Go with the "Flow"

Finally, some time in the studio. It wasn't a lot of time and the result is not all that great but...It was still time creating. And well, I did promise to post the picture good, bad or otherwise. This piece is really an "otherwise"...LOL

So here is "Flow", mixed media on paper. An experiment using pastels and watercolor pencils. The two media didn't really create an amazing effect but it is interesting to see what happens when you combine different flavors.

I hope you are spending some quality time in your studio and remember don't be afraid to experiment. Each supposed failure is a success...you now know how to not do something. And a lot of those lead to the best way to do something.

Till next time...happy creating!

Welcome 2011

What a fantastic way to start off the new year...an entire morning spent drawing at the Garrison Art Center (GAC). If you have never been there, you should go. It is a lovely place and they run lots of great classes. My favorite is their Drawing and Painting from Life...no surprise there. Today, they had the most amazing model, Tanya. My pieces do not do her justice and I cannot wait to attend the next class she models for.

So today, I did not have work and I was on the fence about taking the almost hour drive to the GAC to take their life drawing class. But after getting my favorite little artist off to school and my hubby heading back to bed since he is fighting a cold, I got myself together and headed out. This is a non-instructional class which allows you to open up and be creative. There is really no agenda except your own. It starts out with quick draws, a minute a piece then two then five. Barely enough time to get a line drawn on the paper. But then you find you are warmed up and you move into 10 minute poses, then 15, then 20 and at last...25. Then...poof...class is over and you are left wanting more. It is a glorious way to spend 3 hours!

I cannot wait to go back! Aside from these pieces I have a number of lovely little gems just waiting to be turned into larger pieces.

Wishing you all a fabulous 2011 and happy creating!

I Believe

The holidays are wonderful and yet, the holidays are so hard. A very wonderful friend of my mom and dad lost her husband 17 months ago to cancer. At the beginning of their journey in dealing with this disease she started a blog. The intent was to keep everyone updated on how they were doing; it was easier than trying to e-mail everyone. However, over the months as they battled together to overcome this obstacle in their lives the blog turned into something more. It became a testament of their love and commitment to each other. It is a beautiful and sad story of a journey that did not end in happily ever after.

I don't visit the blog very often, I jump in periodically to see how this lovely lady is doing. Mostly, I find the rawness of her writing overwhelming and beautiful. I read her entry late last night and it stayed with me. I thought about it throughout my morning routine and throughout my day. And then again as I began to write my blog entry.

So here is what I believe this holiday season...Life is too short to argue over gifts and who's house you should have Christmas dinner at. Spend time with those you love since you never know when they will be gone. Above all...celebrate the lives that touched yours.

And I wish for my parents' dear friend to have a wonderful holiday season and may it be filled with all the individuals in her life talking about her husband with love and laughter.

So...

I believe, I believe,
I believe in wishing wells,
But I also believe in a lot of things,
Things the daisy tells,
I believe, I believe that a four-leaf clover brings,
Lots of luck, lots of joy, lots of happiness,
I believe those things.
And when it's christmas time I believe in santa claus,
Why do I believe, I guess that I believe because
I believe, I believe,
I believe that dreams come true,
If you wish for a dream by a wishing well,
Don't tell your wish or you'll break the spell,
It may sound naive, but that's what I believe.

And when it's christmas,
I try to believe in santa claus,
Why do I believe,
I guess that I believe because
I believe, I believe,
I do believe that dreams come true,
And if you wish for a dream by the wishing well,
Don't you tell the wish or you'll break the spell,
It may sound naive,
But that's what I happen to believe.

Sang by Frank Sinatra

Happy creating!

It's Not Easy Being Green

So, do you remember while back when I mentioned that there is a mom at my favorite little artist's school who sends her children to school with garbage-less lunches? Well, guess what...I now also send my favorite little artist to school with garbage-less lunches...well very close to it anyway :-)

I thought it would be hard but after conversation with my sister and a look at how I packed up her lunches, I realized it was do-able. All it really required was a shift in thinking. For instance, I so hate plastic shopping pages so I use re-usable bags, yet I would use plastic sandwich and snack bags everyday for lunch. Do you see the hypocrisy in that? So, lunches are now packed with all re-usable containers and it's not very hard. In fact, it is easier in some respects and now sandwiches never get squished.

So in honor of my breakthrough on the being green front, here is the picture for today, although it was done a few weeks ago, called "It's Not Easy Being Green", mixed media, 10"x12". However, the irony is that it is not as hard are we may think.

So make a little change for Mother Earth...reduce, re-use, recycle. And with that I step down from my soap box. Happy creating!

It's Friday!

I cannot believe that it is Friday! This week and last have just been a blur and to top it off I haven't accomplished everything I wanted. However, this week marked the beginning of a new beginning...I am no longer "in transition"...woo hoo. I started a new position on Thursday and am once again part of the gainfully employed.

Everything happened so fast and I am still trying to wrap my head around it. One thing I do know is that I need to continue to work on my art and building GarnetOriginals. My small little business must survive! There are some good things coming together for GO...professional pictures will soon be done and then quality greeting cards will be printed. It will be exciting to have an inventory to work with and see if any local stores will carry the cards.

Tomorrow will be an art focused day once soccer mom duty is over. My favorite little artist and I are looking forward to some quality time in the art room.

This Sunday I will be at the Bayside Arts Festival which should be lots of fun. If you are local I hope you will stop on by.

