Closing the Year

2012 is fast headed out the door, and 2013 looms before us!

This has been a large year for me on the art front because, while I've been selling professionally since 2001, I shut down every other business and idea outside of art this year and committed to it 100% by June. I shut the doors on my photography business in May when it became clear that both businesses were heating up and requiring too much to allow both to survive, and that's when I made the final decision to finally say yes to the paint.  (Want to know more about my art-business path? I was invited to talk about it in a guest post here.)

I even figured out how to make a time-lapse video of my paintings (I made three, actually!)

I also learned that I can make a video blog (vlog?) from my phone, and tried it out:

I plan on actually doing more of those vlogs (and decorating my studio a bit more, because it looks depressingly stark on the video! I should add that my house is vibrant everywhere else, and I think I removed the color from everything in there so mine would be the focus when I added it to the canvases!) And I hear tell that some artists are trying art-meet-ups via Skype or other video chatting, and I'm interested in giving that a go... if I can get over my shyness, and find others who want to chat while we work!

I have a lot of goals for 2013, and I'm looking forward to a year filled with paint and opportunities! I'm going to make it a goal to finish a painting a week. Sure, my larger paintings take more time (months and months in some cases) but I promise to take the time to work on some smaller, faster ones as well. Allowing for some sick and vacation time, that means about 48-50 new paintings next year!

I'm going to tighten back up my sketching skills so I jump forward in other ways. I used to work solely in pencil, not even color. I remember working so hard in high school on detail that I made a picture of my hand that looked like a black and white photograph when I was finished (boring, but all about the detail - composition didn't matter then.) Once I achieved that, I wanted a new challenge, and that was color. I slid first to acrylics and I didn't like the results, so I backtracked and went heavy with chalk pastels. For some reason, color meant more about expression than detail, and I loosened up in order to allow for that.

Eventually I conquered the paint, and my tight detail rendering slid into the shadows as I learned I just needed the basic outlines for painting, and the detail came from the paint instead. It's time to revisit the detail and work on crossing it with the color - in particular with watercolors, where the details count in the pencil rendering. This will make my "painting a week" more achievable, because watercolor just works a bit faster than acrylic or oils for me.

Speaking of oils, they're coming out this year. I miss the depth! I plan on using them for any people I paint, because it just looks better to me. It's going to be tough waiting for the oils to try as the trade-off, but it'll be worth it. I'll still work in acrylics as well, though.

Lastly, I'm going to continue working on my fairytale series, but I'm also resurrecting my abstracts and surreal body of work (I had pulled them from my site when I did a major revamp almost two years ago, I think.) I'm going to be offering some prints of the older ones, and new ones are already lining up for the easel! Also, this work dovetails nicely with THRICE Fiction Magazine, where I have been lucky enough to be asked contribute artistically, along with other talented artists and writers.

I'm thankful to all who have supported my art, as well as those who have found a piece they like and took it into their homes! It's been a huge 2012 for me, and I'm looking forward to 2013! I hope you had a wonderful year, and have a fabulous 2013!

End of August!

It's been a long while since I updated, and I'm happy to say that I have been keeping very busy both in the studio and in the business!

During the month of September, some of my artwork will be featured in Montpelier, VT at a local shop called Inspired Creations. You should be able to catch the Enchanted Forest series, and perhaps some other paintings in person (and they will be available for purchase there as well!) If you're in the area, it's worth stopping by simply to see the other collections and offerings they have from all over Vermont!

In the studio I've been very busy. My Alice series has been running a bit slow, but I imagine that once school starts again and my children are back on the path of public education, Alice will jump forward with great speed! I'm continuing on my time-lapse video of my white rabbit painting, and I plan on actually doing an introduction before hand. If that works out, I might do a video blog (vlog?) here and there!

So what's new from the easel?

Well, I finished "Fred" for my Alice series. No, he's not the Mock Turtle, but he certainly fits with my theme!

