Fashion pop art

A few more images modified from my sketchbook:

Old Trumpet

I have a small collection of old musical instruments that I've acquired over the years. I sketched my trumpet today and then graphically turned it into a pop-art style piece.

Artemis

This is a sketch I did today of a frieze from the Parthenon (from a different photo reference). I'm continuing my exploration of drawn media, as I have very little experience here outside of doodling on my notebooks back in high school. I tend to find myself doing profiles rather often any time I do people, rather than the more common frontal view. This habit is one I'm working on breaking, but don't have anything completed enough to post here as of yet.

sketch

Today I attempted a sketch of a male head. I didn't have an actual model to look at, but instead used an anatomical image of a musculo-skeletal skull (w/o skin) for my guide. I've been attempting to study anatomy from the perspective of an artist lately and this exercise stretched me a bit.

Image done with white charcoal on paper.

A Few Update Pics

Baby and New Works

I haven't posted here in a while mostly because I'm spending the majority of my time with my daugther and my new lovely baby, Grant, who was born Feb. 13. (Photos by the amazing Pete Bulanow of peterbphoto).

I do have some works in progress to share with you though, as I do eek out bits of time to paint here and there.

A few notes of interest- the painting of the solitary tree is of a 350+ year old oak tree on my parent's farm that I painted in plein aire. The blueberries are a part of a 12 part series on foods (you can see the other 11 prepped canvases in the photo). The set of 3 fields is probably complete but I plan on spending a while longer having it up on my mantle so I can be sure it feels 'done' to me. The piece with 4 fruits is a study using some gels that I've found to be rather tricky to create an effect I'm trying for.

New Piece

This piece is especially large (24"x48" on an extra deep canvas). I am hoping to finish it before I have the baby, but that could really be any day now. I'm posting a progression of the work in progress. It still has a good ways to go, but you can see how it is developing:

Update

Time flies it seems. The shows in November went well. Thanks to all who came!

I’ve been busy with commissions lately. I can’t post any of them until after Christmas because they were purchased as Christmas presents and we can’t have anyone getting a peak early! J I promise after Christmas I’ll post pictures!

I’ve been spending a good bit of time sketching lately. I’m pushing myself more on portraiture and human form. I’m also putting in a good amount of time reading art history and researching the artists in my family tree.

With my pregnancy now in the 3^rd trimester I’m finding myself heavily reflective on the art I’m creating more of. I’m in a bit of a vein lately and looking at the increasing constraints on my time ahead with a newborn, I’m wanting to become more focused in fewer directions. Narrowing myself in some ways and broadening myself within some areas at the same time. It would be very easy to be completely unproductive with a new baby. I’ve done this before so I know how little time I’ll really have. So in light of that I’m gathering my study materials, sketch pads, and canvases, and preparing to spend a lot of time in my apartment. It’s a good thing I know how to paint with a baby in a sling.

Later next summer I have several plein aire painting trips in the works. One is to a place I went to a lot as kid - Hearts Content in the Allegheny National Forest. It’s primitive camping (no showers, but they do have flush toilets - I’m getting one of those freestanding shower tents because I’m not that all natural). It’s a virgin forest which means it’s never been harvested – one of the few groves in the east. The trees are 3-400 years old and the forest floor is dense moss and ferns. Several other spots for plein aire creative time are in the works – I’ll post more as the details for those get more settled.

Until then I may be spending a lot of time indoors so if any of my readership wants to donate their vacation photos or interesting shots you’ve taken for me to work from, you may see your images reinterpreted by my brush this spring. I am always looking for new things to sketch and paint and the hermit life doesn’t expose me to nearly as much as I would like. I’m thankful there are artist’s reference photos out there but it takes 10 photos to find all the elements I’m looking for in a pose or whatever I’m doing. Reconstructing what is in my mind from a bunch of different photos gets a bit complex, but I do enjoy being stretched. I should put together a costume party or something and convince all my friends to do all the poses I’m looking for. That would probably be the best option to get what I’m looking for.

Too many ideas… too little time…

You're Invited Sat. Nov. 4 and 11

The next two Saturdays I am taking part in 2 open houses. Three friends have home based businesses and are hosting a holiday open-house and all of my new pieces (13 new works!) will be on display at both locations. I'll also have my prints and other items there as well.

