Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Guess What?!?!

My website is finally up and running! Yes it is!!!
(if you notice any glitches, let me know...)

I met with a new printer, and I like their stuff! I wish I had found them sooner, so I'd have all the prints right now, but it's alright. They're available for pre-order, expected in mid-January. The upside is that instead of my prints starting at $30+ shipping, I now have them starting at $11.99 INCLUDING shipping in the US and Canada. HUGE changes. Even better? The prints are of better quality in my opinion. All Giclee, quality archival paper and inks, or on canvas. YAY!

Since my new site lets me sell right through it, securely, I'll still have some stuff up on Etsy, but mostly it'll be on my actual site. Additionally, I'm in a growth period with my art, and headed in a new direction. I'm not sure where I'll end up, but I've decided to enjoy the ride. More figures in my artwork is on the menu. I'm going to finish my holiday paintings up, and then go back to my Alice series I started and ended up getting sidelined with. I also have a new Seasons series that is in line for my easel!

So much to paint, so much to do!

Thursday, December 1, 2011

'Tis the Season!

I hope everyone had a lovely Thanksgiving, those that are in the US, and that everyone else had a lovely week as well! We chose to work on the house last week, and this included a lot of major home "improvements" that are still in progress.

It's actually a relief to get back to painting again, even though there is still a long way to go on the house projects! Given that the house is in such a state, this is the first year that I don't have any holiday decorations up at all. Never has Rockefeller beat me to my own tree-lighting.

I've actually been working on quite a few paintings all at once right now. I have a Halloween haunted house that I'm still working on, and a snowy ice skating scene, but I took a break to shield the oils and pick up my acrylics once more. Today, though I may not have a tree, I got to paint one!










Christmas Moment
6x6x.75", Gallery wrapped (edges painted, no frame needed)
Acrylic
$75

Currently available to purchase immediately in my Etsy store:

http://www.etsy.com/listing/87615234/christmas-moment

No prints will be made.

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Jade Moon, and other paintings!

Last night, I finished a small painting (6" x 6" x 0.75") called "Jade Moon":

It's up in my Etsy store, along with these others that are not recent, but ARE available (and framed, to boot!)






In addition to finally getting things up in my Kyra Wilson Etsy Store, I've also finally started getting things up in my Official Zazzle Kyra Wilson Store. I'm very excited about the Zazzle store, because it's got all sorts of things in it. I made a few cards involving my Halloween/cat painting "Patch", and my Snowy Evening painting, as well as my recent painting Garden Party. I even have a slew of things with my Midnight River painting on them, which looks fabulous (Zazzle liked my mug enough to give it a Today's Best award right off the bat!

Anyway, I'm excited about the merchandise I can offer. I'm excited that I've enabled a direct buy option via Etsy until I have my main site completely revamped (I'll have the ability to sell directly from there when I'm done, but I'll keep my Etsy store too.)

I'm getting close to starting in on my snowy/holiday type paintings! I know, I need to get to them quickly!



make custom gifts at Zazzle

Thursday, October 27, 2011

Mural Mural on the... well..

Today, I spent my time painting a mural for the town I live in.

It was kind of like a survival challenge. The mission? To paint over an unwanted scene on a big, oddly shaped screen. Supplies are limited to 20 mystery cans of wall paint left over from prior projects and school play productions put on at the town hall, a few brushes, a roll of paper towels, and drop cloths. Time limit: get it done in one day.

After spending well over an hour popping cans, I figured out I had a ton of pastels and other odd colors, and NO primaries. I had a red-red glaze, which kinda counted, a beige yellow, and an off blue. I made do with those, though, and in the end it worked out for the most part.

All told, it took 7 1/2 hours of painting. It wasn't all at once, though, since I had to run and pick up my children, and feed them, and then get myself back. It was much harder to go back than it was to start in the first place. I was tired! I did something I never do, and that was to have caffeinated coffee in the late afternoon before I returned to work on the mural.

