On the Horizon

The planning stages of something big.......

It is challenging to take on an adventure that is potentially life-changing, especially if you have a day job.  Struggling with the energy to be productive after working 7 to 8 hours is my biggest hurdle.  I leave work, get home and after changing clothes, I am just done.  I know I have to stop this sabotaging behavior.  My goal will never be reached if this continues. 

Now, don't get me wrong, I am motivated.  A ton of sketches for projects and lists of supplies and things I have started already fill my studio and have recently bled into my bedroom.  I guess I just feel unorganized in my space although by looking at it, one would think there is a place for everything.  It is hard to work from home.  It is hard for me to be creative in a place, where I associate the words "peaceful" and "relaxing" and "meditative".  Sounds like a nice place to do yoga.  Actually, it is a nice place to stretch out and meditate.  But I do not feel inspired to create things in my home.  Guess I do need a studio space, away from my apartment.  It will come with time.  Meanwhile, I need to figure out a way to juggle everything efficiently, without stressing myself out.

I'm creating wedding invitations for a friend right now.  These are much different than the design I made for Tom and Becky's wedding.  I'll post photos as it all comes together.  Gathering paper and color samples today.

I also have a handful of magnets to make, high resolutions scans to create, postcards to lay out, a fundraising party to plan for a book we're trying to get out, meetings to have with my business partner......it goes on and on.  Not really stressing out about it (yeah right!), but I'd love to do most of this during the day.  I am afraid that until money rolls in more smoothly, I am a prisoner to my day job.

I signed up to participate in PhotoNOMA again this year.  Basically an open portfolio review to the public, I've had a positive response from the past two events.  Referring to my previous mention of having too much on my plate, I consider backing out and handing the spot over to a photographer who has the damn time to prep for this thing.  It is a decision I don't take lightly and will have to make by the end of the week.

All of this said, I am desperately trying to find some time this summer to get out of here and relax.  A friend and I want to do this together, but like I keep saying, finding the time to discuss it and make plans.......we're finding it difficult.  This.......will.......happen!!!!

Finished!

Well, the painting, that was inspired by the one in the previous posting, is finished.  I like it.  I don't think I love it, but it's ok.  People have given it great reviews so I'm sure it can't be all bad.  A series of these paintings would be more visually stunning, I believe.  A body of paintings is in the planning stages right now. 

The show was fantastic!  Lights, music, food, dancing, freestyle MCs, you name it.  We all had a great time.  I also did a 4-color screenprinted poster, listing all the open studios.  It was one of the first little projects for a much bigger project that me and a friend are working on (more on that later).  Photos of the event can be seen HERE.

Another project slowly gaining speed is wedding invitations for a good friend of mine.  I have a meeting with her on Friday to discuss the design, paper choices, etc.  I'll write an update on that when I have more information.

Contact cards.  I ran out of them last week at the Southern Graphics Council's Conference.  I NEED to get more of those printed and soon.

Let's see, what else?  Eh, I think that's about it for the moment.

M.I.A.

I thought I'd never see a photo of this painting anymore.

It went off to a show in the downtown area almost four years ago.  I've never seen it since. Having it returned to me was part of the deal if it didn't sell.  If it did sell, 40% of the money went toward a non-profit organization, which is fine.  But did I sell it or not?  I guess I'll never know.  I have no clue how to get in touch with the lady whose home this painting was in for the show.  Does she even still live here in New Orleans?  Again, I may never know.

I have a lot on my plate right now.  The latest additions are pieces for a show in the building I live in, scheduled for March 10th.  The painting above would've been perfect for it.  Counting my losses, I've decided to do more of these, maybe a bit bigger than this one.  Included on my itinerary of "things to do", I also have a print show to participate in during mid-March for the Southern Graphics Council's visit to New Orleans this year for their annual meeting.  It may not be such a big thing though, after all, the print show will be at my place of employment and printmaking usually does not take a front burner, but we'll see.

Ya know, I was never really a fan of framing a painting, but now that I look at all the paintings on my wall and the photo above, I think I may start framing them.

New Post for a New Year

Happy 2012, All!!!!

Everyone ALWAYS says, "This is the year for me! Things are going to happen this time." Do they? New Year's resolutions? Not usually, but this year IS going to be different. I'm in the midst of two genius ideas (a road trip and a business venture) and neither one would be possible without two incredibly artistic friends of mine. In the meantime, I have a lot of writing to do: proposals with a sales pitch. More information on both of these projects as I wrap my head around them.

It is also Mardi Gras season here in New Orleans, which means that many creative ventures will present themselves to me. I have so many potential projects floating in my head. Of course, I'm going to make some Carnival-themed magnets so I'll have photos of them up later. My friends and I are playing around with the idea of hand-made head accessories for this time of year......and maybe year-round. Oh, and I am going to make a damn king cake this year! I've been wanting to do that for a long time so why not?

My friend, Teena, has a blog about her creative adventures. One artistic creation a week = 52 projects. Check her out at www.projectvoila.wordpress.com

Other things in the works: art for a friend's restaurant, new body of work (etchings), rearranging my apartment, selling my paintings for CHEAP and finally getting a decent amount of business cards printed (letterpress-printed to be exact).

......and that's my update. Sorry, no photos this time around but there will be plenty on the way soon. I do, however, have ONE photo for you that pretty much sums up my life right now:


Cheers!

Opportunity and Filling the Wallet

I really need to keep this thing updated more frequently.

