French themed holiday ornaments and wall hangings, this year's ornaments

French inspired heart with doves wall art

© Lise Winne, 2016

selling at Valley Artisans Market during the holidays, 2016

Every year Cambridge, NY has a holiday theme and the little shops that dot the main drag take part in some way. Our gallery, Valley Artisans Market, also takes part in the theme. 

This year's theme was France and this is my interpretation of the theme. It is loosely based on the folk art of France, but it is also consistent with many other paintings I have been working on and will be showing in galleries and art centers in my area starting in 2017. This is the only folk art piece in the series, but it is close enough to "my style" (the style I show in my part of the country, at any rate).

This is not a very big painting. It is approximately 7" across and on wood. Hopefully it also has some elements of the holiday too.

Here is a mini painting I made (even smaller), approximately 4.5" across on wood:

French inspired heart with doves wall art II

© Lise Winne, 2016

selling at Valley Artisans Market during the holidays, 2016

Next up are a group of mini paintings on 4" x 4" canvases I made; the one in the heart has sold:

4" x 4" mini paintings of doves

available at Valley Artisans Market during the holidays, 2016

Next up are all of the pieces I made for the show and holiday season in general except the first one I showed above:

mini paintings and ornaments (the round ornament and the dove in the heart has already sold)

The horses are reversible.

Some of the hand painted pieces I made last year for the Swedish theme are still available in my alcove at the gallery, but they are selling, and I probably won't make new ones. I don't have pictures but they are red and white and quite symmetrical. Last time I checked, there was still a tree-topper I made there too.   

I am also selling at Lower Adirondack Regional Arts Council. Items include Christmas card packs, Hanukkah card packs, holiday card singles, mini holiday cards (for gifts), gift tags, giclee prints as well as other note cards in various themes (wedding, baby, anniversary), and of course, birthday cards.

Until next time ...

Christmas at Valley Artisans Market 2015

VILLAGE THEMED HOLIDAY
THIS YEAR: Sweden

Christmas at Valley Artisans Market, 2015

photo © Debra Ann Salat

My piece for the themed holiday show is the round red circle (as well as a couple of other pieces like it -- not shown). It is my own design (not Swedish folk art), but it is Swedish-inspired art! -- and after all, that is the point of being an artist, coming up with your own creative ideas based on the theme!

There are a lot of ornaments for sale. My favorites included some corn husk angels with a santa lucia crown by Bliss White McIntosh, handmade red glass birds by Cheryl Gutmaker and hand embroidered red stockings with white snowflake patterns by Debra Ann Salat.

Bliss White McIntosh corn husk angel with Santa Lucia Crown:

bird ornaments by Cheryl Gutmaker:

I don't have an image of Debra Ann Salat's, but they remind me of these birds, embroidery style.

Every holiday season, Cambridge, NY has a themed holiday. Last year it was Poland, and this year it is Sweden. This is the first year the gallery took part in the village theme and asked artists to make something that would contribute to the theme.

I thought it was a lot of fun -- these events always are, even if they take me out of my usual art style.

I made so many Christmas designs this year, more than usual, primarily for greeting cards and tags, but I have had no time to publish any of them here. It has been so hard to keep up with everything on my plate. Perhaps I can put them up another time.

Happy holidays to all! 

Valley Artisans Market

216 W Main Street

Cambridge, NY

Hours: 10 - 5 Mon - Sat

11 - 2:30 Sun

Sometime in the last few days I went above 30,000 views. Thanks for the support!

holiday art shows (2012)

Holiday show season is upon me and this is one show that I'm in this year (note that the opening night is this Friday, November 16, from 5 - 7 pm (includes refreshments and live music).

One other holiday show that I'm in has a first-time-ever Black Friday sale: 20 percent off for November 23 - 24 at Valley Artisans Market, 25 East Main Street, Cambridge, NY. The gallery is only making a 5 percent commission on these sales, so it may never happen again. If you want to enjoy a sale at this venue that is not a "seconds sale", this would be the year to try it. 

I will also be running a sale or two in my on-line shops around that time... stay tuned

WEBSITE

MY ARTFIRE ON-LINE STORE (largest selection)

MY ETSY ON-LINE STORE (seasonal selection)

FACEBOOK (new)  

on the drawing table and holiday concert at Troy Music Hall

Work in progress:

one corner of the piece

in sepia ink

still has pencil guides in it

finished piece will have color

I thought I'd post this now since I have no idea when I will be able to finish it. I was hoping to finish it before the holidays to hang it in one of my holiday art shows, but it doesn't appear that I will be able to do that (and I do want to do it justice by thinking out all of the compositional elements).

The reason why? Our band is in rehearsals for holiday concerts, one at Troy Music Hall (which requires the most concentration, since the last time we performed there, it was a packed house-- about 1,000 in the audience) and a small one at a Victorian Streetwalk.

The concerts take precedence.

