TINY ART

i posted my new paintings! ok, not the ones i already told you about my my new super fun awesome project - tiny paintings! put them in your tiny homes! put them at your tiny office! put them in your tiny greenhouse! - ok don't leave them outside. or keep them in your pocket. i'm loving the tiny movement and i love all things tiny so why not tiny art?

i took a bunch of old business cards and painted over them so that i could paint inspiring things that people can bring with them anywhere! i'm so excited about it. what do you think?

oh my!

new paintings! that may or may not have been posted on etsy yet. actually, one has been posted; the rest haven't. any suggestions for titles for these paintings?







also, i'm working on a new project! stay tuned. it's in the works. 

genius idea

often ... i shouldn't say often. occasionally friends and i will participate in a lady's clothing swap. it's wonderful. everyone gets rid of all the things they don't want and gets new things for no money! everyone wins!

as i was cleaning out my attic the other day - i looked around and thought, man- i have a lot of junk. (am i alone? no. don't lie. you have a lot of junk too.)

but for some reason this time i thought you know what would be perfect? being able to get rid of stuff and know that it goes to a good home. and that's when my genius idea hit!

CRAFT SUPPLY PARTY SWAP! 

i'm going to get all my crafty and non-crafty friends together and organize a craft supply swap! that way people who have projects that they're missing the one piece to complete them, might find that piece! or people who want to start a new project, can do it! with new to them stuff! and i can finally get rid of all that fabric that i was going to do something with and never did! i think this is possibly the greatest idea i've ever had.

  (google image)

wedding time!

at the end of this week, my cousin will be marrying his best friend and combining their families into one. it's very exciting. more so exciting/nerve wrecking is the thought that i am going to be officating the ceremony! eeek!!!

so in order to distract everyone from my painful speech that will probably be laden with choking back tears, i've created these paintings to attach my speech too so i can read it in style.

 

this one and the one underneath are my favorites i think. maybe i'll figure out a way to keep them for myself.

 

their colors are lilac and yellow. perfect for a spring day by the pond. and it'll just be us and their two little kids. i hope the weather works out as well as it did for my wedding. the pond looked like glass when i got married. it was so beautiful.

Blue

so a friend of mine commissioned me to make a painting for her... which is always tough for me. because the moment you put a thought in my head, it seems impossible to make it my own. i think that's why i like abstract art so much. you lead by the feeling and nothing really specific has to come out of it.

the worst part about it is that she was unspecific in what she asked for.... she just gave me one guideline: blue. so of course i started coming up with paintings like this one:

can you get any more unblue than this?

in an attempt to bring in the blue, this came out:

 

and this:

 

i enjoy these paintings but i think part of the problem is that i know this woman and i want something that truly reflects her style...  that being said. you can expect to see some more blue paintings added to my shop shortly. :) 

check it out:  https://www.etsy.com/shop/ET2paints

 

days go on

here are some other daily paintings that will soon be added to my shop:

i painted!

ok. so i painted more. actually i painted a lot.

i just added more paintings to my shop, https://www.etsy.com/shop/ET2paints it's very exciting. also, i'm at a point where i feel like i'm letting more of my personality shine through. i mean, sometimes it's hard writing the descriptions because i want them to incite people into my work and entertain them but at the same time i don't want to overstep any boundaries. because the work i make is generally abstract, i love that anyone can see whatever they want out of my paintings. and i don't want to put images or ideas in people's heads for what they can use/see/do with my painting. i hope that something will jump out and evoke an emotion or feeling or just make people happy and therefore they'll want to buy my painting, commission me to make numerous more paintings based on my own efforts/ideas and then i'll become a millionaire. i'll probably continue to put money back in etsy because that's where i got my start but i'll vacation in different parts of the world - encouraging children to follow their dreams and anything can happen.

this could happen, right?

side note: does anyone out there know how to make prints of paintings? i'm sure it's easy enough and i should probably just look into it myself but i'm asking because i have a couple paintings i'm hoarding for myself right now because i like them so much. i'd love to be able to share them and keep them all at the same time.

here's one:

awesome, right? yes, i'm biased.

