My Precious

I finished one of my watercolors I had been working on, and I decided to call it "My Precious". This may, or may not have been influenced by the fact that I had Lord of the Rings going on in the background. *ahem*

"My Precious" 9x12 watercolor on paper

I really love how she turned out. I think she's my favorite so far!

I still have my elf with her fancy dress to finish and then I'll have two for the week! I think it's doable! And then, maybe, I'll give the kitchen table back to the family. Maybe.

Of A Feather

I finished my commission piece, and I have to say that while I started out rather ambivalent about it, by the end I was happy with it!

"Flight" Acrylic, 8x10 on stretched canvas. Original sold, prints available here.

The fairy took a great deal less time than I thought. I really was surprised at how quickly it went, once the bird was painted. It was all those feathers that got me initially. Sometimes I get a little too caught in the details and trying to put in fine lines in a smaller piece like this one, when I need to let go and let there be a suggestion of the lines. They don't have to exist, if the brain will fill it in for us.

Also, it took a while to reconcile the wings. Peacocks are just incredibly lovely birds with the most amazing tail-feathers in probably all of the animal kingdom... who knew their wings were UGLY!? I went through photo after photo completely shocked that this sapphire gem of a bird is hiding these rather dowdy feathers. No wonder they don't fly very often! It must really prick their egos to know they aren't perfect all over! I spiced them up with iridescent bronze, copper, and gold. It helped. Now it's not so dowdy.

I was happy with the mood too. I was going for, sort of an urgent, they're going somewhere, sort of thing. Maybe even running, and that's why she's looking behind her. It just sort of fell that way, I didn't plan it, but it's what I have been feeling lately on a personal level, so it makes sense that it would show up in my sketch I suppose!

I believe this year will have several fairies in it. I want them to be a bit bigger and more the focus though, and I'll likely explore that in watercolors to start with as well. But that will have to wait, because I have the contest winner's painting up next, as well as starting in on the Caterpillar for my Alice in Wonderland Series. February is going to be a big month with lots of paintings!

In the Season

I'm finally working on some snowy, holiday work! Yay! I love it! It's also just started spitting snow outside, so even better! Before Thanksgiving, I finished my first holiday painting of the season:

"Orb"5x7 Canvas Panel Normally a 5x7 would be $85, but I'm kicking off my holiday season with it on sale at Etsy only for $65 (incl. shipping US & Can). On my main website, it's the normal $85 price.

Then this morning I managed to finish a happy snowman and his little feathered friend:

"Snowbird"5x7 Canvas Panel$85 (inlc. shipping US&Can)
Zazzle merchandise is up too. I spent some hours this morning on that!

I had so much fun getting to paint these seasonal paintings, that I have two smaller ones in process right now. One will be a Christmas tree with a moon, and the other has a ball ornament and a pine cone together. They're small (3x5 or smaller, I need to measure...) so they're just fun! 

I've been struggling with listing paintings just on Etsy or just on my main website. I sell most of my paintings through my main website, but with these fast numbers I've been leaning more on Etsy. Unfortunately, I think that might leave some of my customers in the dark when I'm coming out with something quick and new. So, this morning I worked a little bit to put some of the Etsy minis up on my site, but I'm waffling on putting up the snowman on Etsy just yet. I don't know how some of the artists manage to get their stuff up consistently on so many sites. The time spent on that alone just boggles my mind!

I'm also working on learning Celtic knot-work (or relearning, I used to doodle in class... a lot. *ahem* But it's been almost 20 years since I was in High School, so it's been a while.) I have a commission with an Irish theme, and in addition to that it's my heritage on both my Scottish and Irish sides. I have a... need to start working some knot-work in. But! I have to relearn how to do them in the first place, and it's not easy.

I'm working on a clover right now, and I keep finding myself going a wee bit cross-eyed and losing track sometimes. It's there, my ability to do them, it's just rusty. Really rusty.

You can see where I went wrong easily in the top one. The bottom one is trickier, but it too isn't correct. Not all my over-unders went that way. Some of them went over-over-under and so on. *head*desk* But that's why I'm practicing, playing on notebook paper (I just got my hands on some graph paper, so that should help.)

Oh, and I just this past week received some pendants from my Zazzle store:

I had some extra credits to spend, and I thought what the heck? They're so pretty! I just didn't realize there were different sizes until they arrived. Anyway, I'm only sharing them because I thought they were cool (no matter who's artwork is on them.) I've been really impressed with Zazzle, especially considering my old experience with Cafe Press and feeling like CP's stuff was just so... cheap. My iPhone covers I ordered are simply fantastic (I did the Vibe cases), and I ordered postcards from several of my favorite artists on there and was impressed again. It's just nice  not to be let down!

