Gelli Prints
Here are a couple of photos of my wonderful Middle school art students and the prints they created using Gelli Plates. We had such fun! Here is a link to the website where you can purchase a plate for yourself;
http://www.gelliarts.com/
Doggie Art Festival 2013
This past Sunday was the 10th Annual Doggie Art Festival. I had my art and booth there, as I normally do for almost all 10 years of events! I’m getting old and time flies by! Thanks to Brian and Jeff, owners of the Doggie Door in Winter Park, FL. this has turned into a must attend dog and art event attracting art and animals lovers from all over the state and beyond. Profits go to help the non-profit
http://sebastianhaulfund.org/
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The wonderful Brian, owner of the Doggie Door.
It is always such a fun festival to do and attend. There are so many different types of dogs. definitely like a dog party. My GSD Sasha was in attendance, enjoying a perfect weather day outside with her family and the squirrels.
Our dog Sasha obsessing about the squirrels on Park Ave. She had a great day!
I learned about a new breed of dog the “Tundra Shepherd.” The biggest German Shepherd Dog I have ever seen casually walked into my booth standing as tall a Great Dane and with a slightly wild look of a wolf. I was so taken a back that I didn’t get a photo of him. The owner said the Tundra Shepherd is a rare breed, first bred by the military in the 1960′s. He was gorgeous and created a crowd of dog lovers around him. The owner called him his “Rock star”. For more information and photos check out this rescue group in Arizona;
http://2001.homestead.com/tundrashepherd.html
Tundra Shepherd
Clients, relatives and friends stopped by. Here are a few photos to share. Click on the image for a larger view and slideshow. Enjoy and make sure to catch you’re next dog event in your town! Such fun!
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- A sweet tiny puppy!
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- A calm Scottie dog!
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- A jumping black Scottie dog!
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- Great kissies from the pug rescue booth.
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- Wonderful GSD lovers and rescuers!
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- I LUV Winter Park taking photos again!
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- A happy purchase of one of my glass pendants.
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- Lee Vandergrift and his great art!
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- The wonderful Brian, owner of the Doggie Door.
Rainbow Zebras & 4 Year Olds
This year a parent from our Montessori Pre-school asked if I would do some private lessons with their 4 year old daughter. Their daughter is quite gifted and likes to stay busy, so accepted the task. At this age children like to tell stories and draw from their imagination in their artwork. So I am trying to approach her lessons with that in mind while at the same time teaching her the basics of drawing and using different medias. In teaching her, it made me think back to my first drawings and I realized that I still had one hidden inside an old music book. I had drawn it when I was 4 and I had drawn it inside the first page of the book. Naughty me! I thought that this may be a good lesson for Alexis to try in oil pastel.
My 4 year old self’s Rainbow Zebra’s.
When teaching one-on-one I usually paint/draw along with the student, kind of showing them a step by step process and at the end of the project we have 2 finished pieces. Both usually go home with the student. When we started working I realized how much better Alexis was at drawing and color then I was at 4! I also realized that I still approach art in the same way I did when I was 4. A whimsical central subject and lots of color! So both Alexis and I are still learning. Do you have any of your artwork from when you were 4?
Alexis’ Rainbow Zebra
My Rainbow Zebra!
Pondering the finished product.
After School Art- Assemblage!
We just finished a 4 week assemblage project in my after school art class. The children did a fantastic job! I am just amazed with their creativity and imagination. We used mainly repurposed materials. Jewelry that I collected over the years, scrabble tiles and inspiration from the fantastic Lynn Whipple (my old studio pal from McRae Art Studios), corrugated cardboard from my husband’s warehouse and more that I can’t remember to list. Enjoy!
Here is a definition of assemblage;
assemblage - a collection or gathering of things or people : a wondrous assemblage of noble knights, cruel temptresses,and impossible loves.• a machine or object made of pieces fitted together : some vast assemblage of gears and cogs.• a work of art made by grouping found or unrelated objects.• the action of gathering or fitting things together.
Picasso did quite a few assemblage pieces. Here is a link to an example of one using similar materials;
http://www.moma.org/collection/object.php?object_id=34095
There are really no rules in assemblage, just the limits of your imagination! You should try one!
