Neat Book!

Starting to read this now. What a cool idea for a book. Cameras fascinate me.

Art Shows & Fine Tuning

This is one of those things that's maybe so conceptual, it's hard to explain, and it's not my first attempt to do so.  My dearest friends want the best for me and look out for me in all aspects of life.  Their love and support truly mean the world to me.  They also urge me to put my art more out there, including getting it into galleries and shows.  While I do question how some people have become famous with their style of art, I am not looking to have my work in a museum - ever.  I am also not interested in creating works specifically for a show or festival because by doing that I am only doing a job.  The passion and inspiration is in not in it. 

The beer fish are things that I make not minding just turning a profit.  They didn't start out that way, but that's what they've become.  And if I did a festival, I would most likely make a ton of them to sell.  They are somewhat of a novelty, though, so getting recognized for that is fine.  When I'm really feeling inspired, I paint, pull out my printmaking supplies - do more time consuming and in-depth projects.  Another example, is that I will never sell my pottery.  For one, I use it and two, I made it just for myself.  The reason I sell my lithographs is because I had six of each print.  There's an edition of each in my personal collection, but I sell the rest because I didn't need six of each one. 

I do most art for myself.  It is my hobby, and my passion.  While I obviously want to make some kind of profit from it (hello, Etsy), I feel that if it would take off and become wildly successful, the passion and enjoyment I get from it will disappear.  Making art is personally satisfying for me so I don't want to lose that by having to mass produce pieces for clients, galleries, festivals, shows, etc.  There's a delicate balance I want to achieve by putting my work out there on my website (which I swear is slowly but surely coming along), selling it on Etsy, or blogging and Tweeting about it; although, I can not say specifically what it is other than a feeling or inner comfort meter. 

Hopefully, all of this makes sense.  I take it as a compliment when people introduce me as an artist, and I do consider myself one, but I'm more than likely not the kind you think of physically or metaphorically.

Party Rock

The Perfect Mix of my Two Worlds    -- I've emailed the person in charge of this and hopefully she'll like my stuff and include me in her book and project. 

And I finally reupholstered the chair!  It's not 100% finished, but I needed it mostly done for a party I'm throwing tonight.  I'll go back and stuff the seat more later, and then nail in more tacks to make it totally secure. 

Fashionista?....maybe....

I bought this dress at Jazzfest several years ago and I paid a pretty penny for it.  It's all handmade.  I've never fit into it because I tried it on over my clothes at the fest.  It's about two sizes too big.  The belt was added by me, by the way, but the rest of the dress is scrap fabric sewn together.  I can't decide if I want to have it taken in by a seamstress or consign it, or use it for scrap fabric for future projects of my own.  Whenever I do get my sewing machine (it's on my birthday wish list), I'll be making dresses and skirts.  If all goes well, I'd like to try making all sorts of clothes.  Maybe that's the direction the art business will go in.  I would love to be a costume maker and designer.  Designing and creating my outfits for Dragonflies every year has led me to thinking about that.   

                                       
The artist is Andrea Loest and it's called "Pin Up Cowgirl 50's Sundress".  I found the tag when I was cleaning out a closet at my parents' house tonight.  Ha!  I also see that I paid WAY more for it than I initially thought!!

Happy Father's Day, Dad!!

So, in case you haven't figured it out yet, I'm pretty close to my parents.  They are great people, and everyone who meets them loves them.  Today is the day that we all pay homage to our dads, whether it's being the father of pets, human offspring, or whatever other combinations of family apply.  You have read about my art influences from my mom for Mother's Day, and as some of you already know, much of my art interests come from my dad, as well. 

My dad was an architect all of my childhood.  We lived in New Orleans and he had his dream job.  Over the years he worked on the creation of so many New Orleans architectural icons - the Superdome, Tulane Medical Center, the Sheraton on Canal Street, and Hard Rock Cafe on N. Peter's.  Dad was also a photographer at family events growing up, and of nature.  Guess where I get my enthusiasm for nature photography from?  I remember when I was little and Dad was working on projects in the garage, I liked to hang out with him while he was working and he let me play with some of his tools.  He gave me a scrap of a two by four and let me hammer way too many nails in it so I could make a table for my Barbie's.  Oh yeah, it was awesome - hahahaha!!  Dad's not an architect anymore, but he's still always working on projects at he and mom's house or in the garden.  Guess where my joy of gardening comes from, too?  He's helped me stretch a canvas, he fixes things at my condo and teaches me how, too, and when I feel like giving up, he pushes me to go further.  I'm so glad he's my dad. 

