Echo - original acrylic on 8" x 10" canvas panelCheck out my latest paintings in my Etsy shop at www.livefunky.etsy.com.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
New Paintings
Echo - original acrylic on 8" x 10" canvas panelCheck out my latest paintings in my Etsy shop at www.livefunky.etsy.com.
Sunday, November 09, 2008
Ok, last text only entry, I promise!
Right now my blog is more text than art and that's a travesty! I'm working on that as we speak (have some WIP abstract canvas panels going). I'll keep this entry brief.
Have you guys seen this site yet? http://emptyeasel.com/ There are a ton of great articles, reviews of art sites and tutorials. I know, one more site to get sucked into, but this is great because it has so much helpful information for artists that want to sell online.
Next up - MORE ART!
Have you guys seen this site yet? http://emptyeasel.com/ There are a ton of great articles, reviews of art sites and tutorials. I know, one more site to get sucked into, but this is great because it has so much helpful information for artists that want to sell online.
Next up - MORE ART!
Saturday, November 08, 2008
Continuing to branch out...
Today was another day looking around the web for interesting art sites. I found a few that I put on the backburner because they have membership fees, but I discovered Artbreak today which is free to sign up and sell on (with a 7.5% commission rate). I think Boundless Gallery and others like it are designed with buyers in mind most importantly. There isn't much social networking potential, but that's ok, there will always be the Etsy forums for that!
But with my very brief experience now with Artbreak I like that it has a very interactive feel between the artists on the site. I'll be playing around on there for the next hour or so looking at all of the great art! Here is my page on Artbreak http://www.artbreak.com/JessicaTorrant. If you click on the bold artbreak logo in the top left it will take you to the home page. You may notice I have the same paintings I have on Boundless. I know it's against Etsy rules to post your listings elsewhere so that's been driven into me as a no-no. But looking into how other artists on BG are marketing their art, I saw the same paintings on multiple sites so I figured why not me too!? The odds of selling the same higher end painting in the same day are pretty low (working to change that!) and I'm online every day.
One more thing before I bounce back to Artbreak... Please come to my BG page and vote for me in the Black Friday contest! It's free and easy to sign up as a Customer. Here's the details...
The 2nd annual "Black Friday @ Boundless" contest is here, giving you the opportunity to support your favorite Boundless artists and win! 8 lucky artists will be featured on the Boundless homepage during the biggest shopping day of the year.
How to Play:
• Sign In or Create an Account.
•Vote for your favorite artist on their profile page before Friday, November 21st.
•Visit Boundless on Black Friday, November 28th, and vote on the top 8.
Everyone who votes in both rounds will automatically be entered to win.
Customer Prizes:
Grand Prize $300 Gift Certificate
Runner-Up $100 Gift Certificate
VOTE FOR ME AT www.JessicaTorrant.boundlessgallery.com
But with my very brief experience now with Artbreak I like that it has a very interactive feel between the artists on the site. I'll be playing around on there for the next hour or so looking at all of the great art! Here is my page on Artbreak http://www.artbreak.com/JessicaTorrant. If you click on the bold artbreak logo in the top left it will take you to the home page. You may notice I have the same paintings I have on Boundless. I know it's against Etsy rules to post your listings elsewhere so that's been driven into me as a no-no. But looking into how other artists on BG are marketing their art, I saw the same paintings on multiple sites so I figured why not me too!? The odds of selling the same higher end painting in the same day are pretty low (working to change that!) and I'm online every day.
One more thing before I bounce back to Artbreak... Please come to my BG page and vote for me in the Black Friday contest! It's free and easy to sign up as a Customer. Here's the details...
The 2nd annual "Black Friday @ Boundless" contest is here, giving you the opportunity to support your favorite Boundless artists and win! 8 lucky artists will be featured on the Boundless homepage during the biggest shopping day of the year.
How to Play:
• Sign In or Create an Account.
•Vote for your favorite artist on their profile page before Friday, November 21st.
