New Work at Artistic Alley

     I have recently begun to show my work in a unique gallery in Berlin, OH called Artistic Alley. It's filled with a beautiful assortment of one of a kind artwork including framed art, jewelry, sculpture, pottery, to name a few. It is located in the back of the Java Jo building along the side 'boardwalk'. They are open for business at noon every day except Wednesday and Sunday.
      The two original pieces above are currently hanging for you to see at the gallery. Also available are my framed botanical prints and note cards and other originals as I get them framed and ready to bring in.
      I hope you'll stop by when you're in the area. Their friendly, knowledgeable owners and staff would be happy to show you around.

Christmas Gift Shop

I have been invited by Marcia Hostetler of Star Dust Jewelry to join her and several other friends in a Christmas Gift Shop event. It looks like there will be some nice hand crafted, fine quality items offered for your shopping convenience all in one location.


Come support your local artists, artisans and small business owners. 

You may even win a door prize! :)

Saturday, November 19th, 10:00am ~ 7:00pm at the Comfort Inn ~ Dover, OH

New print and cards

 

A new print and two new card designs I'll be taking with me to DAZZLE on Sunday, November 6th, 2011.

DAZZLE

On Sunday, November 6, 2011, I will be participating in The 7th Annual DAZZLE. DAZZLE is sponsored by the Ashland Symphony Women's League and is held at Ashland University in the John C. Myers Convocation Center, Ashland Ohio. This is the first year for me at this show and I am looking forward to the new experience. It sounds like a very nice event. I will be bringing my botanical and landscape orginals and prints and note cards which will all be available for sale.

Hydrangea "Nikko Blue"

We have a hydrangea bush residing in the flower bed beside our front door. This year I happened to have the time to finally do a colored pencil drawing of a flower head in the opening stages of bloom -- my favorite stage. I love the pastel blue, yellow, green and cream the petals begin with before the darker blue comes on as the season progresses.


As always, I draw first from a live specimen. I've found that this flower survives very well in a vase of water in the refrigerator. It lasted for weeks which was a blessing since I hadn't finished before we had taken a 7-day vacation. The flower was almost as I had left it though the leaves had changed position and started to wilt. That is why it is so important for me to take many photos and color sketches at the start.


Today I picked up prints of this drawing from my printer. I'm so happy with the way they turned out. They will be available for sale at the Quailcrest Herb Fair where I will be setting up my booth on Saturday, Sept. 10, 10am-5pm. This is my first time as an exhibitor at this show but I have attended in the past and have always enjoyed myself taking in all the herbs, gardens, art and quality craft items.

Antiques in the Alley Special

For the next few days I'll be busy getting ready for "Antiques in the Alley", this Saturday, August 6th at the Antique Emporium in Millersburg. I'll be there from 9am til 5pm. I have decided to offer, for one day only, a $5 discount on all my signed and numbered limited edition prints, including the historical buildings and country scenes in graphite and "Fruit of the Vine", a print from an original colored pencil piece. Hope to see some of you there!

An Invitation ~

On Saturday, August 6, 2011, during Millersburg's annual August "Antiques in the Alley", all are invited to a showing of my work at the Village Antique Emporium in Millersburg Ohio. The shop is located on the west end of town near the corner of Jackson Street (Main Street) and Washington Street. It is a wonderful shop with 3 floors of treasures to be discovered. I will be set up on the first floor in their large library room. Along with the work I already have there available for purchase, I will be bringing along some new pieces. Also working on some "day of show specials".  

So please join us at Village Antique Emporium for art, antiques and fun in the heart of Ohio's Amish Country in Historic Downtown Millersburg.

Ohio Park Art - East Harbor State Park

Here is my first painting, Sailing Away, from the Ohio State Park series. I have decided to begin painting small acrylic canvases -- this one is 5"x7" --  which could later become larger paintings or drawings. This way I will be able to finish more quickly as we make our visits in the spring, summer and fall and leave the larger work for the winter when not so much is going on.


One beautiful July morning last summer while vacationing on Catawba Island, my husband and I visited East Harbor. We loved the wildness of the beach trail from which this scene was taken. Quite different from the swimming beaches of the surrounding area.

