I'm Still Here

It has been SUCH a busy summer! But a good one. I know I mentioned on my facebook page that I was starting a new little artistic venture. That company I started has taken off and is soaring. I'm actually struggling to keep up! Eeeeeeeeeeek! It has been exciting thinking about the possibilities it has.

But that is not what this post is about. This post is that, yes, I'm still here and I'm still painting! I had a couple of opportunities to teach some kids and adult art classes this summer through the Stumptown Art Center. I'll do a post about those in a couple of weeks after my last class. This has been such a busy summer between my new little flourishing business, art classes and all the painting I've been doing. I've had several commissions this summer....that have taken me longer to paint/finish than I ever wanted them to. :( I know I can't paint everything super fast but sometimes it's frustrating when you aren't painting as fast as you would like. Thankfully, everyone has been super patient. (Bless their hearts). I only have one left to go and I should hopefully finish that in a couple of weeks as well (fingers crossed).

I have also been painting for an upcoming exhibition at Stephen Isley Jewelry in Whitefish, MT. I've been working on some western images in an art nouveau style. It's quite exciting. I love how they are turning out. This image is Annie Oakley. I took a quick snap of the painting on my phone, in bad light, just after I finished it so it doesn't look as nice online as I'd like, but it's there for you to get a sense of where I'm going with this.

I'm going to have paintings of Annie, Calamity Jane, Bell Starr, a bison, a horse, and (if I'm able to get it done in time) Jesse James. If I finish Jesse or not, I like where this is going and want to do a whole series! Billy the Kid, Butch Cassidy, Wyatt Earp, Stagecoach Mary, Laura Ingles Wilder, General Custer, Sitting Bull, Chief Joseph, Crazy Horse, ect. I want to paint a lot of western icons in this style. It's been fun exploring a different artistic style while trying to add my own little flair to it and painting what interests me. YAY for something different and trying new things.

If you do happen to be in area September 1st, the show will be from 5-8 at Stephen Isley Jewelry in downtown Whitefish, MT.

And thanks for sticking around to see what is new on the blog! Sorry it has been so long since I last posted!!!!!

Up On The Wall

I meant to share this before I went to Texas but was in a whirlwind to get ready for the show that I ended up putting a lot of things off, like this post!

Remember that commission I finished several months ago, with the three horses at the fence and I didn't feel strong about it so I came up with a different composition of three horses in a field??? Well, I was able to meet with the client and presented the piece to him and HE LOVED IT!!!! I was sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo excited and happy. In fact, just a couple of days later he had the piece framed and hung up in his house and was kind enough to share a picture of it with me.

I love it when I'm able to have a happy client. It's the greatest feeling in the world! So a big shout out to him, and to everyone, over the years, who have asked me to do a special piece. Thank you! I'm so grateful that you chose me to paint an image for you!!!!

Have a great week everyone! Hopefully, I'll have some fun images to share with you soon. Bison and rocks are coming your way

Commissions and that 'it' factor

Commissions. They are at the same time a blessing and curse. They challenge me...often urging me to go out of my comfort zone to create an image that can become something I can proudly claim all while meeting the expectations/desires of the client. They are a way to stretch myself as an artist. They can be fun and inspiring. I've had a couple of commissions that spurred other paintings I've done later down the road.

I was asked to create a piece with three horses standing at a fence. I came up with several sketches and got the approval from the client for one of the five I presented to him. I began the piece with enthusasim. But as the piece progressed, it lost 'it'. 'It' is the thing that makes the piece work...where everything comes together and makes for a successful image. 'It' can be the magic/spirit of the piece, the combination of composition, color, light & shadow all working together in perfect harmony. I know I'm not the most elequent person with words. Images have always been easier for me to get across what I'm feeling/seeing/saying so I apologize if this doesn't make any sense. But often when I work on a piece I know it has 'it'. Sometimes, the piece loses 'it' during the painting process and can easily be reclaimed by fixing something or starting over. Some pieces I've never been able to pull off and successfully get that 'it' factor back. This is something that has always been as a feeling. I just know when a painting has it or doesn't. There are a few of my pieces that I know have a special 'it' factor and most of those pieces have been ones that sold immediately or have won awards at competitions. I just know when a piece works and when it doesn't. I'm sure if I really tried, I could critique my work and put into words what the 'it' factor is for all of my pieces, successful or not.

So, why am I explaining the 'it' factor I feel about my work? Because I have a show and tell! :D

Here is the first piece I came up with for the client. The image came directly from my sketch and I used all of the reference photos provided to help me with the coloring and marking of the horses.

Attempt #1

I was feeling good about the piece until I started putting in the shadows of the horses, especially the middle one. I really knew I lost my painting mojo when I painted the eyes of the horse on the far right. I struggled. I should have just started over but I was GOING to make it work! YES! Because I'm stubborn and don't like to quit. And this is the result. Doesn't have 'it'. I can easily critique it to say what isn't working, but I have more to write so I'll leave it to you to critique and we can all agree that there are many things that aren't harmonious.

Attempt #2

There a few more things to tweak, I know the piece can be a touch stronger... that is my goal tomorrow, to finish it, but the feeling that this attempt has 'it' is still there. I'm happy with the result and am excited to present it to my client. Thank heavens for his patience! I feel so bad making him wait, but now (especially now) after viewing the finished image, I think he'll like it much better. Lets just hope he wasn't dead set on having the horses stand at a fence!

Well, I've prepared a couple of upcoming paintings so hopefully in the next couple of days/weeks I'll have some more fun images for you! :D

A Rambling Sort of Post

Whew! It has been awhile since I've been able to do a post. This might be a long one....

