Creating a Phoenix Fire Dress

                                             
  My phoenix necklace, which can be purchased here.

As always I began with a series of sketches. I wanted the dress to be inspired by the fire that the mythological phoenix is so commonly symbolized with. (A phoenix dies in fire and is reborn from the ashes )

 My first design was stylish but not as dramatic as I wanted this dress to be. I really wanted the flames to flicker and move as the wearer moved.
So my design underwent some changes even after I had already sent in my design sketch and had been accepted into the show. I designed a fitted dress with an overskirt that would flare out as one walked. The overskirt would have the flames on it so that as the skirt flared it would give the appearance of moving 'flames'.

                           The original look of the fabric

Once I was satisfied with the design I began to paint the fabric. For this piece I used some 1970s drapery material that I had salvaged from the side of the road year ago. I have no idea what the material is just that it was clearly meant to look like a silk shantung. It has a matte side and a shiny side. As the material is some sort of strange synthetic (probably with some sort of plastic in it's composition) I had a heck of a time getting it to take my paints. I knew better than to try to dye a synthetic material but I had no idea that even painting it with acrylics would be so challenging! It didn't grab the paint in an even manner and would often look perfect when wet but about 75% lighter once it had dried. I took 2-3 sessions of painting for each piece. This was much more time consuming than I had anticipated and this placed me in a bit of a time crunch in order to get the piece finished in time. Not to mention the challenge of painting over 6 yds of material!

 I will say that once the fabric was painted it was beautiful. The sheen that it had almost gave the appearance of leather once the piece was done. I dry brushed copper paint over parts to really give the piece a luminescent warmth as well as the appearance of 'sparks and embers' up and down the length of the dress.

For my closures I found some filigree brass hooks. Once my underdress was complete I began work on the overskirt. The 'flames' or tendrils weren't hard per se ( I simply cut the pieces in random spiraling shapes) but they were exceedingly time consuming.

I had to paint a wide variety of colors as I wanted the flames to be varying in shades of reds, oranges and yellows. Each piece had to be painted 2-3 times before I could actually begin cutting the 'flames' out and then each 'flame' had to be pinned to the overskirt before I could hand-sew it on. The challenge was trying to place the flames correctly when someone wasn't wearing it.

I had the overskirt hanging up but it was difficult to see how it would hang on a person. Also, once I finally pinned all of the flames onto the overskirt I found it rather challenging to sew the flames on due to the mass of fabric that I was working with.
Needless to say, I was sewing flames onto my overskirt pretty much all the way up to the night of the show.

 I had originally wanted to create a sort of stomacher of feathers but decided that the feather cheapened the look of the fabric if used in too much of an abundance. Therefore I kept the feathers to a simple accent on the belt and created a fascinator for my hair. I had never worked with feathers before and found this to be a bit challenging, but fun at the same time. Especially when I figured out how to curl feathers. It's a messy process but a lot of fun too. I'll probably do a video in the future on how to do this yourself.

The finished dress on the night of the show! :)

Keep an eye out for my next blog post. I'll be posting a video as well as photos of all of the amazing designs that were showcased at the Armory Art Center's Fashion Artillery Show.

To read about last year's Fashion Artillery Show entry please click here.

Adventures in Shrinky Dink!

I recently attended a slumber party with two of my best friends from high school. It sounds like something that a child would do, but my friends and I try to have one of these parties at least once a year. We turn them into a fun creative experience where we walk away with some sort of finished art project. The first time we had one of these parties we created beaded necklaces. This year my friend decided to make it a shrinky dink party. I had never used shrinky dink before so the experience was a completely new one to me. I have to say that I am now hooked. What a fun material to work with!

Shrinky Dink is essentially a thin plastic film that you can draw on. You can punch holes into it and cut into it but once it shrinks down it becomes a hard durable plastic. Keep in mind that when you place your piece into an oven, it will shrink down to about a third of it's original size.

 

 

Perhaps it's because I am currently painting some koi mermaids, but I decided to created a 'kissing koi' necklace with my shrinky dink. Here is my necklace before it is shrunk in the oven. I used colored pencils and markers to create the image.

