Observations

Good Day!

Here's another edition to my creative exercises on paper, "Observations". I really love this piece, it has an Oceanic theme to it. It fulls of blues, bubbles and mixed media. These art pieces I am sharing with you daily are raw, unedited, and messy at times.

It a mixed media piece as well. I so would love for you to see this piece, it's really something special to me. By the way, I do ship International Direct for all my art lovers overseas! I'd love to get my art sold over the world, what a nice thought and compliment! Help me by sharing my art to your European friends.
Thank you.

To see it and purchase it, click: Observations

Wander II

These "Wander II" art piece is quite different from the first original "Wander" which you can see if you didn't see that one yet.

The "Wander II" is a mixed media piece as well, but does have a rather rough, dark look to it, unlike the first. In Wander II, I used chalks which are great blending tools and lots of circle mark marking.

You see the words, Live Everyday, and My Favorite Part...words that are so important to our creative journey or any part of a journey. Today, we try to live the much you can each day, and remember your favorite parts of your day for gratitude.

I actually like this piece because of it's bold colors and rising circles with mark marking. There is a rough texture to this painting, which is one of My Favorite Parts...you can feel the texture and it feels like part of the wandering process...rough, textured!

Let me know what you enjoy about these pieces... more will be posted.

You can see and get this painting here, WANDER II

Thank you!

 

A New Painting Submitted for the Twitter Art Exhibit 2014 in Orlando, Florida!

Hello everyone!
Voted of Florida's Best Artists, Robin Maria Pedrero is curating this 2014 Twitter Art Exhibit in Orlando to benefit The Center for Contemporary Dance, Special Needs Classes. This year I've been invited by Robin to participate in this year's Twitter Art Exhibit and each year since it's conception with Norway Artist and Founder, David Sandum. This is the fourth year and it's been fueling up each year... 

Here's the details if you live or planning to be in the Orlando area at the time of the show. Also, I've included the interesting young history of the Twitter Art Exhibits:

 WHEN
Thursday, March 20, 2014 | 6-9PM
Show runs March 20 - April 11, 2014

 WHERE
CityArts Factory, Magic Gallery | Orlando, Florida, USA

 The sale price will be $35 USD per card.

Twitter Art Exhibit: Orlando is an international exhibition of original postcard art benefiting The Center for Contemporary Dance, Special Needs Classes, a nonprofit (501)©3 organization dedicated to dance education and outreach. The Special Needs Classes include customized exercises that expand the student’s range of motion, creativity and social skills. Class work is further designed to enhance skills in memorization, problem solving and communication. Belinda Balleras, whose son takes classes every week, says: “He has a new sense of creative fulfillment and an additional pathway to productively express emotions.” 

Twitter Art Exhibit: Orlando is the fourth installment of an open international exhibition of handmade postcard art for charity, donated by hundreds of participating artists from around the globe.
While the first two exhibitions were held in Moss, Norway, the third installment held in Los Angeles marked the global launch for the concept by founder David Sandum, a Swedish-born artist who conceived Twitter Art Exhibit as a vehicle for doing good through social media and online community-building. The idea is simple: artists around the globe receive a call through Twitter social media to create original postcard-sized art, which they mail to a local curator, who then exhibits and sells them to benefit a local charity. 

Exciting stats: In its first year, Twitter Art Exhibit received postcards from over 260 artists in 24 countries, raising funds to buy 221 new children’s books for a struggling library in Moss, Norway. The second installment received entries by 360 artists in 32 countries, raising $4,000 USD for an abused women’s shelter, also in Moss. 

The 3^rd exhibition held in Los Angeles raised $7,000 for an organization mentoring underprivileged young adults in preparation for careers in the visual arts, attracting 502 artists from 35 countries, with a total of 726 postcard entries received.

Twitter Art Exhibit Organizing Board:
David Sandum                     @DavidSandumArt
Nat George                           @natgeorgela
Robin Maria Pedrero        @robinpedrero

Now would you like to see my abstract postcard painting for the exhibit?
Here it is....

 "The Movement"

6" x 4" on vellum paper

Sold!

What do you think?

Renewal

Recently I have been changing things up a bit with my color palette. "Renewal" is from this new palette. I like how it turned out, but it's a little different from my usual work and two comments I've received so far were that it was "pretty". I started to say back to them, "Didn't you know pretty is back in?" But I didn't. I know what they mean. Perhaps, not the best of compliments, but I wasn't looking for any. I know it felt good to make that painting and the experience reflected what was happening on the inside of me. I had taken a break from painting and was bored with my usual color palette and also so comfortable with it. So this was the feminine side wanting to come out and be renewed. This painting feels fresh and energizing to me, with a strong burst of creative energy radiating out from the center.

