Just Say Yes!

Get Thee Outside

I have not felt this busy, this overscheduled in a long time! All of our weekends are full - each and every weekend we have something which we must attend. And, the deadlines have all stacked up as well, everything is due (seemingly) tomorrow! I seriously cannot remember the last time that I had so much going on.

Spicer House, painting light and shadows

Last Sunday, I should have stayed home to clean the house - it needs it and we had a home inspection on Monday, for which it needed to be sparkle. House cleaning should be a priority right? Well, spiritually and artistically I decided to take a few hours for myself! Yep, some "Me Time"; I said Yes to myself.

So, when an art friend wanted to meet to plein air paint on Sunday, despite all of my busy goings ons, I said yes. I went to the park and spent 4 hours in Plein Air Bliss, it was worth it! I was refreshed!

Yes, after painting, I did go home and clean - the bathroom, the kitchen, the living room-- to satisfaction. No, I did not get to cleaning the "scary room"--the storage room that has gotten out of hand (yes it needs a cleaning BAD). Someday I will get to it, I don't like it, but I can live with the scary room a little longer!

My advice, say "Yes" to you every once in awhile.

SHOW PREP - 2 Weeks Until The SHOW

Deadlines & a huge list of things to do - Oh My!

It is an honor to be asked to be a Solo Artist for a venue - if you get the opportunity you should go for it! Next month I will have a Solo Show in a delicious little bistro. I was thrilled to be asked; however, getting a show together means much behind the scenes work! I had quite a bit of work to do to be show ready!

My To Do List:
Visit Venue
Create a Website
Order New Business Cards (with new website URL)
Business Card Holder
PR- Emails to Art Friends and Art Associations & Social Media

A Big Box O'Frames! Too Exciting!

Art for Venue (What works should be in show?)
Inventory  List
Price and Title Cards
Frames for all artworks/ framed art!



Having found the venue to be a little dark (not many windows or natural light), I decided to show lighter works in brighter frames. While I paint many portraits, I felt this venue might be nice for landscapes. This meant that I had to challenge myself to create more landscapes. I will have a few portraits in the show, but it will mostly be rich colorful landscapes.

As of now, I have finished much of my to do list - website, biz cards, artwork, and card holder. Whew! I have also ordered all of my frames.

Now  I need to focus on framing my art and create my inventory list and title cards! Oh wait that seems like a lot! Off to frame I go...

Leave The Stress, Take the Paints

The Rare 4 Day Weekend Getaway

At the very last minute, we decided to leave town for the 4 day weekend (time off is so rare). The weather was nice & we live near beautiful drivable scenery - lucky us! I deliberated taking my paints on this short jaunt, but I am glad that I did.

Old Mission Point, 9x12

Our first day, we walked through town, had breakfast and then decided to take a drive up to the old lighthouse. We didn't exactly know what to expect, I had hoped to paint the lighthouse but it was surrounded by trees! I took some pictures anyway, but there was no great spot to set up and paint. The sandy shore in front of the lighthouse was low and full of mid-day sun -- not the best circumstances. However, off to the left of the sunny shoreline, was a nice shady spot, close to the water with a lovely peninsula vista against a dreamy blue sky. We followed a path through the woods to the car, gathered our beach chairs and my painting gear. The weather was 70's, sunny and breezy with low humidity - comfortable!

I set up my paints while my husband sat with me in the shade and read. It was quiet and we were able to relax on the shore, not too far from the lighthouse, undisturbed. We had two delicious hours of calm meditative reading and painting. I was very thankful that I had brought my painting gear on the trip.

Betsie Bay, 9x12

The next day was busy! We had breakfast, read the paper on the front porch, walked to the Farmers Market, shopped downtown a bit, visited an art studio and post-lunch decided to find a place to paint! The weather was still lovely 70s breezy but the beach was too sunny, no shade at all. We ended up at the park under shady trees, the trees were close to the street with a view of the bay. We parked very close to where we would set up-- a plus. Again my husband read while I set up and painted for a few hours in the late afternoon.

My "Vaca Takeaway" was that somehow even with a busy schedule, I found time to paint several hours each day. Preparation was key - I had the supplies in the car and it was relatively easy to pick a place and set up! Of course the weather cooperated, but after this adventure, I encourage you to take your paints with you!