So first is my SUPER EXCITING NEWS!

I'm going to do an art fair in TEXAS! Yup, I was accepted to one in The Woodlands and decided to go for it. I'm going to drive 4000 miles (round trip) but I figure if I'm unable to recoup my expenses, it'll make one heck of a road trip! I've never been to Texas and am very excited to go visit.

The show is the Woodlands Waterway Arts Festival. It will be April 12th & 13th, 2014. I'm very excited but nervous too. The drive will be close to 30 hours one way (I google mapped, it's 2001 miles from Whitefish). So! If ANY of you fabulous followers, art lovers, horse lovers, and friends are in the area, please stop by and say hi! So, Those of you from that area in Texas, what is the weather like? Windy? Cold? Warm? Hot already? Do you recommend any cool places to visit? Eat at? AGH! I'm so excited

I've been working on a commission and I finished it. But I'm not happy with the result. I go back to it every few days and just sit in front of it and stare. It doesn't have that it-thing and I'm not happy with it. So, I've started over and in a different direction to too. I just hope my patient client isn't getting annoyed with me! As always, I'm not just working on one piece. (I often have several pieces in different stages going at the same time). I was able to finish one over the long weekend...partly because my epic plans of snowshoeing/hiking/running were foiled by an unexpected eye infection. Apparently my eyes don't like old contacts >:( So, I hid in my dark den of an apartment with all the shades/curtains drawn and kept the lights on low and finished this piece. I'm thinking I'm going to go back and punch it up a bit with a few more darks but am SO happy with how it turned out. This is one of those pieces that I based 98% off the photograph. It was just so awesome I couldn't think of much to change. *photo taken by nature photographer, rulon gardner*

Caught My Attention, 30x22

The last little bit is I participated in the Holiday Food & Gift Festival in Billings, MT a couple of weeks ago. I was able to see some friends and make some new ones! The best part is I was able to spend some time with my fabulous parents and my Grandma. I haven't seen them for several months so it was a great way to spend the weekend with them. Lots of fun...Although, my car decided it needed a new battery. 2013 was not my year with traveling to art festivals. Lets hope I won't have any issues with driving to the Texas show next year!!!!

A Commission and New Painting

This past month and 1/2 has been B U S Y! I thought life would slow down a bit so I can paint all these images and ideas I have dancing in my head. Nope! It's been go, go, go, go between the part time jobs, commissions, submission pieces for shows, and other things. Yeeeeeeeee haw! Never a dull moment, that is for sure.

This is a commission I finished a couple of weeks ago. It is an ink drawing of a house on Flathead Lake, with two ink colors to show the red flowers on the deck. It was a lot of fun. Most of the time I do ink drawings is when I'm doodling while watching a movie or keeping my hands busy at church. I really ought to do things like this more!

I'm working on another commission of three horses standing at a fence. I'm REALLY excited about how this one is turning out so far. I can't wait to share it a bit later.

But to keep the creative juices flowing, I have to eek out a bit of time to work on something I want to. So here is my newest piece, Fire In His Eye, along with the study I did to give me an idea of layout. I ended up cropping in closer to give the impression of his power and size and he leaps to the side. I want to do some large scale horse paintings. Horses, I know, how original. But they are my favorite thing to paint and I just love love love them. Hopefully I'll be able to paint all the ideas and I'll have a couple of submission pieces for juried competitions.

Fire In His Eye, 22x30

Finished! ...plus a new giveaway ;)

Hallelujiah, Praise the Lord! I finished the commission I was having issues with...well, I think I finished it at least. I was having a really hard time getting things to look right and actually worked on four different paintings. Two made it to completion. Another two did not.

I'm waiting now to hear from the client to see which image she prefers and if there I need to tweak anything. This is always the most nerve racking moment for me. Will they like it? Will they hate it? Will my vision/interpratation be enough? *holding breath, holding breath*

At this point, it is a victory for me that I was able to get things to work. Hopefully, I'll be posting an image soon.

I'm also excited to announce the piece for a new giveaway...

Four notecard packs of your choice! Each card pack comes with four notecards of a specific theme. I have over 10 different themed card packs to choose from.

So, how to get these notecards...

So, Share a story below of why you like notecards and I'll pick a random winner at the end of the month!

I get sidetracked easily

The Sound of Coming Thunder, 11x14

I did work on the commission today....most of the day. I've been very productive. But I did get sidetracked. I had so much fun painting 'Oynx' that I decided to paint another running horse. The horse that I'm painting is named Jet. He was one of the two horses I took some photos of a couple of weeks ago. I have SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO many more photos that I can't wait to work on. But, I have to finish a couple of commissions and then there will be a LOT of horse paintings...and cows. I have some I need to paint but haven't yet. I'm excited about this summer painting season. I have so many ideas!

What happens when I'm frustrated...and procrastinating

Onyx 11x14

So I'm working on a commission. I'm super excited about it. So much so that I'm doing a couple of different versions of the images I have dancing in my head. One painting is 1/2 way there. Another image is just a series of sketches at this poing and I just can't seem to get it out on paper. So out of frustration, I decided to work on the 1st idea I have for the commission and try to finish it. But as luck would have it I didn't have the motivation to work on it tonight. So I sat there and stared at it....and stared at it...and stared at it some more hoping that I could convince myself to just geterdone!

Nope, didn't happen. Out of frustration that the commission wasn't coming together I painted this piece. I wanted to feel like I could at least make SOMETHING work! I should've just soldiered through and worked a little harder on making the images for the commission come together but I just didn't feel like dealing with it. Tomorrow is another day, right? I've gotta make good on this three day weekend and paint my little derriere off!