•Visit Boundless on Black Friday, November 28th, and vote on the top 8.
Everyone who votes in both rounds will automatically be entered to win.
Customer Prizes:
Grand Prize $300 Gift Certificate
Runner-Up $100 Gift Certificate
VOTE FOR ME AT www.JessicaTorrant.boundlessgallery.com
Friday, November 07, 2008
Big Changes!
In 2005, while I was planning the Art 4 People Festival and selling almost exclusively on eBay, I was in touch with a fellow artist who encouraged me to check out a site dedicated to selling fine art called Boundless Gallery. At this point, I was taking my work seriously, but I wasn't sure others would at a higher set price. I was willing to let people decide my paintings' worth by bidding on eBay. I put Boundless Gallery on a "maybe someday" list and put it out of my mind. A year later I found Etsy and fell in love and I've been quite happy there for two years.
At some point this year I started to think about expanding outside of Etsy because let's face it - there are a LOT more artists there than when I started and I found my most consistent sales were for art up to $100, rarely over. I looked around the web for other art sites. Every search I did from "abstract painting" to "contemporary art" to "buy modern art" Boundless Gallery would pop up in searches. I looked into it again and felt really drawn to it thinking YES, now is a good time to take the plunge. When I showed Rob the site he got REALLY excited about it. He, like others in my orbit, have been so encouraging for me to keep raising the bar higher and higher - from my price range to scale to where I share my work. My whole summer plan was to clear my Etsy shop and include only my best of the best but that was a plan that had many holes in it. It just wasn't the right fit for Etsy. Still, the desire to raise the bar persisted, so I decided to give Boundless Gallery a go.
My site on Boundless is not even one day old, but I have begun with my Fall 2008 Series and you can see my site at www.JessicaTorrant.boundlessgallery.com.
As for Etsy, I've not only removed my higher end items, I've also removed my prints because as popular as they could be, it just doesn't sit well with me in the spirit of handmade that makes Etsy so special. (I may start selling my prints on eBay eventually, but for now I'm taking a break). I'll be honing in on affordable originals for my Etsy shop and I've got lots of smaller canvases to work on in the coming days.
Come visit me on Boundless Gallery and let me know what you think!
At some point this year I started to think about expanding outside of Etsy because let's face it - there are a LOT more artists there than when I started and I found my most consistent sales were for art up to $100, rarely over. I looked around the web for other art sites. Every search I did from "abstract painting" to "contemporary art" to "buy modern art" Boundless Gallery would pop up in searches. I looked into it again and felt really drawn to it thinking YES, now is a good time to take the plunge. When I showed Rob the site he got REALLY excited about it. He, like others in my orbit, have been so encouraging for me to keep raising the bar higher and higher - from my price range to scale to where I share my work. My whole summer plan was to clear my Etsy shop and include only my best of the best but that was a plan that had many holes in it. It just wasn't the right fit for Etsy. Still, the desire to raise the bar persisted, so I decided to give Boundless Gallery a go.
My site on Boundless is not even one day old, but I have begun with my Fall 2008 Series and you can see my site at www.JessicaTorrant.boundlessgallery.com.
As for Etsy, I've not only removed my higher end items, I've also removed my prints because as popular as they could be, it just doesn't sit well with me in the spirit of handmade that makes Etsy so special. (I may start selling my prints on eBay eventually, but for now I'm taking a break). I'll be honing in on affordable originals for my Etsy shop and I've got lots of smaller canvases to work on in the coming days.
Come visit me on Boundless Gallery and let me know what you think!
Dreaming Big and Bigger
I've had this dream for over a decade of opening my own business. It would be open morning-late afternoon throughout the week, serving coffee and tea in the morning and lunch. I'd hire a local baker for breads, pastry and pies, and I'd make the lunches and it would be like coming to Ma's kitchen - you get two choices and they change every day. One with meat, one veg (maybe one vegan too). Just basics like good soups or stir frys all with locally grown food. Meanwhile, there's little tables and chairs around as well as sofas and coffee tables and the walls are covered in art. There would be one wall of bookshelves with our own used book collection available for our customers to peruse over their cup of soup and iced tea. On the weekends, we'd have night time events like acoustic open mic nights, poetry readings, art openings, etc.
