Back At It

It's been so long since I've given this blog any attention. I put my Etsy shop in mothballs when I went back to work full-time, and then sort of forgot about everything I was using to support my shop: this blog, my Facebook page, how to scan a picture, where the ink is for my good printer. I have not forgotten how to paint, though. I've been doing lots of creative things for fun, but mostly in my journal.

Today is Black Friday in the U.S., which means I'm off work and enjoying a day as far away from stores and the crazed shopping public as possible. The quiet of my studio and the company of the sweet little guy pictured above have made me realize how much I miss sunny days at home. My studio has windows on three sides, and it is wonderfully cheery. If I could move a coffee pot in here, I might never leave. Of course, I could easily move a coffee pot in here, but then I might never be seen again.

I've spent a lovely morning painting little bits for a project that is slowly taking shape in my head. I want to learn to make labels for journaling and scrapbooking. I have the die-cutting machine and the scanner and too many ideas to keep up with. Often, having too much to think through will paralyze me, but I'm determined to just pick away at the learning curve and the steps until something comes of it. I don't have a lot of free time, but I do have some. So, there are no excuses for staying paralyzed. I will get back at it!

A Digital Easter

I had fun painting this whimsical picture of Mr. Bunny with his elaborately painted egg. I thought of several captions for it, from silly to downright ridiculous, but decided against including any of them on the painting. I also didn't want to limit how someone might want to use a picture like this, so I'm offering it in the shop as a digital download. Go straight to the listing on Etsy by clicking here.

I don't decorate my house for Easter or most other holidays, for that matter. I've also never been a big fan of Easter bunnies, but I do think bunnies are adorable and make delightful illustrations. I've always been inspired by Beatrix Potter's work, and this is what came out of my inspired imagination.

Mr. Bunny's Awesome Find; 8x10 watercolor

In addition to the image in three high-resolution file formats, I'm including a medium-resolution file of the image formatted as an Easter greeting (see below). Print cards or a scrapbook page or even a piece to frame. Don't you just love options? The digital option is new for me, so this is sort of a test. Don't you just love tests? No? Sorry.

Happy Easter Card, 5x7

Thanks Very Much

I've put some simple thank you cards in the shop for sale. They come in sets of six identical cards. Nothing fancy--just a simple little design for when you want to simply say "Thanks." Go to the listing here.

Thanks Very Much Cards

Thread Painting

I've been enjoying taking one of my floral designs from paper to fabric. I've loved thread arts since I was a young girl, and when I was introduced to the wonderful world of embroidery floss, with its jewel box of gorgeous, shiny colors, it was pretty much love at first sight. Here is the original painting that I'm using as a base.

I might turn the embroidery piece into a cover for a handmade journal. 

Do You Have a Heart O' Green?

Green is probably my favorite color to paint with. Like gray, green has an infinite number of shades, and I think I like them all. I just finished another fantasy floral and have made it available in my shop as a print on a 5x7 frameable card. This "floral" is more like fantasy ferns and shamrocks. These pieces are so much fun to paint!

If you're Irish, or just pretend to be Irish one day in March, your day to "go green" is coming soon. Go ahead and celebrate your "Heart O' Green"!

"Heart O' Green," 5x7 watercolor

Yarn Scraps Wanting To Be Art

I just finished knitting a soft, white blanket for my great nephew's baptism. Spending all that time with white yarn on a big project left me craving some color and wanting to knit something considerably smaller. I grabbed some yarn remnants and my smallest needles and started knitting. Do you wonder what this will turn into? So do I! I have a few rough ideas...that might involve penguins.

More Letters

I've been working on more fantasy floral letters. These are now available as prints in my shop, along with the "M" and the "H" that have been in the shop for a week or so. The prints are cut 8x8, but the actual designed area is closer to 6x6. I've been thinking of other ways to use these letters. Stay tuned. For now, it's just so much fun to create my own flowers!

Fantasy Floral "S"

Fantasy Floral "E"

Fantasy Floral "A"

Please, keep in mind that all images on my blog are copyrighted and not available for use without my written permission. Thanks for your respect of my work!

Illustration Friday - EXOTIC

"Exotic" - 11x14 watercolor on mixed media paper

Here's my first attempt to create something for Illustration Friday. The theme for the week was "exotic," which inspired me to paint another fantasy floral piece. I've always been intrigued by parrots and other exotic birds with their surreal color displays. I used to think I would enjoy a talking bird, but I don't have the patience to train one. Still, a talking bird! That's exotic!