And she's shipped!

good bye little painting! i hope you warm up jake's room! or cool it down... i'm not exactly sure which one he needs right now. maybe it just adds a necessary touch of home.

that being said, i wanted to mention i HAVE been painting and i will be updating my shop soon. i was doing really well on my daily paintings. they were/are mostly small paintings that i can do by my bed based on my mood at the end of the night but then BART ATTACKED! ok, that's a bit of an exaggeration. bart loves to knock over water glasses and since i have been doing the daily paintings next to my bed and i tend to get thirsty/keep water next to the bed in case of coughing fits (yes, i also came down with that awful cold that's going around! yay april! what a fun month.) bart has knocked over my water glass and destroyed my paintings TWICE! i know i should have known better after the first time but apparently i'm not that smart. i was so frustrated too because i had the paintings all laid out because i had redone a bunch that had been water damaged the first time. blahhhhhhh!

stinkin' cat. what are you gonna do? don't say it. i love her. i just wish she liked my paintings undamaged like i do.

AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!

I SOLD MY FIRST PAINTING! I SOLD MY FIRST PAINTING! I SOLD MY FIRST PAINTING!

i can't believe i have to work today! it feels like it should be a national holiday! national emily sold her first painting! everyone gets a day of rest and celebration!

seeing that on my phone, the notification that a work of MY art had sold was EXHILARATING!

then i realized who bought it. because they asked for it to be paw printed by bart. (lady bart is my kitten - if i haven't mentioned that yet.) and then i saw the name....

it was my BROTHER! who's currently overseas at a military base! he's always been my biggest supporter of my art. he is the first person to ever commission my art. and the second person, actually. he's such a great person and a great support. but either way, i am so happy.

now i have to get all my ducks in a row for real and pick up some envelopes that can withstand a little wear and tear from the area my little painting is going to! my painting is going some where! people are going to see it! (maybe)

wow.

what a day.

day two

cat daydream.... i'm going to admit something... this was created while i was at work. sometimes my office is really slow and i have a little free time. this was one of those days. where i was painting and thinking about my poor cat and what she might daydream about...... probably getting outside and chasing all those chipmunks she watches so carefully. so in light of her and this spring air and the actual sunshine i can see out my window, this was created:

now i just have to figure out how to sneak outside so i can play with the chipmunks.

day one

shop is opened. i'm still trying to figure everything out but working on it. so why not challenge myself to a new task? let's do it.

my goal is to create one painting each day in april.
april day one looked like this:

to me it kinda looks like a party or something a clown would throw at you. which is kinda awful because i hate clowns. i call it chaos. and that's what yesterday was. pure chaos. between working, opening the shop and trying to figure out how everything works, running around, driving to a bunch of different stores, coming home, actually running, cleaning, laundry, blah blah blah. i finally had time to create this piece (while watching the flash... don't judge.) around 8:30 at night. i guess it could be a celebration piece. isn't it funny how differently you can look at pieces? that's what i love about abstract art. depending on your mood you can bring out so many different things. yesterday, to me, this painting represented the havoc that i created running from one thing to another but today it means how excited i was to open my shop, to start this new journey, to see what else lies in store. pretty exciting stuff.

anxious

april 1st is the day i plan to open the shop. april first and then the plan is to do a painting every day in april. i think i should be able to create a painting a day (maybe more!) and then photograph them and upload them by the end of the week or something. it's funny (and i know i've already mentioned this but) how annoying it can be to have to photograph things. i think mainly because i feel like i can never get it at just the right angle without it looking lopsided or not right. in my mind, people will only buy completely symmetrical photographed paintings. and when i photograph them it always seems to be at a bit of an angle. it's hard because i want to photograph them in the sun but then when it's sunny i can't really see what i'm doing.

another problem that makes me nervous/anxious is self promotion. i want people to see my paintings and buy my paintings and enjoy my paintings as much as i do... but i don't want people judging my paintings or critiquing my paintings or thinking that i think i'm better than anyone else. i know all of these things are likely to happen. and i'm hoping that with time i'll be able to develop a thicker skin and be ok with it. but i'm not there yet.

recent uploads: 

 

ahhh! i can't believe this is really happening. also, i can't believe it's still snowing in new hampshire and it's going to be april on wednesday. can someone please let the weather know that spring has arrived and we would appreciate some more appropriate temperatures?