I can visualize all of the things that would make this place extra fabulous and would attract local business and support but it all comes down to..... is that how I want to spend my days? And the answer is no. Painting is the only thing I can really see myself doing and WANTING to do day after day. Still, the vision of this alternate life is so sweet in theory (did I mention the organic garden out back, the canning and freezing at the end of the season, the local goat cheese? it goes on and on...). So maybe I need to shoot for making so much bank with my art that I can buy and operate the biz, come up with recipes, decor, etc - all the fun stuff - and leave the opening at 5 am, daily cooking, cleaning and accounting to my staff. Now THAT's sounding a little better!
Taking it to the next level, I would love to buy a two or three story old main st. victorian somewhere in this area (northern CT) or Western MA with enough land for gardens and a barn/studio out back. We would live in the upper stories, I would paint out back, and the business would be operated out of the first floor. That would allow for multiple rooms = more space to exhibit art and sell everything from clothes to jewelry to handmade toys (I'd be depending heavily on Etsy sellers!) as WELL as having the space for people to lounge and hang for a bit. The food part of it really doesn't even need to be there, it would mean a lot of extra work and permits, but it would attract more people to the space. Imagine someone on their lunch break - they could go get a fast food lunch that weighs them down and makes them ill, or they could come to my place to get healthy, fresh, homemade meal and check out some cool art while they are there or chat with other friendly locals. Good times!
Ah... I'm rambling, but Rob and I got talking about this dream again last night (it's a subject I've gone round and round with him and my best friend Emily too for years) and it always ends with "yeah, but I don't want to spend my days managing that business. I want to focus on art.". Then it hit me that as part of dreaming big, why NOT dream it exactly the way you want it? I can be the owner but I don't need to be present. I could hire some young artist to man the store while I'm working out back and I can check in when I come in for lunch and cover it when I have to. This is a mighty big dream but I guess I'm spelling it all out here to get it out of my head and into the universe. The first step is visualizing that anything is possible...
What's your BIG dream?
I can visualize all of the things that would make this place extra fabulous and would attract local business and support but it all comes down to..... is that how I want to spend my days? And the answer is no. Painting is the only thing I can really see myself doing and WANTING to do day after day. Still, the vision of this alternate life is so sweet in theory (did I mention the organic garden out back, the canning and freezing at the end of the season, the local goat cheese? it goes on and on...). So maybe I need to shoot for making so much bank with my art that I can buy and operate the biz, come up with recipes, decor, etc - all the fun stuff - and leave the opening at 5 am, daily cooking, cleaning and accounting to my staff. Now THAT's sounding a little better!
Taking it to the next level, I would love to buy a two or three story old main st. victorian somewhere in this area (northern CT) or Western MA with enough land for gardens and a barn/studio out back. We would live in the upper stories, I would paint out back, and the business would be operated out of the first floor. That would allow for multiple rooms = more space to exhibit art and sell everything from clothes to jewelry to handmade toys (I'd be depending heavily on Etsy sellers!) as WELL as having the space for people to lounge and hang for a bit. The food part of it really doesn't even need to be there, it would mean a lot of extra work and permits, but it would attract more people to the space. Imagine someone on their lunch break - they could go get a fast food lunch that weighs them down and makes them ill, or they could come to my place to get healthy, fresh, homemade meal and check out some cool art while they are there or chat with other friendly locals. Good times!
Ah... I'm rambling, but Rob and I got talking about this dream again last night (it's a subject I've gone round and round with him and my best friend Emily too for years) and it always ends with "yeah, but I don't want to spend my days managing that business. I want to focus on art.". Then it hit me that as part of dreaming big, why NOT dream it exactly the way you want it? I can be the owner but I don't need to be present. I could hire some young artist to man the store while I'm working out back and I can check in when I come in for lunch and cover it when I have to. This is a mighty big dream but I guess I'm spelling it all out here to get it out of my head and into the universe. The first step is visualizing that anything is possible...
