Calling all local/regional artists near Cumming Georgia

Colors of Fall

Art Exhibit and Sale

September 29 – October 8, 2016

Sawnee Arts Center

2202 Canton Hwy, Cumming, GA

The 4th Annual Colors of Fall Art Exhibit and Sale is a juried 2-D, 3-D and Photography Exhibit and Sale. The event features original works by local and regional artists in various mediums including painting, drawing, photography, mixed media, pottery, wood working, glass, fiber arts and jewelry. Entry is open to all artists.

 The exhibit will be held at the Sawnee Arts Center and will be open two extended weekends between September 29 and October 8. Admission is free.

Ribbons and monetary prizes will be awarded in three categories, 2D art, 3D and Photography.

• 1st Place:  $200
• 2nd Place:  $125 
• 3rd Place:  $$75 
• Honorable Mention ribbon

There will be a single “Best of Show” award of $300, and a single “People’s Choice” certificate.

To register and see full guidelines visit Colors Of Fall

Looking for a focal point...

So, I'm still trying to go bigger on this 18x24 piece and with more vibrant colors.  My first few layers were on an IKEA desk pad as my plate but without wetting the paper or having a press it doesn't make full contact like the Gelli plate does.  I need them to go bigger instead of all the small plates they are doing at the moment.  I see a homemade one in my future.

Here I've added some more layers but I haven't figured out how I want to give it a focal point.  I could make another layer that essentially masks out the majority of it to leave interesting shapes or I could collage some large elements in or, or...  At the moment I like the bottom portion the most.

This is a partial progression of another one I worked on that is more 11x14. In this phase I liked the simpleness but it felt a little flat and missing some texture.

The photo is a bit dark but I like the texture now and what looks like black is really a dark purple.

I hope everyone had a blessed Fathers Day.

Play time...

It always surprises me for some reason how fast time flies. How is it May already? I definitely haven't been spending as much creative time as I'd like but managing bits here and there.

These are a couple new pieces.





This one I managed to take some pics while creating.

I started with laying out three colors in a rough stripe pattern. The bonus was I also pulled extra texture from dried paint still on the Gelli plate.



I added another layer for texture.





I continued adding layers of color and texture.


As a final layer I directly added lines and circles with various tools.


Here are a few more from just playing.








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Art for sale...

So, my friend Rebecca sent me some info about an art auction for a worthy cause, Aide La Vie Nutrition. The auction is at the Monroe Art Guild on December 5th and I donated a new piece and am looking forward to attending and seeing what else has been donated. Maybe I will bring something home with me. All of the donations are on display for the month of November.

On another note, I've taken the plunge and am offering prints for sale at Fine Art America. I still need to add a photo of me but it is coming along. I think I'm going to have to order a new iPhone case for myself and maybe a decorative pillow. :-) More choices coming soon as I gradually get them professionally scanned.

I can hardly believe next week is Thanksgiving. I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday with family and friends and not too much over eating.

 

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Hello Again...

 

Gosh it's been a long time since I last checked in. Work projects have been intense lately but things are returning to normal. I've managed to have some play time here and there including an art play date with my niece yesterday and examples are below. Some of them may get additional tweaking but we shall see.

I also am really excited that a friend of mine, Ann Baldwin, is going to put three of my pieces in her Westside Market booth. Here's hoping for some quick sales.

I've also started the process of having my pieces professionally scanned so I can offer giclees for sale. I'm still debating on whether or not to do limited editions with a limit of at most 100. At the moment I can't imagine selling that many but I see that some artists do that while others don't. If you are doing limited editions what led you to go that route? Do you provide some sort of certificate with it? Do you have an art gallery site you really like? I've been looking at ones like Fine Art America and may try at least a few pieces there to see how it goes. Any feedback on your experience is much appreciated.

Oh, today my niece and I went to the Atlanta Art Festival and found these pretties by artist Lorri Kelly. They are so cool and she made them completely with hand painting and then added marks. Now all I have to do is figure out where to hang them.

 

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Some more Gellin time...

Last Saturday night I had some impromptu crafty/art time with one of my girlfriends. We played until the wee hours (3 am). Stephanie was a zentanglesque queen and I played with some color combinations I've been wanting to try.









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Past time to check in...

Life has been a bit too busy lately with so much to do and not enough time.  Art play time has been suffering greatly with work being very demanding and lots of family activities.  I did get to have some play time a few weeks ago with the girls.  It is always so nice to hang for the day and enjoy each other's company.

I did make a few monotype pieces and played with my new florescent paints and then moved to playing with red, nickel azo and paynes grey. Quite a switch in feel but some days are like that.  I also played with taking a canvas Donna Downey bag and using the Gelli Plate to paint it.  That was fun.

I hope everyone is having a lovely summer and will be having a great 4th of July celebration next weekend.

Spring is almost here...

Too bad I didn't take some pics of my spring flowers to celebrate the beautiful spring day we are having.

Lately I'm finding it challenging to get in art time. The weekends have become about getting things done around the house and cooking the week's food. I'm trying to eat healthier which takes an awful lot of work. I didn't get as much done this weekend as I wanted but I did get to have some creative time.

Yesterday was our monthly art journaling with Mary Freeman and as always was a wonderful time. It is always just so nice to hang with the girls and the other ladies that come and see all the different styles of journaling. Mine tend to be playing with colors but it is therapeutic.



After lunch with the girls I had a little more play time with one of my friends Stephanie. It was so relaxing to visit and play and a welcome break from all the usual chores. I'm still having fun playing with my gelli plate and some hand cut circle masks.






To round out the weekend I participated in the Atlanta Hunger Walk and it was a beautiful day for it. It was really well organized and they had bands of varying types of music all along the way. I've not done this one before and it was a huge crowd.



Until next time, happy arting!

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Trying out plexi...

So, I want to go bigger than the largest Gelli plate so decided to try plexiglass. I bought an 18x24 piece from the hardware store and used my Akua inks. The Akua inks are supposed to stay wet until they are applied to paper but interestingly enough that didn't seem to be the case. It also came out spotty as you can see from my below prints. Golden Paints performed better so researching. I also have to say I like the give in the Gelli plate better too so I may have to get a really large jelly or cake pan and make my own. Wonder how large I can go? I'll keep you posted but if anyone knows let me know.












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Trying some new paint...

Yesterday Mary Freeman's monthly Art Journaling started back up so spent a lovely morning with the girls playing. I decided to play with black paint as my main color which isn't my norm but I enjoyed it and may do it again sometime.





A couple pages playing with black, gray and yellow in an abstract.





Later in the evening I spent some Gelli plate play time to try out my new Akua inks. I've been reading about that they stay wet until applied to paper so I asked for a set for my birthday.


The color selection is limited at least compared to Golden Paints but they are very thick and creamy. I used very little to roll onto the plate.


There is a blending solution to use with the inks to thin them to emulate their pigment inks. Haven't tried the pigment inks yet but I have one to test. Above shows were I did a test with drops of the blending solution after the fact and let it sit. After blotting it left the circles and I like the effect.


This is the finished piece after a couple more print layers. I also used the new Strathmore Printmaking paper and I like how smooth it is and it takes the paint very nicely. Next I will try the intaglio paints on watercolor paper to see if there is any difference.

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