On Fire for Handmade

I belong to this great team of artisans.      “On Fire for Handmade” is the name of our team and we are artisans of all different kinds of media.  Our mission is to love, promote, cross-promote, share, and care for handmade and the talented people who create handmade items.  We are all artisans who sell our handmade items on Etsy and Artfire.

Anne Hopfer, our fearless leader and curator is a great part of the heart and soul behind this group.  Check out her Made for Me by Oaklie Etsy &  Made for Me by Oaklie Artfire for great crocheted items.  I love her handbags and scarves.

Anne recently put together a place where “On Fire for Handmade” members have their treasuries featured.  One of my treasuries “Shades of Sunny” is featured along with many other great treasuries of members.  You just got to see the beautiful handmade items for sale featured in these treasuries.  Take a look at “On Fire for Handmade Treasuries.” There is also other fellow teams featured with great handmade items for sale.

Check out our great group/team on facebook  http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=114453101935100

Photography on Sale at AliveWithColor Etsy

It’s time for a sale at AliveWithColor Etsy….all photos are BUY ONE GET ONE Free for a limited time.  For example, when you purchase one photo, you get any other one of the same size free.  Just enter the info of the free photo in your note to seller upon checkout.  I can also mat and frame the photos if you wish (framing is not a BOGO)   If you do want to purchase matting and framing, please leave a note to seller….contact me for any info.  As always, there’s free shipping. 

http://www.etsy.com/shop/AliveWithColor

The Beginning of a Painting….

Well, it all started when I went to my Wednesday morning art workshop where we, local artists do our art and catch up on all the usual artist stuff.  I didn’t have a new picture started, like I usually like to do ahead of time.  So I shuffled through my canvas art bag to find some birding and gardening magazines to get some ideas.

This coneflower is what developed out of a few reference photos that I used.  This was the beginning of a larger painting that I finished for an upcoming exhibit.  Here’s a “shout out” for our Geneva, Ohio Grape Jamboree Festival, which has an art exhibit as one of it’s events on the last full weekend of September every year.

So, first I started out with Arches 140 lb. cotton rag watercolor paper, which I swear by…..I like the cold-pressed version.

Next, I took a combination of watercolor pencils and watercolor paints to create the flower that you see here…..basically, penciling in the flower shapes and some of the shadows….then adding some water lightly (and I mean lightly…dip brush…dab on tissue….this was taught to me by an artist friend)…and carefully applying the wet brush to the penciled areas….also, adding watercolor paints where needed.

So, this is the beginning of my painting, which I will continue with the rest of the instruction in my next post……

Check back for further instruction and to see the final results   🙂

Also, check out my website www.alivewithcolor.com  where you can find links to my Etsy stores and an “about the artist” page.

Having a Work Space is a Great Thing For Any Artist

Having a work space is a great thing for any artist….but, not everyone can afford dedicating a good portion of their “space” for use in their art or craft.  I have been blessed recently with moving all of my art paraphernalia, from the back room and from a bunch of nooks and crannies all around the house, to the nice sized middle room in my house.  My sweet husband, had a suggestion of moving around the rooms in our house, so that I could have a whole room to myself for painting, photography, jewelry making, and all the other artsy stuff I do.  After all, this is my life’s work….and I love it and it’s great having a place for all of my stuff.

It was a lot of work moving things around, but we got it done and I just love it.  I have a work table and my jewelry making table off in the corner near the two windows….outside the windows, we have huge rhododendrium outside covering the whole window but still letting light in….these stay green year round and have big beautiful pink blooms in the spring.  Our wood stove is in this room, so it has to stay, but it’ll be nice and cozy in there during the cold weather.

On the other side of the room, I have my two large cabinets to store a whole lot of things….it’s so nice to be able to find things again.  I actually know where everything is now.

As I said, it’s nice having a work space of your own, but not everyone can have one.  I know myself, there was a time where I had things stuffed into big tupperware containers jammed into corners.  I guess the biggest advantage to having your own art space is that you can start a project and leave the project for a while, without having to put everything away each time your take a break from it…..and knowing where you put things …having some sort of organization is wonderful.

First, if you don’t have your own room, the best thing to do is to try to organize everything into categories and separate with different storage containers.  Next, if you can spare even a small part of a room (that is out of the way of traffic) or even a closet, try using this smaller area the best that you can.  Once you get organized, it makes things easier and more enjoyable.

Another Art Blog to Take a Look At

This is just a little “shout out” to help publicize my other art blog which is called, “Alive With Christ – Art Blog.”    In this other blog, I use my art to explain verses in the Bible and Christian views.  Please check it out 😀

Dragonfly

I love stained glass…the color….the illumination….it’s awesome.  This is one of my photos out of my stash.  I just love the way the dragonfly looks lit up surrounded by the beautiful colors of the glass.  I may be listing this photo soon in my AliveWithColorEtsy.

