Blog

So, I am trying to become more familiar with the interactions available on FAA. Contests, Discussions, Limited Time Promotions, Twitter stuff, Favoriting, Watching. I wanted to "watch" a lot of artists but then EVERYTHING they watch showed up in my activity list, which I do check daily. That became overwhelming! However, I shall probably keep adding a few at a time! It is fun to look at everyone's artwork!! Favoriting other artists' individual pieces is great! I will try to start doing that more!

Discussions still confuse me -- I thought it was best to copy/paste the image link, but some people want the webpage link instead. I don't want to click every single webpage link in a discussion thread -- personally, I like the copy/paste image link WAY BETTER because you can see each piece of artwork on one webpage.

Trying to enter Contests more ~ I miss the voting deadlines sometimes!!

Limited Time Promotions -- not a lot of sales through those yet. Fingers crossed!!

Last, Twitter: I do post my own new artwork to my Twitter account. My Twitter feed always has a million zillion "featured" posts by FAA itself ~ I never see any of MY work put on Twitter by FAA. I wonder how FAA picks what images to feature on THEIR Twitter feed??? I want in on THAT!! Lol!

That's it for now!! Bye! :)

Well, FINALLY. It is warm here in central Indiana! Too warm -- it is actually humid already! We had about three days of lovely Spring weather, and then it went right into steamy. Not so great for someone with lung disease, but c'est la vie! I will manage. Hopefully, it will rain soon (April showers bring May flowers!) and the air will then be a nice normal sweet breath of Spring for at least a few weeks!

I am still working on reshooting some of the paintings in my older listings; it is slow going, learning my new camera, but I am making progress. I find that the paintings with a lot of dark paint in them (blues, blacks) photograph really poorly -- I get a lot of shine/reflection in those photos, even in indirect sunlight outdoors (my usual location for photographing paintings). So, please, be patient for updated photos of my Zodiac paintings, my "winter" paintings, and my Military paintings -- I am having trouble with all of those! The Zodiac ones are the most difficult -- the single constellation ones all have at least one gemstone in the star constellations, and they all have a bit of iridescence in the gloss finish, so some shine seems so far unavoidable. But, I am working on it! I will say that so far, the originals look SO MUCH BETTER than my photographic images of them! Sigh. Well, remember, I can custom-make the Zodiac paintings for you -- originals! Just contact me!

In the meantime, I also am painting a large rain barrel for the town of Cicero to auction off in June, during the Nickel Plate Arts Weekends (I will have an art booth that weekend June 8 and 9, Noblesville Square). A fun project so far -- I have titled my rain barrel "April Showers Bring May Flowers"!! Perhaps working on the rain barrel made this terrible early humidity show up! Ha!

Mother's Day is coming up!! Everyone, consider artwork for your mother! A beautiful art print of a landscape or a lovely photo of a gorgeous red rose ~ perfect for Mother's Day!! Browse through my Photographs Gallery -- you might find the PERFECT GIFT!

So, the birds are singing and a light rain is misting down ~ Happy Spring, Everyone!!

Finally, the Ides of March has passed!! For me, the few weeks before the Ides of March are usually filled with a lot of bad things happening, and this year was no exception! UGH! I'm SO GLAD it is now March 16th!! I have a big Art Gala to attend tonight: the Noblesville Cultural Arts Commission's annual fundraising Gala. I am excited to have an event to go to where I can wear a long gown -- I painted a pair of shoes to match my gown, so watch out World, here I come -- a-style-setting phenomenon!! Even better, St. Patrick's Day is tomorrow, and I LOVE St. Patrick's Day! Firstly, I have always loved all things Irish, secondly, I did my Master's Thesis on pre-Christian Ireland's sacred sites, and thirdly, St. Patrick's Day is the anniversary of both my husband and my first date (18 years ago!) AND the day he proposed (10 years ago!) ~ so I have good reasons to love St. Patrick's Day!!

