Hey everyone! I now have prints, totes, i phone cases, stationary and pillows of my art on Society 6. And right now there is a great promotion going on! Click on the link below to get FREE SHIPPING! Promotion expires October 13, 2013 at Midnight Pacific Time.*Offer excludes Framed Art Prints, Stretched Canvases and Throw Pillows with insert.
I am thrilled that one of my abstracts, “Explorer” just sold and will be traveling to the green pastures of Ireland. It is the homeland of my ancestors, and while I’ve yet to go there myself, I am so excited that a painting of mine will! Explorer is 20 x 20, acrylic on canvas.
While traveling this past July through São Miguel, the largest island of the Portuguese Açores, I couldn’t help but notice all of the incredible street art. You can check out my previous post featuring the amazing work by ARM COLLECTIVE here. This large scale fish resided right outside the apartment we were staying in Vila Franco do Campo. I loved the bright colors and whimsy of this piece and couldn’t help but be intrigued by the simple symbol and tag of the artist…YVES.
And with my utter appreciation of the universal heart and incorporation of them into my own artwork you can imagine my delight at finding YVES’s art everywhere!
Upon doing some digging, I came to discover that the artist’s full name is Yves Decoster. His work is all over São Miguel. He is a Belgian painter that has been residing in São Miguel for 25 years. Over 200 of his signature heart paintings live on the outside of bars, restaurants, schools and private residences. Yves uses the word “positivism” when describing his work…bringing color and life to the people.
My husband and I traveled the “old road” through all of the little villages one of our last nights there. Around every turn one of us was shouting, “There’s one!”, “And another!” and “There he is!”
It seemed to me that each place we found one of Yves’s paintings was a landmarked memory as if to say, “Love grows here.”Yves Decoster can be contacted at yvesdeco@hotmail.com.
Finally putting idea into action! I am returning to the brush after weeks of summer with the Fam. Been itching to paint. The relief I feel when I do is immeasurable. Here are a few sneak peak “in progress” photos…
Hello! I have been MIA from my little blog as I have been spending the summer squeezing every last inch out of family time with my hubby and kids before school starts. Kindergarten and preschool…big changes in our house come this fall. Oh, wait that’s 2 weeks away!? Yipes!
Anyways, spent most of July traveling and where oh where? The lovely, gorgeous island of São Miguel in the Açores, Portugal. I know. Amazeballs. I have soooo many awesome pics to share but because this is primarily my ART blog I wanted to share this….
Flippin’ ridonk! Riiiiight?! This is a store front in Ponta Delgada, the capitol of the Açores. It is by far, the most cosmopolitan part of São Miguel, conveying both a bustling city vibe and a nod to the trends of today. This painting stopped me in my tracks. It wraps around the building through an alley on the left of this picture. It was done as part of a commission by the Açores to bring incredible art to the streets. This beauty was created by the amazing ARM COLLECTIVE. Check out their facebook page here. https://www.facebook.com/pages/ARMcollective/272743989453705
Their work is unreal. Arm Collective is made up of the duo, RAM (Miguel Caeiro from Sintra, Portugal) and MAR (Gonçalo Ribeiro from Seixal, Portugal). They have done work on both government and abandoned buildings all over Portugal and the Açores.
I mean Whaaaaa???? The street art on the island is incredible! I friggin’ loved this trip. For so many reasons. But I found it extremely appropriate that the street art (one of my main influences in my own art) would be THAT sick. AWESOME.
This little guy sat left of the whale (harpooned and strapped with a house on her back). He is simply saying “Avo?” which translates to “Grandmother” in Portuguese.
Leaving you with some more street art from São Miguel…found by a dumpster(?!) near a restaurant in Lagoa on mine and my hubby’s date night.
Been itching to draw portraits. Funny thing too. As I was sketching last night I was lucky enough to catch this HBO documentary on the French graffiti artist, JR. Check him out here, http://www.jr-art.net/projects/inside-out-project-group-actions. Amazing work. He started this international project, Inside Out , where he encourages people to send him photographs of themselves or others (portraits) and use them to create their own statement. He will print them large scale for free and send them back to be pasted on the walls of public places. Something like 135,000 people from 98 different countries participated and continue to do so. They are making art and creating a discussion on all sorts of issues from the earthquake devastated ghettos of Haiti to the post-revolution streets of Tunisia. Simply inspiring.
I have an idea and a blank canvas in front of me. Here are a few of my sketches from last night.
Commissions can be both thrilling and extremely daunting as an artist. You are given the responsibility of bringing to fruition someone else’s vision. Sometimes that vision can be extremely specific and other times very loose.
My latest painting was commissioned by a talented female theatre director around town, some one who lives and breathes art, music and the fine skill of conveying storytelling. She was open to ideas and had a specific size in mind as she wanted to have a painting above her bed in the scale and shape to serve as a headboard of sorts.
As we discussed her color scheme, coordinating with her bedroom, we decided on a palette of deep red, gold, forest green and navy. Looking through my portfolio she pointed out pieces I had done that spoke to her.
She liked the graphic quality of Sally…
The moodiness of That Night…
and the colors and texture in Winter Orchid.
I went from this list of subject matter she was drawn to as well:
botanicals
trees
wind/movement
figurative subject matter (faces and silhouettes of people)
And sketched out these ideas.
These are the three drawings I came up with.
She picked the last one…which happened to be the first sketch I did!
So I embarked on creating the tree woman as I started calling her.
Here is me the first night with the 24 x 48 canvas. I did the sketch in charcoal and painted it with a deep red as I had done in the sketch.
I added layer after layer of the color scheme that was planned, adding washes of gold paint to bring out a sparkly sheen.
I also used ink to define parts of the woman and achieve a sketchy quality.
This is the final piece and I titled it i’m not alone. It was definitely partly inspired by the lush melodies and evocative, moody lyrics of one of my favorite bands, The National (whom the client also happens to love). She was extremely happy which is always a relief and joy! To be able to create something that speaks uniquely to someone and that no one else will ever have.
Newest painting is a neon inspired still life of one of my favorite flowers ever…Ranunculus! It is 16 x 20 on canvas board and incorporates some ikat pattern on stripes…another fave!
