First This, Now That

I finished a painting last night. I'm calling it "First This, Now That." I am very pleased with it! Sometimes it takes me a while to "warm up" to a new piece but I'm pretty excited about this one. So, here it is.

A bit of a close up.

Detail of embroidery

Detail of embroidery

We'll see if others like it as much as me. I entered it into the "Unfettered" show at Visual Art Exchange. I had a piece accepted last year so maybe I'll be as fortunate this year. So I feel like I'm moving in the right direction and feel really great about it.

Progress

I finally got myself painting. I've begun several canvases with the initial layer of color I like to put down. I usually push the color back some with white after and add other layers to build up the piece. I like the look of layers and the fact that there just might be something hidden underneath. Secrets are fun.


So is discovering what the secret is....

Hmmmmm.......I'll have to think about that.

Great news!

I am so excited! I got a show at the Visual Art Exchange! I have been waiting to hear for weeks now and I am not a good waiter. I go through all these ups and downs of--they didn't like my stuff, they think my stuff's gross, maybe they'll like it, of course they'll pick me---the whole gamut. So now I'm waiting to hear what month I'll get. It really made me feel like I am moving in the right direction with my art and that people's responses to my pieces are positive. So now I just need to get cracking and paint more and be more productive. I can't wait until I move into my new apartment in a couple of months so I can have more space! Right now Colby and I cramped into a one bedroom and it is SO not working for us. It really makes me not want to bother painting because I feel so cramped. So, some great news to end the week.
Other than that, I'm working on some tea towels for another swap. I'm looking forward to adding to my embroidery collection and I have yet another great partner Lauren. So I'm excited about that. Of course Easter is Sunday and I'm going to dye eggs this weekend to prepare for the egg hunt and spend some time with my family. Also another bout at roller derby Saturday night with my mom and sister. A busy weekend but some quality family time. Also, next week I'll be a bit busy. I'm going to see a couple of bands play. Monday night will be Of Montreal and I cannot wait! They are wackadoodle. Then Tuesday my friend Chris said I have to go see StereoTotal. From what I've heard online it seems like it will be a great show. Then Superchunk plays Wednesday night but I haven't decided on that on yet. I love living in Carrboro and having Cat's Cradle right down the street. They really have a great line-up for the summer.
Later.

What's happening

I've been making plans this past week. There are a slew of awesome bands coming to town that I'm going to see in the upcoming months that I'm very excited about! I love seeing live music. It's always such a great experience. I also completed a couple more California Raisins that I wanted to show. These were so fun and quick to stitch up.




So--I'm just waiting anxiously for the Exchange Gallery results.
**Going to see Amanda Palmer tonight!
**Saw Monster Vs. Aliens and it was hilarious!
**Going though photos of my older art pieces and may post them.

A blast from the past

Well I found myself procrastinating as usual. I need to be working on Colby's birthday gift but just didn't want to tackle a large piece yet. So I went through my huge stack of cross stitch magazines and brochures and things and decided to do a small piece----of a California Raisin. Yes, a California Raisin from the commercials and figurines from the 80's. I fondly remember the commercials of these guys singing "I Heard it Through the Grapevine." You just had to love these guys!

He's totally wailing!

I love it. I can't wait to get to the others.

The group shot looks awesome but the small ones may be just enough to appease my nostalgia. Man the 80's were great!

Bunnies and Rabbits and Duckies for Easter

It has been raining here for like a week! I am so ready for spring and bright colors and flowers. So I decided to stitch up some spring for myself and just finished a cute embroidered towel! It is an Aunt Martha's pattern and is just way too cute. There's bunnies, ducks, chicks and of course, Easter eggs.


Here's some close-ups.

Cute pink bunny.

Chick with his Easter basket

Chick rolling his Easter egg down a hill

I love the pretty Easter egg!

Mr. Duck painting his Easter egg

A trio of cotton candy colored ducks splashing in the rain.

I told you....terribly cute.
I sure hope the rain stops soon!

I'm a winner!

I am one of those people who never seem to win anything. I buy lottery scratchers and never win. I play slots in Vegas and rarely walk away with more money than I put in the machine. It seems my luck has changed! I am super excited! I won the recycled cross stitch piece that was being given away by MrXstitch on his blog and all I had to was leave a comment. His blog is great and showcases extremely talented needlework artists--so go check it out! It has given me inspiration for my own work. It's tough being an artist that uses non-traditional mediums so it's great to see other artists out there doing it.

What else has been going on:
*It's raining today.
*I'm still preparing my application to the Exchange Gallery for a show in the next year. I'm going to my mom's house this weekend to get photos of my work that is being stored at her house.
*I saw Watchmen and it was amazing. I was really impressed with how it all turned out.
*I'm working on an Easter embroidery and need to get started on something for Colby's birthday. I actually have two things I want to make for him.
*Need to paint!
*Hope to go out to 2nd Friday Art Walk tonight! Hopefully it's won't be raining too bad. There is an artist Peg Bachenheimer whom I took a class with showing work tonight. I want to go show some support!
*Looking forward to dinner with a friend next week.

That's it. Hope you all have a nice weekend.