What's your BIG dream?
Thursday, November 06, 2008
Moving Forward Together
Congratulations to our new President Barack Obama! No matter who you voted for, I am so proud of all Americans for getting out to vote and participate in such large numbers and with so much enthusiasm. There are many reasons why I am personally happy with the outcome of the election, but on a much larger scale I feel confident in positive changes ahead for all of us. I think this election has made any "under dog" feel like we can accomplish anything (minorities, women, people with disabilities, etc, etc). The energy in the air is optomistic, filled with hope and love and peace, beginning the place it needs to begin before it can happen in a physical way throughout the world - in our hearts.
Today is a new day and so will tomorrow and the next. I feel excited and inspired that we will keep this feeling afloat and carry it with us, step by step, day by day, changing the world for the better for generations to come. I want to leave my children and theirs a world that has clean air, land, rivers and oceans. I want to leave them a legacy of great success and change happening through forgiveness, diplomacy and non violent action rather than war. I'm going to keep dreaming big, for myself and for the world.
Today is a new day and so will tomorrow and the next. I feel excited and inspired that we will keep this feeling afloat and carry it with us, step by step, day by day, changing the world for the better for generations to come. I want to leave my children and theirs a world that has clean air, land, rivers and oceans. I want to leave them a legacy of great success and change happening through forgiveness, diplomacy and non violent action rather than war. I'm going to keep dreaming big, for myself and for the world.
....and how are you today?
:) jct
Monday, November 03, 2008
Mixed Bag Sets
I've created a new section in my Etsy shop for my Mixed Bag Sets. What are they? Well, they are little groupings of some of my older works, put together because of some uniting connection - be it style or subject or medium. It's a great way for collectors on a budget to buy more than one of my paintings and I think they'd look great displayed all together or spread around your home or even given as gifts.
Check out all of my Mixed Bag sets at http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=102895§ion_id=5722626
Check out all of my Mixed Bag sets at http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=102895§ion_id=5722626
Saturday, November 01, 2008
Happy Halloween!
Ok, so any time I need to go to a happy place I'll be returning to this post for a smile and maybe even a hearty laugh. This picture is just hilarious to me. My step kids have such huge personalities, I absolutely adore them. Meet the reeper and Chewbacca. Ready to take your candy, and maybe your life, but first take you on a journey through space with your own fuzzy friend.
We stopped at my parent's house before we went to Rob's parent's house. The oldest was feeling too old to dress up, and his gag leading up to the big day was "I'm going as the ghost of a fourteen year old boy". But at the last minute he asked if I wanted to paint his face and I jumped at the chance. He looks really ghoulish and it delighted my Dad that he decided to dress up afterall (see him pointing and smiling in the window). My Dad really hammed it up for them and my mom was so happy to see everyone all dressed up. She and I had some great times when I was a kid walking around with my best friend and her mom and the kids in her neighborhood. I have always loved this holiday. Maybe it's the theatrical bit in me - playing dress up - being able to get outside of your own self definition for a night. I remember being a professor, a hippy (would I get away with that Love Not War poster now? haha I wonder), an angel (which was a sewing project gone horribly wrong worn to school in junior high. Let's just say that was a day that I wanted to shrink my super tall self down to the size of a pea). Since Rob and the kids have come into my life, my love for the holiday is renewed in a new way. Love it.
:)
Friday, October 24, 2008
...and continues
Composition 7
Composition 8
Composition 93 more (and my favorite so far!) in the Composition series.
Composition Series - A Work in Progress
Composition 1
Composition 2
Composition 3I've started a new series I'm calling Composition. Once again, I'm freeing myself of the duty of titling each of my paintings, thus freeing them up to interpretation. I have three so far that are sort of a set within a series. I'm going to keep working in groups of threes in different color combinations.
