Color Palettes and Craft Paint

 

I'm not sure if you follow me on instagram or not (artsyorange), but lately I've been on a bit of a painting binge. I say binge because I can....not....get....ENOUGH of painting lately. If I wasn't so blooming tired Sunday I probably could have cranked out a dozen. I did however, manage to finish 4 large paintings this weekend. Woohoo!!

Anyhoo...one aspect that is motivating this urge to create is my color palette. If you've taken an in-person class from me or my e-course you know that I am not brand picky when it comes to paint. I buy based on color. I was however, a tad obsessed with the thicker the better heavy body acrylic paints for the body of my work, with the backgrounds on occasion using the sample quarts from Lowe's.

I have a little confession to make though. A few weeks back I was buying Craft Smart paint for after school. I buy this paint because it is much easier to teach little hands with than the heavy body acrylics. It's also more cost effective. I glanced over at the smaller tubes of Americana paint and found some truly yummy colors. And thought....what the heck, they are $1.29 each. If I hate painting with it this type of paint I'll just put it in the after school art stash.

Well....let's just say that I am now LOVING these paints. And here's why. It makes me put on thinner layer of paint. And then layer...and layer and LAYER. When you layer paint, the layers under it illuminate through and you get an affect that has so much more depth. And the colors are so rich and gorgeous. Much better coverage than the Craft Smart brand honestly (which since that's what I knew was kind of a snob about painting with). As a whimsical painter I am not so much concerned with making things look 3 dimensional per say. But I do love for my colors to resonate on the canvas. Let's just say these colors are singing a lovely song. The painting above is not quite finished. You can tell this by the chalk reside awaiting removal by the secret wiper tool.

As far as palette goes yesterday I picked up a few more tubes of the Americana brand in the colors above. When I got home the above magazine tear out was on my art desk. Low and behold my brain had obviously wanted this color palette because I'd bought ALL but the Oatbran! Anyhoo...I have a rather large stash of all sorts of paints now. I guess being an artist lends itself to wanting to explore mediums of all kinds. At least I find this to be true.

So tell me...what's your favorite type of paint?

Daisies

Daisies are my favorite flower....have been ever since I can remember. They represent joy to me. I remember one time Billy came to my apartment in college after we'd been broken up for 6 months. We had decided to give it another go so he had brought me the largest bouquet of daisies I had ever seen in my life as a gift. Joy. 

Anyhoo....fast forward to our first house and of course I planted daisies. They flourished in our yard. Bringing joy to my little yard year after year. Then we moved into our new house 4 years ago. I bought more daisies....but forgot to plant them. So they lived in their pots for 2 years on the side of the house I never go by. No water. No food. Just hung out. Nature taking care of them. I decided to plant these babies this past spring.  Over the past few months I've watched them grow and grow and grow. But never bloom. Total bummer. They have flourished in the ground I prepared for them though so I thought for sure eventually they would burst into blooms. They are literally covering a 5 foot area now from 2 freaking plants! And this week.....this week they finally bloomed!!!

Again, like instagram and the zinnias my brain had to get these pretty flowers onto a canvas. With one rose. I am favoring roses more as a get older. Their colors can be truly amazing.

So what flowers are you drawn to? I sure am having fun painting these whimsical flowers. I just can't help it. The brush and the heart are enjoying it too much to stop. Next up is a giant bike with a basket on front full of daisies. Of course.

Scatter Joy

About a month ago Tammie, a former custom painting client that lives in Louisiana, emailed me saying she'd recently been hired as an elementary principal and wondered if I would be willing to paint her a large painting for her new office. Of course I said YES! We talked back and forth about what to paint...her mascot was kinda cheesy so that was a no. Plus she wanted something that could eventually go back to her home. I suggested a word embedded in a landscape with my funky flowers. She said "Sounds great!" I said, how about "Scatter JOY"? So that every time a little child is in her office they see those words. Every time a parent is in her office they see those words. Every time a teacher is in her office they see those words. Embedded into their brains and hearts. Scatter joy.....I believe in the power of words.

Off I went to paint the idea. I love the composition. Simple and yet has an impact because of the contrast in flower colors and the word. I love these new zinnias that are appearing in my work. Sometimes social media becomes embedded in my brain and I just have to get it out. For some reason zinnias were in my instagram feed over and over and over...so they spilled out and onto my canvas. Love. Cone flowers are a personal favorite of mine as well as daisies. Which BTW are finally blooming in my yard!

 And of course it's framed out in a salvage bead board frame. I did add a coat of flat black and distress it for a more finished look. She should receive the painting today. I can't wait to see it hanging in her office!

