Documenting my routine

Take a morning hike on a local trail through Shenipsit State Forest with my two loves, Leo the dog and Rob the husband. (Rob is on vacation this week - he makes taking a walk ten times more fun).

Get home and start painting. I've been working in the screened in area of the porch because the weather has been so nice. It's so easy to get in a groove listening to the birds sing and the chipmunks peep and scurry about. I love it out there.

You'll see those craft bottles of acrylic there. I've been using them for base coats and then I work over the surface with higher quality paint. You can call me frugal franny if you like, I won't mind.

Continuing on the frugal tip, instead of buying some pre made bbq sauce for our chicken tonight, I whipped up some homemade sauce, a little trick I learned from my dad. Ketchup, molasses, spicy mustard, garlic powder, ground red pepper, and some of my favorite dry rub. I put some boneless thighs in there, as well as chopped onions that caramelize, to marinate for a few hours before baking them. Let me just say, I have a new favorite recipe.

The energetic boy has refueled from his walk and is ready for more. A good old Frisbee session in the back yard is in order.

Back out to the studio to paint, and take pictures of finished paintings, then it's time to call it a day and get started on dinner. After dinner, I dive into online work - promoting and adding new pictures to my various sites. At some point we'll go to bed then the whole routine begins again tomorrow.

So there it is. Not especially exciting or anything, but it's my life, and I love every minute of it.

In an Instant

Original acrylic painting on 8" x 10" stretched canvas. Created in 8/2008.

Since I am trying to keep my Etsy shop filled with only the best of the best, I decided to list this painting on eBay instead because the canvas has stapled sides. I bought staple sided canvases for years at a discount store in the area because, well, they were inexpensive and readily available. But I've found that spending a bit more on a staple free canvas is so worth it because so many contemporary art collectors don't want to worry about a frame.

I like the interesting palette in this piece - a soft pink contrasted against darks and a bold yellow. I'm starting the bidding at a much lower price than what I'd usually charge so if you're looking to invest in my art, but you want an affordable option, you should CHECK OUT THIS AUCTION!

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.

Worlds Collide

Original acrylic painting on gallery wrapped canvas. Now available at www.livefunky.etsy.com.

Borderline

Original acrylic painting on gallery wrapped canvas. Now available at www.livefunky.etsy.com

Testing the Water

This watercolor painting is on acid free watercolor paper. It is being sold unframed for the custom framing of your choice, or an easy DIY project by popping it in a ready made, standard sized 8" x 10" frame (Note: painting goes to the edges of the paper). For a great overview of more in depth DIY picture framing, check out this blog post.
Now available for purchase in my Etsy shop

Today was a great day - very productive! After a walk in the woods with Leo and Rob, I spent the rest of the day in the studio painting. At first I played with some watercolors (this is the most successful one among the three I worked on - the other two are currently incubating) and then switched to acrylic on various canvases. I "tagged" around ten paintings with a fast first pass of color compositions. Just getting back into the flow of things, the feel of it, the zone. Tomorrow I will be getting back into each one, and I'll have at least one complete painting to share by the end of the day.

PAINT ON!

Deep Breath

family portrait, originally uploaded by livefunky.

Sitting on the shore, watching my step son wade out for one last swim of the day, I had this amazing feeling wash over me. Everything that matters is ok. In fact, it's ideal. The things that matter are love and family and inner joy/peace - check, check and double check.

The things that don't matter are the things that we left in a flurry of stress about. It all boils down to one thing - paying the bills. The almighty dollar. It is amazing how such an abstract thing can cause such real emotional, physical and psychological distress. When we returned to our home last night (and the stack of new bills waiting for us like a chorus of Debbie Downers) I couldn't help but let it get me down for a moment. After a "poor me" (or actually "us") cry, we talked it out and toasted a glass of wine to keeping our dreams alive and having patience in ourselves as we take each day at a time.