I admit, I was a little panicky around 6PM, thinking I'd NEVER get this finished. I even said to myself "I wanna quit." But I kept at it.

As I was painting, I realized it was pitch dark outside. I was by myself, in a VERY old building. Painting, most lights off, days from Halloween... I thought to myself "This is the part of the movie where the girl with the paint brushes ends up dead, isn't it..." And right as I was thinking that, my friend who asked me to do the mural came banging through the door.

A good startle is as good as strong coffee, as it turns out!

I finished the mural at 9PM. It's funny how a day gets divided when you have outside responsibilities. 7 1/2 hours is less than a normal work day, but it took me ALL day to fit it in!

Here is my mural (please excuse the bad picture, I took it with my phone, which is decidedly low-tech):




Not bad for a day's work!

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

It's Halloween!

I painted a new Halloween painting, and I'm just so glad I made my return to oils. I had forgotten how smooth they are, how easily they work, and how much deeper they make the colors. I have been working on this one the last two days, and I'm happy to say that I'm pleased with it. I like this one!

Here is the evolution:










It's wet, so the pictures aren't fabulous because the light really reflects right now. I'll have better photos of it once it's dry. It'll go up in the store in a week or so, when it's dry (and the varnish too.) I don't feel right putting a wet-painting up before it's ready to ship.

I have a town painting project I have to work on today and tomorrow (which is painting a screen for town events), but then it's back to painting fun stuff! I'm really enjoying myself. I want to paint a haunted house silhouetted by the moon. I'm contemplating a cat & ghost painting, but I don't know if I'll do that or not. I've also been thinking about a few butterflies in the paintings. Some plain pumpkins, rather than jack-o-lanterns. More than all of this though? I want to put more of my figures in the paintings too. Maybe a few more with the girl and the cat, maybe as a witch, maybe not...

We'll see! It's supposed to snow on Thursday, so I've also been in the mood for some other types of holiday paintings. I'm definitely hitting a major painting streak right now!

Saturday, October 22, 2011

Ch-ch-ch-changes!

A bit of frustration that should have been anticipated, but wasn't, finally lit a fire under me. I can be as irritated as I want at the outside influence, but really it's my own fault if I should have known. That being said, this bout of aggravation lead to my finally taking steps to make everything better.

First stop? Start putting things in the Etsy store. No longer will I be simply announcing that a new painting is finished and for sale without a direct buy option, it leads to a tangled mess, and frankly? Sales get lost in the process. Plus, I know that most people want to buy something without the personal interaction. We had already decided to revamp the website with an easy direct buy option through the site, but that is taking a bit of time because it's all part of a major site overhaul. But in addition to that, we had also decided on a few other venues for access - one of those being Etsy.

So, we now have an official Etsy K. Wilson Studio, Kyra Wilson Original Art Store. Is everything in it yet? Nope. That'll be slow moving, I think, but I'll get it done as I revamp and everything gets organized (so there should be more things added daily!) However, anything new will immediately be in the store (it's really the older stuff that will be slowly added over the next few weeks.) Going forward, it's the right way to roll, and it feels good to boot!

I'm planning on having Giclee prints made of a few things, including the garden party I recently finished, but also my snowman painting. I'm excited, because I have found a printer here that specializes in fine art prints! I'll have to drive up, but I have a good feeling they're exactly what I've been looking for! Soon, those too will be in the Etsy gallery (and on the new site.)

The mini-witch painting is already up and available for purchase. As are a few other miniatures and I'm slowly adding some of the larger paintings too. I'll be pulling down my main website (www.KWilsonStudio) while we go under construction. I'm hopeful it won't be for long, and I can spend less time on the computer stuff and more time with my brushes!

I'm not sure if I've mentioned it before, but I am on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/KyraWilsonArt

Yay for progress!

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Witchy Friends

I did a quick little painting, just to get into the holiday mood!

