Happy New Year!

It's not quite 2014 here, but it is mere minutes away (well, about 60 of them.) Still, this year I am finding myself a bit sleepy and happy to see 2013 go.

I put together a painting quilt of my work from 2013:

In some ways, I am happy with that. In others, I see so much more room for improvement. More focus on the big, complicated and detailed paintings will be a priority for 2014. The minis were good, and will come back around here and there, but my goal is to reign in the ADD artist personality and start a more serious push through the bigger pieces like my Queen of Hearts, and Red Riding Hood is definitely coming your way!

One of my resolutions is to open up a little more on here. So, I plan on doing that. More about me and the art, not just art.

So, on that note this year I will also be focusing on my health as well as working on trying to make things better for my family and I. It was a tough 2013, with many things out of my control and sad or scary. I'm hoping for a much better 2014! But no matter what happens, I know I'll have paint brush in hand and paint splatters on just about everything I own... which is just about perfect!

Happy New Year!

Little Bits of Progress

First, I want to thank everyone for your thoughtful comments about Cosmo, and us having to put him to sleep.

Things seem to be moving along a little better in the household, and we had an uneventful Thanksgiving (with way too much food.) I hid out from the Black Friday shopping, and protested the day by staying in my pajamas instead! Honestly, it was a little odd. I felt a little left out, and it was just so quiet. Maybe that's why Black Friday has become so big? After the cacophony of the holiday, the day after is so silent! I knew people were out shopping, in the hustle and bustle... and I was in my pajamas.

I did work, however. I've actually been working on lots of new little things (and all of these are available either in my shop (I'm having a 10% off sale until midnight tonight, it's been going all week. Code HOLIDAY2013), or on Etsy:

"Making Friends" 4x6 acrylic on hard canvas panel

"Snow Day" 3x5 acrylic on hard canvas panel

"Mini-Snow" ultra mini, 2x2 acrylic on stretched canvas

"Snowy I" 4x4 acrylic on stretched canvas

"Pepper" 3x3 acrylic on stretched canvas

And I also finally, finally drew out my official holiday painting for 2013:

This is an 8x10, I believe - hard canvas panel.

I don't know WHY it took me so long to do. I knew what I sort of wanted in my head, but I danced around the issue. Finally, I just did it. I built it as I went, not really having a clear picture, but just a vague idea. I rather like how it turned out, actually!

I started painting the fireplace, and I spent HOURS on the bricks to make it look like embers were burning low. I really don't understand why it takes me so long, but it does. I need to look up tips or techniques on how to speed things up. I only got the back wall finished last night. I'm very frustrated with myself, even though I like how the back wall looks.

Still working on the side walls, obviously.
I'll be working on that after I finish this post, actually!

I have a couple of commissions I'm working on, and a few other things, but I'm really feeling tired lately. We have a family trip coming up in two weeks, and I really hope that and the holidays in general give me a new kick in the pants to get things rolling again!

Lastly, I wanted to leave you with a picture from my son's rabbit's modeling session. My mother wanted to have an ornament made for my son, and Smoke (the rabbit) had to put up with modeling in a Santa suit:

Smoke spent the whole time modeling, not bothered at all. Is that a fabulous rabbit, or what?

Hanging In There

Last week I traveled to Colorado for a wedding, and I have to say that it was an eye-opening experience to be back where I grew up. I managed to finish my snow queen before I left town, however.  This is the evolution of the painting (I always like to see other artists' works in progress like this too):

She's a little zombie-looking without any red tones, don't you think?

This picture bothered me, until I figured out it was her lack of eyelashes that seemed so weird.

See? Much better with eyelashes!

"Snow Queen" 9x12, watercolor & acrylic. Prints available.

I think she turned out pretty well! She's prettier in person with all the iridescent paint (I really can't help myself at this point. If I can't make it sparkly, I'm just not happy I guess!) She has snow-freckles in white iridescent paint on her face that I just really like for some reason. I was also looking at how she looked with all the white background. I may do a second one that plays on the white of the paper and her being "barely there" just for fun!

Back in Colorado was a strange experience. I've only been back a couple times over the past 16 years, and honestly, I hadn't been back in 10 years this time at all. It's funny to see what changes and what stays the same. I have to say that all those shops and restaurants, malls, and whatever else... it was both nice to be able to go out and get something quickly if I needed it, but it felt like everything was crowded too. I don't know how you run a business with so many businesses on top of one another, often offering the same things 100 times over! There were more Targets and Walmarts in a square block than I have ever seen, they must compete against themselves at that point!

