Stuff I Love: Art

I wish I had more room to put art on the walls and the money to put it there, and perfect frames to put it all in.  Here are a few of the things I'd get, given the chance.

Pearl by AmberAlexander

Anyone who's seen one of my sketchbooks knows I love drawing Rococo era ladies in their tall wigs and gorgeous gowns, so of course this lovely Marie Antoinette-style woman with her friendly rodent companion, by Amber Alexander, hits me right where I art.

Steam and Sails by EllyMackay

Okay, anyone who has ever read my blog has probably seen Mackay's work before.  I love her stuff and actually already own two of her prints. Recently, though, she came out with a new series featuring steamboats which I love just as much as her other stuff and which somehow seems just as magical even though its a simple city and water scene.

May by ErinTyner

Erin Tyner's work has shown up here before as well, in the SIL about miniature.  I find her photography of train model figures in little landscapes slightly surrealist, breathtaking and beautiful (and yes, photography is art).

Winter Rains by Kecky

This print from Kristin Kemper was one of the first things I favorited once I got into Etsy, and even now I still love it. It evokes everything it is supposed to.  I look at it and think of winter and coldness and rain and stillness.  It moves me in a way there aren't quite words for.  As a matter of fact, every piece I've selected today, evokes emotion in me, invokes a part of me.  After all, isn't that what good art should do?

Illustration Friday: Perennial

I know I skipped a few weeks, but I actually got my Illustration Friday drawing done Friday night, so here it is.  The theme this week is perennial, so I went with lilies of the valley, which are...well, perennials.  I like taking things literally.

Thursday Spotlight On: Ruth Hayes of RuthsArtwork

I recently joined a new team, the Etsy Treasury Team, to expand my horizons outward and in doing so, came across a bunch of wonderufl artists.  One of them is Ruth, of  RuthsArtwork, and she is an amazing realist.  Creating mostly architectural illustrations, I truly admire her ability to capture the personality of buildings so beautifully.  Realism is hard enough.  Breathing such life inot architectural illustrations is near impossible, but she manages it wondrously.

Indiana Main Street Pen & Ink Illustration

Tell us three things about yourself we may not know. 
I have been with my husband for 35 years and we have an adult daughter and son. I have a Master’s degree in animal behavior but have worked mostly in CAD for architecture for my husband’s timber framing company as well as create my artwork I am mostly a self taught artist, because when I went through school, realistic art was not considered “real” art and actively discouraged.

That's awesome that you're self-taught. I am as well.  What's your medium and how did you get into it?
I mostly work in pen and ink with a firm pastel overlay. When my husband started his company, we couldn’t afford to pay someone to do our advertising art. As the artist in the family, even though I had done mostly animal art, the task fell to me. Pen and ink suited our purposes well and eventually I began experimenting with color overlays. I had a large set of firm pastels that my mother had given me in high school, so I tried using that. After a short while, it became my preferred color medium. I’ve been using it for architectural portraits for almost 30 years now.

That's a long time working in one avenue.  Of everything you've created, what is your favorite thing you've ever done?
While I love some of my stone barn pictures a lot, my favorite thing after all these years is a pen and ink sketch of a floating ing pelican I did in the late 70’s.

Pennyslvania Stone Barn Original Pen & Ink Illustration

With everything from birds to barns, you must take your inspiration from a lot of places. How do you capture it?
When we travel, I always try to take my digital camera with me. I have a very nice wide angle telephoto lens and both my husband and I like to pay attention to the architectural surroundings. It can be older city home and business buildings or old farm houses and barns. I like to look for structures that have intricate architectural details or beautiful stonework. And I never pass up the chance to take pictures of animals when I can, as a change of pace.

Is there anything you wish you'd created?
Sometimes I wish I could sculpt. I love the work of the French sculptor Rodin. Just about anything by him.

Art has taken up a lot of your life.  What do you do when you're not creating?
I am an avid reader, mostly of science fiction, mysteries and popularized science discoveries. I like to plant flowers in the beds around the house – but weeding – not so much. I also have an aged horse, so several times a week I go to the stable and play around with her. And in the summer, you can often find me listening to my White Sox baseball team on the radio or on the tv.

If you had to give up your medium and take another, what would you love to work in?
I think I would like to try to learn more about watercolors and other paints. Because I never took many classes in art, I never really had anyone help me learn some of the intricacies of other painting media and I would like to at some time.

Speaking of intricacies, is there anything you've ever attempted that ended up turning out much better than expected?
When I first started making the ACEOs and gift tags, I decided to make big sheets of watercolor washes. I didn’t really know what I was doing so I just experimented and when I cut them up and then drew on them with the ink, I was surprised how nice they looked.

Red Flower ACEO and Gift Tag

If anyone one dead or living could own one of your pieces, who would you want it to be?
I wish I had made something for my paternal grandmother. I didn’t realize what an extraordinary person she was while she was alive and sharing my art with her would have been wonderful.

If you had to explain to an eight-year old what you do, how would you go about it?
I would say that I take a picture of your house and draw it so you can remember what it looks like after you grow up and move away.

What's your favorite part of the process?
I enjoy the laying out of the drawing in pencil and then when I start to ink. I also like the final moments when I spray on the fixative and the pastel colors pop into the final hues.

Where can people find you?
Shop address: http://etsy.com/shop/ruthsartwork
Blog: http://ruthsartwork.wordpress.com/


One last random, weird question.  If you could travel to any place and time in history where would you go?
I really want to know what the dinosaurs looked and sounded like.

