Rocket Fighter - Acrylic painting of Vintage Painted Tin Toy by Debbie Shirley

Rocket Fighter

12 x 12 inches

acrylic on canvas

I had a lot of fun with this one - can you tell?
Love this cute little printed tin toy. I hope to have the time to squeeze in more toy paintings soon!

Yes, things are still crazy. If you take a look on the right side of this page, you will see my ever-growing list of upcoming events - and I am not even close to being done entering them there! If you are local, you will have lots of opportunities to come see my work in person. Stop by and introduce yourself - I'd love to meet you!

Trio - Small Still Life Painting of Tomatoes for #twitterartexhibit

Trio

4 x 6 inches

acrylic on watercolor paper

This is my entry for this year's #TwitterArtExhibit. For the exhibit, artists all over the world donate a piece of original postcard size art. An exhibit is held and all pieces are available for sale at a flat, affordable price and all proceeds go to a particular charity or non profit. This year the exhibit is being held at the Trygve Lie Gallery in New York City and the charity is Foster Pride’s “Handmade” Program, in which young women in foster care learn to create and market a unique line of goods. It is very cool to follow all the pieces coming in (see their twitter feed here) - over 1200 artists all over the world participating! If you happen to be in New York City, the opening is on March 31 from 6:30-8:30. For the rest of us, much of the opening will be broadcasted on Periscope.

5 to Play

Sooo.... it's not every day that you get something awesome in the mail that looks like this:

Really, I got this wonderful piece of mail art from my good friend (and fellow artist) Linda Germain:

Linda is a wonderful artist - and does amazing monoprints - and is also an insightful teacher. What is even cooler is that you can take her classes online, from your own home or studio, anywhere in the world, and she is right there to help you every step of the way. I love the fact that she teaches her style of printmaking that is accessible to everyone - and no need for fancy equipment. You can check her most current class out here.

Anyhow, here is a close-up of the words on the piece. (And they are TYPED, as in a TYPEWRITER - the old typographer in me squealed with delight when I saw that!)

But they got me thinking....
What if I did play for 5 minutes a day? I have used many focusing techniques to start my day in my studio over the years. I've written "morning pages", I've made to-do lists, I've used breathing techniques, I've paced - I find that things work for while, then eventually I need to move on to a different technique. Which is fine - whatever works to get my mind focused to get to work on my paintings is okay with me. So Linda's prompt gave me a few ideas.....

To start with for now, I am taking the first 5 minutes in my studio to play. Right now that means drawing in my sketchbook. Nothing related to what I am working on at the moment. It can be a drawing of something I see, something floating in my head, or even just a scribble. Then I write the first line that pops into my head - whether it makes sense or not. And there is no pressure - I won't ever show this sketchbook to anyone! It is just 5 minutes, with no purpose in mind but to "play". So far it has been great fun, and definitely helps me to get centered to start my day.

Thank you, Linda - for the gift of "5 minutes to play"

Anyone else have any good rituals that they use to start their studio time?? I'd love to hear about it in the comments below.

Beer & Wine - Acrylic Painting of a Neon Sign and Bowling Alley

Beer & Wine

16 x 12 inches

acrylic on canvas

I've been frantically working on some larger pieces to enter into upcoming exhibitions all while trying to move into my new studio space. It has been a little crazy! Now this week will have to be dedicated to catching up on some smaller pieces for some new shops I will have work in this Spring.

But first, here is one of the larger pieces. Love the Sunnyside sign from Danvers, Massachusetts. The day I went to take photos of it, the shadows were so perfect, I knew I'd need to paint more than just the sign....

Mischief - Small Acrylic Painting of Mr Potatohead

Mischief

3 x 3 inches

acrylic on mdf panel

Doing a mix of little pieces for shops and some bigger pieces for exhibitions. Keeps me on my toes!
This little piece is available at Zenobia in Ipswich, Massachusetts. Gotta keep going back to the Mr. Potatohead. Each one has such a distinct personality - makes it so much fun to paint!

I am pretty much moved into my new studio - still some little things to be done, but I am pretty swamped with work, so I can't take any more down time. It will all get done eventually - right?!!

Crazy Life - and Making Art

Things have been crazy and I am still trying to play catch-up! I hope to post some of my newer pieces very soon. And pictures of my new studio, too  ;-)

In the meanwhile, here is a little post from my good friend, Linda Germain. Not only is she an amazing artist, but she is a phenomenal teacher - and you can take her classes online! I love that she teaches on so many levels - her art is truly about the process - and she makes printmaking accessible to everyone without needing any crazy-expensive tools. Check out her post on making art even if you think you can't draw!

Saying goodbye to my old space.....