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

Almost Finished

This is a new painting I've been working on the last couple of days. I've been working outside and today it decided to drizzle, then rain enough that I had to call it quits. I could have moved back into the studio, but there's other work to be done today, so this is it for now. I need a sunshine to take a fresh look at it, then add just a FEW more elements (you'd better hold me to that, I have a tendency to overwork my paintings!). This is a large acrylic painting on canvas stretched flat on a board (designed to be shipped rolled and stretched by the buyer's framer). It was primed in black gesso which is something I've never tried before and I was very pleased with how it affected my process.

I'm crossing my fingers for a sunny day tomorrow, but we're caught in a long rainy spell here in New England. Hopefully I'll have some good shots of this painting completed soon!

may17 - 365 sketch

may17 - 365 sketch, originally uploaded by livefunky.

Peace, please.

Illustration by Jessica Torrant.

This new design is now available on a t-shirt at www.zazzle.com/artjct*

Let's Try That Again

365 Sketch - Day 1 - May 16, 2008, originally uploaded by livefunky.

I decided to do 365 Sketch again, only this time the moment is right and I'm really ready to go for it! This piece is an ink and sharpie drawing on a recycled paper bag.

Change of Heart

Mixed media on 8" x 10" matboard.
Available at www.livefunky.etsy.com

It was another productive day today. More art papers and I photographed this collage I made yesterday. This is my favorite piece right now. One of the materials I used was cut up pieces of the thick layers of dried acrylic paint I peel off of my palette.

As quoted from my Etsy listing...

"One of my little artsy joys is to peel away the dried layers of plastic like acrylic paint from one of my palettes (a glass pie plate and a frisbee!). I never knew what to do with it besides enjoy the feeling of the chunky texture on one side and admire the accidental beauty of swirls of color on the slick, shiny backside. Now that I've been on this recycling kick regarding my art, I am loving the effect of depth that this raw material creates on an otherwise two dimensional piece. I think you'll be seeing more of these "chunks" in my work in the future. No more tossing out ANYTHING! It all can be reused and manipulated to create new work :) "

Chipping away at the materials I already have has been a fun and gratifying challenge. I've been doing a lot of thinking about living green and what that means to an artist, or I should say, to me as an artist. I don't know where these thoughts will lead me in the long run, but I'm just working with ideas and projects in the moment and not worrying about grand implications. Will I stop working on canvas? Probably not, but you never know. Maybe I'll switch to stretching recycled fabric. Or painting on odd found surfaces. I won't make any promises, I just know what I feel right now is a good feeling and I'm going to try and keep this train of creative energy cruising as long as I can.

On a more personal note, this was my husband's first week working day shift! Our prayers were answered, and it's a real change for both of us - all for the best. Tonight we ate dinner together and I literally cried with joy. Jazz in the background, the sun setting, my love sitting across from me sharing a good meal - that's it. That's what I've been praying for all these years and I feel so lucky that someone was listening...

This evening all I can think and feel is LIFE IS GOOD.

Multi Purpose Art Paper

Tis the season for some serious creative energy! I've been a busy bee over here, and I worked on a few more collages as well as these handpainted art papers.

This is all inspired by the desire to find a purpose for every saved piece of art on paper I've collected over the years. Little drawings are great for my collages, but there are some paintings that are just such duds, they deserved to be painted over completely. Instead of painting over the surface with a new fine art painting (because I'd like to focus on canvas for my fine art work), I've been cutting these paintings up into 4" x 6" pieces (more sizes coming soon) and painting simple designs on them to be used as a supply for all sorts of art and craft projects. By working fast and recycling my materials, I'm able to keep the cost down and offer these original, one of a kind works of art at a very reasonable price. Great for scrapbooking, making greeting cards, decoupage - you name it!

Check them out in my Etsy shop - www.livefunky.etsy.com

New Collages on Etsy

Past Meets Present, originally uploaded by livefunky.

Through the years I have saved almost every sketch or painting on paper I've ever made and stored them in big tupperware bins. Some are works that never really worked out, or they are partially incomplete, some have some mark of damage - a corner bent, or a smudge/stain. For a variety of reasons, these artworks never made it to the "stage" on their own right. But instead of them hiding away in a storage unit, I decided to try and give them "new life" in the form of collage.

