Queen Shiva ACEO

Okay, well, I know I have painted this image of my beloved Shiva before, but never this small:) I sold the original one, and I really love this picture of her posing in a ray of sunshine on our old farm. The light is so beautiful, I just had to do it again as an ACEO.

In other news, hmmm...let's see. I know I had something I wanted to talk about. Oh yeah...commissions. I've discovered something new about actually working full time as an artist. I hadn't up until this Barkerville project came up. I'd always dreamed of being able to support myself with my art, but let's just say I didn't do a whole lot to make that dream happen. I painted when I had the energy, or when inspiration hit, or when I thought I had time. When it's a job, though, holy...do priorities ever change. Suddenly it's really not that important to have coffee with girlfriends, or make sure your child gets to the play centre three times a week that's half an hour drive away, and lasts for three hours, or watching Medium every Monday night. I'd love to still be doing those things, mind you, but they sure don't allow me to get any painting done. This is hard!@ It's work. It's good work, because I'm doing what I love, but sometimes I have to do an image I'm not crazy about, or subject matter I'm not familiar with, and...it's work! I'm the one who decided I wanted to paint Barkerville anyways, so it's not like I have to just paint what I'm told, either. But still, I started to feel smothered, and hopeless.

I know I was going to go somewhere with this...damn mommy brain...I wish I could sleep at night:) That's it...back to the ACEO's. I've realized, that no matter how tiny, or insignificant it is, we, as artists, need to remember to take time to paint just for ourselves, or we'll start hating it. I was getting so burnt out. The last thing I wanted to do was pick up a paintbrush. And then I took an hour and put it aside for just me, and painted a little trading card. It turned out great, and I felt great, and I didn't have to take it all seriously, and worry if it was going to be good enough. So now, when I'm feeling smothered by the project, I grab a little 2.5" by 3.5" card and whip off a little kitty, or horse, or something totally frivolous, and suddenly everything's all good again.

I'm BAAACCKKK! With some original miniature oil painting ACEO's

"Baby Blue Eyes" 2.5" x 3.5" oil on primed watercolor paper


I know!!! I've been away from here forever, but...I'm going to try to come back, I promise. I'm finally painting something I'm allowed to show you all:)

For the last five months, I've been working on a top secret project:) I'm not allowed to show the paintings off online...yet. Not until the website is up and running. I'll give you a hint, though. The Candyman painting is one of the paintings included in the project. And, this cat painting is not, lol! Okay, I'll tell you about it. I know that I mentioned somewhere that I decided to do my body of work on Barkerville, this cool historical, restored ghost town near Quesnel, B.C. -- Well Serendipity walked in, and about a week after I'd made that decision, I was contacted by a man working in Barkerville, who saw my art online and wanted to know if I might happen to be interested in illustrating a book he was writing. (At that point, the only person I had told about my decision was my husband.) Well, DUH!! I had just decided to do twenty or so paintings about Barkerville anyways, so that was a no-brainer.

So, I've been working really hard on those full-size, original oil paintings ever since, and haven't given myself much time to paint anything just for me. These little ACEO miniature paintings are perfect, since they don't take long to finish, so they're not really cutting into my project time, but I still get that wonderful sense of accomplishment of finishing a new painting. Plus, I can paint whatever I want, and that's nice, too. I'm really enjoying the Barkerville project, but sometimes it's hard as an artist when you're being directed. So, Baby Blue Eyes was my solution! Hope you like her. She'll be on Ebay for the next week, so have a look.

'47 Mercury

Uncle Ron 11x 14, oil on canvas, NFS

This is a quick, one day color study I did for a larger portrait commission that I'm going to be working on. I like how the study turned out, and I think it almost stands well on its own as a finished painting. I would like to see more detail, though, and I'm going to change the angle of the pickup to get more of the grille in if I can find a good reference photo of a 47 mercury pickup.
Anybody out there have one? If you do, send it to me!

Bears, Bears, Bears

Grizzly at Atnarko River, Bella Coola, B.C. 6"x 9" watercolor

I said I was going to post another Barkerville painting the other night, and I had fully intended to, but I walked into my studio to discover my portrait of a little girl in period clothing obscured by pearlescent blue paint! My two year old, Rhiannon, had decided she really liked that little girl and wanted to add her own personal touch! It couldn't be salvaged, so I painted over it and will start again sometime...But in the meantime, I whipped off this little feller last night in a few hours. I've been wanting to do something different for a while. I think I just needed a breather from the same old subject matter and the same old medium, so instead of portraits in oils, I did wildlife in watercolor. I don't use watercolor very often, and don't really know the medium that well. I don't have a clue about technique, anyways, so I'm pretty happy about how he turned out. I think I'll make him into an art card for tourists.

Grizzlies in Bella Coola are kind of a big deal right now. They're done sleeping for the winter, and are out in full force. There are a lot of them around, as there is a limit to hunting, and we basically live right on their doorstep. We have about one attack a year, and this years' was just a few weeks ago, May 3, I think. It made the Vancouver paper. A B.C. hydro guy was out working, and a grizzly decided to use him as a play toy. It took off part of his scalp, and chewed on his arm, but he managed to get away and drive to safety, despite his serious injuries. He's okay now, and happy to be alive.

