Watercolor and Ink and Inspiration

If you keep up this blog, you know that I like to use a variety of art materials.  I like that it never gets tiring or boring to me.  Maybe it means that I'm ADD?  Anyway, it can be a blessing or a curse.  Most of the time it is a blessing.  This year I started playing around with some pan watercolors to go along with my pen drawings.  I can also add dry colored pencils on top of that if I want!  So its all good.  Before I go into the studio to glaze more of my little clay houses, I thought I would share this little watercolor/pen sketch of my daughter and her dogs, that I created when I went to visit and dogsit for my daughter earlier this year.   Below is a photo of the 2 'granddogs' that were the inspiration for the card. It's hard to get them to pose together, so I took advantage of this shot.  While I was dogsitting for my daughter, I wanted to paint something and this is what I came up with.  Its was just a fun little quick whimsical painting.  I want to do more watercolor when I have time.

Beth ♥

Shopping and Exploring in Memphis...

Saturday was back to school tax free shopping day in Arkansas and Tennessee.  Not that I need to do back to school shopping, but I was in Memphis for a CPSA meeting.  I mention the tax free shopping, not because I took advantage of it, but because there was a lot of traffic and people out shopping.  After the meeting, my husband/chauffeur, and I went out to eat and set out to find 2 directors chairs for my Art Festival Booth.  While I was in the meeting he did some searching to narrow down the places that I would have to go (he is a good assistant...especially since I hate to shop...especially in this heat!).  He found one store that had one director's chair (on sale).  Unfortunately when we returned to purchase it, there was no chair.  Either it sold, or it wasn't there (in the storage room) to begin with.  But the nice clerk at the store looked on the trusty computer to find that another one of their stores indeed had 4 of the director's chairs.  So we plugged in the address into my 'smartphone' to find the other store.  Thankfully, we found the store, Pier One, and they did have the 2 chairs that I wanted and I completed my shopping for the day. Unfortunately, my purchase didn't qualify for the tax free shopping. But I am happy with my chairs and think they will fit into my Art Festival Booth perfectly!

On the way out of town, we decided to stop and take some photos of the very low Mississippi River and area around it.  I had not been down there for awhile. They have made some improvements and are still working on adding some features to the park along the river.  I decided we need to go back when it is cooler, but I took a few photos. 

The Memphis Egg is at the Welcome Center at Mud Island.  It says the "Birthplace of Rock and Roll".  Too bad it wasn't there when "The Firm" was filmed in Memphis! Tom Cruise could have hidden behind the egg!

Beth ♥

Oh! It's August?

Hello August! I can't believe it's already August...although it has felt like August since June...or maybe even May.  It's been hot and dry here, like most other areas of the country.  But other than the heat, it doesn't seem like August, because I'm NOT getting ready to start back to school!!!! I have to remind myself all of the time that I will have time to create this fall!  Fall is usually my busiest and most stressful time of the year.  This year I should be able to enjoy it because of my retirement!  I especially look forward to enjoying the weather when it finally begins to cool off.  I'm going to make a list of fall favorites that I can especially enjoy this year and share as it gets closer to Fall.
The projects that I'm working on now are private commissions that are almost done!  For now, that's all I can share.  I hope to be able to share the details about a month from now.  I did spend a couple of days working on some clay houses last week. They are in the kiln today and I will be glazing some of them this weekend so I can list them in my Etsy shop.  I will be working on those and some whimsical paintings to get ready for the holidays and the John's Creek Art Festival that I will be participating in, October 26 & 27th!  It is a new festival this year and it should be fun! Till next time...

Have a great weekend! 

Beth  ♥

Do you like one flavor or want a variety to choose from?

When it comes to ice cream, I usually stick to chocolate or variations of chocolate and vanilla.  But Rocky Road is a good mix of both of those plus a few nuts in the mix for a change.

As an artist, I create things that I enjoy creating.  Because I was a high school art teacher for 29 years, I have taught a variety of techniques and media to my students.  So now I find myself wanting to work with several different media and styles.  I have always enjoyed drawing with pencils, ink, and colored pencils.   I also enjoy painting with acrylics and oils.  But I also enjoy working with clay, creating small whimsical houses, like I have often posted about here.

I really enjoy working with a variety of media.  I have been able to sell these things in all of these different media. I get requests from customers in all of them.  For now, it makes me happy to be able to create using this variety. This variety keeps me busy.  My dilemma is whether too much variety is confusing to customers.   I like a little realism and a little whimsy.  If I limit myself to one style or media, I think I limit my sales and risk getting a little bored doing the same thing all the time!

So my question to fellow artists and to potential customers...Is a Variety of Art Media and Styles too confusing?  Does this affect my 'art style'?   If you have any input, please share.  I am curious what other artists think and if anyone else struggles with the same thing.

Beth ♥

Happy 16th of July!

Well, I was going to post on the 4th of July, but that didn't happen! I've been a little preoccupied lately...in a good way!  After my vacation to Florida, I had to get busy on some private commissions. (I haven't even blogged about my trip!)  I've got a couple of large commissions to complete, so I've been busy working on those.  Hopefully by the end of August I can post more information about them.  Here is a quick small watercolor painting that I did while on my vacation on the beach.  It was a gift for our host for the week.  So, this painting was for Dottie.

Other than the commissions, I've been doing some rearranging in my studio and have even expanded to a bedroom.   I really could use one of those professional designer/organizers to come in and redesign my space!  That would be so good.  It's difficult to try to stay organized when you are so busy and some things just do not have a good place to be stored.  I am trying to get rid of things that I do not use anymore, which creates another pile in another room, where it waits to be donated.  I've been busy pinning studio ideas on Pinterest, so maybe eventually I will get the studio organized.    Maybe I should take photos of the before...in case there is an after!

Summer is going by quickly, but this year its okay! I look forward to NOT going back to school and having that time to create instead of sitting in hours and hours of in service that is not related to what I teach! So my retirement will not sink in until time for teachers to go back to school.

Beth ♥

My New Kiln!

Now that I am working from home, I needed a kiln at home, so I can fire my mini clay houses. I know that I am going to like having a kiln here at home, so I can fire a load of houses any time I need to. My new little kiln, to match my little houses, came in 2 weeks ago.  I have used it twice. Once for a greenware firing and the 2nd time was for the glaze firing.  It was so fun to open it this morning to see how the glaze firing turned out..  It turned out perfect.  And the little size of my kiln is just the right size.  So I am ready to continue creating lots of little houses and tiles.  Its a good thing, because I had a custom order for 3 houses, a tree, and a fence, that I needed to finish and ship.  Here are some pictures of the kiln with the first load of glazed houses. As you can see, there is plenty of room for many more houses, and there is room for another shelf.   So I need to get busy filling up my Etsy shop!

Beth ♥

Happy Customers and Colored Pencil Artists

Recently I've completed a few custom clay house orders and I am working on another.  Even though I post a lot of examples of my clay houses and my owl paintings lately, I am also a colored pencil artist.  I have had the pleasure of meeting some excellent, award winning, artists through the CPSA national organization.  Recently, Ranjini Venkatachari, a colored pencil artist ordered this custom clay house (Art Studio) from me.  I've been familiar with Ranjini's work through an online forum for a few years, but got to meet her last year at the CPSA convention.  She is a very nice person, as are most colored pencil artists!   Anyway, she wanted a little house that looked like an art studio, like the one in my Etsy shop, but personalized and in her colors. I also added the Heart Magnet with her initial, because she just celebrated a birthday.  So she received them in the mail the other day and she blogged about it and posted a picture of them in her blog. I added an easel with a sign with 'Ranjini V's" studio on the tiny painting, where I used the primary colors that she used in one of her colored pencil paintings that she had posted online.  After I mailed the package to her, I found out that the painting that I was looking at had been featured in an article in a Professional artist magazine!  I thought that was so cool! And she is, not only featured in one magazine this month, but two!  Her art is also on the cover of the June 2012 issue of Ann Kullberg's CP magazine.
So, I just wanted to give Ranjini a big thank you for both, ordering one of my HeartHomes and for blogging about it!

Beth ♥