Monday, May 27, 2013

Rosewood Arts Festival


It's official! I am terribly excited to say that I have been officially accepted to be a part of the Rosewood Arts Festival in Columbia SC. It will be held on September 28,2013. I am so happy about this since this will be the first art show for me and  I had made it a goal to show my art in person this year. As you know I have not been very brave at showing my artwork in person and that is why Etsy, Facebook and Google+  was such a good place for me to start out. Now, I have had about a year and a half of experience behind me. I've been able to meet so many wonderful artists thru the aforementioned venues and have learned from how they manage the business end of the artist world.

"Misty Moonrise Way"

The above piece has been chosen by the art festival to have on their brochure along with several other artists pieces. I feel very humbled to be on the same page with such talented people!

"Love Weathers Everything"

I am looking forward to the experience of being in a festival, watching the other artists, seeing their work up close and seeing how people respond to my art as well. Whether I sell things or not is not what is most important to me in this festival. (Although it would be nice) I am hoping to learn and grow as an artist through this experience.

"Jungle Adventure"

In the meantime I have so many ideas that I want to get onto canvas! I have also decided to paint my own sign instead of purchasing one! We will see how that project goes. I will share pictures of it as I progress.If you are near Columbia SC perhaps I will see you at the Rosewood Arts Festival on September 28! You can stop by and we will have a visit into my whimsical little world!


   

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Oklahoma

I wanted to take a minute today to say how much my heart is with those who are enduring thru the terrible aftermath of such a large storm in Oklahoma. I have relatives in Oklahoma and I drive thru the state often. It inspires many of my art pieces. I am always so impressed by peoples resiliency and how we continue on, inspite of great hardships. I know that these strong people will recover and come back even stronger but right now they are hurting. I am so sorry for their pain.

      Last year when I drove thru Oklahoma I was inspired to paint the piece below.


There are so many wonderful rescue workers helping, there are supplies headed out, and money being donated.  I hope for everyone involved in this to be successful and those who have been affected by the storm, that their trauma can be reduced.

Monday, May 20, 2013

Creativity

"For Allen"

It's been a super busy week around the art studio this week! Most of it, has not been in the studio itself. Oh well, sometimes you just have to stop and have a little fun!
I managed to get the above piece painted in between everything else this week. It's headed all the way to the U.K.! I find it very exciting when I get to ship one of my paintings overseas. 

This week I got to spend a few days with my precious nephews. They keep growing up behind my back so any time I get to spend with them is awesome. We watched The Avengers and played alot. Then it was back to the easel and I started this next piece. It has a long way to go. I have something in my head for it but I never like to giveaway what I'm thinking in case it doesn't end up that way.

no name yet

I always start a project with a general idea in my head but it never ends up exactly the way I had planned it. I used to get frustrated with that until I realized it's more fun to just go with the flow. Sometimes even tho the piece ended up completely different than I planned I like it better! Then I can try what was in my head over again and get a completely different piece. That's what is so fun about creativity, the more you let it go the more fun it is and the better your work gets.  
   
We went to the new star trek movie in 3d on Sunday and it was so much fun. It's a great example of creativity. These are movies that have been done before and I am a true fan of the originals but what I find so refreshing about this new series is that it is sort of the same story but with some really cool twists. That's what I feel is really good creativity.

I did this piece as a nod to the Jimmy Buffet lifestyle. I lived in Key West for a few years in the late 80's and always found the colors to be amazing. Mangrove trees are so very interesting. They basically create an island themselves. I always thought they were fascinating. I hope everyone has a flip flop worthy week!

"It's Five O'Clock Somewhere"
available at www.stacysartstudio.etsy.com





Monday, May 13, 2013

Horsies!

Me and Missy
 Oh, how I love the magnificent horse. They have a heart that cannot be matched. Here you see me a hundred years ago with my precious friend Missy. I cannot tell you how much I loved her. She was my constant companion, my confidant, my best friend. She was loyal and true. When she was frightened by something she would run over to me and place her forehead against my back so that she could not see what was scaring her. I would giggle since I am only 4'10" and here was this large animal hiding behind me! It was an amazing place to grow up, out there in the middle of nowhere and to have a friend like Missy. I was a part of that land and it was a part of me. Missy and I would ride all thru those mountains and ranches. I enjoyed riding along the fences and would report back to the ranchers if I saw something out of place, since I did that and respected the land, didn't bother the cows or ride thru the hay fields, the ranchers allowed and even liked me riding on their land. When I was a teenager they offered me a job as a cow hand. This is where I lived. We owned all the buildings you see here, it was part of a ghost town called Slate Creek in Colorado and was sandwiched between excessively large ranches and forest service land.

