Shipping and Handling

Yep, that's the painting that just sold strapped to the Vespa. You have to appreciate that even the delivery is unique. ;) And yes, it did arrive at UPS safely.

Cabernet sold

Yay, I still get excited each time a painting sells, especially the larger ones. This one, entitled Cabernet, just sold on my etsy site. I've had a lot of inquiries on this piece, so it's exciting it now has a home of its own!

New Painting

Working on a new painting. Pagey doesn't like it. Something about it appeals to me and something about it seems too blah. Not sure what to change. Probably will figure it out at midnight, that seems to be when ideas hit, the middle of the night. Input appreciated.

Quote

“The more horrifying this world becomes, the more art becomes abstract.” Ellen Keys

Fall Treasury

Every Leaf is Bliss To Me was included in an Etsy Treasury focused on fall. You can view it at: http://tinyurl.com/2bya63x

Every Leaf Is Bliss To Me

Just posted a new painting to my etsy gallery: http://tinyurl.com/23sz5ub

In Process

Just needs to dry then it's finished!

Revolution Gallery

I decided since I'm having such a hard time doing festivals with just a Vespa for transportation....sigh, to find galleries to represent my work. My clocks are going to be available exclusively at Revolution Gallery at Gilman Village in Issaquah. They also have some of my cards and smaller paintings.

Smaller Squares

I'm playing with the idea of using smaller mdf squares with larger spaces between. I think it has possibilities. I could do texture on the canvas and then color on the small squares. Hmm....my mind spins..

Clocks

Great news. One of the galleries in Issaquah approached me about selling my clocks. I'm meeting with the owner on friday to discuss having her sell them exclusively. Since the whole art-fair thing has not gone great this year (transportation problems) I figure it's time to come up with other solutions for selling my work. More info to follow once the plan is in place.

Progressive Leaf Painting

This is a painting I've been working on. The idea was to show the progression of putting ideas on paper. I love sketches almost as much as the finished product. The painting starts with sketching on the bottom, then moves to pen and ink, collage and eventually painting. I like the idea but still not sure if I'm happy with the piece. I might tweak a few things, maybe less collage and more painting.

Texture Clock in Etsy Collection

One of my clocks was just added to a treasury on etsy. http://tinyurl.com/39uqy27

All About Texture

Continuing to work on the new painting today. All-white, all about texture. It will be interesting to see how it turns out.

In Process

I'm just starting a new painting. I've wanted to do it for a while. I'm starting by covering strips of mdf in different textiles to create a progression of texture. Then the texture is modpodged with tissue paper to make a surface suitable for painting. The cool thing about this painting is that it's going to be all about texture, no color at all. Since I usually have a strong focus on color, I'm excited to see what happens. Should be interesting. Check back to follow progress.

Tree Collection

LilyandLemon at etsy included one of my wall clocks in their Tree Collection. Pretty cool, check it out: http://tinyurl.com/26ankg9

Painting in Process

I've been trying to work on paintings in warm colors, a little more muted....but occasionally I need to jump in and do something for myself. Which means color, color, color!

Painting in Process

This is a new painting I'm working on, it's going to be 4' x 4' and a progression of techniques from bottom to top.

Renton River Days

Renton River Days was a success and a lot of fun! Looking forward to my next festival, not sure what it will be yet.

Renton River Days

Next weekend, july 23-25th, I'll be at Renton River Days. I'm excited, this will be the first festival where I've had my booth.

Delivery

Delivering artwork on the Vespa. :)

How To Attach Picture Hanging Wire

I've had people ask me if I have tutorials, so here is my first. It's a bit dry, but hopefully is clear. To make it interesting, count how many times i say "just". :)

Blue Leaves

This Great Blue World of Ours Seems a House of Leaves.

I just finished this painting and posted it to etsy: http://tinyurl.com/22mv69w

Sign Paintings

I've been surprised at the farmer's market, that people keep asking me how much my sign is. It seems to get more attention than separate paintings. I think the reason is that people are drawn to geometric symmetry, such as in much of my square abstract work. Anyway, I decided to do a take off of the sign but paint it in fours. The pic on the left is the 4 paintings, which can be hung horizontal, as shown, vertical, or in a square. It's a nice way to fill a space and be able to change things up. The pic on the right, btw, is my actual sign.

