Wedding photography

A couple of my friends got married recently, and I was thrilled to take candid photos - makes me want a career as a wedding photographer! I didn't use my flash because I didn't want to interfere with the professional photographer, so the indoor photos are grainy. They looked fine on the little camera screen, but not at full size. Anyway, here're some of my favorites:

This one I cropped in quite a bit (there were other people in it), so it's very grainy, but it was such a precious moment of the bride with the brother she hadn't seen in quite a while.

I gave the bride's mother a disk of all the photos, and when she went to have them printed, they got after her because one of them they insisted was professional - I'm guessing it was this last one, otherwise possibly the first one. The last is my personal favorite - I'm just in love with it!

I can't wait until I can afford a camera that'll take better quality photos!

Artist feature: GlassCube

I've been sitting on this interview for so long that I had to follow her to a new shop on Artfire, so I'm finally going to post it. :)

Katrina of Grove City, OH is the artist behind GlassCube. She is currently a full-time engineer hoping, like many of us, to become a full-time artist someday. "While I love the analytical side to me, I have to say that sitting in a cubicle all day isn't the greatest! I mean, no one actually loves that aspect right!?" She's a self-taught artist who has been doing glasswork for only a few months! "I bought all the necessary supplies to get started and taught myself how to do it!"

Her favorite part of her craft is the combination of control and, well.... lack of control. "Before the glass goes into the kiln, the artist has full control over the design. The art is as flexible as can be with all sorts of new advancements coming out! I can use full sheets of glass that I cut by hand, small pieces of glass frit to add texture and dimension, or work with stringers, rods and even glass paper! Then you put it into the kiln. You always know the basic shape that the glass will come out in, but melted glass has a mind of its own at times. I love the surprise of how the glass folds and drapes over the molds. I love that no piece can ever be exactly the same, and that somehow this rigid medium comes out looking soft and flowing with all the bends and curves that can take shape! It is just stunning."

While she says that her favorite item changes daily, or even hourly, my personal favorite in her shop is this beautiful vase:

"The vases just inspire me! I love the curves, the draping effect, etc. They come out as a surprise to me really! I can only plan so much of the design. They keep me on my toes, and keep me constantly excited to see the final results!"

The vases are only one example of her work. Check out her shop to see bowls, boxes, plates, sculptures, and ornaments!

Two new Artfire collections and an Etsy treasury

My work has been chosen for two additional collections on Artfire! Yes, the one happened a couple weeks ago, but I haven't had the time to post about it, and it's such a neat idea that I had to include it. Check out the gorgeous work: Angles and Wild Horses

My photograph "Raw Beauty" was also chosen for a treasury on Etsy: Liver Chestnuts

My last art show for the year and an invitation

Yes, it's been a while since my last post. The weekend after the Meander Art Crawl, I was in the Scott County Art Crawl in Shakopee. Let's just say my first experience driving in the cities was... interesting. We got there at 5:00 on Friday afternoon - I was so grateful to have a friend along to navigate and also grateful we were staying on the western edge.

The art crawl wasn't quite what I expected. I'd seen over 450 people the previous weekend out in the very rural area, and I would guess I saw 150 in the cities. I was expecting to be absolutely flooded from beginning to end just because there were so many people in the immediate area. This was their first year though, and the Meander is quite well established, so that could be the difference. It was fun to see new people, and I was invited to an art show in Jordan (also in the cities - yikes!) next June - I'll have to see how the schedule works out with my sister's wedding also being in June.

Here's a photo of my Shakopee display:

The other exciting news lately is that I've been asked to teach a western drawing class for community education at a nearby town. I'm excited and scared spitless at the same time - excited because people keep asking me if I can teach drawing, and now I'll be able to answer; and scared because I have NO idea what I'm doing! :) The class is three two-hour sessions Nov. 30-Dec. 14. I've got a little bit of time to prepare, but any advice would be most welcome!


I do still have another artist feature waiting to be posted (I haven't forgotten about you!) - I'll try to get that up this weekend since I'll actually have a weekend free for the first time this month!

Artfire & the coming weekend

Just to let everyone know, I now have a shop on Artfire as well as Etsy. I think I've gotten the listings all edited now so there's no more Etsy links in them. It's going to be tough keeping up with both shops, but I'm hoping the Artfire shop will be a little less maintenance as far as staying visible. I also have a banner now for both shops, so be sure to check that out (I made it myself, and I'm pretty proud of it!). The link to my Artfire shop is here.

I'm also very excited to have already been featured in a collection on Artfire - Horse Lovers! Check it out!

Tomorrow afternoon, I leave for the Twin Cities to exhibit in the Scott County Art Crawl on Saturday. I'm really nervous as this will be my first time driving in the cities, but I'll have a friend along to help navigate. I'll be in the library in Shakopee from 9-6 if anyone's in the area. The website is here if you'd like to take a look.

Meander

I think I'm maybe starting to recover from this last weekend. Three days - 20 hours - of seeing people and talking about myself and my work is exhausting! I saw about 465 people during the weekend and heard so many good comments, such as, "I thought it was a photograph!" and about my Beagle drawing, "Look how soft his ears are!", but my favorite, the best compliment I've probably ever gotten, "They're moving!" Sounds so simple, but if someone thinks my artwork is realistic enough that the horses look like they're alive, then I know I've done my job well.

I also got a book of tons of art fairs in the Midwest from the other artist displaying with me, and I'm very excited to apply to some of them next year. I didn't realize how many art fairs there are nearby that I'd never even heard about before.

Here are some photos of what my display looked like (forgive the ugly background, I didn't have much say over that):

The table with my book of prints and also some already matted prints that can be sold as is or put in any of the frames available.

  

My stationery table. I also found a nice little table easel, so I can display a framed drawing on the table, and I really like how it looks.

My whole display.

My art display board.

Another view of my whole display.