Art for the Open Heart

February 9, 6-9pm
Artspace Gallery
555 Asylum Ave, Hartford, CT

I will be participating in this exhibition coming up at Artspace. It is a fundraiser to help Tao LaBossiere pay  for his open heart surgery that he will need in February. Tao has been instrumental in the growth of Artspace gallery and the Hartford art community as a whole. He has been a resident of Artspace since it’s inception in 1997, and is the volunteer director of the gallery.

I have created this piece specifically for this event. “I love you” Painted with oils. There is a heart in the background, it’s kind of hard to tell with the lighting, but it’s there. Love and all. ❤

From the Facebook event page:

Not to be missed exhibit will feature hundreds of artworks by more than one hundred local artists. $10+ donation at the door.

Music by DJ Jon Eastman
Wine presented by Two Guys and a Lotta Wine
Food by Salute, Fire ‘n Spice, Ginza Japanese Restaurant

This is a benefit for Tao LaBossiere’s Open Heart Surgery.

20% or more of any sales will be generously donated to the “Tao LaBossiere Open Heart Fund.” ALL event proceeds will benefit the “Tao LaBossiere Open Heart Fund”. Tao is in need of open heart surgery and his catastrophic insurance will leave him with more than $45,000+ in medical bills. We are creating an art show that benefits all participating artists, as well as a Benefit for Tao, that will help him to avoid financial ruin from this unexpected necessary medical condition.

Tao LaBossiere has been volunteering to help artists and build up the artist community through ArtSpace Hartford Gallery since 1997. He is the volunteer force behind 18-21 art shows each year for the past 15 years, each attended by hundreds equaling thousands of lives touched yearly, by Tao’s assistance. If you have ever been part of an art show at Hartford ArtSpace Gallery, or if your friends have ever even attended an event, then you have directly benefited by his volunteer efforts. Additionally, you should note his years of volunteer support to the artists of Hartford Artists Open Studio Weekend, CowParade, West Hartford Art League, and Oil Drum Art. He is humbled and grateful for any and all help you decide to freely give.

If anyone would prefer to donate directly in lieu of participation, feel free to send a check to:
TD Bank
c/o Tao LaBossiere Open Heart Fund
203 Trumbull Street
Hartford, CT 06103

Or donate online at:
http://www.giveforward.com/taolabossiereopenheartfund

For those artists looking to participate:

$20 Entry Donation per piece, no limit to number of pieces an artist may submit. Size limit of 4 ft in any direction. Diptychs and Triptychs count as individual pieces.

First come, first served until the gallery is full, salon-style. We will direct you in hanging the work as it comes in and reserve the right to tweak the show to it’s best display for all.

Art Drop off:
Monday, Feb 4, 5 to 7 pm
Tuesday, Feb 5, 5 to 7 pm
and by appointment (contact Amy LaBossiere 860-543-3244)

Hope to see you there!! 

Day 7 – revisited

Here is the finihsed potholder from day 7:

I was telling my neighbor about the HOT! potholder, and he reminded me that potholders are not supposed to be hot, so on the reverse side, I put COLD. You are only supposed put the HOT! side against hot things and COLD is the side that you touch… if you use it the other way around, I’m not responsible for your injuries. Here is the COLD side:

Below is the pattern that I created to make the potholders. They are 30 stitches wide and 30 stitches tall. I then crocheted the edges together using the gray from the COLD side and the yellow from the HOT side, and added a loop for hanging. Enjoy! (click on the image for a larger jpg)

If you want to keep up to date with my 30 days, follow me on facebook or twitter!

Day 9 – 30 Days

So today is a little different, but it’s still creative. I’ve had these miniature red roses for a while now, and they keep blooming and dying and growing bigger and blooming again. I love these little flowers and so I painted this pot I had lying around, a whimsical blue and white spiral, and potted them in it. (I did that about a month ago, so that doesn’t count for today, but it is creative so it counts for something, right?) The only thing is, it always looked so sparse because they really are small flowers, and the pot that I had was kind of large. Oh well, the pot is cute right?

I went to the grocery store today and they had more of these little roses — buy one get one FREE!! I’m a sucker for a good deal, so I bought a yellow one and an orange one, to compliment the red one that I already had. They are going to look so cute in the blue and white pot I have! Plus the red one is quite a bit taller than the two new ones, so it gives it a little height and now it has volume too!

Here’s a picture of the pot with Maxwell sitting so nicely.

 

Here’s another shot of him smelling the roses, or maybe he is eating them… 🙂

If you want to keep up to date with my 30 days, follow me on facebook or twitter!

Day 3 – 30 Days of Creativity

Back to the basics. I have a lot to do today, so I can’t spend as much time on a finished drawing as I did yesterday. (Although it was fun!) This project is more about doing many small things and not taking on more than I can chew.  So I decided to do a contour drawing without picking up my pen off the paper. (I may have cheated once or twice, but you can’t notice, so don’t tell anyone).

It’s a gardening glove on a wooden monitor stand that my Dad made for me. Sidenote: There’s no monitor on it anymore, because I just got a new one for my laptop which is open on the bottom and that helps it breathe. It is definitely cooler now, and I think I’ll get at least another year out of my laptop now that it no longer has asthma and can breathe properly. ANYWAY…  Day 3 done!

30 Days of Creativity – Day 1

So I just heard about this today… 21 days late! There is a website called 30daysofcreativity and it basically encourages you to be creative for the entire month of June. I just came across it today, but this is exactly what I need to help my own artwork and motivation. So I’ll do it anyway, starting today!