I've been working on magnets and slowly getting prints framed via acceptance into shows. Can't complain too much.

I stopped by the Southern Food and Beverage Museum on Wednesday with a fellow printmaker. She currently has prints for sale in their gift shop. After much conversation, the guy behind the desk expressed interest in getting more local artists into the shop. My colleague mentioned me as an artist and the ice broke. I don't do much in the realm of food or drink themed work, but I'm not against it. When I mentioned that I do fleur de lis magnets, he gave me his card and asked me to email him some images. Wow! My magnets in a SECOND location!?? That's pretty sweet! The museum is also located in a nice tourist-y spot downtown so here's to hoping this works out for the better (although they are relocating soon). I may end up in production mode soon.

Thursday evening, R.H.I.N.O. Contemporary Art Gallery had their opening reception of the "Muses" show. I was in it. So were other friends. I gave them the Vitruvian Man print. Everyone seems to like it. At $175.00, my fingers are crossed that it sells. Yeah, the magnets are a nice little money maker, but I'd love to focus on my printmaking more and get some income coming in from what I went to school for.

Which brings me to my broke status.....

Tomorrow (and possibly this evening), I plan on taking nice photos of all of my work; prints, paintings, crafty stuff, etc. I think I may open an Etsy account to try to sell my work. I'll also set something up locally as well. I have to move my work. It just sits in my apartment gathering dust, wishing it had a better life making someone's home more colorful and artsy. And yes, I may have to move it all at discount. I have no money to rent a car for the trip home during Thanksgiving. My bills are barely staying afloat. Something has to give here. I'm trying not to sell my belongings, which I considered.

I'll keep you posted. An art sale coming soon!

Printing for The Balvenie Rare Crafts Roadshow

The etching I created for the Balvenie event came out nice! After Melissa letterpressed the text, I guess I was a bit surprised at how well it looked. I haven't done a drypoint etching in years and on plexi glass......well it's been at least a decade! Since I printed the decorative part of the print, I really didn't want it to be too definitive. I used a light brownish-orange for the color. Looks pretty good!

What sucked a little was that we didn't have a capital "S" for Sauce, so we had to elaborate hence the word "Glaze" in the title. It bothered me at first but when you actually read the whole title together, it doesn't sound too bad.


I don't usually use plexi glass when doing any kind of printmaking. That in mind, I did manage to forget what kind of matrix I was using. After I ran my first proof, I mindlessly decided to use acetone to clean my plate off. Mistake!! Of course, I realized my mistake as soon as I started rinsing it off. Yeah, acetone eats plexi glass.......why did I forget about that!? Concerned that I screwed up big time, I set it aside and prayed. When I inked it back up the next day, I prayed again. I mean we were going to be on camera and I certainly didn't want to make an ass of myself. As I pulled the print off of the press, a smile came across my face. SUCCESS!! No crazy marks from the acetone or from me running my fingernails across the plate. Whew!

I started running an edition at 10:00am. The film crew didn't show up on my side of the studio until 4:00pm. Basically, I had a lot of time to print........and I did.

Our thank you/parting gift from The Balvenie was a 17 year old bottle of scotch whisky. Oh boy! I have no plans to drink it anytime soon. Special occasions ONLY!

We have about 75 prints! Seventy-five hand-pulled prints..........of a recipe. They are all for sale in the gallery. So, if you are an art lover and can appreciate the fine art of printmaking, then it really doesn't matter what the subject is, does it? Come check them out and buy one!

We took photos with Balvenie Brand Ambassador, Andrew Weir. I served bread pudding to him and Melissa and we took a bite while cameras rolled. Kinda cheesy, I know. But we had a fantastic time!!









Who knew I'd find a new appreciation for scotch whisky!?

Mental Fuzziness

I am in artistic disarray right now.  

I have no clue which project to focus on, what deadline to meet first (you would think it's the one looming over my head) or whether or not to ditch activities with friends in order to get shit done.  I can't decide: work on my paintings, turn those sketches into prints, pump out some magnets, work on one of the three projects that NEED to be finished within the next week, learn how to sew (no, I do not know how....stop laughing) or just shut the hell up.  A friend of mine said it perfectly today; "When I get to an indecisive point in whatever I'm making, I walk away, thinking,'oh I'll just get to it later'".  Wow!  That's precisely what I'm feeling!  My focus is off.  Way off.  I'll quit doing something that's near genius and, well I don't know, start washing my dishes (mainly because I can't stand to see dirty dishes in the sink).....or talking to my cat or calling my best friend.....or......update a blog.

Maybe I should entertain you for a brief moment on some random thoughts:

Random thought #1:

I find people completely annoying.  It's in the details really.  

Random thought #2:

Not so sure I want kids.  I thought I did, with me about to hit my mid-30s and all.....but......I think I'd be completely fine with none.  Or, I'll just adopt. 

Random thought #3:

I need an art studio that I can actually close off from the rest of my dwelling.  I'm constantly worried that my cat, Sasha, is going to swallow/eat/taste/play with something she has no business messing with.  It is a silly, yet not so unrealistic, fear.

Random thought #4:

I need a F*$@ING vacation!!!!!

Bored you yet?

Ok, list for the next seven days:

*finish a friend's stamp design

*create a drypoint etching for a hand-printed recipe (this needs to be done in more like 4 days)

*make 20 more magnets

*seal/varnish two paintings

I think that's enough to keep me busy on the artistic front.

and..........................GO!