I Choose To Paint

This weekend, I completely abandoned my seed beads. The weather was beautiful and I wanted to go see the Tall Ships, but I also wanted to work on my painting.

Last night, I worked on my beaded White House painting for the entire night! I had reached a point where I sort of liked what I was doing, so I just kept painting... After a little while longer, I ended up hating my canvas and everything I painted! I am not a painter - why must I paint at all, I thought. Why can't I just let beadwork be! Frustrated & discouraged, I cleaned up my paint brushes and went to sleep.

Five hours later, I woke up and started painting again. This time, I reached for a different brush, and ended up re-painting over the entire oval canvas! Three hours later, I took a step back and really looked at my work.

Semi-beaded White House relief painting. 24" x 36".
Bead embroidery mounted on an oval stretched canvas. Work in progress...

That was when I realized that I choose to paint not because it is easy, but because it is hard...

Bead International Update

Thanks for all your comments on my beaded White House! This weekend, I have a few important updates for you.



1) When I was accepted in the Cambridge Art Association's North East Prize Show this spring, I was also offered membership into the organization. Since the CAA juries their members, I thought I should take advantage of this opportunity! I finally became a member last month, and now I am listed on their website! One of the membership requirements is to volunteer at the galleries a few times per year. It is a small tradeoff considering there will be a number of opportunities to show my beadwork throughout the year! :)



This week, the Cambridge Art Association began hosting their summer Art Fair at University Place Gallery in Cambridge, MA. The gallery is located at 124 Mount Auburn Street in Cambridge, MA - just a short walk from the Harvard Square T stop! If you're in the neighborhood, stop by to view & purchase original works of art in all mediums priced $300 or less, including 2 of my beaded paintings! The Art Fair will hang at University Place now - Sept 1st. Please see my Facebook or Myspace pages for more information! :)



2) In addition to selling my beadwork on Etsy and other cool merchandise on Cafepress, I have decided to try offering of few of my works per month on Ebay. Most Etsy sellers have shyed away from this since Ebay's fees have sky-rocketed in the past couple of years. I have always sold rock-n-roll memorabilia there, and it has done well regardless of the fees. But, recently Ebay changed their fee schedule, so now it is finally worth it to try selling some of my original works of art.



So far, this is just an experiment, but one thing I have noticed on Ebay is that people are more willing to purchase high end art and antiques there, when it seems like most people on Etsy are shopping for very inexpensive handmade items that include free shipping. Sure, the final value fees are higher on Ebay, but as they say, you have to spend money to make money! So, if you are an Ebay shopper, please add me to your favourite sellers list. So far, I have only listed two paintings there, but I do plan to offer a few beaded items there per month! :)

3) And, now for the last update. Yesterday, I was surfing around and ended up visiting the Dairy Barn Art Center's website. They have stated that there will not be a Bead International 2010 exhibit. "This decision was made due to lower artist entry in 2008, lack of attendance in 2008, lack of interest in the Bead International & Beyond Basketry '08 tour and catalog, and lack of sponsorships and/or funding."

This makes me sad because it is just another sign of how the current economic situation has effected the arts. I posted this news on Twitter yesterday, and Dulcey Heller responded with a blog post which asks those who are upset with this decision to contact Jill Smalley (exhibit director) at jill@dairybarn.org. Please let her know how much you appreciate the Bead International exhibit, and that you feel that it is important for contemporary artists to have the opportunity to show beadwork which really pushes the boundaries of this ancient craft. If you would like to see pics of last year's exhibit, please visit my Flickr. To help support the Dairy Barn and encourage them to continue with Bead International, please consider purchasing a copy of the Bead International 2008 & Beyond Basketry book. Get 20% off by using the SAVE20 discount code on the Dairy Barn's website. :)

That's the news for now. Have a great weekend!

Newspaper Clouds

Yesterday, I happened to be at a bookstore where I found a title called 30-minute ART: Acrylics by Soraya French. It was written for aspiring artists, hobbyists, and art lovers. It demonstrates how to create beautiful acrylic paintings in 30-minutes or less. The author's paintings are vibrant and they demonstrate a wide variety of techniques while maintaining the same style of work. This inspired me to work on my painting a bit more, although I will say I worked on it for more than 30-minutes! :o

One thing I am learning about my own painting style is that I enjoy the watercolour technique. I like to mix paint with quite a bit of water and do a series of washes over the canvas in several different colours until I achieve the desired look. Last night, I began with a bright green and painted most of the canvas like this.

Also mentioned in Soraya's book is how to create texture by adding simple collage. I have been incorporating collage in my work for awhile now. For my beaded White House painting, I cut out several newspaper clouds from a Boston Globe and added them to the canvas using an acrylic matte medium. Once the clouds were dry, I painted colour over them.

The newspaper clouds are cut out of several different articles. So far, topics range from the United States' relations with Cuba to terrorism to the current economic situation. And, to add to the storm, the last cloud on the far right of the canvas mentions that "the prospect of no-newspaper towns is looming". While Americans look at the White House differently these days, we cannot ignore the issues that seem to have brought on so many months of gray skies.

Semi-beaded White House relief painting. 24" x 36".
Bead embroidery mounted on an oval stretched canvas. Work in progress.

My bead-painting is still a work in progress, but my vision is finally starting to come to life, and when it is complete, it will truly be a mixed media work of art. :D

Painted Oval Canvas

Here's the current progress of my beaded relief painting. I am still beading the trees which surround my beaded White House, but I have also painted the entire canvas using acrylics. This is the stage at which I get very nervous because I don't consider myself a painter. I just work on it a little each day as I try to depict what my mind's eye wants to see. I am hoping that while my beaded trees continue to grow, my painted environment does too... :o

Semi-beaded White House relief painting. 24" x 36". Bead embroidery mounted on an oval stretched canvas. Work in progress.