 

 

Look at how much it shinks down! I have to say that I was biting my nails with the image completely curled in on itself. I wasn't sure that it would flatten itself out! Once it's shrunk down it also makes the colors much more vibrant!

 

My finished kissing koi necklace complete with glass 'bubbles'

 

I'm thinking about adding some of these fun, whimsical pieces to my etsy shop. What do you think?

 

Do you have creative parties or get togethers with your friends? What do you create when you get together?

 

Creating Concept Sketches for a Client

In working on these mermaids, I've discovered something rather funny about the way that I work. I tend to just draw my ideas out in my sketchbook and THEN resize them in the computer to fit the proportions of the painting. I'll then add or rework things to make it fit within those proportions. Do you do this? Or do you draw out your proportions first and then create within those parameters?

I have chosen my three concept sketches for my client and have added color to them using some new watercolor pencils that I had purchased awhile back and some prismacolor pencils. I find it's a bit easier using these mediums for such a small piece. (the sketches are only 4" x 5" in order to stay proportional to my 16" x 20" final painting)

 I have sent these on to my client and am now waiting to see which one she chooses. It's always a bit nerve wracking when you send your ideas out for someone else's approval. Will she like them? Or will I be starting over from scratch? I guess that I'll just have to wait and see. Over the years I have at least learned that you need to make sure to only give your client the ideas that you are excited to create. In the past, I would have one that I really wanted to create and would put it in with two that I didn't like as much. In the end, I'd be stuck doing a piece that I wasn't terribly excited about. You can't expect your client to have the same tastes as yourself. In order to make the experience enjoyable for both of you, you must make sure that you are only offering to do paintings that you would be happy working on . The end result will be so much better if it's a piece that you are excited about.

Mermaids Here, There and Everywhere

I have recently received a commission to do a painting of a woman's two daughters as mermaids. She actually doesn't really care for the mermaids to look exactly like her daughters. She's more interested in them having the same characteristics as her daughters. (one has black hair, one brown, one has freckles, etc.)

I have been itching to do a mermaid painting for quite awhile so I am eager to get started on this piece. I went to my client's house and saw the girl's rooms and saw the sorts of things that make them different from each other. One is a bit of a tomboy while the other is a little more girly. My client also  showed me some pictures of her daughters including one where her youngest daughter is at the beach making a sand castle and one where her eldest daughter has a butterfly on her nose. I always try to include personal touches in my commissioned pieces, so I decided to incorporate the butterfly, possibly the sand castle and even the eldest daughter's pet corn snake wherever possible.

I usually begin creating as many different concept sketches as I can. Various angles, poses, even themes until I find the three that I like the best. Here are the concept sketches that I have developed so far for this painting. After I choose the final three that I like best, I will move on to choosing color schemes and then I will present the final three concepts to the client so that she can decide on which painting she would like me to complete for her. I find it best to limit the number of choices that you give a client. More than three choices can easily become overwhelming.

My first concept sketch for this commission was done while at work. I used whatever I had around me, which ended up being a blue pen and yellow and blue highlighters on a scrap piece of ruled paper

  The girls like to be together, but they don't necessarily like playing together. As such, having one brushing the other's hair isn't really in keeping with their personality's, but I really like the idea anyway as it's more in keeping with what mermaids would do.

 

            I fit the eldest girl's pet corn snake in this one, though I will
probably fit him in whichever design my client finally chooses.

 

In this one I was playing around with the idea of the girls being on different rocks and therefore at different levels in the painting. I also like the idea of one girl lying down.

 

       In this sketch I fit in the youngest daughter's sand castle.

I'm still trying to decide which three I like best. Which are your favorites? I'm excited to start cleaning up these designs and adding colors. It's always a lot of fun to come up with new paintings though it's a bit stressful when you have a client to please.