 Renewal 

 Acrylic

Size: 36"  x 24" x  .5" (deep)

Close Up View 1

Close Up View 2

Close Up View 3

Stay tuned for more! Thanks for stopping back and feel free to leave comments! Allison

"Going IntraCoastal". Life at the NC Beach.

I've decided to change things up a little bit with my painting. A new color palette for my new beach/water series. I'm using softer colors of pastels with hints of some vibrant color just to make the painting "pop"!
Here is one of my latest of this new series, "Going IntraCoastal". I like this painting.  It has a rough, palette knife texture, with soft hues. The colors range from pure white to lime, pinks, violets, turquoise, to light blues. This painting reminds me of the memories of living near the NC IntraCoastal Waterway and watching the boats pass by waiting for their turn to go through the swing bridge.

Hope you are enjoying this new series and color choices. This one was hard to photograph with so much bright white, but I hope you can see enough to get the idea.

"Going IntraCoastal"

24" x 18" (h) x 1.2" deep

Acrylic'

Canvas

Click Here to Buy!

Close Up 1

Close Up 2

Click Here To Buy

Hope you enjoy seeing this new painting, let me know what you think. There's more to come, stay tuned!

Allison

Do You Surrender To Your Art Journey? Part 2

Hello!
I was so delighted by the intriguing responses from my first post of "Do You Surrender To Your Art Journey" that it's requiring a part 2! I definitely want to continue this conversation and hope if you're game, I am. 


First of all, to recap the post if you haven't read it, I was basically saying how I was trying to go deeper with my art, to the point where something else happens. It's as if the paint becomes "alive" if you will, and takes over and I give it the room to move as it may. No longer do I have an agenda, but I watch to see what the paint wants to do, where it wants to go. I'm no longer the frustrated artist, because my plans didn't get executed as I expected, but the art said, let me take YOU where I want to go. The journey has surely been more interesting. I have had new experiences, I doubt I wouldn't have had before. And I'm seeing new surprises right before my eyes, especially when I walk away and come back to the painting, as if the painting fairies showed up and finished the painting. Crazy, I know. 


Here are a few of the comments I've received, including this one from my Twitter friend @Peteshootspix: "Often, I 'allow' an image to go where it will when in Photoshop. Then arises the question, who or what is creating the art?". Oh, I just loved that, good one Pete! 


One artist on Google Plus, Kris Schirmer, wanted to know what I thought of her statement, "Art Objects Are Living  Beings" in which she wanted to have a discussion exchange. I'm still contemplating that one. But yes, I do think there is energy embedded in one's art.


Another artist, Susan commented, "drawings were as if she mediating". An excellent perspective.


You can find plenty of trained artists in the world. In fact, in art school, they know they can teach anyone to draw. There are the basics, the techniques one can learn to draw and draw well. But when an artist can "move" you emotionally in their art and create such positive ripples in the world, anhe energy is happening. You can attain head knowledge of how to draw or paint, but once you surrender after the techniques of knowledge are applied, then hopefully, something incredible happens. I think those are the artists that stand out from the pack. It's no longer just about the artist, but the "creative force" that takes over. Okay, so that's about as profound as I get, but I am going to leave you with two artists  interviews that have experienced more as an artist than myself from youtube. Hope you enjoy them, Allison.


An inside look at abstract impressionist artist Kathryn Henneman, her studio and her artwork.

Learn about the technique and philosophy of artist Linde B. Martin. See her amazing artwork. 

That First Embrace

If you remember, I'm presently working in a more intuitive fashion with this next series of abstract paintings. Trying different techniques to see what comes out of me. To hold nothing back and relax, as the old saying goes, "Let it all hang out, Baby". This time, saying no to that critical voice before it speaks up and stirs the pot. This experimental process stops me from coming to the blank canvas with a preconceived idea, but rather come in an experimental mode of right brain thinking and be surprised by the results. Naturally, some simple editing near the end is necessary, but not at the beginning of the process or during the middle. Just a little adding of more colors here and there, and then STOP!

I've noticed the process of painting goes a little faster and frees me creatively in great strides more than ever before. I've been technically trained in art, so it's been hard for me to put that left brain training aside and just paint intuitively. 