The Candy Man -- Mason & Daly, Barkerville, B.C.

The Candy Man -- Mason & Daly, Barkerville, B.C.
18" x 24" oil on canvas

I did it, I think. I overcame my struggle with this one all by myself. Thank you, viewers, but not a single one of you here, or on Flickr, had any words of wisdom, so I was forced to use my own brain, however dysfunctional it may be at the moment.
Can you believe I am still nursing a 2+ year old, and she wakes up at least 5 times a night? No, I don't expect too much sympathy, yes, it's my own fault! But it does explain some of my psychoses these past months, LOL! I also have been too exhausted to paint much, so this one took a long time. For every two and a half hour painting session, I got about two of those jars painted. (The only time I get to paint is after the kids go to bed, and that's how long I last before I fall from exhaustion.)

Anyways, I think I've explained Barkerville before, it's one of British Columbia's most interesting historical sites. It is an old mining town, which has been lovingly restored, and has period actors that carry out the actual services of the town. You can eat at restaurants with menus from the 1800's, but old-fashioned fudge (YUUUUMM!!!) and candy from the Mason & Daly, fresh baked goods, you name it...there's even a China Town. It's a definite must-see for anyone traveling in B.C. It's about 1 hour northeast of Quesnel, in Central B.C.
This is my friend, Rick Galbraith, an historical writer and singer in the town who is my partner on a publication about Barkerville to be released hopefully in 2009. He does a wonderful job of doling out fudge and cheer to the many visitors of the store. You can check out the Barkerville site at http://www.barkerville.bc.ca/.

Well, I hope to start on another Barkerville painting tonight, so that's all until next time.

Music Festival Poster AND New painting--HELP!

I know I said I'd post the poster the next day, but I thought I'd better get it okayed from the festival committee first, and it did. They love it, so now you get to see it. It doesn't have all of the text on it yet, but the design part is finished.



I'm also posting this painting that I've been working on for a few weeks. I really need some help, so please, please comment! I hate the background color. I did thumbnails, and it worked on a small scale, but this big, it just looks so...yellow...YUK! It isn't finished, obviously, but I didn't want to spend a lot of time on painting the candy jugs before I decided on the new background color...but, I can't figure out what color would work. I have no artists to consult in this teeny tiny town of mine, so I'm depending on you fellow artists to help get me unstuck! So do you think it should be darker or lighter? There is fairly strong light coming from a window on the right hand side...The front part of the painting won't be yellow, it has little glass inserts with coffee beans and candy behind them. I want the light effect to be pretty dramatic, but right now, all of the values are too similair.
Any suggestions, anybody?

Commissions!!

I'm back...I can't believe it's been almost two months since my last post. Talk about inconsistent posting! I'm going to have to change the name of my blog soon if I don't get back on track somehow. I'm very sorry to anybody who actually follows this thing. It seems that it has taken much longer for me to adjust to being back in Bella Coola than I thought it would. Right now I feel like my life isn't my own! I'm taxi cab, housekeeper, maid, servant, gardener, wife, toddler entertainer extraordinaire. I can't remember the last time I had a day to myself, or a minute for that matter, unless I'm sleeping, which doesn't seem to be happening very much lately either. I can't remember how I had the energy to pull off a painting a day before I went to Hawaii, either.

Well, enough excuses for now (although valid!) I have been doing art though! I am well into one of my Barkerville pieces, although I'm keeping this one secret until I'm done, and I've been totally absorbed in a commissioned piece for the last month. I think I've re-started four times now.
RULE NUMBER ONE--When it comes to commissions always, always, always, did I say always? make sure you know exactly what the customer wants! Don't let them say, (like I did), "oh, just go with it, we trust your judgment". As nice as this feels initially, and as good for the ego as it may be, DON'T DO IT! Always get an exact idea of what the customer wants. Do sketches, a gazillion of them if you have to, until you get it right. Show the customer all of them, and let them pick.
I have been hired to do the poster for the 10th annual Discovery Coast Music Festival, here in Bella Coola. We get some really great acts for such a small town so be sure to check it out if you're in the area.

Anyways, they told me to "run with it" and I've been running for a month now, trying to get it right, not following my own good advice. I spent a week on the original idea, which was then rejected because it had a Viking in it, which may apparently be taken the wrong way from the native population here?? I didn't know I was making a political statement, just a pretty poster, nonetheless, it hit the scrap pile...then I started throwing a few more ideas around.

The one in the picture above is my second attempt, which I think is pretty darn cool considering I'm not a graphic artist at all, but it wasn't "colorful" enough...another two days down the drain. There was another one in there too that hit the recycle bin, and now the one that I'm working on presently, which should be done by tomorrow. So...if I can get it together enough by then to do another post, I'll show the finished artwork.