The Painted Cottage

Thanks Tolegranny

 

Hi Tolegranny,

You know I was just thinking yesterday about my 6 month challenge to myself to purge...and wondered where the time went??? I am still purging...not as actively as in Jan and Feb...but still at it and I must say it has been like throwing a suitcase off the Queen Mary. There is still so much to get rid of. We are having a community yard sale this Saturday and I have a huge pile to put out for sale. The deal is though...once it is out in the driveway...it doesn't come back into the house. Whatever is left goes to the Salvation Army or Thrift Shop. I am anxious to make that trip...not really caring if I sell anything or not.

Thanks so much for looking at my blog. I appreciate every person who bothers to read any of it. I am not the worlds most committed blogger...but I do write a post now and then.

I just realized that I haven't written a post to my blog this week yet...and I've practically written it here in this email to you.....soooo...if you don't mind, I am just going to cut and paste this email to my blog and call it my post for the day. Thanks for knocking at the porch door and getting me to write.

Thanks for visiting and come back again soon,

Elaine

Note: Tolegranny  from Ontario was kind to have read my blog and wrote me a nice email to comment about some of my posts. Thanks to her...it's nice to know someone is out there listening!!!

Expressions of Gratitude

I have been wanting to write this post for a few weeks...every since I found out about Debbie Overton's 50th Birthday Celebration. Debbie's quote "...it is better to give than to receive" has been on my mind alot lately. I have been thinking about who in particular I am most grateful for in my life.

First I'd have to say my dear husband Mike. He is just the most wonderful guy ever...he puts up with me and all my art endeavors...and well...we've been through so much together in our 25+ years together...grateful just doesn't begin to describe my feeling for him. I will love him forever.

I am also grateful for my parents. They are two of the most wonderful people I know. Both are retired from our family restaurant that we ran for 25 years. They are happy people to say the least. They do many things together and have a good life. I enjoy their company so much and feel guilty even now for not visiting them more often. (note to self...go see Mom and Dad tomorrow.)

And what I have been thinking about since this challenge has been stirring in my mind, is that I am also very very grateful for all my artsy friends. They are the ones I look forward to talking to, discussing our latest art escapades, going to classes to create together, chatting in the MMCA forum, and visiting with at MAAC and all the other places we meet and share our kindred ideas.

So here is to you: Linda Rose, Linda McC, Martha, Carol, Jeannie, Marjorie, Shari, Naomi, JoBeth, Marie, Christine, and all my MAAC friends, Debbie, and all my MMCA friends. It is because of you all that I look forward to creating art every day. You all make my life a better place to be, and I enjoy your company so very much. Thank you for being my friends!

And here's to all my new artsy friends to be: If you comment to this post before Debbie's birthday, May 4th....I will randomly choose and send one of you an original ATC card, made by me in honor of Debbie's 50th Birthday!!!

And don't forget to click on the "Expressions of Gratitude" badge under my "Friends" column on the left side of this blog. It is the link to Debbie's blog and all about her birthday celebration.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEBBIE!!!!!

3 New Pieces of Art

I finished three new pieces of art this week...but I can only show you two of them. One of the pieces has been sent to Chel at ZNE Network http://zneiscrafty.ning.com/ to be printed in the Fondante Member Book coming soon. And the piece could not be published or shown anywhere else until the book comes out...so you will just have to wait to see it!!!

But here are the other two pieces I completed. The first one is "Art Speaks" a very simple piece. I bought an old empty photo album at an antique shop a few weeks ago and have been wanting to use the empty photo windows in some art. So this is the first of probably many photo window art works.

The second piece of art is a commission that I just finished today. It is for friend Naomi's mother's birthday which is Monday. So don't spoil the surprise for her. Naomi gave me several family photos and some family buttons and jewelry and I was able to create this piece of art with the photos and a bracelet that belonged to her grandmother. I am always nervous about doing commissions, wondering whether my client will like the art. I really can psyche myself into a tizzy till they come get the art and I can see their reaction. Tonight I was pacing the floor till Naomi came to pick the piece up...wondering...is she going to like it??? She did! And I was very relieved. So now I anxiously await to hear about her mother's reaction too.

Writing An Artist's Statement

I have been thinking lately that I would like to write an artist's statement and I would like to enhance the marketing strategies I have already in place for selling my artwork. How do I do this...I wondered? Where do I go next?? I don't have a clue!!!

I started searching for other artists who had written artists statements on their web sites. Some are good, some are vague, some don't make a bit of sense to me. I also asked some fellow artists if they had written artist statements. Some have, some have not. I haven't found anyone who seems to have this artists statement thing figured out. No one seems to have the magic formula for writing this short statement about who we really are.

