new art and art show with doves and bunnies

"The Attraction"

© 2017

watercolor and ink

available for sale as a print and other products HERE

art work size: 11" x 14" in a 16" x 20" frame (for the original)

At a local gallery, Valley Artisans Market in Cambridge, NY, as was announced in this post, I am having a show with Marina Petro called "Inspired by Spirit". We are primarily going to be showing original paintings, but I think there may some greeting cards and prints for sale too. Almost all of these artworks from this post will be in the show. 

(Note: If you are interested in the original above e-mail me at sales(att)LiseWinne.com (I will be moving it around to different shows and galleries after it has shown at Valley Artisans Market, other wise click this link for a variety of other products, including prints. 

All of these pieces represent a different direction for me and my art (and most feature a night sky).

Here is what the tote bag looks like from my on-line store:

Totes available HERE

My artist statement for the show:

I found that through 32 years of selling art, clients who purchase particular pieces of art are unconsciously attracted to the symbolism present in the pieces. When they are made aware of what the piece is conveying, using Jungian concepts, Tarot-type meanings and typical spiritual dream symbolism across cultures, they often identify with these symbols in their present lives or self.

In my own work, I use doves to represent spirit. They also represent peace, of course. But in many cultures, the dove is also a messenger to sacrifice oneself to a higher cause, to purify oneself of lower agendas and to acquire devotion to a cause, people or persons. It is a call to more awareness, to seeing spirit and meaning in everything. When an art work has doves combined with other spirit animals, the dove is part of the overall meaning or story of the piece.

Noticing spirit is not something bestowed upon "special people", but rather a kind of noticing "everything as much as possible" perception. I like to think that all living things have an awareness, from the sickly trampled on weed growing in the sidewalk cracks to the spoiled King. Once we are aware of spirit in everything then compassion, peace and learning lessons become life goals. It is easy to hate that which we don't understand, but once we are open to understanding, then compassion is all that can exist. Peace and compassion are also about nurturing and promoting life and giving up on ideas of destruction. When we are at peace with the beings around us, that is also when we notice their spirit.

Why bunnies and doves?

To me bunnies represent the vulnerable: children, survivors of abuse, the disabled, and so on. They have a lot to overcome in dodging predators, but they do. As many of you know, I write another blog for survivors of abuse right here on blogspot called "Misadventures with Angry Alcoholics, Bullies and Narcissists", so when I make these art works, I am thinking about survivors of abuse first and foremost.

But, what about the dove? How does that relate? They typically represent spirit, peace, sacrifice, purification. But they are also the messengers for peace, which is very much about what writing the blog is for me. The promotion of kindness, empathy and thoughtfulness is what will evolve the human race from abusive tendencies (people who intentionally hurt other people), narcissism, perspecticide, war and shaming (shaming being an act of prejudicy -- and yes, this can and does include parents doing this to children as well) ... note: all of the highlighted links go to blogs I have written and illustrated except the one on perspecticide. 

In "The Attraction", there is also a cat, bats and a tree. In mythology, the cat represents rebirth, resurrection and unpredictability and may have other "agendas" in being attracted to the doves, although it is white (the color of purification) too. Bats typically represent death and life, endings and beginnings, transitions. The white tree represents a connection to our true identity, revolutionary wisdom, enlightenment. The whole piece is about being attracted to our higher natures, about communicating peace and spiritual motives, accepting transitions (endings and beginnings), to form a revolutionary new wisdom about ones place in the world. 

"Three Messengers"

© 2017

available for sale as a print and other products HERE

the design of this piece is dedicated to Lenora Thompson and 500 Pound Peep,

two other bloggers who write for survivors of child abuse

The next one is an acrylic painting (the frame I painted myself comes with it):

 "A Deep Thought"

© 2017

13.5" x 16.5"

acrylic painting on panel

only the original is available at this time

Next is one that has references to Tarot symbolism:

"Wand with Magician and Jester"

© 2017

14" x 18" 

acrylic painting on canvas

only the original painting is available for sale

Note: the original is square, not like the photograph.

