That Time I Found My Painting in a Thrift Store

No. Seriously. I did. So here's what happened. I was in a local thrift store called A Better Way. It's this awesome store that a ministry started to help men who are trying to climb out of an addiction. Actually it's bigger than that....look here if you are interested in learning more about what this amazing ministry is doing in our community of men. The list is lengthy! They are truly changing lives daily. I was looking for a chandelier to put over the table on our screened in porch. The current one was quite ugly.

Anyhoo...I was cruising the aisles when BAM! I saw this:

 

It's blurry...but at the time I wasn't really focusing on the photo being in focus I was focusing on the fact that MY ART IS IN A FREAKING THRIFT STORE.  I mean seriously? How many of you out there have actually found one of your original works of art in a thrift store? I'll venture to say zero. I am pretty sure upon seeing it on this checkerboard floor I exclaimed something. Something. 

So the painting. When I opened the Vintage-Flea with my friend Valerie she said, "You need to paint some wall art we could sell." You see prior, I was just a teacher. I'd painted lots of murals, but never a canvas. Truth. After college and up until this time I was truly focused on teaching. I was not a painter. This was 2005 (I think). So I painted what I liked, flowers. The above is one of the first paintings I ever painted. I did a ton in this series with different flowers. All in a row. And we sold them all. Then I moved on to pears. Yes, I painted pears. Lots of pears. One time I painted a 4 foot pear. Creepy right? And then I started painting birds. And that's when I became a painter. 

There wasn't a price on the painting yet so I found the manager. She said, "How's $5 sound?" Awesome. So I bought my painting back. For $5. And yes, I told her it was mine. She laughed. I laughed. In addition, I found the above amazing Tiffany lamp for over the porch table. It is SO US and our porch. The embroidery was calling my name too. Of course it's still sitting on the floor, not hung. One day it'll hit me where it needs to hang. You should see the number of french knots in it! I shouldn't tell you this, but it cost more than my painting. OH MY GOODNESS.....I found my painting in a thrift store. Well, it made for a great blog post right? And at least I can laugh about it.

The Art of Practice

Do you ever just feel like trying something completely different/new with your art?  I do.  In fact, usually this shift in my work means something new and amazing is coming.  This is the feeling I got before deciding to paint bikes and trucks.  It's what got me started painting to begin with.  A deep need resonating throughout my bones to just paint.

Proof that there is an ugly....ugly stage to all paintings.  Matisse started all his paintings with a charcoal sketch.  I started my composition this way and loved it.  I love the smudges and lines it leaves behind.  I usually use a black primed canvas but this time had Home Depot tint my primer gray to create a softer base.  I am loving the way all my work in translating with the gray instead of black base.  And by canvas I mean wood.  I always paint on wood.  I am not a lover of the canvas texture.  Or "boinginess" of canvas.

I'm taking the class led by Jeanne Oliver called Studying Under the Masters.  I'm still percolating  some ideas from week one.  We are already on week 4 by the way!  Good thing I have a year to look back at the material because this is good stuff I tell ya.  The figures in Matisse's work have been kinda haunting me.  I had a little time to fast forward through this weeks videos and it turns out this week is Botticelli.  Oh sweet cream filled donuts he is a favorite.  His portraits are dreamy.  So now I am more inspired to paint figures!

I'm also peeking in at Christy Tomlinson's She Art class.  That girl will get you inspired to do all sorts of things you didn't know you needed to even be inspired about!  So Saturday I decided to get into the studio and first clean it up.  It was a ridiculous mess!  And then I grabbed a board, primed it, and just started.

To my little eyes she is beautiful.  She is tender, and sweet and just perfect.  I know figures and angels and this sort of subject are kinda saturating the artsy market right now.  And I didn't want my figure to look anything like theirs.  It's funny.  I tell my students in class that a brushstroke is kinda like your handwriting.  Everyone's is different and unique to the person holding the brush. 

And even though she was brought to life from an idea sparked by Matisse and a She Art class, she has my signature.

In one of the videos tonight Jeanne talks about gaining perspective as an artist.  And that sometimes it's okay to just paint for you.  I think right now during this transition period I'm doing just that.  I don't think anyone would really want to buy this painting anyways.  That wasn't my mindset when I was painting it.  I just knew I wanted to paint.  Truth be told I lost complete track of time and lost myself in the studio.  I haven't felt this kind of joy for painting in a very long time.   It's not really about selling art right now.  It's about exploring and pushing myself as an artist.  Stepping into the haven't painted part of my sketchbook because I thought I wasn't good enough.  When you become labeled "whimsical painter" it's sometimes hard to get out of that box.  I love the quote in the workshop tonight.  It read, "If you hear a voice within you say you can not paint.  Then by all means paint and that voice will be silenced."  -van Gogh

How true.  I silenced that puppy up pretty good Saturday evening.  Looking forward to my next date with the brush this weekend.

