. The call for art was open to musicians, performing artists, and writers as well as visual artists. Part of the application process was to write a proposal of what you would do for the project if you were accepted, green or environmentally conscience proposals were encouraged. I realized after writing my proposal that the idea of doing eco-conscious art is what I have been trying to do with my craft projects, but I have not yet incorporated into my paintings. I do intend to write some environmentally inspired children's books but have not finalized many of my ideas yet. I think I will just start working on my 50 pieces of art anyways as a portfolio project for myself. I wanted to create pieces on the subject of organic and sustainable farming practices. I see some paintings of heirloom chicken breeds coming in the future. To find more information about the CSA project goto their website posting here.
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Here is my entry for Illustration friday from a few weeks ago.. finally finished. I am happy with my "Clumsy Skunk"- thinking of making it into a short story or children's book someday too!
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Went to the show opening last night and had a lovely wait in line for 45 min to get into see all the artwork. There were almost 5,000 individual artworks from local MN artists. There were three rooms lined with artworks from floor to ceiling. It was a great show to go to even with the long line just to see the diversity of work on the walls and sculptures on the tables. See some of my favorites pieces below and one of mine. They do have a database so you can search for who the artist is while at the show, as there was no room for names on the wall.
Mine is in the middle there - squeezed in..
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I entered the "Foot in the Door" show today at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. The show is named as such because your piece has to fit into a 12" X 12" box in order to qualify for entry; (luckily I work pretty small anyways). I entered the piece below that I just recently finished for my self promo postcard. I had to quickly mount and frame it today since I just heard about the show yesterday and the final day to enter was today. Looks like I will be exhibiting with thousands of other artists in MN as the show is open to all artists in the state. The show only comes around every ten years so I thought I should catch it this time around. The opening will be on February 18th from 6 - 9 pm. I am looking forward to it already as it should be a great time to see other artists in my new home state.
"Blackberry Jam" gouache, 2010
(click to enlarge)
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This is a name painting I recently finished for a little girls birthday present. It has her name in it with the letters integrated into the nature scene. I made another one for a friend in the past and decided to try another one. I had fun painting the scene with some really bright colors using gouache paint. Lately I have been straying from using my old favorite of watercolor and moving on to gouache paint. The paint being a blend or acrylic and watercolor is easier for me to get great bright colors that are more opaque but I can also water it down and get a wash look as well. I enjoy getting more of a contrast in my pieces then before when I would just use light tones in watercolor. But I still enjoy using cold press watercolor paper as the texture is great.
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I recently placed an order for a small greenhouse online to put in my kitchen in front of my only south facing window to catch some winter light to grow some vegetables. I got my greenhouse last week and also received my order from the Seed Savers Exchange of Iowa. I got a wide variety of seeds to test out to see if they will grow indoors well or not. I researched a bit online and found many people had luck with, bush beans, herbs, and leafy vegetables like spinach and lettuce. So I ordered some of these vegetable seeds as well as some fun heirloom varieties that I thought I might enjoy. I plan to keep a spreadsheet of how well my plants grow. I will be supplementing my greenhouse with a small light source as needed, for cloudy days, etc. See the seeds I got below.
Dragon Carrots, Red Romaine Lettuce, Tennis Ball Lettuce, Chives, Genovese Basil, Alma Paprika Peppers, Fiskeby Soybeans, Calabrese Broccoli, Dragon's Tongue Beans, Red Swan Beans, Bloomsdale Spinach.
I planted my seeds in some peat pots so that when they do sprout I can plant the pot itself with the sprout in a larger pot to be kept in the greenhouse. I also used some paper scraps and folded them in half to make some simple labels so I would know which seeds are which. I also used some black trays for the bottom to catch water and hopefully hold some heat from the sun. My mini greenhouse has been a warm 70 degrees as its high without an added light source. Overall I hope to be growing my own fresh vegetables in my own kitchen soon! If not then I will have a good spot at least to start sprouting seeds for the spring.
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Here is the pencil drawing that I am painting this week to create a self promo postcard to send out to publishers. I will post when finished. Also working on an illustration for Illustration Friday.
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Instead of buying a rope made of dyed fibers costing $15-20, I decided to make my dog a rope toy on the cheap out of natural materials.
Supplies:
4 foot length of hemp/manila rope - $2.60 5- 6 " of Recycled Fabric - free Iron on velcro squares -$ .40
Step 1:
Buy a length of hemp rope from a hardware store, I bought mine at home depot labeled as manila rope. (It is about 1/2 " thick ) I bought 4 feet so I could tie a few knots in it. Tie four knots in the rope- one at each end to prevent fraying and two more in the middle somewhere.
Step 2:
Find a soft piece of fabric scrap (I used a cotton sweatshirt fabric) and cut about 5 inches in length and 3-4 " wide - this is to wrap around your rope for a hand hold so your hands won't chafe when pulling on rope when playing with your dog. Test out scrap to make sure it will fit over rope with an extra flap the width of your velcro.
Step 3:
I used sticky iron on squares of velcro, you could also use a whole length of velcro if you wanted. Place squares along one edge of outside of fabric, and along the opposite edge on the inside of the fabric. (see below) Iron the back of the velcro for a few seconds and let cool till it has fully adhered to fabric.
Step 4:
Wrap your handhold around one end of rope and play tug of war with your dog!
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Our dog pictured here was adopted in CA and so this winter is her first snow. We discovered that although she enjoys romping in the snow she doesnt enjoy doing her "business" in it. So I set out on a sewing project to make booties for her so that she would be more inclined to go outside. I first tried a pattern I found online for some short booties, but after putting them on her I discovered they slipped off too easily. Then I decided to just sew ones in a long rectangular shape, slighty larger at the bottom for her paw. I used a layer of fleece for the interior and a layer of soft sweatshirt material for the outer layer. Before stitching the two layers together I cut a heart shape out of some scrap leather I had and zig zag stitched it onto the bottom of what will be the paw part of the bootie, for added traction. I then used a small ribbon and some iron on velcro and sewed it into the seam of the booties so I could cinch them to her leg. I will post pics of the process and the finished booties. So far they have stayed on her and not fallen or been flung off in the snow. Now no frost bitten paws!
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After moving halfway across the country last month - from San Francisco to Minneapolis, I discoverd that our christmas tree ornaments did not make it. So I decided to make some dnd themed ornaments since I am a huge dork and still play with tiny figures and lots of dice. I sewed some fuzzy fabric I had into shapes based on multi-sided dice. I am working on the others to make a complete set. Right now I have done the d8 , d20 and d4 sizes, see below.
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Step 4:
