Friday, February 26, 2010

professional artist blog post .... tra la la ...

so ... usually i approach my blog with a whatever attitude ... whatever i've been doing artistically or whatever is going on, well, that's what you get ... today ... i have one unprofessional shout out ... here it is ... wow ... my last blog post wasn't even artsy and it might be my best comments ever .... made me happy ... 

and now on to the professional part ... you know, i can do it ... well, so long as you don't need punctuation, capital letters or, well, big words ... so here it is ... my unprofessional opening to my "i actually am a professional artist blog post" ... or maybe it's a "i'm trying to trick you into thinking i'm a professional artist blog post" .. you decide ... and, of course, the more i digress here, the less hotshot pro i look like, the more goofy artsy mommy artist girl i seem .... so ... 

ahem .... i'll begin ... 

i recently received an email from an art collector (oh, fine, an old college pal that i just reconnected with on facebook) ... the art collector, who must remain nameless, is a highly esteemed author in new york city with a number of books published... (fine, it's helen, but she's written lots of books and her most recent ones are about fairies .... for your daughter more than for you) ... the collector contacted me about a commissioned work ... with a hand written calligraphy on linen paper letter delivered by a (very cute) messenger....here is her letter:

dear e.beck.artist
i have chosen you above all other up and coming artists to do a commissioned piece. i have budgeted fifty thousand dollars and am interested in either a companion piece to your nest series or a glimpse into your next great thing.  please advise.
most sincerely, XXXXXXX, the anonymous famous writer


ok, fine ... 
here's her real email
hey!Greetings from a winter wonderland!  Crazy snow this winter!
I finally had a chance to look through....so love that you are an artist!  And I love your work. The thing is what I think that I love the most is the spontaneous creativity the series you create convey and your positive energy...and the fun you seem to have while creating.  Commissioning something kinda feels faux in some way :)  Anyway, I am drawn most to the nest with the egg with words (no big surprise there, huh?)...but a 6 inch canvas is hard for me to place.  I love the longer piece (I think that you had that long blue one at your show)  There's a great spot over my desk :) If t
he idea of returning to this series stops you or brings you back to someplace you don't want to go again, then I can wait for your next series to jump on.  I also love flowers....Again, there's something nice and fresh about being part of your vision at the moment.  Dare I ask what you are working on now????
And here's another important question -- how much do you sell these for? 
Hope that you survived the double 13 bday....wow two teenagers living in your house!  Shades of when they were 4?  Cause sometimes my girls say things and I get a scary peek into the future!!!!Hope all is well.
-Helen

clearly, helen is truly a professional writer with caps and standard punctuation!!!!!! .... there are a number of interesting bits to the email that have made me want to write an informative blog post (fine, i'm giving up on the professional sounding ruse)
first, i had made her a flickr set of the paintings that i have available in my house right this second, to buy ...as opposed to ones that are out in a gallery ..... you can look at that set of ready to buy right here if you want to see too ..... (these things take longer when you go to the set and see the one that went to a new home this week and you have to edit the flickr site ... i'm very scattered, do you know that?)  helen loves this nest ... but it is too small .... six inches square ... 
second, i told her my pricing .... my average size is 150 dollars ... that's long skinny ones, and the 18 inch squares .... bigger than that, more expensive .. smaller, less expensive .... 

and then i told her i would love to paint her a painting especially for her ... that commissions don't have to have bad karma or less joyfulness in the process or the product ..... 

but here's a commission story .... "i LOVE your work ....  i want a blue background with green lettering on a map but don't make the letters too smudgy like you sometimes do, i like sharp lines,  and then for the pear i want it green but if it's green will it be ok on the green letters .... "  .... the answer to that commission story is that i said no ... and i think she thought i was too ornery and didn't get a painting .... but that's ok ... i wouldn't have liked doing it .... and (don't tell my husband) i'm not really in this for the money, clearly, i'm in it for the paintings that are inside of me trying to get out ... i'm in it for the fun (and the unfun part is exactly what i'm horrid at and why i'm not wearing power suits and doing something, well, power suit-ish .. (am i dating myself? do women still wear power suits? i know they wear crazy power shoes still ... i wear clogs or flipflos or birkenstocks or anything in orange ... i digress ... again ... still ... ) ... so .. the commission, yes, helen, if you are open minded and give me a general notion of what you have in mind, i will so happily make it for you ... and you don't have to buy it unless you love it ... i'll send you a picture ... that's how commission works for me ... i'd hate to send off a painting that you hate .... tragic, that'd be ....

