Quarantine Couch Collaboration

Aloha friends I've been working on a big collab for you! I've asked five of my super hardworking and inspiring sister artists to talk about how this global pandemic and social distancing has affected their art business and what they are doing to push through and stay positive.

These women are seriously skilled artists who make part to all of their income through their art-making so they have real world experiences to share and super valid (and luckily bright!) points that can really help keep the rest of us afloat as well. Enjoy!

Definitely find my sisters on social media and give them a lil Hooray, great job! shoutout :)

Find them all here (in order of appearance):

Alithia Gomez @artbyaligo Art By Ali Go YouTube

Sarah Sweeney @sarahannsweeney Sarah Sweeney Designs Etsy

Dané @jetheadedgypsy JetHeadedGypsy.com Jet Headed Gypsy YouTube

Seana McCarthy @theillustratr The Illustratr Etsy

Vee Stein @stephaniesteinphoto Vee Stein Photography Patreon StephanieSteinPhotography.net

Full Bathroom Potted Plant Mural

Hooray! I’m so grateful I had the opportunity to paint an entire bathroom mural of my own artistic choosing during my Artist Residency at Camp Wonder Wander in rural Tennessee. It’s a really fun and quirky house which has really bright walls and artwork everywhere you look (stay tuned to see it when the vlog comes out!), and you can tell its decoration is a labor of creative love by our hostess Val Sloan.

The artist quarters are actually an evolving art space as well because each artist leaves a piece of themselves in the form of artwork, or poetry written, or whatever their medium is, to beautify and enrich the space more for the next folks to come. After about a week of being there and using this shared bathroom, I knew just what to do:)

And how much do you love my little herb garden?! Squeeeee! It’s one of my favorite parts!

I really loved filling in these tight spaces - so cute!

A new adventure in art-making completed. Hooray!!!

3.31.2020

Coronavirus :: Artist Tips for a Global Pandemic

Well folks, I would have to say we are pretty much smack dab in the middle of the most uncertain of times... who would have thought that the biggest enemy of 2020 is shaping up to be human contact?!

The good news is that you are absolutely not alone and so many other artists are having to brave and navigate this strange new COVID-19 world right along with you. You know I've firmly believed that we can all work together as artists to come up and now it's imperative we do so to rise above as well.

You've got this. I promise.

Go learn some new skills! Free Skillshare membership for two months here!

Get 20% off my entire Shop while supporting this lil Bird:) Use code PANDEMIC

Helpful Resources:

https://www.varsitytutors.com/

https://www.makingsenseofcents.com/2019/11/online-tutoring-jobs.html

https://www.fiverr.com

https://onairvideo.com/model-index

Own Your Instagram for Artists: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLEiBtAnS58WG2Mz2vPsOkSp1IYMGld_a7

Real time painting of part of this hand: https://youtu.be/8kfUf7CnjWI

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Yep, I'm available for art mentoring via webcam! I'm happy to help fellow up-and-coming artists with anything from technique to small business advice, as well as with perfecting your portfolio or thesis. **See my lower pandemic rates**

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3.28.2020

Interviewed by Jet Headed Gypsy

I was so fortunate to be asked to do a video collaboration interview with one of my newest sister artists recently! Dané is a world travelin, multi lingual, super bright and helpful fellow YouTuber who found me a few months back. Since then we’ve been big encouragers of each other’s art as well as our love of mentoring other artists.

I think she was taking advice for me at first, but the tables are quickly turning and I am excited to read her blog posts every week now too!

Check out this interview we did as a long distance collaboration she posted on her YouTube this week, and make sure to check out some of her other videos while you’re there. You can also find her super bright and enthusiastic Instagram @jetheadedgypsy.

3.25.2020

Live Stream from the Farm on Tennessee

Howdy folks, my hard drive crashed, my travel plans got postponed and my gigs got canceled. It’s the middle of a global pandemic and shizz is getting pretty weird!!

Gotta smile through the crazy though and find ways to stay distracted :D

3.20.2020

Woo hoo! I’m Teaching on Skillshare!

Yay! I’m now posting detailed technique tutorials on Skillshare and you can watch them for free!

It’s actually a total coincidence that I’m getting on it right as the shizzz is going down bc it’s been on my To Do list for a few months now and I started creating my first course weeks ago but, ahem, got a little sidetracked with.. um yeah, ya know.