I will be posting every day for the next 30 days. Since I have a creative job and tend to do creative things every day anyway, I’m setting my own criteria that these posts can not have anything to do with work! They cannot be paid for! They have to be my own artwork/projects/creations motivated by nothing but pure creativity. I am not allowed to post a logo I created that day or a design or drawing I did for a client. I think that would be cheating.

The whole purpose of this exercise is to get out of my comfort zone and create something new. Try something new. Even if it sucks! It’s the effort that counts… right?

I need to think less and do more. I tend to get caught up in the details and the big picture, when I should at the very least do something small, once a day.

So here’s day one of 30 Days of Creativity:

I had some Sculpey Clay lying around and decided to make a character. He started off as just a blob and I didn’t know where he was going to end up. I like pig noses, so I decided to make a pig. He’s cooking now and I will paint him another day. That was fun!

hmmmm… what will I make tomorrow?? I don’t know! Come back and see!

I’m not talented…

People always tell me how talented I am. Bear with me here: I’m not bragging, I’m making a point. 🙂 I’m very flattered when people like my work. I think it’s even more amazing when people love it so much they want to buy it and put on their own wall! I’m surprised every time someone buys my work. But I shouldn’t be. I know I’m good. (again, not bragging, ok a little.)

Getting to my point, I’ve studied for years and years. I’ve learned from the best art teachers and professors and professional artists and now colleagues. I’ve spent days/weeks/months on a single painting, trying to get it just right. But I wasn’t always this good. I started out not so good. But I loved doing it. I loved the fact that a white piece of paper could turn into something that I created, from my point of view. I did that. It wasn’t there before, then I dreamt it up and now it’s mine. For you to see. You can see what I just made up. How amazing is that??? To be able to show people what’s in your head. (Although, some people’s thoughts are better left inside… ) It’s something that I fell in love with early on. And that love has pushed me to continue to be better at it and keep studying and drawing.

I started out no better than you at drawing. I just loved it more. It’s skill. It’s something that I practiced and I got better. I used to play the piano. Same story, people would tell me I was talented… but I can’t really play it now. (Side note: My parents would bribe me to practice the piano, for every minute I practiced I would get one m&m… Have I mentioned how much I love chocolate? Yeah, I was good at playing the piano!) I haven’t played in years. It’s a skill that I have neglected. It comes back easily, but not without some struggle. …and a strange craving for chocolate!

My point is, you can draw too. Don’t be afraid. Just draw something. I’m also guilty of not drawing because I don’t want to draw something “bad”. Or don’t want to ruin that canvas. But so what! Do it anyway. No one has to see it but you! But you won’t get any better without making mistakes, and realizing what that mistake was, and how to make it better next time. I guess you could say I don’t believe in talent, I just believe in hard work. Just keep at it. Keep learning and doing what you love. I’m lucky enough to be able to do what I love for a living. I’ve been training my whole life for this…

 

Pet portrait, just for me. :)

I was asked to donate a gift certificate for a pet portrait to a fundraiser called “Wet Paint” to benefit the FOCUS fund in Farmington. They had lots of artwork there from many artists around town being auctioned off. They asked to have a portrait there on display… to which I replied: I don’t have one! Of course, I have done many portraits in my career, but they are all for other people! I sell them and many times, never see them again. 😦  BUT this was a great opportunity for me to create a portrait of my own puppy, Maxwell.

We rescued him about a year ago, and he is the best dog I could have asked for! Part German Shepherd and part Basset Hound, he’s got the best of worlds. He’s smart like a shepherd, but easy going and lazy like a basset. He looks like a long, short legged, floppy eared German Shepherd! Yes, a little silly, but utterly adorable! And that’s just the reason why I had to rescue him. He fit in perfectly at our house! So I have many many many pictures of him doing cute things. Lots of options to draw, but no time. I tend to focus on work that pays and put my own projects on hold (this is something that I’m working on changing). So This was the perfect opportunity to MAKE me draw my dog to put on display as an example of a pet portrait.

Here he is! Green is my favorite color and I think he stands out nicely on it. Pastel, 8×10. I have another photo of him that I want to do on black paper and he will just POP right off the page! …hopefully it won’t take me a year to do it. again.

 

Surrender

The word this week for Illustration Friday is Surrender. I think it’s quite appropriate, since all we can do is just surrender to the weather at this point. Here in Connecticut we have had a snowstorm every week for the past four weeks. Two of which have been over a foot. In January alone we got over 45″ of snow. There’s at least 30″ in my backyard as I type this.

Don’t get me wrong: I love snow! But at this point, I surrender!

Art Festival this weekend!

Come visit me at the Unionville Festival, Sunday, September 26th! I will be set up along the river with other local artists behind Matthew’s Restaurant, 55 Mill St., from noon to 5pm.

Come support local artists! I will be selling prints, cards and original works of art!

Hope to see you all there!

Back to Work

I know I haven’t posted anything lately, and that’s partly because I’ve been keeping busy with work (yay!) and also because last week, I took a vacation (double yay!) As I was relaxing yesterday and trying to get back into reality, I decided that I needed to do a drawing for me. Not for a client, not for anyone else, but for me.

So I did a drawing of my boyfriend, Brendan, and our dog, Maxwell.

Pencil, 10″ x 6″

…Now back to work!