It's finally summer, which means time in my studio! I've been playing with ways to add movement to my portraits. This self-portrait was started at the show I did in May, and I'm experimenting with adding movement through organic patterns.

The Arts & Culture Fest was uplifting, inspiring, and motivating. I worked on these two portraits, chatted with complete strangers about my art, and enjoyed showing friends and family around my booth. It was an amazing experience to be in a public space, working alongside other artists. It's a little intimidating to let other people watch me work, but so refreshing to share my art and myself with others, instead of being isolated inside my kitchen studio all the time. I can hardly wait for next year!

Arts & Culture Fest - Oct 15, 2011

Looking for something to do on October 15th? Come check out the 6th Annual Arts & Culture Fest at Market Creek Plaza. I will be doing a live painting demo from 12-6pm, adding to my series of female backs. The festival is free, and there will be music, dancing, food, and plenty of art. It's a great event for the whole family. Here is the link for more info: http://www.artsandculturefestival.com/

Matisse Room Collages

These are the collages my students did while studying Matisse today. I am so impressed with their creativity and their desire to make something beautiful. We never even got to the second project. They worked on these for almost three hours, and it shows!

Upside-Down Jelly

Meet the Masters

I took a break today to do some sample projects for art camp. Basically I spent all day in an elementary/middle school art class...so fun! I can't wait to explore the works of O'Keeffe, Picasso, the Renaissance, Matisse, and Klee with the kids.

More Color

I think these two are done...time for some more sketches. I picked up some kids' books from the library with great reference photos, so hopefully that will help my process.

Color

When I was younger, I hated water colors. They take a good deal of planning, precision, and patience. Since I saw all three of these disciplines as cramping my style, I buried my watercolors in the back of a drawer somewhere. Then a friend introduced me to watercolor pencils and they were the perfect compromise between my beloved drawing tools and the tedious paints. With the jellyfish, I am trying on a technique called glazing where one color is painted on and allowed to dry and then another color is painted lightly over the top. I'm having a lot of fun exploring and I even dug out my old set of "grown-up" watercolors this afternoon.

Jellies 3 and 4

These pieces are requiring more work than the other two. I think it might be because my reference photos weren't as good. Tomorrow I'll probably put them aside and start adding color to the first ones. I plan to do some smaller test runs first since I always find the line work comes more naturally to me than the color.

Jelly 2

Jellies

I could really get used to spending my days in the studio. After a much needed vacation in Monterey, I feel completely recharged physically, emotionally, and creatively. The art camp I'm teaching isn't until August, so I plan to divide my time between creating new pieces, administrative tasks, and hunting for a part-time job. I'm not sure exactly where the new pieces will take me but I'm enjoying working on a larger scale, drawing inspiration from the lines and textures of the Monterey Bay Aquarium's jellyfish.

Summer Art Camps!

It's official! After almost four years of nannying and tutoring, I am saying goodbye to the wonderful family I've been working for and attempting to work for myself. My friend Julia DeShong and I will be offering summer art camps during June, July, and August. Wish us luck and let us know if you think of anyone who might be interested! Here is all the info:

Price: $180/week when you register before June 1st ($200 after, supplies included).

Themes: Meet the Masters, Art from Around the World, Modern Art and Crafting.

Location: The Wonder Warehouse in Mission Bay or your private residence.

Times: Mon - Fri. 10am to 1pm OR 2pm to 5pm.

Teachers: Julia (ages 4-8 yrs.), Sarah (ages 9-13 yrs.)

Dates: Julia's camps begin June 1st, Sarah's camps begin July 11th.

Why Sketch?

Someone recently asked me why I do a relatively detailed sketch before starting on an actual piece. I didn't really have an answer for her. That's just how I was taught to work. It's kind of like the writing process. First you organize your thoughts, then you write the bulk of what you want to say, then you edit. But not everyone uses the same writing process and similarly, every artist has a unique method. Over the years I have noticed a marked difference between the pieces I plan out and those I just sort of go for. At least in my case, the planning makes a huge difference in the quality of the final product. It also cuts down on the "editing" I have to do at the end.

For my current series, I take reference photos first. Then I draw quick, miniature sketches from the photos to see which patterns and plants work together. Once I've found a couple winning combinations, I create a slightly larger sketch and do some of the cutting in order to get a better feel for the finished product. This allows me to make changes to the composition before I start working with more expensive materials. After completing the sketch above, I can tell that I want the pattern to be thicker, the leaves to have varied lengths, and that I have to be very careful sketching so that copious pencil lines can be easily erased.