Orange Happy

I'm plowing along with daily painting. Although I'm not really painting everyday. So I really shouldn't call it daily painting I suppose. Although last week I did paint 4 out of 5 lunch times. That made me happy. This week I have a less stressful afternoon/night schedule so hoping to get a custom painting finished and shipped as well as some more works for the upcoming Norcross Arts Festival. It's in 3 weeks ya'll. What was I thinking???

These new paintings are making me very happy. I think because they are just effortless with the brush. That sounds perhaps a bit like I think I am "all that and a bag of chips", but what I mean is they are seriously translating from brush to canvas what I want them to do with ease. I get pretty discouraged about some of my work. Looking too tight, like I am trying too hard. I am not a realistic painter and yet sometimes feel my paintings are stuck in the middle of real and whimsical in a very bad way. I think these crazy flowers are speaking to me because they are literally just whimsical. No real. I'm not looking at any flowers, I'm not tracing anything. Just using my head and heart to draw and paint. Having fun with color and layering a lot.

Well...another week in the classroom teaching. It's all about Halloween right now. Gearing up for the Family Fun Night exhibit. This year is gonna be sooooooo good!! Have a lovely Monday!

ArtWalk Tonight In Newnan

Tonight is the annual Fall ArtWalk in downtown Newnan.  When Valerie and I owned The Vintage-Flea it was one of my favorite events we hosted. Every business on the square hosts an artist in their business from 5-9PM. People come in droves to the square to walk from business to business looking at the art of local artists. Of course there is always yummy food and drinks in each business to entice the buying. Valerie and I always served yummy Sangria. I wonder what she's concocting for tonight? The Newnan square at night is truly magical. It's a great event to attend. I hope you will!

Again, tonight from 5-9PM the annual event takes place. The weather is looking good for an evening out. Not much has changed about the evening's festivities over the years, except the storefronts perhaps. Valerie now owns Gillyweed, an AMAZING boutique on the square. Her store literally I want one of everything. And I really want my house to smell exactly like her store. She has a fabulous eye for style in fashion and for the home. Seriously folks, if you can't make it to Newnan tonight for ArtWalk then you should visit the Newnan and Valerie soon.

So I tell you all about Gillyweed because she is hosting me tonight as one of her featured ArtWalk artists. I am tickled to be in her store. I've got a nice assortment of older and newer work to sell. Like the one above which I finished up yesterday. Love these new flowers.  Although....just my art will be in attendance. William is playing serious baseball this fall. We actually have to check the kids out of school to get to games tonight! Snap.... you think that'll be an excused check out? We had to get a hotel room and book the dogs at camp. Talk about stepping up the game! Not to mention hurting our wallets. So you guys go to Gillyweed and buy lots of my art ok?  hehehehe...  I'll be watching this handsome man play ball. Can't wait!

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! I'll be back next week with more new work up the studio sleeve. Such joy to be shared.

That Time I Found My Painting in a Thrift Store

No. Seriously. I did. So here's what happened. I was in a local thrift store called A Better Way. It's this awesome store that a ministry started to help men who are trying to climb out of an addiction. Actually it's bigger than that....look here if you are interested in learning more about what this amazing ministry is doing in our community of men. The list is lengthy! They are truly changing lives daily. I was looking for a chandelier to put over the table on our screened in porch. The current one was quite ugly.

Anyhoo...I was cruising the aisles when BAM! I saw this:

 

It's blurry...but at the time I wasn't really focusing on the photo being in focus I was focusing on the fact that MY ART IS IN A FREAKING THRIFT STORE.  I mean seriously? How many of you out there have actually found one of your original works of art in a thrift store? I'll venture to say zero. I am pretty sure upon seeing it on this checkerboard floor I exclaimed something. Something. 

So the painting. When I opened the Vintage-Flea with my friend Valerie she said, "You need to paint some wall art we could sell." You see prior, I was just a teacher. I'd painted lots of murals, but never a canvas. Truth. After college and up until this time I was truly focused on teaching. I was not a painter. This was 2005 (I think). So I painted what I liked, flowers. The above is one of the first paintings I ever painted. I did a ton in this series with different flowers. All in a row. And we sold them all. Then I moved on to pears. Yes, I painted pears. Lots of pears. One time I painted a 4 foot pear. Creepy right? And then I started painting birds. And that's when I became a painter. 

There wasn't a price on the painting yet so I found the manager. She said, "How's $5 sound?" Awesome. So I bought my painting back. For $5. And yes, I told her it was mine. She laughed. I laughed. In addition, I found the above amazing Tiffany lamp for over the porch table. It is SO US and our porch. The embroidery was calling my name too. Of course it's still sitting on the floor, not hung. One day it'll hit me where it needs to hang. You should see the number of french knots in it! I shouldn't tell you this, but it cost more than my painting. OH MY GOODNESS.....I found my painting in a thrift store. Well, it made for a great blog post right? And at least I can laugh about it.

