NEW YEAR, NEW START

Who doesn't love a fresh start?

January 1st is really just a continuation in a long stream of days, but who doesn't love a fresh start? A new race to run (not from personal experience, I just thought it sounded good), new colors to explore, spend more time where I feel most alive, experiment more, love more, move closer to what God created me to do and embrace the wonderful gift of joy.

Got to hand deliver my last art installation of 2016 in Indianapolis for my amazing, creative Jennifer Storey. Now I can't wait to get back in the studio!

Happy New Year everyone. Keep an eye out for an amazing surprise coming very soon.

YOU KNOW WHAT THEY SAY?

Back to the drawing board? Nope, this one is finished. It's raining cats and dogs? You're getting closer. Every cloud has a silver lining? Close, but no cigar. When it rains it pours? Winner Winner.....

You Know What They Say? 16 x16 on wood cradle board

I apologize for being a little punchy. I seem to create quite a few rainy paintings, which is ironic, since rain is so rare in San Diego. I thoroughly enjoyed the layer upon layer of raining color until I could see beyond the paint itself. 

FIRE AND RAIN

I started this, then had to set it aside for some commission pieces and lots of volunteering my time. So it was like spending time with a friend yesterday as I added the finishing touches. This is a 16"x16" acrylic abstract painted on a 1.5 deep birch cradle board. Will be adding this to my website soon. 

FIRE AND RAIN

THE GIFT THAT GAVE BACK

Back in December my daughter requested a large abstract painting from me for Christmas. I was still experimenting in abstract so I held High Mass over this project. Once completed, we took the 40"x40" painting off the frame and packed it in a heavy tube. Too large for carry-on I reluctantly checked it in at the airport. When we arrived in Indianapolis at midnight, I held my breath as all the luggage was off the carousel and people cleared out...no tube, no painting. Turns out it never left San Diego. It finally arrived just in time to put it all back together for Christmas morning and her reaction made all the trouble worth it. 

 Above was a temporary location until Jennifer's kitchen remodel was complete. Now here it is in it's permanent spot above this beautiful credenza:

So that was the gift part of the story. Now pay attention all you artists who wonder how you'll ever get noticed. I got an email from a friend of Jennifer's saying her mom absolutely loves that painting and wanted to commission me to make a smaller version for her mom's 60th. Jennifer was fine with that so I just completed this 10"x10" little sister, which I titled "Blow out the Candles".

Her mom never saw my work in person, only images on Facebook or Instagram. And now her daughter is discussing another commission for herself. You just never know who will be watching and one thing can lead to endless possibilities. Just keep on painting and posting! 

BOUNCE OFF THE WALLS

Shut. The. Front. Door. has a new friend. They haven't officially met yet, as Shut (for short, right?) is currently hanging in a gallery. Besides, Shut is already spoken for, but I liked where I was headed and wanted to create more like him/her/it. Shut up, I think I accomplished it! Let me introduce you to:

BOUNCE OFF THE WALLS  24x24 mixed media 

Now I'm not guaranteeing I'm totally finished with Bounce Off The Walls. But safe to say I would only add some markings, as I am happy, happy that I accomplished what was in my head and heart. 

Wanna see what they would look like if they got together?

ArtWalk San Diego 2016

My ArtWalk San Diego 2016 space from this past weekend. 

HONING IT IN

You must have thought I died. Naaa, I'm very alive over here. Between the extensive home remodels and forcing myself to explore and stretch myself creatively, I've been a busy girl. For me painting is a spiritual experience; what connects me to my Creator. My goal is to find what I was created to create. A journey I feel privileged to experience. So honing, exploring and feeling those deep emotions that go along with the ride are where I've been for many months now. 

Right now I am in the midst of last minute preparations for ArtWalk San Diego which is just a few days away. A huge sigh, which my husband says is my silent scream. Sigh....

That's my abstract painting named "SHUT. THE. FRONT. DOOR."... what my daughter, Jennifer Storey, said when she first saw it. When a favorite family member has that kind reaction the title comes easy. 

If you are in the San Diego area and planning to attend ArtWalk, I'd sure love for you to pop in and introduce yourself. Remember #945. And lately I've been more frequent on Etsy and Instagram, so please follow me there for my latest creations. 

GIRL IN CHAIR

Okay, certainly not the most creative title, I know. I have been wanting to try my hand at watercolor again. I've never had any real watercolor classes, so I'm just putting ideas on paper to see what happens. This was my second attempt. I like a couple areas of the first one, but overall, this was better. Every painting is an experiment. I'll put this one in my Etsy shop as a 5x7.

MAKING A SILK SCARF

Several of us creative types stepped out of our comfort zones yesterday to design silk scarves. What fun! It was a very warmish day outside. So much so that my sweat dripped onto my design a couple times. But that just added to the "uniqueness", right? The others mostly used the marbleizing technique (see an example in the second photo) which was so fascinating. I decided to go big and bold and try my hand at a large floral. For not knowing what we were doing each scarf was a work of art. We had help from an assistant. They place the silk on our floating art and pull it back off and voila! Lots of ohhhs and ahhhs in unison. Can you tell I was pleased? I sure would do this again!