These are available in my Etsy shop at http://www.livefunky.etsy.com/.
New Series - Landscape 1-6
Here are my latest paintings. I played with mixing mediums in these, using charcoal, watercolor and acrylic paint. They are small - all on 6.5" square pieces of archival watercolor paper. I have titled them by number, Landscape 1, Landscape 2, and so on, and the images below go in order from 1-6. I like taking a break from titles sometimes. It keeps all of the weight and significance in the visual art itself, no distractions or suggestions.
The painting above reminds me of the dunes on the Cape. It wasn't intentional, but now this is my favorite because of that connection (Rob and I have a beautiful history of trips in Cape Cod - from the early years when we were dating to our wedding and honeymoon).
This last one is very abstract but I see a view I don't get to see anymore. The land across the street from my parents used to be owned by a nursery (plants not kids! haha) and it was just open fields and meadows with little collections of various trees and shrubs that were home to many birds and other wildlife. I spent my childhood playing there and knew the land like the back of my hand. It is now mostly bulldozed and covered with tidy green lawns and what we call McMansions (they aren't all that big in comparison to some developments, but they certainly don't melt into the natural surroundings). They paved the road up to the end of the development and a loop road cuts back into the property. I recently took the drive and it was just so strange. I knew each location in my soul - that's where I went sledding by myself or with my dad, that's where I made out with my first boyfriend on a starry night, that's where I painted that painting for my grandmother when she was living with my parents in her last days. I've mostly gotten over the loss of that land, but it still stings. So, long story, but Landscape 6 reminds me of the colors in the meadow you could see all year round - purples and golds.
The painting above reminds me of the dunes on the Cape. It wasn't intentional, but now this is my favorite because of that connection (Rob and I have a beautiful history of trips in Cape Cod - from the early years when we were dating to our wedding and honeymoon). 
This last one is very abstract but I see a view I don't get to see anymore. The land across the street from my parents used to be owned by a nursery (plants not kids! haha) and it was just open fields and meadows with little collections of various trees and shrubs that were home to many birds and other wildlife. I spent my childhood playing there and knew the land like the back of my hand. It is now mostly bulldozed and covered with tidy green lawns and what we call McMansions (they aren't all that big in comparison to some developments, but they certainly don't melt into the natural surroundings). They paved the road up to the end of the development and a loop road cuts back into the property. I recently took the drive and it was just so strange. I knew each location in my soul - that's where I went sledding by myself or with my dad, that's where I made out with my first boyfriend on a starry night, that's where I painted that painting for my grandmother when she was living with my parents in her last days. I've mostly gotten over the loss of that land, but it still stings. So, long story, but Landscape 6 reminds me of the colors in the meadow you could see all year round - purples and golds. Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Monday, October 20, 2008
Surrounded by Roses
Here is my latest drawing digitally colored in Illustrator. I think it speaks to connecting to my feminine side a little more lately, at least in my heart and spirit. Also, it's about surrounding myself with the pure and beautiful elements of life. There is so much hate/war/ugliness in the world that sometimes I need to close my eyes and block it all out and only think of lovely things like sunshine and rainbows. You can call it avoidance, I call it survival!This image is now available as a hand signed print in my Etsy shop at http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=16429237.
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Weekend Sale! 20% off of everything in my Etsy shop!
Dream a Little Dream - acrylic on 30" x 40" canvas.Visit my Etsy shop this weekend for a special sale! 20% off of everything in my shop. You could save lots on my larger work, so if you like my pricier paintings, now is the time to buy!
www.livefunky.etsy.com
Friday, October 17, 2008
UPDATE on shophandmade.com
Hey folks. I posted just last night about signing onto shophandmade.com. I only listed one painting for $60 and woke this morning to an email from a friend wondering what the price of the painting was because it said $0 - she wondered if it had sold. Optimistically, I checked to see if it had and discovered it didn't sell, but the price of $60 was still showing up with an X through it and this new price of $0 next to it. What? I emailed them about the problem and didn't get a clear answer, just an answer about another issue I asked about. Feeling frustrated with the whole ordeal, I emailed again to request them to delete my account. I got a response that that isn't possible. I have never experienced this with any other site I've worked with, and I've been on plenty. I couldn't delete my profile picture or my banner, but I replaced all of my shop info to just repeat LiveFunky.com. If I have to be on there, at least I can redirect people to my own site.
