Used to be Opening!

What fun we had Saturday at the opening of my show Used To Be at The Studio! It was great to see old and new friends, and debut my recent works over wine and amazing live music.

 Holly Furlone and Jim Tyrrell rocked the side stage with hours of beautiful acoustic tunes...

 And people mingled about. The show goes on until the end of 2014. Be sure to check it out...The Studio is located at 54 Canal Street in Laconia, NH.

Thanks everyone for coming out and for your awesome support! :o)

Back in the game.

Now that I have my studio all set up, I have been back to my old ways of painting into the wee hours of the morning. My absolute favorite. (Of course, I have found that now that I am a mommy to a 3 year old, I do not have the energy I once had. But still, I'm rocking it.)

 

Here are a few selections from a current show that is hanging at The Studio in Laconia, called Used to Be. I am honored to hang there for my second time, with all my cool new works, painted on old wood, panels, windows and doors.

 

 

It's kind of funny (and super relative)...I named this show before I completely created it, back when I booked it last year. Who knew everything in my life would be so different and I would use the words "used to be" as much as I am these days?

Come on out to the opening reception for the show on November 15th! Will be lots of fun! :o)

Day 25: To the moon and back.

And so, with the success of my last piece, I got a few more of these going. They are done in several steps, since the paint is thick and must dry between each layer. Reverse painting is interesting because you don't know what your piece of art is going to look like until you lift up those adhesive letters...the last and final step (which is completely gratifying!)

Seen here, I created an image in the background, which I applied hand cut letters onto. This is a very organic process, involving scissors and bad music. (I have somehow trained my brain to see and cut out out off-beat cursive lettered with scissors. Interesting.)

 

Day 18: hummingbird swirls.

Another sap bucket lid. Enamel on metal. I love painting these!

 

I am thinking that this design would make a cool off-centered silkscreen on a t-shirt...

Day 16 & 17: barrels.

I am suddenly obsessed with figuring out new ways to paint on old barrel planks. I typically seek out canvases that are not only non-conventional in nature, but in shape and size. These loooooong canvases force me to thing about new ways to compose my thoughts and design.

 

Yes, the one on the right is from Day 9. It needed more. If something (or someone) hangs around my studio for long enough, it's going to get painted...or painted more...

 

Day 15: let's have fun.

I am really, really excited about this one because it uses entirely recycled materials AND because I am getting more into the multi-media concept. I cut up some scraps of beadboard that I salvaged from my friend's dumpster pile. I glues fabric flags onto this as a response to the texture of the board and went with some old school Mod Podge to hold it all in place. I just think it's soooo fun and it's going to make someone happy!

Day 14: namaste.

I'll admit: this is another one I had started a while ago. But I finally finished it and am posting it because I want to show what it looks like when I have a happy painting accident. See this 4 giant yellow splotches that make up the flowers here? Truth: I accidentally leaned my arm in some paint and then leaned on this piece of wood. So I went with it to create an impressionistic style garden, topped off with a simple, lovely word. (And now as a bonus, I have yet ANOTHER paint shirt with a yellow sleeve!) :o)

Finished size: 14" high. Just needs a bendy copper wire for hanging!

Day 13: crossing the ocean.

I pulled out an old window that I started sketching a design on a while back, but committed to finishing it this week. This is an old window I pulled from a stack in my studio. Painting on windows is an interesting process, because everything is painted in reverse.

So if you can imagine, the stars are painted first. Then the detail of the waves, THENNNN lots and lots of layers of colorful goodness. These take a few days to complete (at least) with all of the layers, but when they are done, you can actually clean the glass when they are hanging on a wall!

Day 12: family.

Inspired by the holiday season perhaps or my wacky family or a little of both, I painted this on yet another sap bucket lid.

 

Enamel paint (one that I do not use often), does not allow you the flexibility of acrylic. It's thick and sticky and I find myself painting slower and steadier with this technique. But still, no pencil lines first! That's part of the gamble for me. Misspelled words? You can always let them dry and paint over them! But I think I am in the clear on that one here...

Day 11: rainbow connection.

Every time I see one of these vintage wooden rainbow xylophones at a flea market or thrift shop, it goes in my cart. (Or as my Asheville friend Erica says, "wow, you really love those things" when we are shopping at the Goodwill.) I do. I love the idea of painting something musical and rainbow inspired on such a gorgeous toy and they make the sweetest wall hanging in any kids' room, music studio...or really anywhere. :o)

Day 10: Mancave signs.

