Wedding Prints

Recently I was asked to create a piece of artwork that I had never done before, and ended up being very interactive! Friends Matt and Lisa were getting married and Lisa approached me and asked me if I could make her a Family Tree Guest Book. I'd never heard of it before and decided to do some research. Apparently it's frequently advertised on Etsy, where a bare-branched tree is painted or created, and during the reception at the wedding, the guests place an inked thumb/fingerprint on a branch posing as a leaf. Some versions will also have guests sign their names by their print! I was very excited to try this new concept, and add it to my artistic wedding repertoire.

A close up of their names and font

A close up of the date and font

A close up of the texture on the tree

The finished result when I handed it over to Lisa before the weddiing

The finished result at the wedding reception

I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out. The painting was pretty large (30x36inches) and really made a statement within the reception room. Matt and Lisa opted out of having everyone sign next to their prints, and had a separate guest book for their guests to sign. All in all I'm pretty pleased with the end result and I have a new skill to add to the list.

Tell Me Who You Are

So it seems like forever since I've posted last. Been really busy with the visit from my parents, training Zoe, and getting into the hang of working full time, and really just trying to find my place in the world now that I've finished school. I recently had business cards made to hand out to people who may be interested in having some work done, and in that spirit, I feel like I should post some pictures and information on my Solo Exhibition so that prospective clients can get an idea of what I like to do, but am not limited to.

The idea for the show Tell Me Who You Are started from multiple ideas. I really enjoyed the process of "breaking down" a photograph to be as simple as possible, only keeping key details of a person's face, and seeing if the end result still maintained the character and "essence" of the original person.

 The second idea was to play with the notion that social Networking sites offer a place for individuals to recreate themselves, and in these portraits that we see, which have been significantly reduced and highlighted, are these who these individuals really are? Or are we seeing what they want us to see?

Also to mention, these portraits are now for sale. Please contact me for more details! A special thank you to Bobby Craig and Jo-Ellen Sterling for buying their portraits and showing your support!
Anyone interested in commissioning a painting, please contact me, I am able to create all types of artwork. Below are some further examples of my work...

This drawing was done in high school from a photograph of myself and two friends. It's done in pencil crayon and drawn in our favorite colors of the time!

This painting is done in oil and was a school assignment in my third year at NSCAD. It's done from a photograph I took on Vancouver Island.

This painting is done in Acrylic and is a portrait of my friend Connie. I enjoy creating portraits of people and incorporating their interests and personality into the image. This is another example of how I've "simplified" a portrait.

This was another school assignment in my third year of NSCAD. It's a mixture of rubber latex with soap, food coloring and a screenprinted image overtop. The assignment was to experiment with unusual items to create a painting. One thing kinda led to another...

This again, was a school assignment in my third year of NSCAD. It was to create a 3D painting. I was really inspired by these Mexican Jumping beans given to me by a friend, so I experimented again with the rubber latex to create a kind of "skin." One I painted more realistically, the other I tried to make it look like there was a worm inside with a stuffed nylon.

Impossible Possibilities

So my dear friends, I promised last time that I would stop talking about my new little puppy and start talking about art that I've been working on... so I'm hoping this post will satiate you for a while!
So I had an amazing time at Erin's wedding! But it was definitely not relaxing, and now I'm back in Halifax and have only one week left of my art school career (or at least for now...) and I have SO much work to do in a short amount of time!
For my upcoming show I've made about 40 small paintings. All portraits of my nearest and dearest. I also wanted to include some larger paintings of the people in my life who are literally larger than life.
The first one was of my sister. My first post contained an image of it unfinished. I've been trying to not show too many images of my work until my show so that the surprise is not blown! The second painting I made was of my Grandma Eaton who passed away a few years ago. The third painting that I literally started and finished today, was of my Dad, who passed away when I was about 7 or 8 years old.

 I chose this photo of him (he's in the lower left hand corner) and I soon learned that this photo was taken on his 30th Birthday. I found it really interesting to work on this painting for two reasons: Mike is turning 30 this year. And the other paintings I've worked on, most of my decisions surrounding image choice and color choice were based on what I thought were characteristic of that individual, or reminded me of that individual. This was a totally different experience.

 Because I'd only known my Dad for a few years, I've had to rely on information gathered from other people who did know him really well. I know he was a goofy guy, and many of the images my Mom had sent to me were of him sticking his tongue out (and if any of you know my sister, you now know where she gets it from!). So it seemed only appropriate that I select an image where he's making a goofy face!

This is a bit of a close up so you can see the line work in the face. I had a bit of difficulty with the mouth. I made some of the recessive teeth a bit gray so that they would fall back a bit. Let me know what you think, and if you guys think I should make any changes or if something looks off.

So my other project from this semester has been my Tactile Notebook. In my class we had to do a research presentation on an artist who maintains a Notebook practice, and I chose Danny Gregory. (www.dannygregory.com). I was really inspired by him because he also has a blog, and has inserted images from his Notebook where he's written an entry about his day, and then written again in his blog about it. His Notebook perhaps may be more personal, but I thought it was a great idea to share the Notebook, so I thought I would do so with you guys!

