Rainy Day Goodness, (Etsy Shop open!)

I am sitting at my desk looking out the window at the rain and I am filled to the brim.  I have found my niche, just sitting her at my desk looking at the rain and knowing I have so much to do, all of which is such fun stuff!

Aside from traveling through 8 states on a recent 12 day road trip with one of my brothers and one of my sisters, I have been busy learning how to resize pictures for internet, how to use my fancy new large format printer, an Epson R3000 and my new scanner, an Epson Perfection V600 Photo. (fanfare, excitement, woot,woot, Yippee!),

 ordering fancy fine art quality printer paper AND getting my Etsy shop started.  And painting.
Here's two new ones from this week.





"Girl with a veil"

This one was inspired by the ephemera my daughter brought me from Dubai and Ethiopia on her recent trip.  That and the fact that I LOVE ethnic costumes and cover-ups.  I think I'll be doing a series of scarved and hatted girls.















"Girl with Closed Eyes"



















Yep, it's there.  15 originals posted AND I am just starting to post prints too.  Head on over to take a peek:  There I am at  http://www.etsy.com/shop/JeanFWagner.
If you see something you like and want it in a print, let me know.  I am slowly getting prints posted. Much more reasonably priced and the colors are exquisite.  (Someday when I am rich and famous, my originals will be worth a million, so stock up on those too for investment purposes.  (smiley face)

Grand Opening Etsy Sale:  25 % discount for first 10 buyers who also make a comment on this blog post.  How to do this:  First, comment on my blog, below.  Next go to Etsy,(see link above) choose the one(s) you want and then plug in the coupon code which is First10for25.  Let me know if it doesn't work for you.  
*Deal ends November 20th.  

PS!  You can comment and NOT buy anything.  It is allowed and appreciated!

Practicing Courage, Being Strong

As part of the class I am taking about "growing a creative business",  I have been privileged to be a part of a small Facebook interest group of about 19 ladies across the world.  We have been sharing thoughts, ideas, and vulnerabilities about stepping out into the world and sharing our wares.  I am sure every artist, in some way, wants to be known and understood and yes, appreciated for her work.  What gives me courage (and empathy) is to know that Van Gogh was never known or appreciated in his time.  Courage because it gives me a go-ahead to persevere even though I may never get recognition.  He did it because he LOVED it.  And THAT is the only reason to do art.  The other part is just "stuff". Nice stuff, granted, but not the end-all, be-all.

I have the luxury to plod along, learning and loving what I do.  If I never sell a painting, I'll be fine.  I'm retired, have an income, and have my children are grown and self-sufficient.  So... it doesn't take a lot for me to be strong.  I call that luxury.

[ Live Life Like you Have Imagined.  Thoreau]

Now, as for practicing courage, that is a pendant hanging in the wings of my brain.  Courage in my art would mean taking steps to put it out there.  I see artists all over the internet of EVERY range of talent, putting it out there and taking risks.  That gives me courage.  Of course, some are masters, which I am not (yet).  But some are everyday artists, like myself, forging a path.

It would take courage for me to:
*     enter a juried art show
*     enter any art show
*     sell my art in public, like at art fairs
*     put my work on Etsy

My first act of courage will be to put some work on Etsy.  I have an Etsy account, which is currently quite empty.  For future reference it is at http://etsy.com/shop/jeanfwagner.  My goal is to put some work there by late October of this year.

My Facebook group has agreed to post on a common theme monthly in a "blog circle".  Each of us links to another in the group.  If you follow the links, you make it full circle back to the person you started with.  My person is Kelli Watcherson. You can link to her here.  Go ahead... make a circle.  It will be fun.   And... watch for it.  Once a month, the 3rd Thursday of every month.

Girly Girls

Some new work to share this week!   This first one is an experiment.  I used patterned brown and black Tim Holtz paper to collage her hair.  Funky dude!  The  only other collage elements used were a doily (upper right) , handwritten letter piece, lower left, and one other scrap of writing, center right.  The rest is done in acrylics with a little sculpting mud in the upper left.  Oh yes, and stamping with acrylics.  And some pens and charcoal pencils.    This girl is remembering her youth.   Or is it I that is doing the remembering?  

Here's another pretty face. I'll call her Francoise.  I used acrylics, pens and embellishments.

This one is called "Go for the Dream", a frequent thought while I paint.  What is my dream?  I would love to paint and to have people love my painting so much that they would want to hang it in their home.  That would be so satisfying.  Right now, I paint for myself.  To learn, to experiment, to find my style and then my niche.  My learning curve is at its highest now while I take in all the info in the classes I take and the books I read about mixed media.  Not to mention learning how to blog... Oh, my, my!  The banner heading in itself was a masterpiece of learning.  I think I changed it six times this week alone.  Finally, I was able to get the right size and dimensions and incorporate my own art work AND text into the banner.  I think I like it for now.  And the buttons.  I need to learn how to make MY button into a button you could snag the HTML code to place on your blog.  Woohoo,  would love that.  

As for the girl below, I am trying to decide if I want to keep the oval thingie.  I have not glued it down or the blingy things  (some are even upside down in this photo)  But... I wonder, does it add to the whole or not?  Love your help on this.  

And this.... this was a 5 minute sketch (no model)  in willow vine charcoal.  

I did others too but found that the quick one was the best with this medium.  

If I were younger, I would so date  him.  

So.. that's my work this week.  As always, I appreciate your comments and that you checked in.  An artist's life can be a lonely life without their peeps.