I just wanted to say Merry Christmas!

Sugar Plums, A Collection

There is a lovely collection of orange and purple beaded objects. One of my pendants was included in this blog feature. It is entirely scrumptious looking. Go and enjoy it: http://inspirationalbeading.blogspot.com/


As a side note I just created a Facebook fan page for my jewelry.

Some Sketching

Well, not much has been updated here in awhile. I have been busy, very busy with writing mostly. In between writing and applications I did do some sketching. Mostly I sketch with colored pencils now. There are two different colors in all of these, though the lighter blue doesn't get picked up by my scanner. Here are a few examples of drawings from life.


Yes, that page is supposed to be sideways, those feet were in an odd position.


The tractor was completely covered in rust.

Well, that gives you some visuals to enjoy. I hope you enjoy them!

Black Friday - Art and Relaxation at Galleria Evangelia

Avoid the big crowds, and get uniquely beautiful gifts!
http://www.facebook.com/#/event.php?eid=212250411258&ref=mf

Galleria Evangelia Displays My Pendants

The Gallery
Galleria Evangelia is a new gallery in the Columbus area that features paintings, prints, jewelry, pottery, glass, and ceramics. The artists are both established and up and coming. The variety surely has interest for a wide audience.

My Work
Four new pendants of mine are now on display at Gallery Evangelia in Columbus, Ohio. Information on hours and how to get there is here: http://www.galleria-evangelia.com/ . Here is another image of one of the pendants, Burst of Space:



They are so much better in person! So check them out if you can. :)

For now, enjoy the images!

Just a Little Razzle Dazzle

This is just one example of the five new pendants I have created, four of which will be on display in Columbus, OH. More details to come. For now enjoy this piece (and come see it in person soon)!

(Sketches coming shortly.)

Swimming Upstream

Yes! That fish can wiggle.

(More photos to come, and more fishy pendants.)

New Techniques in Painting

This is basically an exercise. After seeing some paintings in a local gallery and visiting the beach on a regular basis recently I decided to test out some new technique ideas. The paintings I had looked at were oils, and this is an acrylic painting so I had to modify the techniques for the medium. I'm pretty happy with what I learned from the process.

I hope you enjoy this!

Finished With Chickens

Finished
Well, this has been a mostly visual art free week. I have been focusing on my writing. I do have one thing to present in the visual arts category. ;) I'm finally putting up the final version of the chicken painting. Obviously I added some elements, these elements weren't in the original photograph, but I had always planned on adding to it for the composition's improvement.


My Perspective
I have to admit I'm not that interested in painting chickens, but it was good practice. :) The point was to make my Mom happy. I think it will look good with a glossy varnish and presented in a frame to my Mom for her birthday. So far she is quite pleased, from what I can tell. ;)

(I hope the colors of this come across in this web posting. It may look more vibrant on a glossy screen. I have a matte screen.)

I hope you enjoyed the post!

Custom Made

The Object
I want to share the process of commissioning a pendant from me. It was a gratifying process, both Kelli and I were pleased with the piece that resulted. :)

The Means
Through my shop on Etsy there is what is called an "alchemy" section that will take custom orders. Kelli had seen my pendants and she decided she wanted to commission me to make a pendant in some of her favorite colors. (Kelli loves color, and she works with it beautifully! Check out her vivid paintings here: http://www.kellikohn.com/)


Details
In her bid she asked for the colors she was interested in and pointed out a couple of pendants she liked best from my shop. We "convoed" (or emailed for people not familiar with Etsy) back and forth discussing details. The price was at the high end of the prices in my shop due to the extra time spent finding the elements to make up the pendant as well as giving her options in the design.

Splendiforious
The price, color scheme, and amount of artistic freedom I had was decided before the commission was finalized. I sent her images of the design options and we agreed on the final design. In the process of the final stitching it does change a bit. Then I sent her an image of the final pendant before shipping it off. :)

Chickety Chickens: Those Images

The Reason
Alrighty, this is a present painting. My Mom loves chickens, now I'm pretty sure she has never met one in person but an image of a chicken makes her feel glee. She has for ages pointed out needle points in antique shops of chickens, to exclaim at the site of a plate with a chickeny flourish on it, and appreciate any painting that involves a chicken.

