A blast from the past

Pour Your Heart Out To Me - currently available at http://www.livefunky.etsy.com/

This is an older abstract I made in 1999/2000 that I've just listed in my Etsy shop in my summer clearance sale. Looking at this painting, all of the emotions and energy of that era come flooding back to me. Soul searching, confused, curious, passionate, questioning everything under the sun, trying to define myself, my love, the love of others. I guess I'm still doing all of those things to a certain extent but it certainly isn't my "full time job" anymore! Comparing now and then, I feel like I'm more comfortable in the present moment. Just being. Less bouncing off of my own internal walls constantly. Ahhhhh - what a relief!

Speaking of the present moment, I'm still plotting and planning away for my autumn unveiling of more streamlined shops and product lines. It's fun getting all of your ideas out there, then shuffling through them and making sense of them from a "big picture" perspective. It's an artform in itself. What are you currently working on?

(happy 4th of July if I don't post again for a few days!)

I take that back - Finished.

Patchwork Bliss
Acrylic on 30" x 40" canvas
Available in my Etsy Shop - HERE

Ok. I got my wish for more sun and looking at this painting with fresh eyes I knew - I'm done. If I added just one more block of color, I'd *need* to add a whole new layer. I'd end up losing some of those first layers that are still present in places, and those are some of my favorite "moments" in the painting. So - finis!

I also took a drive out to West Hartford to Jerry's Artarama to get a bunch of new supplies. Since most of the people that read this blog are fellow artists, y'all KNOW how great it feels to get a batch of supplies! It's kind of.... delicious. That feeling plus a cup of coffee (I'm usually a tea drinker so coffee to me = ZING!) has me in a pumped up and sort of spazzy mood. Ready to rock more canvas with my lovely new set of paint. I've got a commission to begin, and that is going to be a lot of fun. I estimated production time to take about 2-3 weeks, but I have a feeling it will be a matter of days. I'm just really excited to jump into this one. Speaking of.... the sun is out and I'm going to go paint! Have a great day....

JT

Back on Track

What Are You Thinking?
Original acrylic on 8 x 10 canvas panel, 2008.

Bits and Pieces and The Path

Original acrylic on 8 x 10 canvas panel, 2008.

After a long break from painting, I'm back to the brush. The colors in these two paintings are inspired by this spring feeling I have inside (not quite outside yet, but it's coming). Even just seeing the tips of green from my irises starting to poke up makes my soul sing. I'll be painting for the rest of the day, so hopefully I'll have more to share by this evening.

All available artwork at http://www.livefunky.etsy.com/

City On Stilts

Acrylic on 8 x 10 stretched canvas, 2008.
Available at www.livefunky.etsy.com

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