so, in general, when i get a commission, i need to know a size, a theme, and have a chat about what painting of mine you like and what color combinations you are drawn to .... 

but helen is special ... she wants to make sure i'm all blissed out doing her painting ... she doesn't want any negative energy from me doing something i HAVE to do rather than what i love to do .... so i said, helen, i LOVE nests ... i always want to make nests ... i could probably only make nests til the end of time and i'd be perfectly fulfilled with that (though i do reserve the right to change my mind and quit making them down the line sometime .... if so inclined)

helen asked about flowers ... and i haven't really been so flower ish lately ... not sure why .... if she had her heart set on flowers, i could absolutely do it ... but, looking for current good vibrations, you won't be looking for flowers ... 

and pears ... i recently made that new set on flickr and looked at every single painting i have posted there ...not every one i've ever done, but most ...and i do love pear paintings .. some of my way favorites are pears .. because (darn, i'm about to be even weirder) pears are just like people to me ... as i paint them, they are completely anthropomorphized ... i have one called figure eight: pear love that i adore ... adore ... adore ... those pears are so in love ... you can't look at the painting and not know they are in love .... helen, i could do a pear family for you .... (but i think she wants a nest ... and i'm good with that....)

and then helen asked what i was working on recently .... and currently i'm doing quirky houses and/or words .... not sure if i'm staying with words ... or houses .... i'm actually in a searching phase ... i like series .. i want to do series ... i love being in a topic where all i want to do is paint it over and over in different colors and sizes and emotions .... i'm trying to move on to my next thing ... but just am not sure what my next thing is ... ya know? ...... 

and then i had a notion, and i emailed helen, "my paper or yours" ... because on some of my pieces i put in papers that are important to me  ... like spelling tests and math sheets and book reports ... but i said i could put in papers that are important and meaningful to her if she wanted to go through the chore of finding them and mailing them ... her four year old twins' drawings or writing (love little kid handwriting!), a page from her manuscript, a map of her neighborhood, a favorite take out menu (i was thinking that's so new york) ... the possibilities are endless ... and it would make a piece very personal .... a scrapbook without anyone even knowing that at first glance ... lots of it would be obscured but much of it would be totally visible and readable ... but of course, i have a massive drawer of groovy vintage papers, maps, books, bingo cards, dictionaries, music .... so i maybe should be asking for anyone to send me MORE paper (don't want to show up on that tv show hoarders... eek!) ... helen lives in an apartment in nyc .. i'm pretty sure she doesn't have room for an entire drawer full of groovy papers ....i asked her, do you live in the ny suburbs or in the ny-oh-my-twins-in-a-tiny-apartment... she said the latter ... 

so there you go ... the anatomy of a commission ... they aren't usually like this ... it's usually ... can i have one kind of like that ... yes ... and then i do .... 

hey lavinia, i'll send you a photo for final approval next week ... 

hey helen, looking forward to painting for you ... 

hey the rest of you, can i paint for you too?







Friday, February 19, 2010

everyone loves friday .... i especially love this friday....

i have some favorite blogs .... and some favorite web sites to go and browse .... one of my faves is studio mothers .... a community of artsy writing mother types .... i can read posts of women artists and writers that are inspiring or thoughtful or funny or .... you get the picture .... so miranda there passed on a blog award ... very kind of her ...the rule is i have to tell you five things about myself ... and today is a good day for that for me ... 

five-ish things about me:

1.  today my twins turn 13 years old .... they were born at 2.30 in the morning a long time ago ... how does time go by so quickly? ... i had been miserable and sick for my entire pregnancy ... and i spent the first few days with them absolutely giddy and euphoric .... oh my gosh i have TWO babies ... everyone looked at me like, well duh ... 
2. today my twins turn 13 years old ... i used to pray for triplets .... when mr.e.beck.artist found out, he got mad at me about it ... really, mad at me cause my bedtime prayers included asking for triplets ... he made me switch to twin prayers ... i did ... 

