Completed Painting: I Want To Run Away and Join the Office

This painting was a lot harder than I thought it was going to be. The wood grain, the color or the stapler... it was all very difficult. It took me 3 or 4 times just to get the stapler color. But here we are... done. The original reference photo for this was done by SugarPush on Etsy... her products and photos are beautiful!

you can see a couple stages of this painting here:
Stage 1
and here:
Stage 3

I didn't happen to take any progress shots in between because frankly... I forgot. Whoops! In the end, I'm not 100% happy with it, but I need to move on. Hope you enjoy it!

Also, as usual, the title comes from a great Mike Doughty song called American Car.

Completed Painting: High and Dry

5 by 7 on cradle board... or whatever you call it (I'm such a professional!)

Another photo from the Rookie Painter website (past challenge). Once again... glass is HARD!

I do love my palette afterwards :)

Painting in Progress

OK OK you got me... I haven't been a very productive painter lately. Blame the sunny weather, blame the never ending things to do in Boston, blame the twin neice and nephew that were born last month, blame the endless weddings, blame the freelance work... but really, I should only blame myself.

However, as I apply to a couple fall/Christmas shows (yes us art show people think in terms of 3 or 4 months out at all times). I really I have ALOT of stuff going on this fall that I need to get cracking for.

I will be showing at the 303 Cafe in September

I will have work up at Little Falls in RI in October

The Foundry Show runs the full month of December

You know what this means?!?! This means Julie is pooping her pants. I have 3 months to get enough work done to fill a huge cafe. If that's not a motivating factor, then I don't know what it. This weekend I will be a painting maniac.

If I don't, you have every right to come over and slap me. But not hard... no one is going to buy a painting from a chick with a black eye.

On a serious note

Lately I have been feeling slightly stale in terms of my subjects and concepts. I do however feel like I need to finish all my already-started paintings but that may be unrealistic. A couple of these I'm still excited about working on, but the others almost feel like a chore. Is that bad?

Since I moved up to Boston I have been considering going back to school for painting, but when I start to get into the research it's REALLY overwhelming.

First off, I feel like as someone who is self-taught and who doesn't have a super deep existential meaning behind a lot of my work, they would look at my stuff and immediately decline my application. Apparently I'm supposed to have one cohesive body of work and be influenced by all these historic artists. Who made up all these rules about art? I thought the whole point is there are no rules? I painted an eggplant because I don't use purple a lot and I like purple right now. Is that not deep enough for art school?

Second of all, I'm not sure if my work is supposed to have purpose? Is painting for the sake of painting and for the love of painting not meant for art school? Would I become one of those art-school people? I have ZERO knowledge of art history. Maybe if I took an art history class that would change my outlook?

To end this self-questioning post... I do want to say that this post isn't about me wanting you to say "oh julie your work is great!" this doesn't need to be a love-fest. I know most of you follow this blog because you connect with my paintings in some way, and that means more to me than any degree from some artschool ever would. This post is more of an external dialogue... how do you evolve in your craft?? Is there an underlying theme that leads you from one body of work to another?

(photo taken on return drive from the Twist show where we encounter Lemon-head sized hail and this rainbow)

CraftLand class

I'll be teaching a class called How to Sell Your Work on Etsy at Craftland in February.

Wednesday, February 24, 5:30pm – 7pm

Sign up here!

With the slogan “Your place to buy & sell all things handmade,” Etsy has become one of the top websites to sell your handmade wares. This class will introduce you to the basics of setting up an Etsy shop online, what the costs and commitments are, and the many online and local resources that will make your Etsy shop successful.

Art Shows are like tattoos...

I think art shows and festivals are like getting tattoos. While you're doing it and right after, you're like "WTF was i thinking?!?! this is so painful" but then a couple weeks later, or when someone else starts talking about different shows they've done, or you see the application is out for a juried show... you get that itch. That "OOH that could be a good show" itch.

My festival plan for 2010 includes both Twist shows, Foundry, CraftLand, Providence Art Festival and a couple other ones I've never done before. Also included in that plan is a new booth set up. For those of you who have never had the pleasure of dealing with gridwalls... they are the HORRID. Not sure which system I want but anything other than those damn giant heavy horrible gridwalls.

Now that all the shows are over for 2009, it's time to take a deep breath and list the remaining inventory on Etsy... including the ones shown below.

A couple new keys and a button

These are already at Foundry waiting for new homes. I'll be there ALL DAY on saturday again, so stop on by!

Tonight! Grand Opening of The Foundry

Tonight is the grand opening of the Foundry Show. It took me 2 days to set up my booth, and the entire thing is held together with duct tape and zip ties. No joke!

Tonight there will be live music, food and drinks and lots of fun. The booths that some of these artists have are phenomenal. I definitely have booth envy. You should go if you're in the area!!!

The Foundry Show
at the Pawtucket Armory
172 Exchange Street
Pawtucket, RI 02860

5:00 to 9:00

Here are some pics of the almost finished booth... don't mind the mess on the floor!

Almost there...

Yesterday I began setting up at the Foundry Show. I realize I have probably the most ghetto booth set up there... but I think it works for me. If shows become a "regular" thing then maybe I'll actually invest in something more "put together." Meawhile I'm just trying to focus on making enough stuff.

I completed a really great new custom home painting (but can't show pictures because its an Xmas present. I will tell you that it's a winter scene and it looks SO COOL!

I also got the finishing touches done on this little guy. These are 4 by 4 and I will have 3 at the Foundry Show.

Grand Opening for the Foundry show is tomorrow night from 5 to 9 with live music and food and drinks!!!

The Foundry Show at The Pawtucket Armory
172 Exchange Street
Pawtucket, RI 02860

Twist it up!