KEVIN'S BIG, AMAZING LIFE

During Artwalk this last April some friends came to visit my booth. It was love at first sight when the husband saw Mr Big Shot. After I explained the story behind the layers of this collage he asked me to do one for him. 

I began building the story of Kevin's life after several conversations, photos, and using my interior design instincts to design a piece of art that fits their personal style and a good amount of research on my own.

The top of the painting was from a photo I consider iconic for the times. Seems it was mandatory to have a pic in front of the family car, right? I only have a couple dozen photos of myself as a child and sure enough, one is in front of a car! The original photo was so tiny to begin with I had a heck of a time and a few redo's to get his features to my liking. Lots of tiny brushes were used, as you can imagine. I actually moved little Kevin over to a better spot in front of the car. As an artist you get to do that, you know. Just pick em up and move em over. Sorry, I took this pic quickly so it's crooked, but you get the idea.

Kevin's love for water skiing just had to be included. Again, the facial features were so important to me and the hardest to capture. I think that's my 5th try.

When I presented this to Kevin and his wife Karen (my sneaky collaborator) I can't even begin to express the joy I had in watching them discover the layers and hidden meanings that make it so personal for them. Karen texted me later that they were still finding hidden treasures. 

What they don't realize is each layer of Kevin's life was covered equally in paint and prayer. This is my gift back to them. Look out Kevin! 

YES PLEASE

Guess you can tell I love peonies. Well, truth is it's hard to find a flower I don't love, so let me rephrase that. I love PAINTING PEONIES. They are such happy flowers, don't you agree? 

I was in between projects and just had to stop and paint these. I grabbed a canvas board that was conveniently already primed in yellow while back. However, once I completed the painting and went to photograph it I noticed the 6x6 canvas didn't have straight edges. GRRRRR. Normally when I paint small I use smooth hardboard panels that I prepare ahead of time with gesso and an undercoat of paint. I have to say I like the smooth boards better. I prefer the texture of the gesso better than the canvas and whether I cut them or buy them, the hardboard is cut straight. 

All to say, I decided to make this painting into a print, available in my Etsy store in either a 5x5 for $12, or an 8x8 for $18.00 here. 

PANACHE

PANACHE 6x6 acrylic on hardboard $100

It wasn't until I was taking a photo of this painting that oddly it occurred to me how much this reminded me of my daughter's wedding 17 years ago. The celebration was filled with periwinkle dupioni silk, hydrangeas and yellow roses, love, laughter and lots of dancing. Hydrangea planters lining the isle and afterward I kept and planted a couple in my yard and enjoyed them for years. Unexpected memories at unexpected times. 

I pulled out the wedding album and whatya know? Here I am representing the periwinkle glory. I was not only the mother of the bride, but the matron of honor, too. What an honor indeed, but quite busy doing double duty so this is really the only pic of my daughter and I together that entire day. Jennifer looks even more beautiful today. Me? Not so much. I lost my neck somewhere along the way, but gained a few other extras.

OOMPH

OOMPH 6x6 acrylic on hardboard $100

So, yesterday I joined Daily Paintworks and posted my first painting PIZZAZZ to my gallery. Today I posted this second painting OOMPH and they (DPW) featured it on their Facebook page, which I thought was pretty cool, right? I'm working on a third hydrangea painting today. Good exercise.

NEEDED PIZZAZZ

PIZZAZZ  6x6 Acrylic on hardboard

Lots of irons in the fire lately, but in between some art commissions and all of our bathrooms rebelling at once, I just had to escape and paint me some hydrangeas. I used my light box this time to control the lighting and contrast. Being a fabric designer comes in very handy when I need to pull colors for the backdrop. I love how this coral and periwinkle complimented the white flowers causing the colors to bounce off of each other. I'm so happy, I will paint these hydrangeas again! 

BUNDLE OF JOY

BUNDLE OF JOY 18"x18" acrylic on canvas $650.00

I've been doing more custom painting orders lately, but every once in a while I just have to have to switch out what's on the easel. I paint a bit, then go back to the orders. This one makes me exceedingly happy. I have been buying up the peonies at Trader Joe's because I need more peonies in my life, ya know? We can't grow them here in San Diego but have such fond memories of having them in Indianapolis. And all those ants working so hard. This painting is for sale on my website here.

In other late breaking news; this little guy just landed in the Big Apple to it's new home. I got word he is settling in just fine and his new owner is madly in love. I consider people purchasing my art more like adoptions. I know that might sound a tad weird to some, but makes perfect sense to me, okay?

Now back to the easel. 

MADE IT RAIN IN SAN DIEGO AGAIN

So, as most of you know it simply DOES NOT rain in San Diego. That is, unless I sign up for ArtWalk (or fully decorate an indoor tree out in my courtyard at Christmas). It rained the night before and the next morning as we drove to setup in a downpour. But fortunately it was only wet and misty in Little Italy for setup and dry all day until we had to pack everything back up and move it out at 6 PM. 

