Friday, September 25, 2020

another in the 'happy place' series

I've decided to do another of my 'happy place' girls right away, since the first one helped get me out of my own headspace while painting her.  this girl is meditating on affirmations to get her through her 'stuff'.  I think a lot of us need minute-to-minute thinking these days, just to get by, and affirmations can help that process.

heres how she stands, unless I give her some last minute tending;



and heres how she got to that place


some color to start
I liked how the drips fell, and wanted to highlight them, so
turned the canvas

sketching in the pose


I had a couple of reference photos for this one


this sign is where I got my initial inspiration for the series
and I liked the cross legged pose

I liked the tilt of her head while looking at the viewer
and hoped to capture her slight smile




this is when I decided affirmations were in play here
and I liked the rainbow on her calf

getting color into her face, clothes and hair

getting the background ready for the affirmations

here she is again


I like her sweet face

"Affirmations as a Happy Place"
sending little love letters to the universe tells it where you want to go and is a great way to calm the mind.  it also reminds the energies around us what you wish to have happen.  saying "I am calm" is better than saying "I will not be anxious", because your brain gets confused with the "be anxious" part of the latter sentence.   be careful with the words you speak to yourself; the energies are there to meet you.

here is a good article about creating affirmations for yourself and why they are helpful.


sending you so much love!

until later,
Jenny

Wednesday, September 23, 2020

happy place

 well.  to be honest, I love this piece!  I love her beginning, middle and end of her.  I love the message most of all.  "find your happy place".  but, I dont think that I'm happy with having her in just one happy place, so I think this might have to be a 'happy place' series!  I'm happy at my easel, I'm happy reading, or having tea...  yeah, this may be a loose and free series of wonky but trying-to-be-happy girls!



I had 3 photo references I went by, creating a very loose pose.


basic pose


her cheeky smile

her hair


and heres her history on the canvas;


lots of happy color

the sketch

initial background color

needed more color, this time green-gold
and made pool tiles

back to blue background, water, and the words
working on skin tones


then worked on her playful face

here she is again


and some happy close-ups


she's smiling, but theres a questioning in her eyes

splashing of paint in the water,
I added words here and there.  "sing" on her knee, "splash" on a tile,
 "joyful", and "breathe" in other spots

color and texture make me happy!
look in the pink; you find the word "joy(ful)"hidden there!

the colorful drip down her throat made me happy and
reminded me of her windpipe, so added "breathe" to her chest


I think we all need the reminder to be in our own happy place in the world.  when times get tough, breathe it out, close your eyes and imagine your best place.  if only for a minute.


until later,
Jenny


Tuesday, September 8, 2020

class work

 ok, I lied in my last post about what was coming next.  I was inspired by this weeks and last weeks Let's Face It classes, taught by Jeanne-Marie Webb and Emma Petitt.  Jeanne-Marie's class had me bringing out a reference image I had wanted to try anyway, of two women together, but to paint it in a loose, non-realistic way, with lots of mark-making and layers.  and I wanted to incorporate Emmas large, figurative hands.


heres the initial reference photo that intrigued me;


I liked their stance and the hands.

and heres how my progress went;

getting ideas and blocking it in

have a harvest theme in mind with pumpkins and a bushel of hearts


the end result;

gave up on the left-side pumpkins, 
added lots of autumn leaves 
and the hearts became an inner-work symbol


some close up photos of spots I adore;

the hearts and texture of the bold underpainting (that I didn't photograph)

her eyes...  full of love and concern toward her tired sister

ugh, the moodiness of her!  she is beat.
love the necklace area, the hair, the leaves, her voluptuous lips...
just yes to all this!


they make a great team




"Sisters of the Autumn Wind"

Changes are happening.  They are ending the busy time of harvest and entering a time of well-deserved rest, when they will go inward with love and self-care to develop a plan for the next season.


and this is how I'll be treating myself these next few months of transformation.  I'm going from a full summer of growth; myself as well as my garden and the knowledge I obtained as my body grew stronger.  I'm tired and struggling with some new health challenges, and some old symptoms that have returned.  I'm turning inward again as I have almost reached the end of harvest season.  I'll be centering my focus back on the inner self.   I was neglecting some important things as I tended the gardens and canned the resulting fruits of my labor in order to nourish me over the cold months.  I hope I can learn to juggle these things a bit better in years to come, for next years garden is in planning stages, and it will be an exciting one to work on!  

but for now, I'm still tending the last few fruits to ripen in this years beautiful garden.


until later,

Jenny



Tuesday, September 1, 2020

whats next (AKA buried treasure)

as I worked on organizing my art studio yesterday I came across more works in progress I'd like to concentrate on after them waiting patiently for a year or two.

some of the works are just interesting backgrounds, but three are dear to my heart and I'd love to get them on the wall instead of being thought of as cluttering the studio.


a soon to be rendition of my childhood homestead

from a photo of my daddy as a child with my grandmother

a sketch from a very cropped, very fuzzy 
but cherished photo of my grandmother and me at the beach.
hopefully I can do the memory some justice!



then I have my newest from my free reference site that I'll be working on;





and thats a look into my painting future!  it's now September and I have lots of personal house-type things I have planned before Christmas rolls around, some of which involves bringing my painting area back down to my studio instead of where the Christmas tree will be in the heart of the home.  I might be kind of cutting the expectations close- especially since I'm dealing with more health concerns which may or may not involve knee surgery.  I figure I have a selection of paintings to choose from if I get overwhelmed with the other life-stuff and the muse comes calling.

until later, 

Jenny


procrastination in action


this is what happens when you start cleaning in the studio, I guess.  you came across some brilliantly colored and textured old backgrounds that have the beginnings of a sketch (this time of an elephant), and decide to play instead.




