Another Day of Sketching

No finished or in progress piece to share today. The day was spent cleaning, attending a 2 hour webinar, drafting my thank you letter, watching my little one and food shopping. Tomorrow I am hoping to get the beginnings of an acrylic painting started since I have a great number of sketches to choose from. I may also look to do a pastel drawing since I just love doing them.

Tonight is the reception at the Aeon Logic Gallery but I have opted not to attend. It would be way too many trips to Brooklyn in one week. I was there on Sunday and Tuesday, then Thursday for my interview and most likely will go there tomorrow night for the opening at the CCCP Gallery.

Happy Friday!

No Sleep till Brooklyn!

Well not exactly but close. I had an interview in Brooklyn today which means I did not sleep most of last night. As much as I try I get very nervous before an interview which means no sleep the night before.

So most of yesterday and all of today was dedicated to preparing for the interview. I was glad to get some painting in yesterday, which was a much needed distraction. Today, however, no painting but I did get to sketch outside for a bit. The weather was very windy but warm and the sun felt so good. I said to my favorite little artist who was digging in the garden that we need the sun as much as the flowers do.

I normally don't share my sketches but since this is where my creative energies were spent today I have posted one. I am hoping to turn this one into an acrylic painting in the near future. It was inspired by the tree in my neighbor's front yard. I liked how the branches dipped and curved. This is in part because the tree is growing around the electrical wires.

Don't deny the creative part of yourself...it feeds your soul.

Work in Progress - Getting Closer

Well I am getting closer to a finished painting since I returned to working on my oil painting. It is starting to come alive. There is still a lot of work to be done on it but I am happy with the progress.

I am struggling with the center area which you can probably tell. That is why I opted to stop working on it for today so I can take a step back and decide what I want to do. It will also give the paint some time to set so I don't end up with muddied colors which is what was happening.

I will be excited when this addition to the Mother series is done. An oil painting is a time consuming undertaking but one that is worth the time and effort. Whether you are an abstract artist, a realist or somewhere in-between the satisfaction of completing an oil painting is the same. I am sure there are artists out there who would disagree and to them I say...to each their own.

So the only downside to working in oils today is that my hands are a bit discolored. I am not always so neat and cleaning brushes is a hands on task. I am hoping a little nail polish remover will remove the last remnants paint before my interview tomorrow. However, if they hire me it won't be the last time that they see me with paint on my hands.

Happy painting!

Brooklyn

My life seems to be converging on Brooklyn. I just submitted three pieces for exhibition at the Aeon Logic Gallery in Brooklyn and I have a job interview in Brooklyn on Thursday.

I do not have a piece to share today but that does not mean I have not worked on my art. This morning I did a couple of sketches, I framed up the three pieces for the exhibition and drove to Brooklyn to drop the works off. To see the pieces that will be displayed visit http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=172219&id=277005384811&ref=mf.

Well I am off to make dinner and then get my girl ready for bed. If it is an early night for her maybe I'll sketch more but then again maybe I should begin preparing for my interview...ah reality is starting to weasel in on my glorious free time.

Good news...one of my works, Butterfly Swirl, is now available as a tote through bagstab. To view/purchase visit http://bagstab.net/shop/index.php?_a=viewCat&catId=6.

XO

Here is the completed picture from yesterday's post. It is called "XO", acrylic on bristol, 10"x13". I am very happy with the way it turned out. It was actually one of the first sketches I did while in Lake Placid.

Now I just need to get it framed and I will submit it to the show which has a drop off deadline of tomorrow...ACK!

XO to all.

Happy Birthday to ME!

Well today is my birthday and no I am not going to tell you how old I am. HAHA

So far it has been a good day filled with lovely b-day wishes. I have participated in a webinar about being in "transition" which is a nice way of saying you are unemployed. It was a little too long for me but the facilitator was very good. But the good news if I heard back from another gallery in...you guessed it - Brooklyn. The universe seems to be sending me to Brooklyn these days. So the big question is can I pick out 3 pieces and have them ready for hanging so I can drop them off by tomorrow night? We shall see.

