Mollie January 26th, 2007 Painting , Show Comments(1)

It’s past time that I start thinking about the shows for next month, and here is what I’ve come up with. The two pictures below depict two paintings that I’ve started in the past year, but never finished. I plan on re-working and/or finishing both of these and enter the Renaud Spirit Center Show. Stay tuned in the next couple of weeks because I’m going to show my progress on these two as they progress.
For the “A Few of My Favorite Things” show I’m planning on entering Camel, Circus, and one other, perhaps one of the mixed media panel pieces.

Mollie January 18th, 2007 Painting , Show Comments(2)

I’ve been laid up this week with a sprained my ankle. It might be a flimsy excuse for not painting, but honestly I haven’t figured out what to paint yet.

I don’t plan on painting anything new for the “Just a Few of My Favorite Things” show because I can enter anything I’ve ever made, so long as it depicts my favorite things (opportunities to show work done in the past doesn’t come around often and I want to take advantage of it).  I’m definitely going to enter “Camel,” but I don’t know what the other two should be. I’m open to ideas (hint: that means please go to my gallery and choose something and email me or post your choices – Please & Thanks)

Mollie January 14th, 2007 Show Comments(2)

The evening started out a little slow because we had freezing rain, but that didn’t stop the night from being a success. I can’t say enough about how much I enjoyed the fencing demonstration led by Bob McPherson! As anyone who knows me can attest, I absolutely love all things Gothic and Renaissance; but even those not so enthralled as me would have thoroughly enjoyed themselves. At first he explained a bit about the history of swords and sword fighting then moved on to the demonstration. At one point he asked the audience if they would rather hear more history or more fighting; and to McPherson’s surprise we asked for more history… then more fighting. My husband’s co-worker and his family showed up to support me (but mostly to see the fencing) and from the looks on the kid’s faces I think they enjoyed themselves too.

The part you all are wondering… how did the evening turn out for my artwork? Did I win any prizes or get any recognition? The answer is yes; but first I want to mention that there was some really great work on display. I alluded in a previous post that there were not as many submissions as we would’ve liked, but I still had stiff competition; and the three featured artists were incredible! Before the awards I got to meet the gallery manager; she came over to ask me if I was having a good time and we started talking. She explained how they came up with the theme of the show and that she is a huge fan of Gothic Art. I did a little networking… ok, so I really just tried to act normal and not embarrass myself… but it’s a start.

There were three categories of art submissions; and each category had first, second, and third place; then a best of show that includes all of the work for the whole show. All of the pieces I submitted were under the same category – Painting/Drawing. “Knight” won Third place, “Cityscape” (3-D drawing) won Second place, and Holy Crap! “Chivalry” won best of show! That means that all three of my pieces won an award!!!! There was a little mix-up in the labeling of “Knight” and “Chivalry” so it took a little to sort out which of them won the big prize, but in the end I couldn’t be happier that all my work on “Chivalry” paid off.   I was a little embarrassed with all the attention, so it helped that the fencing demonstration was right after the awards, by then it was getting late and I could excuse myself before my face went up in flames.

Mollie January 12th, 2007 Show Comments(0)

Below is a list of shows that I’m going to try and submit to next month. The third is completely online unless by some miracle I win, in which case there might be a show in New York in store for me.

1. Two pieces for the “Best of Oak Leaf Show” at the Renaud Spirit Center in Ofallon, from February 23rd-April 6th. The deadline for submissions is on my birthday February 22nd.

2. Two to Three pieces for “Just a Few of My Favorite Things” at St. Peters Community Art Center, from February 17th-March 12th; with an opening reception on February 17th. The deadline for submissions is Tuesday & Wednesday, February 13th and 14th (noon to 8pm).

3. Several pieces for “United Creators” online global arts competition. The deadline is February 28th.

Mollie January 12th, 2007 Show Comments(0)

Last night after the Oak Leaf meeting I got a sneak preview of the work for the Art A Lot opening reception tonight (at St. Peters Community Art Center) and though there wasn’t as many entries as I’d have liked, there was some really good work. In addition to the opening reception festivities there are three featured artists and a fencing demonstration that should guarantee an fun, unique, and eventful night.