see the top portion of this painting?  thats how all of this was.  red/orange textured paint and a simple sketch that I needed to figure out.  I love his energy!


found a 'before the before' shot. close to how it started today


and I just looked up his meaning here and am floored again with how animal energy comes to me when I need it.  I was looking at the painting, searching for it's title.  and the words "at ease" came to me.  the background leaves nothing to be at ease about, but he is standing sure of himself, grazing on what is around him with his trunk at his mouth.  he does not seem troubled or tense about what is going on around him at all.

the article says ;

Do you have a long, hard journey in front of you and need strength to make it through? Are you taking care of friends or family during tough times and need support? Elephant, as a Spirit, Totem, and Power Animal, can help! Elephant teaches how to nourish the mind, body, and spirit, so you are strong during trying times.

just floored.


so, he will be titled "At Ease"

Elephant teaches how to use what is around to nourish us, to listen to the guidance of the Elders so we remain calm and sure footed when times are difficult.   this is the way to help our tribe.


time to meditate on this totem coming to me at this time.


until later,

Jenny


Thursday, August 27, 2020

working in my shops, cool items

hi all!

this week I've been working at getting my paintings - at this count 191!-  available on each item it can physically go into.  it's been a struggle to do some of them, and others have come out really cool!

but, then, trying to find them again in the shop has been difficult.  unfortunately I've found that society6 is not very user friendly and only shows people 5 pages of paintings when I have so much more.  unfair and discouraging when I cant find my own artwork in my own shop, knowing I had uploaded them!

I am in love with a few of the items I worked on over these few days, so wanted a place to share and to keep them close to me, so I can remember them when it's time for me to buy some of my own stuff for personal use.  and you get to be witness to the awesomeness in case you decide they are just too cool to pass up!  


first one that comes to mind is this cool fanny pack.  I know, I know, fanny packs are so '80's, but I swear, THIS one is brilliant and makes me smile!  we need more of that!




if you remember my girl that this bit came from;


these fanny packs only take a clip from your artwork, and it was originally getting a bit of the girls face.  I wondered if I could make it better, so went in and resized and moved it to make the lovely word on her shirt fit perfectly in the space provided.

the LOVE part is also on a couple of stools in my shop


I adore this affirmation, and it's amazing on this sun shade!  a bit on the pricy side, but I'm in a dreaming mood and when it comes to my art, I want to dream big!



that affirmation fit on almost every item, from greeting cards to curtains.  and what it didn't fit, I chose a different spot in the art (like "YOU" is on a stool, and "BEAUTIFUL" is on a mug).


and heres another happy affirmation from the series that I edited to fit.  the phrase was "I allow myself to be happy", and it fit beautifully on the pillow below as...



the texture in this next one is amazing!  it was a mini painting of mine, and when blown up to gigantic shower curtain size... well, I just drooled over this one when I was working on it this week!



this butterfly went on just about everything without thought to placement, it looked just that good!  (yes, even the fanny pack)


unfortunately as I'm going through my store to find the items I was attracted to most for this post, I got distracted by another clean-up task that would make browsing my store easier for everyone.  I think my next painting should be a SQURREL!

if you go to my shop, you'll notice a button called collections, like below;






I'm in the process of gathering like items together in their own collections.  all animals together in one collection, but then all the bees have their own spot; all the elephants together if you're just looking for elephants; all the affirmations together.  hopefully this will solve the issue with finding my artwork in the shop.

anyway, time to stop dreaming of a wishlist of my own paintings and get back to my not as much fun to-do list!


until later,

Jenny



Sunday, August 23, 2020

so much new merchandise up in the stores

 hi there!  hope todays a good day in your part of the world.  today has been busy in the garden and canning what came from the garden, and now with uploading my three newest paintings into my society6 and redbubble online shops.  what a busy one it's been so far!


here we have the weary lightworker on society6 as an art print;



 
and makes a great card

click the link above and then scroll down the page to find many more products for this painting!



and we now go to the same painting on my redbubble site;
heres the link to the art print if you scroll down, you will see "available on +69 products".  click on that, and it will show you all the products that painting is on, and you can click on the one you'd like to see.

they now have aprons which I now need to activate on all my other paintings!
but, how cool are they?!

and she is stunning on a mug!
imagine drinking coffee or tea as you contemplate the day with her



on to The Adjustment as an art print on society6;



I think she's really cool as a beach towel!


click the link above and then scroll down the page to find many more products for this painting!




and the same painting in redbubble
heres the link to the art print.  if you scroll down, you will see "available on +51 products".  click on that, and it will show you all the products that painting is on, and you can click on the one you'd like to see.

I love the look on all the clothes!

they have pins now, which, again, I must activate for my other paintings



and for the last of my newest paintings I have Sacred Teacher of the Land as an art print on society6


I had to paint her so it was difficult to place on merchandise.
oh well, I paint as I am called to, not thinking how they will look on a greeting card!

it makes a pretty pillow


and the notebooks are cool;

front

back


click the link above and then scroll down the page to find many more products for this painting!



and on to my redbubble site for Sacred Teacher of the Land
heres the art print link.  if you scroll down, you will see "available on +64 products".  click on that, and it will show you all the products that painting is on, and you can click on the one you'd like to see.

the iPhone wallet came out great!

and the backpack is kinda funky


I could go on and on about how beautiful these new paintings are on all the cool new merchendice they have up on the sites, but it's getting long enough.  time to just hit publish and let you browse to your hearts content.  may you find some peace in my paintings in these trying times.

until later,
Jenny