3. today my twins turn 13 years old ... i cried this morning when they wished each other happy birthday .... they didn't see me though ... they would have rolled their eyes or mocked me unmercifully ... teens!

4. today my twins turn 13 years old ... i am an artist and a recovering video game addict .... i fall off the wagon regularly (bejeweled! monkey ball! NEW super mario brothers!) ....i got girl.beck.artist gifts from an art show and design your own sneakers ... i got boy.beck.artist video games .... they are both me ... they just got different parts ... 

5. today my twins turn 13 years old .... she loves to paint like i do ... he loves tv like i do ... she's a good speller like i am ... he cleans his closet like i do (that would be never) .... she likes quirky things like i do ... he's a nightowl like i am .... 

and ... one more thing ... i'm not much for rule following ... i'm supposed to name five blogs to give this creative blogger award ... but i'm not going to... boy.beck.artist wouldn't either ... girl.beck.artist is a total rule follower ... don't tell her i broke the rules  ....

oh, and one more thing ... did you know my twins turn 13 today?

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

hooray ... the art show made me SO happy .....

..... i have some art at a show .... dropped it off this past weekend .... opening was last night .... i visited today .... and it runs through the weekend .... it's the trinity school's spotlight on the arts .... they have more than a hundred artists ... in categories .... i'm in the whimsical category .... tra la la ... i like that .... 

when i got there, the middle of my display was empty ... a painting had been sold ... but within about 10 minutes, another one of my pieces had been hung in the spot ... how cool is that .... very organized over there! and a piece sold ... even cooler .... 

just to make the whole thing better, i was there with one of my favorite pals ... and she bought a way groovy painting .... and i bought two things .... gifts ...not for me ... but it still made me awfully happy to buy other artists' joys .....

see that nest in the upper left? i love it dearly ... it isn't showing as well in this photo as it is in real life ... the background has lots of subtle coloring and nuance .... so ... i've decided if it doesn't sell, i'm gifting it to myself ... keeping it ... forever .... for the love of the bluesy alphabetiness and that lovely dream filled nest .... just saying ....it's mine .... 

Sunday, February 14, 2010

.... valentine's day .....

will you be my valentine?
check one:
___ yes
___no
___maybe
___ask again next year

i hope that you have someone to love on valentine's day ... and i hope you remember to tell them and show them how much you adore them .... and i hope they remember to do the same!

little.e.beck.artist made me a bouquet of pipe cleaner flowers for valentine's day .... as well as cards for all of us with very dear pictures ... in all, i think i got five different valentine's from her ... once she got to making them, she was having so much fun that she just kept going .... 

girl.beck.artist painted for me ..... the quote on there says .... smile. it is the key that fits the lock of everybody's heart .... i didn't know that quote ... and i especially love that she knew i love quotes and found this one just for me, just for today .... she gave everyone else chocolate bars ..... i'd have been ok with that too ... but this was better ....boy.beck.artist made me a card on the computer ... he says he loves me ... i'll keep it forever ...

and what did mr.e.beck.artist make me? well... he made me happy .... like he always does .. but this time with flowers and a small boxed gift ... 

and what did i make everyone? ... i made them all fat and happy with chocolate fondu .... we dipped in angel food cake, pound cake, strawberries, red apples, green apples, cheez its, and marshmallows .... the marshmallows were a late decision and came to the table after this picture .... we didn't eat all of the fondu or strawberries (or angel food cake) ... so now there are chocolate covered strawberries in the fridge to enjoy tomorrow ... guarantee that's what the two girls will ask for, for breakfast ... i'll say yes .... but pretend to be astonished that they'd ask for such decadence ....