Uploading our vacation pictures to flickr was the best medicine as the salty air recent memories filled me and replaced my fear and stress with that same optomistic energy I felt every day of our trip. We may be in a pinch, but who isn't? EVERYTHING has gone up - everything. Whereas a year ago we could manage to skate by, even when unexpected car repairs or whatever popped up, now it's a constant skate and that wears on you. But it's wearing on EVERYONE. We are not alone, not by a long shot. There are folks that have to forclose on their beloved homes. There are folks that go without heat because they can't fill their oil tank. I must always be grateful for the blessings that we have and faith that God will provide when we cannot. He always does - when will I finally realize that and do what my mom always says "let go and let God"? Today I resolve to say no to stress and yes to life.

So - back to the best vacation ever.

We stayed in a big, old house built in 1898 right on Wells beach in Maine with a large group of family and friends. Feeling like we owned that chunk of sand and sea in front of us and spending every available moment outside. At night, there are no lights, no noisy traffic to disturb the peaceful sound of lapping waves and the nightly show of a huge, red moon rising over the ocean. We ate lobster, we boogie boarded on some "gnarly waves" (as my step daughter said, getting a laugh every time), we had deep and silly conversations, we shared ghost stories by the fire and had sing alongs. Every day the sun came out hot and heavy, with just a few puffy clouds in sight. Every day we bonded with Mother Ocean, swimming, walking beside her, and searching tide pools for hermit crabs and baby lobsters. As an added bonus, there was a ping pong table. So much fun working up a sweat with a few matches then going for a dip in the chilly water. My mom got to go for a swim in the ocean for the first time since her stroke in 2005. It was a wild group effort getting her out there, but she loved it. With my dad and I on either side of her holding her up and bouncing up over a wave, she giggled like a little girl with a wild smile on her face. That will be one of the memories I hold in my heart forever.

It was a magic vacation based on very simple, down to earth elements. Ocean, family, friends, food, fun, relaxation and conversation. No need to go all over the place or spend money on amusement parks or mini golf. A ping pong table, deck of cards, a scrabble board, our imaginations and the sea were all the entertainment we needed. I am so thankful for my parents organizing this and bringing everyone together. If you read this mom and dad, we all love you and thank you for the best family vacation we've ever had.

Back to the beach!

I'm going to be away for the next week. We are leaving tonight to go to Maine. I am PUMPED! And I must return to packing as I'm always a last minute girl. Have a great week!

New Series of original ACEOs

Well, it's official. My summer sale has come to a close. I cleared out my Etsy shop of all of my older work to clean the slate. I am going to be away on vacation next week and then I'm looking forward on starting my new series when I return.

In the meantime, I had ants in my pants and I had to do something. ACEOs seemed like the perfect solution for my idle hands! I have made a collection of new watercolor ACEOs, such as this one called Dance. You can find them all in my Etsy shop at www.livefunky.etsy.com.

Crowded Shoe

Designing funky Keds on Zazzle is addicting. This is my new favorite pair. They feature my black and white Crowded House design along with a red and white polka dot insole. This pair of sweet ladies shoes should scream "Hey man, I may not be good in crowds, but get me alone and I'm a real laugh riot".

Get them in your size HERE - which means this link - yes, please click on it.

Graphic Art Sneakers - Keds get a makeover

Check out my new line of Ked's shoes at www.zazzle.com/artjct* -sassy footwear is where it's at!

New and Improved Website

In the last few days and nights, I've been steadily working on revamping my website. I have to say, it's my favorite version to date. The design concept is simple and I hope that it is easy as well as interesting to navigate. There are still some things I need to add (like tags and page titles) but for the most part, it's complete!

Please check it out and let me know what you think. I'd love to hear your comments and suggestions. http://www.livefunky.com/

What I'm most excited about is my new Art Prints of the Month feature. Each month I'll be offering three new print designs to be purchased directly from my website. Check out the August collection HERE!

Good times

These pictures were taken tonight at my cousin Steve's house. He and his wife live in a farmhouse less than a mile down the hill from our house with some wonderful, lush property. Steve and Rob are old friends and I have a brotherly connection with him, so we all have a good old time when we hang out. The pictures above are of the insane blackberry bushes at their house LOADED with fruit. I picked a bunch to mix with some fresh local peaches for dessert. Ah the bounty of summer fruits and veggies! I'm in heaven.