Studio Time

I've been trying to get myself into the studio at least twice a week. I know....you'd think I painted everyday right? Nope. I can't really talk about it without getting a bit defensive/angry about my lack of studio time. Sometimes the paths we walk down lead us to really good things. So I'm not saying I dislike my current journey. It's just not what I expected it to be let's say. My job teaching and then after school being a Wonder Mom is an amazing journey and one I am embracing more everyday. And that's okay. It's really good. I sure love being a Mom of teenagers. I just have to set aside a few hours a week to focus on my art. Since I get off at 2:00 on Monday, Thursday and Friday I am finding these days to be good for getting home and just running on down and starting. Well....except on Fridays. Friday I have what I've dubbed "Friday Flu". Where the week of teaching and interacting with like 700 people in one week come crashing down on me and all I want to do is crawl into a tiny ball in my closet and suck my thumb praying Saturday will reveal a rainbow of goodness and joy. It usually does.  :)

So this week I am working on a custom order. I've 2 more in line and I got a call that a spot opened up in the Norcross Art Festival which I said "YES!" to. (Am I that crazy? Perhaps.) The Norcross show is in like 3 weeks. I can do this....I can do this.....
Actually I find goals such as these very liberating. These goals make me focus on my work and not just come home to veg on the couch drinking deep red wine getting lost in HGTV and Lifetime movies (did you know on-demand has a LMN channel that has movies available anytime?)

So...I am off and running. I've got to get these rainbow spikes done so this baby can get shipped off! I hope you are all staying busy and being creative.

PS....My new favorite app is called Aviary and is how I've made the magic happen in these photos. The button "splash" turns your photos black and white and then with your finger you rub across the screen where you want color revealed. Seriously best app ever to happen to me.

Paint Something: an ecourse TAKE 2!

Alright friends...my Paint Something e-course for the summer was super amazing. I know I'm biased because I was the teacher, but really the students made the course special for all of us! So now it's time to re-open and go again! Again, this is PART 1 of Paint Something: an e-course. During the course of 4 weeks we set up our studio, paint, paint, paint and then talk shop. It's a very thoughtfully planned and carefully executed course I planned just for YOU. My sweet readers and blooming artists. If you've ever wanted to know how I get from point A to point B in a painting, then this is the course for you. I tell silly stories, share my thoughts on being an artist, mother and wife and so much more throughout the 4 weeks. And as a extra, you get an entire 4 weeks after the course ends to absorb it a little more.

Here are just a few of the comments I received about the course from the first group:

"You Rock Jenni! And everyone has been so inspiring" -Jackie

"I can't wait for Part 2!" -lots of students said this. YEAH!!!

"THANK YOU for such an enjoyable and information-filled month, Jenni!  Loved every minute of it!  Please plan to do more...  for the first time in years, I want to do art!"

"By the way, I am LOVING how your class has challenged me to try things that I have not felt comfortable doing (ie drawing and painting...I tend to be more crafty/creative than artsy) and even if I don't like my product I try to still show it to people like the flickr group and my friends and boyfriend. I need to embrace the entire process rather than frustrated when I'm not fantastic right outta the gate! This has been such a humbling experience but I am THRILLED to have a new arena for creating things for my friends and family. Especially since I'm at the age where everyone I know is either getting married or having babies so creating art to hang on their walls as they enter a new season of life is becoming kind of my niche!"

"Thank you thank you thank you! I, too, am a teacher of little ones--kindergarten and first grade multi-age class! Whew! I can tell that you genuinely love to teach--especially art--and you are phenomenal. And I so appreciate the incredible amount of time, giggles, thought, effort, time, energy, and did I mention time? ;) that you put into this class. Honestly, I could go on and on about things I've loved about this entire experience (the blog posts combined with step-by-step video, and feedback on the Flickr group) but I'm on my phone writing this and I really don't like typing long emails on my phone (though you'd never know that judging by how lengthy this email has gotten. Haha) You can bet my name will be in the roster if you decide to do part 2!"

Felicia wrote a whole blog post here about the course.! (she lives in frikin' Ireland!)

After the course you will see the course is more than just making art. It's about being a part of a community of like-minded thinkers. Creative thinkers. Who encourage, support and love you throughout the process. Pinky promise you will end the course feeling excited about art making. And confident moving forward in your creative journey.

Won't you join me? Click over here to the site for all the details and to sign up. We start Monday, October 6th-31st. I can't wait to see you in the class!