Colorado had the better drivers though. It may have been crowded, and wickedly high speed limits (65 MPH on many non-highway roads I traveled, with stoplights! That made me very nervous. How can you properly stop at a stoplight if you're flying around at 65MPH? I did it, but it was a bit strange to me!) Not five minutes back in Vermont, and I was already cussing out the drivers here after being cut off twice and then stuck behind someone going 25 MPH below the posted speed limit with no way to pass. That's Vermont for you, I suppose. It's pretty, but we're lucky cars don't have the ability to launch rockets at one another.

While out on the trip, my father's office was having a fun contest with hand-turkeys! This is like what you probably did in gradeschool where you trace your hand and then make a turkey out of the thumb, and the fingers are the tail feathers. My dad wanted me to do his (I made him make one too) so we picked up Crayola pencils and cheap paper from Target (oh, how I miss Target. None in Vermont *sigh*) and off we went:

Love my dad! His ended up with a hat on it.

And I decided I was going to do a non-standard turkey. It was MY turkey, after all. So here he is in all his colorfully confused glory:

While out there, my father and I got to visit the big Flatirons mall. Oh, a real mall, a REAL mall! I'm not much of a shopper, but when I go into places like that it's like a man lost in a desert for a week discovering a working slurpee machine. I even bought a pair of boots. I never buy shoes. Especially pricier ones. Clearly the mall went to my head.

I enjoyed visiting with family I hadn't seen in a long while, and the wedding was fine. I snapped a few pictures from my lap while we were waiting for it to start:

Mom & Dad

ME! Sorry for the sort of up-the-nose kind of shots, but I was trying to be stealthy about it...

I discovered this champagne that tastes like Fruity Pebbles:

So all in all it was a good trip. I'm really glad to be home though. It's taken a week, but I am finally back to painting again. I'm way behind the curve, but things have been way too stressful, so I'm trying to tell myself it's OK if I don't meet all my business goals this year. I don't see how I possibly can at this point. *sigh* But it's OK. Maybe next year, right?

And really... fruity pebbles champagne, people. How bad can it really be if that exists?

Admitting It's Hard

When you are writing about your passion in life, which also happens to be your career, as I do with art, it's hard to think about posting about the bad things. I have to be honest, however. When people ask if I am OK right now, I have to say "I'm fine" with that twist in my gut... because I'm not.

I cannot be completely open with what's going on, but no one's deathly ill or anything like that. No one has lost their job, no one has died. But at the same time, it's big. It keeps me up at night with tearful worries, watchful and always on the alert. Which is exhausting, it's flat out exhausting! Having this sort of soul-deep worry all the time is... I don't even know how to explain how awful it is. 

And it's totally out of my control. I'm doing what I can to make things better, but it's like throwing pebbles at a mountain and hoping it'll move. It's just not in my power to make any more of a difference than I already do, and instead I get to spend my time fearfully. 

So, I'm sharing. I'm saying things are not OK. That I would break down and have a sob-fest, but that would just further exhaust me, so what's the point?

I cannot say that I have a silver lining, but I can say that apart from that mess things are not so awful. It doesn't cheer me up, because it's not enough, but at least I have some positive things to report.

The first is that I worked and worked, and I finally got my new website up and running! This is a big deal because I had to move providers and work on the layouts, and everything. More, I can finally offer prints and other merchandise (like fine art magnets, cards and more) directly from me - AND it's easy to add new products instead of a major exercise in web design every time I finished a new painting. I just didn't realize how wide an inventory I had until I did this though, wow.

Greeting Cards

Postcard sized magnets

So, YAY! And it's at www.KWilsonStudio.com or www.KyraWilson.net, just like before.  It's nice and clean, and works wonderfully!

I finished the last of my Halloween minis for the year:

sold

sold

White Owl, mini 2x4 inches acrylic on stretched canvas $35

Screech, ultra-mini 2x2 inches acrylic on stretched canvas $25

And then I felt I was done with Autumn and Halloween. I'm now in a distinctly wintry mood. I sometimes put artwork on Facebook in the art auction forums, and this week there is a theme for a snow queen. I had been thinking about doing one anyway, so it was perfect. I decided to pull out my watercolors and I sketched this out on a block:

The block for her is 9x12. I'm putting in little snowflakes and such all over. 

And then I got scared about painting her in. Totally irrationally, but it's been a little while since I did watercolors. So, I decided this morning to do a super fast sketch and painting just to remind myself how I do it. The result is this:

I'm calling her Jess. I think she'll be up in the art auction group tomorrow. It looks better than this in person. I snapped a quick pic with my cellphone, and well... there ya go.

I'm relatively pleased with how she came out. Her eyes and the highlights on her lips and hair are iridescent. Shiny, I can't stop making things shiny. It's still not up to what I'd want it to be, but it was good practice. I think I need to work on pushing some areas farther back, and of course I see all sorts of errors... but I still like her!