E-Course...Studying Under the Masters

I love to learn.  I do.  I nurture my creative side through e-courses, in person workshops and teaching workshops myself.  These classes all play an integral role in building who I am as an artist.  And although I don't always take tons away from each class, I do find something that resonates and helps to build my art story.  I think it's important as artists that we always push ourselves to look outside of our "box" and extend vocabularies.  It keeps our work fresh, exciting and believable.

The new class I am taking is led by the beautiful Jeanne Oliver.  She has masterminded a 9 week course where 9 different women artists are teaching us how to Study Under a Master.  Basically we are all going back to the beginning....looking at works of art by artists who have left us physically but left behind a rich art history that we can learn so much from.  I like that we aren't copying the actual present day artist, but rather an artist that has made an impact on art for modern times.  It's a different type of e-course.  It's very daring for Jeanne.  I love her for doing this.  It's nice to see how art has evolved over time and how it influences so much of our culture and art today. 

We are on week 2 of the course.  The first week was amazing.  Really.  Jeanne teaches much like I would if I taught High School.  There's a passion for the artist she taught us about that you can only get when you really absorb the work.   I will say the course is quite time consuming.  The first week alone had over 7 hours of videos.  Of course my school has the site blocked so watching during lunch which was my plan, is out the window.  By the time I finally watched all the videos I didn't have time to really make anything because now we are already on week 2 with more videos.  I don't mean this as a complaint but it is a lot of material to absorb in a short time frame.   A week in between each artist to truly absorb the information given and to be a part of the artist's work would have been nice.  I'll never be able to participate in any dialogue or share my work with the group because of time. I think the course is open after the 9 weeks so I can go back and dig in where I missed. 

I did attempt this one piece in a Matisse style....but quickly it morphed into something else completely and is no where near Matisse like.  But it did get me out of my comfort zone and trying something new.  We were supposed to look at a Matisse piece and copy it.  By copying you are practicing and by practicing you become who you are as an artist.  I tried.....but as you see it became a Jenni.  I never paint figures though so that is totally new. I love her.  And it got me in my studio instead of the couch watching LMN.  haha  Have you seen Flowers in the Attic yet?  Oh my....my mother never let me read the book.  I know why now.  It's freako.

So....are you guys extending your art vocabularies these days?  Stretching beyond the normal ho-hum and finding something new to integrate into your work?  I find that my work is beginning to loose it's common thread.  But that's okay because the main thread running deep and wide is that it's all made by ME.

A Rainy Day Symphony

It's been raining here now for 24 straight hours. It's the kind of rain and wind that turns your umbrella inside out. You know what I mean? Yesterday while trying to get the kids into the dentist it pulled this trick on me.....and I am sure we gave the passerby cars a treat with our shenanigans to get it right side out. And in the meantime we all got soaked. It's raining now as I type. I can hear the drops as they trickle onto the gutters outside my window. It's a peaceful sound, almost melodic. The occasional car drives by and makes the whooshing sound under their wheels. Lily is snoring beside me, and the dryer is running. It's a symphony of sounds this morning. And it's calming. This piece is called, Raindrops. One morning while it was raining I noticed a beautiful pattern on the back van window. The rain was making these oval shapes with lines falling down from them. I quickly sketched it out and painted the above. Yesterday I noticed this again. Only the drops made more rounded shapes with lines falling down them. I loved the overlapping and overall composition it made right on my back window. This time however, they looked like balloons. And now I can't get the composition out of my head. So what's on my agenda today? Painting balloons. And on a rainy symphonic day, I think balloons are the perfect pick-me-up.

Felted Flying Friends

Remember when I stitched all those birds on the way to and from my beach trips this summer? Well, they finally have either a bird cage to rest, mold to stand, nest to lay or Eiffel tower to perch! All 29 of them are done. Whew. Seriously whew. Now to get them all posted into my flickr site here. Here's a sneak peek at a few new favorites: This one is called "Dream Big". At the top I have stamped the words "Dream Big" onto vintage paper. We all need a little reminder to do just that, don't you think?

This is "Mrs. Creamberry". She is a very robust bird, so she really needed to be a Mrs. I love all the embellishments on her nest.

And last, a "Maddie". I found this amazing blue felted wool at Hobby Lobby. I was just tickled because blue sweaters were slim pickings at the thrift store. Well, please head over to the flickr and check them ALL out. I've had a wonderful time creating them, but now I am very ready to move onto painting. I've got the Naked Art Gallery needing more wall pieces and a show in less than 4 weeks!! Oh my!

