I am relearning the best times of day to work in my new studio space. The lighting is just right, right now. Today I am supposed to be cleaning and organizing (still!). I hate cleaning 😭I will hopefully get a picture of my hands at work for today’s #marchmeetthemaker, at some point. ✋👋😬
My first portrait of my son. I have been so scared to go there, because especially when they are your own, they are so precious and perfect. I didn’t want to ruin that. Today’s #marchmeetthemaker is supposed to be about me, but I am not really in the mood to show my face today! What is hard about these challenges is finding ways to be on, when you are off! So, I thought I would show this instead! It was painted with my handmade watercolors. I am going to offer custom portraits through my website, soon. Sign up for my newsletter to be notified when they are available!
Today’s #MarchMeetTheMaker promt is “how you started”. My compulsion to make things started very young, and just never went away. I was just thinking about this the other day— I got really, REALLY serious about art when I was 15. I was so depressed and lonely as a teenager. Art helped me focus on something other than my misery. There are a lot of reasons why I am an artist, but that is one of the big ones. Around that time I started collecting books and taking classes. It became an obsession. It became therapy for me. It helped me occupy my mind and focus on something beautiful.
Am I better? Am I worse? I don’t know. I have always been bad.
My brain just thinks visually. Impulsively. I have always made art with my intuition. Writing is not like that. It’s planned, it’s ordered. There are rules. Bear with me while I figure mine out.
I am kind of having fun though, figuring out my words. So thank you for sticking with me.
She was exhibited for several months, and now she is home with me! When I exhibit in a gallery I have to share between 40%-60% with the gallery. Now that she is home with me, I was able to drop the price a bit! I spent 3 intense months on her and she is made with a LOT of 24k gold, gems, and other mixed-media. I have shipped prints of her all over the world, but there is nothing like the original. She sparkles, shines, and glows. She is an experience. Full price includes a frame of your choice, but on sale she comes without a frame.
Statement for the Nest:
First, there was the Deer. A painting that was inspired by an incident that involved a deer that was shot on my property, and the subsequent months that followed, watching the animal return to the earth. When only fur was left, I collected some, but left most of it. The day after I collected the fur, a giant oak tree fell on where the body once rested. Months later, in early spring, the pandemic had started and I spent more than a month inside. Scared. Finally, I forced myself to go outside and explore the woods. And that is when I found it. A bird had made a nest out of deer fur! The Deer’s fur. This piece was inspired by the feelings I had at that moment of discovery.
Using a variety of techniques, I create artworks that explore themes of natural history, historical occurrence, memory, and cycles. My materials are found and handmade—my most precious material is my grandmother’s antique jewelry that I crush and use to make handmade watercolors. This piece also includes rubies, emeralds, 24k gold, deer fur, geodes, and glass.
View the piece in action on youtube: https://youtu.be/1aG3WBkRUIk
I seem to always start and end with a Bumblebee! This is day 100 of My 100 Days of Gold. It is a sweet, elegant, golden painting! Made with handmade watercolors that I made out of my grandmother’s jewels and 24k gold. It comes in a double mat that will fit in a 5’’x7’’ frame.
The Cicadas are emerging! This is day 99 of My 100 Days of Gold. It is a sweet, elegant, golden painting! Made with handmade watercolors that I made out of my grandmother’s jewels and 24k gold. It comes in a double mat that will fit in a 5’’x7’’ frame.
Yes, you know me and my moons! This is day 98 of My 100 Days of Gold. It is a sweet, elegant, golden painting of the moon! Made with handmade watercolors that I made out of my grandmother’s jewels and 24k gold. It comes in a double mat that will fit in a 5’’x7’’ frame.
This is an original painting of a dung beetle. Day 97 of My 100 Days of Gold. It is a sweet, elegant, golden painting! Made with handmade watercolors that I made out of my grandmother’s jewels, a broken geode, and 24k gold. It comes in a double mat that will fit in a 5’’x7’’ frame.
Day 96 of My 100 Days of Gold. It is a sweet, elegant golden painting! Made with handmade watercolors that I made out of my grandmother’s jewels. Adorned with 24k gold leaf. It comes in a double mat that will fit in a 5’’x7’’ frame.
Day 95 of My 100 Days of Gold. It is a sweet, elegant golden painting! Made with handmade watercolors that I made out of my grandmother’s jewels. Adorned with 24k gold leaf. It comes in a double mat that will fit in a 5’’x7’’ frame.
