Can Rejection Bring Growth?

Hi there. How are you?
I had quite a disappointment this weekend. I received the word that my applications to three different July art fairs were rejected. That means I've got a large hole in my summer schedule. I have to admit, I was upset. Rejection hurts.

Luckily, after just a little bit of pouting, I changed up my mindset.
My parents were in town this weekend and we brought them to this great high end gift store at a local winery.  Walking through the store seeing all of the pretty reminded me of one of my 2014 goals..... I want to build a wholesale business and have my goods at gift stores just like this.  I know my work would fit in well at this type of gift store and I have the means necessary to produce some very unique salable goods.

At my day job, we specialize in printing on fabric. I've been wanting to make pillows out of my bird illustrations for some time now,  and I can do that at work!  We also have a UV printer so that I could utilize to create nifty digital art prints of my work directly on cradled hardboard. I think these items would go over smashingly with retailers.

There is indeed a silver lining to this art fair rejection.  
I often complain about not having time to pursue my artistic goals.....Now I have it! This is a good thing! Having time this summer without shows will give me time to work on some other aspects of my business I've been wanting to tackle. I can get that new website up and running. I can work on product development and pursue wholesale accounts. Yes! Art fairs have been so hit or miss for me in the last few years. Having other avenues in which to distribute and sell my work is a good thing.

All of the snaps I've included here feature vegetable seedlings we have started in our window sill for our summer garden. All this new life is inspiring and seems apropos for this blog about my growing and changing business.

Stay tuned friends. I am excited for the future! Ta-Ta for now.

Stocking up on Smalls

Lately, I have been working almost exclusively in a tiny 4" x 4" format. Because they are so small, I can sell them at a very appealing $40-50 price point.

I'm using all sorts of bright, springy colors and all sorts of patterns. If any of these tiny pieces is striking your fancy, do get in touch. All pieces are mounted on 3/4" deep cradled hardboard panel and are ready to hang. 

 

P.S. This piece is my entry into a contest at Rex Art Supplies. Help me win $100 in art supplies by clicking here and "liking" the photo on Facebook. Thanks much!

Have a fab week! Ta-Ta.

Ink Embellishments and Photographing Neon

Hi there. How are you? As promised, here are the 3 abstracts I started last week, all now embellished with ink. I approached each one a little bit differently.

All that's left to do now is to apply several coats of satin varnish each piece. The varnish protects the paper from UV rays, water, and dirt. I often photograph pieces prior to adding he varnish, as it's slightly reflective quality makes it even trickier to photograph these.

Speaking of photographing, it took me a whole afternoon to get decent photographs of these pieces. It is really difficult to photograph or scan neon hues like the orange I used in these pieces. Cameras and scanners just don't know how to interpret larger than life neon colors.

This is what happens when I scan these pieces. The scanner just washes out the color completely. Yuck! Even with some major color correction in Photoshop, I can't get the colors right.

My digital manual camera does better, but I still have to manipulate the images, and even then they don't look quite right.  Anyone out there have any trick to capturing neon accurately?

Until I figure out the neon game, I guess you'll just have to come and see these pieces in person! My summer art fair schedule is filling up. Here's the tentative schedule of where you can find me this summer. Ta-Ta for now!

My 2014 Color Palette

Hi there. How are you? 
I can't seem to get enough of this color palette lately. I'm digging that little pop of neon red against the aqua and brown. I've started some new abstracts featuring these hues.

These pieces still need a little touch of ink embellishment, but I'm not quite sure what that will look like yet. I'm going to let the ideas marinate in my brain for a bit. Trying hard not to rush or be too impulsive.  I'll be sure to share these when they're all done.

What colors are speaking to you these days? Do share! Have a fab week. Ta-Ta!

Snowed In

Winter weather was out in full force again this weekend.

While on our way up to Rockford to visit my stepson Jack, we got caught in a white out. 

There was a few hours of white knuckled driving. Not fun! 

We intended to take the 6 hour drive back home to Carbondale on Monday,

 but got caught in a blizzard and had to say an extra night.

Despite the crap-tastic weather, we still managed to have a nice visit with Jack and the rest of our family. 

We celebrated my cousin's 21st birthday with a Sunday morning breakfast. 

Instead of taking a picture of my fam, I took snap of this cool sign. 

Sorry family.

I got to see my 92 year old grandmother. (Again, no picture.) 

While I was at her apartment I came across her great collection of icons. This one is my fave.

  Jack has been drawing again and allowed me to share a couple of his faves here.

 

 I was able to work on this red-belied woodpecker. He's just about done.

Now we're home and about to go enjoy a walk in 60 degree weather. Yahoo!  

Hope you have a great week. Ta-Ta for now! 

A Happy Accident

Hi there. How are you?

If you follow me on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter, you'll know that I'm all about the birds lately. I'm hoping to have a whole new "flock" of them for my 2014 art fair season. To see my whole collection of birds, head here. 

This is my black-capped chickadee. Pretty cute if I do say so myself! I had finished up the illustration and was ready to mount it onto the cradled hardboard support. That's when the "happy accident" occurred. Well, actually, there were two accidents. First off, I cut the paper too short, leaving a bit of the hardboard showing. 

I was immediately annoyed at my stupid mistake and wasn't sure what to do to make it right. I first considered trying to patch in a tiny piece of graph paper to cover the gap, but I knew it would look quite obvious. Then I noticed the second accident....A tiny piece of paper had gotten sandwiched in between the sticker paper and the graph paper and it had created a visible dent. I was officially annoyed. Instead of having a total freak out and ripping the birdie from the hardboard,  I took a step back from the piece and let it be for a moment. Then, I came up with a plan. 

In terms of color, this piece was pretty quiet, so I decided on adding a band of color at the bottom. These were just left-over bits of paper I had from another project. I liked the contemporary pop that these pieces added. But there was still that pesky little bit of paper showing on the right side. In a very uncharacteristic manner, I decided to step away from this piece again. (This is so unlike me...I'm pretty rash and impulsive when it comes to artmaking. I don't often take the time to plan.)

After a bit of thinking, I decided to add a few of my signature abstract flower shapes to cover up the dent and liven up the negative space. I'm not quite sure if it's done yet. I still may add some ink embellishments into or around the collaged shapes or add a typed "nametag" to this, like I have my other birds. I'm just going to sit and stew before I do anything. I can officially say that I love this little guy, and I'm excited to add more collage elements to my next few bird pieces. This was indeed a happy accident! Hooray! 

Have you had a "happy accident" in your art or life? Do share. I'd love to hear about it!

Have an excellent week. Ta-Ta for now!

New Art in the New Studio

Hi there. How are you?

Matt and I both made good use of the new studio this weekend.

Matt has started a small oil painting. 

I've been working on some new birds. 

 Both the House Finch and Varied Thrush are available for purchase! 

($150 each plus shipping.) Give me a holler if you're interested.

See you next Tuesday. Ta-Ta.