"Joe and Abby"

35mm color film 2012

I hopefully finished the shoot for my family friends last night.  I hope they like it.  Might have to do some adjustments, but I'm pleased with it for the most part.  I enjoy how warm the room looks.  I like the fire going in the background too.  There's still another portion to this commission, hopefully I can get it just right so they'll be happy with the end result.  It's for a Christmas present, so I hope we can get it right before then.

I just added a new listing to my Etsy store too today.  It's one of my favorite photos that I've taken this year.  I took it in Mystic, CT.  There are more pictures from that day I need to put up to try and sell.  I need to bring my camera downtown if I ever go down for Christmas shopping.  Mystic at Christmas time is pretty.  I should get some pictures of Norwich Town Hall too.  It's so pretty all lit up for Christmas.  

"Mystic River"

2012

I think I'm one of the few out of my friends that still loves Christmas.  I can't wait to put up all our Christmas decorations.  My boyfriend and I usually wait until December first or that first weekend of December to put up our decorations.  I want to make a paper chain link this year to count down to Christmas.  I'm hoping I'll be well prepared and ahead of schedule this year so I won't be scrambling the week before Christmas.  

It snowed yesterday.  I get so disappointed when I wake up from a night of snow here in Southern Connecticut.  It doesn't snow like it used to when we were kids.  There's barely a dusting on the ground at our house.  You can still see the grass.  *Sad Face...  Hopefully we'll get more snow this year than last.  Last year was so mild.  Not that I like driving in the snow or anything, but winter should have snow in New England.  I thought that was kind a rule of thumb.  Fingers crossed =0)

I haven't written in a really long time.  I guess I've been in kind of a slump you could say.  I was pretty reserved at the start of this blog, but now I'm just going to be me and say what I want.  It's my blog, right?  Artist or not, I'll be myself.  My latest painting was for some friends that got married in June.  I just gave them the painting in October I think.  I think I am one of the worst procrastinators I've ever known.  This painting was supposed to be their house warming gift two years ago.  Now it was their wedding gift and it was still late!!!  Need to get better at setting deadlines and sticking to them.  

"Hen's Nest" 2010-2012 

Oils

This was completely different when I started.  That's just my process as an artist though.  I have a vision at first, when it doesn't turn out the way I envisioned it... I just change my idea and therefore the painting is completely different.  It turned out okay in the end.  I could have kept going, but I wanted my friends to have their gift at some point in their married life.  If I was to do more on it, it would've been to change the color of the sky a bit, but I'm okay with it.  They love it so I guess that's all that should matter in the long run.  People tell me I'm too critical of myself, someone's got to be though.  Now that I'm no longer in Art School or in an artistic community, it's rare to get honest criticism.  My boyfriend is best I have right now.  He's honest about things, which is good.  I need that.

I am currently working on a photo shoot for some family friends.  The mother wanted to recreate an old picture of her son and his dog infront of their fireplace for his Christmas present.  Hopefully we finally got a good shot on the second shoot.  Need to work on that today as well as another commission I have.  That one is a 2' x 3.5' painting for friends for over their kitchen table.  I won't say too much about it just incase it changes as much as the one shown above.   It'll be in acrylics and having to do with one of my favorite things they do with their kids.  It'll be an imaginative painting I hope.

As far as my mindset as an artist trying to sell her wares, I am incredibly frustrated.  Etsy is a great site in theory, but holy crap are there a lot of vendors on that site!  To be a needle in a haystack kind of sucks!  I need to get more business cards printed so that when people comment on my barrettes or my paintings I can wip one out and do a little sales pitch about myself.  One thing I pride myself on, eventhough it is what makes me so incredibly angry, is that I don't sell out.  I don't usually create things I know people will buy.  I still make things that I like and that I think are really cool.  Although on that note I have been trying to keep in mind while I'm out taking pictures of what most people would probably want in their homes.  So I have sold out quite a bit this year, but I hate every second of it.  I hope that eventhough I'm taking pictures of tall ships or a bright beautiful flower that consumers will still be able to see my style in my work.  I just wish people would buy my artwork/crafts.

A couple that my boyfriend and I recently befriended have been huge inspirations to me in my own work.  They do performance art.  One sings and plays piano of his own music and his wife paints an oil painting during the set.  They tour all year long all over the country.  In their down time they book shows and she does commissions for her artwork.  So inspirational that they are making their living doing this.  I want to get to the place where my income is from my work.  I'm not there yet, but I feel like slowly I'm getting closer.  I never wanted to be a painter, but I'm finding that I do well at it.  In art school I hated my painting class.  My professor was my second favorite professor, but I hated the medium so much.  Because I was a procrastinator, I would finish my paintings the night before class.  And of course it was oils so the painting was completely wet the next day.  I ruined so many clothes and my backpack still has oil paint on it from that class.  By the end I was grateful for what I learned and appreciated the medium.  My grandfather was a painter: most of his work was in gouache or watercolors.  But I like to think I got my skill from him.  I hope that if he was still alive today he would've been proud of me.