Making Art Usable

Some artists are what I would consider 'purists'. They only want their artwork in it's original state. They turn their noses up when customers ask them if they offer their artwork in prints or card form and scoff and take insult when customers ask if they've considered turning their art into textiles. To an extent, I can understand the mentality of these artists. I see that they fear diminishing the value of their work by transforming it into cheaper versions of itself. However, I also see this as stubborn foolishness. When a customer is asking you if you offer prints, they aren't meaning insult. They love your artwork, but can't afford one of your originals. I don't know about you, but I WANT people who love my art to be able to have some of it.

If this isn't enough of a reason, then there are always the financial benefits to consider. When you are a purist, you will only earn whatever that piece of artwork is sold for and you only earn money from your art IF that piece is sold. However, if you aren't a purist, then you will earn whatever that piece sells for as well as earnings from the sale of prints, shirts, etc. You don't have to wait for your original piece to sell in order to begin earning money on the artwork that you have created. There is a limitless income to be earned as long as you keep that image in production. Considering that museums these days offer prints, cards, glasses cases, umbrellas, etc with the works of some of the greatest artists in the history of mankind on them, how can any artist in this day and age consider their artwork ' too good' for the same type of consumer products?

There are many websites that allow artists to make their artwork accessible to clients in a variety of forms. One of my personal favorites is www.society6.com They keep the integrity of the artwork while allowing the artist to transform their artwork into prints, cards, t-shirts, iphone covers, etc.

' Fairy Kisses'  ipad Skin

'Little Mermaid' iphone cover

Most recently, society6 has begun to create throw pillows. I am very excited with this idea. I understand that in this economy, people WANT artwork, but they would prefer to have it in a usable form rather than purchasing something that will just hang on their walls.

When creating these pillows, you have to provide Society6 with a high resolution image that is at least 3500 x 3500 pixels square. I have created some pillows using my latest Four Seasons series.

                                                                      
                                                                        'Autumn'

                                                                           'Summer'

' Winter'

                                                                             'Spring'

Aren't these fun? I can just imagine rearranging these on your couch or bed and playing with which season goes where...

What are your thoughts on making your artwork accessible in a variety of forms? Are you more of a purist? Or do you embrace this new way of selling artwork? If you are a purist I would LOVE to hear your reasons for being so. I truly want to better understand this type of mindset. I have spoken to several purists at a variety of art shows, but they weren't able to voice their reasons very well.

Hope that everyone is having a wonderful week!!

My Winter Painting is Done!

I'm happy to announce that my Four Seasons series is FINALLY finished!! The final piece for this series is 'Winter' in all her icy glory.

 

'Winter'

acrylics on panel

                                                
                                                   detail of 'Winter'

This series has been ' in the works' for over four years! The final designs and paintings were started about a year and a half ago. Needless to say, I'm relieved to have them completed.

        

Poster design for 'The Four Season'

available at http://society6.com/phoenixartstudio/Four-Seasons-c79_Print

Do you have a favorite season? What are some of the things about that season that draws you to it?

Spring and Easter Jewelry

The first day of Spring falls on my birthday this year so I suppose that it's natural for my jewelry to be so highly influenced by Spring.
Soft pastels reign supreme and many of my items have floral themes. Whimsical egg earrings have been inspired by fabrege eggs and are perfect for the upcoming Easter holiday. For the more fashion forward I have created handpainted pastel toned Chinese fan earrings and geometric pendants with sparkling beaded necklaces.

Here are some of my latest creations... Enjoy!

 

 

https://www.etsy.com/listing/125502781/fabrege-inspired-floral-easter-egg?

            https://www.etsy.com/listing/123431186/peacock-chinese-fan-earrings-with?

 

https://www.etsy.com/listing/123432988/cornflower-stud-flower-earrings-with?ref=v1_other_1

https://www.etsy.com/listing/123437991/flower-garden-pendant-in-blues-and?ref=v1_other_1

                https://www.etsy.com/listing/124955769/silver-gold-and-crystal-geometric?

What do you think of these photographs? It's a different look from my previous ones where I mostly used a slate tile for my  'backdrop'. White backgrounds are very popular on Etsy, but sadly they don't suit my jewelry very well. My luminescent surfaces become faded and unappealing when placed against such a bright backdrop.

What are some of your favorite things about Spring?