Below are a few more of the bird paintings I will have on hand for the Holiday Show Dec 5th.
I hope you stop by. Location: 1597 W. Nevada Place, Denver 80223. I will be there Saturday only from 10-4pm
I am listing these for purchase for those who are interested but cannot make the show.
These come mounted to a black plaque and ready to hang on the wall. ( See the example at the bottom of this page.)
Four more recent paintings that will be at the Holiday Show ( details below, on previous post) unless they sell from the blog. The birds come mounted on a nice, black board ready to hang on the wall. Below is an example.
Why my studio ( and perhaps yours too) must remain in a state of perpetual organized messy chaos: Try as I may, I cannot, for the life of me, KEEP my studio neat and clean. I do actually clean and organize it fairly regularly, but it immediately and always reverts back to something similar to the shot posted above. I have fought this for years, but- no longer! I am going to embrace the mess instead. I'm going to have a mind-set change. After listening to yet another #Artist Helping Artist podcast on the subject I finally gained some insight into this. Artists are visual people, through and through. Out of sight, out of mind. We need to see it to know that we have it in our possession. The overly organized artist that hasn't yet recognized this, has, you can bet, more frames on hand than she thinks she has, extra tubes of that particular paint color he thought he'd run out of, and so on. Which leads me to the.... Studio Tip of the Week Install open shelving in the studio. Place wire baskets on the shelves and label everything. This "open" storage system is working much better for me than the old "neatly tucked away" system ever did.
Open shelving and open baskets, installed and ready and waiting to be filled in an organized manner of some sort. ( it's on the To Do list, towards the bottom.....I'm getting there!)
A non-artist friend, a neat-nik, ( you know who you are, JB) told me open wire baskets, though neat-looking, would look messy on the shelves once I filled them up. She's right, they do look a bit messy once filled with my stuff, but at least I always know what I have on hand and where it is.
So, learn to live with a bit more of a mess than you like-embrace it, and drop the guilt. It's your studio! ************************************************* Playing around with a different palette the other day, and with a different style, I produced this piece, which I really ended up liking. It's currently at a local boutique. I am interested in hearing some feedback on it!
Flowers, 20x20x1 1/2 acrylic on wrapped canvas $ 495.00
The Summer Art Market was a success and is so much fun to do , despite the hard work. It's always interesting to me to watch and listen to find out what art patrons like or don't care for as much. This painting, which was done last minute- just a couple days before the show- was the most popular. I would not have predicted this; quite a surprise to me.
The Garden, 30x30 acrylic
I am taking one of Alyson Stanfield's 6 week marketing webinars. One of the things I am learning is the importance of developing and maintaining an e-mail list and sending out regular newsletters. I simply have not focused on this much in the past but finally created and mailed out my first one yesterday! If you are interested in receiving it ( and it will go out only 4 times a year), please sign up. Go to this link to sign up ( and scroll to bottom of the page):Newsletter Sign Up To help get my newsletter off and running, I offered a free painting giveaway raffle for those signing up for the newsletter. Ann LaForte was the lucky winner of this little bird: ( and the birds were really a hit; they literally flew out of the booth!
It is fun and rewarding to give recipients a nicely packaged piece of art! It takes so little effort and can make such a difference for someone. One of my clients mentioned how much she enjoys the quotes that I stick on the back of some paintings or packaging materials.
Would you like a bird?
4x4x1 1/2 oil/canvas, sides painted black
$ 45.00
Speaking of birds, looking for a FANTASTIC read for a lazy summer day? I absolutely loved the book, Wesley the Owl by Stacey O'Brien
It is a true and heartwarming story about a girl and her owl. You'll not only not be able to put the book down, but you will learn a lot about owls. I think it's a must read and it renewed my love and fascination with birds.
Studio Tip of the Week:
Print out a small thumbnail of each painting. Have several copies of each on hand. Paste one in the upper corner of a page. On that page document the painting's history (where the paintings have shown , when it sells or is donated, etc.)
Place these sheets in a binder. I number each painting and file them by number, since names get forgotten or re-used.
The other thumbnails I place on the box in which the painting is stored, on a bullitin board to remind me which paintings are earmarked for upcoming shows or competitions, etc. This system is really working well for me. I hope it helps you.
Please consider clicking this link to " like" my facebook business page:
Greetings! Oh Happy Day! If you are new to painting in pastels or would like to get started, I just launched my first teaching video which covers materials for painting in pastel. These videos can be seen on YouTube under Tracy Haines Fine Art. (In the last post I wrote out materials that were discussed in the video for your convenience. ) Fresh off the easel:
I love the attitude in this little guy! Just look at his body posture. Cardinals, especially, seem to convey attitude in the way they hold themselves and stare you down. This one is a 6x6 oil on Ampersand Gessobord and is mounted on a black 8 1/2x 10 1/2 plaque, as shown. It's ready to hang. $ 95.00
I love painting birds and flowers from time to time. Few items in nature allow full- on color like these two subjects do. This sweet Junco is available from my Etsy shop at Tracy's Etsy Shop
Studio Tip of the Day:
Before
Get rid of chocolate from your studio! I filled a lovely wire basket with small bites of chocolate, after reading another artist's blog about how every studio is incomplete without chocolate.
This has not worked for me! One small indulgence always, without fail for me, leads to 20 small indulgences and I might as well just buy and eat 3 KitKat bars a day. I feel bloated, sluggish and decidedly unhealthy lately.
I am now detoxing on Dr. Fuhrman's Eat to Live and feel oh so much better!
After
His book is interesting and full of great tips on eating well. My husband and I have committed to giving this a try for a full 6 weeks. Stay tuned! :)
Quote of the Day:
Immature poets imitate; mature poets steal; bad poets deface what they take; and good poets make it into something better, or atleast something different.The good poet welds his theft into a whole of feeling which is unique, utterly different from that from which it was torn. - T.S. Eliot This is true in art as well. Wolf Kahn thinks so. So does Austin Kleon. So do I. Enjoy your day and thank you for checking in! :)
This painting, entitled Pretty Bird ( EB #133) is a 5x7 oil on canvas panel.
Love birds. We used to have a nasty conure named Sal. He was pretty, but he liked no one. He was just a miserable bird. I felt bad constantly, seeing Sal cooped up in his cage. We finally gave him to another person who loved birds and was willing to put up with Sal's lousy attitude. I don't know this bird that I painted here. He looks like a nice bird though.....
"Wise" is a 5x7 mostly acrylic plus pencil,ink and marker mixed media work on 140lb watercolor paper. I left a margin for framing with matt, if desired. Image plus margin measures 6x8".
Click Daily Paintworks if you would like to place a bid. Bidding starts at 99 cents.
I like this little guy's face. Did you know that it is very difficult to determine the sex of an owl?
I learned this from reading a wonderful, intriguing book by Stacey O'Brien called Wesley the Owl. I highly recommend this book!!! I fell in love with owls after reading it. Oh, how I wanted an owl for myself. Knowing this, my very good and wonderful friend, Kay, bought me a precious pet owl, (stuffed, but-oh well.... ) She left it on my doorstep with a lovely note. What a nice surprise to come home to. Thank you, Kay!!
