Sunday, March 24, 2013

Surtex is around the corner

I thank God everyday for this wonderful gift of art. It is amazing to be able to see the world through an artists eye. To see the colors, the shapes the patterns and be able to capture them if just for a moment. I always think to myself that I will never pass this way again so capture it now. Get your idea out and on paper, jot yourself a note, make a thumbnail sketch and then I have these tiny treasures waiting on me to come back to and develop. I have been working on artwork for the Surtex show in New York. It is a huge licensing show and manufactures and companies come in and shop for images for their products for the next year. It is a huge opportunity to get some of my images seen by lots of people. It is also a huge Christmas market, they always want new Christmas stuff so I am painting Snowmen, Santa's etc in March.

 I am feeling so over the holidays but try to remember how excited I get every time it rolls around again, seeing all the new holiday stuff in the stores! When Christmas was here I would sit in bed at night and make Christmas sketches, jot down ideas for themes etc. Now as the crunch is upon me I refer back to these priceless little pieces of art and ideas to jump start my designs. This year I should have some of my snowmen on tins and notepads etc which will be so exciting! Please keep your fingers crossed for me that I have more art picked up this year. I have lots of deadlines this next few months and will probably have little creative blisters on these busy fingers!!! What are you up too??

Sunday, March 17, 2013

High Tea at the Lavender Farm- our latest adventure!

Saturday we had an adventure! Marta had arranged for us to have high tea at a lavender farm in San Diego county. Dawn, Marta and myself had tickets for the 2:30 high tea. It had been too long since we had made time to see each other and now we had a scheduled a date thanks to Marta! The tickets were bought and we were all so excited as the day got closer and closer. The weather had been warming up and we knew this would be a wonderful day.

Dawn lived close to the area and was sure she knew where it was, or about where it was. We decided to drive to Dawn's home then let her drive us there. She jumped on the freeway and proceeded miles south before getting off. We had no idea it was even that far away but then started the long windy drive into the valley. We thought we had left plenty of time to get there and now we were worried we would be late! Mile after mile passed and we just continued to get more and more remote, out in the middle of no where! Here we were, three women, in dresses out in the middle of the country, our country anyway, not knowing if we are going the right direction or not. Then, every once in awhile we would see a tiny sign that said Lavender Farm this way. With a renewed hope we made our way farther and just as the doubt and worry would start to creep back in another tiny sign would show up! Each new sign encouraging us to keep going, that the prize was still yet to come! There was a lot of murmuring and doubting happening in the car as we hit the dirt roads and the trip became even more difficult and questionable. Some of us wanting to stop and call, some urging us to just keep going and some of us just enjoying the ride. Finally, as we were almost late, and very concerned I grabbed my phone and said I will call them and see if we are going the right way. At that moment we rounded this curve and on our left was a big sign saying "Lavender Farms"! we had arrived!  We jumped out of the car and made our way to the seating area and took our seats at table number 5.  Our journey getting there was over but our High Tea had just begun! The High Tea was amazing!


The food was wonderful, the tea perfect and the company was the best! After eating, drinking, laughing and visiting we made our way down to the little Lavender store on the property that was full of Lavender stuff, lotions and lip balms, sugar scrubs etc. We then shopped and then walked around the property. After that we made our way back to Dawn's house where we had some snacks and giggled and spent the rest of the afternoon having fun just catching up and having some girl time!

As I thought about how wonderful our day was together I thought about how it seemed to parallel my life of the artist entrepreneur. It was so similar to how I had only a bit of a plan before I set out on my journey. I was not really sure of where I was actually going but I was brave enough to just begin to move out in that general direction, trusting I will find my way. The road I am on in my creative journey is filled with many twists and turns leaving me questioning if I am going in the right direction, if I should stop, if I should call for help and directions etc. Then when the road gets rocky and the pavement stops it shakes me and leaves me wondering if I have made the right decision to make the trip at all. The little signs along the way help to keep me encouraged and inspired enough to keep going in hopes that there is the reward at the end of the road but my doubting self is always questioning my decisions. If I hang in, keep moving forward and hold onto the hope I do arrive at the destination. I may have had to call for help but I wasn't stopped. I am finding by having a clearer plan of where I am going helps me to make better routing plans on how to get there. Recently I did an online business plan summit, it was great. I have enjoyed the resources that Jennifer Lee made available to us during "The Right Brain Business Plan" summit.  I feel renewed in my vision of the reward at the end of my creative journey! It also gave me the tools to help me formulated a much better plan on how to get there now! 

As for our trip to the Lavender Farms, it was a huge success, a wonderful day with my BFF's and we are already making plans to return!

Monday, March 04, 2013

Irish, a memorial portrait


Final painting of Irish



I was asked by a group of dog trainers if I could paint a portrait for their friend as a memorial to Irish, a show Labrador Retriever that died suddenly from surgical complications. It is such a wonderful opportunity to be able to be a part of this gift and an honor to paint such a beautiful dog. I decided to do this painting on suede mat board so it gave it a soft feel, a bit defused. I love portraits, both animal and people on suede mat board. I think it creates a romantic feel to the painting. I started laying in the colored background which is always my favorite part. When painting white or black dogs I love to add a lot of color to help bring them to life. I get the dogs shape in and mark where the eyes, nose and mouth will be. Once I have it roughed in I do the eyes, if the eyes aren't right it won't work no matter how good everything else is. She has something called eyeliner, which is tricky to paint since I don't want it to look like she has two black eyes. I also struggled as the picture was only a 3x5 photo that was a bit overexposed and the right side of her face was in shadow, making that other eye just a black blob. I had to create her other eye and I am waiting to hear from the owner now if she is happy or wants more. Here is Irish, RIP.


Related Posts with Thumbnails