newest minis complete, and a challenge for march

hi there, my friend!

this week was full of ideas, full of finishing up my sloths in order to sell, and of starting a new animal series.  this time foxes.

roughed in

the finished paintings;

 "Ever Alert"

 "Heart of the Fox"

 "The Wary One"

 "Wisdom of the Fox"
SOLD already 
for my sweet nephews nursery

palm sized works of art

"The Wary One" next to a 4"x4" sloth painting

 for size comparison

sloths and foxes are at Bates Crafters Gallery now!

 elephants, sloths, foxes, and bees

I have decided to do another mini painting challenge similar to the elephant challenge I had a bit ago.  this time I've decided to paint dogs and put magnets on those mini paintings.  I've also decided to give 10% of sales of my 'pet'  magnets to the North Quabbin Regional Animal Control.  they do so much for animals in need and we try to support them whenever we can.  I will branch out to cat magnets after the dog challenge is complete.  I do hope I will be able to get 31 paintings done this month and, more importantly, that I'm able to give the animal control officer a nice donation!  I'm planning on the magnets to only be 'pets' (dogs and cats), so that they won't be confused, by me, with my other art.   I want all the magnets I paint to always support the animal control, not just this group in march.  I'm just making it easier for me to remember.  magnet = pet= donation.

I did a test run on these, to make sure it will be doable for me to do a 'good enough' magnet each day and get them all set to be sold in a timely manner without burning out.  of course, the test runs were to people I know and love with dogs they adore, so I was more worried about these looking 'perfect enough'.  I know I won't be as stressed with the reference photos of 'random dogs' this month.

sketch and collage first

"Princess"

 "Andrea"

"Lucy and Her Tongue"

she fought me every step of the way!

 a convenient place to dry them

not only do I want to paint 7 'good enough' minis a week this month, but in order to get them in the store to sell, I'll have to;

~mount the magnets

~varnish the paintings to have them protected from scratches and kitchen 'gunk'

~make sure the sides are painted for a finished look

~sign, date, and put my info on the back

~mark the price

~scan them for my online shops

and

~put them in my database

I've already had a day of burnout after a week and a half of going strong with painting and brain work since starting to show my work at Bates Gallery.  my hope is that I'll continue to hold strong for a while longer in order to push all my 'older' minis out of the shop.  I've learned and grown so much since creating some of them, my style has evolved, and I want what's in the store to reflect who I am now as an artist.  I also want to get the March Pet Magnet Challenge complete before crashing again, but I dont want to push myself too hard, either.  that's just not good for my health.  it's all about the balance these days.

of course, the day before the challenge started I fell down the cellar stairs while bringing my 'Lucy' mini down to varnish.

you can see multiple indentations, 

I'm assuming from multiple 'hits', somehow

nothing was seriously hurt- no broken bones or anything like that- but I'm a hurting pup (HA).  my foot slipped off the step I had stepped onto, so both feet in the air, my arm was scraped up that badly thru my hoodie, as I landed on my arm first then my back and 'caboose', and the edge of the stair hit me square in the back.  I saw those bluebirds and stars flying around my head like in the cartoons.  the scraped arm isn't as sore as it was the day it happened, but the muscles in the arm and shoulder are very tender to move them, my back hurts pretty badly, I have a headache and nausea, and I know I tensed up the rest of my body in anticipation of landing.  when I think of where it hurts I sing "head, shoulders, knees and toes", cause it's a whole body adventure right now.

since my boo-boo-time I've decided to not worry about the 'one mini a day' bit and just try for 30ish magnet paintings this month, doing them in batches like I have been doing the paintings anyway.  yesterday (day 1 of the challenge, the day after my fall) I did 3 sketches and some collage work, as this first layer doesn't need to be 'pretty',  just added for texture. I like doing the first layers!

plotting placement and 'dog shapes'

one may be wearing a tie

oh, and my Bear paintings both sold last weekend!  the very day I put them out Sweety's sweet mother went to buy one!  how sweet of Sweety's sweet mother!  I think she was stalking me on FB, knowing I'd post when I brought them to Bates.  the very next day my sons own sweet mommy-in-law went to grab the second one!  how awesome is it that not only do I have the best, most supportive family and friends, but that I get visitation rights to some of my work?!  Fran and Mike, the owners at Bates Gallery, are urging me to make a few more bears, and I've had a request for otters, so bears and otters are next on the list.  

it's been fun working on these critters to help them come out on the canvas and finding out what their symbolism is.  usually when a critter is asking me to paint it, it means I need to work with it's energies.  for some, it's only when I complete the painting that I learn the meaning of it.  it's usually worked out that they were speaking to me about an area I need some assistance.  it's been pretty cool, as I've found working with them has been like working with my tarot or oracle decks.  the work has been very informative and healing for me.

I am missing creating larger paintings and of my mystical girls, but I want some more sales to be coming in before I can justify a larger rental fee for displaying my larger work.

but, for now I rest and recover, put up my foxes and 3 dogs up in the online shops, and slowly do my pet magnets.

until later,
Jenny