Leather Cuffs Headed to Alabama

I have to admit, this batch of leather cuffs is good stuff. I kinda got carried away seeing what I could add to each one to make it super unique! Vero's been selling my cuffs since probably 2011. They are a great seller for her as they are both one-of-a-kind and priced just right for your budget. :) This group will be for sale in her online gallery. My page is here. In the store she'll have like 20 more. Like I said I got carried away this time around with the making.

I also made a few new dainty gentle reminder bracelets using the USA stamp blank and those teensy vehicle charms. Look at that truck. Love....love the way these look on your wrist!

If you are in the Birmingham area you should definitely check out the gallery. Vero was recently named one of the TOP 10 MOST INFLUENTIAL WOMEN in Birmingham!! Woohoooo Vero. I mean seriously. That is like the coolest honor. I am so glad she took a chance on me all those years ago. Her gallery has been such an inspiration for my art career. I love being a Naked Art Gallery artist!

Candy Beads and Teensy Charms

It's embarrassing the quantity of artsy pieces and parts I have in my studio. Seriously. I've got stuff. Paint, embellishments, jewelery making, felt, stamping, wood burning, leather crafting, clay, you name it I dabble in it. It's like I am a blue hairy art Cookie Monster.  I HAVE to have art stuff all the time and devour all that has to do with art. Every once in awhile I get inspired to just use it. And the past few weeks I've been a monster making fool. The tiny bike and camper charms are a part of an OLD series I did with metal stamping. They were super cute. But I got bored with the making of them so the extras got stored away. Since I tend to buy in bulk for fear of the stuff never ever being made again, I have like 50 of these teensy wheeled charms left. These adorable stretchy beaded bracelets are the end product of such hoarding. It's the beads fault really. I was in Hobby Lobby the other day minding my own business when these pastel candy looking beads with a clearance price tag said "BUY ME!". So I did. And these are the result. YEAH!

These will be available at Naked Art Gallery in Birmingham, Alabama after this weekend when I get them there. They are $18 each. I am sending 6 total. If ya want one she can do online purchases. cool right?

So off to figure out what needs to be used up next. The jewelry making supplies are overwhelming my artsy brain right now. These stretchy bead bracelets are an excellent way to reduce the bead hoarding. So perhaps I'll stick to this for a spell.

Vintage Trailer Show

This weekend I participated in a show sponsored by a local antique shop called Spoon Sisters.  I was shopping in their store one day when I saw the poster. I asked her about participating if you didn't have a trailer. She said sure come on! And for a $25 booth fee...I thought why NOT!

My booth is a little sparse on paintings because well....I have a special event coming up for those new paintings and just brought the older ones at deep discounts. I did bring all my new baubles and sold a ton of my sweet gentle reminder bracelets. People love a $20 item at a show.

Most of what was set up were vintage peeps. It was like a mini Country Living Fair. It was AWESOME!!!  Seriously. The day, although hotter than heck was super fun. I loved being amongst all the vintage people. I was one of 2 painters there. But the vintage treasures were plentiful!

There were about 12 campers set up. Most were selling wares out of them. And then sleeping in them at night. Love that. Mailey peeked in all of them with me. She's always talked about wishing we had one. This certainly made her more interested! She asked me after looking in the one above, "Mom, where do you go about buying one of these vintage campers?" I said, "You could find them on places like ebay and craigslist." I'll be darned if she didn't sit down in my tent, get on ebay and find the CUTEST Zipper camper for sale. And of all things its in Florence, ALABAMA. Where my parents are from! She has no idea that her Pawpaw and I are watching it carefully over the next 4 days. It's purdy cheap. But purdy sure it'll jump out of our range by day 5. But wouldn't that be a fun 13th birthday surprise???

My Mom helped me set up Friday night and came to hang all day Saturday. Since it was local it was an easy trip for her and helpful for me. Plus she loves antiques and such. I spent my childhood in auctions and antique shops. Then my Dad, who lives in Alabama, came over to surprise me and also hung out with me all day. Um....not sure when I've had both parents with me for more than 5 minutes in 10 years. I have to admit. It was nice.

Above are some of my new baubles. I found the shooting medals charms while at the mart with Valerie in January. And yes, it has taken me this long to figure out what to do with them! I love them though and will be putting them on Etsy. The cost to make them is too high to send to the gallery. The charms alone were $25. I know...what was I thinking.

 

This is my friend Suzi. We are baseball moms together. She's a dental hygienist by day and crafter extraordinaire by night. I am so excited and proud of her. This was her first show and she rocked it!! She likes to take old furniture and fix it all up. She sold and sold! Her hubby is gonna be super excited. hehehe....

So I'm off for day 2. Hoping to sell a few more things. And then come home and chill. I'll have to run my training run late tonight since it didn't happen yesterday. It's gonna be a very full day!! Come out and see us if you are near Tyrone, GA today. We shut down at 2PM.