The Magician in tarot symbolism is someone with skill who can manifest change in a "magical way". He has the ability to transform, to pull together resources, skills, and tools. He is close to the creative source, and has the ingenuity to make dreams come true, the power to attract an audience, the power to display knowledge and thought (sometimes esoteric). He has integrity and is a leader of sorts ... Since this magician is a type of rabbit, he will also have some of the symbolism of the rabbit (i.e. a survivor, even if previously vulnerable to prey). The magician is signified by the number one. One is the trail-blazer, the originator, the creator.

The jester in tarot symbolism is someone who is a word-smith, who speaks in riddles or non-sequiturs to keep from being beheaded by a king or queen. He (or she -- this one is a "she") can get away with being very, very wise (a kind of canary in the coal mine), of speaking his mind because he is not seen as a threat because he is deemed as "foolish" after all. People who want perspectives they can take or leave often prefer the fool or jester. The jester can take "wild thought and verbal leaps" into the unknown because he is aware that the audience is tentative and dismissively fearful at best. The jester is also signified by the number zero. The reason he is zero, is because he is not part of the intrigues at court; he is not a political figure; he does not represent any kind of an agenda because he is not a player "in the game". He is not "connected". He is just this wise messenger, this poet, who people choose to listen to or not to listen to, depending on their mindset. Thus he often also represents the unconscious.

The jester can be an inspiration to the Magician. People who start out as jesters can also end up as magicians. 

In this piece, the jester tries to make a grab for the wand first.

The wand signifies manifesting and channeling magic or energy, the power to change, transform, protect or do good, the tool of a champion or authority.

The doves are over each of their heads. This signifies messages of peace as all of the other works do.

"Spirit Tree"

© 2017

12" x 24"

acrylic painting on canvas

only the original is available for sale

In this piece there are a lot of doves. There is a bunny safely nestled into an opening of tree roots, and one outside to see the display of doves. Again, the white tree symbolizes a connection to our true identity, revolutionary wisdom and enlightenment. This one has no bark (except its roots are a bit "dirty" from the ground), thus a "spirit tree" giving a home to the doves (and to the message of peace). 

"Escape with a Blessing"

© 2016

8" x 8"

a more de-saturated version is available for sale as a print and other products HERE

"Between the Trees"

© 2017

available for sale as a print and other products HERE

This next one is similar to "Wand With Magician and Jester" except this one does not feature a jester. It preceded the one with the Jester, but has a magic all its own:

"The Magician"

© 2017

7.25" x 8.5"

watercolor and ink

available for sale as a print and other products HERE

totes available for sale HERE

The next one up is small. The original is slightly bigger than a 5 x 7. It is called "Breathing Life Into Darkness". 

Some greeting cards were made of the design with the word "Peace" inside.

The dove has all of the meaning and symbolism of the last piece, except this one is celestial. 

The idea behind this piece is that the world is not just black and white (i.e. made up of villains and saints). That goes for how human beings are too. The dove shows us that peace is in the rainbow world of colors. He breathes and speaks about colors and of life. The sanctity of life and relationships can only come about through peace.

Finding an end to abuse and domestic violence is the same as finding a way to end war and destruction. Domestic abuse is usually about bigotry/shaming of a family member (that is the reason for the insults and vilification; this is usually how domestic abuse starts).

"Breathing Life Into Darkness"

© 2017

5.25" x 7.125"

available for sale as a print and other products HERE

the original is in a local gallery

Here is what it looks like as a pillow:

pillows available for sale HERE

(choose size with drop-down and background color with slider)

framed prints available HERE

choose size, type of frame and mats in drop down

(this frame is PL6 in black with a snow white mat)

"The Meeting Under the Moon"
© 2016
4" x 12"
only the original is available for sale

"Night Surprise"
© 2016
only the original is available for sale

The next one up, the bunny is in a cocoon, healing, and in the protection of the roots of the tree. The piece is called "Bunny Nap in Tree Roots" to appeal to a wider audience, but to me, the meaning goes deeper than that. 