I hope your week has been wonderful! Who's got something new on their easel?

Snowy Moods

I finished the little commission I was working on:

"Two Owl'Clock"
5x7 canvas panel, Acrylic

While it's sold, I set up some items through Zazzle with it on them (like cards'n'stuff.)

I have another commission I'm working on involving an Irish theme, but my head is completely in the snowy-mood (even though it's bright and sunny - if freezing - out!) With that in mind, I'm digging into more of the holiday decorations and today I'm tackling the main Christmas tree because there are some ornaments I want to use as inspiration for a few paintings... but I can't GET to them without going through everything, and if I'm going to do that, I might as well put the tree up! Plus we were able to get ahold of LED string lights this year (for two years running, they've been sold out every time I have tried to purchase some) and I'm dying to see how they look on our tree...

See how I just made putting up a Christmas tree a work-related activity? I know, you're marveling at my brilliance.

Well, it was brilliant right up until I remembered that there are 90-bajilliony pieces and stereo-type-instructions to get it together. I'm determined though... I have a holiday painting similar to the owl one I'm working on too. Moon, tree, and ornaments... I have the moon done so far, but I really just need to do a quick dive into a couple of these and then I can focus on other work again.

I think, deep down, I'm hoping it'll make it snow.

Happy Friday!

Kittens and Sketchbooks!

I finished my Halloween Kittens painting, but the daylight has been so low that even with my studio lighting I haven't been able to take print-worthy files of it. So, here is just a quick snapshot of the finished painting:

My grey kitten came out a little grumpy looking, but my husband thinks that's fine for a Halloween painting!

I also took a few snaps of a print of Tea Time I ordered, with the original before I shipped it out, so I could show what a print looks like in comparison:

Honestly, I really was quite thrilled with my print that showed up. It's relief to know that partnering with Fine Art America was the right move for my business!

My print gallery at FAA is here: http://kyra-wilson.artistwebsites.com/ 

For me personally, I haven't decided if I'm going to keep the print for myself or sell it as a signed copy... I'm leaning towards keeping it. I really fell in love with this painting. I'm so pleased the new owner loves it too, but I admit I miss it a little. It was such a long process!

Switching topics here, I have decided I'm going to pick up a bunch of sketchbooks. I stopped working with them when I shifted to selling everything, because it felt like I was wasting my time on work that wouldn't go anywhere. In other words, I forgot how to play! Shame on me!

I've been waffling back and forth over it, but I finally realized that I really want to do this for a couple of reasons. The first is that I need to develop (or decide whether or not to develop) a "type" for my people/women/girls characters that I paint. I have a developed style, but I've been wondering if perhaps there is more to discover as I am heading back towards painting people once again.

The second reason is that I want to work on my Celtic drawings, in particular knot-work. I used to play around and draw out knots when I was bored in school, but it's been so long. I have a strong Scottish and Irish heritage, there's something about it that just calls to me. I think it's about time I start answering!

I'm hoping having a goal with my sketchbooks, that it will allow me to start playing again. I want to stop worrying over making something that won't go anywhere (or worry that I'll put something fabulous down on a piece of paper that isn't archival!) It's time to play! (And yes, I owe it to all of you wonderful artists who shared your sketchbooks and reminded me what it was like to have one! Thank you!)

...so, who's got snow?

Dark.

And now for something from the other half of my art-world!

"Turning a Blind Eye"Prints, Only

I started off as a surreal painter, but I don't visit it as often as I likely should. Sometimes, it's hard to remember that the world has changed from when I first started offering my paintings for sale. Being in rural Vermont meant that my surreal style was... an acquired taste. I loved it, but the truth was that most people here just wanted a picture with a cow in it. That's perfectly fine, but it isn't great for my surreal artworks.

Now that the world has grown smaller, and we can reach so many others outside of our little literal physical circle, there is more breathing room in the art world. Sure, there are a lot more voices too, but at least there is a place for you to be heard!

One of the thrilling things I have been asked to participate in is a publication called THRICE Fiction. It's a short-fiction magazine that offers free digital copies (you only have to pay for a physical one, if that is your preference.)

I was contacted, and told "dark". Oh, have I got dark in spades right now! "I got'cha daaahk right here, baby!" I have "dark" leaking out my freaking fingernails. But I haven't been painting it. I'm not sure why I need the nudge to set aside my usual offerings, but I did. Again. I started and finished the piece "Turning a Blind Eye" yesterday, and I have another work on my easel now.