So, with that picture behind me, I've started on my snow queen. I'm layering in the shadows right now, working the skin and face first. I hope she comes out nicely! I also have a painting rolling around for my holiday card. I'm still working on the composition, but I'm leaning towards a row of stockings with mice and a cat... and maybe a squirrel. We'll see. 

Lastly, there are mice living in my car. Yes, mice. They're even in my ceiling (it's very creepy to be sitting at a stop light and hear scrabbling from above you.) It's turning into a full scale war right now, and they're winning. I'm waiting to see my car drive off one of these morning with a mouse at the wheel!

So, that's where things are at. Hard. Exhausting. Just moving forward, because progress still needs to happen. I sure hope things get better.

Checking In

There's a kiss of winter in the air here. No snow, but a frosty morning. I was out snapping pictures of one of my mini-paintings, and I looked beyond the tiny canvas and realized it was actually quite pretty out:

From my deck. A lovely, crisp Autumn day!

It's been a long while since I updated. The art fair went well, and I sold lots of prints and mini-paintings.

The house we were offering on, we had to pull our offer for. Things started changing (good changes, but stressful) for my husband at work, and it put us in a situation where it possibly would be foolish to buy a new house at this time (but talk to me next summer, and we'll see!)

Part of the reason I haven't checked in as much is that my community here suffered a tragedy when a girl in high school committed suicide. She was a year ahead of my daughter, and they went to school together from elementary on. When they were younger, they were friends. As they got older they had drifted apart and were not close. But it seems that in the midst of something this tragic, everyone is close to the fire of it all. It touches everyone in some way. The funeral was last week, and it was heartbreaking. My daughter had been having a tough time before this happened with a few things, and this just changed everything in a frightening way.

"Pieces" 6x8, acrylic on canvas panel

So, I've been focusing on my family rather than anything else, for the most part. Crisis mode, and it's exhausting. I have to confess that this hasn't been an easy time for me. I've had days where I just want to cry. Not work, just cry. You don't truly understand how much you can hurt, or how terrified you can actually be until you are a parent. There is nothing more precious to me in the world than my children, and to lose one of them would break me. Completely.

"Perch" 3x3 mini-canvas, acrylic

"Just Hangin'" 3x5 acrylic on stretched canvas

I did manage to do a time lapse video of the two minis I just posted:



I realize now that I should do the time lapse on my art desk instead of the kitchen table. The slant on the desk allows for the camera to see past my hand better. I'm contemplating doing the time lapse for the Queen of Hearts. I haven't had a chance to start painting her, because it's time for all the holiday paintings, but I'm getting close to starting! I did the time lapse on the white rabbit, so I know how much work is involved with painting and shooting at the same time. I just haven't decided if I want to go through that trouble again, yet!

I finished off this mini yesterday:

"Kitty" 3x3 acrylic on stretched canvas

I think it may be the last Halloween one I do... although I never got to my owls, so maybe that's not the case. I just sort of feel ready to start in on the Christmas ones!

So, that's where I'm at. Where I've been. Lots of stuff happening, much of it not good, but I have high hopes that things are starting to get better and will continue to do so!

Busy, Busy, BUSY!

I'm conducting a giveaway on my Facebook art page for a free custom ACEO painting, so if you're interested here is the entry:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This weekend I'll be at the Chaffee Center Art in the Park event in Rutland, VT. I've done this event once years ago, but I haven't been back since. I've learned a bit about art fairs since then, but I still feel unprepared for this one. It's a two day event, so we'll see how it goes. I'm crossing my fingers that it'll go well! In the meantime, I'm painting minis as quickly as I can so I have stock for the event:

I've also been under a lot of stress with the MAYBE new house. We still haven't heard anything on our counter back to the owners. I'm starting to give up hope, and I'm feeling quite down about the whole thing. I've actually been struggling with the stress level and life things over all. I'm actually feeling pretty depressed right now. It's likely that this is just my brain finally cracking up with all the things going on all at once, and that once things calm down I'll be fine. But I just feel... sorta sad right now.

However, that doesn't mean I can close my door and get away with it:

He likes to grip the door and shake it too.

So, I'm out. I'm painting and matting prints, and talking to Tax Departments on the phone, and managing children's schedules, and working on house stuff, and...

*sigh*

At least painting is fun! I think I'm going to try another time-laps video of one of the minis today. I'm thinking a mouse in a Christmas stocking? Or something like that...

Cold

I've been under the weather with a sort of sideways cold. It's not all out, breath through a snorkel, bad... but it's not healthy either. I'm drained, and I have my three amigos: a Kleenex box, Sudafed, and Advil. It really seems to be hanging on. Because of that, I haven't gotten much done this week. Well, that and my husband has been out of town for the entire week, including over my anniversary! He did send these, though:

These make me want to get started painting my red queen with her dripping paint roses, because the roses are just perfect! I'm just not quite up to it right now.

