Commission

The photos show about the last 10 hours of work on my commission piece. A painting this size usually takes me about 30 hours of studio time to complete, so we're a third of the way (woohoo!).

Commission: Session 1

I spent a few hours in the studio on Friday evening working on this piece and intend to spend the better part of the afternoon working as well. More photos soon.

Commission

My friend Allison, who I met while up at school, has commissioned a painting for her master bedroom. ::Squee!:: I'll update posts, documenting the whole process. Here's step one: waiting for polyurethane to dry. Should be ready to paint on tomorrow.

Raw goods: 3 x 3ft square, 3/4 inch ply, after receiving a generous double coating of polyurethane. Sealing the board in polyurethane keeps it from warping (a lesson learned the hard way).

In the Studio

 Mini 1

3" x 3"

 No. 23

2' x 4'

 No. 33

(more along the lines of 30" x 42", though I haven't actually measured it)

No. 35

18" x 18"

Indie Craft Bazaar

This afternoon Casey and I ventured into downtown Ft. Lauderdale for the Indie Craft Bazaar. It was surreal going back to Cinima Paradiso, my high school used the theater for plays as, back then, we didn't have a dedicated space for performances. It's been years since I'd been there. ::shudders::

In all I am afraid for say that I found the bazaar lackluster. I guess I'd had different expectations for it. As a painter I'd been excited to meet other local artists, yet only 4 of the 30 or so vendors were 2D artists, and only 1 of those sold completely original works (note to self: write blog post about why original works are more important than prints). I was certainly not jazzed by the collection of artists there. Perhaps biased on my part, seeing the art that was chosen over my own, though as my brother overheard, others shared my sentiment. I'd arrived jubilant expecting the best of Etsy to be assembled in my back yard and did not find it.

I purchased one item at the Indie Craft Bazaar, a print from Paper Squid, as I was determined to leave with something. The artist was amiable, her work clean and palette pleasing. Still I wished for more than prints and thank you cards.

In the Studio

No. 33

(about 4' x 3' ... I think)

No. 34

24" x 24"

My last semester of school I worked mostly in a reduced palette, my work referencing most concretely the thunderstorms I'd missed from home. It simply doesn't rain in Charleston the way it does in South Florida. However since returning home and spending many an afternoon at my window just watching it rain, I find my palette expanding expanding unexpectedly.

I am happy here when it is raining or overcast. It's well known that as pale as I am, the sun and I are not friends. I find the quality of light here oppressive, and especially so during the summer. My palette has lightened considerably in attempts to grasp this quality that I'd previously ignored. I am happy with the progress.

Etsy Shop Work: Scale

Since receiving my new camera I've been working on taking pictures (good ones for once) for my portfolio, rephotographing works for my Etsy shop, and determining a series of works to put on my business cards (I know, about time right?).

One of the most frequent comments I get about my work in the Etsy community are concerned with scale. I tell people my watercolors are small, some of them are very small. I offer exact figures, but this doesn't get the point across very well.  I need better reference in my photographs. I liked using the works against each other to show scale, like I did at school. The clothespin worked well too.

Though since returning home I've had trouble with this, my watercolors being constrained to a light box, or rigidly framed and hung. I've missed my little ledge from school, the organic layout, placing works together as I finish them. Upon that thought, another popped immediately into my head. IKEA.

So it has been done. Yesterday I spent the afternoon putting up my little shelves, arranging some watercolors and whichever doodads that had survived last month's renovation.

Hopefully arranging these works in a way that they'd actually be displayed in a home will give others a better sense of the actual sizes of my works.

Carrot Cake Cupcakes

A good friend of mine celebrated his birthday this week, giving me a wonderful excuse to bake and play with my new camera. The cupcakes shown are carrot cake cupcakes (I have been told by multiple sources that my carrot cake is tops) with cream cheese icing only made more sinful by candied bacon. Yay bacon!