Enough of my pitty party here, I need to work on my recent commissions today on my day off.  Stay positive emerging artists.  We'll get there.  Keep doing your work and never forget who you are.  Even if you die before you get noticed, you were noticed you just didn't know it.

These are what I've been working on today.  I'm going to be at the Arts and Wellness Fair at Meiklem Kiln Works this summer.  I'm sharing a booth with my friend Paul Tardif.  He does chainmail and chainmail jewelry.  I want to have a variety of things to sell at my table so I started to make barrettes.  I like wearing them a lot so I figure other people must too!  The ones that don't turn out so well I'll just wear myself.

Today has been a very productive day.  I went down to New London to pick up the two prints I entered into the "F-stops Here" photography show at the Hygienic.  I didn't get picked by the jury to be in the show, but I was so proud of myself for entering anyway.  When I got my prints back, the manager of the Hygienic told me he really wished my "Miss Piggy Legs" got in the show.  That was really flattering.  I really like that picture too.  

After I picked up the prints I looked around the Hygienic at the F-stops Here show.  I have to admit I was pretty angry at some of the photographs that got picked by the jury.  I thought my prints were way more creative than a lot of the ones in the show.  It seemed like they were interested in nudes, people in general, landscapes, seasonal shots, and local shots.  Guess I know what they look for for next year.  Oh well...  

I left New London and headed back towards Norwich.  I grabbed a salad at Stop 'N Shop and went to the Norwich Art Center.  I got a little lost, but I got some help and found the gallery.  It's pretty sweet.  I mean it sucks in a way because the walls in the rental space look pretty beat up.  They don't use the ceiling rail for hanging stuff.  People just bring their own hanging supplies and bang up the wall I guess.  Makes me want to be an annual contributor so they can get more money to put into the place.  So glad I went because they had a print out of the rental space and updated prices for the space.  They also had a pamphlet on artist membership too.  I'm kind of excited about it.  I talked to the person that was in the gallery, her name was Rita.  She was so nice and explained to me what I should do in order to get accepted for the rental space.  I have to call her when I'm ready to show her my work that I'd like to show.  I told her around May... Just so I have extra time to shoot more for my mailboxes and/or Blankeyville series.  

So that was my afternoon.  Pretty good, right?  

P.S.  Anyone want to be my First Friday buddy at the Norwich Art Center?  It's an opening for their monthly show, I figured it be good to start showing my face if I decide to be an "Associate Artist Member" of the place.  I really don't want to go by myself.  Let me know if anyone wants to join me.

I don't know about any other photographers around here, but I get so frustrated that my photos never come out the way I see them on my computer screen.  Well I finally wised up today.  I figured there has to be a shop that has information on what profiles they use to print from.  The local shop I go to of course didn't on their website, so I went to another photo place I shop from a lot that's based out of NYC.  Adorama is the name of this place.  I get a lot of my supplies from them.  Anyway, they had information  on what color profile to set my display to and a downloadable color profile to use specific to their printing.  HOPEFULLY my prints will come out just as I see them on my screen.  That would be absolutely fantastic.  Learning as you go kind of sucks.

I got an email back from the Hygienic about the F-stops Here show.  My two prints weren't accepted.  *sniff* *sniff* Oh well...  Better luck next year.  When I dropped off my prints, there was a flyer for the same type of show at the Norwich Art Center in April.  It was 5 dollars more a piece, but I'm going to do it anyways.   I still haven't made it down to the Norwich Art Center.  I need to do that to get the scoop on what the rental space is like and about being a member and such.  Kind of bummed about not getting into the show, but that's all a part of the deal I guess.  I'll get over it =0)

Today I am entering two photographs into the Hygienic's The F-stops Here juried photography show.  

"Throwing Rocks" 2011

"Miss Piggy Legs" 2004

Back at the end of January I entered another photograph to the Hygienic's Salon Des Independants.  There wasn't a jury for this show.  It's open to the public and anyone can enter just one piece.  It's a really fun community show.  Not as many people entered things this year, but still a decent turn out.  It's really great to see all the different styles and talents people around the area have.  Here's what I entered:

"Clinton Ave." 2011