Happy Father's Day, Dad!  I love you so much!

Yippy!!!

I'm finally redesigning the website!  I'd forgotten my passwords, and everything regarding the site transfer wasn't working. The old site still needs to get redirected, but I can build while that gets worked on by my former webmaster. 

This has been a nice rainy weekend here so I've been creative in the kitchen. Experimenting with food is something I enjoy, by trying new things and with recipes. So far, I've made lasagna with eggplant, cottage cheese, and 100% lean ground meat; mango juice from a fresh mango; and banana nut muffins with a mix, but eaten with Nutella. This afternoon, I hope to make either lemon pound cake or fruit tarts from scratch.

Reading and yoga are on the agenda, too!

Like the drawing says...

Just a sketch before bed.  Don't be afraid to dream HUGE!!  You never know what might happen. I always dream in color, too! ;)

Uno Momento

There was an issue with the website transfer.  The site builder used for the original website does not allow FTP, so the DNS directions have to be changed and then I can start building my new site.  The reason for the redirection is so the web address can stay the same.  Othewise, I'd have to really start from scratch.  That's not a huge deal except that .com was already taken, and now .net would already be taken, too.  Sigh.  That part should get done this week - it's really quick - so I'm really hoping to start building over the weekend.  I'm becoming somewhat of a techie afterall.  It'll serve me well in libraryland, too, and help beef up the resume <wink>.  All the other new forms of media are doing well, though, so send some good juju this way for the website so it can be on it's merry way to life again!  Have a great evening!

What's That You Say??

I've finally chosen a different web host for Cool Beans Art!!  Green Geeks seemed to be the easiest for me to understand, the best priced, it's well rated, and it's really green (windpower for the environment: see their site).  I don't know HTML yet, so I'll be using the free templates provided with the hosting service.  **Apparently, I also need to learn SQL**  The transfer is literally happening right now.  I hope to have it fully updated and running by the end of this week, but we'll see how things go.  Right now, I'm excited, but keeping my eyes wide open and putting on my thinking cap since I have no experience in this whatsoever! My brother is the techie, not me.   

Slowly, but surely, the site will get revamped and updated.  It will serve as homebase for this blog, the Etsy shop, and Flickr.  It will also be updated regularly.  I've signed up for Twitter and for Pinterest as well, so there are lots of ways to follow along now.  I feel like this is the key to attracting more of a fan base.  Please follow along with my progress and thank you for your support over the years to this point!  I'm really excited about all of this finally coming together! Cheers!

Good News All Around!

Happy Sunday!  My professional business cards have arrived and look quite spiffy.  Along with my Etsy shop came with a few deals, one of them being Moo cards, and I got the choice of using green (sustainable) paper for them, which I totally did.  Mom was so impressed with them she suggested I use them as part of my portfolio (I love that she dreams big for and with me).  Itoya is my favorite brand of portfolio because it's so professional and sleek looking, and they make a business card display folio, too.  I'll be at Hobby Lobby with the next 40 % off coupon I get to buy one!

Other fun and excitement is that I finally, after years, started going through my closets at my parents' house.  I made room here in my costume closet for fabric samples I got from my brother years ago when he sold futons.  There is even more fabric hidden at Mom and Dad's but we haven't been able to put our paws on it yet.  I've got a significant amount already, just today, though!  One piece is to recover the dining chair downstairs.  It was sanded a few months ago, and has been patiently awaiting a new seat cover. 
I also came across three brand new photo frames that match others I have here at my house.  I could definitely use them, and it was a nice surprise.  Oh, and another tiny surprise is that I now have three book screws from a bolt of fabric (if I make two covers, and choose awesome art paper to put inside, the book is literally bolted together with these screws), so I'm looking forward to that project as well because bookmaking is fun!

Lastly, I remembered that the St. Tammany Art Association offers clay, a kiln, and even classes for a small fee.  There are so many clay and ceramic projects I've been needing and wanting to tend to....woo!  I will be one busy little artist here this summer!  May as well be, though.  The job market is terrible, and it's too hot to stay outside for very long on days off. 

Hope everyone has had a great weekend!  I also hope that you, too, can find some treasures that make you happy and inspired! 

Fridge Art

I was having fun in the kitchen cooking this afternoon.  Once everything was cleaned up and put away, I decided to have fun with the colored chalk on the freezer door.  FYI - I painted it with chalkboard paint a year or so ago.  It's been fun ever since!