Anybody Else Feel a Draft?

Anybody Else Feel a Draft? collage/acrylic, 6 x 6

Elizabeth W. Seaver

Couldn't help myself. The name just floated out of the air to me.

These two (yesterday's posted painting and today's) will hang side by side at LibertyTown Arts Workshop in Small Works, artworks on a small scale by the Ltown artists.

Snap the Photo Already

There are so many names for this one, 6 x 6, collage/acrylic

Elizabeth W. Seaver

 

 My friend Lynette and her husband went to Kenya in September. She shared a fabulous photo with me. In it, there were two birds called Amboseli Superb Starlings. I flipped over it. They looked so dyspeptic or impatient or grumpy. 

 

I'm in love. 

I have painted each one of them on 6 x 6 collaged, cradled wooden panels, and I've painted them together on 11 x 14 linen with acrylic. I'll be sharing the other paintings in the next couple of days.

Help me name these guys: Take a Picture It'll Last Longer, Snap the Photo Already--can you think of any others to help me out?

An Important Date Flew By

Forever in Tandem, commissioned work, acrylic on cradled board

Elizabeth W. Seaver

Sold

 Five years ago, November 17th, I began this blog with the following words: As a person who is lucky enough to be able to create art every day, I thought it would be fun to get to share it with more people.

When I forwarded my blog link to my husband that day, he turned to his business partner and said, "Hell has frozen over."

I thought I'd list ten ways my life and my art have changed in the last five years (in no particular order.) Though as I wrote them, I found I could have gone on and on.

#1 Overcoming my resistance to involvement in the social part of the internet was huge.

#2 I found a vast and varied group of on line art friends who've been an enormous support.

#3 I've learned to let it all hang out: the good, the bad, the ugly. I'm talking artwork, here.

#4 I rediscovered my love of writing.

#5 I embraced the silly painter inside.

#6 The writer and the silly painter chatted and came up with silly stories to go with paintings.

#7 I learned to appreciate this forum for the discussion of art topics: theft, commissions, and art doldrums, among others.

#8 Today, my life is more my own to do with what I wish since children have grown up and away. I grew up a little too (always painful) but celebrate the joy of this new place.

#9 My father died since I began this blog, and his last words to me, "Write that book," have stayed with me even as I continue to mourn the loss of daddy, teacher and friend.

#10 You can write yourself into the life you want, making a record of triumphs, failures, joys and pain to look back on--a shared journal with pictures and conversations.

Thanks to all of you for your contributions to my life's journal.

Printmaking Class: Design and Print Your Own Cards

Cute image of two ornaments leaning on each other. The budding card artist plans to use the open space to individualize each one with glitter or names or whatever inspiration may come.

Not everyone wanted to do holiday cards. Great to see what they each came up with.

 The snow-covered birdhouse is a thank you note. This artist cut two blocks to create her design.

In this photo, you can see the printmaking block right in front.

I think these pictures give a good idea of the strong graphic quality that a block print will bring to an image.

An amazing time was had by all (especially the teacher.)

Hand Made Cloth

No doubt these photos would be much better with adorable children painting their amazing hand made cloth. In fact I know they would because I know the adorable children, and they're, well, adorable!

But here's the way it was. Imagine four 9 to 11 year olds sitting in these chairs and painting, with big globs of paint.

Now, imagine that there is another table just like the one above only about four feet to the left of the picture with three other children with scissors, cutting out their pattern of a stuffed critter and then using sharp pins to hold the figure together and then threading a needle to sew on eyes and actually sewing the critter!

Lions and tigers and bears, O MY!

Thank goodness I had the help of a wonderful grandma of one of the students.

But you understand why I didn't think of the camera until AFTER they had all gone home.....


Thanks to Alisa Burke for the great idea. Here is her blog.

The Art of Collaborating and More...

Seven pairs have sold, fifteen have gone to Backdoor Gallery and fifteen more are slated for delivery to LibertyTown on Monday. Santa's elves have been busy. Click on the picture to see them more closely.

This is my kind of art--no two pairs alike and collaborating with an amazingly creative person like Lynette.

I enjoy the collaborative process. If two artists are in tune, things can go one of two ways for success--either one starts the process and then stays out of the other's way to let them do their part (like my cool collaborator, Tex Forrest, did with Wilbur.)

Or the artists sit side by side and work together, bouncing ideas off of each other, asking opinions and generally fueling a runaway train of creativity and fun. That's the way it works with Lynette and me. It is so all-absorbing that we look up two hours later, with aching necks and cranky from lack of lunch--or cookies!

I would love to hear other stories of collaboration. Did they go well? Not so well? Dump it in my comments section.

Come into My Parlor...

Come into My Parlor Said the Spider to the Fly,

acrylic on Masonite, 12 x 12, Elizabeth W. Seaver

sold

A lovely person bought this before it was even finished.

Our conversation went like this: She says, "So.....what are you going to do with that painting?"

"I might put it in the show at LibertyTown next month," says I. "Or I might put it up here at Water Street."

"So......what are you going to charge for it?"

I tell her.

She asks, "So.....what's the title?"

I think for a moment and say, "Well, it looks a little 'Come into my parlor said the spider to the fly.'"

"Sold!" she says.

And that's the way it was. Don't let anyone tell you titles aren't important.

Paper Cut Jewels

I am so excited to show you the latest collaboration between Lynette Reed and me, Paper Cut Jewels, a line of earrings. We used her hand decorated papers and my collaged ones and created these "fabulous" little jewels last week, unveiling them at our First Friday opening, November 1.