Beaded Jack Russell Terrier - SOLD!

I hope everyone is enjoying the holiday weekend! Yesterday, I went to Castle Island and had a lobster roll from Sully's! It was perfect weather, too. You can see pics on my Flickr photostream if you're interested!

Jack Russell Terrier Pin/Pendant.
Available at The Lone Beader's Gallery Shop. Click for more pics.

Just a quick post today to let you know that last night, I listed my latest Jack Russell Terrier in my Etsy shop, and as I was writing this post today, it sold! Guess I can't make these little Rudys fast enough! I guess I will always have one listed as Made to Order, now that I have made a few different ones. I really like this beaded dog. It is made with Japanese size 15 seed beads! The beadwork is unfinished so that customers can choose whether they would like a pin/pendant, hair barrette, or sew-on applique! I have created a 'Your Choice' section in my shop for unfinished items such as this. I think the more options, the better! :)

Also, before I forget, check out the lovely feature Lisa from 'A Bead A Day' wrote about me! I am honoured to be mentioned! That's the word for now. I'm gonna go out and enjoy the sun! :)

27 Greens

I'm sure you won't be surprised to know that I am still working on my beaded trees! I counted how many different colour seed beads I'm using, and so far it is at least 27, but it might be more than that. I remember using all I had of some colours! Check out my beading work space below:

Semi-beaded trees for White House relief painting.
Bead embroidery on felt. Work in progress.

The good news is, I have also begun to paint the 36" oval canvas for my beaded White House, but I want to work on it a bit more before I show you. I also started beading another little dog for my Etsy shop which I hope to list soon. Here's a sneak peek:

Semi-beaded Irish Jack Russell Terrier pin/pendant. 2.25" x 1".

Looks like I have some beading to do this holiday weekend! If I don't get the chance to stop by your blog, I hope you have a Spectacular 4th of July! :)

Mini-Publication

Yesterday, I received a surprise in the mail - a copy of ACEO Magazine! This is a mini-publication for ACEO artists & collectors. The magazine features works by many different artists working in all mediums. For those of you who are new to ACEOs, they are mini works of art the size of a baseball card. They were originally meant for trading amongst artists, but artists began to sell them when art collectors took interest.

A few months ago, Angela asked if she could write a feature about my beaded ACEOs & include them in the magazine. Since I have only made a handful of ACEOs so far, I was honoured! :)

Both The Tigress & Zephyr the Zebra cards in the article are available for sale at The Lone Beader's Gallery Shop on Etsy. And, if you are interested in purchasing your own copy of the magazine, you can order the Summer 2009 issue HERE. I hope it will inspire you to create your own ACEO someday! :)

Beadfolio

I am learning that being an artist is time-consuming. Creating the art itself does take time (in my case a very long time), but there are also many other things that must be dealt with such as photography, presentation, & marketing - just to name a few!

One thing that has been on my to-do list for awhile finally must get done. I have to create a portfolio of my beadwork for presentation at an upcoming show. The show will be a joint exhibit with another bead artist, and it will take place at Bead + Fiber Gallery in September/October. My portfolio doesn't need to be complete until the end of August but I will be in Italy during the latter part of that month, so I want to get it done now. This is not a requirement, but I feel that a portfolio will encourage interested viewers to learn more about me & my bead paintings.

The last time I was at Utrecht in Boston, I picked up 2 Itoya Art Profolios. One measures 8.5" x 11", and the other is a 5"x 7". These portfolios look professional, and they hold quite a few pages! The large one will be left at the show, and the small one will be a mini version which I can take with me and show elsewhere. I'm going to print out photos of my works, as well as my artist bio/ resume, etc... I will also include statements about pieces that will be in the show, as well as a price list. I think I will also get a photo marker & hand-write the titles of the pieces on the photos for a personal touch. Have any of you ever created a portfolio such as this? Is there anything that I am forgetting?

I started working on this last night, but didn't get very far because my printer is having issues and it is running out of ink. So, today, I'm going to copy my digital files onto a portable USB Flash drive and try to print photos out at a Kodak Picture Maker Kiosk. I am interested to see how they turn out!

Beaded Northern Cardinal Brooch

Bead embroidery on felt. 3" tall x 1-1/4" wide (7.5 cm x 3.5cm).
Available for sale at The Lone Beader's Gallery Shop.


Yesterday, I made another beaded Northern Cardinal brooch for my Etsy shop! This one is similar to the last one I made, but this one has a pin/pendant finding attached on the back so it can also be worn on a necklace. I used size 15/o & 11/o Japanese & Czech glass beads in 6 different colours. I also layered some hex beads over the wing to make it stand out more. The tips of the feathers are tiny fringes which actually move when you touch them. I also used wire for legs and a natural pine branch. A bird-lover would really make a statement by wearing this pin - it really sparkles! To see close-up photos, please click the image above. What other birds & animals do you think I should make for my shop? Thanks for your suggestions! :)

Beading Back & Forth

It was hard to concentrate last night with all of these celebrity deaths taking place. It is all very sad, but life goes on and I must keep beading! Above you will see the progress of my beaded West Wing trees. They are really starting to grow!

Now, I am beading back and forth from west to east & back again in hopes to make both sets of trees look different yet similar. It's funny, when I look at my trees up close, I'm not so sure I like them! But, when I put them next to my beaded White House, I think they look great - kind of like a beaded Monet effect! ;)

Semi-beaded White House relief painting. 24" x 36".

Bead embroidery mounted on oval stretched canvas. Work in progress.

Guess I'll just keep beading and see what happens next! :D