What is interesting is that up until this point, this week has been a total failure. Everything I tried to paint or sketch out was total junk. Nothing was working. But I've been pretty frustrated too. My mother had a stroke last week and another attack this week, my children in the middle of all that got something resembling Chicken Pox (foot and mouth, perhaps?) I just couldn't seem to do anything right. I realized I was just extremely angry, about everything, anything, and nothing was working to alleviate it.

This did. Having a painting temper tantrum helped. I've tried painting other things, but it's not the same. Getting angry, or sad, or whatever and painting something to reflect that? It helps.

I have a major backlog of paintings that are half finished. I need to finish them. And I will. But for now? I'm all about the dark.

Com...' Putering

In some exciting news, I canceled my Alice in Wonderland show for 2013, and released my series to the public for sale. After my last post, I think it was clear I was doing some business-soul-searching, and I'm confident I made the right decision. All the paintings have sold, except one. I know I need to get moving and continue on with the series, but there is also something freeing about letting the show go. It would have been a mistake, plus now I can do Alice paintings but also some of the Fairytale ones I've been dying to get started on!

The flip side to being able to create art when you have an art business, are the weeks you have to spend chained to your computer or spreadsheets instead. Tomorrow is Friday, and I'm sorry to say that I haven't had a paintbrush in my hand even once this week.

Frankly, it's depressing me. Blah.

On the other hand, I did get a lot done besides selling the Alice series. I shifted my print and shipping business over and partnered with Fine Art America (I'll still offer personally signed prints when I do exhibitions and shows - basically wherever I am in person, but for online sales this was the way to go.) What's good about this, beyond being able to offer quality prints of my paintings in multiple formats, is that I can also offer my fine art photography as well. When I was running Kyra Wilson Photography in tandem with Kyra Wilson Studio, I kept them separate. After shutting down KWP, I had all these wonderful prints that I used to sell, and no venue in order to do it.

I was a little amazed to see how many I could find to offer on a quick pass (almost 80), and I know I have more to go through. I really did a lot, and I know I plan on still taking photographs going forward. There are some things that are just meant to be in photographic form! (And then maybe turned into a painting!)



So, I'm pretty excited to be able to offer my photography prints once again! I've also been working on cleaning out and fixing my Zazzle store, but it's still a bit of a mess as of yet. The products are there, but I haven't quite figured out how to get my store to display correctly. I may be burned out today on it, it's probably time to walk away! Either that, or I've become Zazzle-impaired. My head is just stuffed to overflowing.

I was able to get my white rabbit (Tea Time) prints up in my print shop,


but I also am offering a different version of the print. I don't know if any of you have seen storybook illustrations from antique books, but this looks just like a bunch I have seen:




Isn't that cool? I ordered a print of it for myself (and one of the regular ones, since the original will be shipping out to its new owner. I'm a wee bit attached to it.)

Anyway, after running numbers through my accounting spreadsheets, and online rearranging and all sorts of programming and web-editing? I think I'm fried. I need art therapy. Tomorrow - I shall paint!  PAINT, I say!

Prints

This is a list of current available prints. The sizes listed are the suggested matted/framing size (which is larger than actual image size), and price.

All prints come without matting*, or framing, in a protective sleeve and backing. All prints are numbered and personally signed.

If you have any further questions, or would like to purchase a print please send an email to savyart@gmail.com.

Cinderella, 2008. 10" x 10"
$30 (original sold)

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Sleeping Beauty, 10" x 10"
$30 (original sold)

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Moonlit Crossing 18" x 14"
$30 (original sold)

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Tempest, 18" x 14"

$30 (original available, Oil 16 x 20)

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Midnight Sands, 18" x 14"
$30 (original sold)

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Moonlit Dreams, 12" x 9"

$25 (original sold)

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Daughter of Spring 14" x 18"
$30 (original sold)

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Winter Solstice, 14" x 18"

$30 (original sold)


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Legacy 18" x 14"

$30 (original available, Oil, 16"x20")

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Homestead 14" x 18"
$30 (original available, oil, 16 x 20)

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Montpelier Summer 14" x 18"

$30 (original available, Oil, 16"x20")

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Tucked Away 18" x 14"
$30 (original available, Oil, 16"x20")

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Township 14" x 18"
$30 (original sold)

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Stafford Spring 14" x 18"
$30 (original available, Oil, 16"x 20")

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(Copyright text and watermarks shown on images are not on actual prints. Images online are of a reduced quality. Actual prints are sharper, with greater detail.)


* Some limited quantities of matted prints remain, there is no price difference between the matted and unmatted prints.