Interview About My Creative Life

Hi there!

I am so excited and humbled that I'm this month's featured artist on the incredibly wise and talented Tara Leaver's blog as part of her "Creative Life Interviews" series. Please go check out my interview HERE if you want to find out a bit more about my creative life, and I'd love to know what you think.

I will be doing blog posts about my art pieces that are featured in the interview so stay tuned...and stay creative!

Numbers 4 & 5 for the 30 in 30 Painting Challenge

A few posts ago I shared that I took part in a challenge to paint 30 paintings in 30 days (last year). In that post I showed you the first three paintings I did for the challenge which, even though it was unplanned, all contained a water element and similar colors.

The next two took a completely different turn as you can see here! That's one of the many reasons that I enjoy being and artist... if I let it, art can take me on a journey instead of the other way around!

 Above is Number FOUR for the 30 in 30. "Vase of Flowers". It was done on a 14" x 18" canvas. 

close-up of # 4

Since I love texture I added some papers and even cardboard to the canvas first before painting it.

another close-up of # 4

Part of me likes this one just as it is, yet another small part of me wants to get back to work on it more. I'm not sure what I'll do but for now I've got plenty of other paintings to finish up so it stays like this... at least for now! If you like it as is please speak up! Also, this one does need to be framed because it has staples on the sides... so unframed it's only $300 .

Here is number FIVE. It's on done on a 14" x 14" x1.5" gallery-wrapped canvas.

I love abstract paintings with a lot of white. For some reason I'm drawn to them, but whenever I attempt one myself it gets overtaken with color and form. So the beautiful thing about doing a painting each day when I was doing this challenge... instead of giving in to my desire to reach for more color while working on this painting, I figured NO, I could do that on tomorrow's painting!

close-up of # 5

Title of this piece, "There's Always Tomorrow". $275 ready to hang.

Both of these are available to purchase. If interested just leave me a comment or email me. My email is in my profile.

Thanks for stopping by! I'll be showing you numbers's 6, 7, & 8 next time we meet! 

xoE

Mixed Media Painting: Solace

Hi there! Wow! I've been neglecting my poor blog so much these past couple of years! Instagram and Facebook seem to distract me so much that I forget about Blogland... but I really have been missing it here so I'm going to try again to get back to it. 

Anywho... let's get to it! Often when I'm stressed or not quite myself the sea will call to me. Back when I was single, after a bad day, there were times I'd hop in my car and drive to Huntington Beach (CA) and walk the pier or just sit in the sand barefoot and watch the waves. It always seemed to help me feel better. There's just something about it (or any body of water really). Sitting by it always seems to soothe me and make everything feel manageable. I can't just up and run to the beach anytime I want now because having a family changes that, but making art with a body of water on it helps almost as much! While working on this I could hear the waves crashing down below. I could almost smell and breathe in the fresh air and feel it's mist on my face.. ahh... there's nothing like it. Come sit by me and let's drink it all in. "Solace" 5" x 7" on watercolor paper. This little mixed media painting is from the beginning of summer and is sold.

Thanks for being here! Have a wonderful, creative weekend!

Three New Paintings!

Hi there!  I've been a busy little bee lately!  Recently I took part in a challenge to paint 30 paintings in 30 days.  This one above was the very first one that I painted for the challenge.  Not bad #1, not bad!  It's on a 8" x 10"x 1/2" canvas. I love Koi and waterlilies so I figured why not paint both!

This is the second one, "I AM here".  This one was much easier than the first one.  It seemed to flow out fairly easily and tell me exactly what it wanted.  I love when that happens!  It's also on 8" x 10" x 1/2" canvas.

close up of "I AM here"

"Island Of Dreams" was the third painting that I did.  Don't you want to take a boat out on that water and just float?  This one was done on 11" x 14" canvas board. 

 I like how the first three paintings all have water and seem to go together.  I think it was a great way to start off the challenge!  

Just for fun here's a photo of "Island Of Dreams" while it was still in progress.  This can almost be a finished painting itself!

So there's the first 3 out of 30!  I only have 27 more to show you!  ;-)  

They're all done now so if you can't wait you can see them all on my Facebook Art Page or Instagram 

Thanks for visiting!  See you soon!

New Mini Abstract Painting

Hi there!

I have so much art to show you, tons to catch up on, but I'll start off small.

This is a sweet mini painting I just did this week.  It's on a 5x5 inch gallery-wrapped canvas.  