This Saturday (November 4) from 9-4 you can come to 6815 Malton Court, Centreville, VA 20121 and check out all the items available.

Then the following Saturday (November 11) we will be in Manassas at 9641 Looking Glass Ct., Bristow, VA 20136 at the same times.

Hope to see you there!

Red Alium Blooms

Gerber Daisies on Lavendar

More New Paintings

Here are 3 more paintings/ groupings that I have for the show this Saturday in Reston. Another pair is on my easel right now and just needs finishing touches. If I can get time, I'll post pictures of that set tommorrow. It looks like there are quite a few planning on coming to the show. If you are wanting to come and need directions, please email me @ rebecca@tiffanyarts.com

Upcoming shows

These new pieces show how I'm in the mood for fall to be upon us. Maybe it's just that I'm happy to see change. This pregnancy had me mostly in bed basically for 2 months and I'm glad to be up and about again. I also am posting a picture of my daughter and I painting together in Ohio. I was mostly ill that trip but thanks to my mom for taking care of my daughter, I did end up getting to paint a little there.

I have 3 upcoming shows in the next month. October 14th I'll be in Reston doing a home show. I'm also doing an event with 3 friends the first 2 Saturdays of November. The first week we'll be in Centreville and the second Saturday will be in Manassas. Click here to see the flyer and feel free to stop by anytime the day(s) of the show. I'll list the Manassas information when I have it but it will be the same show, just at a different location.

Back at the Easel

I've been a bit out of things lately. Wrapping up the end of a difficult first trimester to a surprise pregnancy and then a wrist injury, I haven't been painting much lately. But now that I'm getting back into the swing of things, I went out and purchased a bunch of blank canvases to work from. I'm headed to Bethany Beach this weekend  and then heading to Ohio to visit mine. I plan to do some plein aire painting in both locations.

So, hopefully when I'm back in 2 weeks, I'll have a lot of new things to show you. In the mean time, here are a few pictures from my last home show:

Home Show and New Art

The Doan Home Art Show is still on for this Saturday, July 15th, for those who may have been wondering due to some circumstances a few have been aware of. From 2-5 pm come enjoy a glass of wine and browse art in Chantilly, VA. For directions, please email me at rebecca@tiffanyarts.com.

The following 3 paintings are recent completions. All 3 are larger than my usual sizes. The 3rd piece is a commission so it is not available for sale. The others will be shown for the first time at the Doan show so you'll be able to see them in person there along with approximately 18 other paintings and 29 prints.

New York and Finishing Up

I’ve recently returned from my trip to New York, soaking in some of the art scene there. I have to say I was surprised at how friendly the city was in general. I’ve been in plenty of galleries in different cities and I’ve never received the consistently welcoming attitude as I did when browsing in SOHO in particular. I’ve learned that it’s worth it to know what type of art various galleries carry before attempting to submit, so the goal of my trip to Manhattan was to get a feel for different venues there. I’ve got my list of the places I liked and when I complete some of the projects I’m working on, later this year I’ll start submitting them (if I can keep new works from going before I list them as has been the trend lately).

In other news, for all of those who are waiting on your print orders – they are in!! I will be contacting you and setting up a time to deliver them to you this week.

I am also wrapping up the large commission piece I’ve been working on. It is a large abstract that I’ve been putting quite a few layers of texture into. Each layer has to dry before the next can be applied so it’s been tedious but I’m loving the light that comes through from the background to the top translucent layers. I’d post pictures but my digital camera batteries are dead and it appears I left my recharger in NYC.

New works

Last night I stayed up to 2 am working on a new commission I've recieved. It's a large 36 X 48" abstract that I'm really excited to see come together. I got the background colors in place and I'm going to study it's composition for a few days before proceeding. I often take some time in the middle of a painting and work on something else while I brood over the piece and basically wait for it to speak to me about what needs to happen to make it complete. (I'll post pics of it when it's done). I often work late at night and enjoy the quiet hours of uninterrupted peace.