So these are just images of my Notebook... notice how fat it's already getting and I've only covered a third of the pages in the book! The next few images are pages within my book. I'm not going to say much about them, perhaps you can give me your thoughts, but I just thought you might like to see how different one day is from the next!

Just Me and Zoe...

So, it's been a few days since my last post, and it's mostly because I've been home alone with Zoe. Mike's brother, Daniel and his wife Crystal are expecting a baby. Her due date was March 31, and Mike had already booked a few days off to go "see the baby." Trouble is, baby's never come when they are expected! It's now April 3, and there's no sign of the baby! So Mike left for PEI on Wednesday night, and it's been just me and Zoe...
Wednesday evening went off without a hitch. Zoe and I went for a walk before bed, and because we had thoroughly wiped her out earlier in the day by taking her to a field and making her chase us from end to end, she fell asleep quickly. Now, Mike and I have been waking up (if Zoe doesn't already) to take her out in the middle of the night. We take turns, although I do admit, Mike was taking her out more than I. So, on Wednesday night, Zoe got me up at 1am and thankfully went back to sleep quickly. But when she needed to go out again at 4am, she was fully awake... and I was not.
She doesn't let you go back to bed if she's fully awake, and she'll either start whining, or jumping up on your side of the bed, chewing and scratching at your hand/arm! SO fun!
I had a bit of a meltdown that night to Mike on the phone. Having the stress of school, work, preparing for Erin's wedding and my upcoming show, and now the dog, it was a bit much for me to process on my own, especially so soon after getting her. I was told I'm not allowed to have children...
The next day was better. I'd decided to let Zoe sleep as long as she wanted without waking her up to take her out to see how she would do. She slept until 5:45am, with no incidents! That was a bit of a sleep-in for me, to be honest, and I was a bit happier in the day. The only other troubling thing was that she figured out how to get under the bed, and she'll scurry under there like a little mole, huffing and puffing while she does it!
I'm happy to now report that Zoe and I are now in a bit of a routine. It's helped that I haven't had to work all weekend, and I can take her out every couple hours, and play with her, and while she's sleeping at my feet, I can finally do some artwork, which feels like it's not really been at the forefront of my thoughts lately. I promise that my next post will be all art related, and no more doggy talk!

Doggy Daydream

So I've discovered that having a puppy is almost like having a baby. No one tells you exactly what you are in for. Sure you get the "Having a dog is a LOT of work" comment, and "Why would you do that? That'll really tie you down!" comments. But the only two people who were truly honest with me about how the first few days, weeks and months would be, were my co-workers, Cheryl and Will who have a 10 month old puppy named Bosco.
I have a few friends who have babies, and many of them have said that no one really prepared them for how hard breastfeeding would be. I like to use that analogy when talking about getting a puppy. No one really tells you that you'll be up every hour of the night to take her outside for a pee. No one really tells you how immediately you attach to this little creature. No one really tells you how her whining is heart-wrenching. And no one really tells you how you life suddenly orbits around hers.
Will and Cheryl were completely honest with me. With Bosco, in order to housebreak him, they woke him up every hour and took him outside for a pee. Will trained him rigorously, and Cheryl was on the verge of a meltdown when the puppy challenged her Alpha status.
Having this in mind, we were strict with Zoe from the very first moment she was home. We introduced her to the crate, and every time she went to take a nap, we would put her in there. During the night, we've had her segregated to our bathroom, with her crate and food and newspaper, with a barrier across the door so that she can't chew up anything in the house, or have an accident wherever she chooses. I'm not going to lie, the first night was really rough! Zoe woke us up at 1am, 3am, 4am, and again at 6am. By that time, we were somewhat awake and zombiefied. But, as short on sleep as we were, we were still completely in love.
The next day, we tried to get her accustomed to the collar and leash, which she still resists occasionally, and scratches at her collar. She walked into her crate of her own accord, which we praised her lavishly for. That night was pretty brutal however, as I had to work a double shift the next day, and Mike had to work as well. We put her to bed around 10:30pm, and she woke up at 1am and 3am, which Mike got up with her for. And at 4am, it was my turn. I took her out for a pee, and then brought her inside. We are now starting to realize that taking her out for a walk doesn't wear her out. She comes back from being outside, and rips up the house. She starts running around, sliding on the laminate floor, playing with her toys, and chewing on everything... including me.
So, at 4am, she comes inside, and it takes me almost an hour to settle her down again. By this time, I was already preparing to get up at 5:20am to get ready for work, and take her out (just in case she didn't get me up already). So I crawled back into bed for a meager 20 minutes before I got up and dragged my tired ass around.
The lack of sleep though has been the only downside. When I came home from work that day, I got the best welcome home I'd ever received. And while I feel like I'm constantly repeating myself, and talking to myself, I'm in it for the eventual dog that she will become.