This is an original painting of a dandelion. Day 94 of My 100 Days of Gold. It is a sweet, elegant, golden painting! Made with handmade watercolors that I made out of my grandmother’s jewels and 24k gold. It comes in a double mat that will fit in a 5’’x7’’ frame.
This is an original painting of a mouse. Day 93 of My 100 Days of Gold. It is a sweet, elegant, golden painting! Made with handmade watercolors that I made out of my grandmother’s jewels and 24k gold. It comes in a double mat that will fit in a 5’’x7’’ frame.
So, yesterday I sat down and wrote in my journal. After freely writing about my day without a goal in mind, I realized it was a bit too personal to post online. It was just a hard day. Writing was therapeutic, but it wasn’t informative. But then, the dillema! What do I do on those days?! Everyone should be allowed one now and again! So, I decided those will be the “something” days of #my100daysofwritingsomething.
I hope you all are having a wonderful weekend.
Today I went to the Ann Arbor, Matthaei Botanical Gardens to pick up artwork that was in a show there. I took the time to visit the gardens to find some inspiration and take reference photographs.
I bought some Gwen Frostic prints of insects in the gift shop. I will share in my stories tomorrow, as I know my fellow bug enthusiasts will enjoy.
Now, I am just painting moons in my studio.
Why the moon? Because the moon is something that we all share. No matter where you are in the world, we all live under the same moon. Ever beautiful, like a jewel in the sky, uniting us.
I started painting simple references to moons with my insects, to give the paintings movement and imply environment. In my mind, the insects are all striving to reach one place, the source of light. Striving for the light is something I think a lot about, when painting. To me, all of my insects are either moving towards or away from this light. You decide.
Last year I made a collection of solitary moons, and I can’t seem to stop painting them! Like I said yesterday, it is one of the things I need in my studio at all times. The moon is part of my story, and it is part of yours too.
So, here we go. This is daunting, because writing is not my forte. You might have guessed, I am more into communicating visually than verbally. But, if I only learned one thing from last years #the100dayproject, it would be, if you want to get better at something, do it for 100 days.
This is more of a personal goal. There isn’t a project planned at the end or anything. I just want to get better at writing. Specifically, writing about my process, and work, and life. Something every artist should do, because it is important to know what goes on behind the paint. This is also one of my biggest fears, because I have serious issues, and anxiety about sharing about myself! I am always the quietest one in the room, and this is absolutely terrifying for me. I have decided to face my fear, anyway! Day 1 of, #my100daysofwritingsomething
These pigment prints are printed on handmade paper that I make myself. They will be shipped in 2 weeks time from ordering. If you need something by a specific date, email me and I will try to speed up the process.
The 11’’x14’ and 17’’x22’’’ are statement pieces! I have to recommend one of those. But I want to make prints affordable, so I have smaller sizes. Please note that detail is lost the smaller the print. This is a limited edition pigment print on handmade paper. Based off of my painting the Nest.
Prints are signed and each one is one of a kind due to the nature of the handmade paper.
Prints can come matted and ready to fit in a standard size frame.
5’’x7’’ / 8’’x10’’ Double Mat
8’’x10’’ / 11’’x14’’ Double Mat
11’’x14’’ / 16’’x20’’ Mat
(New!) 17’’x22’’ /24x36’’ Mat
Statement for the Nest:
First, there was the Deer. A painting that was inspired by an incident that involved a deer that was shot on my property, and the subsequent months that followed, watching the animal return to the earth. When only fur was left, I collected some, but left most of it. The day after I collected the fur, a giant oak tree fell on where the body once rested. Months later, in early spring, the pandemic had started and I spent more than a month inside. Scared. Finally, I forced myself to go outside and explore the woods. And that is when I found it. A bird had made a nest out of deer fur! The Deer’s fur. This piece was inspired by the feelings I had at that moment of discovery.
Using a variety of techniques, I create artworks that explore themes of natural history, historical occurrence, memory, and cycles. My materials are found and handmade—my most precious material is my grandmother’s antique jewelry that I crush and use to make handmade watercolors. This piece also includes rubies, emeralds, 24k gold, deer fur, geodes, and glass.
View the original: https://youtu.be/1aG3WBkRUIk