So I'm sorry if my previous post may have inspired anyone to sign up. I hate to think that I recommended something that I didn't really explore every aspect of. Lesson learned, and to those who are using the site, I hope that they work out their kinks and sales start pouring in for you all. As for me, this first impression was not a good one at all, and I doubt I'll be back. Well, maybe after a year and lots of other people's praise from personal experience, but not until then.
So I'm sorry if my previous post may have inspired anyone to sign up. I hate to think that I recommended something that I didn't really explore every aspect of. Lesson learned, and to those who are using the site, I hope that they work out their kinks and sales start pouring in for you all. As for me, this first impression was not a good one at all, and I doubt I'll be back. Well, maybe after a year and lots of other people's praise from personal experience, but not until then.
Thursday, October 16, 2008
There's Magic Here
There's Magic Here - Original acrylic painting on 8" x 10" canvas panel, 2008.
Now available in my Etsy shop at www.livefunky.etsy.com
PLEASE READ MY UPDATE ON THIS POST ABOUT SHOPHANDMADE.COM
Monday, October 13, 2008
Co-Creating
I had SUCH a great day today, hanging out in the studio with an old friend from home named Todd. He brought over a found object piece he had been working on for his daughter. This project is made up of all kinds of things, from scraps found in his father's shop, to found objects on hikes, to random hardware like door knobs and handles that his daughter loved to carry around in her tool chest (a chip off the old block, she is). Some wood pieces are carved, or drilled into as nifty pencil holders or containers for odds and ends. Todd brought his almost complete gift to my house for me to add my touches with paint. It turned out I was able to contribute a few other trinkets as well that I thought she would enjoy.
Now... I just have to say this. Some people wouldn't get it. It's not your usual girly dollhouse with a picket fence that daddy built or anything. But I absolutely love it. And the little girl in me does too. Being a quirky, natural scavenger myself as a little girl, I would have fallen in love with this wild playscape and added my own collection of various shaped and sized critters and found objects. Todd and I had some great conversations today as we worked, and I know he won't mind me sharing that some of those conversations included what it's like being quirky (which we both are) and how sometimes people can't really understand it. Like talking to ourselves, or bouncing between different projects at once when you get excited, or following your intuition rather than a map. There's room for all of us in this world, and when I think about my friend Todd, I thank God for people like him on this Earth. He is constantly meeting new people and befriending them wherever he goes, and he's a roamer. He has passionate and creative ideas and he pursues them right away, not in a rush, but not put on the list of "someday I will...". I've got more to share about Todd, but let me get to what we worked on today...
Todd and the project.
Top showing the shells and rocks and the painted pasture and stone path.
The pasture with little rocks I painted to be moved around. One with a cow on either side, another with a horse. Behind that is a little fairy tower that is removable (tada! fairy wand!) with painted flowery vines and a little ribbon with this fairy figurine I had hanging around among my collection of random items. The animal rocks (and any of her added animal friends, which I'm sure she has) can hang out in the pasture or get daring and jump the fence!
The tree is another removable dowel painted brown with real branches, a photo of Todd and his daughter and a porcelain bird figurine I got in a box of teabags on top. The wood piece with the red flower on it is also removable and it has slots for her tools, or a feather, or a pretty leaf - whatever new treasure she discovers that day.