I would love to try learning the stained glass art….my mom and dad used to do it when I was a kid…I remember some things, but I would need a definite refresher course 🙂

Art Instruction on Acrylic Collage on Canvas

This is my collage acrylic painting “Altered Garden.”  First, I took an acrylic glaze and mixed it with a bright green paint and worked it into the entire background of the canvas, paying attention to sort of “scratch” in details of floral background, giving depth and textural interest. 

Next, I took several digital kaleidoscopes that I had made from my photography stash and printed them out on various photo papers and art papers.  I then cut out these various kaleidoscope designs and attached them in various locations on the canvas with an acrylic gel.  After attached, I added the same acrylic gel to the face of each design to give them a protective coating. 

After these designs were added, I painted in the stems, vines, leaves, etc. for each of these kaleidoscope flowers. 

Then I added various other hand painted flowers and vegetation until I got the desired effect that I was happy with.  Finally, after allowing all of this painting and collaging to dry thoroughly, I added a good spray finish to provide a protective coating.

Promotion, Promotion, Promotion…..UGH!

I’m a fine artist….digital artist…..photographer…..jewelry artist…..gardener…..don’t you think that I have enough to do…..and then add in daughter, wife, friend….mother….Christian…and the list goes on.   I’m not trying to sound harsh or anything, but don’t you think I have enough to do besides being an advertiser, salesperson, blogger, small business data entry person…the list goes on…….I HATE PROMOTION!!! 

WELL,  now that I got THAT off my chest!!!!   It’s just so hard for people who aren’t salespeople, to be salespeople…..I want to sell my stuff, but it just gets crazy sometimes……create the item (the part I enjoy)….add it to your online store (not my favorite, but I’ll survive)….twitter it…..twitter it….twitter it again…..facebook it…..blog it…..and on and on…..the list seems so endless!   I’m just a shameless complainer 😀

Well, do a girl a favor and check out my stuff here Bohemian Ice Artisan Jewelry and here Alive With Color (art and photography…still adding to this one)…..thanks….that feels better 🙂

Gardening and Photography…Two Arts That Go Together

Did I ever tell you that I love to garden…..everything about it….the planting…the planning….the pruning….the clipping….the fertilizing…the photographing….yes, I consider gardening and photography two of the most rewarding arts…and arts that compliment each other.  They even tie into my painting and digital art….I just love flowers and nature…love the outdoors.  All of the beautiful God created colors.  I guess that’s why you can probably categorize most of my art in the nature category. 

Back in late March during on unusually warm day, I just needed to be outside in the beautiful day, so I decided that day to prune all of my rose bushes.  Boy, am I glad I did that.  All of the rose bushes must have loved it….they are all out doing themselves now with abundant flowers.  I have never had this many roses in bloom…guess they liked being pruned in late winter.  The above photo is from the pale pink rosebush that is next to my back deck.  These roses start out a darker pink when they are just budding and slowly turn paler and paler as they open up….so pretty.

Well, I just added 3 of my newest rose photos to my “Alive With Color” Etsy.   Check them out and let me know what you think 🙂

Is It Art?

Art….it’s beauty is in the eye of the beholder.  What one person may consider art, may not be considered art to another.  This fact becomes very real to you if you ever entered an exhibit.  Sometimes you may think that the judge of the exhibit has a real handle on what works are deserving of a ribbon…..and then there are the times when you may think to yourself, “What was the judge thinking?”  Well, I’ve learned, just as probably most artists have learned, that your artwork may not please everyone all the time.  You can spend hours and hours working on a piece of art, thinking that you’ve done pretty well on this piece…and then the ribbon goes to a piece of work that looks like a Jackson Pollock work, like someone slapped paint on a canvas in a matter of a few minutes.  Don’t get me wrong…I’m not knocking Jackson Pollock or contemporary art, but I bet most artists have felt this way at one time or other.  If you throw paint on a canvas and get someone to promote you, you too can make $2,000. on each painting.  This definitely proves that art is in the eye of the beholder.  

No matter what type or style, you can usually tell when someone spends a lot of time and consideration on a piece of art.  I guess, maybe, this is what I look for in art….the time, thought, consideration that was put into it by the artist.  I try to be open-minded when it comes to art….I like most styles, but I like to see when you can tell that the artist really spent time creating and thinking through what they wanted to achieve with their creation.  There are times that you may not totally like that piece of art, but you can still tell that the artist really worked at it, and I appreciate that in itself.

So, we are back to the question…is it art?  This is a question that we all have to answer individually.  For more information on this subject…see ART  and  VISUAL ARTS