Catching Up....

This post has been saved as a draft since last May. Originally I, very cleverly, entitled it "Lilacs". I love this picture of the lilacs from my yard so the photo stays, lol. Lilacs fill my house with a fragrance that always reminds me of sunny spring mornings that are filled with anticipation of a lovely day. Unfortunately they don't last long once cut, but their beauty is stunning.

What a year since these lilacs graced my dining room table, many happy days, many sad days. My family and I have had a most devastating loss of my husband last October, preceded by a very rough summer. So that is why I haven't been contributing to any posts here, it's been difficult to share anything creative since my mind has been shattered into many parts.

 

 

Having the seclusion of a very cold winter and a pandemic lock down has given me time to reflect, to remember the good and to release the bad. 

I have been in the loving embrace of my family and friends who have been my saving graces, each and every one contributing to helping me heal. For this I am eternally grateful, how did I get so blessed to have the family and friends that I have? 

 

 

Very slowly I am coming back to what gives me peace and calmness, working at my drawing table and easel. The canvas and boards have been prepped for months now, it's time to get busy!

Thank you for stopping by.

 

 

Happy Spring!

Spring is here, no matter what else is going on in the world, spring is here!
I brought in some magnolia buds to force, the bunnies and I are waiting patiently.....

Since my last post, which was way too long ago, things have been very active. Christmas time was so busy with my lovely customers supporting me, I felt truly blessed.
Family and friends as always, have been such a rock for me. I had a few very significant losses last year that made it almost impossible to concentrate for very long. Still I am muddling through....


But then I also am blessed to have this guy in my life....

He keeps me grounded and I love him dearly.

 With this time inside I am hoping to do a lot of finishing up of past projects and starting new ones. The itch to do some oil painting is pushing at me and some sewing and some paperclay sculpting and more collages.

This bread recipe is one that I go to over and over again and it's so comforting to have a freshly baked loaf of bread cooling on the counter. Just google Jim Lahey's overnight, no knead bread recipe.
It's yummy!

I hope that this silly little post finds you all happy and healthy!
Stay put, bake bread, paint..!!

Studio Photography

Taking photos of my pendants has been a challenge. Trying to 

minimize the reflections on the glass dome covering the artwork

is probably best left to the professionals. However that delightful service

 is not in my budget (yet).

This picture taken with my Pixel phone is not too bad, I am sure that a professional could make it much better, but for my purposes I'm pleased. There is a slight bit of reflective glare on the right side but not enough to be distorting. If you look closely, you can see my reflection in the bail, lol!

So this is what I've come up with using my photo box that my son gifted me for  Christmas one year. I placed a piece of fabric across the top.

It's set up near the window to get the natural diffused light on one side and the clip on light on the other. After I set up the shot, the white fabric gets pulled down in front and just my arms and camera poke through.

There is quite a bit of revision made after each shot but I can do that immediately after each one.

I do love this phone's camera....

Thank you for stopping by and have a lovely day!

On My Drawing Table

My local arts council has a members show every year in August and this year the

theme is: Flights of Fantasy

So, with my proclivity to things with wings, immediately an owl in flight came to mind. How to incorporate fantasy into my work took lots of thought and planning.

With all the vintage papers floating around in my studio I knew that I wanted to use that in my artwork and also acrylic painting. There was a cradled wood board that I had prepped earlier leaning up against the bookcase and that became my canvas.

After sketching out the barn owl I began to cut individual pieces of paper and arrange them along the wing span.

That quickly became cut and glue and put in place, I trusted that all would work out.

 

The first wing was amazing and so it continued....

Just loving this....

I was so busy painting that not many more photos got taken.

"Night Flight" can be viewed at:

Flights of Fantasy: Arts Mid-Hudson Members’ Show – AMH Gallery
August 3 – September 9
Opening Reception:
Friday, August 3, 5:00 – 7:00 p.m.

(The opening was cancelled due to loss of power and will be rescheduled.)
Art Brunch: Sunday, September 9, 1:00 – 3:00 p.m.

artsmidhudson.org

On My Drawing Table

Last year I did a tiny little watercolor and ink on a small square of wood.

