HAPPY the FUTURE is in the show rooms!

i had a lovely surprise post on my facebook

page today...  a link to these

photos of my gift line with DEMDACO

(Happy the Future), at the Dallas Market Center!

 i have to admit, seeing it all put together made 

me so happy that my toes curled up in delight.  

(this is all so weirdly exciting to me, i can

hardly stand it!)

and best of all...  the display won BEST WINDOW
at the show!!!  hip hip hooray!

(wish the line luck okay!)

OOx c.

the old me...

this afternoon i started thinking about how i got 

where i am at in regards to my art.  

when i began doing art

(well after a bit of training), this is the kind of stuff

that i made.

(yes.  that is mine.)

*i used to love a small brush, and all the tiny details.

YET- i did NOT love artwork like this.

so i began to wonder why i made this sort of art

when it wasn't what spoke to my heart.

(this was18 years ago).

this wondering, caused me to think about what i was making

and how i was making it... which then lead me to take a hard

look at how i was using my tools.  basically, i decided to

shake things up a bit, which prompted me to switch

a few things around.

.

overnight i went from big paper and a small brush, to small 

paper and a big brush. 

 and look at what happened next...

i liked this...  

(i would buy this!)  

and then that work morphed into this...

which led me here...

then this lady showed up  (about 10 years ago)

out of the blue.

i made a big series of modern/organic paintings

at this point... 

 but toward the end of that body of

work the paper ladies showed up.

miss lucy (below) was the first.

and you know where this led?   it led to my etsy shop.

which led to me doing art shows, which led me to my agent...

who took my work to surtex, who got me a new

and different kind of work...  calendars, fabric, shower

curtains, a card line!

so, by changing up what i was doing, i ended

up right here, chatting to you about how

i ended up here.

there are SO many more parts to this story...

and perhaps i will visit them at a later date,

but i really don't want to bore you.

OOx  c.

karenza paperie!

i amaze myself daily by all the things i do 

not get... or understand.  i suppose you could say

i am a simple thinker.  

 i understand a lot about pencils and pens,

perhaps a bit about pattern even.

BUT, i fail to understand how to share stuff

(always thinking, why would anyone want to know

this about me?  why should i share that?  if i talk about

this i will sound like such a braggedy brag brat).  

so i don't share.

because who likes a bragger?

BUT... i am also starting to realize fully, that

i live and work in the studio, and that is a lonely

place.  a place where i can't say, HEY!  look at

this cool blog post someone wrote about me.

isn't that nice? there is no one here to smile

at me, or even acknowledge that it happened,

which makes my favorite place (the studio)

feel a little bit isolating.

so today i am sharing a link with you about 

me!  it is on a lovely blog called Karenze Paperie,

and if you press this it will take you there!

Karenze Paperie... is a lovely British stationary shop,

where you can find some REALLY cool cards

(mine are even on there!).

OOx  c.

cherry creek art festival here i come.

well i didn't make my numbers 

(goal being 150)

but i did make it to about 120,

and i can totally live with that.

                                               

the thing i did do was successfully make my first

larger paintings.  this piece is called, we are writing

our ONLY history (so make it a good one). 

it measures 18 x 24.  below is a piece called,

i know A LOT (a lot of tiny things).  best part

is just now while typing the title i realize i spelled

a lot as alot.  oops!  (welcome to my tiny world

of limited information).

                                                

i have tried to "go big" in the past and it has

always (underline always) been a bust.

i couldn't seem to sort out the scale of the 

background image with what was happening on top.

(BE NICE   all the time)  12 x 12

i know that sounds sort of lame, but the tiny words... ALL 

the tiny tiny words covering a big space is different than

tiny words on a small canvas.  the pieces failed on so

many levels (i cringe to think of them)!

but these...

(she was looking at what she remembered

and searching for what she had forgot).

12 x 16

i am okay with these.

OH i will be at the cherry creek art festival this upcoming fourth

of July weekend.  if you are around i cordially invite you to stop

by, as i would love to meet you!

trying to do better

always.

a SALE!

i am having a half off sale!

43 prints in my shop are 10 dollars a piece

you see... i have BIG plans for the new year,

and i am cleaning house! take advantage

while you can.

here is the link to the sale page.

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5132530&section_id=6521099

a to do list...

i am having a show!

a little tiny solo show at CHARMINGWALL!

i highly encourage everyone to check out charmingwall's online

site (http://www.charmingwall.com/ )

because it is truly one of the cooles sites i have ever seen.

*(this is one of the many things that i have been working on).

i should say, pouring myself in to.

all paintings in the show have one word titles.

the one below it called TEACH. the idea being that

we should all try to check these things off our list.

please oh please DO stop by if you are in the area.

i would so love to meet you!

double blog day... (making up for lost time.)

this is one of the other things that i have been doing...

what are those you ask?

well, that would be a good question.
THOSE are backgrounds for a new bead magazine
that is coming out from interweave press.

i made 20 of them.

yes 20!
and they are not small...
11 x 14's to be exact.

so...

okay.

where have i been?

where to start.

i have spent the last 3 weeks painting.
the first two weeks i "painted".

with paint.

i haven't "painted" in a LONG while.

and i painted at least 8 hours a day 5 days a week, for two weeks.

and i'd like to say that it was easy and the paints and me

had an understanding. but we didn't. each painting i made,

must have been at least 4 different paintings before settling

on where they ended up. *i am not sure that even makes sense.

but bottome line.... it was a struggle, until the end- when

all things magically came together. and ALL problems

magically disappeared.

it's a shame i couldn't have kept going. who knows what

may have happened.

more to come...
(i promise)