I have quite a few pieces that I haven't posted pictures of yet, but I promise I'll put them up soon, hopefully some before I leave for New York on Thursday. Tonight's piece is what I've been doing intermittently with the commissioned piece. Often when I have my brushes out already and time to paint - when one canvas is wet and a section needs to dry before I can proceed, I'll take it off my easel and put a blank one on so I can stay in my creative flow. So this work in progress is not the commissioned one, and it's not similar to it either, but for me, it's the perfect interlude for the vein I'm in.

Prints!

I have been surprised at how popular my prints have been. After quite a bit of work - I finally have prints available online. I am running a special of free shipping anywhere in the continental US now through June 30. These are limited editions so once they sell out they will be gone. Check them out here. Thanks to everyone who has been so supportive of me getting these prints done!

Following up

The show went better than what I had anticipated. I was busy talking to people and answering their questions about my art from about 15 minutes before we had planned to open to the end. I forgot to get some pictures of the show because I was on my toes the whole time. We had a great time. For those who missed the show and are asking to come to another, June 15 will be the next date and the location is in Chantilly this time.

Last night I recieved a new commission from a collector of my works. I'm really excited about seeing it develop on canvas. I'll post pics as it comes together. As I walked out of their door, paintings in hand, I ran into the next door neighbor who had also purchased some prints at the show and she invited me in to talk to her about doing a mural. Leaving her place I ran into my sister-in-law who lives on the other side of the 2 townhouses I had just been in. She is one of the main reasons I've been able to keep painting. About half of the work I've done so far is somehow related to her telling people about my work. She stopped me to tell me about someone she knows who is interested in a pieces of mine. In her row of town houses, there are 4 murals (soon to be 5), 8 paintings (soon to be 9), and I'm not sure how many prints. I've enjoyed working over there quite a bit - very nice people and the commissions have been pieces that I've really enjoyed doing. It's kind of a little creative island e over there.

This week I am following up on all the orders I recieved at the show for limited edition prints. I'm hoping to get the mat boards in and get them assembled in their archival bags and everything before I leave for NYC in a week. If I don't get everything together by then, I'll get them right after I'm back the following Tuesday. I'll deliver them ASAP for those who are waiting. I'll also hopefully have my prints online for sale here later today as I am getting requests daily for that.

Thanks everyone for making the home show a great time! I'm looking forward to the next one and later this summer I'll have one in NW DC. And a special thanks to Meredith Norris, who has made so much of my work possible so far!

Saturday's Show

The Norris Home Show will be from 1-4pm Saturday. I won't post the address here but those of you who would like to come can call me (see my homepage for phone number) for directions. The home features 2 of my murals and 4 paintings. I will also have a dozen+ paintings and several dozen prints there as well. Come join us for wine, art, and a good time!

Blooms in white

I mentioned that on Mother's Day I got to paint some. I've had some of these ideas burning in my mind for months now, so it's a relief to get them out on canvas.

I have a series based on the 'Bloom' piece started. This is an angle view of one of the first new pieces. It is entitled "Clean: Blooms in White" It is full of metallic paints that I need to photograph under a spotlight to show the affect I was after when I created this.

Gallery Updated

If you haven't checked out my gallery lately, I've added several new paintings. Several pieces sold before I listed them, but you can see them under the 'sold' section of my gallery. I'm debating whether to expand my permenant collection exhibit on there or not. I have dozens of pieces that I won't list for sale because when I first started painting, I used cardboard scraps, 50 cent paint brushes, and the kind of paint you use to do children's crafts. They're not exactly done to archival standards, which is why I won't sell them. But they are interesting to look at. Several have been made into archival prints which I will list for sale soon here. I brought several dozen back with me from my visit to my parents house that I have yet to scan or do anything with (they'll go back to my mom when I'm done though). Many of my early pieces were initially motivated by my blank walls. I just wanted some art to look at so I painted some. Fortunately, high quality scans and archival inks and papers can preserve the images even though eventually the originals will likely deteriorate. The flower shown here is an example of an old image that I have never done anything with. As soon as I have the time, I'll list the prints online for sale.


I've also added new items for summer in my private cafepress store if you haven't been there recently.

Check back soon for information about June's upcoming shows!

