The Woodlands Artist, My Studio

Welcome to my studio! This is The Room Where it Happens.🎬.  Remember when you look at this that Einstein said that an empty desk meant an empty mind and his space was a mess! 

Need Inspiration?

Need inspiration? How am I inspired? People ask me this all the time.  Hello!  This is me with one of my paintings I just created!

I don’t create paintings this size without inspiration!  Now look at the next pic; it’s a tiny artist trading card.  A whole lot of my inspiration begins on teeny, tiny pieces like this.  I really liked the leaves in this little card and have been painting leaves big and small ever since. You need to also note my blue fingernail polish and long fingernails.  I haven’t polished my nails in a LONG time, during this lovely quarantine, but we’ve been ‘stepping out’ a bit lately so I’ve been inspired.  Pretty much thinking that when it wears off I’m also going to chop my nails off.  They’re getting a bit TOO long!

This big painting, which I named ‘Enter,’ was done entirely with palette knife. I gave you a couple closeups so you could see and feel the texture.

(It IS for sale on my website)
 Sooo... if you feel uninspired, start small.  Small things don’t intimidate.  Small things beg to be created.  Do it! 🙂 Just one tiny thing! 

An Artist’s Voice

There is so much more to being a professional artist than you could ever dream.  You have to wear pretty much every hat known to man.  I need to be able to write about my work, know how to post on every social media known to man and keep current with them.  Managing time, managing money, chasing payments.  Researching shows, galleries, other artists, booking shows.  Preparing for shows.Photographing my work and editing. Maintaining blog and websites. Continually searching for new venues. Knowing how to take money in many ways. Working on contacts.

Here’s my white sheet-draped studio, converted to a makeshift photography studio:

I donate time and art and continually have people ask. What I’ve found is it RARELY helps my business.  It usually costs and hurts the price of the art I’m selling.  Think about it, I spend ten hours creating a piece of art which I donate and get nothing but ‘advertising,’ which 98% of the time counts for nothing.  That ten hours costs me.  How much are you paid for ten hours at your job?  What are hours worth for those in business that have worked all their lives to get to that point in their careers? Don’t stop asking, but I’m choosy now and usually pick where I want to donate carefully to causes that I truly believe in.  I’m blessed and I love blessing others, but I’m sometimes tired.

Learning the ins and outs of this baby is time-consuming.  I know all about composition and what I want, but, there’s a lot to learn digitally and mechanically.

Teaching classes.  I write my curriculum and change lesson plans every year. I have written BOOKS and compiled shelves of curriculum.  Each book is about three inches thick.  You can stack them to your hips.  People say, ‘you should publish books.’  Yep.  In all that spare time. Studying art and art history.  Just ask. Anything you want to know about art. Writing class plans. Preparing each week, preparing examples, sending assignments out. Teaching privates, setting up summer classes, laying plans, getting materials, writing, advertising, creating brochures, content and business cards, speaking at conferences and gatherings, conventions, giving demos.

(I’m under the hat, cocked at an odd angle to keep the light out of my eyes.  The big painting is our oldest, eyebrows raised asking me if I like his stupid glasses (we enjoy trying on stupid glasses together).

I make art because I must.  I believe that artists are God’s gift to man to encourage this world and to give Hope.  Our Creator made us creative in His image and my response is to make art inspired by His creation.  I almost forgot MAKING ART! Trust me, that’s what I want to do all the time, but it’s hard to get to it with all this.  I would LOVE to have more time to make art.  I’m sure I’ve missed things but to sum it up, it’s demanding and often discouraging.  I work A LOT.  Do not become an artist unless you ABSOLUTELY CANNOT HELP YOURSELF!!  As for me, I absolutely cannot help myself.  Although it’s difficult, I love my job.  So, please encourage your artist friends which also means monetarily.  Honestly, folks, an artist can only take so many ‘I love your works’ without anybody putting the money where his mouth is.  Buy stuff from your artist friends!  That way we can keep on keeping on, to encourage YOU. 

Creativity IS Magic!

Creativity IS like magic! I put this quote on the portion of my paint pour that has the little bottlecap star. This painting is quite large and the star is only about a half inch in diameter.  I didn’t even know for about a week that it was there.  Apparently a bubble popped!  I WISH I could do THAT again!

If you want to see this painting, it’s on display at St. Luke’s Hospital in The Woodlands. :)

Bad Art

It’s what happens to half-finished bad paintings.

Step one:

Step two:

Paint it all under - now.  I’m free of it.  Time to begin again.

