Mollie October 30th, 2008 Painting , Show Comments(0)

Here is the last of the Plein Air paintings (excluding the one that I didn’t get an image of because it sold before I could).  I’m sorry for the quality of the image.

Mollie October 29th, 2008 Drawing , Painting , Show Comments(0)

I finally have a couple of the Plein Air pieces to show.  This first one is the one that won Third Place in the show.

Mollie September 2nd, 2008 Note , Painting , Pen & Ink Comments(0)

Sometimes our personal life bleeds into every aspect of our lives, despite our best efforts to stop it.  For me I’ve had a bad case of “Artist’s Block” the last several months, and that has recently changed.

You see, we have been trying to conceive a child for the last three years, undergoing infertility treatments for half of that.  It has been a long and arduous journey, that has taken it’s toll on me emotionally.  So for the last six months we’ve been heavily weighing our options and seriously considering adoption.  A couple weeks ago we concluded that rather than undergo anymore treatments at this time, we are going to try and adopt an infant.

As many of you know adoption isn’t cheap, and our funds have been seriously depleted by infertility costs.   Despite the federal adoption credits and programs out there, we know that we will need to raise quite a bit of money to help fund this adoption.  Which is where my talents are going to be put to use.  My husband and I have created a new website www.petillustrations.com, for which I have created several pet portrait samples to display.  I hope that everyone will check it out and consider commissioning me for a pet portrait to help our cause.  Additionally, I will be trying to market the site on various pet and adoption forums and groups, so if anyone has any information or ideas, they would be greatly appreciated.

Mollie May 12th, 2008 Mixed Media , OLAG , Painting Comments(0)

I’m happy to report that the Oak Leaf Artist Guild website is in the completion stage. Translated: means that pending some very minor changes and any audits that the guild may have, it’s finished! Again I want to thank my wonderful husband for all his hard work in building the site for us!

This means that from here on out most of the work will be from the other guild members as they start to create their own accounts and upload the images for their galleries. I can’t wait to see what everyone posts!!

This weekend I was able to put OLAG on the back burner and concentrate on my new painting series, and despite it being Mother’s Day weekend I made a fair amount of progress. I might have even completed the first piece, I’m undecided, and I started two more. I also did some work on the collage, though it’s slow going.  Hopefully, I’ll have images to post soon.

Mollie May 6th, 2008 Mixed Media , OLAG , Painting , Show Comments(0)

OLAG Website:
I’ve been working on it and it’s coming along nicely. Jesse hopes to have the gallery basics by the end of the week, and I’ve been working on adding content and getting the pages all put together. I should have something that resembles a real website to show the group this Thursday at the meeting.

Children’s Book:
I haven’t had much time to work on it, but I did get a chance to write a bit more. There is still a third or so of the writing left to do; including the ending which hasn’t been conceived yet. I bought some illustration board to get started, but haven’t started any of the artwork yet.

Collage:
Unfortunately, this weekend I made negative progress when I had to tear off part of a few of the collaged images. I think it’s coming along better now, but I have a way to go before I’ll be satisfied.

New Painting Series:
I started the first in a series of abstracts I intend to do for upcoming shows. I’m debating if I want to put animals in them. I love painting them, and it always makes for an odd atmosphere in the paintings that I love.

Mollie April 29th, 2008 OLAG , Painting , Show Comments(0)

I spent most of the weekend at Framations for the Spring Art Walk. There was a ton of wonderful artwork; particularly Suzanne Lowry’s photography series of wooden figures. I think they would make a wonderful children’s book! It was interesting to watch and see how other artists work their magic with potential customers. It’ll be a while before I’m comfortable on my own, but I’m making progress thanks to the bunch at Framations.

The whole experience got me thinking about art, and excited to go home and paint. Which is just what I did, I finished two pieces last night and I have a third on the way! I also had an idea for a new painting series, I’ll post more information and images soon!

And, I haven’t forgotten about the children’s book or the OLAG website. I’ve been looking at publishing options to determine what size to make the illustrations for the book. I’m leaning toward a square format, but I’d like it to be hardcover and most places don’t seem to do them in square. Then I was looking at the soft cover and they just don’t seem as substantial as the hardcovers.

OLAG website: as you can see by the sample below of what the page will look like, we are making really good progress.

Mollie April 14th, 2008 Business , Drawing , Note , Painting , Pen & Ink Comments(0)

I found inspiration for a new project in an email, if you can believe that! A friend and her daughters tried to rescue a baby squirrel, they named Tiny Tim. Attached to the email were several pictures she had taken of him with the family (see below).

“…we fed him a banana last night, and he fell asleep in the palm of my hand. We put him in his basket outside on the back porch for the night and this morning, he was still curled up sleeping in there around 7:30am…”

As I looked at the images and read about him, I kept thinking how adorable he was. So small and vulnerable, but also brave and sweet. I wondered about his courage and what made him unique; before long I was thinking up a story about his life and how he came to be there.

Mollie March 10th, 2008 Painting , Show Comments(0)

The Locks of Love Event/Look of Love Art Show went really well! We had a great turnout, and lots of people came to donate their hair; including my husband! My piece won an honorable mention, and I won a raffle for a gift card to a local book store!

The judge, Eric Shultis, wasn’t able to attend the reception, but he did write up notes for each artist. It’s very rare to get feedback/criticism from a judge, so I’m doubly excited about it. I’ll post the note he left for me when I get a chance.

The Puppies are Biodegradable Show is in less than three weeks! Below is an update of where each piece for that show stands.

• New Surprise Project: (images coming soon!) should be done in a couple days.
• St. Bernard Rescue Dog: is pretty much where I left it when I last posted.
• Scenic Puppy Mill: I’ve been working on a layout for the under image. Not an easy task, since I want to maximize the impact of the images to show through.
• Nursing Mother: Still working on the painting surface, haven’t even begun painting. I might not have enough time for this one and that makes me very sad.

Mollie March 6th, 2008 Painting , Show Comments(0)

I finished and turned in “Look of Love” on time and you can see the finished piece below, and a larger version in the painting gallery. I wish I had a little more time on this one.

Mollie February 29th, 2008 Painting , Show Comments(0)

Here are the latest images from “Look of Love.”

I still have a quite a bit to do, hopefully sometime tomorrow I’ll be able to find time to do a working critique, then get around to the parts that I haven’t touched since the underpainting. If I keep a tight schedule I should be able to finish on time. Unfortunately, since I’m cutting the deadline so close I’m going to have to be extra vigilant in making sure the details are all taken care of, and that the piece is ready.