I was wondering if I should have done any holiday art shows this year since they are all-involving and take me away from my music and practicing for at least two weeks (sometimes more). When I get back to my instruments, the callouses on my fingertips has softened or peeled off (making playing more painful) and my instruments feel foreign. 

But now that I am into the swing of it, I feel much more like a musician than a visual artist. It can and does go the other way around too. Funny how that happens.

The fact that I can be a musician at all (and especially to be able to perform at such a great venue as the Troy Music Hall) is always amazing to me since I had severe asthma until I was 28 years old. Being able to sing was comparable to being able to fly... and not just sing, but professionally sing. How did this happen? I am so blessed!

My Website

MY ART IN ON-LINE STORES:
Artfire
Etsy

MY MUSIC LINKS (hear clips):
Music MYSPACE
My band, Saratoga Faire’s MYSPACE
My Renaissance band MYSPACE: The Spirites Consort

MY MUSIC IN ON-LINE STORES:
CD Baby
Amazon
InandOutRecords (Europe)
My band, Saratoga Faire, on CD Baby

Holiday Art Show at Lower Adirondack Regional Arts Council in Lapham Gallery

This is the postcard for the event (you might have to click on the image to see all of the pertinent information).

I was juried into this show again this year. This is the website for the Art Center if you want to check it out. I will have prints (framed and unframed), cards and gifty art tags for sale. It runs from November 12 - December 24.

I was also in the previous juried group art show at the same center. The show was called "Black and White". I discovered a picture of my entry in their latest newsletter:

You might have to click on this picture too. This one is a pretty tall handthrown porcelain bottle: 2 feet high.

I have some new art pieces I'm racing to finish up. I will post those soon.

And I am trying to fill up my Artfire Shop as much as I can possibly handle (the brick and mortar shops are taking precedence at the moment).

My Website

MY ART IN ON-LINE STORES:

Artfire

Etsy

MY MUSIC LINKS (hear clips):

Music MYSPACE

My band, Saratoga Faire’s MYSPACE

My Renaissance band MYSPACE: The Spirites Consort

MY MUSIC IN ON-LINE STORES:

CD Baby

Amazon

InandOutRecords (Europe)

My band, Saratoga Faire, on CD Baby



Holiday Art Shows

It’s been all business since last time I blogged with no time for practice or painting.

I have been working from 7:30 in the morning until midnight preparing for my holiday art shop at Lower Adirondack Regional Art Center (Glens Falls, NY). This is a photo of the set-up. The opening is this Friday eve (I think the hours are 6 – 8).

I also prepared a much more truncated version for Valley Artisans Market (Cambridge, NY).

I don’t know how I managed 6 – 10 holiday art shows in past years as the 2 have totally exhausted me (and for this reason, I am keeping it to just the 2 this year).

One of the reasons why it took so much time out of me is that at the last moment I discovered that I had sold a lot of inventory & needed to make more. This meant days & days of printing out small prints and cards. Then there was the pricing, writing inventory lists and the shop set-up all in the midst of some major house catastrophes. This is the third year in a row where house issues put a serious wrench in holiday art show preparation. And I hope it is the last!

On another note, I was featured (along with one of my designs) briefly in a blog by Michelle of "Nature Manipulated". It is in her Saturday, November 7, 2009 blog (if you can no longer scroll to it, you can still look up the date). Her blog is located here.

My Website

Music MYSPACE (hear clips)

My Etsy on-line store for purchasing some of my CDs and some of my art

My band site: Saratoga Faire

My Renaissance band MYSPACE: The Spirites Consort (hear clips)

Purchasing our Saratoga Faire CD on CD Baby

Pawn in Autumn and A Raven in Autumn

Note: the copyright watermarks do not appear in the actual art (needed for on-line display only).

This is my newest design and was finished & scanned today. The design measures 12" x 16 1/2 ".

The reason for the two titles is that the prints will be named "Pawn in Autumn" and the greeting cards will be named "A Raven in Autumn." I thought it was best to decipher the two as I have found customers of greeting cards not understanding the reference to "pawn" outside of its context. The prints are more likely to be shown together with their kind and thus will be clearer as to what the theme means.

For those of you not in the know, the pawn relates to chess. In chess, any being that is not a king, queen, bishop, knight or rook is a pawn. This one is obviously a pet pawn because of its collar.

I probably won't have the greeting cards printed this autumn (as autumn is nearly done, at least around here), but I am hoping to have some prints of it for the upcoming holiday shows.

I may not have any new designs for awhile as I prepare for these shows. On the other hand, it is likely that I will post pieces that have never been seen or scanned before.

My Website

Music MYSPACE (hear clips)

My Etsy on-line store for purchasing some of my CDs and some of my art

My band site: Saratoga Faire

My Renaissance band MYSPACE: The Spirites Consort (hear clips)

Purchasing our Saratoga Faire CD on CD Baby