My plans for today are lunch with a friend and dinner with my family and somewhere in between to finish my piece from yesterday so I can post it. Maybe if I can finish it I will submit it as one of the pieces for the show this weekend. It is so strange, I have been creating art on/off for over 15 years but never really exhibited anywhere. Now, in the span of about 2 months I have participated in 4 group shows, if I can get together and do the show this weekend that makes 5. The best part is that many of these shows have either very low or no entry fees, which is great when you are a starving artist. What would be better is if one of my pieces sold. But for now I am happy to be part of the art world, sorry it took me so long to get here.

Work in Progress - Acrylic Panting

Yes, I know three posts in one day is a bit much but what can I tell you. Since being unemployed I have too much time on my hands and yet I have no time.

Here is a picture of the work in progress for today. I opted to do a rather large acrylic painting, 10"x13". Well, that is large for me when working in acrylic, if we were talking oils...actually, I would never do an oil that small. I am excited to work on it more tomorrow and then to post the finished piece.

Be prepared to see more acrylic pieces.

Mayday! - Mayday!

I know I posted this morning and most likely I will post later tonight if/when I complete today's work but since this is my blog I figured I can post as much or as little as I want.

I took seven pieces with me to the C.C.C.P. Gallery today since I wasn't sure exactly what the curator would need. Based on my communications with him I figured he would pick three, maybe four, pieces to exhibit. I was so thrilled when he chose five!! Mother's Soul shown here is one of the pieces. I have to say, she framed up beautifully!

The group show, called Mayday! - Mayday!, is scheduled to run for a full month. The gallery is an actual storefront in Brooklyn and the opening reception is on May 1st. I am so excited! it would be great if a piece sold through the show.

One thing I did realize is that the two acrylic pieces are what grabbed the curator first, so I am going to make an effort to do at least two acrylic paintings each week.

Well until later when I post a new piece or perhaps an excuse on why I haven't posted a new piece. LOL

Getting Ready to drive to Brooklyn

Well, I was hoping to go to Brooklyn yesterday but it didn't work out. So today, in the rain, I get to make the trek. It is not as bad as you think as long as there is no traffic. However, in my opinion going to Brooklyn is like taking a trip to another country. It is so different from the suburb of Westchester that I live in. Part of me wishes that when I was younger I was more adventurous and explored the outer boroughs of NY... I wonder if it would have inspired me to stay with my dream of living and working as an artist. But it is never to late to chase a dream so today I will drive to Brooklyn to be part of a group show that lasts for a whole month...YEAH!! For now, I will enjoy being a mom, a wife and an artist until I finally find a job that pays the bills and gives health insurance. You can't escape reality but you can enjoy the rare chance that allows you to ignore it for a bit.

Enjoy this rainy Sunday.

Branch

Today's piece is called "Branch", pastel on paper, 6"x9". I love the original sketch for its simplicity but I do need to look at it in the morning light. Doing work late in the day with no natural light is not really the best way to create. However, it was a very busy day and my little artist had pushed me to my limits. I had to instill a "mommy timeout"...haha

So after cooling down and putting the sweet one to bed, I looked for a movie to watch and decided on "Julie & Julie" which I love. If you want to watch a nice movie this is it...good humor and a good story line. In fact it was after watching this movie that I decided to finally take the plunge and start my own blog. I had wanted to do a blog for awhile but never knew what I would write about. It is amazing what being unemployed and watching a movie can inspire. :-)

So enough rambling...back to art. I love tracing paper, it makes it so easy to replicate a sketch and not lose the integrity of the original. I also love pastels, they give me instant gratification. Pastels, unlike oils or acrylics, allow me to create a work in a couple hours. I know there are pastel experts out there who spend hours on their creations but that is not me. I love the immediacy with which I can create a lovely, soft work.

