Change of Direction: Balloon Amidst Clouds

Balloon Amidst Clouds
16x20 Water Soluble Oil on Stretched Canvas
©BEDeuel Bronson Hill Arts 2014

Having been lucky enough to get a solo show, the race is on! It's time to hit the studio and hit it hard!

It is amazing how motivated one becomes when a deadline looms close by. It also gives one the nerve to try different things, new ideas. It forces that change in direction that one often needs.

That being said, it is a small local venue, designed to showcase "emerging" artists. Since it's been a slow, but steady process of building the portfolio, a small venue is just right... for now!

So, here is the newest  addition, Balloon Amidst Clouds! Step 1 to the final:

Think it's time to change the calendar, though!

IF Stretch

Stretch
9x12 Permanent Marker on Smooth Bristol
©2012 BEDeuel/ Bronson Hill Arts

Yes, it’s been too long a “stretch” since I’ve done an Illustration Friday blogpost. It’s been too long since I’ve blogged about something other than shows and shops.

While this may look like an illustration of a couple of basketball players (yes, it is, I know), I’m looking at this IF metaphorically.

In this world of art, of marketing, of the home business, of computers, there are so many directions for which to reach. The dilemma is multi-faceted. If I take the time to create art, I don’t have enough time to work on the business. To work on the business, I need to work on the computer which is just one aspect of marketing. Another aspect of marketing is simply hitting the proverbial pavement in search of that one shop or gallery that will find the market for my art.

Arghhh!

Over the last several months, I’ve been trying the face-to-face approach with shops and craft fairs and galleries. While the work has been welcomed, there has yet to be that one big breakthrough. This is after a couple of years of trying the online marketing.

I’m still “stretching” for that ball. It just may be time to change the game plan again. To what? What will be next?

Will I ever reach it? Will it ever happen or will it always be outside my grasp?

I don’t know.

I do know that I still love doing what I’ve been doing. For now, I believe I will keep “stretching” to try to make the magic happen.

IF Highlight(s) In 2012!

Highlight(s) for IF
6x6 Permanent Marker on Smooth Bristol
©2012BEDeuel

Recently, I was feeling like I was in a deep funk. Life's been ridiculously chaotic and full of petty annoyances from petty people. It was definitely getting to me.

While I'm not usually a cosmetic person, the thought of dying my hair again was appealing. Maybe it was just that I needed a different view when I looked in the mirror. My face showed every stress very clearly. I thought maybe a little color framing it would give it the perk up that my emotions couldn't.

And, honestly, I'm glad I've done it.

Has it changed the existence of the problems in my world? No. Does it really take years away from my appearance? No. Has it made the world a nicer place? No, not at all.

But I think I look brighter (physically, that is!) and I do feel lighter. Maybe even a little bit sparkly!

So, here's to a little thing that's made the start of the 2012 a little nicer for me.

Hopefully, you're doing something nice for yourself to start the new year and continue to do it throughout the year!

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I was going through a very old portfolio and came across a couple of pieces that I just love.

The Bette Davis portrait I did, as I remember, in my senior year of high school, back, well, a few decades ago. It's done in a pointillism style with ink. You can actually see where it was damaged at one time across the upper lip. But, I just couldn't part with it.

The other piece was a "doodle" of sorts. About 3 years out of high school, I had the luxury of having a ton of time to experiment with all sorts of artwork styles and designs. This picture of the Enchanted Crone is done in ballpoint pen, both black and blue. It was something that had flowed very easily and, again, I was thrilled with the results.

These pictures are reminders that every pursuit will have successful moments.

But that the time has to be invested in those pursuits to achieve those successes.

Like all new years past, I'm sure you've made your resolutions, which as we all know, are easy to keep for the first couple of weeks. It's the later weeks when it gets tough to keep your promises to yourself.

Don't overwhelm yourself with trying to succeed unendingly. Work at it patiently and success will happen, maybe in a small way to start, but all the same!

Enjoy everything you choose to undertake in 2012! This month, next month, and every month that follows!

Gardens, Gardens Everywhere!

                 

Back in March, I posted an inspiration piece called “String of Spring”. It was a first attempt at painting flowers and the result was mixed.



Original
String of Spring
6x18 Water Soluble
Pencil on 140#
Cold Pressed Paper
©2011 BEDeuel



But I call it an inspiration piece because, it inspired Stephanie of Crystal Allure Jewelry to special order a “String of Spring” to use in her own home. She wanted purple coneflowers with an eggshell background. Another idea to offer as a customized, art-for-fun item!

In developing the piece for her, I did a sketch that didn’t really translate well to watercolors. I kept it on the computer and, the other day I thought to use the computer’s Paint program to “colorize” it. And, I like the effect. It’s different than my other pieces, but I think that’s what I like about it.


