Summer Idylls

In the last few days, my free time has been delightfully squandered in the reading of Swallows & Amazons and Swallowdale, both by Arthur Ransome. Arkonbey, my ever-understanding (or enabling) husband, has purchased the first two of the series, after hearing my reaction to the first, found at the library.

The laptop is still creaking along, not too slow, actually, just so loud! Either way, I've probably spent far too much time on it, but in doing so I discovered a link I'd forgotten to post.

I had two pieces selected for the Flight Fur& Felines juried show, which showed at the Bryan Memorial Gallery in Jeffersonville, from May 22 - July 19th.

Lizard with Sandwich was one of the pieces selected for the display page!

Also take note of the fine rabbit(title: "Just Resting") by my friend Karen Witt.

Arkonbey's photo of Kermit at Brant Lake also made it into the show. First show he's entered since Meca! (Arkonbey posted about his piece ages ago, but then he's more timely than I in such matters.)

Lastly, here's a great resource I just heard about: the Vermont Art Zine

Just like back in school, I find myself more attracted to the work of sculptors than the work of fellow painters. Not that I don't like the paintings! The creation of some of my favorite work is quite mysterious to me, and I view it with fresh eyes, whereas I look at a painting and get hung up in the technical aspects of it.
While some of my favorite sculptors work with the figure, I also appreciate the abstract. Last time down in Brandon, I dropped into the Brandon Artists' Guild with Mewsea, and fell in love with some sculptures done in alabaster. Should I ever have a disposable income... But I suppose I should look up the name of that artist first.

a few of the latest sketches

At last! My new-to-me digital camera is in hand, thanks to the folks at Lezot cameras in Burlington. But for now, here are a few of the teeny ink & watercolors that I was working on a few weeks ago. First off, (above) we have some bears gathered around for a reading.
Note the odd shape of the paper... it's from a 3 1/2" x 5" watercolor sample book that was going to be thrown out. Same with the rest of these.
Next up: more ideas I'm tossing around for the Mode De Monstre series, which mostly consists of dresses with a life of their own.

Cherubim gown:
And then, Kimono with Fan:
Lastly, Slouching dress:
(hmmm... I sized these last two a bit too small... they're really the same size as the others.)
I'm aiming to have these dresses stand on their own as living things, and on a larger scale than the previous 4"x6" paintings that I made. Also in progress (and now that I have the camera, it will show up here soon) is a graphite drawing in this vein, a full 22"x30." Whoo!

I've been busy, I just have no way to show it yet...

There are some nice big drawings in progress here at chez studio, but the digital camera has somehow eluded both Arkonbey & myself. We are utterly mystified... where the heck did it go? This seems yet another good excuse to go shopping for a new one.
In addition to the big drawings, I've done a few more miniature pen & ink/ watercolors. These may appear on Etsy once I get that hurdled.

For now, here's an old picture of my studio that I dug up. Showing Boo's favorite new place to sit. Directly in my way.

In other news, I picked up my two pieces from Art's Alive this week. Frog Hollow had displayed "Lit from Within" in their front window and "Nest" was accepted into the Juried show down at Union Station. Not bad. Seeing the big work on display at the juried show was one impetus for the new big drawings. Stay tuned.

The irony of free time now vs. then

The irony is that I barely had time for being on the internet these past few weeks, and so missed the opportunity of announcing what I was preparing for.

The 17th Annual Vermont Crafts Council's Open Studio tour just wrapped up this afternoon. 2009 marks my third year doing this, and my first year of participating in my actual neighborhood. Chamberlin's farm & garden market in Underhill hosted the five of us artists for the first time, and what a great space.

Taking part in events such as this make me realize just how many people I know (or at least recognize) through my workplace. Many, many, lots!

Thank you to everyone who responded to my last minute mailings and e-mail notifications, even to those of you who couldn't make it but passed the word along.
Special thanks to my fellow artists at the Chamberlin's site: Linda Amundsen (my neighbor), Devon Banse Dougall (mom!), Miriam Wells (paint those trusses!), Ann Linde (has a new kitten!) and Tinka Martell (hope the wedding went well!) and to everyone who helped make this weekend enjoyable.

Great company of other artists, great visitor turnout, and great location. What a weekend!

Thanks everyone!

Next up is getting my Etsy shop up and running. Open Studio preparation laid the groundwork for that, so it shouldn't be long.

Williston Community Foodshelf Update

So, it seems there's been a bit of mix-up in some email linking, so if you've found yourself here while trying to get to the web page for the Williston Community Foodshelf Fundraiser, you will find the correct link below:

http://www.wcfs.cmarket.com

Or try:
http://www.cmarket.com/auction/AuctionHome.action?vhost=wcfs

(The Williston Community Foodshelf does not yet have it's own website.)

More donations are coming, not just artwork but gift certificates and more. Bookmark it once you've found yourself there, so you can keep tabs on what you're interested in. The auction itself runs this May 1st- 7th.

p.s.: SK, I'm seeing the light at the end of the tunnel (i.e. almost finished our taxes) so I'll contact you soon with more info on my participation with the fundraiser.

The Portfolio

Has been updated!
It won't look too different at first, but if you go to Paintings, each sub-category has new content. Yes, many of these were previewed here, but please note, print availability is now indicated!
The above image is of "In the Reading Room." Available soon in print form, and my fabulous printer (North 7 Studios) did some beautiful re-touching for me. Though I can no longer recall WHY, I had at one point edited out the left-hand piece. Edited with an x-acto,* that is. And then altered all the colors on the right-hand section. Well, through the miracle of Photoshop, the prints are going to look great. And whole.

*keep those knives away from me! I am not to be trusted!

Time for some Minatures

Miniature cats! The first group are mainly one-inch squares. And I went through an astounding amount of tape when doing these. Still, a good use of scrap watercolor canvas. I have a few scraps left, but I certainly have to be in the right mood to work this small. All pieces in this post were executed in watercolor & gouache on watercolor canvas.
This guy (?) is just SO happy. And wants to hug you.


Still working on a title for this group. For now, here are "The Comrades."


Once my Etsy store is up, I may post these guys there.