Lately

I've been out and about quite a bit lately. Two large on-site painting projects kept me busy for several weeks. I also just wrapped up my show at the Millford mill. I really enjoyed the crowd of artists there as well as the rural scenery of the surrounding region. Clarke County has to contain some of the most idyllic farmland in the U.S. I’d like to spend some time doing some plein aire painting out there. One point that attracts me most about the particular lay of the land out there is that it contains vistas with multiple layers of depth. I tend to shy away from landscape paintings that feel ‘closed in.’ I prefer scenes where you get a sense of the context of the subject and aren’t stifled by walls or objects blocking your view from the larger picture (perhaps that says something about my view on life in general.)

After several weeks of intense painting doing murals and other things, I took some time to reabsorb some art by visiting several galleries. My first stop was to visit Heather Levy’s show at The Graham Collection. Her exhibit “The United Series” showed the connectedness we all share as humans. My favorite was a gradient of green, yellow, and blue with what seemed to be dancing figures intertwined. I met Heather when we showed together at the Nowuno Gallery.

I then visited the Cézanne in Provence exhibit at the National Gallery of Art. His color palette is still fixed in my mind. His brush strokes seemed soothing but his patterns bothered me at times. I do find his use of light to be his major genius though. His ability to direct the eye right where he wants is part of what makes him a timeless master.

On another day I visited Grant Wood’s exhibit at the Renwick followed by the Dada works at the National Gallery. The contrast between the two exhibits was rather strong to experience in one day. In Grant Wood’s pieces I saw a thousand memories of my own life. Although my life has been divided between inner city, suburbia, and rural life, I have had a great deal of influence from the latter category. Having done a great deal of farm labor as a child, I’ve had countless hours to soak up the scenery. Being strongly connected to my extended family and the older generations thereof, I have had an immersion in the culture and mindset behind the wrinkled brows Grant Wood paints so well. Knowing of his recluse life and looking at his obsessive perfection made me wonder if he might have fallen somewhere on the autism spectrum.

Dada was the complete converse of the Grant Wood exhibit. Although shocking at times and un-nerving at others, I loved the rebellion of it all. The daring to see things in new ways, the boldness to call things “art” that were not understood by the establishment. Man-Ray was clearly my favorite and I ended up having to rush through the end of the exhibit a bit because of time, so I clearly missed some things.

I did paint a little on Mother’s Day (breakfast in bed is a truly inspiring way to start the day). I miss my brushes and paints so much when I don’t get to do much of my 'own' art. I needed the time to just look at art and to soak in their colors and moods and light though at the galleries. I am hoping to get out this summer and see quite a bit. Art truly comes alive when you see it in person. I have a deep appreciation for those who ‘do art that has never been done before’ and although I strive to make each piece my own, I would never for a moment deny that to me, art bears a great sense of connection to all who have created before me and all who will create after.

Alone in the Meadow

I never did post completed pics of some of my paintings I finished recently. This one is called "Alone in the Meadow." I put quite a bit of time into this one. I especially enjoyed doing the sky. I have always loved clouds and still find myself looking up every time I step outside to see what new forms are there that day. In many of my pieces you may notice that the central clouds are light, celebrative and peaceful or joyful. Off to the edges there are usually dark grey clouds. To me this is symbolic of the transition from dark to light that we experience on our spiritual journeys in life. With each new understanding, we have new light to illuminate our lives.

The tree in this painting reflects how I feel at times. I am perfectly comfortable with aloneness and often enjoy it. I love my friends and family and need them. I also need my alone time and this painting expresses that way I feel when I have a little time to just enjoy life for a few hours by myself doing whatever I really want to do. The tree is basking in the sunlight that is pouring over it and it reflects the way I often feel that life is pouring over me and wrapping around me with goodness, be it in my child's hug or in the way I feel when I paint.

Most of my paintings are filled with meaning and emotion to me. I don't often share them because I have never really known if I had an audience who cared. A recent conversation with a patron of mine changed my mind that some people actually might be interested in knowing some of the long details about the thought process and meaning behind my works. So I will start putting some of the explanations behind my works on my blog. Others I'll write out and file away if they're too personal to share right now.

I always have atleast a dozen paintings in my head. Right now I have 26. We'll see if I can get to them sometime here. I have another large painting project this weekend and then after that I may be able to start on the main series I'm feverish to do. A wonderful artist and very interesting man I met on my trip to Ohio 2 weeks ago, observed as I was browsing his works in his studio/gallery, I have a busy mind.