Just in Time for Valentine's Day

I had so much fun painting this fantasy floral piece, and I knew immediately that it would make the perfect card. I don't know about you, but I would always rather receive a gift or card that is unique and not mass-produced. And, since it's really an archival print, this card can go into a frame and be displayed for years to come. The card is available in my Etsy shop. Click here to go straight to the listing.

"i Heart U" Card, 5"x7"

"i Heart U" Card and a framing suggestion

Bright Florals in the Dead of Winter

I've been playing around with bright colors, flowers from my imagination, and the alphabet...oh, and a fat little bird found his way to my desk somehow! We are in the middle of a super cold and snowy winter here in southern Pennsylvania, and painting these pieces has been strangely warming. My husband says I'm dreaming of the tropics!

The letter "M" is available now in my shop as a print. Click here to go straight to the listing. "Little Fat Bird" will be available as a print soon as well. I'm working on other letters and other fantasy florals. It's keeping me warm for now!

A Message of Hope

We all can use a reminder to keep hoping in the midst of life's challenges. Is there someone in your life who needs this message right now? This new watercolor is now available as a print on a blank, folded card in my Etsy shop. The 5"x7" card is suitable for framing, especially when you choose the optional matching 8x10 mat (see below). Click here to go directly to this item in my shop.

The Hope Card

Ivory Envelope & Back of Card

With Optional Mat

Blue on the Desk

5x7 watercolor on 140 lb. paper

I sink in and out of blue periods in my art quite often. It's my favorite color to paint with. I just added indigo to my palette for the first time. It's the perfect blue for denim. I'm also trying violet dioxazine, which should be right for violets, right? I plan to call this piece "Blue."

A Place To Read

"A Place To Read;" 5x7, 140 lb. WC paper

I have painted this scene before, but never so carefully. The first time I painted it was over two years ago, and I was just getting back into watercolors after many years away from them. That first version was much looser than this one. This one is already sold, so I knew I needed to give it my best.

It's amazing how confusing it is to draw a divided-light window when you're trying to fit it into a specific space and when there are items in the foreground, like flower vases. I've drawn this scene more than three times, and I don't think I've ever gotten the window structure entirely correct. But, as a friend once told me, when I was obsessing needlessly about every little detail of a craft project, "If you can't see it from a galloping horse, let it go." Good advice!

Bigger Pad

Blu Jar Studio is getting a bigger, brighter place. I'm knee-deep in moving, but after it's done, I'm going to make some art! I can't wait! I wish I could just snap my fingers and jump to the making-art part. But, this is photo realism here, not fantasy. Back at it....

Art on Me

Snowflake Nail Art

No one is ever going to come to me for fashion advice or tips for buying and using cosmetics or really anything that has to do with personal style. I'm hopelessly conservative in the way I dress and accessorize. I choose almost entirely solid-colored separates for my wardrobe, not because I don't like patterns, but because I just don't want to fuss with my clothes.

So, why did I paint my nails blue and draw snowflakes on them? Well, it's more than the onset of mid-life panic. At least I hope it's more than that. 

I bought the blue nail polish months ago to use in my studio. It's one of two colors in my brand, and I thought it would be useful. I bought green, too, which is the other key color in Blu Jar's palette. Will my nails be green this spring? Who knows. The truth is I never intended to use the polish on, you know, me. 

I did recently decide, though, that I want to take on some challenges in the new year. I refuse to call them resolutions because that will doom them to failure, for sure. I just want to push myself in some new, and probably uncomfortable, directions. Let's just say it's for the sake of my business, which will always need a fresh, creative shot in the arm, if it's going to work for me. I have learned that I sort of have "artistic ADHD." I've always preferred starting things over finishing them. Call that a character flaw (I do), but for my business, I want to try to use that tendency to serve the work. 

For me, this means: 1) I don't want to take on BIG projects unless I'm absolutely crazy about them, because it's really hard to maintain the enthusiasm the art deserves when new ideas are popping (and they always are); and 2) I want to start BEING an artist in my "real life"--you know, the one I live outside my studio. That's where the blue nails come in. 

I want to make more artistic statements and use fewer words to do it. I want to give myself things to look at when there is no obvious design around, because design wakes up my spirit. Design births more design, and it all nurtures the designer in me. I've ignored this phenomenon for too long.

So, 2014 will be the year of Me, the Artist, being more okay with and intentional about living out the role of "Artist" and more grateful for and dedicated to the God-given passion to create.

