Ringling Museum of Art

Guess who discovered that the Ringling Museum of Art in Sarasota, FL is free on Mondays?!?

Now free entrance to a quality art collection is like Christmas morning to this Bird!

While I was in St. Petersburg, FL last weekend visiting friends, attending a figure drawing session, and learning how to belay climb on an interior rock wall (yes, it was amazing!!), I was told by a fellow artist that I should pop down for free day while on my way out of town. And you know your girl looooooves to museum so how could I resist?!

I loved the wall of spots by Yayoi Kusama and a few textured abstracts by Syd Solomon, along with some old photos including Frida Kahlo and her husband Diego Rivera in action as well as a young girl posing with an authentic Mexican sugar skull.

There was a fair collection of pre-Renaissance artwork as well. I was particularly impressed with the quality and precisionof some of the old wood sculptures.

And just a few more lovely and inspirational works from the collection….

Francisco Cairo

Gerard Kuijl

Lodovico David

Francesco Salviati

Carl Marr

G. Lachaise

Kay Sage

1.22.2020

How to Draw Eyes

Are you ready to learn how to draw BOTH eyes?!? Like the way humans actually own two (usually) and not one as sooooo many other tutorials seem to believe?

Then you've come to the right spot!

Now I know today's vid is a long one, and I swear I did my best to edit it as succinctly as possible, but it's just a lot of information so just get comfy. I'm going to show you not only how to draw both eyes in relation to each other, but from three different views. Yep, you're welcome ;)

If you didn't catch How to Draw a Nose or How to Draw Lips check those out and make sure you pop that Subscribe button because I still have the ear from three angles and finally how to place things properly on the head coming in the next two and four weeks, which you definitely do not want to miss.

Enjoy and tag me on Insta if you're practicing! @caleighbirdart

1.17.2020

Hammock State Park Adventure

I took myself out on a little nature date last week and it was positively delightful!

It was a bright, crisp day walking the fern- and palmetto-filled trails at the Highlands Hammock State Park here in Sebring, FL (in the same town as my current artist residency), and so cute to peek all the native orange trees!

This park also had a number of boardwalks, including a very narrow cat walk that went directly over the black water swamp for about a mile. I couldn’t believe how long the walkway was and how much you were really able to get right up into that ecosystem.

The water was still and glassy with the bell-bottomed cypress trees and their knees making perfect mirror images in the water.

And to top off a perfect and nature filled day, I actually spotted a group of wild pigs as I was going to hula hoop in a clearing I found, which was exciting to see those adorable pigs enjoying a nice healthy snack.

1.15.2020

How to Handle Art Sales

You've sold a piece of artwork - Hoorayyy!! ....now what?

Today we'll talk about what to do for your new collector as well as how to document the sale of your original or high quality reproduction. These tips are super simple and not only will following them help you stay organized, but they may even turn those one-time buyers into repeat clients!

The Steps:

1. Celebrate!! Woo hoo! Congrats on your art sale!

2. Give your collector a Bill of Sale or Certificate of Authenticity

3. Get the collector’s email and sign them up for your newsletter (if you don’t have a monthly newsletter yet you absolutely need to check this out)

4. Get the collector’s address and contact info to write them a Thank You note

5. Organize all the sale info into a spreadsheet

6. Lowkey contact collectors about once a year

You can find and download a copy of my Sales Log here:

1.3.2020

My First Artist Residency!

Aaaah! I’m living in an art gallery for the next 7 weeks!! How amazing is that?!?!!

I recently got accepted to do an artist residency program here at the Highlands Art League in Central Florida. They’ve put me up in my own quirky yet spacious 100 year-old house right on a lake with the front rooms being used as a community art gallery and the back space being used for a sitting room, studio, bedroom, and even a kitchen for visiting artists (ie me!)

It’s a really incredible program; basically I get my rent etc. taken care of in exchange for doing 20 hours a week of artistic community out reach, either within their museum, local public schools, or with some of the senior citizens that are members. They also said they loved my YouTube videos and would like me to use some of my time to make promotional videos for them.

I am literally paying my rent through art!

I’m beside myself with excitement and I cannot begin to express how grateful I am for this opportunity. Can’t wait to help out and teach and learn and get to know the other artsy folks in town!