I'm running low on my blank canvas stash, but in cleaning my studio recently, I noticed that I have many old pieces that I never finished for various reasons... so I decided to either finish them or completely paint over them and start again.  This is one of the starting over pieces.  I originally did an experimental collage on it that wasn't turning out how I wanted, and I didn't know how to finish it, so it sat unfinished for over a year.  The great thing about using these unfinished canvases is that they already have a great texture to them!  I added to the texture of this by gluing a few more bits of paper down, then painted over most of it with colors that called to me.  I finished it off by drawing and writing on it with a water-soluble pencil, then sealed the whole thing.

It felt good to get one of these unfinished paintings out of a drawer, and give it a new life ... ready to be seen and hung on someones wall!  Now I'm moving on to another unfinished one that's been calling my name!

The Brewery Art Walk

Hi there. 

I know... it's been a while.  Sorry, I've been caught up in life.  The good, the bad, and everything in between...but this post is about the good ... art and artists!  Yay!

I mentioned in the last post that I went to an art walk in Los Angeles at a kick ass place called The Brewery.  This place is oozing with creativity and inspiration.  It was once a brewery, but it's now a huge artist community where artists can work and/or live in these great industrial buildings. I love walking around there with my camera, there's so much to capture.  One of my favorite photos that I took there is the one above.  I love the cloud that happened to be above the smokestack so it looks like smoke is coming out!

Ok, moving on... I'd like to share some of the artists who I met and really liked (them and their art), so here's a few of them in no particular order...

Artist's name:  Jill Sykes

Website:  www.jillsykes.com

Why I like her art:  It's beautiful, peaceful and delicate.  I love her color choices and the subtle depth and movement in her art.

Why I like her:  She was the biggest darn sweetheart!

Artist's name:  Joshua Elias

Website:  www.joshuaelias.com

Why I like his art:  It speaks to me on many levels.  I love how he uses color, form, and texture to tell his stories.  I could stare at his art for hours.

Why I like him:  I don't.  Ha ha!  Only kidding.  He's a fantastic guy, who has been sweet enough to open up his studio to teach 5 of us oil painting (more on that later, but if you're in the area his next round of classes start soon!)

Artist's name: Robert Morgan

Website: www.robertmorganart.com

Why I like his art:  There's a great range from beautiful photo-realistic paintings of old signs, like the first one above...to more sculptural rusty pieces like the long thin "Riverbend" pieces behind us here.  He uses real rust and tons of texture.  Enough said.

Why I like him:  Because he was incredibly sweet and allowed us to come in after his place was closed and the art walk was over.  Someone said I needed to see his art because I'd love it, and they were right.

I hope you enjoyed this little tour around The Brewery.  I do have even more artists and photos to share with you from this art walk, but you'll have to wait for another post... this one is long enough! 

I'd like to thank all of these amazing artists for being so nice and letting me photograph them and their wonderful art.  Keep doing what you're doing, including inspiring the rest of us.  THANK YOU!!

Quick update with photos!

Self-portrait with paint palette

Hi there.  

Just a quick post to let you know what I've been up to.  Lots of painting happening here.  Of course I'll show you when I have something done, but right now I have at least three paintings in various stages.

Fun with gold leafing!

Painting in progress

Taking tons of photos.  Always fun!

I also have several posts that I'm working on right now.  One (or possibly two!) of them are about a fantastic art walk we went to last week at The Brewery in LA.   I have tons of photos and amazing artists to share with you.  I came home SO darn inspired!

Okay, that's all for now.  Hope everyone is well and finding time to squeeze in some creative time in your busy schedules.  

See you soon.

L'Artiste Texture Painting (For The Love Of Art)

Hello there.

I have a new textured painting to share.  Well, ok, it was finished a month or two ago but it's new to you because you haven't seen it yet... unless you've been sneaking around my studio ;-)

This painting came about because I wanted to use one of my paint palette hearts.  I use paper palettes often to squeeze and/or mix my paint onto, and quite a while ago I really liked the way one of my paint palette papers (say that fast 5xs) looked, so I didn't want to throw it out.  It was loaded with globs of dried paint on both sides.  I remembered seeing some birds done by Robert Burridge in which he used dried paint globs that were peeled up from plastic (or something like that).  Very cool.  So, inspired, I cut the paint-loaded paper into a big heart shape, knowing that I'd use it sometime later in my art.

And that's just what I did.  I glued the heart onto a canvas with heavy gel medium, then proceeded to add texture all over the canvas with the medium.