Hard Work - Behind the Scenes

Art Show Prep

White Mats!

Recently I completed some sweet little paintings, I call them my Bathing Beauty Series. They would look great in a Master Bedroom or bathroom. They are little 8x6" Acrylic Inks/Watercolor blocks on watercolor paper.

Art affixed to mat with mount strips.

Since I have a show at a gallery in September, I wanted to put these little Bathing Beauties in an art bin for sale. I had no idea how much work it would be to get them ready for the show...

Plastic Seal Bag -to put art in.

First I had to purchase all the materials to put them together:

• 8x10 mats
• 8x10 foam board
• Plastic Seal to hold artwork (Krystal seal)
• Archival Mounting Strips - to tape artwork to mat
• Rectangle labels, Price stickers
• Business Cards

What a Process:
I had to sign my work.
Then I had to put the mat on the work and then use Mounting Strips to tape the work to the mat.
Then I put the foam board and the mounted work into the plastic seal.
Next I had to put the Business Card in the back and figure out labels.
I found some labels at Target and on each label I put the Art Name and Size. And, I put a Price sticker.

Now repeat the above process for each work!

Whew! But I do love how each work looks now - so professional!
The final polished product - wowza!
(teal box added to blog image to cover nude figure)

Please stop by Lawrence Street Gallery this September to see the Bathing Beauty Series in person!

"Pause" To Be Thankful

Gratitude for Good Friends

My current plein air set up - cheap field easel and all...

And the quest for better equipment

In my opinion, the most valuable asset for artists is other artists. Making art is very often an independent and solitary process which can be tough and isolating. Forming art friendships is one of the most important things that an artist can do for herself. Art friends are willing to talk with you about art and about the complexities of making art. Art friends listen when you ask questions and talk about frustrations; willing to offer critiques and advice. Making art without an art community would be most difficult to do.

Initially, for a few group plein air sessions, I bought a cheap french easel - not planning to paint much outdoors. However, I now want to do more plein air which means that I want a better easel. My $50 french easel works fine and has stood up to wind rain and cold. However, it is a HUGE pain to set up. And I have been caught in the rain trying to unscrew it and take it all down--me and my equipment getting drenched.

Recently I have been researching better plein air easels, starting by asking art friends what they use and endorse. The Artists who do the most plein air painting all highly endorse the Soltek -which is pricey but easy to set up. Good plein air easels are costly-much much more expensive than my little cheapo easel. After I save up, the next big question is how do I choose what is best for me? I want equipment that I like in the field and that will endure for years. Having painted outside, in breeze and wind, a sturdy set up is a must. And lighter weight (since I don't Crossfit) would be a big plus. In doing my online research, I created a plein air easel comparison spreadsheet. I narrowed down my options and sent my spreadsheet to my art friend for her review.

Borrowed easel, easy setup

The next day we had an art session together and she brought one of her old plein air easels. Not only did she show me the Guerrilla Painter easel, she also showed me how to set it up and take it down. After her very positive endorsement she also said that I could try it for a month. Wow [insert gratitude here]! What a generous and amazing gesture and what an opportunity for me! Thank you Janet!

I took the Guerrilla out today for a plein air session, and loved the easy setup. The palette space is small, but I had no problem with that. And, I loved that I could put my wet canvas into the lid for portability. This testing an easel is pretty fun! The weather looks cooler next week, my Guerilla painter testing session will continue-stay tuned!

Janet's gesture reinforced my belief in my art friends and led me to pause to contemplate my gratitude for them. Everyday I am thankful for all of my art friends, beautiful wonderful people! Thank you, I appreciate you all!





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Setting Up An Art Website

LESSONS LEARNED: What to do BEFORE you create your website

#1 Set Aside Several Hours to work on your site.
Mine has taken me (just to get basic bones) about 12 hours (4hrs/day over 3 days).

Research
First and foremost who will host your website? What is important to you? How technical are you? What do you hear about Customer Support?

I have been thinking of creating a website for some time (9 months or so). And, I have looked for sites that I like (art websites) and asked my art friends what sites they use. Art Friend feedback counted strongly for the host that I chose for my website - FASO (Fine Art Studio Online).

Domain Name
What will you call your website? Is that Domain Name available? You can Google for Domain Name to verify whether or not it is available.