Doves fly overhead. Doves, again, represent peace, devotion, the spirit, sacrifice, messenger, purification. 

So I like to think that the bunny, after his restorative sleep, will awaken to a new life as peace-maker, as a messenger of the spirit, and will have pure intent. Often because of the horrific experience of abuse, survivors are generally also doves (they want peace and harmony in their own lives, and they want peace and harmony to prevail in the world). 

The symbol of the butterfly is resurrection, transformation, hope and deep change. 

In other words, after the bunny restores and is healed, he is deeply changed.

The symbol of the tree in this piece is: knowledge, nourishment, sustenance, the giver of life. 

"Bunny Nap in Tree Roots"

small: in an 8" x 10" frame matted

© 2017

watercolor and colored pencils

only the original is available for sale at this time

There will also be plenty of minis (5" x 5"s and 4" x 4"s -- and even smaller) like the next ones:

"Dove with Star"

5" x 5"

© 2016

mini acrylic painting

only the original is available for sale at this time

although I do have one for sale in this design that was heavily photo-shopped HERE

This next one is tiny. It is two and a quarter inches times three and a quarter inches and it is matted, but not framed. I won't have prints of it; it is meant to be an original only.

This one is celestial too, and a precursor to the one above. It is called "Dove With a Mission" and the premise behind this one is that there is no time to waste. We need to spread peace if we are to survive on this planet, and with each other.

"Dove with a Mission"

© 2017

2.25" x 3.25"
only the original is available for sale at this time

sold

This next one is called "Resting Rabbit" and it is absolutely tiny (only one and a quarter inches times one and seven eighths of an inch, in other words, about as big as the end of one's thumb -- and yes, it is hard to make art so small, thus the simplistic rendition):

"Resting Rabbit"

© 2016

0.8" x 1.25"

Please note: If you are interested in any of the original pieces above e-mail me at sales(att)LiseWinne.com (I will be moving them around to different shows and galleries after it has shown at Valley Artisans Market). 

back to the drawing board...

If you've been following my story, I created 4 paintings to gain entry into an art exhibit in my area. The series of 4 paintings is HERE.

Well, I didn't get in. There are a couple of things that I think definitely worked against me: 

1. My work wasn't consistent enough. I had 3 watercolor paintings and 1 acrylic painting. All of them, except for the two chicken paintings, look like they could have been created by different artists. This is definitely a no-no when trying to get into contemporary art exhibits. The body of work should look like it all goes together with a similar style and treatment. The artist's personality and originality should shine through each work and look like it all belongs together. I knew this, of course (having been an art teacher).

2. The theme wasn't developed enough, creating even more inconsistency. One of them is in the realm of fantasy (the one with the big flowers), one is more in the realm of realism and the others emphasize borders. I was just too all over the place. I believe I would have had a better chance if I had stuck to one particular way of working within the theme.   

3. I didn't give myself enough time to create a body of work. I was rushed. This year has been marred by medical crises and illnesses, whether mine or someone else's. Being distracted does not bode well for making a consistent body of work where some leisure can bring thoughtfulness and reflection. Instead I was overwhelmed with too many things on my plate to think clearly about what I was creating. I thought I had enough time to paint 4 acrylic paintings and 4 watercolor paintings (for instance) and choose between the two mediums. 

4. Not enough pieces:  the prospectus called for 4 - 10 pieces. I'm sure most artists went more for 10 which put me at a disadvantage too.   

5. politics: I think there is always a little of that in the jurying of every exhibit (especially in an area like this where most artists know each other, or at least each other's work). Some artists specialize in farm scenery and it is all they do -- full time. This is not my main focus even if it is becoming part of my palette.

In a way, I am glad I didn't get in especially as I am still dealing with #3 and still greatly overwhelmed to the point where I'm even shutting down my Etsy on-line store for awhile to get back on my feet. Assuming that brighter days are ahead, I will reapply next year. This gives me an entire year to paint and to explore what direction I want to take this work. Working in watercolors and acrylics should be possible too with so much time ahead of me assuming I can get most of my graphic work, greeting cards and music done during the day time. 