Mollie January 11th, 2007 Uncategorized Comments(1)

My cousin Stephanie emailed me today with the task of listing things that I would like to do before I die. She explained that voicing my goals would motivate me to try and reach them, and in doing so would make my goals more obtainable. I’ve been doing something similar here and on LiveJournal, so I thought it would be good for me to post some of the art related goals here. (note: This isn’t nearly everything, as I’m sure there are things I’m leaving off… but I have to start somewhere)

Current Goals:
Continue to enter art shows and juried exhibitions.
Continue to create new works and stay motivated.
Work on building a resume and professional artist portfolio.
Begin to present myself as an artist and network with other artists.
Learn how to self-promote and build a name for myself.
Build up my nerve to approach galleries to exhibit my work.
Get my first solo art show.
Take some classes in digital photography.
Take a few classes in metals to learn how to make a suit of armor; & make one.
Bigger art studio.

Dream Goals:
Have solo art shows at prominent galleries around the country.
Quit my day job and make a “good” living selling my art.
Have my artwork appreciated by my peers, museums, & collectors.
Have my artwork in a traveling show to museums around the country.
Own my own gallery.

Misc. Goals:
Travel around Europe seeing various art sites and monuments that up until now I’ve only seen in books.
Go back to the Metropolitan Museum in New York.
Show my husband his first Jackson Pollock.

Mollie January 10th, 2007 Mixed Media , Painting , Pen & Ink , Show Comments(5)

I’m finished!!! I’m exhausted, my carpal tunnel is killing me, my head feels like it’s going to split in two (and I wish it would just fall off and get it over with), my whole body aches, and I went over my deadline a bit.. but I’m done; and the mixture of relief and pride I felt submitting everything tonight was indescribable! I’m so relieved that I actually finished all three pieces; especially after all of the trials and tribulations I had with “Chivalry.” It’s a little unreal how well it came together in the final hour, talk about an underdog!

“Knight,” 30×40 inches, acrylic on canvas (I’m still working on a better photo. If you look closely you can see the clematis at the bottom).

“Chivalry”, 30×36 inches, mixed media (collage, acrylic, pen and ink). A major change in the last hour included taking out the top center helmet and replacing it with knights on horses jousting.

Mollie January 9th, 2007 Mixed Media , Pen & Ink , Show Comments(0)

Current status:

Frames: Ended up purchasing two frames from Hobby Lobby. One needs to be painted and the other had to be cut down to size, but I think they will both work very well.

Drawing: Completely done, mounted, and framed in the shadow box. It’s difficult to see the 3-D effect in a photograph, but I tried anyway. My (great, wonderful, stupendous) husband and I spent well into the morning, and used a whole package of round self-adhesive foam core to lift each piece off the background, so that they create a 3-D cityscape.

“Knight”: Completed final critique, just waiting to complete the finishing touches and frame. No photo available (I took a few, but none they were all horrible).

“Chivalry”: Incomplete. I decided to add another element to the painting before completion. (Below is my progress, most noticeable is that I continued the knight down over the castle, to help regain it’s dominance).

Mollie January 7th, 2007 Mixed Media , Painting , Show Comments(2)

Yesterday I spent nearly the entire day painting and drawing. I stayed up late, and got up early this morning, and I’m already tired LOL.
We didn’t have much luck finding the right molding for frames at the hardware store. The best we could do is to put two moldings together to make one, then cut and fit them to the painting.. it seems like too much in too little time. We checked out the local stores to see what it would cost to purchase ready made frames, but only one of them is a standard size. Ugh! On top of that the only store that has frames big enough (that I’ve found) isn’t open on Sundays. So I have to put that off another day if we decide to go that way.

“Chivalry” – I finished the niche and the flowers.

“Knight” – I worked even more on the stone, hopefully it’s done, except maybe to darken it.

Mollie January 6th, 2007 Mixed Media , Painting , Pen & Ink , Show Comments(0)

I’m posting a progress report for this week – to act as a starting point for this weekend… a countdown of sorts to the big show deadline.

I’ve actually taken a couple steps backwards with “Knight” the stone bricks just weren’t cutting it, so I bought some sea sponges and went to work. As much as I hated the idea of starting them over, (it’s a huge setback), but my pride wouldn’t allow me to submit a painting I’m not satisfied with, as would’ve been the case. Please forgive the horrible photo I was in a hurry because I need to get to the hardware store to buy molding to create frames for the paintings (ya, that does mean that not only do I need to finish each the painting, I have to make the frames and frame everything.)

I’ve made several changes to “Chivalry” this week. I darkened the castle, the cat, and the dress; but I still have a ton to do.

Last, but not least I’ve made a lot of progress on the drawing. I still have to cut them out better, arrange and layer them, draw the background, mount them onto the board, and frame them.

At this point I could use all the luck I can get. If everything doesn’t go perfectly this weekend one or more of these pieces will not be ready for the show; and therefore not be submitted. Keep your fingers crossed!!!!