"Here Comes the Bride(s)"

So here I am, painting. It's about hour 20 and I am going strong. It's strange how the hours flew by while painting these lovely ladies. Although the images were totally out of my comfort zone, I was able to find my way with ease. I even added some textured flowers. They are by far my favorite part of the entire composition of course. Here are Alyssa's flowers:

And here are Isabella's flowers. And folks, this is all I am showing you. Yep. I've decided that I want Amy and Ashley to get the whole effect when I bring them up to Nashville on August 12th. Photos really never truly show the texture and colors correctly I've found.

Speaking of working long hours, I really meant what I said above about the hours passing so quickly while painting. In fact, I am a little sad that the project is over. As much as I stressed over starting, once I got going the entire process flowed seamlessly. It's funny how when moving in the right direction, things can and will fall into place. When I spoke to Amy last night she said she was working all the time. It's good for you, I said. When I look at how far Valerie has taken the Flea over the past year on her own and now Amy and Ashley with starting the business, I just have to stand in their light and bask a little. These women have all taken a huge leap of faith and opened doors that have been along their life path, but waited to be opened at just the right time. It's funny how we travel, walking past the opportunities. We get married, have children, volunteer, play taxi, and all those other roles that follow with being a mother and wife. And some women are completely satisfied with never opening any more doors. But then there are women like Valerie, Amy, Ashley and myself who yearn for more. Who open the door and fall right in. And thrive on the successes and failures that come with turning the knob. I've closed some doors the past year that were so hard to do. But with those closings, opportunities have presented themselves I'd never had seen had I not been right here. And I am so very thankful that through it all these women mentioned above have been there by my side. And now I stand with them.

Isabella (The brides now have names)

You know how we are around this house about naming things. So if birds have names, then these ladies have to have names too. So I introduce to you Isabella. This photo is in the beginning stages. I got a bit panicked about the "Cinderella" blue background and sure enough, it had to be toned down. Ah, much better. Now all that is left are the flowers. I am off to tackle blondie for awhile before flowers. I wonder what Mailey will come up with for her name? I find that working on both at the same time gives them more of the same brush stroke.

Here's a close-up of the hair. I found a new texture medium that I LOVE! It dries in like 15 minutes as a opposed to my joint compound which is 24 hours.

I wanted her dress to look like fancy lace. I think the texture material, oil sticks and a little patience have gotten just that. Well, off to get the giant brush out and going again. See you later tonight..... maybe.

The Task Ahead

This is me and my BFF from childhood Amy Hill Dickerson below. I believe this picture was taken on our senior trip to Destin, FL. Anyhoo, why a picture of her on my arty blog? Well, here goes the short version of a long story. Growing up we were peas in a pod. We took piano from the same teacher, sang together (amazing I might add!), had show choir together, Star Spangled Girls together, amazing trips together, ate lunch everyday in the same spot together, even had the same boyfriends (not at the same time). You get the idea. For our class Who's Who I was voted "Most Creative" and she was voted "Most Likely to Succeed". Hummm...At the time I'd never had art and she was of course going to succeed, but at that point it was unclear as to the what and how. Our classmates saw something in the two of us that perhaps we didn't even see in ourselves. And those silly little who's stayed in the back of our minds and laid heavy on our hearts for quite sometime now. So fast forward almost 20 years and here's how those little who's have panned out for us both. I am now a full-time artist! "Wow" is what most of my classmates say that have found me on facebook. Most say, "I never knew you painted." And Amy, well she's starting a BUSINESS! Yipee, skippee! In Nashville, Tennessee along with her sister-in-law Ashley, they are starting Wedding 101. It's an amazing concept. As a bride you would go to their space where soon to be thousands of wedding oriented businesses are advertising through displays, binders and wall hangings. It's a virtual wedding library. All the leg work is done and waiting for you to plan your dream wedding. Wow. I know. It's been an exciting and yet overwhelming journey for them both. Having been a store owner myself at one point, I understand their anticipation and wanting to have it all just DONE. So here's my part of the business.

Yes, these are as ginormous as they look. And there are two of them. And they are going to have brides on them. OH my. You see, I paint birds and little flowers and happy things. not that brides aren't happy, but they are people. With skin and hair and big puffy dresses.

Yes, that is a big canvas going into my house. Lots of paint will be consumed by it as well.

Thank goodness I bought an overhead years ago when I painted murals. These chicks would have been totally unproportioned if not.