Anyway, I hope you have enjoyed reading about my journey so far...

MY WEBSITE  

       

Arrival of the Hummingbirds

Arrival of the Hummingbirds

© 2012

original watercolor and ink painting on Arches Watercolor paper

10" x 15" (size of painted surface)

I may have prints in the future; this is set aside for an art show in my area for now

This rounds out the fourth (and final painting and largest -- at least for now -- of the series). If you haven't been following along, the rest of the series is HERE. The theme is "farm animals in the garden" and the reason for focusing on this theme has to do with personal experience: I grew up in the country next to a farm. Sometimes the farm animals would break through their fencing and be in my parents flower garden eating everything in sight.

This is my favorite one out of the series and it reflects my style the most. I wish I could have taken more time to do more elaborate paintings like this one for the series (and perhaps will in the future). I like the fantasy-like aspects of this one, the big flowers, the hummingbirds coming in for a landing... it seems to tell a story (which is what I like my original paintings to do). 

I actually used the same sheep model from the previous painting, but prefer how the wool is depicted in this one over the last one. Watercolor paint just has a magical way of translating the texture of wool that I couldn't quite capture with acrylic paint. 

As for the "Rooster in the Garden"... I had to change that to "Hen in the Garden". Jim, my significant other, pointed out that roosters have a much bigger crown than hens. Unfortunately, when I submitted the art work to the art show for jurying, the old title was part of it. Now they'll know I don't know my farm animals (**wince**)!

other links:

MY WEBSITE

Hen in the Garden

Hen in the Garden

© 2012

7" x 9.5" (painted surface)

watercolors and inks on Arches watercolor paper

This is part of a series featuring farm animals in the garden (to read the whole scoop as to why I am depicting farm animals in the garden, get the details from THIS BLOG POST). The rest of the series is through THIS LINK. This is the second original painting in the series even though it was the last one I painted. But for the purposes of this blog, I am listing them in terms of least favorite to favorite... which is to say that I like this one more than the first previous one I listed on this blog for the series. 

As I was explaining to Karen Anne, one of my readers (and a wonderful artist in her own right), I tried to produce 4 paintings in 2 weeks. One of the paintings took 10 days because the background needed so much work (but in the end, it is my favorite one). Then another painting took 3 days. This left only one whole day (and late into an evening) to paint 2 more paintings. This is one of the "quickie" paintings. 

This time for the border, I used a saturated blue ink instead of watercolor. The borders in both of the "quickie paintings" translates more like a solid blue color rather than the mottled blue that you see in the scans. Perhaps at some point I will take a picture so that you can see what I mean. Not sure why it doesn't scan well -- the bumpiness of the watercolor paper?  The background behind the hen is a subtle wash of turquoise with a little bit of yellow up towards the top. It was so light that it got washed out when scanned too.

I will try to list these more frequently now that I have submitted my work for a show deadline.

(please note: because of so much backlog and delay of listing my new work on this blog, my website won't be updated for awhile). 

other links:

WEBSITE

Rooster with Border

Rooster with Border
© 2012

mini watercolor and ink painting on Arches watercolor paper, 4" x 6" (oswoa)

This is one of 4 paintings I have been working on in almost marathon style. It is my least favorite of the 4, so as I go along, I'll eventually show you my best one (best one being the one I like the most and which reflects my personality and interests).

The self imposed assignment is to create 4 paintings in 2 weeks that have to do with farm animals. I am choosing to do farm animals with flowers and a garden theme. In this one, the garden theme is less apparent except for the yellow flowers in the border.

Some background on the assignment: I am creating these for an art show which has to depict or to be about some aspect of agriculture. I grew up in the country where the view from the back of the house was pasture land (mainly for cows). My parents were gardeners and had this lovely flower garden in the foundation of an old stone silo. Occasionally the farm animals would break through their fencing and be all over our yard and especially in my parents garden eating everything in sight. Thus, it seemed natural for me to pick the theme of farm animals and the garden.   