Some happy news...Yesterday evening I received an e-mail from a curator and will be participating in a month long group show in Brooklyn. So tomorrow I will make the trip to Brooklyn to drop off 3-4 pieces. I have actually chosen 7 to bring with me for the curator to choose from. So if anyone is local I hope you will stop by. Here is the link to the gallery with the info on the show and the opening http://jahartny.tripod.com/cccp/id2.html.

Until tomorrow my friends.

Work in Progress

Success! Well maybe not quite success but definitely an improvement. Here is an "after" picture of the piece I referenced yesterday that has been sitting forgotten on my easel. I will see if I can find a "before" so you can see the progress made.

I decided to keep using the colors I originally started out with since when I looked at them today they felt right. It is so nice when you still like the paints you picked out when you originally start working on something.

I did rework some of the lines of the piece and gave it much more contrast between the lights and the darks. All in all, i am very happy with the progress. There are still a couple of areas that I need to focus on but I think as I keep working on the piece it will all come together.

Most likely, I will not work on this piece again until Monday, 4/26. This will give the paints a little bit of drying time and my little artist will be back in school. I may have her look at the piece to get her input since I like to hear what she has to say. It is amazing the insight you can get from a 4 year old...good honest feedback. LOL

So be sure to check back and see the progress of the piece and I will see if I can find a before picture since I didn't think to take one before I started to paint today but I believe my friend may have one (fingers are crossed).

Till tomorrow my friends.

Contemplating

There is a canvas sitting on my easel with the beginnings of an oil painting. It has been there for months (literally). Everyday, when I enter my studio I look at it and wonder "when will you ask me to finish you?". I want to finish it but the feeling of the work is gone or so it seems. So at this moment I am contemplating...do I just paint over it and start fresh or perhaps take stab at reworking it? Maybe different colors and some fine-tuning of the lines will make me feel inspired. Stay tuned till tomorrow when I tackle this forgotten piece to see if I can bring it to life. Whether successful or not I will post a daily work-in-progress picture until the piece is done. Well maybe not daily, but for each day I work on it since I have a feeling I will do pastel drawings or acrylic paintings as I continue to work on this oil painting.

Here's to the power of the paintbrush!

Bloom

Today's piece is called "Bloom", pastel on paper, 12"x9".

My favorite little artist wanted to know if it was someone's back. I love getting her feedback on my work...she definitely has her own opinions. For this piece, she likes it but not the line that goes down the middle.

This is one 0f the rare pieces I have done that is horizontal versus vertical. This piece is actually a crop of the original sketch. This was done for two reasons... 1. there was a part of the original sketch I did not like; 2. the paper I wanted to use was smaller than the size of the paper the original sketch was done on. Hopefully, you weren't looking for an artsy philosophical reason :-)

This piece is an adaptation of an earlier piece called "Back". I like to rework concepts to come up with a new sketch or piece. Somedays I actually feel obsessed by a certain subject matter and no matter what I do it will find its way into my sketch or painting or pastel. Then as quickly as it has possessed me then it goes or sometimes not...sometimes it just stays with me. Maybe it goes dormant for a bit then it pops back up.

So I say to you...feed your inner passion and desires since you never know where it may lead.

Curves

Finally! So it is not as easy as it seems to create a piece of artwork everyday. Life is just to unpredictable and believe it or not yesterday I just didn't want to create, I was in a funk. But today is totally different...I just want to hole up in my studio and keep working on my art!

Today's piece is called "Curves", pastel on paper, 12"x14". It is larger then some of my previous works. This has to do with the fact that I bought a larger sketchbook while in Lake Placid. I was frustrating myself by my sketches becoming to small.

This piece is done on colored paper and the areas that are not colored are just as important as the colored spaces. This piece is also a play on dark and light, similar to an earlier piece posted (Back) but this is more subtle I think.