I kept looking for information and low and behold one day I was surfing the net...artist sites and the like and found Ariane Goodwin. She is an artists consultant and she has tons of good advice and information for artists who are struggling to market themselves. She has also written a book..."Writing the Artist's Statement"'

Wow....just what I have been looking for!!! Excitedly, I quickly got the credit card out and ordered her book. It should be here in just a few days and I am anxiously awaiting what I will read about this mystery.

Here is an exerpt from Ariane's web site:

Are you a creative professional who has been avoiding making your presentation & career materials as important as your art supplies?

If you are, or want to be, a ‘working’ artist because you believe in your work and want to share it with the rest of us…

I assure you that your art can be in the world inspiring all of us and you can thrive too, without sacrificing your vision or compromising your artistic integrity.

Sadly enough, the left-brain details of ‘art business’ can feel overwhelming to your more right-brain creative personality, so it’s no wonder you might ‘hide out’ in the studio feeling guilty, possibly confused, finding satisfaction in creating your work, but with no clear direction at the end of the day.
Rest easy, there is another way to go.

I will be writing more about my artist statement, as I read Adrian's book and writing my own statement....so stay tuned. Oh and her web site is: http://www.artist-statement.com/ just in case you want to buy the book and write your own statement.

Art and B&B Lovers' Open Houses

During the month of April I will be exhibiting my art work at The Cherished Pearl in HoneyBrook, PA as part of a county wide art and open house exibition by the PA Dutch Country Convention and Visitors Bureau. The event will be held every Sunday in April from 1-5pm*. There will be 20+ artists exhibiting at B&Bs throughout Lancaster County. You can meet many of the artists at the Open Houses. For a list of participating artists and trail guides see: http://www.PaDutchCountry.com/TrailGuides

Come and have a chat and see this gorgeous house called The Cherished Pearl. Anna Ressler, the innkeeper, will have scrumptious desserts available and possibly a nice cup of tea to go with. My art work will be shown throughout the house for the three Sundays and I would be most happy to meet you there.

*The Cherished Pearl will have open house April 6, 20, and 27th from 1-5pm. http://www.thecherishedpearl.com

Klimt and Hockey

  My husband and daughter are very dedicated hockey fans. They get season tickets to the Hershey Bears games every year and attend about 10-12 games per season. They also like to see an occasional NHL Hockey game in Washington DC to see the Capitols or go to Philadelphia to see the Flyers. I am not a hockey fan, in fact the few times I have gone to Bears games with them...the Bears sadly lost. My dh and dd started looking at me like I was some sort of hockey jinx and they banned me from ever attending another game. Am I upset about this....hell no!!!! I relish the alone time I have when they run off to a game. I love being alone in the studio during a hockey game....usually 3 solid hours of artistic fun without interruption...and sometimes more if they go further to seek their icy goals.

Now what you ask does this have to do with Klimt? Well...another of my favorite past times while they are out to a game is watching movies that I like...that they would not like. This past weekend I watched the movie Klimt starring John Malkovich. Now...I really like John M as an actor. I loved him in Ripley's Game, The Man in the Iron Mask, and in Being John Malkovich. He is such a good character actor. My dh and dd cannot stand my dear John.

As I watched him in Klimt this past weekend while the two were at a Bears game, I thought John did a fine job depicting Gustav Klimt in this movie...but the movie really...no really...took some time to understand. Very artsy...and not in a good artsy way. Very confusing, fast moving, language and conversations difficult to understand. I had to back track and watch scenes several times to "get it".

I have always liked Klimt as an artist and I understand from art history study that he was a ladies man, lead a very unconventional life, and that his art was not immediately accepted because it was considered vulgar and distasteful for the time period. But times have changed and there is little or no shock value in his art these days. I have come to appreciate his symbolism, his style of portraiture, his mystical and mysterious ways of depicting the women in his paintings...and the gold...I just love the gold in his paintings.

This movie about Klimt was vulgar. It depicted him as a man suffering from a venereal disease, slowly going out of his mind. His genius was somehow forgotten in the movie...somehow forgotten amidst his slow agonizing death in a water bath in an Austrian mental hospital. Is that what we remember most about him? I was disgusted after watching this movie about one of my favorite artists.

I should have gone to the hockey game...the Bears lost that night anyhow.

If you want to take a chance on this movie...or prove that my opinion is valid...here is the link to Amazon for the movie...and by the way...I am only giving it 1/2 a star and that is just for John Malkovich:

http://www.amazon.com/Klimt-John-Malkovich/dp/B000WZAE7W/ref=pd_bbs_1?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1205872876&sr=8-1

Two New Pieces of Art

I just recently finished these two pieces of art. They are so very different from my usual stuff. I am anxious to get some feedback on these two...especially the "Editor and Publisher" below.

