Killian's Art Corner

It was a success!  Killian loved his desk and "spinny chair" as he calls it.  He was so excited to unveil his present on Christmas morning!  He says that his desk and chair are his favorite presents... especially the spinny chair.  He spends every day on that chair drawing and it makes me smile every time I see hime!  He loves the little drawer with the key just like I knew he would.  Mission accomplished!

Carpe Diem

My youngest boy, Killian, age 5, asked for a desk for Christmas.  He is really into art, drawing in particular, and wants to spend most of his free time doing that.  I know how he feels... he wants a special place where he can go to just sit there with his own supplies and think and draw.  I love my studio and my table.  I love the cozy chair in the corner with the lantern above.  I love the 3rd story window with the old-fashioned lock and how it overlooks the trees.  I love my bulletin board full of inspiration and the refreshing robin's egg blue on the walls.  It all means something to me and is a part of the process.  It is much sweeter to have your own personal space that feels like the right environment for creating.  That is why I tuned into Killians wish and I am going to make him a space of his own. 
             I found a beautiful table and a chair on craigslist.  I just fell in love with the lines of the legs of the desk and the little key that you turn to open the drawer that holds your supplies.  Of course, the picture didn't show that the top was a little worn and the legs slightly banged up and I didn't realize that until I saw it in person.  So I decided to buy it and put some love into it.  I have spent the last 3 nights sanding the table.  Sanding looks a lot easier than it is and my arm and fingers got really tired.  Although they were aching, I just kept telling myself... "He is going to love sitting here and creating", and "he will be so surprised to unwrap this desk and find the little key to open it!"  That is what got me through. 
             I love keeping a piece of furniture alive by reviving it.  It is way more fun than just buying one.  It is always interesting and I try to piece together a story when I observe the piece.  I was down on the floor sanding the legs, and I saw written in miniature red letters, "carpe diem".  I wondered who wrote them and why.  "Ceize the day".  Were they ceizing the day with the artwork they were creating?  Were they taking a hold of the day with the words they were writing on their paper?  I pulled out the drawer, and there was a little star sticker on the very back... probably from a child.  I flipped over the drawer and 2 women's names were written in script in pencil on the bottom.  I wondered why they signed their names on this desk. 
            I put on the first coat of stain and it looks really good!  He will love the swivel chair I found for him and also the red lamp to grace the top and light up his masterpieces!  I love him so much and love his passion for drawing.  I can't wait to give it to him!!!

Hanging on 'till Christmas

           I forgot to post some baby shoes I made for a few ladies that were at my friend's baby shower so here are a few pictures of them.  They had ordered some shoes from me and these are what I sent them.  I found this really cool asian inspired fabric to make them out of, and lined them in a rich blue.  Since my last post, I have taken a little brake from working on art in my studio.  I have been spending time making some presents for Christmas, and when Christmas is over, it is time to start up in my studio again.  I have also been taking some time to brainstorm about what I want to do for my next pieces. 
           I am tired of cocoons, so I am going to take another direction next.  I also might change mediums a bit, although I am not sure about that.  I feel like I miss drawing on paper, although I love the texture of fabric and all of it's possibilities.  I really don't want to have to matte and frame my work anymore though, so fabric makes it easier for me not to do that!  I will have to play it by ear with the mediums I choose to work with next.  I really want to get out my wax to start up some wax paintings, but I have to build the wooden bases that they go on first, and that consists of help from my husband and time for him to do that... a little hard to come by.  Paper is so easily accessible! 
            In the last pieces I made for the salon, I worked in a way that was less realistic than I naturally choose to work in.  I feel like part of my natural makeup in the way I go about drawing and painting is in a hyper-realistic way, and I didn't work that way in my last pieces.  I really feel like I was trying some different things, but the realism that I love and naturally use in my work is crying to come out again!  I think that will be a part of what I do next.  I will post pictures of my new pieces I did for the gallery as soon as I get some good pictures taken of them.  For the next three weeks, I plan on continuing the brainstorming for my next territory, and making sketches of what I plan on doing.

