What? New Space? Again?

As a child, I spent a lot of time packing and unpacking my stuff. My family relocated on average once every three years. I'm used to moving, and I consider myself to be super adaptable.

Well, I've been in Thomaston for over ten years. We've lived in our current home for almost seven years. This is the very first time I've ever lived in a house for more than three years. So, knowing all this it's easy to believe that somewhere ingrained in my DNA is a need to pack it all up and relocate. At least, that's my husband's theory: I'm so used to moving around that I figure out ways to do it often.

With that said, I'm happy to announce I'm moving my studio...again!

I found a storefront on one of the busiest streets in town. It's easy to find and it's a fantastic location, just a half-block away from the courthouse square.

 Today I put up paper in the windows so I don't get too many folks looking in while I renovate a few things.

This was taken on the first day. There are three main rooms. Here's the first two. I'm painting the first room white to act as a gallery space. And those tiles?

Yeah, they had to go. Most of them were barely stuck to the floor. My plan is to smooth out the concrete floor and paint it a nice dark gray.

My brother stopped by one weekend to help out. He worked hard to peel up all the tile and throw it all away. About 1000 square feet of tile! I owe him a huge favor! 

With this move, came plenty of unexpected costs. I created a GoFundMe page to help out with renovations, deposits, and supplies.

Click here to donate!

I've had an amazing response so far, and it's been a huge help! I'm so grateful to be able to be a productive, working artist in a small town. 

Wanna see the past incarnations of my studio? Check out the first tour, as well as a video before I fixed up the first space.

On My Desk Wednesday

Sometimes the artist monkey mind doesn't let me rest until I get a new idea out into the world. Dishes collect in the sink, laundry piles up, but I'm glad I'm able dinner ready on time.

Monday night I thought to myself, "hmm, I wonder if anyone's painted a The Land Before Time tattoo flash sheet." I searched Etsy and other tattoo flash sites and nothing turned up. Plenty of tattoos, but no collection of drawings. So, OF COURSE I had to get to working on it.

The Land Before Time is one of my most cherished animated movies. My brother and I watched it and re-watched it throughout our childhood. We still quote it when we're feeling especially silly. I recently watched it with my daughter and she loved it as well. It's definitely near and dear to my dinosaur-loving heart.

So, without further ado, here's a little sneak peek at some drawings I worked on.

Over the next few days, these will be painted on an 11x14 sheet of watercolor paper. Perhaps my monkey mind will allow me to do some laundry and other household chores in between painting sessions. 

"Creativity Takes Courage" A Muse in Watercolor

Last week I considered a few ideas for a new watercolor. It seemed as though nothing new worked and I kept coming back to old ideas and old themes. Looks like I have a habit of creating paintings of women, with lots of hair, in profile, and with roses thrown in for good measure. I guess if it works, then keep going. That's how I came up with this new painting:

After discovering the quote, "Creativity takes courage", I sketched up this gal. Originally I wanted a banner around her collar with the quote but decided against it at the last moment. 

All my watercolors start the same, by adding all the blacks. I use a new Sharpie marker for the lines.

Then color!

I didn't get many progress shots of this because I powered through it late one evening. But here she is in all her watercolor goodness. I'm hoping to get prints of this soon!

11" x 14"