Finished Painting- Fairy Kisses

Well after weeks of working on and off, I have finally finished my mother/ daughter painting entitled Fairy Kisses. You first saw initial sketches and the early stages of this painting on my blog post Painting in Progress. It's come a long way since then!

A mother gives her daughter a kiss amongst sweet smelling lavender. I chose lavender because I have been itching to paint it again ever since my trip to England about 4 yrs ago. The color of lavender by itself is almost ordinary, but when you have a field of them the color simply takes your breath away.

                           " Fairy Kisses"  16 x 20 mixed media on wood

                                Detail

Fine quality art prints are already available at Society6 .

 I've already begun sketches for my next projects and am looking forward to sharing those with you next!
Thanks so much for stopping by and I hope to see you soon!

Christmas in July Sale!

I have been hard and work creating artwork the past few days so I should be posting images of finished pieces very soon. In the meantime, I wanted to let my readers know that www.artfire.com is having a Christmas in July sale. Quite a few shops are participating in this event, including yours truly. I didn't want etsy shoppers to feel left out, however, so everything in my etsy shops are also on sale!

Use coupon code SUMMERFUN in any of my online shops and save 10% off of your entire order! This is a great way to support handmade while saving some money!

      Geometric Drape Necklace in my Jewels of Enchantment shop

  "Sisters" watercolor ACEO found in my Artfire shop

Serenity Brooch soon to be listed in Phoenix Art Studio on Etsy


All of the links you need are right here:

To see all participating artfire shops, click here 
For my personal artfire shop, click here 
To shop for fantasy based jewelry and art,  click here
For bold, enchanting jewelry, click here

Hope that everyone finds the perfect gifts this year! Stay tuned for my latest painting as well as sketches and ideas for my upcoming pieces.

Have a fantastic day! ♥

New Facebook Page!

As my art business grows I have had to make changes to better accommodate it. I do most of my artwork under my name, rather than Phoenix Art Studio, so I have decided to switch to a new facebook page. Since I have shops under names other than Phoenix Art Studio, I'm hoping that this will help to avoid confusion in the future. Once you "like" my facebook page you'll learn about my process, new and upcoming projects, contests, etc as well as have fun because I love posting fun and silly things. (although don't be surprised if you see an article posted about some new scientific theory or discovery. Science was always one of my favorite subjects in school)  I hope that everyone will take a minute to check it out. If you love to laugh and love art, then you are sure to enjoy my page. It is always wonderful to meet like-minded people and I have been truly blessed so far to be able to do just that!

I have some exciting blog posts planned so I hope that you'll follow my blog or keep checking back so that you can read them. I have an ode to Monet ( he's worth sonnets, and hymns and odes and even more!), a summer sale,some new projects and sketches, a new online shop and an introduction to an absolutely AMAZING fantasy jewelry artist. Her work just astounds me with it's awesomeness, but I'm not telling you who it is. It's a surprise!!

Hope to see you back here soon and that you have a wonderful day!!

A Trip to the Louvre

I just wanted to thank everyone for the kind comments regarding my last blog post about my trip to France. I'm so glad that everyone enjoyed my photos!

I didn't really cover my trip to the Louvre in that post because the Louvre definitely deserves a post of it's own. That place is mind boggling with the sheer size of the building and it's quantity of art! It contains more than 380,000 objects and displays 35,000 works of art in eight curatorial departments with more than 652,000 sq ft! It also gets approximately 15,000 visitors a day! I only spent a day there and felt like my head would explode if I took in one more piece of artwork.

I would like to share with you some of my personal favorites that I saw while there.

A Detail of Psyche Revived by Cupid's Kiss by Antonio Canova - one of my favorite Neo-classical sculptures.

   Young Christian Martyr by Paul Delaroche I had never seen this painting before but feel instantly in love with the dramatic composition and lighting. SO beautifully executed.

                           Diana and Actaeon by Francesco Albani
This piece is beautifully executed like most Baroque or Rococo paintings, but I'll tell you WHY I loved it so much. This piece tells the story of the hunter Diana's bath being disturbed when the mortal man, Actaeon,  accidentally stumbles into the scene. She ends up turning him into a deer who is then killed by his friends when they fail to recognize him. Typical tragic story. Diana stands in the center pointing in an accusatory fashion towards the unfortunate Actaeon while her nymphs try vainly to shield her nakedness. Here is the part that I love. Check out the face of the young nymph to the bottom left of Diana's figure. ( Diana is actually resting her foot upon the nymph's thigh) This nymph is shielding herself like the others, but actually has a slight smile on her face. Does she find the whole situation amusing? Is she slightly enamored with the young man? There is a shy, but definitely intriguing look upon this nymphs face and it's HER face that made this painting one of my favorites. I could spend hours just looking upon the story and trying to determine what exactly she might be thinking or feeling.

                  A detail from The Slumber of Titania by Richard Dadd  I've always loved Midsummer Night's Dream and have myself done several pieces depicting Titania asleep. I hadn't even realized that this piece was at the Louvre so I was delighted and surprised when I stumbled across it. The thing that is so unbelievable about this piece is that it is SO SMALL! All of this amazing detail is done in a 25 x 30 inch painting!

