A few squeezed in...

Now that school is out for the year, I can concentrate on my art. I'm getting ready for my trip to France, but I did manage to finished a few ACEOs this week. As soon as I get back from my trip I will be listing these on Ebay or Etsy. I've just recently opened a store on Etsy. I'm still learning what all Etsy has and can do, but I like what I've seen so far, although I haven't sold anything on it yet. I like the fact that everything on Etsy is handmade. It is a site that supports artists and helps them to make a living from their art...or at least to suplement their incomes. So I'm going to give it some time to see how it goes. I will try to have more information about it after my trip.

"Single Cherry"

Beth S. Macre © 2008

3 1/2" x 2 1/2"

Colored pencil on watercolor paper

This little cherry is just a study of the cherry that went into the Bowl of Cherries. That piece was done on pastelbord and this one is on watercolor paper. I believe that I enjoy the pastelbord much better than the watercolor paper.

"Home Sweet Home Plate" Sold

3 1/2" x 2 1/2"

Beth S. Macre © 2008

Colored Pencil on Watercolor paper

This is another ACEO drawing in the baseball series. I've done several baseballs over the past couple of years. The original baseball drawing included 9 baseballs, called "The Baseball Team". Since I started the ACEOs series of baseballs, I've created single baseballs in various places on the field. You can find one here, here, and here.

Baseball Cards

Walking and...Bat and Ball Series

I started some ACEOs last weekend and planned to finish and post them earlier in the week, however, time has gotten away from me again. This week turned out to be pretty busy. I've started walking after work in an attempt to get into shape for my trip to France in June. My friend Becky, the French teacher, and I are trying to get into shape for all of the walking we will be doing when we are in France. She also had a meeting with those who will be traveling with us to talk about the things that they should do between now and our departure. So between now and June 2nd, when we leave, I will be pretty busy. My son graduates from high school in 2 weeks, and end of school year work gets pretty hectic. I will have pictures of some of my clay tiles that I've been working on at school. Hopefully I will be able to finish firing some this week.

Also little Radar, the Papillon, was a little under the weather this week so he needed a little extra pampering. I don't think the vet was ever very sure whether it was an internal infection or if he had just hurt his spine somehow. But he is doing better today, thank goodness! He was so pitiful when he would try to hide and lay his ears back. He is always so happy, you know when something is not right, by the position of his ears and his lack of tail wagging.

So here are the two ACEOs that I completed last night and posted on Ebay. They were drawn together, but I cut them apart to sell them either seperately or together. Just depends if the collector wants them both or just one.

"Bat and Ball"

(2 cards as they appear together)

Prismacolor colored pencils on white Stonehenge

Beth S. Macre © 2008

Sold

Here is what they look like seperate:

"Bat and Ball 1"

"Bat and Ball 2"

These were done using a watercolor pencil underpainting with dry Prismacolor colored pencils on top. I used white paper which, to me, takes longer now that I've been using colored papers. I've also been using the sanded papers, which seem to speed things up somewhat. I keep switching back and forth between the colored sanded supports and the white paper and really can't decide which is best for my style. But I do prefer the sanded and colored papers for speed.

Baseball Card Series

Well, lately I've done several ACEOs for Ebay and for trading with other artists in a group that I belong to. Some of those have been more baseball subjects. My son has played baseball for many years, so I have lots of pictures to use for reference material, not to mention the actual balls that line the shelves in his bedroom. Here are two of the baseball ACEOs that I have done this week. SOLD

But, I have to decide on subjects for some larger pieces for an artshow that I will be participating in this November. I will be spending some time doing some sketches to get some ideas for compositions.

Baseball Cards

“Flag Baseball Series”
Colored pencil Stonehenge
Beth S. Macre © 2007

SOLD

Well, I've been working on more ACEOs for ebay. For the second batch I decided to draw some individual baseballs in the dirt. Last year I did a large drawing with 9 baseballs, so for the small ACEOs, I decided one ball would be interesting to try. Drawing this small can be tricky, getting it small enough for the card, but big enough to see it. Anyway the 3 baseball cards sold on ebay last week. So I decided to do two more this week with a Fourth of July theme....hence, the Flag Baseball Cards. To see other listings, visit my ebay.