I also glued down some lace, dried flower pods from the tree in our front yard, a very old square nail, and  a bit of mesh.  

 I was struggling with the colors on this for a bit.  There were so many colors on the heart that I wasn't sure which color(s) to bring out.  In the very bad photo below you can see what it looked like for a bit, kind of a terra-cota color.  I ended up painting it mostly red after that (no photo) and hated it, so I painted most of it out with an off-white.  

I love how it looks with the red peeking through, not as the main focus.  To make it all blend together better I went over the heart with the white also.  I'm really loving the red/cream combo!

This piece to me is about my love of being an artist.  

There's nothing like it. 

 I love being able to paint and play, and to know that it's what I am meant to do.  

It is truly a blessing!

Photos From The Petite Valentin Art Show

Fantastic chandelier at Zinnia.  Illuminating Inspiration!

Hi there.

I would like to share some photos with you of the Petite Valentin art opening that was at Zinnia last weekend.

It was a great night!
I got to meet other artists, look at all kinds of art, and even sell a painting..... or THREE!!!  Yahoo!  That's right, I sold my very first paintings (to non- family or friends that is)!!  When I showed up two were already sold!  See those beautiful red dots next to two of my art pieces below, that means "back off buddy, these are sold!"  Let me tell you, I was thrilled!!  I have my first non-family member collector.  Right?  If this woman (of impeccable taste you know) bought TWO of mine, doesn't that make her a collector?



Wow, I sound like such a novice.  Don't make fun, this is a whole different world than painting Trompe L'oeil on people's walls.  The art world can be a bit of a mystery.

Reva (left) and me

As I was cruising around I started talking to an artist/creative life coach (how cool is that?),  Reva Solomon, who submitted some work also, and she asked which were my pieces.  When I showed her mine, this dear woman,  also of impeccable taste, and a funky edge :-) pointed to one of mine and said "I'm going to buy this one".  I wasn't sure she was serious, but next thing I knew, she took "Pinned" down and bought it right in front of me.  I was unsure what to do with myself.  Three sold out of six before the first hour was even up?  Yahoo!!

"Pinned" is already sold and gone!  It was above "Be Gentle"

For most, if not all, of us artists, each art piece we create is very special to us, a piece of ourselves.  Our babies.  So to see someone appreciate your art is a good feeling. It's as if you yourself are understood in a way.   I've been wanting to release my "babies" into the world for a while, so to sell three the first time participating in a show gives me a much needed boost to get out there and release more for others to enjoy.  I create art because I have to, I'm driven to, but I don't create just for myself.  I create because I want to share what I have to offer, what I've been given, with the world.  To find others that connect with my art, that "get it" is a true blessing, and it lets me know that I'm on the right path (even though really, I DO know this.  Heck you couldn't shove me off the path if you tried, but it's just nice to get a little extra confirmation, you know?)

Reva (left), one of my very first buyers! and me (right)

So here's a big huge THANK YOU to my buyers, and also to you, my blog followers who keep supporting and cheering for me from Blogland!

The art wall that my pieces are on.  Can you spot them?

Another wall of Petite Valentine art

Zinnia is jam packed with creative goodness!

Their displays always amaze me!

Notice the saw blade Valentine"wind chime".  I love it! (sorry these were from my cell phone so it's kind of hard to see)

I love the figurative painting that's on the wall above.  I stare at it every time I go in there.  It's by Joe Carrion, a darn talented artist, who works and teaches at Zinnia.  If you look to the left of Reva in the photos at the top, you can spot Joe in the background looking busy in the green shirt.  Hi Joe!  

Another brilliant display.  It's a rusty bedspring that has hundreds of hearts tied to it!

I fell in love with an art piece at the show titled "Heart Seat" by Connie Freedman, so I made my husband buy it for me.  It's so pretty.  I can't wait to frame it.  I love encaustic art!

As we were walking to our car we saw this below... they were playing a classic Charlie Chaplin film on the side of a building!  Wonderful!  We'll be sure to be at South Pasadena's next art crawl, and maybe even be a part of it again!

**side note.  My brain is not what I need it to be right now, tough day, so I had by husband proof-read this post.  I learned something that I thought I'd share with you because it MUST be true.  After finding not one, but three apostrophes where they need not be, to make me feel better he stated, "It's a proven fact that being on your period causes unnecessary apostrophe usage".  Of course.  I should've kno'wn.