Sunny Bay finished

I finished this piece Friday and entitled it "Sunny Bay". It is 16x20 in colored pencil. I took it and two other pieces, "Lean on Me" and "Land of the Free I, to an intake for a local juried exhibition on Saturday.

Also, on Saturday, I met with an individual who had picked up my card from one of the post offices where I had placed cards in conjunction with the release of Ellen DeGeneres helping shelter animals stamp release. He has ordered 7 (!) 9x12 pet portraits. He would like the first one before July 4th. I could use an order this size every month! I am supposed to call him Wednesday about the progress of the first one. Luckily, the first one has the best photo references. A couple of the others do not have the best references and will be quite difficult, I fear. I hope he is pleased with them all. Will ask him for permission to post WIP/finished pieces here when I speak with him on Wednesday. For now, I better get busy!

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Foal WIP 2 & 3

Here are two more images showing the work in progress on the foal. I hope to get to work on it a few hours today and probably will bring it to a finished point or a point where I need to contemplate whether it is finished or not. I am enjoying working on the contrasts in the piece.

The weeds growing profusely around here are needing work is getting me down, don't get much done on these hot days.

I need to finish applications for shows yet this season. Then I am thinking of expanding my internet presensce on Facebook and perhaps Etsy or some similiar site and E-Bay. My "freedom" from nonart jobs is here (for the most part, except some need to take some classes here and there) for the next six months and I want to really start to make the most of it with some steady working time and perhaps some branching out in media.

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Foal WIP 1

Here is the foal I was working on at the art fair. I had the outline on the board when I got to the fair and this is how far I got. The foal is going to be a bay, as it is in the reference photo. I am making the mother a flea bitten grey, though she is also bay in the reference photo. This piece is 16 by 20. I am attracted to the sunlit with contrasts quality of the mother's and foal's coats in the reference photo and am wanting the beauty of this piece to be involved with that. Will see how that turns out. I hope to have some time yet today to get several hours work done on this. Thanks for looking and thanks for dropping by!

After the Art Fair

Here are some photos of the Granville Art Affair this past weekend. Given the constant threat of thunderstorms, attendance was decent. I had help putting up and taking down the tent. I will really need to practice to be able to put the tent up by myself in a decent amount of time. I did use tent stakes, dog tie 0utstakes with cambuckles (thanks Mona, so much for your helpful Squido lens regarding art fair essentials). My tent weathered a horrible storm Saturday night overnight when all the artist were in bed sleeping. Though I did not see the aftermath when I arrived Sunday morning, I was told that 12 of the 103 artists in attendance lost their tents. There were some not so well weighted tents, though I think many of them survived. This makes me very sad. I did survive intact, even leaving my art hanging overnight (security was very, very good). Thanks again, Mona, and thank you, Trimline/Flourish Canopy, Inc!

I only had a few print and card sales. Artists around me did better, but none seemed to be extremely thrilled with the sales as a whole. I got quite a few promises of commissions, as well as promises about recontacting me about the eagle as an original -- which could make all the difference if they come through. It is a newer show and I am sure it will grow with time.

There was a wine festival and polo along with art festival. You probably are not able to make out the polo in the distance in the shot above. The festival is the grounds of Bryn Du Mansion, now owned by the city of Granville, Ohio.

You can probably see the mansion in the distance in the photo above.
Also, though I did not feel my booth looked particularly unfull when I was there, I think it does look that way when I look at the photos and would look much better with alot more work.

I enjoyed talking with and getting to know the artists in two of the booths across from me. One of them, a jeweler, is just starting out this year, but she applied to alot of shows and was accepted, my hat is off to her in her how hard she has been working in her first year with applying, getting in and booth decoration. I got some helpful hints and venue leads to follow up on from her, too. The other booth across from me was being booth attended by the partner of the artist. When I saw the work in the booth, gothic/punk/fantasy style oil paintings, I imagined that the artist/booth attendant would consider me to be a "dabbling, medicore old lady". Well, the booth attender, Eddie, came over to vist me several times. He has done some colored pencil work and has his own artistic aspirations, he was quite encouraging and curious about my work. Given my initial thoughts especially, his interest and encouragement was quite uplifting and motivating to me. The warmth and motivation I got from Eddie's interest and encouragement is probably the most valuable thing I got from being at this show.

New Year's goals aside, I really have not worked as hard as I shoulda- coulda and in reflection, that ole "fear" probably has something to do with it. Living, learning and kicking myself in the butt -- "nothing ventured, nothing gained". You gotta work a whole lot harder, girl!!!!

I did get a lot of work done on my demo foal piece, I will post a WIP next time. Thanks for stopping by!

Art Fair This Weekend

The above photo is of all three feral kittens that were born in the garage. Have not been able to tame them a whole lot. May catch them next week and if cannot find homes (have been calling rescues about Slim -- they are all full). Then maybe make them into barn kitties if everyone can get along. I have caged Slim, unfortunatley. He was beating up the longer time barn kitties and one of them was staying away for days. I am considering whether or not to make him a house kittie, though I had vowed not to have anymore house kitties. We will see.

My first art fair of the season is this weekend. Will be the first time I put up the whole tent. At least it is on grass and only about seven miles from home. Will be putting up the tent Friday night and then hanging the art before it starts on Saturday. It is running Saturday and Sunday. Thunderstorms are predicted! Wish me luck. I have been busy starting a foal demo piece and matting some more prints and packaging some greeting cards I have recently ordered.

I am looking forward to it, but with the last week of school this week and all, I could feel a less rushed with it. I calm myself by telling myself I am still evolving :).

I went to a two day how to do framing workshop not quite two hundred miles away last weekend. I enjoyed it alot more than I was expecting to do. Met some really nice people. I also got to stay at my brother's and have some great food and see a movie.

Lean on Me

This piece, entitled "Lean On Me" is 16 x 20, colored pencil. Though, there are some things I would change -- as is often the case, it seems, I had a great absorbing time working on this one. I have entered it in the 11th Annual FMP Membership show on Ann Kullberg's site. I have ordered some prints and am looking forward to seeing how they look.

It is scorching hot and time is flying. Trying to decide what to start as a demo piece. Lots of things I could work on, but not all of them do I want to do as a demo.

Hope your week is going well. Thanks for stopping by!