On Your Mark...Get Set....

GO!!!  There's something about running a race and hearing those two letters resonate across the crowd.  And today, those two letters are ringing true for my little creative life.  To compare the two I shall share this:  I've trained for the race (sketched, thought of ideas, mapped out paintings for the next two weeks to complete, etc), bought the perfect race day outfit (supplies are fresh, cleaned and ready to go including a new easel), Ipod is charged (a race day must), heck I've even been sure to go potty before sitting down in the studio.  I am ready for the word and the little pop gun to sound "GO!!" 

So what's the race you ask?  Nice of you to ask blog readers!  Next Friday I have to deliver paintings to the Trinity Spotlight on Art show.  A wonderful show I've participated in now three years.  I need about 15 paintings plus little things for this show.  And I have 0 paintings as of today.  Umm....yes you heard that right.  0.  It was a fabulous Fall Show Season.

Then exactly one week later I have to deliver to Birmingham, Alabama the pieces for my Solo Show.  Yep.  Flying Solo on this one, literally.  Which means like 50 paintings of different sizes.  But we painters know those darn tiny ones take as much time as the big ones, right?

So as pictured above the studio, including Lily are ready for me, the easel is ready and my dear orange Ipod is ready.  Am I ready yo ask??.....YES!!!!!!  Yippppeeee! 

And of course, I'll be sharing more details as the week unfolds.  I need you guys here to hand me water every once in-awhile.  Oh, and a shout out or two always helps the runner cross the finish line faster!

New Work off to Birmingham

When I meet my Dad at Scott's today he'll be getting a box of goodies to take back to Birmingham for me. Vero requested some new paintings, garden art and jewelry. For the garden I made 10 metal sap buckets with giant flowers on the front for your front door or fence. Super cute. Several of the wall pieces are here: "This is the American Dream"
"Now I am Quite Happy"

"Little White Wishes"

"In the Winter Buds"

"Ernestine"

I've been asked by email by several people lately where to buy my originals. I've never really been a good etsy artist. tisk....tisk......My originals tend to either be at one of my two galleries or in a pile to go to a show. So here are the links for the two galleries if you are interested in an original painting: The Naked Art Gallery in Birmingham, AL and The Studio Gallery in Grayton Beach . Both are willing to ship to you! And upcoming shows you can always find on my sidebar. They tend to be in the Atlanta area. I do hope to meet some of you one day though! Hope you have a fabulous weekend!

Oh How We Love the Fair

Seriously, we love the fair. The smells, the noises, the crisp air. It's great. I remember going once as a child, although my sister Molly swears we went every year. Since moving to Coweta County we do try and attend our local fair every year. I've just got have my yearly candy apple! This year however, between baseball, football, RAIN, and then a super cold snap, we were not able to attend. Bummer. I did however manage to get my children's art into the competition. That's a big tradition for us. It's amazing what people bring for judging: veggies, cakes, pies, quilts, bread, pickles (I wouldn't mind judging that), goats, pigs, chickens, cows, art and more! What a great community event, I can't help but smile as I walk around at the variety of entries. And who doesn't love a ribbon? So for my little artists I took 3 pieces each. Here are Mailey's pieces: And yes, those are all blue ribbons! She was super excited about that! And here are William's three pieces:

Can you tell where he gets his influence? Nah.......Again, blue ribbons all around. And they are always more excited receiving these than the ribbons:

Yes-sir-ree. You get money for ribbons in our fair! So, what are they going to buy with those checks? Who knows, but it'll be so sweet to watch them spend it.

On a studio note.....I just HAVE to give you a sneak-peaky at the project underway. This project is taking SO much patience and SO much time. Hopefully they will dry soon so I can paint them! I also want to share my influences with you. So check back soon!

New Work to Show Off!

I've been working for several days now on some new smaller pieces. I've been combining texture, acrylic and collage all on one piece. And although it is a process of cutting, pasting, drying, waiting, painting, drying again, filling lines, etc....It produces a look I am very pleased with! (Although not so easy to photograph!) This is called Morning Walk. I love the vertical layers on the very bottom. All 5 of the bottom layers are supposed to represent the layers of the earth.

And this one is Walking Towards My Heart. I really love the play on all the textures and colors. I've got one more on the table that needs finishing up. I will probably be cleaning the art desk up for the rest of the week at this point once it's done. I've got to get labels made, jewelry on cards, tiles in frames, etc. All building up to this weekend. I like to be super organized because there is no night before setting up. It's an early Saturday morning for Valerie and I! Have a great week!

Whew.......

