Phase II ...painting and more painting
Sunday found us touching up the west side, letting it dry most of the afternoon and then moving everything to the other side of the basement and cleaning the east side and painting those walls ...by the time I got to the floor it was very late...The floor was pretty nasty and some of it very scary looking in spots, likeback under our stairwell...Rich taped a paint brush to a broom handlefor me so I didn't have to crawl in there. When I saw this brush on astick it reminded me of going to see the Zhou Brothers paint at theCultural Center a fe
w years ago...that's how they do their large scalepaintings. Not for me...not enough control!So why didn't we transform this space right away when we moved here 2 years ago? Rich tells me he suggested it...I'm sure he did and I was so focused on what I was losing in my beautiful old studio that I wasn't looking for the potential in the new space. (also we were really concerned about what nightmare might lie under that old carpet). It's ironic as I'm casually scouting out possible store fronts and now have a space that I think I'll be much more creatively inspired and happy in. Maybe all I was missing was that blue floor under me, like a fish out of water without it (I am after all a Pisces). It's amazing the transformation you can get from a few gallons of paint..not to mention how sore and tired!
Daphne Covington
Picture 9
Daphne Covington of Atlanta, GA
As promised...below is a photo of the painting I purchased from mixed-media painter
, she came up from Atlanta to do the Port Clinton Art Fair. Choosing a piece was a difficult and I didn't have a lot of time to decide, but now that I've lived with it for a few days I am confident I made the right choice. Daphne was also very patient with my indecision, she is a lovely person and it is reflected in her art.
Picture 26
It's strange, I never really 'got' abstract art and about the time I quit trying to 'get it' I got it...it's really just what speaks to you as far as color and composition go. When I see a piece that I like, it gives me a warm glowly feeling in my heart and chest, it makes me feel good to look at it. Sometimes what attracts me is a representational image that stands out in it, with this one there is a tulip and I love the little lollipop stick tree, the patterns of stripes and circles - but those things speak to me because they are shapes I love and use in my own work. You will see something totally different that is in reference to your own experience and taste. Okay that's my simple off the cuff thought about abstract art - but you know, it really applys to any art or music, there is no right or wrong about it - I say if you love it, make the investment. Those of you trained and better educated are welcome to share your thoughts by commenting below!
Picture 27
I hung Daphne's painting in my kitchen next to a beautiful water color collage created by my good friend
. It looks great on my peacock blue wall! That's my little kitchen Angel on the right, traded with a Chicago artist named Apache Wakefield.
Which design do you like the best? (your comment could = free gift)
Picture 34
Looking for some feedback...Please leave a comment with your favorite color combo and I'll randomly choose one winner to receive a Mixed Breeds Notepad in the mail next week! You must comment by midnight central time Tuesday, August 26th.
Ch ch ch changes...
Poster2008
Fourteen years ago I exhibited at my first Art Fair ... it was the Bucktown Arts Fest...I had no tent and sold my hand painted tile magnets and painted mirrors (displaying the mirrors on an upended futon frame)...I managed to dig up the photo below. It was great fun and of course a huge ego boost to be selling my art work! This was also the year that Rich & I bought our house in Bucktown which happened to be a 2 minute stroll from the art fair. Little did I know how that show would change my life. I made so many great friends and started relationships with so many people who have collected my work over the years. Another highlight was in 1999, I did the poster design for the art fair and got as close as I've ever come to selling out my booth.
Now it's 2008 and time for a change, I will miss this very unique show and community event and I'm sure I will be back at some point but it was time to try something new. The art fair pundits say you should mix it up, you can saturate your market and karmic-ly it's probably good to open up a space for a new artist to come in. (Sharon Sears will be in my old spot #33, I should probably supply her with some cards in case anyone comes looking for me!)
So this weekend instead finding me at Bucktown, I hope you will make the trip up to Highland Park where I will be exhibiting at the Port Clinton Art Festival - this is rated as one of the top shows in the nation and I'm very excited to be exhibiting my work for the first time in this community. For those of you who do get to Bucktown, I have many wonderful and talented friends still exhibiting there...among them Laura Nugent who is coming up from Kansas City to do the show for the first time...(and I'm so glad to have her staying with us) I hope she can snag a poster for me - Amy Arnold designed them this year - I just love her work (soft sculpture: peepwool) and was thrilled to see it in 2d on the poster.
Okay...time to get to work...need to make that Port Clinton E-blast announcement! You'll find me in Booth #53!
2bucktown95
1995 - The year we moved to Bucktown & I started selling at Art Fairs.
Annebucktownposter
1999 I was the Bucktown Arts Fest Poster artist...I was 32 and Rich was in fact 33 in 1999. That was back when I wore cut-offs to the art fairs...you know a starving artist had to dress the part!
Teacher Steps Out...
Picture 22
"Teacher Steps Out" © Jeff Condon
...is the title of this great piece by fellow art fair artist,
- he is one of the reasons I was inspired to paint on cardboard, that and whenever kids come to my studio that's what I provide as canvas...they can make nice size pieces of art at no cost and for me it takes the edge off feeling like I have to make something GREAT because I'm using canvas or wood that I paid for. Jeff does beautiful pastels and oil paintings of interiors and rural landscapes which I love but it was a fun treat to find these 'off the wall' pastels of women's legs on corrugated cardboard in his booth at the 57th Street Art Fair earlier this summer. Visit his
to see the rest of the paintings behind these thumbnails of his beautiful work...
Picture 28
"Teacher Steps Out" hangs in my office with my cat painting by artist
and Dot ...the stuffed, hand painted dog that I made...hopefully coming to a store near you one day in the not too distant future!
Picture 21
Helping out the Border Collies...
GLBCR#1
I came up with this t-shirt design for
Great Lakes Border Collie Rescue
today...I hope they like it..I planned to go in a completely different direction but this is what my imagination served up this afternoon... I think it would be great on a shirt. I am so glad to be crossing some of these things off my 'to do' list...Now there are no more excuses for me to not go down and paint tomorrow! The danger of having the painting studio and office separate: I can't just get up and saunter over to the easel to paint on a whim like I used to...of course on the flip side when I'm down there painting it's completely uninterrupted, aside from silly
demanding some play time every now & then...and once in a great while
checking in...my poor old girl is really slowing down.
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