i almost did it

i almost hit open shop today. i don't know what stopped me except etsy tells you 18 times that you should have ten pieces in your shop and i only have eight. or that for some reason i have my heart set on opening in april. like april is a fresh new start and a brand new world. also, i'm second guessing most of my stuff. but i only have a week to do that. one week before i go live! hello world!

this one i'm not sure about. to me, it screams beach. it's so funny. sometimes i create something and i'm like eh- this is awful. throw it out. then i leave it for a while and i'm like well, maybe? but then i convince myself that no one else would like it. but maybe i should just put it in and see what happens? maybe i'm not giving people enough credit. or myself enough credit. that happens.

the more i look at it in this post the more i think -yes. that would be nine. and it's already photographed. i guess we'll see. i can always keep it around for a back up. 

it's all happening!

i've spent the better part of today trying to figure this all out. trying to get amounts and shipping and pictures just right. man, i didn't realize how much effort had to be put in behind the scenes in order to have everything look and work out ok!

but this is just round one. i'm sure, with time, i will be able to do it faster and have a better understanding of what i'm doing. taking photographs of your work? terrible. i'm a TERRIBLE photographer anyhow and i feel like i can never get it quite right. a painting? i know when that's finished but a photograph - i feel like that's a whole different ball game. and one that i never quite got the technique to try.

is there some way out there i could just paint and you would magically know what i made? no? ok. i'll keep trying.

i think i want to get a few more paintings up on the site before i go live.

other things i've realized with time and practice:

• i don't paint as well on my bed. sure it's great to be able to sit in bed and paint. but i have no where to put things, bart is constantly walking on my paintings, i'm worried about my rinse water falling on my bed, i'm worried about drinking my rinse water... it's just bad. so i need a definite painting place. 
• i worry a lot. i worry about pricing, losing stuff in the mail, people hating me/my stuff, nothing selling... all things i either can't control or won't know for sure until i actually set sail. make my stupid worries go away please.
• i'm loving every minute of this. i love the distraction from my every day life. i love that it's forcing me to create and spend my time wisely. i love that i'm doing something with my art degree and i'm LOVING this journey. now please continue reminding me of that during my next freak out session.

march beginnings

 

spring please

 

i haven't even taken this one off my pad yet. it's my favorite though.
i call it miss piggy. i'm wondering if i should buy frames. also, how do you make a digital print? do i have to become friends with someone at a print shop? because the people who work in the ones around me are not very nice.

february 2015

this is my start. obviously the photography needs some serious work but at least here is where i began! 

hello, new world.

i didn't have a name for this one but erik called it earth. 

i think i settled on this one being called flock. 

 .

 this one is germs. i was going to call it tuberculosis but i thought that may be too morose.

this one i call monsters.

 

this one is called ugly sweater.

 

this one is unnamed at the moment. any ideas?

i have officially created art

i don't have pictures yet. but i will.

it's amazing. i sat down one day and within an hour or two i had created a bunch of different pieces. i had a vision in my head and these pieces turned out NOTHING like that.... oh well, that's how it goes sometimes.

and out of the 15 pieces or so i created i think about 4 are worthy of me doing anything further. i half wonder if i'm limiting myself. like maybe people would like the other pieces just as much but because i don't feel like they look finished or look like something i would want on my wall, i'm stunting myself. we'll see how it goes.

for now i have a few more parts of the puzzle to put together before i'm able to get my shop up and going. obviously taking photographs is one of those things but i also need to purchase some more paper and get some odds and ends together. set up my banner. all that jazz. and then i'm going to put myself out into the world and see what happens.

and that... is terrifying.

my first day on new legs

things to consider when taking on a new adventure:

why am i doing this?

i'm doing this because my day to day life is boring me. because the winter has been cold and dreary. because i need something new to look forward to every day.

i'm also doing this because my work life is crazy and i'd like to think that some day i could be doing more of what i wanted to do with my life.

i'm doing this for the inner me. the child in me. the part of me that never wanted to settle and yet here i am.

can i do this?

absolutely. but it is going to take time. it's going to take work. it's going to take more emotion than i'm used to. i'm going to have to push myself. i'm going to have to hold myself responsible. and i'm terrified. what if i fail? worse, what if i succeed?

what's next?

creating. i need to create. i need to sit down, dig out my paints, wet my brushes and go at it. i need to get out of this office and make it happen. i need to just do it.