Painting and Jewelry

or painting OF jewelry. Show season has started. I've had two shows so far, one up from last year and one way down. Since I'm going to cut back on shows next year (I can get Social Obscurity a year from October) I didn't want to invest a lot of money in booth improvements. But I have had the idea for a while to paint a still life that has jewelry in it and hang it in my booth. Even though I had all winter to do it, I couldn't get motivated. So this was kind of a rush job as I wanted to finish it before the Flint Art Fair next weekend. The painting is 16x20 inches and done in oils. I stapled some white Velcro strips to the back of the frame which will, in theory, hold it to the frame of my tent.

Featuring Andreja Stanko

This week I'm featuring Croatian artist Andreja Stanko, who creates beautiful and intricate wirework designs using bronze wire. Check out Andreja's Etsy shop to see her other fabulous pieces.

Playing with Panpastels

Last painting for a little while. I have a show in a couple of weeks and have to get back to making jewelry. This is my first attempt at using Panpastels, or pastels of any kind for that matter. The large pine tree is one that I spotted down the road from my house and had to run back home and grab my camera. It's done on some watercolor paper that I coated with Art Spectrum Colourfix Primer in Burnt Sienna. I eventually cropped to about 11"x13". Panpastels are great fun although there is a learning curve. I did struggle a lot with the area beneath the tree and I'm still not happy with that part. Even though I have all 80 colors there is still a lot of color mixing that needs to be done. This is definitely a fun medium that I want to do more with.

Bonnie Jacobsen

Bonnie sent me some pictures of some lovely work she's been doing with phosphor bronze wire. Thanks, Bonnie! You can see more of Bonnie's work on her Facebook page BDJ Designs.

Finished my Painting

Finally finished my first truly original oil painting. By that I mean I didn't do it from a picture, I set up the still life myself. Well, I did have to consult some pictures of forsythia on the internet. The only thing available to paint from life around here is snow and bare trees. I also don't want to paint en plein air in 18 degree weather. The next thing I want to do is a painting to go in my booth. My table covers are purple so maybe lilacs and silver jewelry?

How to Photograph a Cat

Set up your tent and lights in preparation for a jewelry shoot. Cat will immediately appear and offer to assist.

Taking a Break from Jewelry

After what seemed like a long (and very hot and humid) show season and the holidays over, I wanted to take a break from making jewelry and get back to something I used to enjoy doing years ago but never got good at, painting in oils. So I've gone crazy again purchasing books and DVDs and more brushes to add to my already large collection. To ease back into it, I started with a course from Kingslan, a series of little 5x7 pictures that were fun to do and didn't take a lot of time. Three of them were painted pretty much like the originals but I totally changed the background on the pansy picture, which necessitated somewhat changing the values and colors of the flowers. The little cabin was from a picture I found on a computer wallpaper site and was an exercise in taming Thalo Green. Not 100% happy with it but everything is a learning experience. Now I'm working on an original still life that I actually set up myself. That's where my jewelry photo lights came in handy. But I still don't have the confidence to draw with paint directly on the canvas so I did trace my design on it. Next I will really tackle alla prima by trying some of the DVDs I purchased from Daniel Edmondson, at least until I have to start restocking for shows.

Another Owl

You might remember the last silver owl that I made got melted with the torch. I didn't take any chances with this one and wired him together instead. One eye is a tad lower than the other one but so is one of mine so maybe that was my unconscious mind working through my hands. :D He's made of 16 gauge square sterling silver and stands not quite 1 3/4" tall.