Yuletide Greetings!

Well, here we are again at that special time of the year... Yule! One of the best times of the year for self awareness... I personally find this a great time to take stock in myself and see how I'm measuring up to my own standards. This year, I've lagged a little behind...lol.

Just got back from a trip up to S. Dakota to visit Renee's family. Wow, what a trip! Lots of drama... silly stuff really. I'll spare you all from the stupid details, consider yourself lucky. ;-) The best thing about the trip was that we rented a car and it was a Dodge Charger, which I quickly fell in love with. I would love to get one for every day use, but I've got to sell some more art to get one, that's for sure.

Kiddos are doing good, but boy do they make my life BUSY! It seems that all the stuff they have going on is overlapping these days. Makes for a very hectic family schedule. Oh well, I must trudge on for their sake...

Oh, I almost forgot... I got the great MAT CUTTER that I wanted for my birthday a week or so ago. It'll help alot with my Etsy store as well as the Custom Auto Posters that I do in the summertime.... So, YEA!!!

That's about it for now, toodles.

First Public Display

Well, I did say that I would try and get some pictures of what my first display looks like. So I finally made it back the other day to pick up some $$ from the sales of my artwork. Yes, it's selling already! YEA!!!

So here's a few pics of the display. They have 3 sections on 2 different walls. One of the best things is that it can be seen from the street/sidewalk, so getting walk by customers is a real option...





And here is a shot of the place from the outside. It's really a neat place to visit and hangout!

I'm a FEATURED ARTIST

I got an email yesterday from a fellow Etsian informing me that she had blogged about me and my Etsy shop. It seems that Celtic Goddess Jewelry (Andee) made me a "Featured Shop" and since she owns some of my artwork, she has a good perspective from which to appreciate it.

I'll be doing some featuring of other artists as well in future posts. I think that the more exposure one can get, the better. Check out Andee's shop here and see the wonderful items she is selling! She has this to say about her shop...

"I have owned Celtic Goddess Jewelry for over 7 years. I specialize in Celtic, Pagan, Buddhist jewelry, custom pendulums, art, sculpture and headpieces for ritual or ren faire wear. I accept custom orders for ritual jewelry and just about anything your heart desires. I have been into metal working for about 1 year now. I absolutely love it!"

Gallery Exhibit!

My first gallery experience is about to take place and I am sooooo stoked! It's not so much a gallery as it is a popular public meeting place... it's an upscale ice cream and smoothie shop in the swanky/funky area of West 39th Street in Kansas City.

They have named it Miami Ice, maybe a retro reference to the TV show of a similar name that was popular about 20 years ago. It's a great place to go on a hot summer day to cool off and get some great frozen custards and such. The shop is at the top of the lists in area best ice cream polls and surveys, so you know it's gotta be good. Miami Ice. 1624 39th Street. Kansas City, MO

I've got all the wall space in the entire shop to work with, so there is room for probably 20-25 pieces depending on size and the way I lay them out... I feel it would be best to get some grids and use the wire to hang those and then go ahead and attach each framed piece to the grid. It's all so new to me, I don't know exactly how best to display... NOOBie alert!!! LOL – If anyone has some suggestions, please let me know!

I'll be putting my work up on Friday of this week and it'll be up through all of September! I'm very happy to get it in there before this weekend, because they are super busy on 39th Street over the holiday weekends. And I just remembered... they have a First Friday's event there every month!!! WooHoo! I get to mingle with the patrons and talk about my art... what a hardship... :-)

Now to pick out some variety...

Rock of Ages Part II

Well, a little bit more refinement and I think I am actually done with this one... The rock is more easily identifiable as a rock (always a good thing if that's what you're going for), and the layout is horizontal. The horizontal layout makes it much easier to read for most people, partly because that is what they are used to seeing. Plus, it'll work on a bumper sticker if I ever decide to go that route with it. I've got some bumper stickers already for sale, but they are part of my vintage trailer shop...

This is one for the ages... Rock of Ages! lol

Okay, I had an inspiration yesterday. I wondered why I hadn't seen it before. Do you get it? Maybe it is just too obscure for the general public, lol.

Maybe it will work as an ACEO, maybe a small print, I don't know quite yet. I will probably list it in my Etsy shop later today or tomorrow.

Something a little different...

I was trying out something last night that I've wanted to do for a long time. Digital Painting. Well, I guess it's more like getting digital images to look more like paintings. I've done some actual digital painting before with the wacom tablet, and it is definitely an artform unto itself!

What I came up with last night is a little different than most of you might be used to seeing from me. It's very simple in composition and has a softer feel to it than most of my usual digital art, but I like it nonetheless. Here is a small version of it. The original is 16 x 20 as most of my artwork is created as large as possible.



But, just so you don't think I'm getting all soft on you...lol, I did come up with another digital piece that is more my usual style. It's the first of the series of small zodiac works and of course is the scorpio. Since that is my zodiac symbol, I thought it was a great one to start with... others to come later. I'm not sure if I will add any more to it, things like dates, or correspondences, etc.

I like the "carbon fiber" look and think it gives it a great feel overall. Maybe not "cutting edge" anymore, but more current than a lot of other looks.


Let me know what you think about either one of these ideas. I'm always open to "constructive" criticism.