These colors, especially the green are very bright for my work. My usual colors are very subdued and drab...not that there is anything wrong with that. I just felt like stepping out of my box on this one. Also this is a composition I would have not normally used.
We try different compositions in collage class and this is the "Triangle" composition...where everything relates to triangles. I think I was fairly successful in accomplishing this task.

The second piece is based on the "Grid' design. I like that design, it is fairly easy to manipulate and works well for me with the articles of collage I use...like newspaper parts and photographs. I seem to relate more to straight lines than organic ones.

I was also at a loss on finishing the second piece, "Measure of Time" and our art instructor suggested I add some line work. Well when I got home, frustration took over and scribbles came out. Maybe it works, I don't know?

I really like the look of more graphic work, with brighter colors...if only I could keep that in my head while working a piece. I also enjoy using the old, antiqued pieces of newspaper, ads, photos, images, etc next to more graphic elements. And I think I will continue to persue this avenue until it takes me down another road.

New Web Site!!!

Yea...I finally took the plunge and got myself a web site. It was a tough decision as to what host and what web designer to go with. I knew what I wanted...just didn't know where to find it. I was surfing one day and accidently stumbled upon http://www.homestead.com and I knew this was the place for me to develop my site.

They have everything I needed to set up and do it myself. I quickly signed up and within a few hours someone from Homestead, Nicholas, called me...ON THE PHONE!!! YES...personal service!!! He helped me get things set up and downloaded the Site Builder program onto my computer. And he was soooo patient with my nontechy brain.

Within a few days I got my first pages set up and perfected. I had a few glitches but just called Homestead's 1-800 number and quickly got excellent help. The site is still under construction and I'm sure I will be forever tweaking it and adding new things. It is actually fun and alot easier than I expected...thanks to Homestead and Site Builder.

So here it is...drumroll please...........

http://www.elainebradysmith.com

Ta da!!!!!!

Moving On...

I recently found out that the gallery that has been showing my work, Edward Ruth, is closing...well,by now is already closed. I went there today to pick up my remaining artwork. Very sad to see the place empty. I did sell two pieces of art at Edward Ruth before they closed (shown here)...so I am very happy about that.

But the good news is that Twin Brook Winery of Gap, Pennsylvania, http://www.twinbrookwinery.com/ will be occupying the space soon with a wine tasting room for their Pennsylvania wines. There is a good possibility, I am told that they will also need some artwork to grace their walls. That would be a good thing if they indeed like my art work and invite me back to the location. I would be exstatic!

The building is in an excellent location next to Millers Smorgasbord, http://www.millerssmorgasbord.com/, which is an institution on Route 30 in Lancaster County, the heart of Pennsylvania Dutch Country. Miller's is the place to go for Pa Dutch cooking! And in case you are wondering just what is a "smorgasbord"? It is the best darn food buffet you have ever bellied up to in Pennsylvania. "Smorgasbord" is actually a Swedish word that refers loosely to any buffet with a variety of dishes. I would have guessed that the word was Pa Dutch. But at Miller's we are talking lots of food, 10 trips to the buffet, eat till you bust kind of smorgasbord...Chicken Corn Soup, Chow Chow, Chicken Pot Pie, Baked Cabbage, Shoofly Pie, Bread Pudding, and all the delicious foods that I grew up eating and all delicious!!!

So I am anxous for Twin Brook to open and that I may again be traveling down Rt 30 to deliver a pile of artwork and maybe have a glass of wine! We'll see??

Huge Lot of Books on Ebay

In my efforts to continue my New Year's PURGE...I have just listed 25 items on ebay. Mostly books on art, artists, history, how-tos, cottage chic, novels, headaches...yes...a headache book! And I am quite sure there is something for everyone on this list.

Here is the link before I forget to post it -   http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZpaintedcottageQQfrppZ50QQfsopZ1QQfsooZ1QQrdZ0

I feel quite good about getting all these books listed. They are all books that looked interesting to me when I bought them...but for reasons from not enough time to oh...this is not what I thought it was going to be...the books have to go. It seems like alot...but oh do I have a long road ahead on the Purge Pike! Even my dear husband helped out yesterday by emptying his magazine basket beside his bed...and I'm talking a major pile here. I'll load that up tomorrow and head to the recycling bin downtown.

I am actually making myself feel better today by staying out of the basement. That is where the real mess is. I am concentrating on the extra bedroom right now. I ordered new curtains for the windows...well there weren't any curtains up to begin with since we moved here...but I'm getting there. Tomorrow I hope to empty out the closet in that room. It is full of clothes that no body wears anymore and blankets that no one uses and a bunch of other stuff that has collected dust for 4 years now. I'd really like to be able to store the vacuum in that closet once it is cleaned out.

Okay...it's off to start that room now. Later.