Clocks

This week I've decided to mark down my clocks to $45 at the farmer's market. It will be interesting to see the response.

Paintings in Process

These are the paintings I'm working on this week. I'm so exhausted from long, long hours at school, that I need a break occasionally to relax. Relax = painting!

In Process

This is the painting I'm working on today. It's pretty difficult to find a space large enough to lay out a 4' x 4' canvas. Yep, that's my bed. This artist needs a studio!

Happy Birthday To Me

I am officially 45. Are you supposed to tell people your age after 20? Well, what I lose on the outside I gain on the inside.

New Logo Idea

I've had a few comments on the tree that I use as my logo. That it's "not your best work". I like it because of the strong colors. But, I like the idea of changing it as well. I get bored easily. I enjoy how Google creates new graphics each day for their "Google" logo. Of course I can't do it every day, but I like the idea of painting a new sunshine and tree logo every so often. I'm going to give it a try and see what happens. The problem is, it might confuse people with brand identity. For instance, the photo posted today of the purple tree, is so very different than my original logo. Will people get the correlation?

Watery Painting

This is a new painting I'm working on. I've been experimenting with different textures. This one is a crackle paste medium and is kind of interesting. The biggest difference in this painting compared to my typical style is that I've watered down the acrylics to paint it more like a watercolor. I like the way the colors blend but it's hard to get used to using a lighter hand. I typically go for the bold colors.

While I Breathe, I Hope

Yay, finished the large painting and finally have named it, hung it and posted it on my etsy site. I've decided to use Latin phrases for a while when naming my work. I wanted this one to be about hope.

Issaquah Farmer's Market

Today was my third saturday at the Issaquah Farmer's Market. I'm really enjoying it, but still figuring out how to best display my work. I enjoy hearing feedback on my art and seeing what people respond to. It was rainy-cold today though, I can't wait for the sunshine!

New Painting

I've been working on a new painting, which is almost finished. I hung it up to get an idea of what it will look like. I LOVE painting large paintings! This one is 4' x 4'.

Aurora Sold

Today I sold my largest painting. It was the first time I've dealt with packing and shipping something so big. I love the shot of the painting in the beat-up pickup, quite the contrast. I hope the woman who purchased it will upload a photo of it in her space. I love to see my artwork hanging in other peoples homes.

Note Cards

I have been working on making the note cards myself. Having them printed was turning out to be too expensive and I was not happy with the quality. I really like them with actual photographs. I have decided to mount the photos onto card stock so there is a mat around the image and then mount them on the actual card. I think I have about 6 or 7 styles posted to my etsy site. I've also been working on the quality of my photographs. Much improved.

Craft Fair Booth

My mom is visiting. She helped me design and purchase the items for my craft fair booth. I need to make those hanging screen things for the sides of the booth. I will use them to hang up my original paintings. We also found sheer, textured curtains to use for the tablecloths in the booth.

Marketing

This morning I went to a marketing and branding workshop sponsored by Team EtsyRain. Very informative. I'm excited to implement the lessons learned.

Banner

I've been working on a new banner for my etsy site. I'm trying to use Gimp to create the banner. For some reason, it's fuzzy. Hmm... I will work on it more tomorrow. I'm also going to a workshop tomorrow given by the top etsy seller. I'm excited, it should a great learning experience.

Photos and Craft Booth

Today I went to vintage stores (aka goodwill and st.vincent depauls) and got metal "stuff" for my craft booth. I want to give a consistent look to my booth utilizing black and metal/concrete stuff. I'm going to put small black pebbles in the metal bowls and then use those to hold business cards. I also got a couple of large bowls/baskets to put my note cards in. I also ordered photographs of my paintings for my portfolio.

Wall Clock

I started posting the wall clocks to my etsy page today. I wanted a home accessories section, so I'm pretty excited. This is the first one posted. It's made from recycled magazine print and mdf. I hope people respond well. I love that it is different than what you typically see in a wall clock. I can see it hanging in a wall grouping with black and white family photos.

I Love Seattle Note Cards

Today I ordered new note cards from Vista Print. The image is from a painting I'm working on entitled I Love Seattle. I hope they go over well, I think people living in the Seattle area would be drawn to them. I'm thinking of also doing something similar with I Love Issaquah since I'm doing the Issaquah Farmer's Market and possibly Salmon Days.

