Sign Painter For Hire

I just finished a new sign for my favorite ladies at barbara&barbara  over in Logan Square.

Their new vestibule was hit by some graffiti vandalism a few weeks back and they asked me to cover it up.

It was a little of challenge because I used "1 Shot Sign Painters Enamel Paint"

This was the first time I used this paint and it proved to be a much slower process than I had anticipated. The paint is just super thick and because I was painting on industrial canvas it sucked the paint into the surface so fast the pant went a lot faster than I anticipated. Applying the paint was also much more challenging because it didn't allow for fluid lines like I'm use to getting with acrylic. And when I tried to make it more fluid with turpentine it created a terrible bleed mark on the edge. 

This is the rough sketch I did for the concept over a photograph of the damaged vestibule:

Me working on location, of course I pick two of the two hottest days we've had so far this spring. 

Finished detail: 

Swing by and give it a look its located 

at 2925 W Diversey

Chicago IL

Go inside and my mural I did for the space last summer and get your hair cut while your at it! 

Inspiration found in fashion: Lena Hoschek

I've always found inspiration for paintings in the works done by fashion designers.  My paintings tend to be heavy in the use of texture and craft materials that I've translated from clothing numerous times.

Recently one designer  Lena Hoschek a European designer that finds inspiration from the traditional costumes worn in Germany.

You can see more of her work on the blog Q's Daydream the blog that turned me onto Lena in the first place.

I really enjoy how she combines colors and textures into her clothes. Plus I'm a big fan of wearing boots with dresses and she does that fantastically in her Fall/Winter collection for 2013.

 Her Fall winter line also reminded me a lot of Henri Matisse's Red Room piece painted in 1908.

Bear tree Illustration finished

With teaching sometimes it's hard to find time to get to the studio as much as I'd like to. This piece took me a few weeks to complete but I'm really happy with the final result.

It's 18x24 watercolor on paper.

It's available for purchase on Etsy and I'll have prints available soon too!

I'm considering turning this image into a short children's book about the behavior both real and make-believe of these fuzzy fellows.

2012 In Review

Happy New Year: 2012 in Review 

The coming of a New Year always makes me think about the things I wanted to accomplish. I liked the idea of thinking about both my accomplishments and my shortcomings. 

I found this Q&A on Wit and Charm and think it would be a nice review of the year to try to fill out. 

I'd thought I'd share mine with you.