But the good news is with posting my ‘How to Paint a Bird of Paradise Flower’ course I get my own shareable link for TWO FREE MONTHS of classes!

There are literally tens of thousands of courses to choose from from art to business to learning computer programs to graphic design. Nobody’s going anywhere for a while so why not learn some new skills for free?

So pop through my special link and go learn something new! Yay!

3.18.2020

Hike day at Devil’s Backbone Nature Area

Soooo thrilled that one of my favorite hobbies is still safe to do.. hiking!!

I had a great time doing about 4 miles through the woods and visiting waterfalls yesterday at the Devil’s Backbone nature area here in southern Tennessee. It was a pretty warm day and a truly wonderful way to feel peaceful and grounded in the midst of all the craziness right now.

I know a lot of us are struggling economically right now and it’s not about to get any easier, so even more important to make sure to take the time to enjoy whatever low cost and safe activities you can. I’ve been listening to about a million podcasts on the coronavirus myself, but I’m still trying to make time to break away and enjoy the simple things in life.

These waterfalls and their crystal clear pools look like they would be perfect to frolic in during the summer. The first one even has a ledge you can chill under the waterfall on!

What else are people doing to break up the monotony besides going out as usual? I’m on a tiny farm right now with plenty of art supplies… But also plenty of time. Leave me a comment on how you’re taking up your days.

3.16.2020

5 Things NOT to Say to Artists

…And how to make sure you’re not saying them!!

Hi-ya folks I sure did have fun making today’s vid for you! It’s a lil silly, but I’m sure my artist pals know exactly what I’m talking about and have gotten most if not all of these sayings tossed their way.

Feel free to share this vid in a sweetly passive, yet hopeful, step towards politely telling your friends and fam the 411 on how their "artist advice" can sometimes come off...

But if you’re the one who has accidentally made an art comment faux pas in the past… fear not! We artists are not here to hold grudges, we are here to learn and grow together! So we all good folks, and forever onward you’ll know just how to communicate your appreciation of our works all the more sensitively

Has anyone else ever said anything that seemed complimentary but kind of was not about your art? I’d love to hear about it in the comments!

3.13.2020

3D Oil Painting Demo :: Orange Daggers

This latest 3D oil painting features plenty of my favorite plant life media: ferns! There are four different kinds in this work collected during my hikes in O'ahu and while strolling around the grounds at my Artist Residency at the Highlands Art League in Florida. In order to use plants in my work I first press and dry them for at least a month, and I'm always delighted when they keep their color for so long.

The 'orange' part of the 'Orange Daggers' is a certain type of bird of paradise flower that I saw abundantly on da 'aina, however this one that I photographed and painted I actually found on top of a yard waste refuse pile while I was on a morning run. I love the way their super solid petals cup up to form teeny ecosystems of collected rainwater and delicate insects when found in their natural environments.

Last but certainly not least, there is one beautiful and stately French preying mantis surveying the scene. And how do I know this particular preying mantis is French? Well because he unfortunately expired in my apartment while I was staying in Argenton-Chateau for an intensive figure painting atelier in 2015. This lil guy was collected three years before I even began creating my 3D paintings! I'm not sure what I was thinking at the time, I must have just known a perfect specimen such as this would play into my art one day.

Yes! This piece is available for purchase here

3.7.2020

Gold Leafing River Rocks

Strolling along the Buffalo River on crisp sunny days has been one of my favorite pastimes while at my artist residency in southern Tennessee. The water is inexplicably a bright icy blue green color that reminds me of crystal hot springs I’ve visited in Yellowstone and California and the banks and shallow bottom are completely composed of a variety of sedimentary rocks.

I’ve become especially drawn to this super smooth rich earth toned type. I can’t figure out what kind of stone it is specifically, but they are very smooth and dense and almost remind me of a cross between slate and obsidian.

I’ve spent a few walks collecting my favorite stones and have decided to celebrate this sparse yet pristine landscape by recreating some of the best views in gold leaf on these lovely smooth rocks. Each one is hand gilded and is one of a kind and will look fabulous in any crystal or stone collection, or even as a little accent in your fave planter!

$10 includes US shipping or grab 2 for $16 with the code TNGOLD

Pop over to my Shop here to snag a few gold leaf accents for your precious stone collection