No artwork updates right now. I'm working on home improvement stuff and just enjoying the golden days of summer as much as I can. Happy summer to all.

some things are just not meant to be

After all that build up for a second Etsy shop, I've decided to close it for now. I've removed all of my inventory, and I'm going to keep it in case I get the urge to make something different that fits that description. The paintings that I made are all going to eBay to find new homes.

Although I got a lot of hearts and views from PureDecor, there wasn't a single bite. And I understand why. LiveFunky as a name has a history and reputation on the site. PureDecor was just a baby in a sea of tons of talented newborns. I've seen the success of some artists that find a sort of system of production for contemporary decorative art and I wanted to try my hand at it. I am happy I did and I gave the idea a real go, because otherwise, I'd continue thinking "I could do that". It may be true, but it doesn't mean I can do it really well, and it doesn't mean that it will be a really popular product. I'm good at what I do and that's creating intuitive, one of a kind, abstract art. Why screw with what you know works?

Part of me is blushing thinking of all of my steps back and forth on this journey documented in this blog. The tangents of big plans and then a few weeks later the "oops, actually THIS is what's going to happen" update. But hey, it's the truth. Each change of plan offers lessons to learn along the way and unforseen opportunities. In the case of PureDecor, the Etsy shop of originals didn't work out, but my PureDecor Zazzle shop was a success. You just never know!

You can see all of my eBay auctions here http://myworld.ebay.com/artjct

Funfest in Boston

Ladies night out, originally uploaded by livefunky.

Here's a picture of me and the ladies on "our" boat (we wish!). We stayed on this masterpiece of a vessel thanks to our friend's boyfriend who is on the crew. So much fun just soaking in the sun, dunking our feet in the water off the dock, talking, laughing and making up dances like we were 16 again. Not to mention the incredible food and *ahem* beverages that were enjoyed. I am so thankful that our bond has continued and grown through the years. This is our third yearly gathering and I'm already dreaming of plans for next year. Much love to Jill, Jess, Nicole and Chrissy - you are the greatest.

She has wings and she can fly

Here is my lady with extra layers of paper mache.

And here she is with a hair cut and a little bit of gutting the junk in her trunk - which was all filler for an otherwise firm form. Scissors are a dangerous tool for me when it comes to this sculpture - it relates to many really bad home made haircuts like chisels chipping away at my plaster sculptures - once it's gone, it's gone. I tried to be conservative. Once I get back from my little vacation, I'm going to paint her and REALLY give her life.

As for this vacation, I am beyond excited, I'm just about jumping out of my skin. My girlfriends from the way back machine and I are getting together in Boston. I'll be back on Monday when I'll ship whatever I need to out, keep working on my sculpture prototype and bask in the glow of having been with the best of friends. If I ever complain about life, slap me, because right now, I know I got it good.

First Armature: A Woman Emerging

We'll see where this soul sister goes and grows, with new layers of paper and paste, and paint and everything else. I'm thinking in 3D - this should be interesting...

stayed tuned.

The Art of Cooking 1 - Garlic Lemon Tilapia

Hello my creative friends! Today was a good day, lots of beautiful sunshine and a sweet breeze in the air. I went to the market with fish in mind for our dinner, and found these beautiful tilapia fillets that were calling my name. I have my favorite Cajun dry rub that I usually use with fish, but once I got home, I thought I'd go looking around the web for some good tilapia recipes.

First I found this recipe for Sautéed Tilapia with White Wine & Lemon Sauce. It sounded delightful, but I didn't have any shallots. I looked around for an onion, but I was all out. I did have some garlic though, and I wondered how that would fare with the other ingredients instead of shallots. So I did what I always do when I'd like a second opinion - I turn to the Etsy forums!

