Jennifer Love Artwork BLOG

So, I set up a new Etsy shop today. The focus will be mostly prints, notecards, and gifts, but I plan to offer some original work as well. Unlike eBay, Etsy is a fixed price shop, not an auction. Here is the link.  Jennifer Love Artwork Right now there are some butterfly and ballerina prints available. I'll be adding other items as well. :)

Did another little onion painting last night. My "models" are sprouting! :) "Bright Onion" - watercolor on YUPO  ©2012 Put up for aution on ebay. Painting is about 5"x7" and matted to fit 8" x 10" standard frame. Click here to go to the auction link  " Bright Onion " Still LOVING the effects of YUPO support for my watercolor. So fun! Have a great day! :)

I love it when my clients are happy with their painting commissions. Here is a photo of the piece that I recently painted as a commission this past February. My client purchased it as a gift for a friend and has just finished getting it custom matted/framed, but loves it so much he asks "Is it wrong if I want to keep it for myself?"  :) Ha ha! Not wrong at all!  I am so pleased when I have a satisfied client! :)

So, I started this little painting in February in the Marian Dunn workshop. My first try at using YUPO as a paint support material. What fun, vibrant colors! YUPO is so unpredictable...you never know exactly how the colors are going to pool and dry. Because it is plastic, the color does not absorb into it (like on paper), so the color stays on top and as vibrant as it is in the mixing tray. With that in mind...like Marian says...once your YUPO painting is dry, "Don't sneeze!" You have to handle these paintings carefully and get them protected in a frame. If the surface gets wet, the paint will run. I LOVE bright colors and so had lots of fun with this painting! I named it "Bright Harvest" and it will be up on auction on ebay starting tonight about 6pm Pacific time (7p Mountain/8p Central/9p Eastern). I will definitely be doing more "fun with YUPO" in the future! "Bright Harvest" - watercolor on YUPO  ©2012

This has been a crazy, busy week. But, I was fortunate enough to be able to take a couple days off work to attend another mini-workshop sponsored by Utah Watercolor Society . This workshop was with Utah artist, Julie Rogers , who does beautiful work in watercolors and pastels. When you look at her paintings, you can see her mastery of using warm and cool colors in her composition to create a dynamic whole. They are just beautiful. My goal this year is to take as many workshops as possible...partly because it just gives me some uninterrupted painting time, but also to help me be more aware of the tools and techniques I use in my paintings (rather than just painting by instinct, and then wondering why some pieces turn out lovely and others not). With Kristi Grussendorf , I learned some techniques for creating focal point and drawing a viewer into the painting. With Marian Dunn , I set up a new palette and really started to investigate how different colors work with each other, which

Nibblefest theme this month is HORSES.  Here are my two auctions for the contest, and the QR code for my reminder e-postcard. :) " Freedom Fields " Watercolor ©2012  Size:  approx 8" x 10" - matted to 11" x 14" " Horse "  Watercolor  ©2012  Size: approx 5" x 7" - matted to 8"x10" Search NFAC on ebay to see all auctions from all participants around this month's theme. :)

So, one of my galleries, a little snack shop with art for sale called Main Street Artisans (in Evanston, WY), is closing. The owner and her husband have decided to retire and she sold the business. New owner of the space doesn't want to do the "art thing." I'll be taking the work she is returning to me and listing it up with Xanadu instead (two of my dancer paintings and a painting of windmills called "Sentries." I'll try to get a good scan of it when it is returned and post here). Dancer in Red Dancer in Blue

The ACEO TW group organizers decided to issue a mid-month challenge - "Interpretations"One photo was posted for all the participants to create an ACEO from. Many interpretations of the same picture (rather than interpreting a theme). Here is my entry titled "River Walk."  :) (Link to my auction is below the pic). http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=200726792805 ACEO is an acronym that stands for Art Cards Editions and Originals . The ONLY rule is the size, which is 2.5 x 3.5 inches (6.4 x 8.9 cms) just like sports cards but far more addictive.

Here is a web link and a QR code for my March Newsletter. :) http://us2.campaign-archive1.com/?u=0de49af8ae5771be88438002e&id=40dfb51ec5&e=[UNIQID ]

Right on the heels of Nibblefest comes ACEO Theme week. This month even sooner, since Feb has fewer days than most. ACEO Theme for March is "Signs of Spring." Listings for theme week will all start on March 1st. You can search "ACEO TW" or "ACEO TW MAR" in ebay to see all the offerings from participating artists. If you want to find my listings, they will be posted on March 1st. You can search " Jennifer Love Artwork ACEO TW MAR " to see them. :) Here are my "Signs of Spring" ACEO paintings...

Thanks to wonderful hubby who babysat our little ones all day today, I was able to attend the second day of Luminous Watercolor workshop with Marian Dunn . We spent today talking about how to lay down washes on the paper to create beautiful skies and other background effects. I also worked on another onion painting (didn't like this one), tried a painting on Yupo support (which I haven't finished yet...takes a long time to dry), completed one little landscape painting, and started another painting which I have not finished yet either. I don't often use a wet in wet technique, and may not incorporate it into every painting of mine, but it has been good information to learn and practice. Also, Marian is just a wonderful person with lovely positive feedback to give each of her students to encourage and help. How lucky I am to be a member of Utah Watercolor Society and surrounded by so many wonderful artists who are also wonderful instructors and who actually live right here