Just a special note to my readers: I have been missing from action for 2 reasons: I didn't have access to my blog through Internet Explorer (had to upload Google Chrome in order for it to be useful to me again) plus the painting marathon I mentioned above.

links:

WEBSITE

Swan with Knotted Border

Swan with Knotted Border

© 2012

Available as a greeting card in my Artfire shop through this link

Also available through my Etsy shop through this link

copyright watermarks do not appear in the actual cards

I have been making a lot of new designs lately and hope I can catch up! The original for this was done in inks, watercolors and colored pencils.

other links:

WEBSITE

MY ARTFIRE ON-LINE STORE

MY ETSY ON-LINE STORE

OUR CELTIC BAND CD

Spring Maiden

Spring Maiden

© 2000



In keeping with my last blog, I have uploaded another greeting card design from the old days, this one from 2000. I created this at the beginning of my greeting card-making days. Previously, my art-making was primarily about handthrown high fired pottery and large oil painting (though in my teaching days I had to teach a potpourri of arts from stained glass design to advertising design and everything inbetween).

In making this card (and the whole "season series"), I was still influenced by how I added drawings and designs to my pottery: I had no models or references and just created the image from my imagination (and remembrance for how things looked), in other words it was a spontaneous painting. I used classroom materials for the painting: drawing paper that wasn't acid-free (seriously yellowed now), markers, inexpensive non-archival student colored pencils, pilot pen, a bit of watercolor and student crayola crayons. The paper was 11 x 17, the typical size I gave students for their assignments. Luckily, I scanned the season ladies before the non-archival qualities of the materials started to degrade.

So, moral of the story is: use the best quality of materials. This particular series will never be anything other than greeting cards.

The card is available through this link through my Artfire on-line shop and through a number of local brick and mortar stores.

Here is a pic of the whole series:

the whole series

MY WEBSITE

ARTFIRE ON-LINE STORE

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

Etsy Deluge, the Etsy privacy issue

Etsy Deluge

© 2011

watercolor, ink and a tad of colored pencil

painted in response to Etsy's latest buyer privacy issues

(note: only Etsians will get what this piece is about. But, to enlighten those not privvy to the joke, it has to do with Etsy's front page, which for years focused on owls, cowls, mustaches and certain kinds of rain clouds-- to the point of radically over-doing it, at least to many who sell on the site). 

For the moment, if you want this piece, it is available as an original 11" x 14" watercolor through this link

or as a 5" x 7" print through this link from my Artfire on-line store. Other purchasing opportunities may avail themselves at some point, so check back for the edit on this page.

Anyway, the privacy debacle started out in the Penny Arcade forums where a buyer's name came up in a google search with the artisan dildo she bought on Etsy. Yup, all out there for her grandmother, co-workers and the world to see! It was placed in the google search under her name on the first page of the search, right after her on-line job resumes. Why? Because Etsy changed their privacy policy to make real names of buyers come up in searches. The only way for buyers to change their privacy settings was to log onto the site and change them manually.

Etsy claims to have e-mailed everyone about the change, but the e-mail was buried in a newsletter about how to take great catalog worthy product photography. Also, many buyers only came to the site once to buy or discontinued their e-mail addresses, so many were not notified. I have strong spam filters on my web-mail address (if I didn't, I would get thousands of spam messages a day-- as it is, I get anywhere from 700 to 1,000 now). So, I never got the e-mail either.

From there, Ars Technica took up the story. In the Ars Technica comments section after the article, there was a "battle royal" going on in the forums between Etsy's CEO, Rob Kalin (along with some of his Etsy staffers) and the sellers and buyers of Etsy. What angered sellers and buyers most was that they had been complaining in the Etsy forums about the "opt out" (of having your name shown in searches unless you opted out)-- arguing that it should only be an "opt in" situation. Every forum that was brought up about the situation was immediately closed and some of the sellers were also "muted", i.e. not allowed to post in the forums any longer.