More Art on Me

More evidence that I'm breaking out of the fashion "box" I've lived in is my wrist full of beads. I have always loved and collected beads. I've been restringing, rearranging, and adding some new beads to make lots of stretchy bracelets, I've been mixing and matching them, regardless of whether they entirely match my outfits. Hey, everything goes with denim!

There Be Penguins Here

This is my first penguin painting, but it won't be my last. I had great fun taking this piece from concept to the final application of textural details. The white details on the parent penguin were achieved with a tiny brush and opaque acrylic ink, which is a relatively new product for me. I especially enjoyed designing the baby penguin's snow suit and the pattern that shows up on both scarves.

I'm still trying to decide how I will use this piece. Will it end up on a series of frameable cards or will I sell the original as is? Hmmm. Not sure yet. I'm kind of kicking around the idea of doing a penguin calendar. This would be January.

8x10 watercolor on 140 lb. paper

The Ninjas of the Cold

I'm finally back in my studio after two weeks away from my brushes and paint, and I'm painting penguins, of all things. Penguins know how to survive the cold. I wish I did!

After all the warmth of Christmas is past, as it soon will be, it seems that there's nothing ahead except weeks of cold. I'll be calling this piece, "Baby, It's Cold Outside" as a reminder to grin and bear it...and bundle up!

8x10 watercolor on Canson Aquarelle

Blue Cotton Towels

A miniature painting of these towels was a big hit when I posted it on Facebook, so I decided to paint a larger version and put it in the shop. It is available with or without the blue mat. See the full listing in my Etsy shop.

Blue Kitchen Towels; 8x10 watercolor with optional mat

Mr. Jefferson's Livable Artwork

I live a few hours away from Monticello, the estate of Thomas Jefferson. Last year, on a VERY hot day in July, we had an impromptu family reunion there. I drove down from Pennsylvania with my kids and my sister drove up from North Carolina with my parents. We toured the house and drank lots of water! I love the place!

Jefferson was such a clever and creative person, which is obvious when you tour his house. He created many functional things to make life easier. They were his works of art, and he lived among them.

One of the words I use to define my artwork is "livable." I love the idea of art being comfortable and soothing and fun. Of course, there is a place for confrontational art and art that teaches, and I am okay with that. But, for me, the best kind of art becomes a part of your life and family. Some people feel that way about their books. Jefferson certainly felt that way. His house is decorated with lovely leather-bound volumes, and I'm pretty sure they were more than decorative pieces to him. He wrote in a letter to his good friend, John Adams, "I cannot live without books."

I have several family members who share that sentiment, so I created a piece that features the saying with books lined up like colorful jewels. Prints of this 5" x 7" painting are available in my Etsy shop: https://www.etsy.com/listing/169565699/5x7-digital-print-i-cannot-live-without?. The paper is cut to 8" x 10", providing a nice, wide border around the artwork for matting and framing.

Nearing the Top of the Learning Curve...I Hope!

Well, my online shop has been open for one week, and it's been a very busy several days! In the business world, busy is good! I've received so many nice comments and lots of visits to the shop. I also received just the right amount of purchases for my first week. If there had been many more this week, I would not have been able to keep up.

Every task is new, and every new thing has several OTHER new things to learn and arrange and set up. I'm sure it will start to feel somewhat routine eventually, but for now, I'm still heading up the learning curve. I am really looking forward to being able to focus on painting some new pieces soon.

The best seller so far; 2.5" x 3.5" ACEO watercolor

I'm still posting pieces that I finished painting during the summer. The ACEOs have been the best selling items so far, and the "Perfect Sister" design (above) has been the best of the best. ACEOs are small and affordable and essentially fill the role of "the adorable puppy" in the art world. If you're unfamiliar with ACEOs, you'll just have to visit the shop and read about it in the item descriptions. See, I know that eventually I must get you to click away from here and head over to the shop, so go ahead.

BUT FIRST, take a look at the items (pictured below) that I've been working on for most of today. I call these Quilt Corners. There are four in the set, and they represent the four seasons. They are available as a set of four or individually. I have loved fabric since I was very young. I used to enjoy making real quilts, but now I'm enjoying painting them even more. I love designing my own fabrics for my painted quilts. The only thing I miss is handling the fabric, which any quilter will tell you is a very important part of the experience!

Quilt Corners; 5..5" square watercolor prints

Okay, NOW you can go shopping! Here's a link to the shop: Blu Jar Studio on Etsy.