Art at the Mill

Friday morning I drove out bright and early to drop off the piece that was accepted into the juried show at the Millwood Mill in Clarke County. If you'd like to go to the show, I will be heading out several times. I'll post which dates here if anyone wants to head out to the countryside.

I was one of the first people in line because I had to be back in Fairfax at 11am and they didn't take any works in for hanging until 10am. I did get a chance to look around. Almost everything there at the time was realist work and most of it landscapes. Almost everyone else in the building had been an artist about 40-50 years longer than me. It was a bit intimidating. It's not that I can't paint realist landscapes, though maybe not with the drama that the masters there did. I actually tend to shy away from traditional realism and lean toward a bit of abstract in my scenes. But their work was beautiful. And the white haired artists standing in line with their paintings tucked under their arms, were a lovely sight.

I could have sat in that old mill for hours, absorbing the hues of the paintings that were being hung. It smelled just like my parent's barn - in fact the beams looked like they were cut the same way.

I'll be going to Ohio this week and probably spending some time sketching and photographing at my parent's farm. Maybe once I get back, if I can find the time, I'll get some Ohio landscape on canvas. My parents have this 400 year old oak tree that I've been wanting to paint for some time now. Maybe that one will be a good subject. We'll see what catches my eye when we're there.

Dancing Flowers

I've been trying to get a decent picture of these pieces for a while and have been rather unsucessful. This one has a good bit of flash washing out the center of the piece, but does show you the basics of how I finished the flowers. I used a bit of the glass micro bead acrylic gel on the edge of the flower petals as well to give an effect you can only see from certain angles and with the right light. When I get a better picture I'll replace this one.



















Here's a closeup:

The Difficult Job

Ah, now here's a taboo topic!

One of the more difficult parts of professional art is pricing your work. You are told to add up your materials cost and factor in a dollar per hour fee or to use a price per square inch scale or to price all your pieces of one size the same amount or... there are a lot of formulas. So far I haven't really been pricing my work at a living wage by any means. In fact I'm barely recuperating costs. But then there's the issue of "price at what the market will bear." I've mostly sold via personal connections and haven't through a business venue. I assume that galleries and dealers could get a bit more for my work (but will charge me the normal 50% or more to do so), because they have direct connections with art collectors. I've been selling my work for almost 2 years now mostly to family, friends, and their acquaintances. At first I was just happy that people wanted my work. I still am thrilled about that factor, but it doesn't pay for me to pursue making more art.

There is also the myth out there that artists should just create their work and never think about money. Hence the starving artists out there. Many people feel that art shouldn't be worth anything until the artist is dead. There are many current ideas about how artists "should" and "should not" be that are derived from nineteenth century art critic Theophile Gautier (written by Tom Wolfe): "[W]ith Gautier's own red vests, black scarves, crazy hats, outrageous pronouncements, huge thirsts, and ravenous groin... the modern picture of The Artist began to form: the poor but free spirit, plebian but aspiring only to be classless, to cut himself forever free from the bonds of the greedy and hypocritical bouqeoisie, to be whatever the fat burghers feared most, to cross the line wherever they drew it, to look at the world in a way they couldn't see, to be high, live low, stay young forever - in short, to be the bohemian."

There are things about that quote that I agree with. We all want to ride on the excitement the artist experiences when their work is created and to imagine the rush it must surely give them with every stroke. Watching Chihuly work and live very much demonstrates this experience. It's thrilling just to see. But Chihuly is not exactly a starving artist (though he may have been 30 years ago). And not all artists fit the Gautier mold.

In the art world the vast majority of the funds are accrued by galleries, curators, dealers, etc. Artists as a category make the least in the food chain. It is to be recognized that the galleries often make it possible for most artists to exist. It is also often too common for artists to be taken advantage of by unscrupulous business deals. Part of the reason that happens is that there are so many variables in the industry, with each 'product' being unique in entirity. Also because the work of creating art itself is rather consuming, it is difficult to also be abreast of legal, tax, business, marketing, and other issues that affect artists.

There are many in the general public that are either intimidated by art and it's often high prices, or look at artists as undisciplined adolescents who don't deserve to make a living because their work "should be payment in and of itself." I've had plenty of people drop the, "Wow, but that's so great that you get to do what you LOVE." It's true. I do love it. I would do it regardless of pay.

