I've been doing a lot of painting lately :)

I've been doing a lot of paintings lately! I'm not sure where I've found the time between running the kids here and there this summer but I've managed to get a lot of paintings done. 

We'll call this one Feathers I suppose. Surely though you have a better title I could use! Feathers is a bit boring!!  

And this one I'll call...uh....I can't think of anything. What do you suggest? 

I am really no good with words and naming paintings. 

Have you ever heard of a painting party? I never had either but my town librarian was telling me about it.  You and your friends can come to a space where an instructor leads you all in completing the same painting. Something simple and fun. Well, our town librarian, Angie, and I have decided to try it, with me as the instructor, and see what kind of response we might have. If it goes well these painting parties might become a monthly thing, we'll just have to see. 

Anyhow, to get ready for this I've been doing some paintings in about an hour. My theory is this; if it's simple enough that I can paint it in one hour then a group of non-painters should be able to finish it in about two hours or so. We'll see how it goes. 

The next couple pics aren't great, I took them with my phone. This owl, man it gave me fits. I didn't plan it well and I ended up painting this canvas three times before I had something I was pleased with. I still don't like owls but  I thought they were a good subject to start with. 

This sunflower though, this was an easy one and I was pretty proud of how this one turned out. I probably painted this one in less than an hour. 

Have you ever done a painting party? Would you ever be interested in painting with a bunch of friends? I could see how it would be appealing to people; an opportunity to be creative but with an instructor to guide you there is less anxiety of failure. I'm really excited about this! I sure hope we have a good response! 

Paper Collage Owl

My maiden name is Wise. I grew up just down the road from my Grandma Wise and, needless to say, was at her house a lot. Grandma had LOTS of owls in her house. 

Not REAL owls but a lot of little collectible owls or pictures of owls or owl calendars and the like. Because of her last name, WISE, people just gave Grandma a lot of WISE OLD OWLS. Personally I've never liked owls...probably because of all the ugly ones Grandma had growing up. 

So, imagine my surprise when I was inspired to paint an owl. 

Actually I didn't paint the owl, I painted several large sheets of papers a variety of colors and textures. Then I cut out each shape of the owl and glued it down to a black matte board. 

Then I cam back through with a black Sharpie marker and colored pencils and enhanced and added some details. 

I like the way the feathers aren't laying down. 

So now I'm done with this owl and while I like the technique and effect, I can't possibly hang it in my house. I just down like owls...though I am attracted to the circles of his eyes and repetition of feathers. Maybe I just need to do another bird....one less owlish! 

My New and Improved Etsy Shop

Well, I did it. 

I took the plunge...again...and re-opened my Etsy shop!

Before Yahoo was born and we moved to Kansas I was much more active making and selling baby booties in my shop. But after we moved out west and the boys started school and everyone seemed to get so busy, I just couldn't get my heart into making baby booties anymore. In fact it hasn't been until just the past year that I finally started creating anything again. 

I never even thought of selling my paintings, I just painted because I enjoyed it, but Kasse at Rural Women Rock suggested that I try it...so, here goes! 

So far I only have four paintings to put in my Etsy shop. 

They probably look familiar to you; I've posted them here before. 

I don't mind selling my paintings but I have a hard time setting a price for them. They range in size form 6 1/2 to 8 inches square.

What do you think would be a fair price? 

We'll see how it goes. I'm not much of a self promoter. I feel self conscious telling people that I have art work to sell. I'm not even sure how to go about advertising...well, besides a blog. 

Ah well. I just enjoy making them and for me, that's all that matters. 

Another Radial Design and Etsy(?)

Here's the latest work I've finished. It isn't anything special in my mind. Not a painting but in colored pencil this time. I started this one day while subbing in a high school math class where I had absolutely nothing. to. do. I've worked on it a bit here and there for the last few weeks but had a huge chunk of time to finish it while I was subbing for a Spanish class and watching Shark Tale (in Spanish) over and over. Boring! 

It's about 7 3/4" square; a decent size. Although I don't think it's too special overall, I am rather proud of the blue background. For a while the drawing was taped to an old textured cookie sheet I have and a blue pencil helped create the background. 

I've been painting these small works for a while and when I'm done the artworks get put in a closet. I don't have the time (or wall space) to put up a bunch of my paintings. And really, I wouldn't want to have to look at my own artwork all day. I have a couple paintings up now and I am my own worst critic. I don't like looking at them at all. 

One of my readers asked me what I do with them and if I sell them. I was rather flattered that she asked! I do have an Etsy shop but I haven't sold anything there for a long time. I'm thinking to give it a go with some of these small radial paintings; getting them matted and posted on Etsy and see what happens. 

You guys have seen them. You've been around. Any suggestions on price? They are all smaller than 9" square. 

I'm not looking to make a fortune off Etsy or anything. I paint these because I enjoy it; it's a problem solver for me...but I can't keep everything I ever create! I have to do something with it and I might as well sell it to someone who's actually interested in them. 

Any constructive criticism or advice would be greatly appreciated! 

Wild Bug Eating Flower Painting

My newest painting. Not my favorite but I was pleasantly surprised at how it turned out. At the beginning I wasn't having good luck with it and considered pitching it and starting again but I'm glad I persevered. 

I remember teaching about Australian Aborigines once and how they used lots of dots in some of their story telling paintings. I didn't intend to recall Aboriginal work but I couldn't help thinking about them the more I started adding my own dots to the painting. I still don't know why I do dots but I felt much more contented with the visual effects the more I worked on it. 

I was trying to think of a title. I don't like to title artworks because part of me thinks the image should be enough and further explanations shouldn't sway the perception of the viewer. But as for blog posts I try to come up with some sort of title just as a description of what I post. I wasn't having any luck thinking of anything so I asked Yip. 

Yip says it looks like a flower, a wild bug eating flower. So there you go..and if it changes your perception of what you see blame it on my son :) 

Spiral Barbed Wire Painting

No school today!! Yip and Yap and I have a list of things to do; make noodles, stay in our jammies, watch movies and eat popcorn. 

Since I'm writing this Monday night I can't tell you the latest update on our blizzard other than it is blowing hard outside and there is snow on the ground. I guess the brunt of the storm will hit overnight. Although the weather guy is calling for over a foot of snow I can't see that it will be here for long. As hard as the wind is blowing I think it may all end up in Oklahoma...but we'll see. 

Anyhow...I finally finished my latest painting Sunday night. As you can see I'm still on a circle kick.

 I love this one! It's acrylic on a cereal box, about 7 1/2 inch square. DR asked what I was going to do with all these little circle paintings. I think I'll do a few more and then frame them all together in one big frame. We'll have to see how many I get and how they look together. 

I intended it to look something like the middle of a corn cob with some abstract qualities to it. 

I love painting on cereal boxes. 

Once they are covered in acrylic no one can tell that it's cheap and besides, it's free. I do wish I had planned better though because the staple marks are showing through the paint :( 

Do You Doodle? - From my Art Corner

I remember back in college and during my pre-kid days I would doodle a lot. I would doodle the same shapes over and over again. My doodles always involved circles with other forms wrapped around them. So I did a drawing of my doodle in a more 3-D form.  My husband thinks this looks like a gourd around a sun!Do you doodle?