The Facebook dilemma

I have been told by some of my marketing genius friends, that I should have a public facebook site in addition to this blog, twitter, the myspace, the renspace, my band sites, et al, but I have been so resistant to do that because it is yet another site to keep track of and to post pictures and news. 

I will open up a public profile facebook site if my personal facebook site gets too flooded with requests (I prefer that my private one be fairly small for family, old friends, people I know in some capacity in the music and art world, i.e. not just total randomness-- it is the only way I can enjoy the site and reading the feeds).

Which is to say, I would like to spend more time at my actual work and to put more into this blog instead of spreading out yet again into another social networking site which I may or may not be able to upkeep properly.

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 (hear clips)

Autumn Tree with Knotted Roots and Knotted Border and Tree with Heart

This is the latest in the series of Celtic inspired art (particularly knotted trees with knotted borders). The Spring version is on this blog post.

At present, I have this up in my Etsy store as archival limited edition prints, but I will probably add greeting cards and tags in this design at some point. (edit on 12/16/11: it is also available through my Artfire on-line store where you don't have to be a member to buy and where I presently have the largest selection of my art).

The next piece is an original painting which is also presently for sale on Etsy. It is almost ACEO size (just a half inch wider in both directions). Which means: it is a 3" by 4" painting. It looks much better in real life (it has a crispness that you just can't get with a monitor).

 

Oh, yes, I am also in an Etsy treasury celebrating May Babies (of which I am one... or used to be when I was younger!). The treasury was curated by DiemDesignsJewelry.

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)

Queen of Hearts

(note: copyright watermarks do not appear in actual art).

This is an old design (2005), but it is the first time that I am selling prints of her on-line (through Etsy).

2005 was the beginning of starting a theme of Renaissance-inspired art (the inspiration came to me as a flash when we were performing at the Killington Renaisssance Faire toasting our actor and musician friends at the Renaissance banquet). The Queen of Hearts was the first design in this endeavor. Previously, I was making art in any style and theme that took my fancy and I was finding that I felt like a perpetual student of styles (I have a masters degree in Art Education which explains why I am all over the place-- the more a teacher knows about each medium and style, the better she can teach it).

I am no longer teaching (I have replaced that profession with being a musician and visual artist), but I still have a tendency to scatter. Yet I always try to have a few pieces going in the Renaissance-inspired theme. Last year, I was in a 5 person invitational juried exhibit called "Once Again" at Lower Adironack Regional Arts Center in Glens Falls, NY where I featured my pottery, sculpture and painting in this theme.

One other reason for focusing on this theme was that in order to keep my sanity, I decided to focus on art that might go with my music: Renaissance, Celtic and originals about heartbreak and hope, spirituality and peace, shape-shifting and wings. Thus, 2005 was the year I also started those themes on my website gallery.

Here is the queen of hearts in detail. You'll notice that the queens' faces are not the same:

This is is what the greeting card looks like (a little different, eh? Maybe bringing out the gold tones more?):

And this is the back of the greeting card:

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)

Spring Tree with Knotted Roots and Knotted Border

note: copyright watermarks do not appear in actual piece.

This piece was a joy to make. I finished it on April 15, but didn't get around to making any products from it until now. Prints, greeting cards & fine art gift tags are the latest products.

I was inspired by Celtic knots (again!) and this piece on the Gaia (forests forever) MYSPACE site. There are also two doves flying into the branches if you look very closely.

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)

Angel Carrie Celebrates Life

note: copyright watermarks do not appear in actual piece.

I have a lot of new work to post, but in the meantime I am posting this older piece because I started to make some smaller prints of her.

She is part of a limited edition of 95.

The big 18" x 24" prints have been popular and make a bigger impact (especially when viewing in person as opposed to on-line), but I thought I'd try some smaller ones too at the end of the run of 95.

The smaller prints are up for sale for the first time at my Etsy on-line store (12/16/11 edit: they are also available at my Artfire on-line store). 

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)

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)