I woke up like this

Green is in!!

It seems like everyone is talking about green these days, so I wanted to design a fun image in its honor! I have been watching the "green channel" now and I have to say my 2 new favorite shows are "the supper club" and "wasted". I am in awe when I watch the "wasted" show and see how our eco-footprint is. I am sure if I was on the show I would have some problems. I have been trying my best not to use any of those plastic bags you get soo much of in the supermarkets. They are such a pain and I cannot help but think of the waste. My biggest problem is paper towels!! I bought the micro-fiber towels but I am still struggling with the use of paper towels and how it is just soo easy to use them. We are being more conscience of how much water and lights we use too. With all the problems of food being contaminated I am looking forward to this country really focusing on more organic products grown here in our own country. I have been a big fan of organic way back in the early 90's when I lived in Park Slope, Brooklyn. They had a great co-op there and many of the stores carried this kind of produce. I remember when my mom thought "organic, what's that ? some silly new food?" and I laughed and told her, no its the food you use to get as a kid until they stuck all kinds of crap on it when I was a kid!!

And so there you go the world is realizing what waste and toxins they are producing but is it enough to start something big to chance things? Let's hope so for my boys sake and others!!

Okay I am off to design more and make my world more green!

Ellen

BBQ Time!!

Quick post here since I have been very busy with work and get the kids off to camp and swim lessons. It seems its about time to get your BBQ groove on don't you think? We have yet to have an a official one here but it seems this Saturday we just might. I was thinking of having my sons friends and their parents over for a little get together and a nice end to the first week of camp. The boys are having fun hanging out together in a different setting than school and we are happy with the new camp this year. I think we have gone through 3 different camps before we used the town one and found out that was the best of all compared to the fancy science, overpriced one in an another town.

I also wanted to say thanks to Jennifer
for the shout out. I am humbled by her lovely sentiments and I too think she has become a great friend and a great person to go to for some advice. I envy her lovely home and love the fact that she opens it up twice a year to have a sale of her fabric and goods, what a great idea. I do not have a home that is big enough to do that, but I would love to if I did. Her fabrics have these wonderful patterns that can be used for virtually anything, and I love the bright fun colors too. Lets not forget she is also a wiz at glitter!!! Who does not love glitter? I love all the fun crafty things she makes with that!

Okay so these crazy summer days I am working on various projects and such and in the middle of it all I have to buy a new computer. I am going nuts on trying to figure out the best place and solution but I think we finally narrowed it down. Today we are seeing if there is any way possible to upgrade my illustrator and photoshop without having to buy the new software since it runs very high. I know that my programs to some may seem like the dinosaur age but to me they work fine. However with that said I am curious to see the latest and greatest and wonder if that would be a better fit. Ahh so much to think about before I have had my coffee. By the way has anyone used Dreamweaver? and if so do you know if its the best to use for web development or is there something better for computer challenged people like me. If you have any insight to that I would love to know!

Okay gotta finally get a workout in and do some work!!

Ellen

new fairies and a way to procrastinate

Here is a new mixed media painting that I did instead of doing my real work, but I guess some art is better than no art. These are two little sweet fairies hanging out with Mr. Frog I think I might do a whole series now that I am enjoying painting this new way.

okay I really need to get back to some "real" work which is tedious computer stuff but will be nice when its done!

Ellen

Mr. Peacock

Hello everyone meet Mr. Peacock, he is a lovely fellow with his beautiful feathers. This is a new design I drew up for the show I just did and well you should expect that I will be giving Mr. Peacock some more family members soon! The weather is beautiful today, sun and just the right temp. Yesterday we had soo many thunderstorms it was making me crazy and I suspect that there will be more before the week is out.

Oh and by the way congrads CELTICS!!!!!!!! The game was awesome, I watched the whole thing and was soo proud of our team especially Garret and Pierce!! and what about Allen with those amazing 3 pointers!! I love that they just creamed the Lakers!!! Boston rules!!

okay back to work!

Ellen

The Show and the drawbacks

Here are some photos of the art show I did along side my dad in Plymouth,MA last Saturday. This is a wall of
some of my new collages and pastels.

Here are some of my mini collages and paintings along with prints on the table under the tent. We had a beautiful day very sunny and around 82 degrees. The set-up was pretty easy compared to my trade shows which is more planning and designed. Since this was my first show here I did not know what to expect but my dad had done it for about 3 years and he thought I would do really well since no one would have art like mine. He was right on that note since that is what I kept hearing all day.

More mini collages along side some other art. Well I thought he would be right since before the show opened up I already had sold one of my owl prints but as the day progressed I would find that the show was not as lucrative as I had hoped.

My dad on the other hand was another story!

Here he is at his wall which mind you was on the back of both of ours as well since he brought soo much stuff. Yes this is my crazy artistic father who had sculptures on our lawn and stained glass windows when I was growing up. Our house was always the ones the kids talked about because of it. When you are young that is the last kind of attention you need is kids laughing at your crazy dad's art on your front lawn, but such was my life. Naturally since my brother was well liked and well known as someone who would " straighten you out if necessary" no one dared bother me about it, but I knew what they were thinking.