The view from above - almost finished. The wood piece with the flower turned into a brick building with a window on the side with a cat in the window. (GAH! I wish I took more pictures! There are so many details!). I should add, those stones and shells are glued on and finished, so they have a cool shine, and the stones in the back wrap around like a stone wall. Todd stained most of the wood and I just added little touches of color. The green square on the bottom has another little fence around it, and the other one is more like a platform for a little box with hand carvings that I painted in two shades of green. I wish I had a picture of that too, but hopefully I'll get some updated pics when she gets it.
Here it is, finished for the most part. The blue dowel will be getting a curtain and he also has this funky fish sculpture thing that will go in there (seen in the first pic) and two other wood objects. I painted the dowel first in this subtle gradation from dark to lighter blue and continued that with other the other elements of trim.
Ok. I was introduced to the amazing music of Fela Kuti today. Here is a clip for your enjoyment.
I've got more to share about Todd and what he's up to, but I'll be saving that for tomorrow. Good night and peace.
Now... I just have to say this. Some people wouldn't get it. It's not your usual girly dollhouse with a picket fence that daddy built or anything. But I absolutely love it. And the little girl in me does too. Being a quirky, natural scavenger myself as a little girl, I would have fallen in love with this wild playscape and added my own collection of various shaped and sized critters and found objects. Todd and I had some great conversations today as we worked, and I know he won't mind me sharing that some of those conversations included what it's like being quirky (which we both are) and how sometimes people can't really understand it. Like talking to ourselves, or bouncing between different projects at once when you get excited, or following your intuition rather than a map. There's room for all of us in this world, and when I think about my friend Todd, I thank God for people like him on this Earth. He is constantly meeting new people and befriending them wherever he goes, and he's a roamer. He has passionate and creative ideas and he pursues them right away, not in a rush, but not put on the list of "someday I will...". I've got more to share about Todd, but let me get to what we worked on today...
Todd and the project.
Top showing the shells and rocks and the painted pasture and stone path.
The pasture with little rocks I painted to be moved around. One with a cow on either side, another with a horse. Behind that is a little fairy tower that is removable (tada! fairy wand!) with painted flowery vines and a little ribbon with this fairy figurine I had hanging around among my collection of random items. The animal rocks (and any of her added animal friends, which I'm sure she has) can hang out in the pasture or get daring and jump the fence!
The tree is another removable dowel painted brown with real branches, a photo of Todd and his daughter and a porcelain bird figurine I got in a box of teabags on top. The wood piece with the red flower on it is also removable and it has slots for her tools, or a feather, or a pretty leaf - whatever new treasure she discovers that day.
The view from above - almost finished. The wood piece with the flower turned into a brick building with a window on the side with a cat in the window. (GAH! I wish I took more pictures! There are so many details!). I should add, those stones and shells are glued on and finished, so they have a cool shine, and the stones in the back wrap around like a stone wall. Todd stained most of the wood and I just added little touches of color. The green square on the bottom has another little fence around it, and the other one is more like a platform for a little box with hand carvings that I painted in two shades of green. I wish I had a picture of that too, but hopefully I'll get some updated pics when she gets it.
Here it is, finished for the most part. The blue dowel will be getting a curtain and he also has this funky fish sculpture thing that will go in there (seen in the first pic) and two other wood objects. I painted the dowel first in this subtle gradation from dark to lighter blue and continued that with other the other elements of trim.Ok. I was introduced to the amazing music of Fela Kuti today. Here is a clip for your enjoyment.
I've got more to share about Todd and what he's up to, but I'll be saving that for tomorrow. Good night and peace.
Tuesday, October 07, 2008
Handmade Ornaments
The crafty bug has hit me and I've been making these felt ornaments with hand embroidered and beaded embellishments. After several test ornaments, I have two new ones that I think are up to par to list on Etsy. If these sell, I'll be thrilled, but it's not why I'm making them. It's just, quite simply, fun! I feel connected to the kid in me that used to cross stitch and make friendship bracelets with embroidery floss. I also feel connected to my Grandmother, because the patterns I am coming up with really remind me of the Hungarian folk art patterns that moved me as a young child. You can find my ornaments in my Etsy shop at www.livefunky.etsy.com.
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