DIMINUTION

Today I reposted Diminution, which is a painting a finished about a year ago to my etsy site. I also attempted to print note cards on my printer at home. Hmm....not looking great yet.

Labels and Mini Drawings

Today I made labels for the back of my paintings. I'm trying to get them all labeled before the Farmer's Market. I also am working on small items to sell. I love the idea of these mini sketches. They are on mdf. I'm coating them with polyurethane and will sell them as mini drawings or with magnets on the back.

CLOCKS

My clock mechanisms were finally delivered today. I installed them into the clocks and they look good. Tomorrow I will take photos and post them to etsy.

Internship

Today I started my first internship, which is part of the requirements of the degree I'm working towards. I am interning at a textile showroom. It was very interesting, I have so much to learn. It felt good to be back in the workplace!

Note Cards

Today I made black tulle bags to use in packaging my note cards. They are now posted to my etsy account under a new category I created entitled "small gifts". I can't wait to see the response.

Tags

Today I created tags to place on my product at craft fairs. They turned out pretty good but I want to look into ways to improve the printing quality.

Purple Texture Painting Continued

Tonight I'm working on the purple texture painting as well as a new one that is raw umber and yellow ochre.

Packaging

Today was all about packaging my product. I hadn't put much thought into it, but I can see the value, part of the whole branding thing. I'm debating making muslin bags with my logo on one corner for the smaller items. I probably need to come up with something for paintings. I also need to figure out price tags for the farmer's market.

Purple Texture Painting

I started a new painting today. It's the same concept with the geometric squares I've been using lately. I put tissue paper down first. I really like the texture that gives the paintings. Then I used a different color combination than I've used before. Dioxazine purple with payne's gray, mars black and titanium white. I love it. It would look great in my room!

Stretching Canvas

I stretched two canvases today. I think I'm going to work on paintings for children's rooms. I've been wanting to have a section devoted to original art for children.

I also emailed the Issaquah Farmer's Market coordinator to find out what they need to jury new vendors. They have a date set in March for a new vendor meeting on the upcoming season. I'm excited to move forward with this idea and see what develops.

Perpetual Birthday Calendars

Today I bought removable labels to try on the perpetual calendars. Originally I liked the idea of making the calendars out of mdf with decoupage and paint, ink, etc, something permanent, but with removable stickers for updating with the information personal to each client. Now I'm not sure if this is the best way to go. I'm going to look into having them printed. The reason is that I think people might need a different page for each month, they might need more room for names and dates.

Perpetual Birthday Calendars

I spent today working on Perpetual Birthday Calendars. A friend had suggested this as a product idea based on the fact that she needed a new one and I needed one period. I NEVER remember birthdays. I'm having a lot of fun coming up with ideas. No pictures to post yet.

Photoshop

Today was frustrating, although I should feel happy that I accomplished quite a few things. I purchased photoshop a while ago and have been afraid to try and teach myself how to use the program. I finally jumped on it today and muddled my way through a few things. My photographs already look better! I also figured out how to work with the layers function a little bit. You'll notice on my banner I have my name layered on top of the photograph.

The best thing I did today was hired my teenager to help me with my computer struggles. She quickly added links to my blog, something which I worked on for a few hours and never figured out. She also started a website for me. I had registered the domain of cammydavis.com, but that's as far as I got. She's started creating the website, so hopefully that will follow soon.

I'm ready to put some time into my actual art rather than trying to figure out how to become computer literate and market myself. I'm a creative person, the business side will always be the struggle for me!

Painting for Charity

Today I'm working on a painting for a charity. I have a friend who is really involved in Relay for Life, so I started this painting to donate.

I also joined a new site today. It's a site where artists can upload their artwork and sell prints. I'm interested to find out how it works. The plus is that you don't have the huge initial output of doing a print run, but the commission is so much less than selling the prints yourself. Another plus though, it's a huge website, with a lot of artists work. Anyway, I set up a gallery and am going to upload some of my paintings in the next few days.

CAD

Well, no time for art today. I spent about 9 hours in front of a computer for my CAD class. There is a part of learning to draft via computer that is fun, but the perfection needed does not come easy to me.

