Ajna Center

Today was my first time displaying at the Ajna Welness Center in Croton on Hudson. I love the idea of being a local artist and displaying in my town. Today was also the Superbowl and I think that we did not get the traffic that would have been liked. I met some really great local herbalists and craftspeople, networked, and made 3 sales.  I also finally got to photograph the mural I painted in December... it feels like that was forever ago!

Here are some pictures of the sale.

The roots of the tree say "HOPE". I think that this is a great way to personalize a tree mural. Some of my ideas going forward are to use a last name as the roots and put first names on the branches, to make a family tree.

Here is a close up of the roots.

I also really love how the flowers came out on this mural. I used a combination of paint and a paint marker to make it.

This mural presented a new challenge in that I was working in a corner.  In this picture of my display, you can really see how the branches are a bit distorted depending on the angle of viewing. When looking at the mural in person, it's not as obvious as it is in this picture.

 

Most of my display items were the same as the Maternity fair from last year, but I did add some new Valentine's Day inspired items since it is February. I'll include them in the next post!

New Years Resolutions 2012

2012 was a year of ups and downs. Both personal and artistically, there were a lot of highs and lows. My highest notes personally were seeing such great individual personalities emerge in my two children, Juliana and Nathan. The year ended in a low with my father's health going downhill. Artistically, I was challenged to make quality products with the time constraints of being a SAHM (stay at home mom).

As an artist, I am making a list of resolutions to promote my business and to satisfy my creative side.

1. Post more blog posts!

2. Do more things blog-worthy

3. Connect with local businesses to see if anyone needs help artistically

4. Re-connect with old contacts in NYC

5. Craft fairs and shows

6. More painting and prints ready for sale

7. Promote murals in both homes and businesses

8. Inspire my children a lifelong love of all things creative

9. Balance! Time and energy between marriage, children, my father's care, being a homemaker, and being a creative person. This is a challenging time in my life because finding/making time for creativity seems to be my least important priority.

10. Laugh, and breath

I'll end the year with a candid picture of me and my son Nathan.

Maternity Fair

Getting ready for the Maternity Fair at Hudson Valley Hospital was fun. My friend Heather (Princess Absigaila's Tiaras) encouraged me to get my own table, so I had to put together a lot of art quick! That was really good for me since it got the creative juices flowing! I focused on some new art, trees and canvas animals. I worked on some promotional items, like posters, fliers and business cards. I also made a collection of prints that I'm adding onto Etsy:  http://www.etsy.com/shop/ltarap13.

Set up was good at the Maternity Fair, we had to get there nice and early!  Some coffee and some help from the kids, and I had it set up quickly!. It was nice seeing all the pregnant moms and new babies. I talked to a bunch of moms and dads about mural painting. It was a nice vibe, and over quickly.

 

Here is Nathan helping out! The kids didn't stay long, Daddy took them hiking. 

I want to thank everyone who showed interest in the murals. I think it was a huge success in getting the word out, and I hope to be painting very soon! Congrats to all the pregnant women and new mommies!

Favorite Tree

This one is one of my favorite trees I've painted. I painted it about 8 months ago, when I was very pregnant with Nathan. PS it's not a good idea to paint while pregnant!

Here are some details.

I used a combo of regular wall paint and crafting paint. To get the fine lines of the insect antenna's, I cheated and used a sharpie! I think it came out all right.

Paintings!

I've been working on some little paintings (8x10) that I'm thinking would go well in a nursery or a child's room. The two little birds might be done, and the little monkey may get another layer of paint. I have a habit of going back over them; it's hard to say exactly when they're done! I'm also working on a zebra, an elephant, and a stegosaurus. 

 

New Camera Fun! bunnies

Rich and I decided it was time to upgrade our camera. I think mostly to take pictures of the kids, but also to blog! Rich's beer blog is making lots of progress, so it's about time I add another blog post (or 2!)
Here is some fun with the camera. The inspiration for Juliana's bedroom is a cute organic bunny nursery set from Babies R Us. A close up of the mobile from the set.

 

Next is a close up of one of the bunny stencils I made. First I drew the stencil in Adobe Illustrator, then I cut it out my hand using an X-acto knife. I taped the stencil onto the wall, and I painted it. Ta-da!

Fun Stuff!

I just checked out my ad on http://www.momoffersmore.com/magazine/february-2012 and love it! I also saw it in print for the first time today while out at the Croton bagel store. Yay I'm hoping I get a client or two soon. I'm also rethinking the layout of the ad, my name is more prominent than the service I offer. It should read more "Murals, Murals, buy some Murals!". Something like that! If my friend Barb reads this, she can improve my copy since she is an awesome writer.

We went shopping today, at Micheal's Art and Craft. With both kids in tow. Nathan, now 4 months old, is recovering from a 24 hour fever. Also Richard and I are recovering from a sleepless night. Juliana did great, and picked out Cheetah print tape! I bought 10 8x10 canvases for my new Etsy shop. It's http://www.etsy.com/shop/ltarap13.

Here are some blank canvases, I'm hoping to have painted soon. I got as far as gesso-ing 5 of them. And organizing paints that my friend April gave me. They used to be her mother Phyllis's.  Let's see if April reads this, too.

 

Disorganization of Phyllis's paints. I re-arranged them. Dont worry they are (mostly) organized again. 

New colors, new gesso, and some glitter too: