2012 Contest winners and some holiday windows...

Hello friends! I feel like I haven't blogged as much as usual this week. I have a bunch of home organization, cleaning, and decorating to do-and I've been enjoying that! I've been experimenting with some new wall colors around the house and my yellow runner for the stairs finally came in. I really am almost finished with that stairway project-jeez I only started it last spring-yay! I'll update you once it's finished. To catch up on what I was doing click here.

 It's hard to believe that Christmas is so close. I start thinking in terms of weekends-ok this weekend Detroit, next weekend Traverse City, after that Kalamazoo and then OH-it's Christmas! It's such a busy time of year! I didn't post any artwork as I normally do on Thursdays, but I have been busy with some things! I'm designing a new ABC for an Etsy customer-Washington Nationals baseball team. I like doing little custom things it gives me focus.

Also I've been painting the windows for Christmas over at my son's school-heading there again today. I've been bringing the baby with me all week. The first day he was great, I pacified him with snacks and trucks. But by day 2 the gig was up and window painting was not so fun for big baby! lol I was in the midst of painting a big Christmas tree when someone stopped to talk to me. They were admiring the paintings and I was like-blah, blah, blah-and then I looked down to see Roo doing some window painting of his own. He had both hands on the bottom of the wet Christmas tree and was "waving" back and forth and back and forth! ACK! lol! Um, needless to say, I had to erase that part. Today I'm happy to say they are going to aunt Roxy's! I do love taking the boys and letting them be a part of that. I like them to see me working on artistic things because I feel like I'm fostering a love of the arts in them. But enough is enough I gotta get some work done! :) I'm posting a couple of window paintings I did here at home the other day and then I'll take some pics at the school later today and post those.

Hope your holiday decorating is going as planned. If you've never painted windows you should try it! I use regular acrylic (cheaper craft kind). Then to get rid of it, I spray with Windex and scrape (invest in a real window scraper they are only $5 or so). Clean-up can be messy, but the kids do love it!

Congrats to all the winners from my 2012 calendar giveaway and Love print on FB contest. I decided to send everybody that entered a little something! Happy Holidays! Remember to email me your addresses so I can send those out!

Jen's Art Additions...love print

Happy Thanksgiving!

Just a quick one today-I'm supposed to be putting together my pirogi casserole-it's gonna be so yummy! We are having a big T-day this year at a hall. I know it sounds so-uncomfortable right? But, actually it was so fun last year! The "hall" is situated on Lake Huron and has a big stone hearth. We had karaoke for the kids and a crafting area, ping pong table and "hang out" spot for the older, cooler kids-lol and everyone brings a dish to pass! Then all the younger women pitch in to clean up while the men watch football and older folks play cards! We invite everyone-related or not-I think we are at about 60+ people this year! I can't wait-the boys have a ball playing and then pass out early just in time for momma to have a glass of wine and relax!

Anyways-I made this print for myself because I just LOVE (love) art prints. I showed it around a bit and  found that other people really liked it too, so I put it in my Etsy shop today (click here).

Hope your holiday is lovely!

Have a look...

Etsy Artist Finds....2012 Calendars

I love calendars. I think I get this from my mom who is a real calendar nut as well! There is just something about them, it's probably the artwork for me. Perhaps it's the anticipation of a new year or a new month. You flip the page and it's a fresh start! I don't know-is that silly? I'm working on a little 2012 calendar too, but I'm planning to give them away as extras to people who purchase things from my Etsy shop this holiday season. I wanted to have it finished already but I've been swamped with other stuff and I've been completing some home projects that needed attention and fresh coats of paint! Anyways my "promotion" will start on Monday so look for that.

Last year we bought my mother-in-law a calendar from Snapfish that had all the birthdays in the appropriate days and pics of all the grandkids and adults-she loved it. Calendars are just so useful-I like useful gifts don't you? They are also little enjoyable works of art that make you smile! Here are some Etsy calendars that make me smile....

1. Handz

2. Nella Designs

3. Monkey Mind Design

4. Khristiana Howell

5. Art is Everything

6. Inkspot Workshop

Check out this article on Houzz for some more cool Etsy 2012 Calendars!

Etsy Artist Finds.... and me finding myself.

Back in early 2007 I discovered Etsy. Life was different then, I was  different. I loved re-furbishing and painting furniture (mostly kid things). I signed up for Etsy but never really got around to making it happen.

Instead we got slammed by the wave of recession sweeping across Michigan and rapidly to the rest of the country. My husband worked for Chrysler and you know-that didn't turn out so good! lol-I can laugh now, but we nearly lost everything we had-except each other. 

Included in the loss was my creative spirit. You know, life has a way of forcing priorties on you and at the time all my creative juices were being poured into figuring out what the hell we were gonna do! We lived on the road for over 2 years chasing work in my husbands new field. First we stayed in hotels then in our motorhome. Ezzie was just a year old at the time. We were like modern day Okies (ala the Grapes of Wrath).
Now when someone says- "What do you think you'll be in doing in five years?" It sounds cheesy to me-I just laugh! Seriously? We had a brand new house, 6 gorgeous, wooded acres and in an instant we were living in a hotel room in some other state! Still, I felt blessed. I was with the 2 people I loved the most, having some really cool adventures, and we were executing a plan.

Years later when everything calmed back down, and we bought another home, I started thinking about me again. The things I love, the things I want to do. I rejoined Etsy, began blogging, and started cultivating my dreams. I realized how special it was to be able to connect with a community of creatives like me, who were pursuing their passions the way I had dreamed of doing. That's why I love to feature Etsy shops in my Wednesday posts. I hope it doesn't feel too much like a commercial, it's just something I really believe in! SUPPORT HANDMADE!

OH YEAH- Remember my art print contest starts tomorrow so be sure and check that out and you could win some fare for your area--from ME!:)

Here's a few artists that are packing a geometric punch.

Check em out...

ZIPPER 8 LIGHTING:








NENA VON:

THE PAIR A BIRDS:

 LAMPSHADE DESIGNS:

Jen's Art Additions...linen owl

I was really inspired by the textile art of Abigail Brown. Her owl print and textile creations were featured as part of this week's feather study. I'm most comfortable painting, drawing or doing some sort of graphic art, but this week I thought I'd work with some fabric for a change. Hmmm. I haven't yet decided if this is art or just a craft!!

First I found an owl to draw here are the instructions. However I cheated a bit and just grabbed the owl and printed him onto some paperbag-like craftish paper. Then I gathered my supplies which included: good scissors, modge podge, glue brushes, super fine sharpie, super glue, twigs, buttons and some linen fabric (I tea stained to different shades the day before).

 I used a linen fabric because I wanted a good fray. Then I started from the bottom and layered my way up, cutting strips to fit his body and always rotating the fabric colors to create depth. I used the fluffy edges of the fabric for the bottom tail feathers and the ears. Once I had the body done, I cut/glued on a mask and the circles for the eyes. Then I glued on all of the embellishments with super glue and used the sharpie to add some last minute details.

 I like it. I framed it and hung it in the office even. However I think that I will stick with drawing and painting and leave the textile art to Abigail Brown! :)

Here it is...

some pics of the process...

What do you think?

Nothing would be right if I didn't do some sort of digital manipulation...:)

Jen's Art Additions...

One of the reasons I started this blog was to give focus to my creative goals and to find inspiration. It's my hope that others are inspired by the things I collect, create and post here.

Today I'm posting something I've been working on for about a week now. I really like this piece and added it to my Etsy shop today in fact. Not everything I post here on the blog makes it into my shop. Right now my shop consists of children's art-mostly ABC prints of all kinds. Pretty soon Etsy will let us change our store names and this one will become Area Fare Kids. When I'm ready with some "grown up" pieces I'll open a second shop with that stuff. I tend toward naive style art anyway so I'm not sure how grown up it'll actually be! :)

Anyway I think this piece I call "Pretty Worlds" is perfect for grown-ups and kids alike. It began as a watercolor painting. I then took sample circles of it digitally and manipulated them independently as I added them to a new page. When they were all in place and positioned properly, I edited them again as a whole.

Printed on Epson Velvet Fine Art Paper, this print is soft, textured and bright. The original color is the mixed hue-but you can get it tinted in blue, warm, or pink too.

Have a look...