i gave them all valentine surprises too .... 

and ... for the record ... i think valentine's day should always be on a sunday .....
i might go so far as to say that i love valentine's day best .... very low expectations .... with grand happy results ... no fretting about it before hand like christmas gifts and shopping ... no worry it's going to rain out the fireworks like 4th of july ... plus the fourth of july is such a sweaty holiday ... and thanksgiving ... well ... that's a good one ... but too much cooking for my preferences .... and easter ... well ... easter might be as good as valentine's now that i think of it ... i'll tell you in a month or two ..

but ......valentine's ..... i just love it .....happy valentine's day to you and yours ... 

 



Saturday, February 13, 2010

....art today ....

.....here are  three more paintings i finished this week .... just slow to get pics of them posted ... these now, as well as twenty odd others, are packed up and ready to go be in the trinity show ... drop off was yesterday and today ... but the snow switched it up ... so that tomorrow is an option too ... the option i have chosen .... 

this is 12 inches square ... words that i've painted before .... 
and here's a 12 by 12 companion piece .... different words .... that i got from a pal, susie ... 
and here are the same words .... but on a larger, much oranger, canvas ..... i do love these words .. i have them on a card taped up near my sink ... do you have favorite words ....favorite words that i should put on a canvas?
 i believe i am getting a painting tomorrow for valentine's day ... i'm very excited about it ... 
how 'bout you? any valentine's happies coming your way? .... 

Thursday, February 11, 2010

paint, paint, paint, paint, paint .....

..... whew ... in the last two or so weeks, i have finished 13 paintings ... some are quite small ... six inch square ... and some are quite large ....one at 36 square and two are 30 inch square ..... some are repetitive ... cause i'm building up for a show ... and doing multiples of things that historically sell well is just easy (and smart, i hope) ..... so ... 
here .......
this one below, i think i might make a series ... with favorite quotes ... or i might not ... i was really excited at the prospect whilst doing it (love whilst, good word) ... but am less enthusiastic now ... but that might just be because it is bed time after a very long day ....

this following one is becoming a staple ... i've sold a bunch with the house rules ... and owe a commissioned one .. that i've started ... but keep getting sidetracked and not finishing ... oops ... not a good business practice  ... but soon finished ... (just in case you are reading, miss l on the west coast) ....

and this last one .... well, i adore it .... i hope it doesn't sell at the show this week ... and then i will bring it home and make it mine forever ..... i have just the spot for it ... but i think i'll give it a chance to go out into the world ... just in case someone else is meant to own it .... 

if you would like to go to my flickr site and see all of the new ones click here and you'll get to a pear ... and on the right margin you click to the red branch one ... and then keep clicking thirteen times over to see them all ... if i'm telling you the right way , then this'll work if you are doing it the day i uploaded them or next year even ......  fingers crossed on that, huh?

so ... that's the story, morning glory .... painting, painting, painting .... 
what's your story?

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

are you ready for valentine's day?


i have done no preparation for valentine's day .... i don't even know what preparation i need to do! ... i did buy chocolate for a pal .... but nothing for anyone in my very own family .. but little.e.beck.artist is all ready for her friday-at-school-valentine-fest .....
she had papers in pinks and lavender and white ... and cut them to be squares ... square because she is about origami right now .... and origami is all about square paper ....
then she origami'd them right up into little pockets ....
... one of the keys to origami is to have sharp folds .....
once the pockets were made, she put a small hershey's bar inside ....
and then stickered up her origami envelopes .....
two special teachers are getting full on heart shaped chocolate boxes ..... for the traditionalist ... both of them are ALSO getting origami valentine's .... now that's love!
and then two more teachers are getting full sized hershey's ... that are conveniently wrapped up in the leftover paper from that first origami step of making the paper a square .... 

so there you have it ... valentine's is in the air..... do you have plans?