And of course Mailey is making here own bridal party right along side of me. I set both paintings up so I can work on them at the same time. They are going to hang flanking the door to their office. I'll be posting my progress, and Mailey's over the weekend. I will not be working on anything else until this is done. So just be prepared to be humming "Here comes the bride" when you visit me here!

I Guess They Nurture Too

After refreshing the bathroom, and then the garage (which I may show pictures of....it was quite the overhaul), I needed a break from the refreshing. So I decided to paint a little. Yes paint. I just can't stay away too long. It was Thursday, raining of course, and the cats and dog were all in. We have 4 cats, a dog, turtle and fish. And for some reason, they all converged on me while I was attempting to paint a little.

AJ curled up on my left leg. He kept pushing on Lily with his tiger paw trying to get her out of my lap. I was taking these pictures with the only lens within reach, so the pics are pretty close. I wish to goodness someone else had been home to truly capture this site.

Lily was on the right leg. Sad puppy eyes the entire time. She's got that look down!

And then there was Saily, the old lady of the house. I think she's about 15 now and holding. She's been mean as a snake her entire life....I think that's what has kept her going for so long. She was laying on the desk in front of me on scrap papers. I suppose they have nurturing instincts as well and thought they needed to keep an eye on my resting.

The Power of the Prefix RE...

I found this great page in Martha Stewart the other day and thought how appropriate for my nesting habit. As stated a couple of posts ago, "nesting" as I call it, is something I enjoy doing regularly. It occasionally begins as a simple cleaning. However, sometimes the nesting is quite deliberate and much needed. I'm supposed to be on hand/arm rest for two weeks. Hmmmmm...what to do during this time? Well, it all started with a garbage bag in my bathroom. You see, my make-up needed cleaning out. And then this happened........

Billy, would it be okay if I re-did the bathroom? Sure Jenni. I then set out to renew, refresh, revitalize my bathroom, in one day. I really wish I'd remembered to take pictures of the before. I can give you a bit of a run down though. The walls are chartreuse green, and have been for awhile. The shape of this bath meant I still liked the green and absolutely was not going to repaint it. The Radiant grate was found at a local flea market several years ago, the vintage glass towel bar at The Vintage-Fea today!

The cabinet.....this was the trigger for the painting. It was a wonderful pumpkin color I'd painted a few years ago. But it was definitely time for an upgrade. And I love it, the cool gray makes the whole room feel much richer! The other element I painted gray was the wall that divides the shower and toilet area. It was pumpkin as well. The creamy linoleum will be torn out as soon as I have the energy. My plan is to stain the concrete like I did in William's room.

On my side of the vanity I hung a vintage tool sales stand I found at a flea market years ago to hold all my necklaces. I LOVE to wear necklaces, and this way I can see them all, and they are no longer tangled. The window towel bar has been up for about 10 years. I believe that it is now permanently attached to the wall.

One of the other big changes was the potty area. I added the two shelves over the toilet for more linen storage. I also added a Valerie original. Yep, Valerie it is now in the bath. But I am in there quite often, and it really gives my new bath a Domino appeal. The other accessories were either in my house already or in the storage unit. The only expenses in this upgrade were the new switch plates, new light fixture, new towels, shelving, and a gallon of paint. I think the bills total under $200. What a great upgrade! I plan to share more parts of our home over the summer as my painting slows down. Our house is such a fun family home, but there is always a need to revitalize. Let's see what's next........

Like Mother, Like Daughter

They say we look alike, Mailey and I. I don't mind so much because I think she's quite a pretty little thing. And lately she's getting more and more like me in more ways than just looks.....She's becoming quite the little artist! I've been working on a new collage series for the kiddo book. This afternoon Mailey asked if she could make something. And about 45 minutes later, with a floor full of cut paper scraps, she'd made this fabulous composition and had my Golden gel medium in hand ready to attach it to the wood. I quickly volunteered to help put it all together. She wants me to sell it in my next art show, but I don't think I can part with it! Maybe I'll make some framed tiles of it. I told her whatever money she made, 1/2 had to go into a savings account we've started for her and her little hobby- horseback riding and horse shows.

So here's one of the 4 I have started. It's been a very exciting process adding the paper with the paintings. This is #3 of course. So far I have 1 Mommy bird, 2 red cardinals, 3 silly blue birds, and 4 fancy feathered pink ladies. I've 6 left to go in the series....maybe I should hire Mailey to be my apprentice to help me finish!

Tweet Pillows Featured in CraftsnThings!

