New floral stamp set

Available at http://www.etsy.com/shop/livefunky - too early to start thinking Spring? It's never too early for me!

STORQUE ARTICLE

Yay!!!

Etsy published my article today about Abstract Art! Please check it out at Etsy's Blog

Networking

Acrylic on 6" x 12" gallery wrapped canvas, 2009.
Available for purchase at www.livefunky.etsy.com

Very different from Flurry, I also finished up the final touches on this painting I began in December.

Flurry

Flurry - Acrylic and oil pastel on 6" x 12" gallery wrapped canvas, 2009
Available for purchase at http://www.livefunky.etsy.com/

Today has been a great day. I woke up around 8:30 (which is a rarity for this night owl) to sunlight streaming through my window and the sound of birds chirping outside. For a split second it felt like Spring and it just set the tone for the day.

This painting was a lot of fun. A little more experimental, which always brings refreshing surprises.

OH and BY THE WAY... Etsy Print Sale!

I'm having a buy two get one free sale on my prints in my Etsy shop through midnight tonight. I'm going to focus on originals for right now and prints can just be sold by request. I'm also setting up a redbubble gallery of matted art prints. I like the idea of selling prints through another company rather than taking the time to do this at home. I have a beautiful printer and it does an amazing job. I'll be printing out plenty for summer shows and local galleries, but that's something to focus on closer to Spring. For now, it's all about originals!

What Remains

Acrylic on 8.5" x 11" watercolor paper
Available at http://www.livefunky.etsy.com/


Things are really getting into a daily groove here. I've started keeping a private dairy online at http://www.edailydiary.com/. It's not the greatest site, but it gets the job done. If anyone can recommend a better online (free) diary/journal/daily log site, let me know!

I'm pretty much just documenting what I do through the day - boring notes mostly - but it will help when I look back at figuring out how many hours I put in, what promotions I'm doing, etc. I also started (just last night) to write daily challenges for myself for the next day. Small goals - big enough to feel accomplishment without being overwhelmed. This is what I've needed for so long. Much better than random lists and journal entries that get lost in between sketches in sketch books, or emails to myself with lists of things to do only to get read the next day and forgotten about.

If you are self employed, or are a part time artist/crafter, how do you keep track of your time or do you?

Painting of the Day - Lifted

Lifted - Acrylic and oil pastel on watercolor paper, created January 2009
Available for purchase at http://www.livefunky.etsy.com/.


a tunnel
time travel
blackholes
dreamstates
uplifting emotion
center of a tornado

Blue Horizon

A new painting now available in my Etsy shop at www.livefunky.etsy.com.

Summer Day Dance

Original acrylic painting on 12" x 12" box canvas, created 8/2008. Available at www.livefunky.etsy.com.

Push and Pull

Original acrylic painting on 8" x 8" box canvas, created 8/2008. Available in my Etsy shop at www.livefunky.etsy.com.

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

More painterly sketches

Happy Day
Acrylic on watercolor paper, 2008

Tempted

Acrylic on watercolor paper, 2008.

Face of a Friend
Acrylic on watercolor paper, 2008

Alternate Landscape
Acrylic and oil pastel on watercolor paper, 2008.

All available original art and prints at www.livefunky.etsy.com

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/

Update on Updates

The front page and overall layout was changed again today. This is much more what I had in mind for the vision/look/approach for my website, http://www.livefunky.com/

What are your thoughts on the design... yes please or no thank you? If you notice a whoopsie moment anywhere, don't hesitate to bring it to my attention. Thanks!

A few updates

First off, I'm officially declaring 365 Sketch is a great idea, but it just isn't going to work for me, at least not right now. I've got so many things I want to get done in a day, I feel like even if I participate, it will just be something I throw together because "I have to". That isn't the spirit of that flickr group, so I'd be doing a disservice to everyone else participating as well as myself. I think it is hilarious that I only got to 7 days. I guess it just wasn't meant to be for right now - maybe in the future it will fit right into my creative patterns.

Onto other updates.... you may have noticed that I used to have a ton of prints in my shop and then they all of a sudden disappeared. I decided that I'm only going to offer prints on Etsy of paintings that have sold because otherwise it can be a little confusing to look through and see the same pics coming up for prints and originals. I am listing each print as having 10 available and once those sell out, I probably won't renew the listing to keep things fresh in my shop. This doesn't make them limited editions, just "limited to Etsy"!

Dissovling In Bliss

Original acrylic painting on 8" x 10" canvas, 2008.
Available at www.livefunky.etsy.com

New Paintings

Coffee and Cream - SOLD

Acrylic on 8 x 10 canvas, 2008

Make A Wish

Acrylic on 8 x 10 canvas, 2008

Available for purchase at http://www.livefunky.etsy.com/

Self Portrait Thursday - May 3, 2007

selfportrait thursday - may 3, 2007, originally uploaded by jtorrant.

This is my first week posting in the flickr group, Self Portrait Thursday. I took this digital picture of myself around 10 pm. The eye on the right was drawn with a sharpie on the back of a business card that I'm holding up to my face. My hair is in it's usual state - knotted on the top of my head in a wacky bun. Obviously, I played with the original photograph, making it black and white and then adding funky filters.

Please post a link in your comment to your self portrait if you also contribute in this group - thanks!

Visit Self Portrait Thursday on flickr to see more self portraits from creative people!