Interesting info.

("Untitled Man." 2007. Oil Pastel on Paper.)

This was the first piece of my artwork that I ever sold. It was at a fair called "Art in the Park" here in Livermore in 2008 and it was one of the greatest feelings ever.

("Watercolor Woman #2." 2005. Watercolor on Paper.)

This was on display with it's sister piece, an orange nude watercolor, and was stolen off the wall of the Wild Vine, which is a gorgeous wine bar downtown that shows fantastic local art. There is something to be said for someone liking your work enough to steal it. Not that I'm 100% okay with it, but it's kind of novel. If this had been one of my more elaborate paintings, I probably would have freaked out more.

("Watercolor Woman #1" 2005. Watercolor on Paper.)

Some more...

("Slowly." 2009. Oil on Canvas.)

("A Door of My Own." 2009. Oil on Canvas.)

("Reaching." 2009. Oil on Canvas.)

("Georgia." 2010. Acrylic on Canvas.)

Previous work

These are some of my favorite pieces I've done.

("Chasm." 2009. Oil on Canvas.)

("Edges." 2008. Oil on Canvas.)

("Duality." 2008. Oil on Canvas.)

WIP: Prisoner...

"The Bay."

Just finished a piece I've been working on continuously since I started painting full time. "The Bay" is something that had been brewing in my head for months, and this is the result. I feel it might be too static, or rigid, it needs a dash more fluidity. Still, it was a good 30+ hours of work, and I'm proud of it.

I've also done a few more portraits for practice, and finished a commission. It's nice getting stuff done. 

Art show next weekend, "Art in Carnegie Park."It's here in Livermore, in the park downtown where the farmers market is, and it's always been fun in the past. I will also be showing at the ArtWalk this year on October 9th. 

Time to get back to work! :)

("The Bay." Oil on Canvas. Summer 2010.)

(Acrylic on Canvas. August 2010.)

(Acrylic on Canvas. September 2010.)

("For Frances." Commission. Acrylic on Canvas. September 2010.)

The last "Painting a day" #3...

("Topography" Oil on canvas. August 2010.)

This last weekend was my birthday, and I turned 26. I am now entering my late 20's, and I do feel older. 30 is just 'round the bend. Crazy thoughts. So, in regard to my artwork, I took a few days off to scrapbook my wedding photography, but it's time to get back to work. My husband and I saw "Wicked" on friday, and I highly recommend. It knocked my socks off...

As for my decision to do a "Painting a day," I need to let that go. I'm going to shoot for a painting every other day or so. The fact of the matter is that my painting quality is suffering a little. It's really evident in the painting I did today. I also need to switch from synthetic brushes to bristle. I still want to produce quickly, and 2 or 3 paintings a week is a good goal, on top of the really big pieces I'm doing on the side. Just not 5 paintings a week.

"Topography," the painting I did today, may end up with a road painted through it, through the lowest point. It has to dry first. I need to think about it. But despite the painting flaws I

 see, I am happy with it.

Painting a day: #2

("In To." Oil on Canvas, August 2010)

I don't know if I can keep this up, because there are things I want to do that will take more than one day. But the thought of trying to do one painting a day really did light a fire under my butt, and I worked hard today. So, day 2 was a success. This painting turned out different than intended, but I'm actually really happy with it.

Painting a day: #1

The Studio...

I'm going to make an attempt to do a painting a day for awhile. It will be interesting to see if I can do it.

This is day #1, featuring the thin white duke himself, David Bowie. I'm thinking about a series of portraits, which means I need to brush up on my skills. So, this copyright infringement painting is just an exercise. I'm okay with it, it's a little lifeless and he looks older, but not too shabby for my first portrait in... 4 years? Wow, it's been awhile. It took about 3 hours.

(The Thin White Duke, Oil on Canvas, August 2010.)

Going all out.

So, I've been laid off. Should have been expecting it more than I was, but I did know it was coming in the back of my head. I was the bottom rung of seniority. Teaching is an insecure profession at the moment.

Solution? What else? ART! I'm gonna do it. As soon as school is out, balls to the wall, I'm a professional artist. I'm going to see if I have the discipline to make it work 40 hours a week. I'll have unemployment to hold us through the first few months of building up my portfolio, and try and supplement with shows that don't require me to have a business license. If things are going well, I'll go for it. 