I just returned from the Twist Fair that took place Nov 13th and 14th up in Northampton, MA. I had never been there before... and I will DEFINITELY go back! A fantastic community that supports the arts, is a very walkable city, and the people are phenomenal.

This was, by far, the best show I have ever done (financially as well as how it was organized). The people who put this on had everything covered. The vendors were fed, staggered load in times, mini massages. AMAZING!! On top of all that, the Twist Fair is EXTREMELY well attended, and the level of artistry throughout the vendors was unmatched. Some of my favorite vendors were: Sharon Mehrman Woodworking, The Candy Thief, HeatherJeany, Argyle Whale, Beehive Kitchenware, and Hand of Fatima.

I did pretty well in terms of sales, and most of what was sold was supposed to go to CraftLand (buttons!). So hopefully I can bang out some more buttons by thursday! Here's a before and after of my booth:

BEFORE

AFTER

I can't wait to apply for the one in the spring!!!

do the TWIST!

I, along with the talented HeatherJeany, will be venturing off to the land of Northampton MA this weekend for the Twist show. I am OH SO excited!!! and nervous...always nervous. Did I pack everything? Did I bring enough stock? Am I going to to look cute enough at the Mike Doughty concert the day before? Oh the pressure!!!

All those super cool indie artists... I hope I fit in... or rather I hope I stand out! It's like the first day of school! Do I have enough #2 pencils?

Oh and don't forget to sign up for my mailing list by the end of the day on Sunday for your chance to win a free print!

the Packaging Problem

I have always had a packaging problem. From wrapping gifts to packing paintings, I don't care what it looks like... as long as it's functional and sturdy. (Story of my life!) So if you get a present from me, it's most likely with wrinkled and uneven wrapping paper or in a gift bag.

Recently, however, I have been the victim of packaging envy. All these etsy sellers have such fancy and beautiful packaging. And while I will still attempt to sit on my high horse and give excuses like "i'm shipping paintings and the number one priority is the security of the product" or "i'm eco friendly because I'm not out BUYING packaging supplies and creating more waste"... I have slightly caved.

I went to PaperInStyle (another local etsy seller) and had her make me some custom tags for my paintings with ribbon and paper. I have to say... they are so very cute! I always had an issue with how I should place the price tag on the painting, and every show I would do, another round of stickers would be made and then stuck onto displays. Well, NO MORE! These cute little tags can now hold the price info but also my logo and my website. Oh so efficient!

Giveaway!

Pale Earth was the first painting that really kick started what has become my evolving "style." I took about 3 years off from painting (and before that, honestly...my paintings were uber lame. UBER lame!) And once I came back to it... I had switched to acrylics and somehow it just all made sense. It had a purpose, it told a story, it felt... "right." And I fell in love with painting all over again. If this painting came out horribly or didn't become what it was... there is a very good chance I'd still be painting lame sort-of human shaped things in weird abstracty environments that had a cheeseball factor of about 3 million.

So in honor of new beginnings, I wanted to do a giveaway with this print. You can win yourself one of the Limited Edition Pale Earth prints just by signing up for my newsletter. Everyone who is signed up for the newsletter by November 15th will be entered.

You can either sign up on the side bar here on the blog, or go directly to HERE and sign up. You will receive an email confirming that you do, in fact, want to be on this mailing list. And once you confirm that fact... BINGO, you're entered.

On November 16th, I will sort the list alphabetically, and use a random number generator and pick a winter. Good Luck!

chastity keys

ok so these are not chastity keys... i just think it's a funny phrase.

As I was finishing up a couple custom home portraits, I started some other skeleton key paintings. I really hope I sell a lot of paintings this holiday season because I have NO WHERE TO KEEP THEM ALL!!! Buttons! Keys! Trees! Old people! Oh My!

I love love love the color of this canvas. It was achieved by painting olive green over orange. (I know it looks orange in the photo but its not... it's like a green orange) To be honest, pretty much every color I paint is kind of an accident. Is that bad? The down side to that is it's almost impossible for me to replicate a specific color in exactly the same way. Booo for me, but yaaayyyy for spontaneity.

Not sure if I posted this or not...

but I found a new name for this painting. There were a couple obvious choices... and we all know me and the obvious don't have a good relationship together. Not only am I usually oblivious to the obvious in terms of well-known social cues, but I like to find the hidden secondary meanings to just about everything. Just because I find the number 3 and 9 in EVERYTHING doesn't mean I'm OCD, OK!?!?!?!?

The newly titled "Stirring Up Allies"

There is paint on my keyboard...

Yes, there is paint on my super expensive laptop. It's because I've been in such a painting frenzy lately! Although I have to do a lot of buttons for CraftLand, I am trying to take little breaks by doing skeleton keys.

Painting in Progress: Buttons

The progress of the buttons have slowed a bit. I have about 7 done, but the larger needle and thread ones are slower than I'd like.

These little guys came out super cute though! One is on vintage train ledger paper from 1924, the other is on vintage german bible pages. Each is 2 inches by 3 inches and will come with an easel.

Here is the 6 by 12 needle and thread that is in progress:

Another button and a key

Another Button completed and a small 4 inch by 5 inch skeleton key was also completed last night. Wow I was productive! A total of 7 paintings were finished. Now I just need to sign and varnish and they're ready for Craftland.



The Skeleton Key one is actually a dark salmon color but it comes across red on my screen in this photo. :/

Painting in Progress: Buttons

The assembly line of buttons for Craftand is well on it's way. These 5 paintings are done and ready for signatures. I have a couple more in progress... one of which is a needle and thread.

Notice one is on some vintage paper? That's antique German bible pages!

mini three trees

I'm posting some more in my Etsy Shop.

These will also be with me at the Providence Rotary Street Painting Festival this Saturday!

Come on down and say hi!