8 x 10 "Pretty Worlds" textured mixed media art print $15 in my Etsy shop

This ABC print is in the works-so look for it soon in my Etsy Shop!

Something to look at...

I found these yesterday and thought-"that is so cool". These little paper cuts are from French artist Anastassia Elias. There are many more to look at, so head over to Behance Network and check it out!


Here's a little look...

Something from me...

I feel like I've been really out of touch lately with all things blog related! If you missed my announcement last week about Area Fare being on a kind of summer vacation, read about it here. I've vowed to a least post a few times a week though until fall when I'll be back in full swing! 

Whew-it's been beautiful here in Northern Michigan lately. We had a garage sale yesterday, goodness-someone remind to never do that again! hahaha I'm actually happy to have done it because I've been holding on to things that I just need to let go of. I also got a chance to work on my tan a little and hang out with some friends-- and that is always nice.

Anyway, I thought I'd post a little something today really quick that I worked on last week. It's a new spaceship ABC print for my Etsy shop and a little companion piece of nursery art. The spaceship art print started out as an acrylic painting on canvas. I then did some digital editing to it. Next I added digital color to my spaceship illustration and layered it onto the background.

Hope you like...

ETSY ARTIST FINDS...

I love colorful, simple, naive-style, artwork, so this Etsy shop TWOEMS definitely fits that description. I also really like the geometric quality that San Francisco based artist Melanie Mikecz achieves in some of her designs. When I redo my kitchen I'm buying something from this shop for sure-remember that pop of color thing I was talking about? Perfect! She says that her work is a digital mixed media technique (this is how I describe my artwork as well). What does that mean? She describes it this way-

"... it involves sketching, painting, drawing, scanning, Photoshopping (is that a word?), more painting, possibly some scribbling, more scanning, washing paint out of my hair, and then finally printing on my Epson printer."

Ha-sounds familiar!

Check out Melanie's shop-TWOEMS on Etsy...


her website- http://www.mm-illustration.com/

her Facebook page--http://www.facebook.com/pages/Twoems/165682406802831?v=wall


Have a look...

Like this? Check out similiar styles from other Etsy artists I've featured...

MAN'S BEST FRIEND...

I've talked about this artist before but he's so awesome I'll mention him again! John W. Golden is an accomplished graphic artist whose wonderful prints make me smile. His designs are popping up all over in places like Land of Nod and Target! Loving his dog collection, appropriately called the Fido series. See more of his work on his website-www.johnwgolden.com

Fido series by John W. Golden on Etsy

ETSY ARTIST FINDS...BIKE WEEK

I can say with complete certainty that this is the closest I'll ever get to bike week! Just kidding-I actually like dirtbikes and watching the races, but that is an entirely different subject matter. Today is just a bunch cool bicycle stuff from the Etsy universe!BTW-there is ALOT more bike stuff on Etsy-if you're so inclined...


Check it out!

1-Cyanide stitches   2-Funky Chicken designs   3- Dark Cycle Clothing   4-Graphique  5.-Idillard   6-Lenny Mudd   7- Word Garden   8-Livy Lou Designs   9- Mod Diva    10- Neuvo Designs   10-Oh Little Rabbit   11-Olliff Studios  12-Sweetnature Designs  13. Dark Cycle clothing   14-Tiny Cottage Treasures  15-Vital   16-Vohandmade

BICYCLE ART & OTHER STUFF...

Today some cool bike art from Poster Caberet and bicycle themed kids stuff for you to check out! Also have a look at the Poster Cabaret's 2011 Bike show gallery!


Hope you like...

"BICYCLE" ELEANOR GROSCH

"FREEWHEELING" BIANCA GOMEZ



JASON MUNN




NOR CAL DESIGNED BY DON CLARK OF INVISBLE CREATURE




"PEDAL PUNK" RYAN CLARK




"RENE HERSE" BY DIANA SUDYKA



ROBERT LEE FROM METHANE STUDIOS

ROBERT LEE FROM METHANE STUDIOS

BIANCA GOMEZ

"BEEP BEEP" TAD CARPENTER OF VAHALLA STUDIOS

BIANCA GOMEZ

"OVERGROWN" BRIAN TURNER

Check out these cool bicycle inspired products for the tots from online shop Rosenberry Rooms...