I enjoyed creating this sketch and then having it come alive through color. I did the initial sketch at my sister's house as I babysat for her littlest guy. It is so rejuvenating to be around a little one. The innocence and laughter easily lifts your spirits. So between some time with a good little guy and knowing that my girl would be home from school shortly this piece came alive.

Here is to all the mommies out there...I know somedays these little loves can get on our last nerve but in the end what would we do without their small voices, easy smiles and tender love?

Still no art...

Well, still no art to post. Maybe tomorrow. :-)

No Artwork Today or Tomorrow

Well, my day didn't go as planned so no artwork to post and tomorrow is a travel day so most likely there will not be a piece. I will be sad to leave Lake Placid since being here is very relaxing but I need to get back into the swing of reality. I have a job interview on Tuesday and my best girl needs to get back to school.

I have been able to do a number of great sketches while being away and I can't wait to turn them into great pieces.

Stay tuned for more art coming on Tuesday.

Love Grows

Welcome to the weekend! Today's piece is called "Love Grows", pastel on paper, 9"x12".

The sketch for this piece was done yesterday and I liked how it combined "mother and tree". Two of my favorite subject matters. A number of years ago I did a large piece with a similar subject matter but I think I like this rendition better. Also, I created this piece on colored paper. I am really getting into using colored paper, it adds a different element to the piece and I find that I am not as compulsive about having "color" cover every inch of the paper.

Being in Lake Placid is very relaxing and even a simple trip to the grocery store has you surrounded by beautiful scenes. The trees and mountains of the Adirondack are amazing. Every time I come up here I feel as if I can breathe...it is a truly fabulous feeling.

Enjoy your weekend!

My Love Too

Success...the piece came out better than expected. It is called "My Love Too", pastel on paper, 6"x9" (I think, I didn't bring a ruler w/me to Lake Placid).

The amazing power of tracing paper, this is a mirror image to "My Love" done earlier this week. I really liked how that sketch came out so it has been recycled :-)

I really fought with this piece during the creative process. I actually, let it sit for a little bit and came back to it. I found that I used many more colors then I typically do but that was all part of the creative journey of using dark paper. I have taken to experimenting with different color paper for my pastels since it adds another element to the piece. However, using this dark paper really posed a challenge but in the end I do like the result.

I have to say I have fond memories of this paper. Many years ago I did an internship at the graphic design company of very good friends of my parents. I had the very unglamorous task of creating these boards that consisted of this incredible green paper and tracing paper. I opted to keep many of the scraps created from the production process and am now, more than 10 years later, putting them to good use. I enjoyed my time interning at the company but found that graphic design just wasn't for me. Oh, well live and learn.

So as I worked on "My Love Too" I thought about the wonderful friends of my parents who helped me fulfill an important part of getting my masters degree. They were a fantastic loving couple who created a nurturing work environment. It is sad that God called one of them home too soon...but I am grateful to have had him touch my life.

So think about those you love or have touched your life in some way. You will find that it comes through in your creative process.

Tax Day

No artwork yesterday since I was en-route to Lake Placid. But now that I am here, my goal is to get back on track with one artwork a day. Right now I am working on a piece but so far I am not very happy with it. I am trying different paper, dark green paper, and find that I am struggling with it. Well art is an adventure in creativity so we shall see where this "adventure" leads me. Hopefully, I will be able to post a picture I am happy with or else you will hear about the failure since we learn by failing.

My Love

Today's piece is called "My Love", it is acrylic on bristol and is 6"x9".

I am happy with the way the arm came out. I like the thought of a mother wrapping her arms around her stomach, cherishing the time her child is part of her body.

Anyway, today's piece is larger than yesterday's and the area I was unhappy with yesterday has been corrected. My little artist helped pick out the colors and we even picked out paints for her artwork as well.

