Posts

Nibblefest - Aug 2011 "On the Farm"

Image
Only one day left on bidding for Nibblefest for August. All three of my entries have bids this month...cool! :) The August theme is "On the Farm" and I have three entries listed (two original paintings and one print). Nibblefest has been a fun activity for me to participate in each month, and a good way to expose work to new collectors. Each time I have participated in Nibblefest, my paintings have sold - NICE! It's also fun to take on the challenge of creating work around a theme each month. Some themes are not as comfortable territory as others for me, but I like accepting the challenge. It's good to expand your artist brain with unfamiliar exercise once in a while.  :) Here are the three entries: "Red Barn & Summer Flowers" (Created specifically for this Nibblefest) "Fence" (painted in 2003 - this painting is signed with my maiden name, but I have signed again on back with Jennifer Love and also added title and copyrig

Work In Progress

Image

Tenacity

I haven't read "The Help" or seen the movie yet. Don't know if I support or like the author or her book, but I do like her thoughts on following your creative dreams! Here is a great article about tenacity (or is it stubbornness?) and never giving up on your dream. I particularly like the final paragraph: "The point is, I can’t tell you how to succeed. But I can tell you how not to: Give in to the shame of being rejected and put your manuscript—or painting, song, voice, dance moves, [insert passion here]—in the coffin that is your bedside drawer and close it for good. I guarantee you that it won’t take you anywhere. Or you could do what this writer did: Give in to your obsession instead." --Kathryn Stockett (aucthor of "The Help") http://shine.yahoo.com/event/poweryourfuture/kathryn-stocketts-the-help-turned-down-60-times-before-becoming-a-best-seller-2523496/

July / Aug 2011 Newsletter...finally out! :)

Image
July/August 2011 Newsletter

"Dancer in White" published in Sunday Arts section

Image
My painting, "Dancer in White" was published in the Arts section of the Deseret News on Sunday, July 17th (print and e-edition) along with an announcement about my featured show at Local Colors that runs mid-July through mid-August. Nice to be selected for publication!

Congratulations to David Sidwell

Image
Thanks to all who came out to Local Colors for my artist reception last night to celebrate the opening of my featured show! Congratulations to David Sidwell, the winner of the drawing for "Top Hat & Lantern"  :) Thanks to all who entered!

Enter to win an Original Charcoal/Pastel at my reception on Friday night.

Image
If you'll be in the Salt Lake area on Friday evening, come by Local Colors Gallery at 535 S. 700 E. for my Artist Reception to celebrate the opening of my featured show. 6:00pm-9:00pm I will be giving away an original charcoal/pastel. Drawing will take place at 8:00pm. You can print and bring this entry form with you, or there will be forms available at the gallery. Hope to see you there!

Color Blocks - more thoughts on abstract

Image
As I mentioned in my post Thinking in Abstract...I can't really wrap my brain around creating abstract paintings in watercolor, but I realized I must revise that statement just a bit. I don't create intentional abstract paintings with watercolor like I do with my acrylic abstracts.  However, sometimes I think being an artist also means being as frugal as you can with all your materials and supplies, which aren't cheap. I just hate to waste anything that I can find a use for with my art. Thus are born my UN-Intentional abstracts in watercolor. :) I call these little paintings "Color Blocks." When I am creating one of my typical watercolor paintings, I always have nearby (taped to my board or on the table somewhere) a scrap piece of watercolor paper (waste not!) which I use for testing my colors before applying the paintbrush to paper. The palette will show  you a color you have mixed, but that's not always exactly how it appears on paper. Sometimes it is to

Art contributions to the cause....Utah High School Rodeo Queen heading to Nationals! :)

Image
My cousin's daugher was crowned this year's Miss Utah High School Rodeo Queen. (Yes, I am from a family of cowboys, rodeo queens, farmers, and ranchers...and proud to be part of it!). :) Anyway, she is heading to National competition and had a fundraiser tonight to help raise money for the trip. I donated these two pastel sketches towards silent auction items. I completed these pieces in college under the direction of Don Doxey (the head of the Art Department at the time), a painter known for his highly realistic Western-themed paintings. As you can imagine, he had many Western props for still life sketches. :) Happy to contribute to the cause. Good luck Bailey! http://www.standard.net/topics/rodeo/2011/06/26/morgan-girl-queen-help-family-friends (And...we won a quilt in a raffle too!)

Thinking in Abstract

Image
So...as you may know, I will be the featured artist at Local Colors this month (mid-July through mid-August). Usually, there are two 2D and one 3D artist featured each month, but as it turns out, I am doing a "solo" show. I have been busy working on some new paintings to hang for the show, and wanted to work in series of three. I will have nine new paintings for sure, but hoping to maybe get 12 done by the time I hang my show next Tues evening. :) I also decided to create a few new acrylic abstracts for the show. I can't seem to wrap my brain around abstract watercolor paintings, but acrylic affords me the license to do that a bit more. I like the three dimensional effect I can create with acrylic paint. For me, the abstract is about texture as well as pattern. I created these paintings with an underpainting done with diluted paint and a brush. Once the underpainting was dried, I created the top layer using only a palette knife and un-diluted acrylic paint. My show is