Transitioning from the world of 'hobbyist' to 'professional' is not an easy one. Many full-time artists spend any where from 50-80% of their time 'conducting business'. Preparing presentations to galleries, press releases, and lots of other activities that increase the dollar value of their body of work (sold and future), is considerably energy and time consuming. But to be able to have the time to create art, those activities are necessary. Being able to guarantee that the value of their collection will increase because the artist is pursing greater recognition, is one of the driving forces behind collectors. Collectors make the world of art possible. They want to know that what they buy today will be worth more in a few years because the artist will be working the system actively to increase their value (kind of the opposite of the bohemian role we're supposed to also fulfill). There are a few rare individuals who have a wealthy benefactor who pay for them to do whatever they like and actually play the 'role of the artist' that we've all heard about since grade school. But most artists don't fit into the box we've all imagined they live in.

I'm going to keep my prices low probably for the remainder of the summer. I'm planning on taking some time off from painting new pieces to refocus and sketch. Late summer/early fall I will begin working on larger series of works. I am going to move toward a more cohesive body of work that will be based upon the things I have previously done, but will be done in larger series and with a more connected feel among all my pieces. I'm moving toward a more personal style that reflects more of my love for color and the graceful way that it combines. I'll do series of 5-15 pieces at a time when I restart. At that point I will have to decide if I want to go through galleries only and cease from selling directly to the public on my own, or not. I'll have to really reconsider the pricing of my work because I will put 4 months of planning into the work I'll be doing, as well as the actual work creating them. I may just sell prints from my website and paintings through galleries... I don't know. I have a stack of books on art business sitting next to my stack on art history that I'm pouring through. Hopefully I'll read something that will answer all of my questions, but probably not.

My to-do list of getting started as a 'legitimate' artist gets longer every day but the more I read the better I feel that I can do this. The learning curve is huge but if there's anything I love, it's taking on something with a bit of impossibility to it and learning something new and difficult. When I was 17 I got hired by a web designer and was given a key to his downtown office and access to a library of 4" thick books on html and photoshop. I rarely ever saw the guy who was supposed to mentor me, and he still owes me several paychecks, but the job did a lot for me. I had to teach myself everything but just having access to the material was all I needed. That was my internship in web and graphic design and I made a living off those skills for the next 9 years.

I've had a lot of other opportunities to learn a variety of technical and other business skills that I'm finding myself drawing on heavily as I attempt to start a a career. There is an incredible weight of things to accomplish to get this thing off the ground. At times I get a bit depressed as I realize how much further away the next mile stone really is, but a lot of times that just makes me run harder. I may run myself into the ground (Ryan's seen me do that I lot of times in our 6 years we've been together). But I always do get myself back up and find my pace again.

So, here's to the horizon I'm chasing:

through the glass

I've been experimenting with a glass micro-bead acrylic texture gel that I've been using in several of my pieces. It's an element of the pieces that you can only see from certain angles but when it catches the light - it's so lovely.

Flowers

I've gotten a few flowers on the stems in the red and gold painting. I'm hoping to finish it in the next few days here.

Also the cafepress sale 20% off sale I listed in a previous post will be wrapping up Tuesday by 9 pm so be sure to let me know if you want me to add anything to the rest of the orders I've gotten.

Home Art Shows

I'm going to be starting in-home art shows after April 21. For more info click here. I've got frames being made. Prints being printed. New artwork near completion. It's going to be a smashing good time!

Little Sale

Cafepress has given shop keepers a 20% discount on all their merchandise ending March 21. I've had a number of people mention they would like to get a few things so I thought I'd take this opportunity to pass the savings along. You'll have to place your order through me (check or cash - I have to be the one to place the order to get the discount) before the 21st, but for those who have expressed interest, let me know what items you want and I'll place the order. I have 2 stores: my main store (connected to my website) and my private collection items (connected to my art blog).

On the Easel

I've been painting up a storm lately. None of the following pieces are complete. Some are further along than others. I rotate them out as painting involves deep concentration at times and one can only concentrate on one thing for so many hours before you get a headache. So I work on one for a day and another the next. The red and gold pieces will have multi-colored flowers on them. The framed print is my first archival giclee test print which I recolored for my sister- in- law.