Still, the whole single mom thing is tough, even if it's only for a week. (Hats off to the real single mothers!) Interestingly, the amount of laundry and dishes and other things has been dramatically different. I can now say with authority that my husband is responsible for a lot of chaos in the house! Ha! He comes home today. Thank goodness! Even if it means quadruple the laundry!

I did manage to finish these little minis (and they're available exclusively through my Etsy Shop, in the Halloween section. If it's not there, it's sold. These little paintings are moving extremely quickly!)

Just finished this one last night. 5x7" acrylic on canvas hard panel. I love playing with the breeze! 

"Sisters" this one sold before I could even post it for sale.

Lil'House, 2x2" ultra-mini canvas, acrylic.

Ultra-mini with, cat, and three crows in the tree. I just LOVE these ultra-minis (they're 2x2", but actually stretched canvas!)

Witchy Stroll, again playing with the breeze. I just love the idea of blowing leaves. This one is 3x6" stretched canvas, acrylic.

I have many more that I am working on, including a slew of ultra-minis. Some Halloween, but I'm actually getting hints that people want to see Christmas ones, so it looks like I may start doing those as well. I have a Harvest Festival booth next weekend that I need to stock, so I probably should make a lot more of both! Lots to do!

In addition to all of that, we're going to see another house tomorrow in addition to the one we already like. We may be putting an offer in as early as Monday, and I'm just this side of terrified. It's hard to think about uprooting our family from the house we have lived in for 13 years. Yet, the lure of actually having enough room (and instead of a tiny bedroom, a real STUDIO!!! Both houses have studios!) is so strong!

GAH!

Maybe that's why this cold isn't moving on quickly?

Happy Friday everyone!

Color, Color Everywhere!

On Saturday, I got to take my daughter to her first road race! We did the Vibe Color Run 5k! I've been wanting to do a color run since I first saw them advertised, but living in the boonies not much comes our way. One day, however, an ad popped up for one right by us! I couldn't believe it! Even better, my daughter said she would do it with me (will wonders never cease?! My 15-year-old actually wants to go running with me?!)

This is us before the race. We're all clean!
Also, for the record: this is me with a major tan. It's all that tree-planting I've been doing. I know, it's practically unnoticeable to everyone else, but it's there!

It was about 52 degrees out, so it was a wee bit chilly. We hung out in the car for about 40 minutes, and everyone else was pretty much doing the same thing. Then, about 30 minutes before the race was to start, we headed over by the stage.

The race had 3000 runners, which is roughly the population of Vermont (OK, not really, but it's close!) We were in the second wave released, and they had color cannons at the start so I was blasted with blue so hard I couldn't see out of my sunglasses. They aren't messing around with those things!

Part of the course had been flooded with recent rain storms and was so swampy that everyone ended up in water over the tops of their shoes. I found this particularly hilarious once we hit dry ground again because you could hear a chorus of squishing when everyone was running. It sounded like we were all running with frogs strapped to our feet!

Unfortunately, at one point my glasses slipped and knocked my favorite nose stud out. It's somewhere on the trail in the forest, and I never found it again. I'm sure some squirrel will pick it up and be the envy of all his friends. (Squirrel-bling!)

We were pelted with color at several stations, but I noticed a shortage of pink. There should have been more pink. It seemed like the organizers favored yellow the most. Not that I'm a huge fan of pink, but the balance is what I'm after. (It's color, I can't help it!)

By the end, we were covered!

My girl and I at the finish line!

For comparison to the first photo, this is us in the car headed home:

We were smart, and had covered our car seats with trash bags. I was less smart when I got home and had to wait my turn for the shower. I finally sat down in my black computer chair. This left a neon green butt-print on it that I then had to clean off.

The funniest part of the day came once we had taken our showers and gotten all cleaned up. I asked my daughter if she had blown her nose yet. She was, as would be expected, completely taken aback by my question.

"No! Why would I?"

"Oh, no reason..."

...off she went to find a Kleenex. A moment later I heard her blow and exclaim "OMG!!! It's BLUE! AAAAAGH!"

Totally worth the effort, right there. Definitely a race worth doing again.

In other news, I've completed lots of mini paintings, and have even more in process now! As it stands, all the completed ones are sold, but I have many more in the works! Here are some of the completed minis:

And here are the paintings on my table right now:

I actually had to make myself stop sketching out ideas. I have SO many, but I need to paint these out. On the other hand, I worry I'll forget what they were if I don't sketch them down on a canvas right away. It's a bit ridiculous at this point, I suppose! If I just didn't need to eat or sleep or have all my other obligations, I'd be able to knock these guys out faster! *wink*