I think my husband would agree with you.  Thanks for putting up with my silly questions. 

Illustration Friday #4(.2)

I know, I know, I know.  I already did this and I said I didn't believe in using something made for another purpose for the Illustration Friday thing....but this particular painting was done after I received this week's theme and it just seemed to fit so well.  (Reminder: the theme is launch.)

I haven't named it yet.  I was going to call is "Escape" but I have to admit, I'm liking "Launch" better.  It's done technically a mixed media piece (the sailboat was hand drawn and collaged in) but it's mostly acrylics.

I love this painting because it was so unintentional and came out so well.  I started painting on the panel, fully intending to paint some of my usual trees and weird plants, and there I was spackling blue and white paint on with a filbert (my most favorite of brush shapes), when suddenly I just knew it had to be a seascape instead.  Then I started painting the sea and knew there had to be an island looming. I painted the island and knew there had to be a boat (and that the boat needed to be paper, not painted on).  It was a painting that just felt right to do from start to finish so I had to share.

The whole reason I did this painting by the way is for the upcoming Community Mosaic at Seed Gallery in Winston-Salem, by the way, so if you live up that way, you should go when it opens.  There'll be more on that later.

Monday Spotlight on: Jaime of ArtInspiredLife

Jaime is another April's Army member and a woman who has achieved the kind of realism in art that most of the rest of us wish we were capable of.  At the same time, she manages to balance it with equally surreal works that are just as beautiful. 


Tell us three things about yourself.
1) I am a stay at home mom with 2 kids ages 4 and 18 months.
2) I am an oil painter, portrait artist, and surrealist.
3) I have lived in many cities in 9 different states all over the US. I am truly a nomad and will always be searching for that green grass.

What's your medium and how did you get into it? My main medium is oil, though I can work with many artist mediums. I got into oil, because I can work with the drying time much better than anything else I've tried. I love the look of the final product, and I can achieve the desired results better with oil than any other medium.

What's your favorite thing you've made? All of my paintings are my babies, but this one is my absolute favorite 

Tangled in Purgatory 

From where do you take inspiration? As a small child, I thought that art was something you learned, no different than reading, writing, walking, etc. Two of my aunts are fine artists, my dad can draw, my uncle draws comic book characters, my mom does crafts, my grandfather painted, and an aunt on my mom's side owns an art gallery. So i grew up thinking artistic talent was quite normal. It wasn't until I got to school that I found out it wasn't. My favorite artist is Salvador Dali, he inspires me because he was famous during his life, so that gives me hope. He also died of old age and painted all the way up to his last days. I can look at his work over and over and always see something new.


Name one piece of art you wish you'd created and why? When I lived in Florida, there were huge fires all over the state. One day I went for a walk during the fires. I came to a lake, with a pier that went to the middle, I sat at the end of the pier and saw the most amazing sight. The lake was surrounded by trees, on my left side there was an enormous smoke cloud. It was brown, black, white and thick smoke that engulfed that side of the sky.  When I looked straight ahead there was beautiful clear blue sky. On my right there was an equally enormous storm cloud with sun beams bursting through it and lightning bolts. The storm cloud was very dark, angry and ominous, but it was nature on it's way to help put out the fire. It was the most magical and frightening thing I have ever seen. The image is still in my head and I will paint it one day, I just haven't found the right canvas.

What are you doing when you're not crafting?When I am not painting, I am a mother. I take care of my kids and the house. I'm in charge of finances, making appointments with doctors, dentists, etc. Cooking, laundry, all the mom stuff, there's not a lot of time for much else.

If you had to give up your medium and pursue another, what would it be and why? I have always been curious about welding, I am also a sculptor, I just don't have the workspace. I think that teaching art would be the only other replacement for what I do.

Tell us about a time you were making something that came out better than expected and how it happened. 

http://www.etsy.com/transaction/42936406

This one turned out way better than I could have imagined. The only way my work comes out this good is when I turn off my mind, and go into a kind of meditative state. At that point I paint more with my heart and feelings and I get lost in the work. Usually I will overthink technique and the piece doesn't come out as good. The heart isn't there. My work is always better when I'm on autopilot.

Who is one person living or dead, famous or not, who you wish owned one of your creations and why? I love when anyone takes an interest in my work, but I'm sure if someone like Oprah owned one of my pieces, I could say I have truly made it.

How would you explain how to do what you do to an eight year old? I would first let them know that there is no such thing as perfect art. I would teach them techniques, but never focus on right or wrong. I would encourage them to experiment and paint with their heart, and not get hung up on whether it looked just like the subject. Children can become discouraged easily by being told they are doing something wrong.

What's your favorite part of the process? The smell of the paint, and getting my hands dirty. I also love the meditation that comes with shutting off all logical thoughts. Getting lost in my work, gives me similar feelings as falling in love.

One random thing you think people should know. When you purchase a painting from an artist, no matter what you've paid for that piece, it is always difficult for the artist to let that piece go. We are very attached to our pieces. I love when my art sells, but it is hard to say goodbye.

Amsterdam Blond Bottle

What did you want to be when you were ten? An artist, I have wanted to be an artist for as long as I can remember.

If you want to see more of Jaime's work in her Etsy store, you can check it out  here.
You can visit and fan her Facebook page here  or follow her Twitter  right here.  
Last but not least, read more about her at her blog, over here.