Moving things around a bit

Hi everyone. I wanted to let you know I am moving my blog to another place and I would love if you could come with me!

I am trying to get organized with my art learning adventure so I created a little bit different space to share at bethcolehandmade.com. It’s no fun to move by yourself so please join me!

I will be doing some giveaways, sharing stories about the many cool artists I have met lately, popping in a photo or two from our adventures, and maybe doing an art tutorial to share what I am learning. I hope it will be fun!

Will you join me? Look forward to chatting with you!

Enjoy the day!
-b.

Art Projects in Process

Ever since I sold something in my little Etsy shop I have been working on more projects. I have made a few more listings in the shop and I wanted to share and get some feedback. I like some things better than others. I over analyze EVERYTHING and it drives me crazy. That is why I want to just be open about what I am creating, share my struggles and thoughts, and ask for feedback!

The Thinking Chair

I saw this chair while we were on our vacation and I am not sure why, but I really loved it.

So Here’s The Painting

It inspired me to create a version of it as a painting.

It is not to be realistic but abstract in a sense because you can tell it is not perfect. I don’t like perfect things! The surface material is a piece of wood from what used to be a table. I like re-purposing whenever I can. I used acrylic paint and modeling paste for the textural elements. On the chair itself, I used a stencil to create the damask pattern.

So I placed it on the shelf in my Etsy shop. Do you have any thoughts about this art? You won’t hurt my feelings so be honest. One of the things God has shown me and I feel grateful about is I don’t need to be validated as a person through my art. So….feel free to comment because I am asking for help.

Hand Lettered Wood Blocks

I also have been working on some hand lettering on wood blocks. I created an M and a B as an example.

I like the feel of hand drawn things, what do you think about hand lettering? Would you ever buy something like this? What do you think of the colors? I also placed these on the Etsy shelf for now.

Typewriter Sketch

Here are a few sketchy style art pieces I have been working on. The typewriter is painted on a piece of re-purposed wood. I actually added some texture above in the form of a handwritten poem. But I don’t like it so I am going to paint over it without even showing you.

Reading Girl

I am still working on this piece. I sketched it first on watercolor paper and then I added color with watercolor pencils. I need to add more sky and texture, it is still in process.

Figuring out An Art Style

I think when you are a creative person it is a fine line between creating things YOU love and creating what other people would like or buy. I am not sure other people like what I like! One of the things I am struggling with at this stage is finding a common thread to what comes out of my paintbrush or pencil.

I have learned you can’t rush creativity and you can’t make yourself be inspired.

Thanks so much for helping me take the next step in this journey God has allowed and set out for me. It is great to have friends along the way!

Enjoy the day.

-b.

Our Weekend Adventure

How was your weekend? I hope it was the loveliest of lovely weekends.

We did something we haven’t done for I don’t know how many years — we went BOWLING!

Things have definitely CHANGED since we last went bowling.

For starters, you don’t have to do MATH! I am dating myself here, but I remember having to tally up all those spares and strikes and all the rules to be followed with such an elaborate score keeping system. I wasn’t very good at it, let’s just put it that way. So now, your score is totalled automatically. Hooray for that.

My Pink Bowling Ball

Also….I couldn’t believe I could have a PINK bowling ball. Be still my heart. Gary picked orange. I like pink and orange.

My Blue Suede Shoes (I kid you not)

And the shoes have really gotten an upgrade since last time we bowled. I got BLUE SUEDE! I know, I couldn’t believe it either. Here they are.

Sadly, neither of these little pick-me-ups seemed to help my game. Gary easily won the first game – it was like 159 to 68 or something like that. Oh well. Then he taught me the ole swing-your-leg-back trick, and my second game score shot up like a rocket. Well, not exactly like a rocket. It did go up to 140 though. I surprised myself. But he still beat me with a 160 or something like that.

It was super fun. I would do it again.

When’s that last time you went bowling?

The Best Inspiration

Hi everyone, how is your weekend so far? The sun is out and it is glorious here — I love a sunny Saturday. I like to clean our house on Saturdays (ummm, let me clarify – I don’t actually like to clean, but I like the results) so that is what I did first thing this morning. And now I’m done. YES!

Gary and I just got back from a little trip through Colorado, Utah and Nevada. The best inspiration ever is looking at God’s beautiful wonders of nature. I feel so happy about that. We visited Moab, Arches National Park and Zion National Park. Wowsers. There was some eye-popping scenery for sure, Gary got some great shots.

The arches were amazing and the soil in the park is multi-colored. So beautiful.

I liked the colorful foliage, too.