I had a stack of these rusty old saws sitting around in my studio. And I had been practicing my old school Red Sox font painting. (Sometimes I study fonts for fun. No, sseriously.) So when an adorable older gentleman (we'll call him 75-ish) came into my shop and commented on how he loved my signs painted on saws, but he wanted one that said "Mancave," it was literally like an art teacher giving me an assignment. I knew I had to make some out of those saws that I had been staring at for years and years.

 

I just need to drill holes in these (without breaking 100 drill bits!)and wire them up so they're ready to hang. The perfect man gift for the holidays? Yes.

 

These (and a fair bit of what I have been painting) will be for sale at the Winter Giftopolis in Concord on Dec. 6th. Be sure to check that out too! (More on that later!) :o)

Day 9: barrel flowers.

Gosh, these barrel planks are so beautiful. With a little light sanding, their natural aged beauty shines through and is gorgeous contrast to a bold and modern style. I'm loving the long and narrow canvas.

Full view of this piece, finished size approx. 30". I have a few more of these on the workbench and could see a painted barrel wall garden of sorts in the making...

 Oh and also: I added color to the owl. It was too plain for me. :o)

Day 8: namaste.

I have no shame. I dumpster dove for this plate. Every year in town, the locals can score some great stuff on move-out day from the college. I found (among other things, including a snazzy new light fixture), a box of cool kitchen plates and such. This plain one was calling my name to be painted on.

 So I did. Now I need to get me some of those plate hangers, so this (and other plate creations) can hang on the wall in fun, circular fashion.

 

I am keeping up with the painting...it's just the blogging that's backed up! Here I go! Weeeeeee!

Day 7: simple joy.

I went simple and back to basics on this one: ink on craft paper. Initially I thought I might watercolor it and mat/frame it for a holiday gift, but then the wheels started turning...

 I think I am going to make this into Christmas cards this year. This will be the base design, printed high contrast (below), so it has almost a blockprint-ish (real word) feel to it. Then I will handpaint details on top of each card to make them all one of a kind. Probably glitter. I am a sucker for the glitter. But then I think I will make a giant mess out of this project and splatter white paint all over the small prints to look like snow. More on this one later...

Day 6: Hoot.

I used to think I was perhaps part owl because of my amazing ability to work and create all hours of the night. I used to start projects at three in the morning. Now it seems (post baby having) I can fall asleep anywhere, anytime and am lucky if I make it until 11:00 p.m. But I still adore owls and claim the owl as my totem. They completely remind me of my Noni and her hippie house style.

 

And, like swirls, I do paint a lot of owls in all shapes and sizes. This was my attempt at 2 new things: using a warped maple sap bucket lid as a canvas and not using any color. None. Just white. Hmm. Not completely sold...I am sure some teal or orange will make it's way onto this painting sometime in the near future...

Day 5: You & me.

Side of the road junk piles: my car magically stops at every one I see. I found a box of kitchen-ish stuff one day this summer, including a handful (or armful!) of these wooden platters. They had a shiny finish on them, so I flipped them over and sanded them down to the bare wood. (So this is actually the back of the platter.)

  

And as everyone knows, I am OBSESSED with swirls. So I thought I would take that concept and run with it. I'm getting all sappy and sentimental as my love and I just celebrated our 5 year anniversary. We're making lots of changes (including possibly buying a home together this year) and I envisioned this hanging beautifully in our new bedroom. Or someone else's. :o)

Finished size: approx. 10x14"

This painting style got the creative wheels turning in my head. If I painted a monotone design in a dark sepia tone, it would look woodburned-esque. (And I'd stay burn-free!) Hmmm...that idea will probably make the cut this month. Onward! :o)

Day 4: bok, bok.

I am obsessed with chickens. I love to paint them. You may recall a little chicken coop I painted in Asheville a few years ago for my friend Erica. She had one chicken named Bubbles that made me laugh and has forever influenced my artwork.

This was an olddddddd cutting board (1930's?) that I scored at a yard sale this summer. When I bought it from the family it once belonged to (she explained that she had too many of her great grandmother's cutting boards), I promised her I would put it to good and creative use. I left the original cord for hanging and gave it a quick sanding, but the aged beauty of the wood made for a great canvas. Finished size: approx 24" tall.

Bok, bok.

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.