Busyness

It seems that for several years, seven at least, I have been keeping myself too busy to do what I love best.  Paint.  How do we do that?  WHY do we do that?  Or am I the only one? 

About 10 years ago, I painted this painting for a friend of her beloved horse, Dreamy.  It is done with watercolor and measures 17 x 19 inches.  Just last week, she called me and asked if I would paint portraits of two more horses.  "Of course", said I. Prince and Tomahawk are now in the line-up now.  Also last week, a friend found out that I used to teach art classes to children and asked if I would teach ten students for the month of June.  "Of course", said I again.  I am hoping these adventures will help me to eliminate all the 'other' busyness from my life as I focus in on what I enjoy most, art in all forms. 

Sweet Violet's

 My booth is now officially in business.  On May 2nd, I went in with my friend and set it up.  There was a small glitch in that the first number I was assigned was incorrect.  I was given a new number.  Sounds benign except that I had labeled all of my merchandise with my old number.  So, I spent a considerable amount of time crossing off the old number and writing in the new one.

Last Friday, Donna and I went out shopping at all of our local garage sales.  We found quite a few treasures to add to our little booth.  I took my items over yesterday and snapped a few photos while there.










My cards seem to be a big hit.  The owner told me that people comment on how lovely they are and are happy to see them added to the shop.  The larger of the two racks holds cards that measure 5x7 inches.  They seem to be the most popular, because the rack was sparse when I was in yesterday.  Today, I will spend some time printed up more to fill in a bit.  The open drawer of the small table holds gift cards.  I made 100 of them.  They measure 2.5 x 3.5 inches and come with an envelope.  Indeed, they are cute! 

Irish Countryside

I am not home yet, but I downloaded the pictures from my camera.  The color was not right for some reason.  I played with one and got it looking like the original painting.  The countryside in Ireland must be just breathtaking!  This particular painting called "A Walk in the Country" is an ACEO, Artist Cards, Editions and Originals.  The size format for ACEO is 3.5" x 2.5".  People collect them and store them in baseball card albums. 

Sahuarita

This weekend we are spending time with family in the little town of Sahuarita.  My husband is working around the house helping his brother make some upgrades.  I am sitting at the table in the large guest room, painting away the hours.  I painted three paintings today.  They are all paintings of the countryside of Ireland.  I have never been to Ireland, but I was looking at some basic pictures of the what the countryside looks like and decided to make up a few pieces.  I will post them when I get home and can retrieve them from my camera.  Hasta la vista!

New Endeavor

I have leased a space in a local consignment shop.  My neighbor and friend, Donna and I are sharing it together.  She makes wonderful lotions and creams.  The shop is a nice one and has been in business at the same location for over three years.  It is run by a woman and two of her friends.  Product is quite various, with antiques, clothing, jams and jellies, jewelry, and now even my art work.  To date, there is no other person selling art.

I have been busy printing note cards and matting prints for sale in my booth.  I will also be hanging several originals.  It has been fun hitting garage sales looking for display furnishings.  I found a nice little, solid mahogany night stand in excellent condition.  My note card rack sits perfectly on top of it.  I also found a low bookshelf to place on the back wall of the booth.  One of my original paintings will be placed above it.

Moving day is May 2nd.  Donna and I are planning on doing a quick paint job and then getting set up as quickly as possible.  As soon as it's set, I'll post some pictures here.

Dahlia

I finished my little 7x5 watercolor painting today.  I have decided to paint on a larger format now for a while.  At least 8x10 or larger.  Small paintings can get frustrating, because they are tedious due to such small detail.  When you see the miniature paintings done by any artist, know that they were difficult to paint. 

I haven't yet decided on a photo for my next painting.  My daughter sent me a few photos, maybe I will feel inspired to paint one.  

I use a Panasonic DMC-ZS1 to capture the images of my paintings.  I have been very happy with it until today.  For some reason, my computer does not see the camera anymore.  We have tried multiple things to remedy this, to no avail.  I will be digging out my old Olympus C-3000 camera until I can get this figured out.  The image here was scanned using my Cannon CannoScan-4400F. 

Painting Away

 
I have been painting for a little while.  But, looking out the window seems to be more of what I have been doing.  As you can see, the birds are having a play day at the feeder. The jays are usually the first to find the food when I put it out.  They like the sunflower seeds as do the doves.  The smaller birds like the seed up in the statue's skirt.  My cat recently died, so they don't have to be as cautious as they used to! 

And this is how my painting is coming along.  I photographed the dahlias some time ago while on a camping trip.  Dahlias are so beautiful, don't you think?  My studio is a little bit chilly this time of year, so I had to quit for a bit.  I hope to finish this painting in the next day or two. 

Website Complete

Yay!  My new website is finished.  I added the guest book, and also included some links to several of my favorite art books!  The new challenge will be to keep my blog current.  Finding the time and material to write is my basic issue.  A friend told me I don't have any trouble talking, so shouldn't have any trouble writing!



Now, I am heading to my studio to begin a new painting, a floral, of course.  I drew up some dahlias and will paint them a soft peachy pink.  I'd better get started!

Finished

I basically finished the work on my restructured website.  I am uploading it currently.  There are a couple of pages that I will continue to build, such as the 'books', 'contact', and 'guest book' pages.  I hope you enjoy browsing my new site. 

Soon

I have been busy for the past two days, building a new website.  It is a lot of work.  I am hoping to go live within the next few days.  While the site is not totally complete, I still want to have it online.  The guest book can wait.  That will take some real research.  I have no idea how to build one and am hoping to find info on the forums. 

Getting There

I spent a week in Scottsdale, recently, completing some real estate classes for license renewal.  I stayed at my son's house.  He took a few minutes (literally) to make my website look similar to my blog, Etsy Shop, and FB Fan page.  It isn't beautiful, but matches.  Now I will begin to design something and won't have to feel like I have to hurry up and get it done!  I did get a little tired of sitting at the computer so many hours recently building all of these projects.  Then, after spending 3 full days of sitting in classes, I surely am tired of sitting! 

Also, I need to find time to paint during all of this.  That only entails more sitting!  LOL.  I did have the opportunity to work in the yard this afternoon.  That was my exercise for the day.  Now, back to the computer again. 

Change

Wow, I am on a quest.  I have opened an Etsy Shop.  It's lovely.  I am trying to redesign my blogs, my Facebook Fan Page, and my website to all be similar to my Etsy Shop.  This has turned out to be quite the ordeal!  I have had a blog for a couple of years and my website for over 10 years.  I had never thought of having them matchy matchy before.  Since I like what I have seen with several other shop owners, I have taken up the venture.  It has proven to be a great, but fun, challenge. 

My original website was first built by my son who was probably about 16 or 17 at the time.  He has changed the design of it for me several times over the years.  Now he is married and has a family, so I believe it is time for me to figure this out for myself.  Unlike my son, my coding skills are enormously limited so, I will be using website design software.  Art in all it's forms, be it painting, crochet, sewing, card making, web design, it's all FUN to me! 

My Etsy Shop is open although it is rather empty at the moment.  My blog is currently being created.  My Facebook Fan Page is viewable.  My website is next in line for creation.  I look forward to you joining me in this marvelous new journey.