I signed up for the Feb mini workshop with Utah Watercolor Society. This one is being taught by Marian Dunn and the topic is Luminous Watercolor, which is something Marian is so skilled in. Today was day 1 of the workshop. I spent most of the day setting up a new palette and creating color charts to determine the properties of the different colors on my plaette...figuring out which are transparent and which are not, what colors can be used for glazing, and how those colors will relate to the other colors in a glaze. We also practiced "dropping in" color on the paper rather than mixing it in your palette to come up with more interesting grays. All good exercises and I may do more tomorrow. However, as a preparation for our workshop, Marian had each participant bring one white onion, one yellow onion, and one red onion in order to have good subject matter to paint. Onions have great reflections and luminosity and are a favorite subject in her paintings. Towards the end o

I liked the idea of a series of Chinese symbols like those I did for last month's Nibblefest (themed: Letters, Numbers, and Symbols). So, I think each month of Nibblefest going forward, I will include at least one offering that is a Chinese symbol of the monthly theme (as long as I am able to find a symbol that fits). This will build a series with variety and yet consistency. :) So, here is my Nibblefest auction #2:  " Moonlight " Moonlight  - watercolor  ©2012

I finished my commission this weekend and my client is very happy with the final results (at least with the digital photos of the final painting that I emailed). Will be shipping the painting out later this week.  :) "A Delicate Spring" - Watercolor -  ©2012 Jennifer Love So...here is the rest of the process (picking up from the last post): First of all, I decided to go ahead and tape around my edges like usual. It just gives a cleaner line when  you are finished with the painting. Next, I laid down another wash on the sky because it wasn't as blue as I wanted the first time. Color always dries lighter than it appears when wet. Also started laying in some grays and more greens in the background. I have been reading this book by Jeanne Dobie called "Making Color Sing" in preparation for another watercolor workshop I am attending next weekend. It girves some great instruction on mixing your own grays (warm and cool), and on laying do

So, I am in process of a commissioned painting of Delicate Arch. Here is another "process" post for those who are interested. I started out by scanning through my several reference photos of Delicate Arch. I have been lucky enough to hike up to the arch twice so far in my lifetime, and I took several photos both times, so I have a lot of angles to choose from. Perhaps me and hubby will have a chance to hike up again in the next year or two before he reaches a point when that particular hike won't be possible for him (due to balance and fatigue issues with PD). But, I am glad to say we have done the hike together once and have pics to show for it! I chose the reference photo I used on my last painting of Delicate since that is the one that was desired for the commission, but it's good to look through them all just to get "in the mood." :) Next comes the sketch. Techniques I like to use when sketching:  1-I print out an extra copy of my reference ph

February's ACEO contest is coming up on ebay (ACEO TW). The theme week always starts on the first day of the month. Like Nibblefest, there is a monthly theme. ACEO is an acronym that stands for Art Cards Editions and Originals. What qualifies an ACEO is the size, which is 2.5 x 3.5 inches (6.4 x 8.9 cms) just like sports cards. The theme for February is "Winter Wonderland." Since I am preparing to do a commissioned painting of Delicate Arch...and since Delicate is wondrous and beautiful, I decided to do a little ACEO of Delicate, but make it winter time. This took a little imagination on my part, since my photos were taken in July, but I thought the results turned out okay. :) My auction will start on Feb 1st at 6:30pm Pacific time. :) http://www.ebay.com/itm/200707614318?ssPageName=STRK:MESCX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1554.l2649

After the wonderful watercolor workshop I took last weekend, I have been feeling my creative juices flowing again. So, I decided to get back in the Nibblefest game this month and created three new paintings based on the January theme: Letters, Symbols, and Numbers. For those who are unfamiliar...Nibblefest is a monthly art contest on ebay. Each month there is a theme assigned. Artists who participate may list up to three auctions for artwork created around the theme. Two of the three must be original, one may be a reproduction. All auctions must be listed on or after the 20th of the month and must end on the 27th. All auctions must start at $0.99. The winners of the contest are determined by the auctions with the most unique bidders. I enjoy this contest and it's a fun way to stretch your artist's brain. I love looking at all the auctiosns to see other artists' interpretations of the theme. You can view all the Nibblefest auctions by searching "NFAC" on ebay

Follow up to my workshop post... Since my painting time is often limited by work or family demands, I am a big believer in not feeling like I have wasted any painting, even those I don't especially like or love. Typically, there are one or two areas of a painting that I really like, or sometimes love, even if I don't especially care for the painting as a whole. As a result, I have learned to focus in on those areas and create smaller paintings from them. My advice to any artist....NEVER be afraid to crop!!! The two paintings I did on day one of my watercolor workshop were definitely out of my comfort zone, but were good exercises. I didn't particularly care for either finished work as a whole, but had some favorite areas in both. So now, instead of two "so so" paintings, I have three smaller paintings that I quite like. :) Cropping makes a world of difference!

I had the opportunity this weekend to take a mini-workshop that was organized through the Utah Watercolor Society. The workshop was guided by Kristi Grussendorf , a UWS and ISA artist that I admire. She has this great ability to work with light and shadow and beautiful underpainting. So, besides just being able to focus two days on art without distraction (which was wonderful!!), I was hoping to glean a little knowledge about how Kristi achieves her wonderful paintings. The theme of the workshop was "Composition and Focal Point." We had some wonderful exercises the first day in creating floral still life paintings that were supposed to be loose, and created without a reference photo. Both things a challenge for me, as I tend to paint pretty "tight" (though I am getting better about loosening up as the years go on). And, since I paint from photo references about 90% of the time, creating work without a photo, plein air, or still life reference to look at was a real