I love working in my studio with my girl. She makes art fun and exciting and everything is new. She was thrilled to be able to use Mommy's paints spread on a pallet that she could hold like an "artist".

So to everyone, I say let your inner artist come out and play...for inspiration watch a child color or paint. It is an amazing thing to watch.

Color in the lines???

My favorite little artist told me today that her art teacher at school tells her she needs to color in the lines, she is not to do scribble scrabble.

I was heart-broken...what a way to destroy a child's creativity. Who says you have to color in the lines??? So what if what she draws is not your typical picture, that does not make it scribble scrabble. All these thoughts ran through my head as I was working on "Mine" and my little artist was creating her own work. We spend lots of time in my studio together and she is an integral part of my creative process, how do I combat this stifling attitude?

I took a deep breath and in a calm voice said "At school the teacher is the boss so if she wants you to color in the lines and not do scribble scrabble then you have to listen. However, when you and mommy are working in the art room at home you can color anyway you want."

It is art, there are no rules and if by chance you are told there are rules then BREAK THEM! Creativity comes from within, not from rules.

Thanks for listening to me vent. I feel much better. :-)

Mine

Today's piece is a very small acrylic painting called "Mine", 3"x5".

I am not sure why I made this so small. It is just a sweet little drawing. In fact it is the first in the Mother series that has an arm. I wasn't sure how an arm would look or work but I am happy with it. The colors were chosen with the help of my favorite little artist, who by the way, always chooses purple. I do like purple and green together. I am not 100% happy with the way this turned out, one section bothers me and since I felt pulled in a number of directions while I tried to paint this I wasn't focused. So long story short, I didn't realize I didn't like a section until after I glazed the piece and then went to photograph it...ugh!

Let me know if there is a section that doesn't work for you...it will be interesting to see if it is the same section I am having issues with. But in the end I do think it is a sweet piece and I am happy I added the arm. Perhaps this is the beginning of a trend. However, i doubt I will ever add a head but that is an issue for another post.

Enjoy and have a great evening.

Just for Fun

Today's piece is called "Just for Fun", pastel on paper, 6"x9".

I don't have much to say about this piece, at least I don't think I do. The sketch (and I say that loosely) for this piece is barely more than a number of curved lines on a piece of paper. However, it was fun to try and build color into the piece and see what happened. It was back to blues and reds today with just a punch of orange for no other reason then I thought orange would be fun.

So have fun today in whatever you do and come back tomorrow for more ramblings of an unemployed person who believes she is an artist...but I really am!

Cultivate your curves - they may be dangerous but they won't be avoided. ~Mae West

Old Tree

Here is today's picture, Old Tree, it is pastel on paper, 9"x12".

I spent most of the day outside by the Kensico Dam with three people who make my heart sing. So that is why I think today's picture needed to be a tree. Also, I included my favorite color, blue, and my best girl's favorite color, purple.

I also realized that I will need to really think out how/when I will create my daily piece when school is not in session...maybe I'll post my favorite little artist's work, haha.

I hope you enjoyed this beautiful day!

Mother's Soul

Today's piece is called Mother's Soul, it is acrylic on bristol board, 5"x7".

The sketch for this painting was actually done earlier in the week. And to be honest I wasn't sure if I was going to do it as a pastel or as a painting. However, since my daughter was out for the day I opted to paint.

The colors are earthy since that is how I am feeling today. It did feel a bit strange not to use blue or red since I normally favor those colors but today was about green, brown, orange, yellow. I even used unbleached white since it is softer than regular white. I did not fight with the colors and only had one section that I was concerned about the effect. But I let it be for awhile as I worked on other sections. Then slowly everything came together and when I looked at the painting it seemed to have a light radiating from its core, hence the title.

The Greenpoint Gallery

What a great evening last night. I was able to exhibit three pieces in The Greenpoint Gallery Group show. The works were hung salon style and my pieces were in a great spot.

