In the Studio

I finally went to the hardware store and bought myself some wood panels. I've been fighting with the canvas for so long and all the while I knew I like painting on wood better. I'm not sure why I didn't do this sooner. I was able to get eight 18 x 24 plywood panels from one large board. Plus I have 3 strips of smaller panels that I can cut in the studio for smaller paintings. They cut the larger boards for me at the hardware store and all together it was 36 bucks. What a stea

I was a slightly irritated last week because my daughter's substitute teacher told her during free time to put away her drawing. She told my daughter, "Drawing is a waste of time, you should read a book." My daughter was pretty bummed out. I told her people have different opinions and not to let one person sway her from her goals. Actually, I'm making myself sound a lot better than reality. What I actually said was, "That lady's an idiot. Don't listen to what she said." I've

I'm really excited about my new project. I keep meeting these amazing women artists in the Bay Area that I want to know more about but, feel stalker-like if I ask too many questions. So, I decided to give myself a reason to reach out to them. I started this project because I was curious about the work and process of these really talented artists. The project is really for my own learning as an artist but, it's also a place to showcase artists in the Bay Area that I admire. I

On Monday I'll be restarting an amazing course with Mati McDonough called Daring Adventures in Creative Biz. It's more like having a community of coaches than a "class" and has been very influential in helping me strategize creatively and economically as an artist. I'm a long way off from becoming a full time artist but, for me that's not really the goal. Anyone who knows me well, knows that all my goals begin with becoming financially independent. Once you have your ducks in

The portrait project is coming along slowly. For the painting on the right I used a black and white photo as a reference. It was a good learning exprience to let my mind fill in the colors. The one on the left was completed using a very small blurry photo for a reference. That was very hard since I think the finished painting has the same blurry quality which, I'm not completely happy with. I am happy with adding the patterned background on these two paintings. I think I'm go

I'm super excited to open up registration for a new program I'm offering in the Spring. On three separate dates, April 4, May 2 and June 6 I will be hosting a day of creativity that includes a hike, painting and food! Check out the page for more details and sign up today for an early bird price of $90!! Or sign up with a friend for only $75!

Everything in my Etsy store (including the painting above) is 50% off!! I'm making room and raising money for new paintings. Use the promo code FEB50SALE. The sale ends February 28th. Happy shopping! Shop the Sale

It's always frustrating learning a new tool. You know the potential that the tool is capable of but, you just can't make it do what you want. But, I know from experience that each new tool I try does eventually become easier to handle. I just have to be patient and I have to practice. I'm learning how to use Illustrator and Photoshop to make patterns this weekend in Jessica Swift's pattern camp. I've been praciticing a bit before class starts and every session I go through th