Anyway he has been painting for as long as I am living and has sold more art and created more art than anyone I know. His studio is about 3,000 square feet full of art from prints to sculpture to paintings and prints. My very talented friend Ronnie whom I told you about
recently went to his studio last year and was blown away. My other college friends also could not believe their eyes as well so that was nice to share that with them.

These paintings of his are the more impressionistic style but he has many hats like myself and has art that looks very abstract and different. At this show he did not make much money but the contacts he got turned into a nice profit. Many people went to his studio the next day and bought allot of stuff so this was his best yet to date. I on the other hand realize that this venue was not the best for me and I am better suited to selling art on Etsy. Many people around here liked my work but I guess did not see the full value of putting it in their home or they just didn't want to spend money. I could not tell if people were not spending money or just wanted something else.

The jewelry vendors did very well from what I hear so I cannot really judge the show. I just know for me it was not worth it.

Some more of my dad's paintings. I love the floral ones on the left the best, I wish I had more wall space in my house for some of them but atlas I am full!! I just I really need more space after all!

Here are the booths together, me and my dad which also was a fun topic at the show! I think next year I will have my brochures at his booth with my Etsy site and contact info instead of standing there for 6 hours. My husband and boys went to White Horse Beach and had a great day swimming and digging in the sand. That is more my idea!

I cannot talk enough about how hard it is for people to realize that ART has a value and its not something you can pay 5.00 for. If you want cheap art go to Target and not an art show. When I hear the comment on how things seem high well then they do not realize the full value of the product. My blogging buddies will agree that some of these people just do not have the sense of how much time and effort it takes into creating art. Do you think Picasso would just give it away? I feel that artists who make products sell better and create things that lift us up get soo under appreciated its mind blowing. I guess the only way that we will get appreciated is when people realize that without us life is boring!!

Anyway that's it for the show and I am back to my old life of designing art for product, but I am going to get my act together for an Etsy shop real soon where I will sell some of my original collages and prints. So tune in, I am hoping to have it up in July.

Off to work!

Ellen

more new collages

Busy working away here trying to get ready for the art show tomorrow in Plymouth, Ma at the Pinehills village green. Here are some new collages I will be selling along with some paintings and pastels.

I am just loving making Hooty Hoots as I call them, they are soo much fun to do and well I hope people like them as much as I do. This whole week was dedicated to making new art for the show and in the process I found myself enjoying it very much. I kind of lost my love for designing a little bit this year due to a little burn out and work, but I think I have renewed my love again. Everyone once in a while it feels like its all too much and this year was mine, but now that I am over my hump I am sure I will be whipping out all kinds of new and fun creations.

There is nothing like pushing yourself in another direction to renew your creative spirit, and to those who are going threw what I was don't fret, you will find yourself in your art again if you just let it go and not try to hard.

I received a photo today of what my craft will look like in Better Homes and Gardens Holiday crafts magazine and I am very excited. I will be sure to post the final picture when I get that and I am looking forward to seeing if anyone makes my ornament craft.

Okay gotta run and get some last minute things done before tomorrow, so have a great weekend all and I will report back next week about how the show went!

Ellen

New Collage !

Here is another new collage that I just did last night and its a combination of prints of my own designs and fun colored paper. So what do you think, do you like it? I am having soo much fun creating these for my show this weekend and I am hoping to see a bunch. I will have an Etsy shop soon I promise where I will be selling the original of these as well as prints. I am hoping to get that set up by the end of the month so stay tuned.

It has been HOT, HOT, HOT here in Massachusetts I cannot tell you, but luckily I am not too far from the beach were I can cool off outside. We have the AC blasting to stay cool and when you walk outside you get blasted with such hot air its unbelievable. My little guys had soo much fun surfing at the beach this weekend and I enjoyed pulling them along the shoreline on their bogey boards. I just love summer and looking forward to " Mommy Camp" in August!! Yes I am taking off August this year and enjoying myself with my 2 cute boys. I cannot wait to get to the beach everyday!!!

For now I must get back to work and create some more goodies for the Show!

Stay cool!!

IF-Forgotten and a new style of design!!

Has the little woodland fairy forgotten something? Maybe the other owl in the tree? or perhaps what she is supposed to do with the owls. Hmm not sure. Anyway here is a sneak peak at a new style I have been working on and I am really enjoying it. Stay tuned for more to come. I will be printing this out for prints to sell at the Art on the Green fair next Saturday in Plymouth, Ma. If you are in the Boston, Cape Cod area you should go and check it out, I along with my Dad

There should be all kinds of arts and crafts at the show and hopefully we will have a nice sunny day to boot! I know this weekend here will be Hot Hot Hot!! and I will spend it at the beach so if next weekend is not as hot that would be great!!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Ellen

IF-Baby

Here is my latest entry for Illustration Friday "baby" theme. This design was done for a baby shower plate and hopefully you will see it in stores soon except it has been changed a bit so I wanted to show the original before the other gets picked.

I am working like crazy juggling 4 clients plus trying to get ready for the art show that is coming up in about 2 weeks. I have not been able to work out like I used to and now I am paying for it, so tomorrow I have to exercise or I am going to be over the edge in my weight!!

Okay so back to work!

Ellen