Looking forward

For the last couple months, I have been working on designing and starting to cut a tiger piece that will be my largest ever (probably framed at 22x28) once it is complete. I still have quite a ways to go on the cutting, and then I will have to have the mat and frame made up and paint the background. I am hoping to have it done for my next Crocker Park show in October, but we will have to see how my time goes.. :)
Anyway, here is a small picture of the pattern.

First cut- new Miniature Schnauzer

Solar Flare

I completed my first abstract piece! It is curves and shapes fitting together, and it is named 'Solar Flare'. I hand-painted the background in reds, golds, oranges, yellows, tans, and black with watercolors and framed it to 11x14 with a simple black frame...

First cut- new Tufted Titmouse pattern

Last cutting- giraffe

I have another piece on its final edition. I had a run on giraffes lately and sold 1/3 and 2/3 in the last couple weeks at an art show and on Etsy respectively. So here is 3/3, the last chance to get this piece before it is gone!

New show added to the list

I got my acceptance letter from another show- the Christkindl Markt at the Canton Museum of Art, November 13-15. More details on my website, and I will of course hype it more as it gets closer to time... :)

New pattern- pony

Hippo and goldfish cuttings

This is the first cut on my new hippo pattern:









And this is the second edition of my goldfish to replace a piece I sold last weekend:

Multi-tasking

I usually work on carving or cutting while I am at a show to make the time go quicker and so I can feel productive even if the show doesn't go well. So in the 20+ hours that I was at CP this weekend, I managed to get 4 carvings done. The 3 smaller ones I did from start to finish, the larger one was about half-done when I took it up there..













And since my large central cottonwood piece is now sold, I kicked into higher gear working on my next large piece. I have the piece planned and laid out with 4 faces, and 2 of the 4 were roughed out. Today I got the 3rd roughed out, and fine-tuned all 3. Will put up more pics once I have things defined enough to show up well on camera.. The total piece is about 4.5 feet long, and I am hoping to have it done by the Saint John Westshore show in July.

Crocker Park Art Show

We were truly blessed with mostly great weather and great crowds all weekend. Thanks to all old and new customers for coming out and enjoying the day and all the artwork on display!! And an extra thanks for my neighboring artist and the guild staff members for helping me recover the bag with my tent sides when I intelligently left it behind on the curb and didn't realize I was missing it until I got home AND got the car entirely unpacked... :\ Thank goodness it was a local show for me, only 20 minutes away!

Here is my booth with the new tent getting it's first use. The mannequin in underwear behind the tent was an side-effect of being placed right by Victoria's Secret.. :)

First cut- new Border Terrier and Skye Terrier patterns

New pattern- Tufted Titmouse

Tent upgrade!!

Well, after trying to replace the broken struts on my Ezup tent and finding even more parts that would need to be replaced, I broke down and ordered a professional artist tent from Creative Energies- the Light Dome. It is supposed to be the lightest and easiest to put up of the three brands I have heard other artists recommend. Just in time for my first outdoor show of the year next weekend.

So I got the packages yesterday, and took some time today to figure it out and set it up. It was actually a LOT easier than I had expected- the only tricky part is getting the canvas top spread over the top. But that is also better than I expected. I think this will make life a lot easier for setup- not to mention it is actually waterproof, so I won't have to be nervous overnight for weekend shows...

I was too lazy to extend the legs to full height or put up all the sides once I figured out how they went on, but here is the base. I will try to get a full shot when I am set up for Crocker Park next weekend...

First cut- new Sea Turtle pattern