Computer
Colorized Sketch
©2011 BEDeuel



I’m going to use it for a note card design to raise some funds for Hearthside Cats, a local, no-kill fostering program that provides so much for the community. Let me know if it appeals or not!

Oh, yes, and here’s the final piece designed for Stephanie:


String of Spring Coneflowers
6x18 Water Soluble Pencils
on 140# Cold Pressed Paper
©2011 BEDeuel


A customized “garden” for her wall!
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Speaking of spring:

As I’ve mentioned before, it was an extremely snowy winter which became an equally extremely rainy spring. Then when June came, the sun came out and the spring season lost her shyness.

When spring burst forth, all of our efforts were turned toward tending the lawn and gardens. And it started to look so beautiful. These pictures show how much so.
Then July came, all too quickly, and sucked every bit of beauty out of the glorious gardens. We watered as much as possible, but most of the annuals died and a lot of the perennials went brown and curly. It started to rain a little bit this last week or so, but the goal at this point is to salvage as much of the perennial gardens as we can so that they can regroup for next year.

And they will. They’ll rebound and bring all their loveliness along for the show. There will be two more seasons, each with their own offerings and pleasures, and, when spring is ready to re-emerge, we’ll be ready to welcome her again.

An Accomplishment

This Friday, July 8th, the Genesee Valley Council on the Arts is opening it's Member Exhibit. And, it's my first "show" since college, 30-odd years ago.

Obviously being a member's exhibit, it's not juried. But, it's a first step. For me, it was the accomplishment of starting the works, learning about framing (& both pieces do look so much better framed), and just following through.

I've always been held back by an unfortunate case of anxiety. The fear of failure has stopped me in my tracks more times than I could ever recall.

I used to constantly get choked up about whether anyone would like what I did or if it was good enough. Would people just laugh at me behind my back? Or, worse, to my face? Stage fright and anxiety attacks were not a rare occurance.


Ice Fog
5x7 Water Soluble Paint on Canvas
©BEDeuel 2011

 A good part of my life has been spent almost paralyzed by this condition. And, that includes pursuing the idea of showing my work. A lot of times, it even prevented me from finishing an artpiece. What if I didn't know how to finish it? Wouldn't it just be easier to stop and say that I ran out of time to finish it?

Now, I won't lie: I'm still concerned about what people think. I have to be concerned if I'm to function in the real world. I have to perform in my job and work with clients as well as other workers. But, I've been doing the job so long that it's second nature that comes so easily, I don't have the need to overthink it and panic. Some details and procedures may still trip me up, but those setbacks pass quickly.

The opportunity to show a couple of pieces along with a variety of other artists is wonderful. I get to see the differences in both the works and the reactions that people may have to the works. I am prepared that my pieces may not generate any interest. But, it's the first step to seeing where I may need to aim the next time with my work.

I'll try to do a few more non-juried presentations, but, the goal is to try to be accepted into a juried exhibition. The goal is to overcome the fear of rejection and failure.

I have to say "thank you" to all of you who have been so encouraging and supportive over these last several months. I'm not sure I would've screwed up the needed courage to do this otherwise.


Silhouette in Field
6x8 Acrylic Paint on Canvas Panel
©BEDeuel 2010

I'm so excited to be starting on the path of this newest journey!

Enjoy your holiday weekend and any journeys you decide to take now or in the future!

Giveaway: Celebration Time!

It's time for a GIVEAWAY! Friends & Fellow Fans of Life, as promised last week, BHA is introducing a new and fun personalized item which I'd love to share with all of you!

I few weeks ago, my friend and fellow artisan, Stephanie, of Crystal Allure Jewelry, asked me to design a custom gift tag for her niece, Nicole, for her upcoming 5th birthday. Stephanie had seen specialized gift tags at various places, but nothing handmade & personalized. Always in creative mode, she said, "How about...?"

So a handmade, personalized gift tag was born:

But before it was colored (Nicole loves pink & princesses), I kept a copy of the sketch with the thought that future tags can be custom colored in addition to custom lettered.

And what about a boy? Thus, an all-boy themed tag was added to keep our "princess" company.

Any theme should be able to be designed. Color combinations can be selected. Sizes between 2x3 to 3.5 x 5.5 can be specified.

The price would start at $5 plus shipping. Size and complexity of the tag  and design will influence the final cost. I'll be more than happy to put together a quote for you. A 3-week time frame should be given for design, execution and shipping.
                           

The tags are printed on pastel-colored cardstock 110# (color would be determined by the design), inked in permanent marker, lettered & decorated with quality scrapbooking stickers.
Tags will be packaged in acid-free cello from Bronson Hill Arts.

