Day 3: Magic Skies.

One of the coolest things about being known as the wacky freelance artist who will paint on anything? People will BRING you weird stuff to paint on! (Have I ever told you about the time someone brought me a toilet to paint?) One lovely, sunny day Sally pulled up to my shop in her Subaru with a box of barrel pieces and parts that she just couldn't bear to throw away. In the bottom of the box was this barrel bottom, split in two. I picked this piece up and immediately saw a funky skyline.

 All it needs is hanging hardware and it will make a perfect over-the-door piece or fun studio wall hanging. Finished size: over 12" wide.

People have been asking about these pieces I am posted and where they can be purchased. Some of them will eventually make their way to my etsy shop and some of them are going to go on the road with me for my holiday craft and art shows. Stay tuned...I'll post a schedule of all my upcoming shows if anyone wants to take a peek or buy a piece in person!

Day 2: Sunshine.

I am obsessed with this new reserve painting technique. I dabble in a little vehicle lettering, which leaves me a lot of adhesive vinyl scraps. And while I do use the scraps to make my hula hoops, I am excited to have found another us for them. 

This piece is pretty big, measuring over 2 feet tall. I painted a giant sun on the board, which was another salvaged scrap from the Habitat Restore (gosh, I LOVE my new neighbors!). Atop the colorful painting (and this is where you really have to trust your intuition!) I applied all hand cut letters and THEN washed over that with purple brushstrokes.

 

I quickly peeled up the letters (made a complete mess) and sanded down any texture to expose some raw wood. I mixed a water based, burnt umber tinted stain to lay on top of all of that for a finished product. Voila!

A rarity for me: this is pretty much how this piece looked in my head before I started. I'm sure there are many more paintings on the horizon using this super cool technique.

Day 1: 3 little birds.

I said I was going to do this, so here goes. 30 days. 1 painting per day. (And of course using a recycled element or non-traditional method for each work.)

Day 1: 3 little birds.

This is a salvaged piece of shelving that I scored from my new neighbors at The Habitat Restore. I sanded the shelf down, painted it up and made a cute bunting collage with vintage fabric at the top.

 

Finished size: 24" tall x 8" wide.

Five.

Someone asked me just yesterday how long I have been self employed. I did the math, gasped and happily exclaimed that in less than 2 months, it will be 5 years that I have been making a living as a freelance artist.

Holy guacamole. 5 years.

They so "go big or go home" and I have recently decided that I am going to do the first of the two. I want to go big. I am setting new goals for myself and trying to stay focused. I am going to do this. 

With my newly sparked inspiration and determination, I have made some changes. I said I was going to launch my new website (complete with portfolio) and I did. Check.

And with a new website: cute new biz cards! I designed them to be double sided: one side for me, one side for my shop. Recycled stock with soy ink (love that look!) and yes, I had to round all of the corners. Hey, it's the little things...

With the launch of all new things, my annual bank display opportunity at Meredith Village timed out well. (This is what it looks like when I try to be all corporate.) So I made a cute traveling display with some of my work and advertising for my shop.

Things are happening!

Yikes. This is embarrassing.

A year? It's been almost a YEAR since I have blogged? Gah! Well, I am getting back in the swing of things, revamping my website & blog (what do you think so far??) and I'll be back in action soooon! :o)

Happy Holidays!

Harpy First Birthday!

Harper turned 1 last month. I was like a kid on Christmas morning, msking sure all the cupcakes were perfectly sprinkled, his high chair was blinged out and I made a cute lil' onesie (see below) for him to wear in celebration of his big day.

 

 

He ended up taking a nap during the party and screaming his face off at the sight of 30 people singing Happy Birthday and a flaming candle coming at his face.

Momma...I do NOT like this.

But chocolate cake seemed to make it alllll better in about 2.5 seconds...

Harpy Birthday little one! Momma loves you to the moooooooon and back! oxoxoxo.