We had good chats with some artists we met along way. We stopped at Gary Russell’s Art of Iron gallery in Rifle, Colorado. Cool stuff. We met J.R. Lancaster in Bluff, Utah. Wow. He has some amazing paintings, photography and mixed media. We met some other great artists in Cortez, Colorado, super nice people

Oh, I almost forgot to show you these salt and pepper shakers that were on our table at the Arapahoe Cafe in Dillon, Colorado. Love them! The food was amazing, too. Gary had the ribs and gave them a 10. He gives NOTHING a 10, honestly, so they must have been something special.

Oh yes, and one other thing. We went to the Creative Cooking School of Las Vegas for one of our meals. It was a hoot! The hats especially. I took mine off after 10 minutes or so, because, well my hair is just not the type for a hat such as this, and it just wasn’t working, ya know? We had a great time and the food was delish.

I have lots more photos, maybe I can share more another day. I am working on some new art projects and I am excited to share those, too.

Have a great weekend!

More Art Sketches and My Big Surprise

Hello friends and happy spring day to you. I wanted to share about the very fun art class I have been taking with Teresa Sheeley and Kayla Johnson (fabulous mother and daughter team) called Make Something Beautiful. There is still time to join us, the more the merrier I always say!

We have been learning about light sources, shading, drawing shapes, using a grid system and lots of other wonderful art-ology. I love it and wanted to share some things from the class.

Hand Sketching

Here are some sketches of my hands – have you ever tried drawing hands? They have so many nooks and crannies. It is great practice! I got a little carried away on the shading of the first one, egad, looks like I have been changing tires or working in the shop. haha.

Hand number two.

Still Life Sketches

We were asked to gather three objects draw a sketch that tells a story. For the first one I chose my chubby ballerina girl that Laura gave me for Christmas last year. I love her so much, she reminds me to just go for it – be who you are in a sense. The cat tails are metal and Gary made them, I love them, too. And the table has been in our family forever, I think my Grandpa made it, it is well worn and has been painted, stained, you name it. It was fun to draw these things.

My other still life is of my tennies – I would like to say running shoes but since I don’t run in them I shan’t say that. I put them with a water bottle and my ipod. Hope it gives me motivation to at least walk with my friends!

My Big Surprise

Oh my gosh,  I almost passed out this week when I got my notice from Etsy that a piece of art had sold! My first one!!! Wowee! What a great surprise it was. I did the happy dance for sure!

Here is a photo of the art, ready to go to it’s new home. Thank you God, and thank you dear buyer, you will never know how much joy you gave with your purchase!

That’s about it for now. I have been working on some more paintings and photos on wood blocks. I will tell you more about them next time.

Enjoy the day!

–Beth

Foggy Road Photo for Project 64 Colors

I woke up one morning a few weeks ago and there was dense fog all around. I jumped out of bed, grabbed my camera and headed out the door to see what I could find.

This is a shot of a fence and road disappearing into the fog. You can still see the farm on the hill. I love that. The only thing lacking was just a bit-o-light coming through to brighten things up a tinch. I thought the road might work for the Tan color for Project 64. I added soft light filter to the levels adjustment and used Kim Klassen’s Absolutely texture at 60%. I also made a few adjustments with Topaz. I have some more foggy day photos and I will share those in another post. I love learning and experimenting, what fun!

Art Inspiration

I feel so inspired right now, I just wanted to share. Earlier this year I took an online art class from the fabulous Jeanne Oliver that helped me see art and creativity in a new way. One of the guest artists in the class was Teresa Sheeley, I absolutely love her art. Take a peek at her Etsy shop here.

Teresa and her daughter, Kayla, are teaming up to offer a basic art class beginning April 2, 2012. If you want to join me on this art adventure, I think there is still time to sign up.

I like how Teresa finds beauty in such simple things, like a bandaid box or a pair of green rubber boots.

That got me thinking about the photo adventures Gary and I take just about every weekend.

I have discovered there is a certain beauty in weathered and worn things. In fact, we stopped at the coolest antique store recently, and I was quite smitten by several things there. I wish an old trunk and a weathered white table would have made their way into my car. Oh well, maybe another day.

Anyway, that is what I feel so inspired about. I would love to sketch/paint some old school things that I remember from back in the day — my dad’s black metal lunch box; an old school typewriter with the round keys; rusty but beautiful coffee tins; a stack of old books; beautiful glass bottles.

I made a thumbnail sketch sheet of some of these things, just doodling mind you, but I hope to be able to bring some of them to life in the next few months.

I have never been much of a garage sale or flea market person. But diving into the art world has given me a new appreciation for old things. How bout you, do you like the vintage scene?

Thanks for reading. Enjoy the day.

–Beth