Last but certainly not least...my wonderful friend made it through her surgery and is a breast cancer survivor. Don't forget...October is breast cancer awareness month so get your pink on!

Love to all and happy creating!

To the dogs...

Today was Hounds on the Sound...it was a puppy filled day. Unfortunately for me, my products didn't quite work with the dog-lovin' crowd. I sold some items but not enough to break even which was quite depressing. Next weekend if the Arts & Musical Festival at the Playland Boardwalk which I think will be a better venue for me. It is a two-day event so lots of opportunities to sell my work and network.

October is breast cancer awareness month. Please take a moment to send positive energy to all those friends and loved ones who are battling this disease. Also, ladies be sure to get your "girls" checked out...early detection saves lives!

Love to you all and happy creating!

Do you like the pink pic? Found it here. Thanks self-tanning queen.

Monday, Monday

It is a dreary, rainy Monday...it was not quite as dread filled as I imagined but the day is not over yet. I meet w/my favorite little artist's teacher in about 20 minutes... I hope we can come up w/a good plan and get my girl on track.

I am happy to say, I started a new mixed media piece for my Green series. I am optimistic about it and the colors are very autumn-ish...orange & green. Oh, get this, one of the moms at school sends her children to school with trash-less lunches. I am totally impressed and in awe. The most amazing thing about it is how casual she is about it, like everyone has clothes napkins to send their children to school with. But seriously, it is a great thing and many kudos to her. What a fabulous example, Ed Begley would be proud.

Well gotta run...more tomorrow and happy creating!

Mixed Up Crazy Day

Today was a bit of a crazy day, well actually the last two days have been hectic. My favorite little artist started kindergarten yesterday and we are adjusting to a whole new routine since she is taking the bus this year. And since she is the second stop in the morning the bus comes early (well for us anyway), 7:45. So every morning I wake her up at 7:10 so she can get ready and be on time for the bus. Once she is safely aboard her bus, I wait until just after 8 and drive over to the school to make sure she arrived safely and she knows where she is going. Now, please know the school has a whole system for making sure each child gets to her/his assigned class safely but until I know for sure she knows what to do I will meet her at school.

Today, after leaving the school I got myself together for an interview in NYC. I left plenty of time for traffic since the location I was headed to was easier to drive to then to take the bus/train. It took me longer to get there and get home then the interview lasted. I am not optimistic that they will call me back and oddly I am really ok with that. However, feeling that you will once again be rejected just puts a depressing damper on the day. It was beautiful and sunny but I still felt sad that is until my favorite little artist climbed off her bus and was home!

The rest of the day was very productive from an art perspective. However, I will have to wait to post the pieces completed today since it was too dark to photograph them. But on the bright side, here the mixed media piece I did yesterday, "Go Green", 10"x12". I have to say, I really have a lot of fun creating these mixed media pieces. I don't know if it is just the fact that it is something new or that I get to pull apart documents that made my life (and the lives of some others) a living hell. No matter which it is, they sure are a blast to create.

On a different but related note, my favorite gallery in Brooklyn, The Greenpoint Gallery, is having another salon show. I am so excited to submit my two new mixed media pieces for exhibit. I'll be sure to share more information on the show.

Have a wonderful evening and happy creating!

Blue Angel

I decided since there are so many people out there who love angels, I might as well do another one. So now I have two angel designs to be used for cards, journals, etc...

Golden Angel belongs to my cousin but Blue Angel (shown here), 7"x9", acrylic, is up for grabs. If you like her let me know.

Happy Creating!

Two Almost Complete Paintings

Here are the two pieces referred to in this post.

Today was a good art day. Other than applying the gloss medium, I did two paintings. The gloss medium I lent to my sister and I will pick it up tomorrow. Once glossed, I will photograph and post both pieces. It was wonderful to spend some quality time in my studio. It is a good break from the monotony of searching for a full-time job. Supposedly, the economy is getting better but I don't see it. All I find is that the same jobs are reposted repeatedly. There is one position that has been on the jobs for over ONE year! Is the employer really hiring? With the amount of unemployed individuals I find it really unlikely they haven't found a qualified individual to fill the spot. Especially, since the position isn't one that requires rare skills.

Tomorrow, I will continue my search and hopefully will find something that will match well with my skill set. I also hope to go to the library and start a new green mixed media piece.

Happy creating!

Green is Good

For anyone who knows me, I have some green tendencies. Mind you, I am no Ed Begley, and I could certainly do many things in a more green focused way but for the most part I do try and be environmentally friendly.

A couple of months ago I received a packet from a prior employer. The amount of paper contained in the packet was appalling and really uncalled for. What is worse, if I was still an employee of the company the packet would have contained even more paper! Now, understand that there are federal laws and regulations that require employers to send employees certain information, however, it does not always have to be in hard copy. In fact, my colleagues and I tried desperately to avoid having to drown employees in this much paper. Unfortunately, we lost the battle to one very stubborn individual who pulled rank on us.

I really hated the thought of putting all this paper in the recycle bin. But what could I do with it? The answer...create a mixed media work. So today is the unveiling of my first mixed media piece which incorporates re-using a small portion of the mound of paper received from a past employer. The work is called "Green is Good", 10"x12", decoupage and acrylic.

The title comes from a tag line that I include on all my e-mails. To be honest, I copied it from a wonderful woman I used to work with. It is short and sweet and hopefully reminds people to think before printing e-mails, etc.

I hope you enjoy today's piece. Happy creating!