If you’d like even more details + pics from my first few days here, jump on my Birds of a Feather newsletter where I share the more personal side of my experiences as an artist, plus all my biggest news first. I just sent one out yesterday about Highlands so pop on my list and I’ll resend it to you too:)

And Happy New Year to all my readers! I hope you find so much success and happiness in 2020!

1.1.2020

How to Draw Lips

Hey folks, let's draw some luscious realistic lips! I'll walk you through a simple outline demo for three different, and then we'll shade 'em up real good. You're gonna want to kiss your own drawing by the time we're done!

Today is Part 2 of my 'Drawing Portraits Realistically' series. Last time I did noses, then we'll have eyes, ears, and finally placement on the head.

Here is Part 1 :: Drawing Noses

12.27.2019

Make sure you are subscribed to the Birdie Blog so you’ll get a weekly roundup of my blog posts and YouTube vids so you won’t miss any of this series:

Figure Drawing Return

Yay! Just got to attend my first live figure drawing session since being back on the mainland, and weren’t we lucky to have a duo!

These are pencil sketches from the same session. It was fun meeting a whole new group of artists, including one who is quite famous in the Lowcountry.

I also wanted to share a few scenes from the most recent visit to my gorgeous hometown of Charleston, SC where I had such a lovely time visiting and reconnecting with fond memories and lifelong besties.

12.24.2019

Resolutions for Artists

Out with the old and in with the new! Time once again to reevaluate and reassess what's working and what isn't, and do a little mental house cleaning. To be quite honest, I'm not usually the type to actually make New Year's resolutions, as I try to constantly work on self-improvement, but I never turn down an opportunity to learn how to grow as an artist. 

I created this lil questionnaire as a way for we artists to set ourselves up for success by figuring out what’s working and what isn’t within our individual art businesses, especially considering each art career is highly individualized and no two ever play out the same.

So here you go friend, I hope these resolutions and reflections really help you grow your biz in 2020! Scroll down to see the worksheet and to print out a copy for yourself too.

And if you’re really ready to level up your small art biz, or if you’d like help with technique in oils or drawing basics, remember I am available for face-to-face mentoring via webcam. Learn more [here].

Here’s a printable download for you :)

And if you’re curious, here’s the weekly checklist I just made for myself to help keep me on track:

12.20.2019

How to Draw a Nose

Hi friends, are you ready to level up your portrait game?

Well that is super duper because I’ve got a 5 Part series coming atcha that is sure to help you out:)

Today I’ll be going over how to draw the nose from three angles, then every other week I’ll have a video on drawing eyes, lips, ears, and finally how and where to place them all on the head.

Make sure you are subscribed to the Birdie Blog so you’ll get a weekly roundup of my blog posts and YouTube vids so you won’t miss any of this series:

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12.13.2019

First Campout in Vaughn the Adventure Van

Woo hoo for Vaughn the Adventure Van!!

I’m beside myself with excitement and to celebrate I have already taken him out for his first campout at Myakka River State Park here in Florida. I haven’t started outfitting him with my proper bed and storage yet, but for just grabbing gear form my parents’ house so far I think we’re doing pretty well!

First my friend Baila (who was actually my neighbor and hike buddy on O’ahu who recently relocated to the east coast too!) and I decided to go on a relatively local adventure around town…

then we hopped on down to Warm Mineral Springs in North Port for a rejuvenating dip. Not too bad being able to swim outside in December!

We were so grateful to find such a peaceful and gorgeous camping spot just before sunset.

This park was extra cool because it features an elevated canopy walk 26 feet tall so visitors can experience all the unique air plants and local birds at eye level. Such an enlightening experience!

The trees were absolutely teaming with aerophytes! And after that fun catwalk, you get to climb up a 74 foot wooden tower to literally look down upon the trees as far as the eye can see in this super flat Florida landscape.

I mean, WOW!

Those trees are over 30 feet tall

Good thing Venkman isn’t afraid of heights!

One of the neatest plants on the journey so far…

On our way out we got to see about a dozen big fat happy gators sunning on the bank too. Fun to see from a distance, but they appeared around 8 feet long so I think we’ll stick to the roads for now:)

12.11.2019