One thing a creative person does is stab out and do new things, even if scary, all the time.  And another thing an artist does is continually practice.  Practice, practice, practice.  One cannot be afraid to fail, one can only be afraid to not try.  This painting was bad.  NO big deal; I learned stuff.  I’ll take my ‘learnings’ and go on and continue to improve.  I acknowledge that it was bad, covered it up and go on a little bit better and a little bit smarter.  I guess that makes me the winner!

Art Coasters for Christmas

I decided that I’d make florescent coasters that glow under black light to sell at the Mistletoe Market at the Conroe Convention Center December 7 (mark your calendars, people!). It turned out that this paint is EXTREMELY difficult to handle but I’m slowly getting the hang of it.  I decided to go with the paint’s strengths and have been working on marbling like they did in Florence on their papers.  I started slow but am really loving the way they’re turning out now.  Here’s one. 🙂

If you are absolutely in love with anything I post let me know!  They’re $15.00 each and I could never duplicate one - each is its own original work of art. 🙂 

New Paint Pour Series

I am SOOOO happy with this new series of four paintings!  Yes, banana.  That’s for size.  What I am thrilled about is that the two paintings in the center actually flow together as if they’re one; THAT was total serendipity!  Did not plan that at all and didn’t even know until today whilst laying down varnish layer number three.  (Did you know... a diptych is two pieces painted together to make one complete painting?). I’m hoping someone wants to purchase and hang them together this way.  (They’re a little reflective; that’s because the varnish is still wet.)

I normally keep the price on my website, but just in case you’re curious, the crazy first one that makes me laugh (it’s the rebellious stepchild of the four) is $450.00; the next is $600.00, its friend is $500.00 and the one on the far right is $350.00 (priced by size). The three on the right are dreamy and remind me of land and water and beautiful agates and rocks.  The first one looks to me like a crazy baby bird fluffing his wings so he can take on the world and DOMINATE!  Loving the colors.

If you are interested, let me know here or by email (colorcatstudios@gmail.com).  I don’t have them on my website (except for the bird) because I have an upcoming show which I’m preparing for.  Honestly, I don’t think it’s worth the trouble because I think they’re going to sell at the show.

And if you REALLY want to know, I’m not altogether sure I want to sell the bird.  I find him charming and funny and crazy and it makes me laugh every time I see him.  You could probably buy him today, but I’d rather you bought the other three.  I might have to pull him off my website and keep him as my personal friend and assistant.

Art Decision Making

Okay, so here’s the problem, and one reason why it’s so wonderful to get a perfect piece.  I adore this 8x10.  I love the colors, the way they flow and intermingle, the shapes... everything.  Except for the leaf stuck in the paint.  What would you do? I could try tweezering it off, but the chance of ruining the entire piece is about 85%.  I could just pour resin over the whole thing and call it art... hmmm?

Other things that can happen?  People mowing and blowing down the street - flying debris.  Insects, twigs, dirt... the paint literally sliding off once I get it ‘set’ and ruining the entire composition... cats and rats and elephants... SOOOO when I get one I like - I REJOICE!  Let me know what you think about my LEAF painting.  Would you buy a painting with a leaf? 

Honestly, for me, it’s so beautiful I’m just not willing to risk ruining the whole thing to remove one leaf.

Studio Space of a Creative

Wow.  What a difference five years makes!  My studio before it went into heavy use and now.

What can I say but that I know where everything in this studio resides? Do you know where everything is in your office or workspace?

You would notice the totally goofy charcoal of a rebellious cat; we had to force feed him for some time and that’s where this came from, haha!  The beardy dude in black and white on canvas is our oldest son.  He and I used to enjoy trying on stupid glasses at places like Walmart and making silly faces at each other. :). You’re going to have to ask about the bowling pins.

Luscious Art Supplies

Aren’t these gorgeous? Sennelier is coming out with some lovely new products.  Of course as a creative person, I would like to try every new product out on the market, but that balances nicely with my classes.  I’m always on the search for new art supplies because my students come back to me year after year and I want them to experience a broad range of supplies.  THESE are wonderful!!! 🙂. Bright and blend nicely.  Primary colors - sometimes it’s just about all you need, most of the time. 🙂 

Teeny Tiny Art Time

Here’s a tiny piece I created inspired by a building I saw downtown.  Sitting at a stop light I looked to my left and there it was in all its beauty!  Believe it or not, it was a parking garage.  A very NICE parking garage!  

I like doing these tiny works as they inspire me to bigger works.  I can get the inspiration out with no pressure and it’s down for when I have time or need to be inspired.  Here I’ve got it sitting on my palette for a nice pop of color.  I think it’s time to get back into artist trading cards.

