Snapshot: A season of busyness

A Dogwood blossom - I took some reference photos of Dogwood and Apple tree blossoms to share with other artists during the 100 day project.

I’ve been in a particularly busy season of life the past few months, and I haven’t really felt that I had enough time to sit down to write a proper blog post. I think the issue is more what I was considering a “proper blog post.” I think I was expecting an epic journey, but right now I only have the bandwidth for a snapshot. This being the case, I’m going to try to do more frequent blog posts that are a bit shorter each. I’ve been very busy both in the studio and on the homestead, and my husband Jhan has been down to Perú - I’ve got new photos of the house in Jaguey and new *possible* tile schemes and bathroom design ideas to share with you.

Inspiration:

Recently a great deal of my inspiration has come from the many gifted artists who participated in the 100 day project. I made 75/100 days and posted what I was up to. I am thoroughly impressed by the folks I was able to connect with over the course of the 100 days. Many did a small project daily, while others worked away daily at projects over time.

A special shoutout to my new artist pal Lisa Jayne Irvine up in Canada, who regularly checked in on me during the project. Please check her out on Instagram @lisajayneirvine -  she’s a gifted artist and a new mom!! She journeys fairly seamlessly between abstraction and realism. Another artist whose work and daily posts I found delightful and hugely encouraging is Joel Camins up in Alaska @joelcamins - Joel seems to do printmaking and paper cuts and sculpture. His insights and the amazing artists I met via his posts really helped me to keep on keeping on for the project.

Here are some highlights from my work during #the100dayproject

Here are four of the mini acrylic paintings on paper that I completed.

I managed to varnish several completed paintings. This little piece “El Gallo de Tío Manuel” will be heading to California soon. I’m contemplating posting some of the other pieces for sale here on my website.

I took time during the project to just play with paint. With less pressure for a finished product, I felt more free to experiment.

And I was able to build up layers and textures into something I rather enjoy.

…AND I started a YouTube channel as part of my project!!

I hope you’ll check it out, if you’ve got the time. Let me know any topics you’d like me to cover and if you’re interested in joining for live “Paint with Me” type sessions. I’ve got a brainstorm list of video ideas, but I’d love to hear your ideas.

In the studio:

I created an abstract, mixed-media start of a piece during the 100 day project, and I’ve had great fun in the past few days adding to it. It’s my current work in progress at the moment. I’m working to add some realism elements down in the lower left corner. My second YouTube video will be based on the process and work on this piece from start to finish.

Thank you for taking a little time to join me behind the scenes in my crazy, creative world. In order to post more frequently, I’m going to save some fun homestead and house updates for another post coming soon. Please consider joining my newsletter email list to receive notifications for updates to the website and pre-sale access for artwork.