"Fred" Acrylic, 6x6x.75" stretched Canvas, Alice Series (held for show).

 Then I got into some seasonal paintings in the middle of the sweltering heat, wishing for those cool autumn nights and painted a few for the season:

"Pumpkin Dreams" Acrylic, 4x4x.75" stretched canvas, Seasonal (available for purchase )

"Autumn Evening" Acrylic, 16x8x1.5" stretched canvas, seasonal (available for purchase!)

Lastly, I finally stopped putting off all my requests for Fairy-themed artwork. I was a little hesitant at first, but then I finished this one just today, and I simply LOVE it!

"Country Cottage" Acrylic, 6x6x.75" stretched canvas, Fairies (available for purchase)

I've got another 6x6 in the works with an Autumn fairy on it, so we'll see how she comes out. However, I can tell you I definitely want to do more fairy houses! Really, working on fairies along with my Alice series, it's a perfect combination as there are bits of crossover!

Oh, and there are only a few days left of my 10% off sale on my prints on Etsy. They're the same price as on my main gallery site, free shipping, but just for August you get 10% off! If you've been looking at a print, now's a great time to buy it! Plus I was also able to add my new prints, and finally a fantastic print (in multiple sizes) of my Moonlit River painting!

So, going forward, lots and lots of painting on the horizon! I'm waiting for my supplier to get my mini-canvases (4x4") back in stock and then I'll be pleased to offer more of those for sale. I finalized the wholesale program for retailers and resellers who are interested (you can click here for more information), and I've even started looking at venues for my show for my Alice series in the Autumn of 2013! So much to look forward to!

Media Time!

Things have been cooking along this summer, right along with the temperatures! I've got interesting stuff to share with all of you!

I was again asked to contribute to THRICE Fiction Magazine for their latest issue, and it lead to some interesting developments. Those of you who have followed my art over the past 12 years know that it all came from an abstract and surreal base. I can create down to the tiniest realistic detail, or flow in a completely abstract river. Really, it's all about where the feeling takes me. As time has passed, my art and business have flowed through several different directions. Abstracts, to florals, to fantasy and more! However, somewhere along the way the surreal and abstract paintings took a back seat or simply faded away. For the most part, when I did create a piece that fit those labels, I kept it to myself.

Then the magazine came knocking, and I pulled out many of my older works and started to remember what I liked about that flavor of painting. The current issue, No. 5 (of which my art is also on the cover and back cover as well as here and there throughout, keeping company with other artists' pieces all with the intent to help frame the creative writing the magazine is for - it's free to download!), has some of my art in it as well, but it also has a new piece! I created this piece specifically to illustrate one of the stories in the issue:

"Whim" 9x12, Acrylic on Artist Board

After I posted the painting publicly, it generated interest. It generated enough interest that I actually had to reevaluate my current painting-business structure and make some changes. I decided that leaving behind my abstract and surreal works was a mistake. While they're not the main thread of my work, they are most definitely a part of it, and a part of me. So, I'm bringing them back.

I've restructured my main art website www.KWilsonStudio.com to include these paintings, as well as broken out my current collections into gallery sets. You will find the Enchanted Forest series has its own gallery, as does the popular and currently in progress Alice series. My abstracts and surreals will be showcased and available for purchase in the main gallery itself (as well as in the prints boutique of course) as they're less a series and more stand alone pieces.

I've already created a new surreal piece, but even better? I did a full time-lapse photo session of the whole painting, and I've created my first time-lapse painting movie!

"Entangled"9x12x0.75 stretched canvas, sides painted, acrylic

Here's the video of the painting from white canvas to finished piece, and if you are interested I am going to be doing many more of these (although mostly on the smaller pieces. The White Rabbit painting, "I'm Late", is coming too, but it's a very long one due to the size and detail.) You can subscribe to my YouTube channel to get updates, and I'll also be posting them on my Kyra Wilson Studio page on Facebook.

I hope those of you experiencing the hot weather are able to keep cool!