I started this thread in Etc. asking the community what they thought. I got some great suggestions and advice, and though I think the recipe would work ok for us (being garlic lovers), it would have done the recipe a disservice as the shallots mellow flavor compliments the other ingredients and the garlic would end up really dominating the dish. I went back to the grindstone looking for a new recipe with these search words: garlic, lemon, tilapia. That's when I found this recipe for Lemon Garlic Tilapia. One of the reviewers on Allrecipes.com had some great suggestions for slightly altering the recipe for the best results. I took a little bit of the original, a little bit of the suggestions, and made a few alterations of my own.

Considering how loaded with garlic this ended up being, I've changed the name to Garlic Lemon Tilapia! A very helpful Etsian from the Etsy thread, inediblejewelry, suggested that I take a picture of the finished dish. I decided to photograph the whole process and it was so much fun! I think I'm going to make this a regular thing. Maybe once a week or every other week I can do a new "Art of Cooking" post to share new recipes. I'd really like to challenge myself when it comes to cooking. I've got my old standards that are wearing a little thin these days, and there's just too many great dishes out there to not try new things. It's fun to share my findings with others, but I also really like that I can refer back to these posts to remember my favorite (and least favorite) new dishes and how I made them.

Now, onto making Garlic Lemon Tilapia!

I began with four fillets of tilapia. You'll also need 1 lemon, butter, non stick cooking spray (probably not essential), garlic, salt, pepper, and parsley if you've got it (fresh is best!).

First I washed the fillets and patted them dry with a paper towel, then put them in a baking dish sprayed with non stick cooking oil. Salt and ground pepper those bad boys.

Meanwhile, I melted about 5 tablespoons of butter (which is a lot more than the recipe called for based on the reviewer's recommendation) on very low heat in this small pot. I minced 3 large cloves of garlic (like I said, we aren't afraid of garlic!) and tossed them into the melted butter. I just wanted the garlic to cook long enough to get soft. There's nothing worse than burnt garlic, so I stirred this pretty constantly for a few minutes until it looked like this - the little bubbles surrounding each chunk of garlic releasing that amazing aroma.

This picture is terrible, but the next step was to squeeze the full lemon into a measuring cup, take out the seeds, then pour over the fish. Then I poured the butter/garlic mixture over the fish and it was ready to go into the oven, pre heated to 400 degrees. (I should add, I was down to the bottom of a jar of dried parsley I sprinkled on top, that on second thought, I shouldn't have even bothered with - unless it's fresh parsley, I wouldn't bother). In about ten minutes it was done!

And here is the finished dish, complete with a glass of chilled white wine, summer squash, and steamed spinach with balsamic vinegar. Even though it was loaded with garlic, it wasn't overwhelming and the lemon flavor was perfectly balanced with the buttery garlic goodness.

I will definitely be making this again. Next time I think I'll reduce the butter to just 4 tablespoons and I'll have fresh parsley on hand. Other than that, I don't think I'd change a thing!

Reuniting with eBay

Here's Looking At You - original ink and crayon ACEO by Jessica Torrant, 2006
Now available at www.ebay.com - search "Torrant" to find all of my current auctions.

Ok, I know. I broke up with eBay two years ago, what am I doing going back now? Well, as I was fishing around on the Etsy forums (lurking like I often do) I came across a thread (one of the thousands) about not underselling your work. The very reason I love Etsy is the reason why this whole summer sale thing might not be such a good fit there. In general, the Etsy community of buyers and sellers expect quality and prices reflect that. There's a wariness of lower prices - "Is the seller desperate? That's not a good sign." "Is the work sub par? It must be at that price." My whole plan is to unveil a new body of work with higher prices. I wouldn't want that transition to be a real shock going from unusually low prices to unusually high prices. So, I decided to take some of my older work that I don't have on Etsy and list it on eBay. eBay buyers are excited to get bargains - that's part of the fun of it! I'm going to see how these listings go and if they are worth my while. If so, I'm going to keep slowly chipping away at my older work, listing it on eBay. I'll keep you all in touch if I do.

In the meantime, the wheels are spinning thinking about my new collection. I can't wait to get started! Soon.... first I need to max out this summer sale, then I need to set my studio up JUST SO for a prime working space. Good times!

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!)