Tulipa "Apricot Parrot"

Part of the enjoyment I receive from botanical art is getting to know the flowers and plants from my garden on a different, more intimate level. This tulip is new to my flower beds this year. I have always loved the frilly, multi colored shades of the Parrot tulip. Last fall when my bulbs arrived, I took the time to draw one of them first before planting. This one was most interesting with the "sash" curving around the middle as the skin of the bulb cracked wanting to grow. Since this was a Mixture I waited this spring for the right colored flower. This one was my favorite. Hope you enjoy this bit of my garden. I am taking it with me to the Quailcrest Spring Garden Fair, June 11 & 12. Prints of this drawing will be available.

Apple Revisited

Last fall I drew this apple (unknown variety) in colored pencil. While looking for work to print for an uncoming show at Quailcrest Farm I decided to add a blossom to the picture. Sounded good to me, the only problem was that this year was apparently not the year for apples in our orchard. Last year we had a bumper crop so I thought maybe they were taking the year off. As a result, there were no blossoms to be seen! I checked each day with the same result...no flowers. But this past week as I was walking by I saw one blossom on the right tree. No others. I quickly snipped the branch, brought it inside, set it in a vase of water and finished my drawing. While working with nature it's always a challenge but I love it's happy surprises.

Pinus resinosa (Red pine)

Back in January while thinking of projects for the year ahead the idea was presented to me by my friend Vicki, a fellow artist living in Australia, that we would each do a painting of a plant from our gardens each month and by the time the year had ended perhaps make them into a calendar. Well, life got busy and neither of us had time for the commitment but I am sure we will do it one day! This drawing in colored pencil, which took much more than a month to complete, would have been my "January" entry.

This pine branch is from one of our trees in the field behind our house. It was so striking in the snow and was clipped toward the end of winter. It took many weeks to complete and I had to wrap the cone on the branch with a wet paper towel to keep it from opening. I'm finding botanical art has it's challenges aside from just getting an accurate representation of the plant. We are dealing with living things that sometimes have minds of their own and we have to adjust to them! 


Check out Vicki's blog.  She's a wonderful artist.

Planning...

 Since deciding to visit the Ohio state parks as part of a personal ongoing art project, I have received lots of information from the state park system both in the mail and on-line. I have set up a "planning central" of sorts to keep it in front of me for motivation and also to keep the info in one place as I plan. One thing that is very helpful is the map of where the many parks are located. A few that we would like to visit this year are:  the Lake Erie Islands, Mohican and maybe Malabar Farms in the late summer/fall.


Last weekend my husband and I began by traveling to Marblehead Lighthouse on Lake Erie. I should have a couple preliminary sketches to share in the next couple weeks -- sketches that will be made into larger, more detailed artwork at a later time. 

The State Park Art Adventure

As the end of a year approaches with thoughts of a new year ahead our minds sometimes turn to 'what's next?' This is especially true for a wife and mother who has finished raising our 2 children wondering what to do with the next season of life. We all want to make a difference. We want our lives to be significant in some way. We all need a reason to get up in the morning with something to look forward to each day. Lately my ear has been tuned to stories of people who are doing what they love to do and wonderful things have been coming out of their journeys. 


Inspiration to do something BIG has been everywhere lately. Last month I heard a story about the son of a couple I know. He had made it a goal to drive to every town in Ohio on his Honda motorcycle. Having achieved that, it is now his goal to drive on every road in every county of our state. Last weekend I heard Greg Miller, son of a dear friend, share about his life leading up to his Big Year -- "an informal competition among birders to see who can see or hear the largest number of species of birds within a single calendar year within a specific geographical area..." His story has been included in a book titled, The Big Year, and soon to be released in a movie by the same title. These were 2 men from ordinary families who I actually know just doing what they loved. 


So this brings me to my new adventure. This will probably not sound very significant to most people--maybe to none at all. But to this northeastern Ohio girl, living in the same area all my life who loves to travel and make art with next to nothing in the travel budget, this seems to fit the bill. I am planning to visit all of Ohio's State Parks and produce some form of art to represent each. This could very well be a lifelong adventure--I only have 3 visits planned this year! But I think that makes it all the better. I think it's something my husband can get into with me...or maybe not. (You local friends, don't be surprised if you get an invite to travel with me sometimes.) So, from time to time I will be posting an update, painting, drawing or other "something" from my trips.


I hope that in sharing this someone will be inspired to do something you really want to do, large or small. The ordinary just might become extraordinary.


Happy journeys and happy 2011!

Pictured above:  East Harbor State Park, Port Clinton, OH