I loved how this came out.

I started a larger one last week and there needs to be a series of these little butterflies.

The first layer of watercolor and white ink.

 

 

I then framed it in vintage dictionary pages.

 

 

All gets covered with a layer of beeswax and a gentle sprinkling of mica flakes.The pictures really aren't capturing the lovely sheen that the beeswax adds to it.

This one is currently listed in my Etsy Shop.

 

Art Prints and Springtime

This snowy cold winter is loathe to leave us here in the northeast. We awake to snow or frost on many days that should be warming the soil.

I haven't given up on spring, it's on the way, it has just been slowly awakening.

This little man had a wonderful time searching for eggs this Easter. With the 

spring comes his birthday, three already!

Many train rides to NYC for not so great reasons....but the marsh views are beginning to

perk up.

Most days I have been in production mode, there are quite a few steps to producing these art blocks. It's important to have the wood cut cleanly and straight and my husband does a wonderful job of this with his big table saw.
Sanding the edges and then covering with vintage paper is accomplished with the help of a very sweet dear friend.
I print on a Epson Artisan printer on a lovely satiny finished paper, then mount it on the wood block.

This batch of 5x5 Art Prints on Wood are heading to 

Arts Mid-Hudson's Dutchess Handmade Pop-up Shop

Starting April 27th until May 19th.

They are located at 696 Dutchess Turnpike, Suite E

Poughkeepsie, NY 12603

www.artsmidhudson.org

Hope to see you there!

The Package

I put so much thought and effort into packaging my products.

I want everything to look professional, yet handmade.

I want it to look "gift-able" and special.

I want it to be reasonably priced so that I don't have to increase my costs.

I want it to be easy to put together so that it's not too time consuming to assemble.

I want it to protect the product from damage.

I want it to look unique.

Quite a list.

The latest product for me to assemble are my magnet sets. They have been very popular in the shops that I have them in and at fairs.  All feature my original art layered under glass and with a super strong rare earth magnet on the back.

 

 

 

Choosing to mount them on vintage dictionary pages helps to accent the colors of the art. And chip board backing to keep the whole thing rigid. 

 

 

 

Everything gets tucked into a clear bag.

Some may call this an ironing board, today it was a packaging center.

This group is being packaged for a pop-up Mother's Day Gift Shop at:

 

arts mid hudson

On My Drawing Table

This time of year is somewhat a quiet time and I get to spend a lot of time at my drawing table. Working on new series for the coming year and just messing around with new techniques. 

Blue Moon is my latest series, each full moon of the year has a name given to it mostly by Indian Tribes who lived their lives closer to the demands of the seasons then we do now. 

The challenge I am giving myself is to work solely monochromatic in blue watercolors.

 January's full moon is known as the Wolf Moon.

 February's full moon is the Snow Moon.

 

On my Drawing Table - New Series

I started to work on a series of farm animals and did the sheep but then I

 got distracted and never got back to them.

The sheep were a big hit at the Country Living Fair in Rhinebeck this

year and a few people asked for goat art.

Here are the first two in a series of four:

 "Billy Loves Daisies"

Needs a bit of finishing up...

"My name is Rose but I Prefer Clover"

I am getting too silly with the titles for these paintings....

but it's fun!

In my Studio

I am busy getting ready for the upcoming show season.

My first one this year will be Sunday, May 8th at 

The Makers Market

Railroad Ave.

Warwick, NY

It's a lovely market and I meet the nicest people there.

Also close by is a Farmers Market and the Town of Warwick

with restaurants and delightful shops.

This new little chickadee will be featured on a new style pendant.

It is an oval shape and I just can't wait to assemble them this week.

I'm still working on this birds eye view of a nest. I'm not at all happy with the background.

While looking for a bit of paper with my mothers handwriting on

it, I found this newspaper clipping.

That is me on the right with my first ever art award, I was in first grade and very

intimidated by the camera! 

Have a lovely week!