Saturday, April 28, 2012

Bike Race, Indie Craft & April Flowers


It's one on my favorite weekends in Athens, Georgia.  Tonight is the big pro-cycling race, The Twilight Criterium!  People will be gathered by the thousands in our vibrant downtown, being merry and feeling the wind from a swoosh of cyclists going by as the racers circle our downtown blocks the distance of 80K.  I think that is nearly 80 laps!  The big race begins at 9p.m.

The other thing happening is The Athens Indie Craftstraveganzaa spring market!  This bi-yearly market of hand-made wares is in its 5th year and it is sure to be a good one.  With nearly 40 vendors, it is an intimately-scaled market with lots of variety.  Check out booths like this one: Rachel Pepper's KiNFLY Design.

And lastly, tomorrow, I will be installing a show of new paintings at one of my favorite places to get a really nice meal, Heirloom Cafe and Market.  The show is titled: "April Flowers."  You can expect to see vibrantly filled canvases of flowers and a few, more abstract surprises.  The show will be up through May 26th.

Oh, and, my website is now updated!  It is re-organized for (hopefully) easier navigation and tighter presentation of my different series of works.  It includes a number of new recent paintings and drawings, such as watercolors, like this one:





Monday, April 23, 2012

The Art Cake!



Check it out, a feature on my paintings just went live on The Art Cake blog.  If you haven't visited this blog before, it is fantastic!  Christi from Portland, Oregon keeps us up to date on great art and design finds.  I have been enjoying following Christi on her art finding adventures and am so appreciative and honored to her for featuring my work here.  Thank you to The Art Cake!!  Feel free to share away!



http://theartcake.com/

Thursday, April 19, 2012

Art Arrived in the Mail

I am excited to share my first Etsy purchase with you.  It is hard to believe I have been working on my Etsy shop for about eight months and have not bought anything until now (all that intensive ballet class I grew up doing, if it taught me anything, it taught me discipline!).  But, it has finally happened, I have finally made a purchase!



There are sooo many wonderful artists and makers on Etsy, it can be overwhelming (in a most truly wonderful way!).  I made a deal with myself that I would save money earned on Etsy (as tempting as it can be to spend it as soon as I make it, like the time in college when I worked at a book store, hmm, enough said).

Like many artists on a tight budget, naturally I would love to buy something, then don't because I probably just bought a $20 tube of paint, right?! and then have probably just ran out of Cadmium Yellow.  And then Cobalt Teal.  You get the picture.

So the other day, I was reading the Etsy blog and came across a Fresh Shops feature on this wonderful new shop: Totem Color Blocks!  Look...



Immediately, I must admit, I was hooked, taken in by the inviting photos of these darling structural neckpieces.  Drawn in by their minimal form and elegant, yet simple color palette, they shouted at me with their wonderfully coordinated hand-painted hues.

Then I read a little more about these charming wooden blocks in an interview of their maker, Pamela Foeckler, from California, who worked as an art conservator.  She states:

"The titles for my pieces are mostly dramatic landscapes.  I take an image and distill it down to the most elemental colors.  It's a reductive process, but it helps me absorb and understand the true beauty of a place."

which she learned from her experiences painting museum objects, "breaking down complicated colors and patterns into their essential components."



Read more about these wearable structures on this Etsy Fresh Shop Feature:
http://www.etsy.com/blog/en/2012/fresh-shops-totemcolorblocks/?ref=fp_blog_title

...and, here is a peek at my new favorite piece of wearable art!  


Friday, April 13, 2012

Artist Feature: Stephanie Pierce


I love this painting by Stephanie Pierce whom I found on Booooooom.com.  Here is an interview of her by Neil Plotkin featured on the blog Painting Perceptions:commentary on perceptual painting, moderated by artist, Larry Groff , a landscape painter out of San Diego.  Stephanie talks about the impact of location on her work, her process of painting, and shifting perspective.  Good stuff!


The longer I look, the more I am completely blown away by her paintings!  As I gaze I feel I can take a breath in the space she presents us with (and I am imagining how much more incredible this experience would be in person).  Her ability to depict the atmospheric conditions of a room and the way she captures the shifting light within a space as a day flutters by, is what, to me, makes these so remarkable.    

Pierce's paintings are really something special.  Of course, many others have taken notice.  You can see and read more about Stephanie and her work on her website and on other blogs too, like this one, Arrested Motion.  

Monday, April 2, 2012

Change

This past weekend, I had the urge to paint flowers.  Every now and then, I enjoy painting from observation and today was the day to give myself permission to do something that I don't normally do.  I am approaching these as quick, one-day paintings.  This is number two in (what maybe) a new series.  What do you make when you change up what you're doing in the studio?

Sunday, April 1, 2012

In the works...


March has been a really productive month in the studio.  This spring I have been feeling very settled into my (relatively) new space located in the Chase Street Park Warehouses in Athens, Georgia.  Here is a peek at what has been going on in there lately... 


I currently have about 30 canvases going,  all at different stages of progress, and am bouncing in between all of them, working them up together.  I have found this way of working to suit me best.  This way, the paintings all feed off one another and if I get an idea for a new painting in the midst of painting, I have a place to immediately get the idea down.   


It has been serious fun painting this past month.  Color has been a primary area of focus, trying to explore new color relationships and challenge my palette.  


I have also recently discovered the beauty of mining through older work for new source material.  This process has lead to my recent series of watercolor paintings, of paintings.  The above is one made recently based on this painting:



Right now, I am getting ready to hang new work at our Athens local Heirloom Cafe (LOVE their FOOD! If you haven't eaten there yet, eat there soon!!).  Paintings will go up in early May.  More details to come!