I'm kind of excited. I don't know if I can do it, I'm worried that I'll get distracted by all the things that need to happen around the house. Maybe if I give myself an hour of housework in the morning, and then completely devote myself to it the rest of the day. I'm nervous but stoked.

Still, variety is the spice of life, so they say. So I plan to also promote myself as a private teacher, muralist, and handmade graphic designer. Speaking of which, here are my invitations....

Here's to hope.

A new direction: backwards.

I've decided I was putting too much focus on the concentric circles, and I didn't know how to get out of it. I wanted to grow, but I seemed to be growing trite, and overdone, and repetitive. I've been struggling to figure out what to do, where to develop towards.
And it hit me, go back to the point when I didn't feel repetitive. When I was treating the circles like a secondary feature, like an accent to the greater whole, that told a story. I used to be all about dualities. The circles representing something natural, versus something else. Juxtaposition.
I know that I've been keeping that in there a bit, but it has become the secondary feature. I want to go back to content, and keep the form secondary.
In the meanwhile, heres what I've been doing...

("Richmond." January 2010. Oil Paint on canvas.)

(Random sketch. "Masked" Sharpie. February 2010.)

Contest: Shepard Fairey

DeviantArt.com is hosting a contest by Shepard Fairey, to reinvent his poster "Love Unites." There are a lot of prizes, but the one I'm excited about is an original Shepard Fairey artist proof, signed. Too cool. So, here is my version, and the original. Please tell me what you think.

(Lela Witherspoon. "Love Defies"

Ink and pastel on paper. 09.)

(Shepard Fairey "Love Unites.")

Exploring Pen and Ink

I've been having a lot of fun with pen and ink, because it it such a good form for working at school, I can walk away from it when necessary. It's also really controllable, which is important for me. Not to mention the high contrast, which I'm a freak about.

The black and gray piece was done to explore adding more faces in to the circles. I think I can do better. It's transition is a little awkward.

The colored one I'm really excited about. I don't know how I feel about the form, but the color is really making me excited. I did it with pan pastels over the ink, and I'm happy. The red is better in person.

(Ink and Pastel on paper. "Living." Fall 2009.)

(Ink on Paper. "Expanding." Fall 2009.)

Dia De Los Muertos

This seemed cooler as I was doing it. I had a really strong urge to draw, this is what came to mind, and I absolutely loved it while I was drawing it. I still like it, but I think the crazy part of the swirls should have started sooner, further down. I dont know.

:)

(Ballpoint on paper, Fall 2009)

I (heart) Neil Gaiman.

So a singer I really like, Amanda Palmer, really encourages fan art. I'm not big in to fan art, so I haven't done too much of it over the years. But, recently she started dating Neil Gaiman. This is like two amazing separate things I love, falling in love. It's pretty cool, and inspired me to finally do an Amanda Palmer art piece, her done as Delirium from Neil's Sandman comics.

Well, she posted it on her twitter. I'm pretty happy, and it's nice to see all the flowery positive comments. Not that I intend to do any more fan art, but still, good times.

Link to the post on her twitter: http://twitgoo.com/411qv

Faces

I've been adding more to my circles lately. They're either morphing in to roses, or becoming abstract and crazy, or being distorted and blended away. The idea of faces has been brewing a little bit over the past few months, because faces used to be my passion. In early college, I considered myself a portrait artist. The image below is the image that has been floating around, and I finally took the time to draw it yesterday.

Sitting here looking at it, I find myself wanting to add more. I want more realism and detail in the faces. I want to know these people, and not have them be so random. I want to loose them more, maybe placing them in to the middle of my more flowing and crazy shapes, so that it's not such a stark contrast.

I just know that I always wanted faces with my swirls, and I've never done it. So... more to come.

(Ink on Paper, Fall 2009)

Looking

I'm trying to get better. I want more art in my life, I want to work harder at it, I want to discover and grow.

So I need to think, work endlessly, think some more, and articulate what my thoughts are. Thats what I want the blog to be. I want to share what I'm looking at, playing with, and brewing on. I will also post my finished work, where I'm showing, and anything else I feel like saying.

So, thank you for looking, and here goes nothin. ;)

(Silly monster eyes, fiddling around @ school.)