Yes. Whew. I just finished up a large body of paintings for an upcoming show. I was asked by Matilda's Cottage two weeks ago to join her booth at the Folk Fest here in Atlanta. Sure I said, knowing that I had very few paintings available at the time. So I "put on my big girl panties" and dove right in. As you know, my texture paintings are time consuming. I've learned that starting a bunch at once helps the momentum and keeps me excited about the end results. Last week I had the wood cut, laid the texture and drew the compositions. And since the compositions are sometimes the biggest hurdle to overcome, it is always nice to get this part of the process over with! Once the bases are dry, the fun part of painting begins! I used an entirely new color palette for this series. All spicey colors- paprika, dry mustard, pepper, Lawry's, and more! I just love this palette. I also tried to add more collage to the texture series. It's a bit challenging, but adds such a nice new dimension.

This is my favorite I painted. The streamers and bike bell really bring back the nostalgic days of summer gone by. Now I have to photograph, sign, name and frame them all (all 12).

So now I am off to add beaks and legs to these girls I made coming and going to Saint Simons. They are just cracking me up in the studio....yes, my work speaks to me. It speaks volumes about me too!

Collage Therapy

I have decided that doing collage work is serious therapy for a painter in need of change. Man, I am having so much fun putting my new SEI paper and other vintage paper goodies into these compositions. I made these four birds to fit the lovely blue frames Phillip made. I just may not be able to release them for sale. You know, sometimes as an artist you just fall in love with a piece and can't part with it. I have walls of my own work to prove that. Maybe one day... I always say. I do have four more on the desk awaiting frames. They will all be priced under $100. All will be available (I think) this weekend in Senoia. Come on out and see me!! "Morning Whistle"
"Three Sisters", "Morning Whistle", "Renewed", "Lady Diane in the Mums"

Works in Progress

Just wanted to share some works in progress. It's Spring Break this week so I am off to here and there. Unfortunately the paint brushes will not be getting too wet this week. I have until April 25th for Celebrate Earth Day, The Art of Green Show in Senoia and then on April 30th I head to the annual Wesleyan Show. This is the show that started it all for me. I am SO excited to get back and see all my artsy friends I met last year and hopefully meet new buyers! I am going back to canvas for a bit. This time around I am really playing with the simple compositions of birds, branches and a bit of collage with the leaves and border.

This is a ginormous canvas I decided to tackle using the same technique. Also new, all the canvases are being framed out by Phillip. I am amazed at how much more finished off the canvases look with the salvage wood around the edges. Anyhoo.....off to get a few more tasks completed before art camp tomorrow and heading to my Father's in Alabama to meet up with the kiddos. I hope you all have a GREAT week. I'll be back next week to share some new ideas in the works. The Green Show in Senoia has my head whirling up some great Mattie sculptures. My Father doesn't know it, but I intend to use his amazing workshop when I get over tomorrow to stop the whirling and get to making!

I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas...hahaha

Down here in Georgia, for some reason snow never falls in the actual winter months. It is more likely to come in March, if at all. So dreaming I am of a white Christmas. This is "Winter Bird" on the barren branch with tiny sprigs of life still hanging on. The painting is so much prettier in person...the textures...the paper...anyways, thought I'd share a new one with you.

I may be away from posting a bit over the next week. My little ones are having parties and getting out of school on Thursday! Whew, this year has flown! And I have some important pieces and parts to put together prior to their dismal from school. (catch my drift?) With that being said, I hope you have a creative and productive week. I'll be back next week with hopefully some fun news of new retail outlets and some new work! I'm itching to paint on this pile of 10 canvases I bought recently.

New Textured Paintings

"Oh Happy Field" 18" x 18"
"Orange Bike" 19" x 24"

Just a peek up close at some of the new textured paintings I've been working on. This week I am in high production mode getting ready for the Norcross show. I cleaned up my painting area to work on some felted bird sculptures and fun appliqued pillows I can't wait to show you. I've also decided to offer prints. Of course in the midst of all my chaos are the kids practices and my husband's campaign. Busy is the key word around here. Busy and organized is what we strive for always. Somehow it all gets done and I sleep quite soundly! My focus remains on getting through until next week when I can't wait for it to all come together. I am thrilled to be participating in the show and can't wait to share all this joy I've been stashing in my garage with happy buyers!

New Work

The countdown until the Norcross Arts Fest has started. Officially I have 33 days. This means get into gear Jenni mode! My goal was 5 paintings this week, and I did just that. Here are my favorite 2 of the bunch: "Rosie's Gift" 20" x 20" canvas in salvage wood frame
"Mattie Finds Henry, Her One True Love" 12"x 12" on wood