"Witchy Friends"
SOLD
(not including shipping, which is probably around $5, unless you're overseas, and tax if you're in Vermont)
4x4x1.5 Acrylic

It's a little one, only 4 x 4 x 1.5. But it's gallery deep with the sides painted (no framing required.) It's a little tricky photographing such a small painting, because the texture of the canvas tends to reflect the flash, and it makes it look like maybe there is something there that isn't.








I just wanted to do something fun for Halloween. I think I'm going to do something a bit larger with a little more detail next, but also Halloween... and probably cats! I really think a Jack-o-lantern is on the horizon somewhere here.

Saturday, October 15, 2011

Garden Party

Finally! I finished a painting that has taken much time than I expected. This painting is going up for auction for a charity in a couple months (I'll make sure to let you know if it will be public or not, if you want a shot at the original), but I am making prints out of it.

I was asked to do a painting for my son's school, as were many other artists. Then, I was asked to teach the class that is going along with it. Professional artists are to create and donate an original painting, and then 12 children are going to be in the class, choose one each, and create their own painting semi-inspired by the pro-artist's. The paintings will then be paired together, and go to auction to raise money for the school (which desperately needs it.)

The theme we were given was "Garden Party", and whatever that meant to us. I've seen the other paintings, as I am the teacher. There are abstract, impressionists, and more in the bunch. My brain took it to Alice in Wonderland, likely because I am actually working on a series with my daughter as my Alice.

The photo is fuzzy, and just a quick snap - because it's not all dry yet, and thus the art-shoot of it will be a little while just yet.


I've settled on what I'm going to do with my site, AND my business, and my goal it to launch sometime in January with the new site, and lots of new prints and paintings!

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Boo!

It's Halloween time, and I'm not working on anything Halloween! GAH! It's so not right! But it's next on my list.

I'm currently working on a painting for charity. Because I have Alice in Wonderland on my brain because it was my next project, the picture turned into an Alice in Wonderland picture. Clearly my brain has it's own ideas. The theme (not my decision) was Garden Party, so it's understandable that it went that way, but still.

I hope to have that painting finished today, and I'll post a picture of it. Then? Fun stuff, Halloween stuff... jack-o-lanterns, and more! And then back to Alice stuff. Or maybe Alice will hit the back burner until January, and I'll just get into the holiday stuff.

Website - haven't moved on this yet. I think I've got my direction with design, and while I don't like using a canned site, the reality is that it's easier to update with new things. I also found a printer, which will make my Giclee prints affordable! I'm so excited! I've also finally got plans in the works for a calendar. It won't be ready for 2012, but it'll be ready to pop for 2013. So, stuff is rolling, things WILL be happening!

Friday, September 2, 2011

A Real Step

I've taken a lot of time off from my art business. Sure, I've done a bit here and there, but in truth I haven't been pouring myself into it. I have to be honest; I think I've been spinning in my own circle. I'd say I was chasing my own tail, but that would mean I was chasing something and that isn't true. Instead, what I've been doing is a lot of internal arguing with myself.

I have an art business. I have a photography business. I have opportunities to write (in addition to freelance, I've had the "I could write a book about this... or that... I should write a book" going on in my head for years.) I could do any of these things. I could be successful (most likely) at any of those things, with the right amount of effort and planning and dedication. Persistence.

But I cannot be successful at all of them. I'm not even sure I could be successful at more than one at the same time, much less three. The reality is that I have a lot of opportunity in front of me,  many choices. Sometimes choices are freeing, and exciting, and sometimes they're just too much. I made my career opportunities into too much to think about, and an overwhelming experience. Again, a choice - my own, but one I let bog me down out of fear.

It's taken a lot of talking with myself and others to start to figure this out. I'm not there all the way yet, either. What I do know is that it's time I face my fear and start doing something, rather than sitting and doing nothing with a whole lot of excuses. I've had people tell me their version of what is successful, or what they think must happen, and let that be my only vision of what could be - which I subsequently ran from because it wasn't who I am. However, I know very well that it doesn't have to be that way. In both art and business, there is ample room for creativity and success via new channels. One person's vision does not have to be someone else's. There is no road, only the path you make for yourself.