From the Ars Technica article, it went viral. The list was substantial in the end (click on each name to see each site's article on the matter): MSNBC, Washington Post, Consumerist, Huffington Post, Yahoo, BoingBoing, Forbes, Digital Trends, Help Net Security, NY Magazine, NY Convergence, Auctionbytes, The Business Insider, Gizmodo, The Village Voice, The Mary Sue, BuzzFeed, About, Reputation, Salon, Now Public and Geek Sugar.

This was preceeded with lots of other bad press including the rape card fiasco and the Glamour fiasco. Click on these preceeding links if you want to understand what it is about.

I was personally effected by the rape card fiasco. Two women customers, who saw the unflattering story break on CNN, came into a brick and mortar gallery where I was working and wanted me to sign the petition to force Etsy to take the rape cards down from its site. And then they looked at me and asked why I would want to sell on a site like that, not realizing that Etsy is not all about dildos, radical art and Regretsy type items. I do think the outside world mainly regards Etsy as an off-the-wall kind of marketplace filled to its brim primarily with Regretsy items and Keep it Weird items when actually the opposite is true: there are more artists making exceptionally unweird items than weird ones, they just never get much press.

It's not getting much better over at Etsy.com. The recent article in Inc Magazine portrays Etsy as a giant flea market and its CEO as crazy:

Inc Magazine, April 2011:
“Today, Kalin is socially awkward, reticent and given to eccentricities which seem downright crazy.”

Kalin speaks in the article too: (Inc Magazine, April 2011):
"I speak to people in the business world and the technology world, but I don't admire them", he says, pointing an 8-inch combat knife at me for emphasis.

There's more, but I won't go further.

I know a lot of sellers are having a difficult time selling, and many blame the latest happenings (if they are allowed to speak out-- you mostly have to look off of the Etsy site to find out how sellers are really taking it all).

Needless to say, I don't really fit in (in terms of what they like to promote). If I made owls, cowls, mustaches and certain kinds of watercolors and Regretsy types of items, I would. But I don't (normally!). I'm trying to figure out what to do about my own shop on Etsy and in the meantime primarily focusing on my Artfire shop and the brick and mortar gallery scene in my area, which is sober in comparison. I'm not recommending or actively advertising Etsy at all to my brick and mortar customers primarily because of the privacy issues. All I need is my brick and mortar customers coming into the store with "Why didn't you tell us that our names would be splashed all over google and that our e-mail boxes would be bombarded by spam!"

I still have a few things listed at Etsy. If you love Etsy, then make sure your privacy settings are the way you want them!

Here is a close-up of the owl's face, complete with mustache:

edited to add: more on this subject through this link.

links:

MY WEBSITE
SOME OF MY ART FOR SALE ON ARTFIRE

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

White Feather original painting & print

White Feather original watercolor and ink

7" x 9"

This is part of the Windswept Doves series. I had a bad flu all last week and this is what I worked on while I was in bed. I always come back to the theme of doves or angels when I'm down. It was slow going because I was mostly sleeping.

When I scanned it in yesterday, it seemed bright, psychedelic and almost neon. I tried different approaches in the computer and came up with this one for a limited edition giclee print:

White Feather limited edition giclee prints

7" x 9"

I have it listed in 2 online shops: Etsy and Artfire (yes, I am presently opening another on-line shop-- more about that later, though I did notice that the one at Etsy presently has 0 views and the one on Artfire has 7 views and they were both put online at the same time... hmmm...).

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

Windswept Doves and Hearts II

I thought I'd give another one a try using different colored watercolor paints. This one is 3" x 5" (and is on Arches Watercolor paper like the last one).

This will probably be my last in the series as I've run out of this size paper. It is available right now in my Etsy shop, though if it doesn't sell, I may be bringing this to a gallery.

Here is the preliminary (I draw it out lightly in pencil & ink, then add the watercolors):

Windswept Doves and Hearts

This painting is a miniature 3" x 4.85" watercolor and ink. It belongs to a series of pieces I have been making which feature doves including Angel Patrice of Peace, Menorrah and Doves, Pull Me to the Sky, Portal and others. It is available in my ETSY SHOP.