I have moved forward as an artists by opening a retail booth in the Whimzy shops on Logan Street in Noblesville, IN!!! I am really excited about that opportunity -- now, local folks can see my various artworks!! Yay! Also, the new Earth Fare Health Foods Store in Hamilton Towne Center has seven of my paintings on display in their Café!! It is right off I-69 at the Pendleton/Noblesville exit, in Noblesville, so stop in if you are travelling by!

In other "moving forward" news, I have a new camera!!! Yay! In honor of the fact that I recently was juried into the Hamilton County Artists' Association as a photographer, I splurged on a new Nikon. My poor old one has not worked for years -- you couldn't change any settings, so I could not achieve better resolution or larger image files. NOW, with my new Nikon D3200, I can -- well, I can, sort of! I am slowly "learning: the camera, but so far, photographing has been a joy with this new camera. I can't wait for Indiana to burst into full-blown Spring colors for some great outdoor landscape shots!!

Slowly but surely, I will re-shoot my original paintings that I can get my hands on and upload better images here on Fine Art America. It will take me some time, but believe me folks, I am working on it!!

So, Happy St. Patrick's Day tomorrow!! Stay happy and enjoy art!

Well, I have been working on getting higher resolution/larger files. This means taking new pictures of my paintings. Please be patient -- it is winter here in Indiana, too cold to go outside and set up a photo shoot for over 100 paintings!! LOL, I am doing them as fast as I can! Someday, I will get a new camera that can take even lager pictures, but in the meantime, one at a time, I am getting better images done slowly!!

Wow, my "Wishing Trees" Series is really fun! I started this series with one painting that was a commissioned piece for a friend who wanted to present it as a gift to her niece -- now, I am getting all kinds of commission orders for Wishing Trees in different colors for both children and adults, too! Everyone needs a Wishing Tree!!! I am thrilled to offer these paintings in Fine art Prints and canvases (and greeting cards!!) to the general public world-wide through Fine art America's great print-on-demand services! So get yourself or that special someone a Wishing Tree today!!!

Well, Friday is fast approaching -- my first ever Gallery Art show! Nervous, excited, YES YES YES! My birthday is the Wednesday, so Friday's art show is a really cool way for me to celebrate!! I always love my birthday; celebrating the whole month long -- I'm always so happy to be alive for another year, too happy to celebrate just one day!!
Anyway, I am putting the finishing touches on homemade display boards and thingies, as well as finishing up various items to display -- visit my website to see all the types of things I make -- paintings, photographs, Baba Luba Nut Dolls, and jewelry. THANK YOU to all of my local customers, many of whom have "loaned" me previous purchases to put on display tagged "On Loan From Private Collection"!!! Such a thrill, all of this whirlwind of art fun! If you are in Noblesville, IN this Friday, June 22, stop in at the Artists On The Square Gallery (853 Conner Street, at the middle of the southside of Noblesville Town Square) from 6:00 - 9:00pm !!! I would LOVE to see you there!!!

Within the newness of Spring this year, as my nest is empty and my health deteriorates,I find myself dreaming big. I am, suddenly, willing to take my artistic intincts -- as yet untrained and raw -- to a place unknown: THE PUBLIC. I have some of my work displayed in a local gallery, I entered (and was one of 16 winners) a local market umbrella painting commission-competition, and I joined this website, Fine Art America, in order to put my art "out there". My whole life has been lived rather quietly; over the years, I have dabbled in "art" in one form or another -- always needing a project or two to be working on, although often some lie unfinished for years. Do you know that feeling -- that NEED to be making something, working on something, creating something? It is a strong pull (or push), is it not?!?

Well, for whatever reason, this year that NEED is overwhelming and I am really trying to live out my days with art being "my thing" -- the dreams of my youth may be a dim memory, and the future may belong to others now as mine becomes obscured in the gray mist of aging, but my soul feels light and joyful with the full flush of the newness of Spring!