	1: What did you do in 2012 that you’d never done before? Ran a half marathon and drew a comic.
	2: Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year? Yes but not as fully as I had anticipated. 1) I wanted to become more organized (which I improved on) 2) Not let opportunities pass me by (which I feel I succeeded at!) My new resolution is to make a body of work and get it in a gallery or published.
	3: Did anyone close to you give birth? Our good friend's Kiley and Yasemin had a sweet little girl named Zia!
	4: Did anyone close to you die? No, thankfully.
	5: What countries did you visit? Just this one but made some great trips to Florida and Michigan!
	6: What would you like to have in 2013 that you lacked in 2012 A full time job, but I'm feeling rather secure in my part-time teaching positions.
	7: What dates from 2012 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? *November 6th Obama got re-elected, Yay! *May 25th My Grammy Hall turned 80, and I'm so grateful! *August 4th our great friends Brian and Rachel got married.
	8: What was your biggest achievement of the year? Painting a 20 foot long mural on my own.
	9: What was your biggest failure? Not making more artwork or getting published.
	10: Did you suffer illness or injury? Yes, again due to all the running this past summer. I was introduced to the magic of the chiropractor.
	11: What was the best thing you bought? A real Marc Jacobs bag for my 31st birthday.
	12: Whose behavior merited celebration? My 80 year old Grammy Hall for getting through the recovery of her vascular surgery, she was amazingly brave.
	13: Whose behavior made you appalled? Sorry it's political but the Republican party as a whole.
	14: Where did most of your money go? Moving to our new apartment, car repairs, and clothes.
	15: What did you get really, really, really excited about? My dad and Grandma Donna coming for a visit over the summer. It was that Grandma's first visit to see me since I've lived here.
	16: What song will always remind you of 2012? Ugggg...gangnam style
	17: Compared to this time last year, are you: (a) happier or sadder? (b) thinner or fatter? (c) richer or poorer? A)Happier, because of my professional life seeming a little more predictable. B) About the same, the holidays and being sick all winter has reversed all the good work running all summer did. C) About the same, just a little less debt.
	18: What do you wish you’d done more of? Make art work and travel.
	19: What do you wish you’d done less of? Stress out about things.
	20: How did you spend Christmas? In Cleveland with my family and Chris's
	21: Did you fall in love in 2012? Already in love.
	22: What was your favorite TV program? Downton Abbey: so heartbreaking sad though!   Illustration via: kelseygarrityillustration.blogspot.com
	23: Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year? No I don't hate many people, but the ones I do are still on the naughty list.
	24: What was the best book you read? It was a graphic Novel: American Vampire , Both the story and the artwork are fantastic!
	25: What was your greatest musical discovery? Ha! I started violin lessons again after 10 years and still remembered a thing or two.
	26: What did you want and get? A new GPS and a Kitchen Aid mixer
	27: What did you want and not get? A digital SLR but I'm in the process of finding a good one.
	28: What was your favorite film of this year? I think Dark Night Rises or Django Unchained or Lincoln, so many good ones this year! I still haven't seen the Hobbit.
	29: What one thing made your year immeasurably more satisfying? Again with the half-marathon. It got me running again.
	30: How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2012? Feminine, I wore a lot of dresses and skirts this year.
	31: What kept you sane? Therapy and running.
	32: Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? Michelle Obama, she's all around awesome.
	33: What political issue stirred you the most? Legitimate rape?!
	34: Who did you miss? Always, my mom.
	35: Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2012. It's OK to tell people no.

Wild West Christmas Wreath

I had these bags of dollar store cowboys and Indians laying around from another art project and finally came up with a project worthy of their use. 

This wreath is slightly time consuming because of the glitter application but wicked cheep material cost wise.

Step 1:

Prepare plastic cowboys and Indians:

They are from the dollar store after all. So you may have to use some craft scissors to trim them up a bit. The plastic is rather easy to cut through if you wish to remove the standing portion of the toy. I left that portion on to really reinforce the origin of the toys. I feel like it makes the wreath tell more of a story not denying their original purpose. 

Step 2:

Apply glitter:

You'll need an adhesive and a small, cheep, old paint brush. 

I used acrylic matte medium (you can buy it any art or larger craft store) because it doesn't try tacky like some glues and it dries clear.

You'll need glitter of course! You can buy this at almost any craft or art store.

Here comes the time consuming part!

Coat each plastic figure liberally with the matte medium. Then over a small bowl or cup slowly pour the glitter over each figure individually.  I used a paint tray so I could reuse the glitter and keep the colors  separated. 

Be sure to let them dry in a plastic container not on paper so they don't stick to the surface. 

They should look something like this once their dry.

Step 3: Apply Ribbon:

You'll need a glue gun and fine silk ribbon.

You really could use string or fishing line but I felt fine green silk ribbon would look so much prettier. I cut the ribbon extra long so after I tied them to the wreath I could make a lovely bow to finish off the look.

I put a small dab of hot glue on the back of each figure and then pushed the center of the cut ribbon against the glue till it dried.

I also prepared a hand full of non-glittered figures to create a visual contrast with the glittered figures.

Step 4: Start adding figures

Evenly disperse the figures throughout the wreath.

I also added some small red bells that I recycled from last years wreath.

I was really happy with the final result. You could always mix more ribbons or Christmas themed items among the cowboys and Indians but I decided to keep mine simple. 

DIY 1940’s hair, do it your self with the help of this video.

If I can do it, anyone can.

One of the highlights of the past weekend was visiting the Cleveland Art Museum with my dad.  One of the visually amazing/sad things had to be the Damien Hurst piece (you can read about the controversy in regard to this work here) that first appears to be three stained glass windows but upon investigation you will find he used actual butterfly wings.