Wordless Wednesday.....

This Girls Stuff

OK...I did it. I just opened my second Etsy shop. No, this one is not for my art, it is for the *stuff* I've got up in the attic that I no longer want or need and that Etsy considers "vintage". My moto for this shop is "Stuff I've loved in the past can be yours to love in the future". Pretty good, huh?

I really don't have time to be doing this kind of thing but thought it would be a way to supplement our income while my husband has Rotator Cuff surgery this winter. We will see.....plus, I can get rid of my *stuff*.

Etsy considers "vintage" anything over 20 years old. It's pretty depressing to think that a lot of what I own is "vintage"! It's official...I am old. Or "vintage".

http://www.etsy.com/shop/ThisGirlsStuff

Wordless Wednesday...Shades of Spring-Original Watercolor

Wordless Wednesday-photo to watercolor

"Snow Birds"-Original Watercolor Painting

My newest venture

Thought I would jump on the ACEO bandwagon a little more and offer prints of my original photography and watercolors in miniature form. For those of you who don't know...an ACEO is a 2 1/2" by 3 1/2" piece of artwork. They are like the trading cards of the art world. Very small and very affordable. So please visit my two shops for your chance to own a teeny, tiny yankeegirl ACEO!!

See the links to the left.

Little tiny paintings

So what's an ACEO you may ask...I know I did when I first joined Etsy and saw them listed everywhere!! After doing a little investigating, I learned that they are miniature pieces of art that only measure 2 1/2" by 3 1/2"...the baseball trading cards of the art world you might say. They are any medium from paint, glass, textile, photography, I could go on and on. Since I am a watercolor artist, I decided to try my hand at creating my own ACEOs. After all, how long could one little painting take!!! Well....I soon discovered that it isn't as easy as it looks, at least for this artist. I'm used to painting on anything from 1/4 to 1/2 sheet of watercolor paper and to hand me a piece of paper that only measures 2 1/2" by 3 1/2" and tell me to paint on is challenging!!
After many tries I think I have finally gotten the hang of these little tiny paintings. I have even sold quite a few and decided I enjoy the process that goes into making them. I love the fact that people that may not be able to afford or don't have space for the full size pieces of art, now have a wonderful option. Here are two new watercolor paintings that I have listed in my Etsy shop. In this format they look the same size, but the single blackeyed susan painting is just a little tiny painting....an ACEO.

Cottage Hydrangeas-Original Watercolor Painting

This is one my newest watercolors called "Cottage Hydrangeas". It is another in a series of paintings of my favorite flower that seems to be a favorite of many people. It's such a peaceful, old fashioned flower that reminds people of their mothers or grandmothers gardens.

This was one of those paintings that went well from start to finish. I got the desired look and feel without having to mess around with it too much. It's done on Masa paper which is soaked in water and crumpled up, then painted on. I usually crumple it up again at this stage to get a wonderful mingling of colors that is just perfect for hydrangeas.

My friend Mary from Colorless Green Ideas has bestowed upon me the Kreativ Blogger Award and I couldn't be happier!! Being new to this whole blogging thing, I was quite surprised but honored that she felt my little blog is award-worthy!! I write about things I love and what matters to me and to think that others are interested in what I have to say, well.....I'm thrilled!! Thanks, Mary!! Off to hand out some awards of my own....hmmmm...who shall I pick.

Wordless Wednesday

Finally bought an orchid!!

I went to an orchid show this morning with the intention of taking some photos and just enjoying the beauty of these flowers on this cold winters day. OK, not so cold...it's suppose to hit almost 60 today but it is February!! I wandered around taking some great captures and inhaling the wonderful smells that were in that greenhouse and then I saw it...this gorgeous miniature orchid that had to be mine!!! I've always wanted an orchid but always heard they were hard to grow, expensive, my cats would eat them, etc. The woman who was selling it explained to me what I needed to know about growing orchids (not so hard), it wasn't all that expensive (after all it IS a miniature!!) and I could put it somewhere the cats can't get to it!! Sooooo, this little beauty is now in the living room, on the desk near the front door looking very happy!! Enjoy!