Saturday, February 6, 2010

in the art groove....


i have not been in a big art grooooooove in a while .... it really takes a focus ... a choice ... a decision .... and, though i spend a good amount of time each week in the pursuit of art .... it hasn't been highly focused lately .... life gets in the way .... sometimes i choose walk the dog over art .... not a bad choice for me or the dog ... but not a great choice for artistic output, huh ..... and a year or two ago, i regularly turned down invitations (tennis? lunch? tennis AND lunch?) because i needed studio time ... i'm sorry, i can't do that i have studio time scheduled ... but not lately ... i've been doing the lull .... in part, i can blame the economy ... whey you aren't selling as much, you certainly don't need to paint as much .... but ... i have a show coming up ... and on my inventory i put some UNFINISHED pieces .... nothing like a little pressure to get your butt in gear ... yesterday, i started NO new pieces .... but i finished four .... 
three of the pieces are thematically "been there done that" .... but still a joy to do ... jut painting is a joy ... and it only becomes a chore when i paint myself into a corner .... painting something i don't like and i don't know how to fix ....

three of the paintings are game boards mounted on canvases ....  again, new paintings of favorite themes (when i say that, you can just go, uh huh, those are the ones that sell well, right?)
the fourth painting is a quote and a little soul ... and i think i'll do more along these lines ... i collect quotes like some people collect stamps .... and i like the looks of the fellow ... and i believe i can put small canvases in to the series... i'll be trying that soon .... 

now let's talk about the photo quality! they were taken with my iphone .... inside .... and professionally speaking, they are weak, weak, weak efforts of capturing the art in photo ... darn it all ... but, in my defense, it has rained and rained and rained and rained ..... when i take pics of my art, i need it to be a bright sunshine day, and i take the pic on my front porch ...in indirect sunlight so there is no flash, no shadow, true color .... so ... real pics once the weather cooperates .... until then, just a dim and blurry glimpse ..... 

my saturday is full of grand saturday busy stuff ... my sunday is not overscheduled though, so i might have time to get in some painting with the girls in the early afternoon ....if not, monday for sure ... well ... monday for sure unless someone calls for a lunch date, huh? 

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

yesterday, pictureless ... today, pictureful ....


hooray for sunny days ... rain yesterday, rain tomorrow, but hooray for today .... 
i went to pottery and had a very productive time ... one of the kilns was broken so i didn't pick up and glaze as much as i planned ... but that just means i had time to start more pieces ....
i made four pieces .... the two above are slab rolled platters, white clay, with blue swirly underglaze ....
the picture above is a white clay bowl that i lightly underglazed in blue ... and then swirled in black .... 
and then this last one is a picture of my work space ... if you go over to flickr right here you can roll your mouse over the picture and read all sorts of notes and commentary .... 

i do love wednesdays ..... how 'bout you?

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

zing, zip, zebra, zap, zoo, zealous

tra la la .... 

i've been art busy ... 

i had two deadlines that loomed large .... one was an inventory for a show coming up ... and one was a submission for a book .... both are emailed and ticked off my list .... whew .... 

now, i have to get to painting a bit more zealously (everyone, use that word in the next 24 hours ... it's a good one ) ... i need to get painting more zealously so that some of the pieces ON the inventory that aren't quite done will be truly and actually done ... then, i need to paint the sides, add the hardware, make sure they are all signed, and then deliver them .... whew .... it's this busy, non painting  bit of being an artist that i'm not so enthused about (enthused, not a good word choice ... don't use it) .... in a dream (that i don't actually have) i am a famous artist with sweet minions who long to paint the canvas edges, hardware my pieces, make sure they are all signed and stamped, and figure out how to upload art pics that are too many gigs because they know what the difference is between a mega,  a giga,  a byte and a bit .... and what to do when you are meant to send a jpg and it isn't .... 

whew .... 

tomorrow i have pottery and i'm quite excited about the pieces i've been making this quarter ... i think i'll bring home a couple finished pieces, glaze a couple, and start fresh with a couple more .... anyone need some pottery? i've been giving it away as birthday gifts lately .... 

tra la la ....  do something artsy soon ... and don't forget to do it zealously .... am i even using it correctly? oh ... do it with zeal ... that's better ....i guess i just like z words .....and you?