The rules for the giveaway are simple:

1. Leave a comment telling us something great about your life today. If you wish, you can leave your message anonymously, but be sure to e-mail your info so you can be entered to win!

2. Get an extra entry if you sign up on BHA's RSS feed.

3. Get another entry if you leave a (nice or neutral) comment on any of our pieces on  Flickr and/or Etsy. You can  access either from the sidebar of this blog. Double/right-click the Flickr Slideshow and/or the Etsy banner.

4. Let me know for what occassion you would want a gift tag. If you're suggestion is drawn, I'd verify your "request" before a design was started.

A winner will be drawn on Monday, the 28th of February.

So, thank you for participating and good luck!

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And, check out Cactus Monday while you're visiting Flickr. Yes, I have a painting posted, but, there is just such cool stuff from everyone!



Sedona Cactus ©2011
 General's Kimberly Watercolor Pencil on 90# Canson Watercolor Paper



Happy Cactus Monday!

Oh, My, Oh, My!

“I’ve got to get back…to the house on Pooh corner by one. You’d be surprised, there’s so much to be done: Count all the bees in the hive; chase all the clouds from the sky...”- Kenny Loggins

That’s been life lately. So much to do, so much to enjoy. Oh, it’s been dappled by a crisis or two. But nothing that didn’t have that little bit of silver edging on the cloud. No destructive storms have swept us away.

In the huge world of internet art and marketing, the options have been overwhelming. There is Etsy, Artfire, Ebay, etc. There are smaller avenues such as Daily Painters that offer marketing exposure for artists, as well as other blogs that offer segments that feature fellow artists. I’ve only signed on for Etsy and Artfire-so far- but, being new to this medium, it takes a good amount of time to get things initially organized.

Honey Bunnies Summertime-Ahh...


Along the way, I’ve been working on some new items. There are new note cards designed and a new painting in progress. There’ll be another giveaway starting Monday, February 21^st for a new, and we think, fun item that keeps with our goal of customizing art for you.



Honey Bunnies Autumn-Sharing

Please check out the buttons on our sidebar for the Etsy and Artfire Studios. I’m still ironing out some details, so bear with me. And, please let me know if you have any suggestions. A second, or third, or fourth, set of eyes is always a great source of information.

Despite having had much-too-much of the white, icy stuff this season, I’ve had this photo that my mother took for a few years. I’ve wanted to translate it into a painting all that time. This is a peek at the first steps of the process. It’s a water soluble oil painting on a 5x7 wrapped canvas.

Ice Fog Beauty

A second set of note cards are ready to be sold, the beneficiary of a portion of the sales being the Humane Society of Livingston County. I’ve shown some of them throughout other posts, but am happy to officially present the 1^st Honey Bunnies Collection. 

The Honey Bunnies Collection is a set of 4 blank note cards printed on 110 lb. matte white Avery notecard stock with matching envelopes. The price is $10.95 for all 4 plus shipping or $2.75 each plus shipping. The goal, again, is to raise monies for our local animal humane society. At this time, they only have foster home facilities, with which they do wonderful service. Their plan is to raise enough funds to build a medium-sized central facility so that they can help that many more animals. We hope to be able to help, in no matter how small a way, with this effort.

That being said, thanks for your continued visits and support! And, Christopher Robin is waiting for me, so I must be off! Ta-ta!


Honey Bunnies Winter- Almost Done!

 

Honey Bunnies Spring- Yayyy!



Gallery



Looking for a Special Gift? This was sketched as a 10th anniversary gift to Mike. Lighthouses became our special symbol after we spent our honeymoon in Cape Cod.



The Imagined Land: A dream landscape to wander through...
To the right, a detail of the Imagined Land.







A friend had given me a few photos she felt would work well as paintings. While I've yet to really finish this, I do think it demonstrates the potential of creating a personalized scene to have as your own.



The photo above & a painting detail to the right.



The giraffe below was drawn after my daughter's roommate expressed her infatuation with the animals. Is there something special you'd like to see created to express that interest?



These 3 photos show a couple of different ways
to celebrate friends and teammates.



The Bowling Buddies of Booda's Bunch



An original Uncommon Chick



Still Under Construction: St. Lawrence Seaway

Tis the season for pumpkins, pumpkins and more pumpkins!



This was inspired by our #1 Pumpkin. Hope she knows who she is! Do you have a unique nickname for a loved one you'd like illustrated?



The original photo that Mike took at Watkins Glen, NY



Capturing Nature's Magic



Detail of Nature's Gift















Froggy, the Action Hero! Does your child have a favorite stuffed animal you'd like to see come to life?

The brilliant colors of this magazine cover translated so
well to a vibrant illustration in markers. A favorite pic could
take on this unique form, too!



Another Imagined Land in Color: Over the Rainbow