The Greenpoint Gallery is an awesome space and I was thrilled to be a part of their show. The evening was filled with good music and wonderful art. The experience was what I always imagined an exhibit to be like. Unlike other places I have exhibited at (there are not many) this exhibit was not pretentious. It was truly just fabulous art...each piece elicited a reaction (good, bad, otherwise) but nothing about it was stuffy or just more of the same, if you know what I mean.

I hope to be part of future exhibits and the trek to Brooklyn, not so bad.

Become a fan of the Greenpoint Gallery on by clicking here.

Mother Butterfly

I realized today that all my sketches basically start the same way...with a curved line. Also, it appears that I am still in my "Mother" phase. I have been creating them since 2008 which may seem long but it really isn't considering I have been doing "Trees" since about 1992ish.

This was a fun piece to do and it was full of surprises. First, the original starting curves I erased. As I erased them I was thinking "Why not just move onto a blank page?" But that is not what I was supposed to do. Then as I was creating the pastel I found I was struggling with the magenta color...it was't right and by the time I realized that it was too late. I loved the drawing and the flow of the picture but the magenta bothered me...I stared at my box of pastels and decided the magenta is too pink and needs to be toned down. A little bit of dark red colored into the magenta was all that was needed.

It is interesting I started off my morning open to whatever the universe decides to send my way and I am rewarded with a lovely work (in my humble opinion, anyway).

Oh, I almost forgot...this piece is called Mother Butterfly, pastel on paper, 9"x12".

May the universe send good things your way.

Back

Here is today's piece. It is called "Back", it is pastel on paper, 6"x9". A bit different then what I normally do but sometimes it is just fun to see where the pencil takes you.

Recreating this sketch in pastel gave it a totally different look and feel. The original sketch is so simple, with clean lines. I tried to do a play on lights and darks with the pastel and in some ways I think it looks more like a vegetable.

Unlike yesterday, today it took a number of sketches before I found one that said...make me into a piece of art. Not that the sketches aren't artworks in their own right but for me there is something special in taking the sketch to the next level. As I mentioned before, this piece came into existence by just letting my pencil roam free. Nothing specific in mind except to draw flowing lines and see what happens. Prior to this piece I had been drawing "Mothers", which is the subject matter I am stuck on at the moment.

What does this piece say to you?

Mother Chaos

So here is the first piece created since I posted my experiment this morning. The piece is called "Mother Chaos", it is pastel on paper, 6"x9" and is part of my Mother series. My intent is to submit it to an exhibit called "Incomplete Portrait of Chaos" but I need to find out what, if anything, the gallery charges to exhibit your work. So this piece is out there for your viewing pleasure.

The process for this piece was interesting. I actually did a google search on images of chaos. There is a lot out there. I also read a bit about chaos theory but from this morning to the afternoon I have retained nothing on the subject. But then again I didn't read too deeply.

All of my works start the same way, a simple drawing in my sketchbook. Today was a good creative day since I liked the sketch I did right away, which usually doesn't happen. Next came the determination of paper and since I cleaned/organized my studio I found that I have pastel paper in different colors. The other item I find invaluable is tracing paper. Some designs I will freehand over and over, others, such as the original sketch for Mother Chaos, it is easier to trace them out. Once the tracing is on the paper, I get to play with color which is my favorite part.

So here is my question to you...Do you see the "Mother" in the chaos?

Welcome

Welcome to the GarnetOriginals blog.

This is an experiment in creativity. For the last 15+ years I have lived my life suppressing the artist inside. I have worked in an office and created art sporadically throughout the year. Don't get me wrong, I have enjoyed my work experiences, some more than others, but I was missing the balance that comes from allowing my inner artist to come out and play. So now while I am unemployed I am going to immesh myself in my artwork. The goal is to create at least one work of art everyday.

I will post a picture of the day's piece to this blog and write about the process. So keep an eye out for the first picture coming this evening.

Happy creating!