To see more of Lynn’s great work:
http://www.lynnwhipple.com/
Website of a great co-op art studio in Winter Park, FL. http://www.mcraeartstudios.com/
Instagram – Instant, Connecting, Creative & Invasive
I’ve recently discovered Instagram and was inspired to do the photo-a-day challenge thanks to one of my dance mom friends. It’s really quite easy and I’m quite happy at how artsy my images are turning out. I guess I will try to upload them continually to this post throughout the month. Here’s what I’ve done so far.
DAY 1 – My view today. Painting with little dancers. 
DAY 2 – My favorite holiday movie
DAY 3 – Red. At South of the Border
DAY 4 – Joyous. The 10 of cups embodies that word.
DAY 5 – Today’s Temperature. From my car’s dashboard in sunny Florida.
DAY 6 – Shopping. Anthropolgie. One of my favorite stores.
DAY 7 – Bright. My neighbor’s palm tree. It gets decorated every year and just gets brighter and brighter!
DAY 8 – Ornaments. Although we haven’t gotten the tree up yet, the ornaments are down from the attic. So I just snapped one of the prettier ones.
DAY 9 – What I’m reading. Cloud Atlas.
DAY 10 – Wrapping paper. Busy day. Uninspired….
DAY 11 – Green. My beautiful butterfly plants after an overnight rain.
DAY 12 – A Beautiful sight. My daughter dancing.
DAY 13 – Family.
DAY 14 – Christmas Tree. No Christmas tree at our house yet, it’s the one from the sushi resturant.
DAY 15 – Favorite Christmas Song.
DAY 16 – Outside Christmas lights.
DAY 17 – Presents. My grey cat Sivee is the best present!
DAY 18 – Stockings
DAY 19 – Candy Cane.
DAY 20 – Tree Topper.
DAY 21 – Peace
DAY 22 – Tradition. Christmas Cookies, A Herbert tradition.
DAY 23 – Scarf. It doesn’t get very cold in Florida. This was kind of tough.
DAY 24 – Favorite Part of Christmas Eve. Midnight Mass.
DAY 25 – Morning. My grey cat Sivee is the best present!
DAY 26 – Grateful. Want to be more so in 2013.
DAY 27 – Night Time
DAY 28 – Words. From a book of Russian legends.
DAY 29 – Sky View. Shot at the entrance to our neighborhood.
DAY 30 – Your Winter Wonderland. My childhood winter wonderland, circa 1971. Yikes! So long a go now!
DAY 31 – Fun! Christmas Eve with my designer friend/client KC Malhan. Check out their website! www.kcmalhan.com
The other really cool thing I love about Instragram is being able to see celebrities view of the world through their Instagram posts. My current favorite is @bigbaldhead or Norman Reedus or Daryl Dixon from The Walking Dead. Here are some of his latest posts.
Recent Portraits
I completed a couple of portraits lately and thought I’d share. I paint animals much easier than people but it is all about the process, applying the paint, choosing the right colors, letting the work grow and speak on its own.
The piece above was done for a girl turning 13, for her bat mitzvah. I’ve watched the girl grow up. Her mom is part of McRae Art Studios in Winter Park, FL. A co-op art studio that I belonged to for over 10 years. She has always been sweet, smart and goofy. Filled with grace, and sometimes aloof. A beauty and a tomboy.
The next piece was part of a donation the I agreed to do for my Montessori School PTA fundraiser. The winners of the donation were a very much-loved and hip teacher couple who work at the school. They are fans of the work of Sylvia Ji. They asked my to do a piece similar to her work. Enjoy!
Curious Cats
Cats are Always Curious About Flowers!
This is a commission I just completed and that I think really turned out well!
Here is the process;
1. I receive photos from the client and we agree to a size and price.
2. I create one or two pencil sketches for approval.
3. I begin the painting which can take a couple of weeks or a couple of months, depending on how crazy my life is.
4. I ship or deliver it to the client and they add it to their decor and awesome art collection!
For interior design help in the Washington D.C. area check out; www.thurstonscottinteriors.com
Gena