It's in my DNA to make a space (albeit this was a tent in a sea of tents) feel welcoming so I brought a chest of drawers and rug to zhush up the tent. The rug was black and white and while that seems a crazy choice for an outdoor street fair it was perfect for tying my artwork together and pulling people in. I debated on the rug due to the dampness but at the last minute decided to throw all caution to the wind (literally). As we were rolling it out a little bulldog walked up to the edge and winkled on it! A Christening of sorts. Let the show begin! 

BACK WALL OF 10x10 TENT

My Mini MacGyver made these hanging walls out of 4 x 8 sheets of pegboard covered in drapery blackout fabric, which, if you know what I'm referring to is like a fabric vinyl. They were suspended from the tent poles with long zip ties. Wind was an issue so we will also secure the bottom of the boards to the poles next time. Several artists announced they were going to copy us. Sigh. 

Here's a view of the left side wall. The animals were the perfect greeters as there were almost as many 4 legged creatures as two legged humans walking the show. The pig, titled "Whatcha Doin?" was adopted by such a lovely gal, I was tempted to email her and ask how the first night went. Guess I get a little too attached. This photo was taken Saturday when it was a bit gloomier out but the next day was perfectly sunny. People commented repeatedly using the word happy to describe my art or how it made them feel. One lady said, "You must be such a positive person" to which I replied, "Um, not really". I still chuckle inside thinking of the look on her face. 

Oh, and a note to myself; tags don't need to stick out like a sore thumb.

Lots of straightening on a windy day.

"Deep Thoughts" went home to live with a new family but not before he photo bombed me. Always the prankster. 

My dear friend Suzanne Brendis stopped in and took some wonderful photos. 

I consider my first show of this kind to be a learning experience and a stepping stone. Very different than those huge permanent showrooms and temporary booth set-ups in New York and Atlanta that I did for years…and the Quilt Shows around the country. Kinda the same and totally different. I'm still processing how I even feel about selling my art in this venue, but as of now I think I'll give it another go. Meeting people that give me such positive feedback (whether I overhear comments or get to chat one on one) is an experience I truly value. The opportunity to collaborate on commission work from the show is quite invigorating and we'll just have to see where life takes me in a year from now. 

ART WALK SAN DIEGO

Being accepted into ArtWalk is one thing. Feeling like I'm "ready" is another story. It's a guessing game which involves lots of paint. I did stop long enough to design some business cards. I LOVE how they turned out,what do you think?

They are like handing out snippets of my paintings..but without painting each one by hand! Which by the way, is what I actually did once! For a Decorator Show House I had this insane idea to hand color each business card. I thought it might draw some extra attention. Not only did the area I designed win a couple awards and a write-up in the newspaper (remember those?) (go read and see before and after images here) I ran out of cards and would have to deliver new hand-painted batches twice a day! I went through almost 4000 cards in three of the longest painting marathons ever. It paid off though, as people held on to those cards because they were so unique and got some great design jobs from it. I'm older and hopefully wiser, so going with this idea for ArtWalk instead. 

COLOR OF JOY

I promise, I haven't been snoozing. In fact, I'm almost done with my website.  I'd love for you to take a peak and let me know what you think. I'm going to offer free shipping, so if there's something you just love, send me a note in Contact and I'll help you. My friend Suzanne came and took a couple pics for my website. I smile every time I see them because of the funny things she said to make me pose. 

I've also been busy with the ole fixer upper; lately with lots of yard work and planting. Since I continue to kill flowers here in draught stricken San Diego, we are yanking out dead stuff and replacing with succulents. Ah, but this Spring the roses are just beautiful. Glorious color. I post on Facebook and Instagram but here's a vase from this morning. 

So, of course I've been painting them. 

COLOR OF JOY by Paula Prass 6x6 acrylic on stretched canvas

ALTIPIANO WINERY

ALTIPIANO WINERY

Last month we visited a (very) nearby winery with some friends to enjoy the sunset and a glass of local wine together. I took this photo with my iPhone and even though it wasn't the clearest phot, I still had the image in my head. So, I decided to try my hand at painting it. Cut a canvas board down to the size I desired for a frame I wanted to use.

UNDERPAINTING 

ALTIPIANO WINERY 5 x 10 acrylic on board

So, don't hate me, but this is what winter looks like here. Suffering through.

MISTY MORNING

MISTY MORNING by Paula Prass 6x6 acrylic on canvas

I have oh so many pics of this view on my cell phone taken on various times of the day, different times of the year. So far Torrey Pines beach has been our go to beach mostly because it's 20 minutes away, we can get in a five mile walk without even thinking about it and we love collecting the stones and beach glass. This time of year it's so quiet and serene and the chill helps for a brisk walk. 

Then we come back and add the stones to our courtyard garden. it's about the only thing I haven't killed (yet). I am eventually learning that succulents are about all the green this draught can handle. Well, cactus, but I tend to back up into those. It only takes one time, ya know.