Speak Your Truth - SOLD

My art, Speak Your Truth,  was being shown, along with other artists from Studios630, 

at The Corner House in Lombard, IL.

I was very pleased to learn that it has been sold.

I am a full-time artist.
Selling my art and leading workshops is the way I earn a living.

  I am completely aware that could not do this without your support. 

There are no words to express how important each and everyone of you are to me!

Your words of encouragement are immeasurable, they lift me up on those days of uncertainty and propel me forward.

When you share my posts or links with your friends and family you help me reach other people.

I feel blessed each time you purchase any of my art, large or small.

Even though the money earned from each sale is a valuable asset what I find more precious are the comments of how my art touches another's heart. 

I exchanged emails from the person who purchased "Speak Your Truth" and this is a portion of what was written...

"when I walked into the Corner House yesterday and saw "Speak Your Truth" it stopped me in my tracks.  It was as if the woman in your painting was speaking to me telling me that I needed to continue with my work, that it is my purpose to help people, that I need to "Speak My Truth" so to speak."

This is why I create "art from my heart".

"Goddess Within" custom work

I got a message from a customer who purchased a piece of art from me several years ago.   

Her  sister had been visiting, saw the art, and "absolutely LOVE IT".   

She was wondering if I would make one like it that she could give as a birthday gift.

After explaining that you can never make an exact piece of art like the original 

she said go ahead and get as close as possible.

By this time I am stoked and ready to go.

13"W x 15"L loose canvas 

Gessoed then added a layer of joint compound for texture

After it dried I sanded then applied matte medium to seal the surface

Glazed with Golden Raw Umber

Sketched with charcoal

Added color using PanPastels and acrylic paint

Added more colors to the background using PanPastels

More texture added to the background with joint compound

After it dried I sanded it then sealed it with matte medium 

I wanted more depth to the background so added coffee ground, let it dry overnight

PanPastels and acrylic paints

Randomly added drops of black india ink

Stenciled vertical lines

Added more color with PanPastels

Stenciled the headdress using a paper doily and flexible modeling paste

Sprayed final fixative

After the headdress dried I sanded it then added more modeling paste to make it larger

Applied matte varnish

After the varnish dried I stippled another layer of matte varnish 

Let it dry for several days.

Varnished an vintage wooden clothes hanger, created a wire hoop with stone embellishment as a way to hang it

Attached the canvas to the wooden hanger

Signed it.

Finished.

I delivered this piece of art today and my customer LOVED it!

What a good feeling when the art I "create from my heart" is genuinely appreciated.

Thank You for all of your support and encouragement.

I will continue to do this because of YOU!

Bringing art to life #3

From the moment my fingers slid along the clump of clay and a figure began to appear.

I knew I was hooked.
One piece at a time, I am taking art that I have drawn/painted and giving it another dimension.  Almost like..."bringing them to life".

My hands are happy.

I've shared making sculptures  with some of my friends and they all attest to the relaxing feeling.

Just as we are all different so is each sculpture.

The inspiration of this sculpture came from a piece of art that carries

a very important message.

You can click HERE and HERE to see the other 2 sculptures I have made for this series 

There's more to come... Stay tuned!

Bringing my art to life #2

There are absolutely no words to adequately express the joy I am receiving.  

I get giddy, like a little kid, when each piece is almost done.

In January I signed up for  an on-line art class by Jeanne-Marie Webb titled, "Soul Bearers".  She taught us how to make sculptures using air dry clay.  Once I got my hands in that clay and felt it moving beneath my fingertips I knew that I was hooked.  I knew I just had to do it.

I am taking art that I have drawn/painted and giving them another dimension. 

Almost like... "bringing them to life".

You can click HERE to see the first sculpture that I shared last week.

Here is my 2nd sculpture titled, "Hello There".

                                                             

                      

The inspiration for this second sculpture came from

one of my very first pieces of art I made in 2012.

                  

Bringing my art to life

In January I signed up for  an on-line art class by Jeanne-Marie Webb titled, "Soul Bearers".  She taught us to make sculptures using air dry clay.  Once I got my hands in that clay and felt it moving beneath my fingertips I knew that I was hooked.  I just had to follow down this path.  I set out making a whole family of armatures.  Having lots of fun, too!  Previously I shared several sculptures I had made here and here.

Recently it came to me how exciting it would be if I took previous art pieces I have drawn/painted and give them another dimension.  Almost like "bringing them to life".  The thought of doing this has stirred a tremendous amount of excitement within my soul.  The intention was set... onward I went...  Now I'm ready to show you my first sculpture  along with the inspirational art I previously created.  The original art was created as part of my,  "Simple Truths/Simple Reminder", series.  I'm pretty sure we all, at some time in our life, have  experienced the comfort of knowing that we've got a friend. Especially in those times when we feel all alone or we feel like the weight of the world seems to be on our shoulders.  I know I have been there before.

"You've Got a Friend"

Click the image to enlarge.

        

She is approx. 9"H x 4"W

She is ready to be taken home by someone or given as a gift.

I'm letting you see her first.

If you are interested let me know and I will give you more details.

She hasn't made it to my on-line store yet

Ice Cream Truck

When I/we remain open, life's lessons can be received in unexpected ways.  The tricky part is, often, remaining open.  It seems as I get older I feel the pull to be in charge of my life.   It's easy to get hung up on what my next action will be that the present moment is often taken for granted.  When, in reality, all we have is the present moment.  Children live in the present moment.  That's all they know. You are able to find multiple articles written about the value of thinking/being like a child.

I watched my very busy, very talkative 2 year old GRANDdaughter, Lila, 2 days last week and all week because daycare was closed.  She is so funny and so dang cute!  I pride myself in knowing that when I am with any of my GRANDchildren I am there 100%.  This week I encountered a fork in the road.  You see the artist side of me is also 100% committed.  I am diligent to be in my studio, every weekday, creating art in one way or another.  

Of course, there was no doubt in my mind I was going to be spend my time with Lila yet, honestly, there was a little pity party starting to rumble inside.  Then... a light bulb went off...  At my kitchen table I sat Lila up with a little easel and I worked on a drawing for the Smile Project.  After about an hour she exclaimed "Ta-Ta!" at what she had accomplished.  I realized I was blessed with the best of both worlds.

    

On our second day together I decided to try it again.  

YES... she wanted to paint.   I could see that she was comfortable with the markers and crayons so I decided to bring out the acrylic paints.  OMGoodness!  She LOVED it!

Here's a very short video where you can watch and listen to her.

Listen near the end and you will hear her title the piece.

After adding several more layers she completed her piece 

and is ready to give it to her Mom and Dad.

So I asked, "Lila, would you like to do some plain air drawing?"

She said, Yes!"

After a short while of her drawing with markers and crayons I reached into the chiminea and grabbed some charcoal.  At first she didn't seem to like that her fingers got dirty yet the art won over and she surrendered.

Did I mention... I love being a GRANDma,