For this amount of time I've tried to dissuade her of buying anything with a chicken image, for those chicken engraved items that she will like when the chicken high has worn off. (To be fair to my Mom she really does have beautiful taste and is herself an artist. ;))


The Hidden Motive
Now of course, I'm feeding her addiction and indulging my desire to paint. ;) This painting is an amalgam of a couple of photos and is still very much in progress. I sketched directly with my brush and have continued to build up the painting from there.

This is the first time I've tried "open" acrylics which have a much longer drying time. They aren't oils, but they do let you paint a bit more like oils. I'm still not totally used to this in between medium, but I'm enjoying trying it out. :) Perhaps I'll start using this new product in my main mixed media style.

I hope you enjoy the imagery!

Update: I'll be posting the final imagery soon.

Catfish

The Fun Begins
It is Friday. So, a bit more catfish is revealed. ;) At first I was thinking of doing a catfish portrait of sorts, and I still might at some point. So, I played with catfish proportions. I made them into what my Dad called "Gobblers", which I have to say was apt. :D

A Direction
But since I was more intrigued by a sense of mystery I did some thumbnails of more ambiguous interactions. I'm posting one of the thumbnails. It is the composition I'm most pleased with.

My Current Plan
The piece will be mixed media, with the large catfish largely collage. The final image will have flat spaces and some atmospheric abstraction.

I hope you enjoy it!

Update: This piece has progressed. You can see that here.

A Preview of Coming Attractions ;)

The Encounter
The other night I saw, for the first time, a swarm of many large catfish coming to the surface. It was almost dark, and all I could see was dark shadows, slimy whiskers, and wide mouths. They had come to snatch bird pellets away from startled ducks and coots.

It was vaguely scary for them to come out of the dark. I didn't worry that they'd eat me, of course. It was simply mysterious. Mystery tends, in my experience, to send a thrill through us wee humans. And animals of all sorts met up close will always inspire my contemplative side.

The Result
I'm not sure if it was the time of night, all silhouettes and the sun's last glow. Or if it was that a creature was coming from a place that I hadn't considered much. But, the experience made me want to make art.

I'll be posting a beginning of this project for my sketch this Friday.

The catfish photo is from deviantart by Slopjockey.
The twilight landscape is one of my own photos. ;)

Featured

My Etsy shop was featured on the blog Old Soul Style. There are images of my jewelry and some fun interview questions. Check it out and enjoy!

Sprouts

All these sprouts are now four days from their first peak above the soil. As you can see some are almost three inches tall with four leaves going and others still have leaves bound in their sunflower shells.

These aren't in my art yet, but they surely will be. ;) Watching something grow and form is a definite inspiration.

A Jaunty Portrait

Specifics
This is one of my Mom's characteristic expressions and I'm torn between describing it as effervescent and jaunty. :)

This is a very straightforward drawing without any of the distortion I've been playing with. I was thinking of using my final technique for the distortion and even the storytelling.

Technique
I found myself missing the soft waxy colored pencils when drawing this. I've never loved graphite for drawing. It smears, which means to me it is the art medium equivalent of a child that will not sit still!

I will of course be completely covering this drawing with other media.

Enjoy! :)

Finally Drawn

Not a sketch, but hey it is here to see. ;) This is the final drawing on the surface I will paint and collage onto. It's full size out to the wood is 18 by 18 inches. Enjoy!

Color Study

This is just a basic color study. Since I already had some thumbnails scanned in for this blog I decided to go over them with color.

I wanted to have cool light, and I was specifically thinking of early morning light. This isn't my final composition, but I think it has the right color mood.

This was done just in Adobe Photoshop with my finger on the finger-pad for my laptop, since my tablet doesn't want to work for me.

So, I am substituting this for my Friday sketch. Next week I should be up to more. ;) I hope this amuses.

Idea Building

These are a few thumbnails I've done for an idea I've been playing with for a full illustration.

It was built on an image I took from an old cemetary I visited in Pennsylvannia. The statue's weathering made it feel more human in an odd way, I wanted to pair it with a real person and show some tension.

These are just a couple compositional variations.

I hope you enjoy them!

Just a test...

I just put this up on my other blog. I might import this blogspot to replace it. This should be easier to follow. ;) If you want to see the fuller post, check out this link: http://www.ambergoulet.com/ambers-blog