Our home in Slate Creek Colorado

And this... was where I rode almost daily. I would get up at about 5am and head out. I would stay out a few hours before I had to get back to either do school or go to work. Some days I would be out all day.Eventually I ended up adding Nazan (Missys brother) and Rusty a very funny shetland pony to the family. I would always take my sketchbook and  would spend hours drawing horses. In fact it was the only thing I felt I was good at. I studied books on how to draw horses and I had pages and pages of drawings in my pad.

My back yard

I was there when the ranchers still used horses to round up the cattle and to pull the hay sled out to the fields in the winter to throw hay to the cows. It was a quieter time, then one day everything changed, we had to leave this beautiful place and in the process I had to give up my precious horses. It was heartbreaking for me. I stopped drawing horses, I even threw away all of my drawings and never started drawing horses again. Up until a few months ago I resisted painting horses and that is why. It has been an interesting process for me as I began painting them again.  I had to learn how to tap into my memories and to remember them with fondness instead of sadness. When I paint, I paint with my heart, with memories of somewhere or something that I saw, experienced or imagined in a certain place or time. What has happened as I paint more horses, I've become freer and lose a little more of my sadness each time. Here are a few pieces that I've finished.

"Fireflies" Sold

The one above was the first time I painted a horse. I did it because a friend of mine kept encouraging me to do it.

"Aspen Ranch" sold

Having some new found courage I painted another horse.
"Freedom" sold

And then another.....
"Idlewild" sold

Now that I've begun painting horses again, I hope I won't stop. It has been an interesting experience dipping my toes back into the water of painting horses. Who knows how many I will eventually paint!
Here's to precious memories! Have a great week creating memories everyone!












  

Monday, May 6, 2013

My Studio

It looks like Fluffy the king of the universe over here is trying to help out in the studio again. I do love his assistance, until he walks thru the paint and decorates the rest of the place.(like the couch) Oh well, the things you live with when you love someone!

I am sure that you've noticed that my studio space seems a tad small! If you follow my other blog you know that we currently live in a camper(we jokingly refer to as the tardis!)in order to provide a safe environment for our sons health.

At first when we decided to live this way I was quite overwhelmed with how I was going to be able to continue painting in such a small space. After rearranging multiple times I finally came up with this space that works for me. I can't work on very large pieces here so I sometimes work on large pieces at my moms when I go to visit her. This is the large piece that I finished last week. It is 36x48. I was inspired to paint this when I walked the beach with my hubby on the blue moon. I've actually been working on this since the last blue moon which if I recall correctly  was in August.

"Misty Moonlit Way" 36x48 www.stacysartstudio.etsy.com

I dream of having a studio space that is large and I wouldn't care about Fluffy walking thru the paint because I would have paint on the floor anyway! However, if we wait until we have the right space to work in we may never get to create. My desire to create is greater than the space that I work in so I paint within the space I have. I think it is the same as with anything. Wasting time waiting for the right space is a terrible thing! I say never give up on your art and keep working for it. Sometimes you will be surprised at what you can accomplish.

"Freedom" sold

In the painting above I decided to paint just one tree instead of two together. It is a playful painting and so I felt the placing of this one tree that has bent over from the wind, creating a perfect spot to hang a rope swing, was what I wanted! I painted leaves on the end of the branches which helps us to see how the wind has shaped it. This painting comes from a place in North New Mexico. I used to travel there quite often, it is where it begins to meet up with Colorado, the foothills begin and you begin to see Aspen trees. The wind still blows strong there and so once in awhile you will come across a tree bent from the wind. It is also greener up there. I did take artistic license and made it a tad greener than it normally is, but that is how I see it in my head!  As with all of my paintings, they come from a certain place but are the fantasy version that lives in my head!

May you have a moment swinging in your bare feet, watching your best friend graze in freedom!

Fluffy trying to help again!