As a stay at home artist and Mommy for a mere 7 months, I found that setting some personal and business goals in January was imperative to my survival in this new role. I can always find something to clean or wash or do outside or volunteer at my children's school, etc. I've seriously had to start making weekly goals to accomplish with my work. Otherwise, I have found myself quite behind with the paintings, jewelry, prints, etsy shop, papernstitch shop, you get the picture I am sure. One major goal set in January was to get my work and projects published in several craft magazines. I am happy to say that so far it's been a good idea. I just popped over to the CraftsnThings website because the editor selected the fun tweety pillows above for the online newsletter. I wasn't exactly sure when they'd appear, and to my excitement they were already there when I checked this morning. So go here to find out how to make your own! You'll be seeing a lot more of my goodies in the June and August issues of CraftsnThings magazine and in Somerset Sew and Somerset Home this summer as well.

For now, my new goal is to work on my first little children's book. Oooooooo....I can't wait to start sharing the illustrations for it. It's a primary book on numbers. So far I have number 2, 3, and four done. I'm off to get 1 done now! Have a great weekend! If you are in downtown Newnan tonight be sure to stop by the Flea and say hello!

Why Yes Toto, We are in Kansas

As I've mentioned before, I like to do things in series. I am dubbing this series the "American Still Life" series. A few bikes, campers and a payphone so far have appeared. All are a little lonely, very simple in composition but very thought out on my part. The colors are definitely thought out. All of the titles, well I like to have fun with those. Some titles make you the viewer think a little, or take another gaze or two. The pink camper was "Barbie's Dream Camper". This one is "Why Yes Toto, We are in Kansas". Hmmmmm...you ask? It's because as I was using my handy gel medium to attach the random map I cut out I realized that I'd chosen of all places, Kansas. Thus, Toto came to mind. And that was my favorite movie as a child. Memories. Digging deeper though, I was having a conversation with Greg Blair of Dogwood Gallery earlier this week. And we were discussing the importance of naming your work. He said he's had artists come in with great paintings, and when asked a title they say, "Untitled No.1" or so and so on. He said that some buyers are hesitant when they see this as a title. I have found that naming my work makes it more personal. I take time to name them, sign them, and document each piece as I finish. It is a part of the process of making the painting. An important one in my book. So all of my paintings will have names, some catchier than others. I hope at least one catches you off guard and causes you to pause and smile.

"Please insert 25 cents"

Here's another in my series of the American Still Life. I actually have an original payphone here at my house. My father worked for Bell for years and somehow we ended up with a payphone when I was little. My sister Molly and I would spend hours playing with it, placing coins in the slot and pulling the lever to release the coins. At some point I decided to place paper money in the slots however, and now they are jammed. My children played hello on the phone as babies, but no coin fun. The lighting is a bit off in this photo, I'll get a better one outside tomorrow and re-post the pics. I was just dying to share tonight the final product! Of course I played up the colors in the phone. I don't recall ever seeing a turquoise blue payphone. It was fun adding the numbers and letters to the dial. My daughter Mailey helped and thought it was weird that the letters were out of order a bit. I don't understand why, but I am sure there was a logical reason there was no Q or X. I still love the sound of the dial phone. And I'm not that old either...just in case you were wondering. My 37th birthday will arrive in promptly 2 more days. Ahhhh...that means CAKE!

My Bubble Gum Bike

Just had to pop a picture in and show my newest bike painting! I have a great pink bike given to me on Mother's Day 2 years ago by my little ones. This is a tribute to that I suppose! Have a wonderful afternoon!

Just Whistle While You Work.....

Here's a fresh batch of incised boards ready to go! As I've posted before, I do love this texture technique. The one drawback is it's time consuming. These are all primed and incised waiting to be painted hopefully today! A Nest, and two simple flower landscapes below. In the window are the two bikes (which are to be pink this time around), more flowers, nest and a birdcage. Oh, I'm whistling now! These all have to be painted, oil sticked and rubbed then framed by Thursday. Phillip is sure to follow through on his end of the deal tomorrow. I'll be sure to post a few finished pieces by Friday!

Just thought you'd get a kick out of this scene. Yep. That's my AJ. He's under the wrong impression that this yellow chair is for his napping. We fight for it, and sometimes, like today I just give in and let him stay. Usually Lily is in my lap as well. It's a wonder I get anything done really.

***After I posted this I saw in the background of this picture my husband's Christmas present. Hehehe.. Do you see what it is? We are saving for a rainy day and want to be safe about it. I am a true Republican by the way. Shocker I am sure...conservative artist?

Another Sneak at Texture Paintings

Mailey and Mattie on the go in this painting. This one really shows the texture off. The peacock feather is prettier in person because you can see the gold edges better.

She stills needs a face I just realized. Well, best be off to do just that!