The Evolution of a Painting...that is being stubborn!!

The two paintings that are shown here weren't the let the creative juices flow, everything going right, I love the way it looks paintings. They were the throw in a drawer for a year, oh I messed it up, it doesn't look right kind of paintings!!

The fish painting was the one in the drawer for a year..liked it but didn't know how to finish it off. It's done in Yupo (which I really don't like...) and since we covered Yupo in my last watercolor class, I decided to resurrect it and work on it in that class. For some reason, I decided to paint the fish some bright colors and call it a day and it worked! The dolphin ACEO was the one I messed up and didn't look right full size painting that I took the paper cutter to! Looks pretty cute as an ACEO!! It was hard to cut off everything but the dolphins but it served its purpose.

So now that I am happy with both of these paintings, they are posted in my Etsy shop for someone to purchase. If only they knew the journey they took to get there!

Wordless Wednesday

Scattered Leaves-A painting for friends

This is an original watercolor painting that was started while vacationing with friends in the Finger Lakes Region of New York State. Five couples, most of us friends since High School , decided to rent out an entire inn for a long weekend getaway. It was October, so the colors of the trees and the leaves laying on the ground were enough inspiration to start a painting. It became a game to see who could find the prettiest leaves for me. As we hiked through the beautiful Watkins Glen State Park, instead of looking at the waterfalls and gorges, I found myself scouring the ground for leaves!! By the time we returned to the inn and I got my paints out, I had all of the material I needed to create "Scattered Leaves".As I worked on the painting, my friends would come over and critic my work and ask questions. Not knowing the process of watercolor painting, some of them said "they don't look like leaves" or "the colors are too light". As the process continued, they realized the method to my madness and saw the painting come to life.

My friend Karen seem to fall in love with the painting as I worked on it. She said that she loved leaves and that the colors I was using would be perfect in their family room. I told her she could have it if I didn't proceed to mess it up before the painting was finished. After getting side tracked by a couple of art shows and the holidays, I finally completed the painting and gave it to Karen and her husband Tony on Super Bowl Sunday. We were with the same people we went to NY State with that day so it was very fitting that I gave it to them then. They told me they loved it and I believed them...Karen had that look in her eyes of someone who just received a special gift. It was a special gift to a special friend at a gathering of special people.

Latest venture~

I just started listing blank greeting cards of my original photography prints. I have been selling cards with pictures of my watercolor paintings on them but thought it was time to branch out with my photography. I hope you go to the link below and have a peek at this card of my About Face roses. I love the drops of rain still clinging to the leaves.

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=20549626

Yankeegirl Watercolors and Photography
Artwork from both sides of the lens. Painting and photography go hand in hand for me since I use alot of my original photos as subject matter for my paintings. My love of nature and my surroundings is my inspiration and I love to paint from that inspiration.I use only the highest quality paints and papers for my watercolors and they are protected with an archival finish to protect the integrity of the colors. I do a variety of subjects-anything from landscapes to florals (my specialty!!). All my paintings come signed on the front, mounted on foamboard and wrapped in plastic vellum to protect them. They will come matted and I try to make sure they are a standard size so you don't have to have them custom framed which can be very expensive. So please log on to http://www.yankeegirl.etsy.com/ and www.1000Markets.com/users/yankeegirl to see my paintings, prints and original photography. Thanks so much for stopping by!!

Artwork from both sides of the lens

I recently opened up a new shop on 1000Markets where my emphasis will be, at least for the time being, my photography. It's been so easy to post new listings there and I've had fun going through my older photos to see what I can sell (hopefully!!).

I have joined a few markets such as Image Captured and Garden State Artisans (yes, I'm from Jersey!!) and with Melanie from The Creators Palette I hope to be one of the founding Merchants in a new market called Emerging Artists Fine Art Gallery.

I'm looking forward to seeing where this new venture leads and it will be fun to be in on the ground floor in both this new artisan website and our new market!!

I hope you stop by my new shop and tell me what you think!!
www.1000Markets.com/users/yankeegirl