Paving it's way

I feel exhausted.  I have been working almost every night for the past 3 weeks or so to produce some art for Downtown Betty's.  I haven't been feeling the best and I have really had to push through and force myself to sit down and work at night when I haven't been feeling like it.  I have really enjoyed painting them, but I am just tired.  I have been busy trying to get this house ready for my parents because they are coming in for Thanksgiving this week and there were soooo many home projects that we had put off doing, until these past few weeks.  Really bad timing for sure.  Also, Finn and Sully's birthdays have been in the mix as well... crazy times.  I have completed 3 new pieces, and I am working on the fourth one now.  I have 2 pieces that I had done this past year that I am adding to the collection.  That was my goal to have 4 new pieces and I can't believe that I have done it!  Well, not yet, but hopefully by the end of the day I will!!!  I still have to frame all of them and spray them with a UV-Resistant clear coating that will protect them from moisture and UV light rays.  I ordered new business cards which I am excited about and they were just shipped today!  Business cards have a way of making it feel oh so official.

Now number two is through!

I just finished my second piece today.  It is much larger than the first on and more detailed.  What I love about painting with coffee is that it is so random in the way that it chooses to bleed on the fabric, and you can change it with one squirt of a water bottle.  I like this piece way more than the first one.  I like the colors that are in this one and it is a little more dreamy than the first one and I always enjoy a dreamy quality.  I really busted my butt to get this one done.  I worked every single night on it and sometimes in the days.  I really forced myself when I was feeling too tired at night.  It always felt good to push through and I ended up making a lot of progress where I could have been sleeping, watching tv or serfing the net... that doesn't accomplish anything!  Now, I have two pieces of art that have been done in a week and it feels good!  This last piece was fun because I took a different approach to the way I did it.  Instead of drawing the base sketch out first, I had a general idea in my head and just started without any lines or real plan.  It just evolved as I went and it was very freeing to do it that way!  I wasn't tied to anything and felt no stress about what I was doing.  I am going to try and go about it that way for the next one again.  I think I want to do a series of small pieces of close ups of the cocoons.  We'll see how it goes.  I am planning on starting tomorrow.  I am running out of time!

Piece number one... just done.

I have been working on my first piece for the salon and it has been SO MUCH FUN!!!!!!  I have been going throughout my day anxiously anticipating sitting down at my chair to work.  Once I got started it was the best!!  Starting is definitely the hardest part for me I am finding.  I am loving working with staining fabrics, drawing and transfer of paper onto fabric.  To me, this particular mix of media is endless with possibilities!  I have so much swirling in my head that I am ready to try.  I just finished the first piece last night and I am pleased with it.  I don't think I am going to post pictures until after the work is hung in the salon though.  I think it might ruin it for me.  I want to present it all together at the end.  I only have a few more weeks left and my goal is to have at least 3 more new pieces.  More than that would be great... we'll see. 

Piece number one... almost done.

I have been working on my first piece for the salon and it has been SO MUCH FUN!!!!!!  I have been going throughout my day anxiously anticipating sitting down at my chair to work.  Once I got started it was the best!!  Starting is definitely the hardest part for me I am finding.  I am loving working with staining fabrics, drawing and transfer of paper onto fabric.  To me, this particular mix of media is endless with possibilities!  I have so much swirling in my head that I am ready to try.  I am almost finished with the first piece and I am pleased so far.  I don't think I am going to post pictures until after the work is hung in the salon though.  I think it might ruin it for me.  I want to present it all together at the end.  I only have a few more weeks left and my goal is to have at least 3 more new pieces.  More than that would be great... we'll see.  I have to sign off... it is up to the freezing cold studio I go!!!  3rd floor on cold dreary night... coffee, heater, and pandora?  :)