Check out this collage and others in my Etsy shop at www.livefunky.etsy.com!

Art Rocks!

Check out my new shop section for handpainted rocks. I'm starting with some that I painted a couple years ago, and I'd like to make some new ones soon. As a special promotion, I'm offering free shipping worldwide for the next week *until May 14th*
ART ROCKS ON ETSY

Revolution Money Exchange

This new site is going to give PayPal a run for it's money! Literally! They have NO FEES which makes anyone buying or selling things online very happy - yes? Yes.

Take advantage of this offer while it lasts (till May 15) - nothing better than free money, right!?

Enchanted Garden - finished!

I finished the painting I was working on and it's now listed in my Etsy shop http://www.livefunky.etsy.com/ - hope everyone is enjoying this beautiful spring weather!

The Ultimate Frisbee Champion

The Ultimate Frisbee Champion, originally uploaded by livefunky.

A happy day in the sun - lots of frisbee with Leo and some painting too. I'll post some art picks of new work tomorrow.

Pinpoint - The Moon

(If you aren't already checking out my other blog www.lookseesaw.blogspot.com you should be! There are two new artist interviews I think you'll enjoy.)

Lights, camera, action!

Natural light is ideal....


....but the urge to paint doesn't go down with the sun!

Let there be light in the studio!!!


Below is a work in progress - abstract, garden inspired - we'll see how much the garden concept translates literally in the finished painting.

This painting still has a ways to go. But I did do a bit of filming while I was painting it.

Promise of a New Day

This is a new painting on stretched canvas measuring 20" x 48". All available art at www.livefunky.etsy.com

More Sketch Painting

Today was a bit chilly so I stayed inside painting on paper. Here is one of them...

Maze Contained - acrylic on paper, 2008.

See my Etsy shop for more www.livefunky.etsy.com

Process of a Painting

What a glorious spring day it was today! My daffodils bloomed in celebration of the occasion. The sun was warm and the breeze sweet - shorts and a tshirt FINALLY!

Today I worked on a canvas I began when I was still at the Indian Orchard Mills studio. The picture below shows my starting point today.





I then went into it with black paint, accentuating certain lines of the original composition and adding more shapes and forms.




Then I came in with some bold warm tones - bright orange, pink, red and yellow.

I enjoyed some of the drippy effects of the underpainting, and at this point, things were getting too "locked in" so I brought back some drips and splatters in a light color.




Then came some white....



More white, more drips...



Now the canvas was looking pretty close to finished...

The final stage was adding a bit more black to make some parts of the lines stand out. And here is the finished product.



Why Not - Acrylic on 30" x 40" canvas

Now available at http://www.livefunky.etsy.com/

Arte y Pico

I'd like to thank Elis Cooke of Into the Blystic at www.intotheblystic.blogspot.com for giving me the Arte y Pico award. If I could, I'd give it right back to her because I am such a fan of her work and blog!

The following 5 rules are attached to this award:

1. You have to pick 5 blogs that you consider deserve this award for their creativity, design, interesting material, and that also contribute to the blogging community, no matter what language.

2. Each award has to have the name of the author and also a link to his/her blog to be visited by everyone.

3. Each award winner has to show the award and put the name and link to the blog that has given her/him the award itself.

4. The Award winner and the one who has given the prize have to show the link of "Arte Y Pico" blog, so everyone will know the origin of this award.

5. To show these rules.

The blogs I would like to award this honour to are:
Angela at http://www.angelasartdiary.blogspot.com/
Meghan at http://www.meghanhenley.blogspot.com/
Paula at http://manninglewisstudios.blogspot.com/
Martha at http://artistsjournal.blogspot.com/
Lisa at http://blog.lisacall.com/index.php

Lots of New Paintings

Soul Eruption



Testing Limits

Improvisation

Conversation With The Unknown

Change Direction

Celebrate The Now

Awkward Bird in Flight

Each of these acrylic paintings is on 8 x 10 stretched canvas and they are all available in my Etsy shop at www.livefunky.etsy.com

Some older work

This diptych was created in NH when I was still living there in acrylic and watersoluable crayons on two 16 x 20 canvases. You can find this and a selection of other older work I rediscovered since moving out of my old studio in my Etsy shop at www.livefunky.etsy.com