Here are a few more that I really love, but can't give credit to because I forgot to write down the title and artist's name. (the Louvre's database is a bit difficult to navigate if all you have are descriptions) If any of you recognize the painting, or artist, PLEASE share it with me so that I can add it under the pieces! Much obliged... :)

             This sculpture depicts Joan of Arc as she hears the voice of God. I love that the artist placed her in a standard dress, but has the foot peeking out from under her dress in armor. It's a lovely sculpture that beautifully tells a story.

 This is a detail from a portrait of a young girl. ( The photo I took of the full piece had some light glare from the window behind me ) The soft light and way in which this piece was painted just stole my heart immediately. I absolutely love it!

     This sculpture just looks so real to me! I love his gnarled, lined face and hands. The amazing folds in his cloak!  He's just beautiful!


A few other shots of the Louvre itself.

                               Being inside the glass pyramids are super cool!

                      The architecture inside the museum is stunning!

                                The ceilings are breathtaking!

 If you would like to take your own tour of the Louvre, you can take a 3-D tour by going to their website. 
I hope that you enjoyed this brief trip to the Louvre!

Thanks for checking out my blog and have a wonderful weekend!

Highlights from Paris

I am finally back from my trip to France. It was a wonderful experience immersing myself in a different culture. Come with me on a quick trip to France as I share some of the highlights of my trip.

              The stained glass dome ceiling of Galleries Lafayette

      The Beauty of Parisian Architecture (especially the roof tops)

                                  The Gothic Grandeur of St. Eustace

                              Quaint Medieval towns with Castles

                                French Desserts! Ooh La La!

                                 The Eiffel Tower at Night

                             A Walk Along the Seine River

                          The Romance of Paris at Night

                          The Rose Windows at Notre Dame

                               Monet's Garden in Giverny

                      The Louvre (highlights of my visit to come soon)

                           The Opulence of Versailles

                    My Favorite Fountain. A Fallen Giant in Versailles

                        The Stained Glass Splendor of St. Chapelle

   Spiral Staircases, Spiral Staircases and MORE Spiral Staircases

                                       Fashion in Paris

                                       Old vs New

                            Awesome Street Entertainment

I hope that you enjoyed your brief trip to France! I'll be sharing some my sketches/ paintings from the trip as well as pics of my favorite artwork from the Louvre, d'Orsay, etc in upcoming blog posts. Stay tuned!

Have a wonderful week and thanks for visiting! :)

Painting in Progress

I leave tomorrow to go to France with my family. I have never been and am excited to immerse myself completely in all that art and culture! I'm also grateful that I've been given this amazing opportunity to be with my family. It will be wonderful to be able to share all of this with them.

I am hoping to be able to keep up with this blog while I'm gone,but as I'm not sure about the internet/computer situation over there, I felt that it would be smart to post something now before I leave. This is the current painting that I am working on. Perhaps it is because of my little sister having a little girl of her own, but I've definitely been finding myself drawn towards the pure, beautiful love that a mother has for her child. Either that or my "biological clock" is finally ticking.... yeah, right! Hahahaha! Anyway, I've been doing a lot of mother/child related sketches in my sketchbook and have finally taken one of them and am bringing it to fruition. I have always wanted to work on wood, but never really gave it a chance. This is my first time working on it and I'm really loving it! It feels so much more natural to me than painting on canvas.

Here are some quick mother/daughter sketches that I have done in my sketchbook.

Here are some images from the painting I am currently working on.

 I'm having a lot of fun with this one and am sort of sad to be going on my trip right now, only because it's inevitably going to effect the momentum that I've worked up with this piece. C'est la vie!

I wish everyone the very best and hope that you have a wonderful June! See you again in two weeks! (sooner if I can.... )

Medium vs Value

Should a piece of art's medium dictate the value of a finished piece? This is a question that I have been asking myself a lot lately. I have noticed (especially at art and craft shows) that people will often be drawn towards my work. However, once they find out that my medium is polymer, they casually toss it on the table as if it no longer has any value. I have been quite baffled by this response. An artist who works in precious metals will have pieces with an initial value simply because of the medium used, however I don't think that their work should be regarded as more valuable than something made of a different medium. A simple pair of silver hoops can be melted down for their silver but they shouldn't have more value than a piece of art jewelry made from humbler beginnings of clay or beads. Every artist must take into consideration the cost of materials and the time spent when determining the cost of the finished piece. The archival quality of the piece must also be considered. An artist who works in pencil or charcoal will typically charge less for their work than someone working in oils. However, I don't think that the difference in medium should determine whether the piece of art holds any value. When purchasing a piece of art, you aren't paying for the medium(s) used. You are paying for what the artist has CREATED with those mediums. Here are some examples of what can be done with some humbler materials...paint on cardboard,  a pencil and paper, some beads, a bit of clay and most importantly, a lot of talent and imagination ...

                                               
                                                  
Toulouse Lautrec- oil painted on cardboard

                                        
                                             

J.W. Waterhouse study for Hylas and the Nymphs.
                              

                                 
                                         
Sun Face Goddess Necklace by Beaded Art Jewelry

                                          

Citron Ruffle Collar by Elise Winters- polymer clay

These are pieces that are beautiful and inspiring. They show that value of art lies not in the medium but in the talent within the artist's hands.

Thanks for reading and have a wonderful week!