EtsyRAIN

I joined Team EtsyRain today and am really excited about the opportunity to meet other artists in the Puget Sound area. The meetings made me smile....because, they sound so similar to the girlpods I've done with my friends for years. And I LOVE the girlpods. A bunch of us get together and do crafts and eat yummy stuff. Life doesn't get much better than that!

Etsy Rain

A friend sent me a link to etsyrain. I'm interested to learn more about it, it's a group specific to the Puget Sound area. They utilize Meetups to set up meetings in the area and support each other. I've decided to join and am also looking through Meetups for other interesting art groups around the area.

Logo

Today I worked on creating a new business card for myself. I really need to come up with a logo or image to use for my artwork branding. I keep going back to a black background with bright colors/images in front. Perhaps this would be a good thing to focus on this week. I also had a friend suggest I look at etsyrain. I'm not sure what it is but perhaps the link will have good ideas I can use.

Clocks continued

I continued working on clocks today, but felt a little discouraged when I searched etsy to see what prices people were using for clocks. I don't know how they do it. I hope when I list them on my etsy site, people will see the design and creative value of having one in their home.

Clocks

Going off the idea that I needed a clock for the living room and I want items to sell at art fairs, I decided to work on a series of clocks utilizing squares, rectangles, tree outlines and newspaper. I am working on about 7 of them right now but I still need to get the clock innards so I can see what they will look like.

Art Fairs

I spent the entire day working on art. It started with hauling home 5' mdf pieces on the scooter. Always an interesting adventure. I then pulled the miter saw out and set it up on my little apartment deck. About an hour and 6 canvases later, I'm sure the neighbors loved me. But, the good news is that I can continue creating rather than being stalled.

I'm also mulling over this idea of doing art fairs. It might be a good idea since I'm so afraid of the future, of actually making a living in Interior Design or some other creative activity. This might be an additional income while I figure the whole thing out. And, it might give me a creative outlet on the weekends if I end up doing office work again. Ugh, I can't stand to even think of that possibility!

Clocks

I started making a clock today for my living room and realized this might be a good product to create and sell on my etsy site. I like the idea of incorporating art and craft into one item. I also like to utilize materials that might otherwise end up in a dumpster. I'm going to try making some with a combination of newspaper, magazines and acrylic paint.

Texture Paintings Uploaded to Etsy

Yay! I finally took photos of the texture painting series and uploaded them to my etsy site.

Today I also downloaded information on the Issaquah Farmer's Market, which is each summer on Saturday mornings. I think I'll try to do a booth at least a couple of times. The difficult part for me is to rent or purchase a booth and even more difficult, to figure out how to get it there. I've decided I'm going to start by getting note cards ordered, so I have something smaller (less expensive) to sell than just my original artwork.

Method of Painting with Acrylics

One method I want to try in my paintings is to paint over an already dry area, wait until the new layer is barely dry, spray lightly with water and then lay a tissue on the paint and blot. From the photos I viewed, it gives it kind of a hazy look.

Happy Martin Luther King Jr Day

"Almost always, the creative dedicated minority has made the world better." Martin Luther King Jr

Happy Martin Luther King Jr Day

Tree Painting is Finished

I did not finish the goals I set for myself today, so I am planning to work on them again tomorrow. However, I did finish the yellow ochre and dark umber tree painting I have been working on. I took my first photos with the new tripod. It's definitely improved the quality, but I think it will help photograph even better during daylight hours, so am going to also work on photographing the texture series tomorrow.

Tripod

The tripod has finally arrived! I have goals for tomorrow and they are: take photos of the texture series and upload to etsy. Update resume to reflect current student status and Interior Design focus. Sounds like a fascinating weekend. ;)

Rendering Style

Today I worked on a painting of a tree. I want the painting to have a morose, lonely feel. I have many branches to go. I think the looser I get with paint strokes, such as the background, the more I like it.

I took a color rendering class last quarter. I played around with one of my one-point perspectives. The first image is done with photographs of my paintings. It's not hard-lined, but I took more time making the lines straight, etc. The last two, I drafted and rendered in about 5 mins. I realized that I liked the looser ones much better than the more precise-time consuming rendering. I think I've found my style.