Cool Watercolor Leaves

On this hot summer day what we need is a nice cool painting.  This watercolor of leaves fits the bill!  I went to a ‘Picasso Black and White’ exhibit which blew me away and this painting is one of the resultant pieces, giving my friend Pablo a nod.  In that exhibit they showed a lot of ‘negative space’ paintings he did... painting the background AROUND the subject.  I have learned to love this technique!  This one is for sale at colorcatstudios101.etsy.com.  Look me up!

colorcatstudios101.etsy.com

Here you have some nice closeups so you can really see the layers.  

Love these layers.  Such nice depth.  

Blackwing Pencil Sharpeners

Wow!  Now THAT’S a sharp point!  If there’s anybody else out there that loves pencils, you will adore this pencil sharpener from Blackwing!  I’ve got these sitting on a little watercolor I did of some euphorbias in our yard.  

Already a fan of Blackwing pencils, I had to order their glow in the dark pencils, because... well, who doesn’t want glow in the dark pencils... so I ordered this sharpener as well.  One of my friends turned me on to these and I am glad!  The sharpener has a duel sharpening system; first the wood gets sharpened off.  The second hole sharpens the lead itself which has already been elongated by the first sharpening.  I can’t even get them this sharp with my knife.  Try it, you’ll like it! 

Meet the Artist of This Blog!

Meet the artist of this crazy feed! Here I am waiting for a show in Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre in London, the only building in the city that is permitted to have a thatched roof, for obvious reasons.  We enjoyed two peerless shows whilst there.

 I’m in one of the balconies but you can look down to see that people still crowd around the stage, lean on the stage and stand shoulder to shoulder for the entire length of the show!  What a place.  

I also notice my gold earring(s). I lost one on that trip.  Came back Stateside and found a different sized gold hoop and wore them as a mismatched pair.  I’ve always felt that ‘life is short, you might as well mix up your jewelry!’ The next time we went to Europe I lost my last hoop! Maybe the next time we go I’ll find a pair, huh? :) 

Man, I miss those earrings.  Dang.

My Mother’s Hands

My goal is to keep this feed related to art because I’m a professional artist; however tonight I must make an exception. Actually, maybe it’s not that big of an exception.  These are my mother’s hands. She’s caressing our cat Calypso who loved cuddling with both my parents.  My mother is gone now, and so is my father.  So is our beautiful, good natured sweet kitty.  I miss all three of them.  This photo brings it all crashing back.  But really, what IS art? It can be many things, but taken down to its very essence, I believe it’s living a life to glorify God, loving people and caring for your own.  And boy am I thankful that God was gracious enough to give us animals to love us and to teach us how to love. And living a well-lived life?  Now THAT’S art!

My Art Studio Today

I had to step aside from the work I’d outlined for my painting day because these hyacinths were driving me to distraction!  Their fragrance is divine and I literally carry them from room to room. Finally I prepared a canvas and did some color testing.  Pictured here are the color winners; the color losers were banished back to my paint drawers.  We artists make it our job to make creation look easy, but you can see from this photo that a whole lot of planning and work go into a piece long before brush meets canvas.

Also, sometimes I have a helper come into my studio.  Trust me, when he comes in, I stop and enjoy life for a while.

Octopus Painting Sold

Sold ‘Maestro’ last night. Soon he will be flying first class to Massachusetts! My painting gets to fly in a better class than we do!  The other octopus painting, ‘Walking,’ is still available. 

Mixed Media Video

I want you to see how awesome these Molotow Chrome markers look. Different angles maketh different looks!  LOVE mixed media art! For me, the entire process of doing anything in mixed media is very rewarding because it takes so many steps.  This is one reason creatives are such good decision makers!  In order to come up with one good piece, so many decisions and changes must be made along that circuitous path called creation.

Seen at different angles, the small stripes are absolutely CHROME.  Sorry they don’t show up in this pic.  Trust me.

Creative Inspiration

This is so very true.  I’m wondering if other creatives feel the same way? There are so many things I’m interested in, so many things I want to learn, so many things I want to try.  There is always something I want to create and it takes time alone to think in order to produce.  And ya know what?  If you are good company with yourself, you’ll be good company for others as well. 

This is my own quote on a mixed media piece I did. ❤️ 

Mystery Painting Piece

Here’s another tiny section of my new mystery painting.  Can you tell what it is yet? My concentration for this piece was texture and color.  The plan was to lay down textures before anything else, and then I thinly glazed colors, one on top of the other so it would be as luminous as stained glass. I am a colorful girl after all! The big reveal will be tonight at 7:00.  To help you guess what it is, this painting is the mate to another, which you will already find on my website 

colorcatstudios101.etsy.com

This painting really is a celebration of color.  I love even this tiny section!  Stay tuned: I’m going to reveal the entire painting tonight.