Honestly, I'm more pleased with my work and hope this trend continues. This painting process, required lots of paint and is very messy, since I'm throwing paint at times. I did this outdoors with a plastic drop cloth on the ground, basically, marbling paint throughout the canvas until I get the desired effects. I wish you could see the details in person, up close. I like it, and I hope you do. I've got another one coming in the same style as this one. In this painting, I see the experience of embrace when a man meets a woman. Reminds me of when I first met my husband, Mike. He got out of the car, right away his hand raised his baseball cap off of his head and he threw his arms wide open towards me for a hug. I knew then, I was "hooked". The rest is history. Now, when I asked my husband what he saw in the painting, he said, "Smurfs in a blender!". Oh well, so much for the romance dept. Maybe, next time. I'm just have to settle for the embrace for now.

That's what's happening in my studio. Feel free to comment, I love hearing from you. And again, this painting and others are listed on eBay for purchase. Thanks for "visiting". Stay tuned for the next painting in this series of intuitive paintings.

Allison

P.S. My brilliant husband also said, I'd probably get more views on eBay if I give the painting his title. You know what, sadly, he's probably right. 

"The Embrace"

36" x 24" 

Acrylic

Click Here To Bid!

Close Up

Click Here To Bid!

Then Came Turquoise

So what's on the easel for today, you ask? Well, I'll be happy to show you. Something fun. I'm presently working on a new intuitive series. Basically, the process of this painting is this, I paint layers of color and I use a scraper (the fun part) and move the paint where I want it to go. Then I see the interesting colors that form and the movement of the paint. At times, I literally squeeze out paint from the tubes onto the canvas to get that punch of color right where I want it. Some areas of paint are scraped away and some are left behind. I go through large amounts of paint, but the look is worth it. This is a very large painting

Hope you like, "Then Came Turquoise". It came to show off.

"Then Came Turquoise"

40" x 30"

Acrylic

Gallery wrapped canvas

 Close Up 

Another Close Up View

Anything Can Be A Canvas

This is one post I'm excited about and I'll share with you why. My parents had an old wooden door on the back of their house to the basement and it had rotted out from water damage. My husband went to the task of removing the door and replacing it with a new one. Once he had finished, he started to carry the door to be placed with the other trash. I stopped him and said, "Let's not throw the door away, let's see if we can re-purpose it!". A new artist friend of mine came to my mind, ....Ah, Joyce Thornburg! She paints on anything, doors included, I thought. I'll give her a call. Sure enough, Joyce was delighted to hear I had a wood door for her to paint on if she wanted to and she did.

Click here for my previous post on Joyce's work: Asheville's River Arts District And It's Talented Artists

Joyce had a recent art exhibit with a 1800's farmhouse door she had painted and it was well received. She calls herself the compulsive painter, she'll paint on anything and it's paying off! You'll see what I mean later on in this post, but for now I thought it would be nice to journey Joyce's process of this recycled door for you.

Here's is Joyce Thornburg with my parent's old wood basement door ready for her to paint.

My husband had to cut off the bottom of the door since it had water damage. Here the door is actually shown upside down.

I recently visited Joyce's studio during the River Arts District Art Studio and Stroll. And I was so happy to see the re-purposed finished beautifully painted door!

Joyce's brightly light sun-infused art studio at the River Arts District in Asheville, NC.

A close up of the painting on the door.

With Joyce's willingness and talent to paint on anything, along with her artistic vision, she has been commissioned by a local green builder to paint a door for his recent custom-built house in thriving West Asheville!

Here's the new commissioned door for a green custom-built home.

The above commissioned door with be installed at this new home. Here's the write-up about the green home for sale.

Way to go, Joyce! From just having fun painting on everything to getting a new start on commissioned doors for custom-built homes right here in our mountain city of Asheville, NC!

To find out more about Asheville's River Arts District, click here; River Arts District

Ever been on a Safari Art StudioTour?

Hello everyone!
This past spring, I was busy attending several art events around the area and thought I'd share with you photos of the events, artists I've met and their art! I usually take a break from painting in the summer to spend time with my family and the break allows me to get out and meet other artists. I truly enjoy meeting other artists, seeing their work and coming back to post about it. I hope you're not bored with my outings, I promise I will be back to posting my paintings this fall.

I had an exciting event that came up this past spring, called Weaverville's Art Safari Spring Studio Tours and was I ever so glad I went! This event was so well organized, which generally isn't a strong trait for artists. So what is a Safari Art Studio Tour?

 

 Well, you're given a map of all the participating artists and their studios, and you had to look for the signs to each artist's home, which was fun for us as a family. Not only beautiful art did we see, but this below.

Two artists that happened to be married to each other, had this lovely view from their home on Hamburg Mountain.