This is a much more comfortable size for me to paint than the aceo (2.5" x 3.5"), but I haven't given up on the aceo. I hope to tackle another one soon!

I recently learned about the OSWOA size (4" x 6"). But the OSWOA must be an original work of art, unlike the aceo. So, I painted another tree with knotted roots and that is also up in my etsy store if you want to take a look. I like the one I posted here a bit more than that one (personal preference). I would have made this painting conform to the OSWOA, but I wanted to leave a white border for framing (I was stuck with the 4" x 6" paper size).

It has been an unusually hot summer here in the north country with a lot of time weeding in the garden (I grow a lot of my own food to insure that it does not have pesticides). There is no air conditioning where I do my art and music, so I am taking a respite from big ambitious projects and painting miniatures and teeshirts and practicing only the music that I know well for awhile.

The teeshirts aren't available on-line, but if you are in the area, I have them up for sale at Valley Artisans Market in Cambridge, NY. There are also other artists who have teeshirts available at the same shop.

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)

Flippy the Feather Duster, Exotic Bird Series

(note: copyright watermark does not appear in actual piece)

Here is another piece from my exotic bird series. You can see prior ones in this blog. The others were painted on thick bristol, but I got tired of worrying about the paints running too much, so I switched to Arches watercolor for this one.

I have this one up in the on-line store as tags, but will be adding prints soon. (note: edit on 12/16/11: the piece is available as a print.  Check my Artfire on-line shop or Etsy on-line shop for availability)

Painting these is just so much fun. No need to worry about borders, backgrounds, foregrounds, a context or perspective. Just create a new creature. Almost a new concept for me!

My Website

Music MYSPACE (hear clips)
My Artfire on-line store for purchasing CDs and some of my art (largest collection)

My Etsy on-line store (smaller collection for purchase)
My band site: Saratoga Faire

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

Card Games Tree I and II

Note: copyright watermarks do not appear in actual art.

You never can plan anything in art. I originally designed this piece as a tag. Yup, that's right, very small with string through it, nothing too consequential. I acually painted the tree and border seperately. The original painting of the tree has red & black to match the border design. However, when I married the 2, I didn't like it. The tree did not differentiate with the border design enough (which made it look like a muddled mess). I fudged around with different experiments to try to resolve these issues. Then I found I liked it much more with the leaves turned a different color (to make it autumn-like while still keeping the playing card symbols). Success! I also decided to make prints from it. I will see if they make good tags, but for now I like them as prints.

Then I decided to try a different version. See below:

 

In this one, the tree has the same colors as the original painting while the border design does not.

The original mediums are: pen & ink, watercolor and a little oil based colored pencils to make the grass.

My relatives from my mother's side of the family are avid card players. Card games include bridge, Oh Hell and hearts with trumps. My grandfather insisted on games every night with all family members participating. Card symbols bring forth memories for me of good times with my family.

Both pieces are available in my Etsy store as small 5 x 7 prints. Perhaps there will be tags and other products with these designs after the date of this post. I still don't know what kinds of products will manifest for the brick and mortar stores that I am in.

My Website

Music MYSPACE (hear clips)

My Etsy on-line store and Artfire 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)

Exotic Birds

note: copyright watermarks do not appear in actual art
I painted the following 5 fanciful birds as a distraction around the time that I had the flu. I continued to make more after completing the initial one. The first one below was #1 in the series and originally used in a composite painting for wedding prints. You can see the wedding prints from my website here. I actually changed the colors and lightened the birds for the wedding prints, but this is how they look in their "true" unadulterated form:

All are painted on roughly 8.5" x 14" acid free bristol board except the kissing birds which were painted on 7" x 14" bristol. Most birds are about 11" in length using pen and ink and watercolors.

I will probably put the originals in a gallery & sell prints of them online. I haven't decided. But if you are interested in purchasing the originals, feel free to e-mail us and we can give you details about cost and shipping (make sure to inquire about specific pieces).

Exotic Bird I:

Exotic Bird III:

Exotic Bird IV:

Exotic Bird V:

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)