Art Inventory
What pictures of your work will you feature? Title, Size, Price, Availability all should be documented in an Art Inventory (I use an Excel Spreadsheet). You will have to type in this information, and it is easier if you can refer to your Inventory list.

Quality Photos/Photo Inventory 
Each artwork that you want to feature on your website must be presented in its best light, and you have to have a quality image of said art. Uploading photos is easy, but you again need to have an image inventory from which to choose!

About Me
You should have an Art Resume, if not create one. I imported my art resume into my About Me section. Also here it is suggested that you have a photo of you, another image that you need.

Events
This is an important section, where you should list upcoming art shows. I used a show postcard to add my upcoming event dates and times and I included a link to that gallery. All of this information you should have next to you when you create your site.

Blog
One question to ask is if you can link your existing blog to your website. Or, conversely if you are not or will not blog -- can you hide that option. I cannot tell you how many times I have gone to an artist website, clicked on their blog link only to see a post from 2 years ago-UGH remove that link!

Link To Social Media
You should have an existing Facebook or Instagram or Pinterest to link to -- set this up beforehand. These days an Art Business Page on Facebook seems to be the norm.

CONCLUSION:
As you can see, it is not as easy as "Yeah, just sign up for a website." There is much work that you must put into it.

Here is my website link - which I will warn you is still a work in progress, it still needs more art images. I had to Go Live before I was ready in order to ensure that I got the Domain Name that I wanted. It takes a long time to take a good photo, upload an art photo,  and write a description -- creating an art inventory alone is work! But, if you have all of the above done, it will help you get your website live faster!

Green Handle Art Website
greenhandleart.com

Roses in Bloom

Light, Romance, & Roses Abound

English Rose

Lately, I have been focusing on making lighter brighter paintings. Some of this is intentional as I have a show this fall that is in a darker venue which led me to realize that I want to feature brighter works.

While I may not be in love with the English Rose painting, I am in love with the rose in her hair. I had fun painting this portrait. I was focused more on paint strokes and composition than I was features. The model is more petite and soft in real life. I loved how the light hit her braid and how the light hit the flower in her hair - beautiful. Also, I used a huge brush to paint in the choppy background--a new "try" for me. I wanted a loose thick background brushstroke--so I bought a new big brush. I tried to mix several purples to be in the background and I also tried to lay them in and leave them...And seemingly as always, this one looks better in person. Actually this painting style reminds me of two great artists--John Larriva & Malcom Liepke --both are terrific artists whom I admire!

Lost in Austen

My first version of Lost In Austen, painted quickly en plein air was not as good as I wanted it to be. Using photo references, I created this painting which I like much better.  The hat was difficult to paint as it had a veil up behind it, so I had to work to create a transparent look. The features represent the model fairly accurately, although I did put a little more emphasis on her mouth -which I left intentionally larger than reality. Also, hard to tell in this picture, but there is much light on the left side of her face and hair. I went back in and added a really white light yellow to the left side. The strokes in the background were made with a little brush --I like the Van Gogh-ish aspects of this background.

Be Still My Soul

This next scene, Be Still My Soul, is also a bit romantic, although I am not sure about the look on her face.? This is a favorite model of mine and she usually has attitude--which I still feel here even though I wanted a softer look! I perhaps made her gaze too high... Hmmm...And I may change the title, she looks so church lady...

Otherwise, I like the light bright beauty of Be Still My Soul. The hat was awash with light and seemed the brightest aspect of the portrait. I also loved the darks and lights in her hair. And, the rose pattern on her robe was rather delicious... This is the painting that inspired me to get a big brush for background as I had wanted tons of paint and a darker teal; yet when I used my big brushes at home they blended and left lines that I didn't like. So when I went back in to remove the lines, I mushed the background and it became a little light...

Enchanted Summer

And the latest in the outdoor rose romance series is...Enchanted Summer. This painting does not capture the model's features - but I still like it. Once again, I focused on brushwork and light. I wanted the white dress to be the lightest brightest. I went back in and added cad yellow light to white to the blouse to get a nice white glow (which matches the bright green background). And, I wanted to play a bit with the background--in reality this was painted indoors but I have a show coming up and needed an outdoor background. I added the pink color over the green background, which really helps with the visual interest.