Studios were dotted along the mountainside here in Western NC and you never knew what was around the next bend.This was their 10th anniversary and they started it off with a Friday night art auction held at this beautiful farm just outside Weaverville, NC, Claxton Farm. Wow! so beautiful and what a perfect setting. Their website is worth visiting. I had no idea where the winding mountain road was taken me when I started out, I was just following the Art Safari signs and lo, and behold... I ended up in a scene right from a movie. Simply breathtaking. I wish my photos would do it justice, but they won't, sorry Claxton Farm. But I was in love with the place. And inside, it was every bit charming, great appetizers, a bluegrass band and the art?, Oh, my.... I wish you could have been there, seriously. Very impressive. From jewelry like I've never seen, to fibers, to pottery, to paintings, to bronze sculptures. These people were serious about promoting their work and did an excellent job doing so. The drawings for the free gifts were stunning as well.

I've taken some photos of the farm, please add the dreaminess, charm, and sense of freedom as if you're there. Like I said, my photos won't do justice, so bear with me as I relive my wonderful experience there.

Okay, I'll move on and share photos from Claxton Farms Art Auction.

When I first pulled up I had no idea the amount of people that would be there. I was on time and there were rows of vehicles already there!
Once you arrived, you parked in an open field. It made me so excited to see such a turnout, in fact, I later heard it was the largest attendance, ever.

The barn for the art auction held Friday night.

Here's the facility. Great patio and awesome mountain views.

Here's the view from that patio. Just makes you say, "Ahhh", right?

Wildflowers growing along the barn.

This is the three-piece bluegrass band playing for us that night. The lady in the middle playing a guitar is an artist also.

A nearby pond and more colorful wildflowers to enjoy.

The next day, Saturday morning, we started out on the Safari Studio Tour, following the great signs to each artist's studio. Most of the artists had home studios, but all were fabulous in their layout, space, and they way they chose to show their artwork. Many of the studios were inviting and gorgeous. All very functional, but leaving you with the feeling that you'd like to have one just like them. I know I did. Each had their own personalities, as well. I'll introduce you to one artist that set up her beautiful home as a gallery to not only show off her paintings, but also so you could get the idea how her paintings would look in your home or office. Great idea!

When I arrived at Joy Moser's art studio in her home, I was greeted by a bluegrass band on her wide front porch and inviting rocking chairs. That was a special treat to be greeted in such a way. Joy is such a talented musician as well as a successful artist. I had no idea she was the one playing at the art auction the night before. What a great combination, music and art!

 Artist Joy Moser

She welcomed me into her home and I was so amazed. She did something so smart. She painted the inside of her lovely large two story home with beautiful warm colors to be the backdrop for her art work. She shared with me her desire to display her work in a way her patrons could see how each painting could possibly look in their own home or office. Great idea, Joy! She gave us a tour of each room with her beautifully displayed paintings. Yes, she had the right idea and it paid off, she had shared with me she just sold three paintings that morning! Yay, Joy! Her landscapes are so lovely in their warm, but vibrant colors and the movement of each brush stroke relaxes the viewer. But, I'll give you the chance to see her paintings for yourself.

Landscapes by Joy Moser

 I loved this winter scene, Joy painted. See the reflections in the water.

Hope you enjoyed seeing Joy's paintings as much as I did. Just working on this post and seeing her work all over again, warms my heart. Definitely, this fall you'll want to meet Joy Moser at her home studio. Her music, her art, her home and front porch will make it worth the trip! Plus, she's just a delightful person to meet. Thanks, Joy for a great time at your home.

 Next stop on the tour, I met Artist Diane Hall at her home studio. Her work ranges from various subjects of animal portraits to mystical paintings with richly colored acrylics, textures, and layers. Her collages are so intriguing to me, as they are very unique. Since I wasn't that familiar with the collage style of her work, she was so kind to demo how she uses colored tissue paper with washes to achieve her results. 

Diane also offers art classes to children and was so kind to do an inprompto art class with my daughter, Sarah. Thank you very much, Diane! I have to say as an abstract painter, Diane gave me new ideas to try out in the future.

Another beauty from Artist Diane Hall

Collage Landscapes

 Vibrant sunflowers and other works of Diane Hall from the walls of her studio.

Artist Meryl Meyer 

 Then I met Artist Meryl Meyer at her home studio. Meryl has eye for detail that is to be envied. She is extremely patient with her painting and her skill for details shows. I studied her paintings, wishing I had the technical skill and patience that comes from Meryl. She shared with me, how working on the details was a very calming experience for her. Unfortunately for me, I couldn't relate. I haven't perfected, nor am I gifted with patience. Her pet portraits are incredible due to her detailed work. Each one is truly a valued masterpiece. I only regret I didn't get more photos of her portraits for you to see.