Final Draft?

I've finished most of the cutting and painting...now it's time to put all the pieces together. I decided to attach the background layer and the pattern layer with spray glue. Presently, the plants are elevated from the other layers on pieces of cardboard. I think I'll leave them that way for a few days and then decide whether or not to glue them down. I like the way they look, but I'm wondering if it will make the art difficult to frame. As far as the series goes, these will be titled: North Park I, II, & III. Once they are finished, I plan to take similar photos in another neighborhood (possibly Golden Hill) and make three more.

To do:

Spray glue layers
Photograph cards and post on Etsy
Rewrite Etsy copy/change prices
Buy new blades
Paint final plant
Put Etsy button on website

Business Day

Today is just a business day. I visited my printer to take a look at the template they created for my cards. The template looks great, but they accidentally deleted the images I sent them to put in it. Consequently, Wednesday will mean another trip over there to look at a preview before I can place the order. I always forget to allow for life's glitches within the schedule in my head.

Once I get the cards back, I can take pictures of them, post them on Etsy, and hopefully start selling. I'm trying not to feel gloomy about all the upfront costs for this project. Up to this point, I am barely recouping what I spend on art supplies and printing. And so, for the four millionth time, I tell myself, "It's all part of the process, mija. Take a minute to look at how far you've come instead of how far you have to go."

Accomplished:
Sold 4 original pieces
Created and sold quality prints
Sold cards, found a greener option for printing
Created an Etsy site
Had my first "official" show
Taught my first art student
Hired a web designer who delivered a great site and logo
Finished two intentional series
Started a consistent blog

Working from home

The hardest thing about working from home is keeping myself from getting distracted by all the other things that "need" to get done. I have to mentally confine myself to the quarter of the kitchen that is my studio. The upside, however, is that all my supplies are always in one place, I can work whenever I want, and snacks are always readily accessible. Today I am resisting the urge to clean up the mess that is driving me nuts, do the laundry that has been piling up, and take a nap in the all too inviting bed sitting 15 feet away from my easel.

To do:
Finalize details of commission piece
Pay printer bill and order cards
Continue working on finals of succulents
Decide on and purchase paper for pattern backgrounds

Patterns and Knives

These are the results of my attempt to combine the inorganic patterns with the desert plants. I'm actually starting to get excited about them. It feels strange to be working on something so less involved than my last series, but I think it will be a nice change. The cutting is almost therapeutic, which means that I might even be able to continue working once I start classes again. Today I need to go buy a new ruler (I warped my favorite one by leaving it in the back seat of the car for too long), and start working on more detailed, colored images of the succulents.

To do:
Visit XPEDEX and buy recycled stock for cards
Buy up a new ruler and possibly pastel paper
Work on succulents

Here are some of the sketches I've been working on. I'm having fun doing them, but still don't have any sense of direction. My plan today is to do some sketches that incorporate both the man-made patterns and the plants. Why do I feel like I'm repeating my very first high school art class? If nothing else, I always feel like participating in the artistic process makes me a better teacher of that process. Cheers to Friday!

To do:
Finalize printing options with Sunset Press
Call XPEDX about recycled paper options
Pay Etsy bill
Work on sketches

USA!

I've been on the edge of my seat all morning waiting for team USA to put the ball IN the goal. It only took 91 minutes...better late than never. USA!

So far I have several sketches up on my refrigerator. I'm still not quite sure where I'm headed, but I'll do some more today and see what happens. Honestly, this is my least favorite part of the process. There's no substitute for the brainstorming and crumpled up sketches, though. And no telling whether it will take me 3 days or 3 months to discover what I want to do next. I wish my art teachers had told me how much patience and discipline is involved in all of this. Or maybe I just wasn't listening ;)

To do:
More sketches from reference photos
Finalize greeting cards with printer
Email about possible commission piece

Day 1 of Summer Blogging

After one week of vacation from school, I am feeling refreshed and ready to take on my "list" for the next five weeks. Top priority: consistent blogging about my new series and the business side of things. So...I raise my glass of lemonade to what I hope will be a productive and rejuvenating break, and off I go.

Day 1:

A new series...where to begin? I think I'll take some reference photos of my two new obsessions: patterns and succulents. Hopefully I can use the photos to start sketching combinations of the two and see if anything resonates with me. My goal is to make the pieces for this next series smaller and more affordable. I'm also thinking about using recycled materials.

To do:
Email printer about a template for cards (decide on size)
Facebook friend about possible commission piece
Begin sketching from photos