Portrait of Now - Limited Series of 3

Yesterday I came up with this idea to do hand altered prints in limited sets. It came after a very long and very inspiring phone conversation with a friend. The kind of conversation that gets your heart pumping and positive ideas are eagerly bounced back and forth across the miles. After the phone call, with a hot ear (you know how it goes), I sat back in my computer chair staring at my Etsy shop and it came to me. I know other artists have done this before, but I thought of how I could do it in my own voice and style. I quickly got to work.

To share my process with you... I begin with a sketch on paper (usually with a Sharpie marker) which I scan and then save as a bitmap file. I bring that file into Illustrator to convert it into a sleeker lined design. I print out three prints of this Illustrator image and then sit down with my watercolor paints and oil pastels to make each one an original work of art!

I made a new set I will post after this today. I'm excited to do lots of these limited sets and I've created a new category in my Etsy shop especially for them called Altered Limited Editions

Together We Can Heal

Here is another new painting on cardboard. Available at www.livefunky.etsy.com

Sun Kissed Day

Sun Kissed Day, originally uploaded by jtorrant.

Click HERE to see this painting on Etsy

This is cool! I just figured out how to blog my pictures from flickr! (Ok, if someone doesn't know about computers they will think I just spoke jibberish). I feel a little behind in discovering both Etsy and now flickr, but I'm eager to continue using this system. It's much easier and I can load clearer, larger images here (blogger times out on me when loading big files).

For artists unfamiliar with flickr, go check it out at www.flickr.com - you get a large amount of space for free every month to store your images, and there are a lot of other artists on there sharing their work, including links to their sites and on-line stores.

It's amazing to me that this whole world of art online has changed so much in the last 7 years (when I took my first steps in the "world wide web"), and it's still evolving, and will continue to - you can really feel the flow of change around you. New sites emerge, new techniques, new codes and programs, etc. that can dramatically alter how an artist not only does business, but perhaps CREATES his or her art! I was talking about this with Paula Manning-Lewis and it's thrilling that she and I and so many others can do most of our business from our homes, located anywhere one can get internet access. Paula and I seem very similar in our desires for "the little cabin in the woods" fantasy vs. the city life. One hundred years ago, we wouldn't be able to make a living selling our art living anywhere BUT a creative center/city. On another note, it is unlikely that we would have the option as women to pursue our passion for painting. For these reasons and so many more, I feel very lucky to be alive right now, making art, and sharing it, right now.