These were a few of the many talented artists from the Weaverville Art Safari Studio Tour. Save these dates, October 29th- 30th, 2001 for their next Fall art studio tour! What a beautiful time in the mountains of Western North Carolina to visit or if you're local, meet our talented area artists. I hope you enjoyed my post. 

A healthy and creative Summer to you, Allison

Asheville's River Arts District And It's Talented Artists

Hello Everyone, it's good to be back on the blogging scene again!
Just to update you, my family and I have made another move. We have relocated to Asheville, NC! Who knew little ole' Asheville (and my hometown I might add) would become #1 in Top Small US Cities. Pretty exciting to me. Now there's the River Arts District to see artists in their studios and plenty of downtown art galleries. It just fueled me, to say the least! So I decided to play tourist and head to the River Arts District and here's a few artists I met! I'm including links to articles and artist's websites for more detailed information for your future reading pleasure.

The first artist I met is Jonas Gerard (what a great name, right? Sounds like an artist name to me). He was so kind to allow me to take photos of his 5,000 sq. ft. studio/gallery and you have to see his cool art van. He is an abstract and representional painter and uses mixed media. If you have a love for vibrant color and abstract art, you'll enjoy his paintings. Jonas is emerged on the artscene in the 70's and truly is a color expressionists in my opinion. I totally relate to his creative process since he works more intuitively and which you can experience this through the movement of his paintings. His creative works consist of large and small paintings, 3D wall sculptures and free standing sculptures, painted bowls, decorative tiles, and gifts. Jonas Gerard's works have been exhibited all over the US and abroad. I would like to invite you to watch his performance video, it's not your usual artist painting video. And last note, definitely don't miss Jonas Gerard's "We The People" painting accepted by The White House in 1975.

On the way to Jonas Gerard's Studio and Gallery

Free Standing Sculpture by Jonas Gerard

Stunning entrance to Jonas Gerard's Gallery, full of color and energy!

Jonas Gerard's Art Van!

Rear View of Gerard's van.

Next on our tour, artist Stephen Lange. How do I share with you what I saw in Stephen's art? It's incredible. Words and phrases like mystery, dedication to details, glitter, layering, multi-dimensional  and complexity make his art such a success. I had not seen anything quite like Stephen's work and it was a fresh escape to hear about the process and the components of his work. They beauty of his paintings lay determined by the light of the day. As the light hits his paintings, you'll see what I mean. In his latest series, he's used reflective tape as one of his mediums and to it's advantage, very well. As the sunlight hits the small sections of tape, the sun's reflection is reflected back to you, giving you the wonderful feeling of the sun shining brightly on the ocean's water. Now the painting has interacted with you. The brighter the light the stronger the impression. So his paintings change as the lighting around them changes throughout the day.
Then to learn about the process of Stephen Lang's highly successful circle paintings... well, I'll have to leave that to another post. The next day I did see his circle paintings at the City Bakery Cafe downtown...awesome on their dining room walls. The warm paint tones on their walls made it a perfect backdrop for his large paintings.

Here's Stephen Lange with his very popular circle paintings made with handmade dyes. On the left his newest series of water paintings using reflective tapes. (Before)

(After!) Tada! See how Stephen's paintings glow in the different lighting conditions. His inspiration for this series of paintings was from his love of the marshes and water when he lived in Mt. Pleasant, SC. Now, we are fortunate to have Stephen and his family living in Asheville.

One of the most delightful artists I've met on this tour was Joyce Thornburg, an Outsider/Folk Artist. Joyce is a full-time artist and North Carolina native. She is such a delight to meet and one can feel her love for art. As Joyce says, she paints because she has to. Her soul longs to paint daily and is truly set free doing so. She paints on whatever she can, even recycled doors and photographs. One of my favorites was Joyce's "Natures Lollypop" painting. She has a love for cats, faces and travel and it shows in her work. She is more than a regular staple at The Wedge studios, she more like a muse for your soul. Joyce's art has been exhibited and collected throughout the US, Europe and Mexico.

Here is the lovely Joyce Thornburg painting on one of her recent doors. By they way, she suggests they can be used as headboards!

These are just three of the fine people that I have met, so far, in Asheville.  On my next post, I will introduce you to some more of the fine artists who ply their trade in this great city.  Remember, when visiting Asheville, simply look for the yellow signs for the River Arts District.  Plus, be sure to enjoy all of the sights, the music, and food while in Asheville.

One section of Asheville's colorful River Arts District.