This whole art business is going to change. I have figured out that if I were suddenly wildly successful, bringing in money at any of the three choices I have, I would be most satisfied with my art because it's about more than selling something. Art is who I am, and I'm finally preparing myself to move forward. My time away was not a loss, as I have a much better understanding of who I want to be, and what I want my business to become without losing sight of who I am.

I'm letting some things go, embracing others, and preparing to take the risk. Big changes are ahead, and they're going to take a lot of work. I know deep down I can, and will make them happen.

Here goes something...






Thursday, July 28, 2011

In The Details

As I said before, I've been spending a lot of time with my camera. My paint brushes have been rather shamefully ignored. The county fair that I participated in last year is actually right around the corner, and I realize that minus charity donations, I have spent very little time painting at all!

Part of the reason is that I desperately need to fix my website. But what was supposed to be an easy sort of "flip" of my site has turned into a massively daunting task. Of course, I know better... No matter how big a job, it all starts by taking tiny steps, until one day you're closer to the end than the beginning. I'm torn between using an actual designer (two of them, actually - each telling me they should do it) or going with something like Yola.com which seems to have all the little details I want (but I am told might make everything more complicated.)

Makes my head numb.

Still, I've used my overwhelmed ambivalence over my site to get in the way of most everything else. It was so much easier to focus on the photography. But running two businesses (paintings are still selling, and prints, even if I'm not actively working on them right now) is a lot more work than one would expect, even when I'm my own boss!

I've come to realize I'm a wee bit lost on the art front. Almost a year without any significant painting on my part is just... weird. The positive spin on all of this is that I have rekindled my desire to paint. As a matter of fact, I've been contemplating playing with a goal of a painting a day (probably five per week, as with a family and other obligations all seven days would be tough.) Doing this would get me back into gear, and actually produce a lot of affordable art if people were interested in picking up something quick.

I'm also looking at a new direction for my paintings as well, and there's no better way to find that direction than diving into something like trying to paint a painting a day!

I'm still toying with the Alice in Wonderland idea (I posted about it on my art Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kyra-Wilson-K-Wilson-Studio/86614894469) and I also recently discovered metallic wall paint in the local Home Depot store, which has me hunting for a place to do a wall mural in my Enchanted Forest series style. Normally, I charge for wall murals - but as this is one looking for a home from my mind (and me without a wall to do it on), I just want the wall volunteered. Anyone want a mural?

I'm also pulling out my watercolors. It has been a VERY long time since I pulled them out, my masking has completely gone on me. But, I'm teasing a bit with the idea of fairies, and I don't know if oil, acrylic, or watercolor would suit it best.

And that's where I'm at! Lots of details, very little action... but all of that is about to change!

Friday, May 20, 2011

Boo!

I realize it's been a while since I have posted. Far too long, really. The truth is that what energy I have had, I've spent putting towards Kyra Wilson Photography. I haven't had a lot of desire to paint. However, that is changing.

Lately, I've had a few intriguing ideas and I plan on exploring them. I sketched out one canvas, a representation of Gemini. This is really for a business where the imagery of women and hair swirling (because, let's face it - I do enjoy a hair swirling moment on canvas!) fits rather nicely. But once I sketched it out, I lost interest in it.

Instead, I've been dreaming of a sort of Alice in Wonderland theme. Not very Disney-like, and not quite like what was recently on the screen either (although it definitely leans in that direction.) So, I'm going to give a little painting a shot, and see how I feel about it. Normally I work big, but I think this one will be much heavier on the details, I'm also going back to my oils for a while. I work in acrylics solely for the reflective paints that are available, but my heart is in oil. So let's see where it takes us!

It could tip off a whole new painting jag, which I alternately look forward to and dread. It's good, because I produce a lot of work at once. It's bad, because I end up working 20 hours a day, for weeks on end, and get a bit frazzled... but it's time, I'm due!

Off to find my brushes...