Etsy best buys

Aside from my store being on ETSY, I also love it for the various handmade goods sold by the other talentend Etsy folks. So I thought I would feature one of my favorite stores each week giving you a gazillion ideas for Xmas and Birthday gifts.......so my first favorite store is ARTMIND:

Cold

Sad

Mean

Cursed

They make little ceramic odd looking statues with very clean lines. I love the subtlety of the emotion - especially the above four which are my absolute favorites! Do check out her store for more of her lovely work - I can certainly see a dozen of these lining up a pristine white shelf. And her packaging is delightful too! Seriously, if I wasn`t into art I would`ve definitely been a ceramic artist. Maybe my next life.

Panel Holder

With a 7 x 8 panel in place  

In January 2009 I had made a resolution to complete 100 panel paintings and proud to say I did complete them in August 2010. There is so much I learned from the process and so many ways I have improved. Anyhoo back to the subject - I needed a panel holder so the panel would be positioned more at eye level than on the easel ledge. D modified this design from another blog and created one that worked perfectly for me.

It was one of the main reasons I was able to complete the 100 paintings so all thanks goes to my husband who has backed up all of my crazy plans from day 1....Thanks babe!

You can view the entire post at his blog here.

Pondering

Title: Pondering

Oil on hardboard

8 x 8 inches

CLICK HERE TO BUY

This is a painting of our dear friend Ranjeev. A bunch of us had gone out for lunch to one of our favorite haunts in Dubai - Ravi Restaurant famous for its Nehari and rotis. D was clicking pics of us and Ranjeev decided to look 'intelligent`by striking this pose. He always had his wool beret on even in 50c weather.  

Air Stream lust.........

So D and I have always wanted an Airstream.....last year at a vintage sale we were seconds away from committing to an aluminium skinned 1960s Airstream 25 feet land yacht with original fittings BUT our practical brains stopped us (seriously practical brain realized we don`t have a garage so where the hell would we park it!)

Anyway every time I see an Airstream I start drooling again...imagine turning up to an art show in an airstream that holds all my art......swoon!

Wanderlust is a vintage store that sells out of their vintage trailer............makes me so jealous. But seriously is she not the cutest thing ever!

Fall Days

Giclee Print of original oil on canvas painting

Title: Fall Days (8 x 8)

Epson Somerset paper

CLICK HERE TO BUY 

Did I mention how gorgeous this Epson Somerset paper is - it feels like stiff watercolor paper with a textured surface. This is one of my favorite paintings as I like the concept of the portrait with the big floppy hat - something about it feels very old-worldly. The printer did a phenomenal job of color matching and his customer service was superb. So happy I found a great Giclee printer...worth the search! 

What's on my easel.....

Sketch of actress Abigail Breslin 

Working on this sketch from a magazine...still have to work on her left eyebrow a bit more me thinks. The thing with painting is you can go on and on tweaking it here and correcting it there and one gets obsessive about it - and then finally I have to say 'Stop'. 

Stop and move on Lynda................same goes with life. 

Newsletter from the 70popes studio

I have just sent out my most recent update through the 70popes newsletter which covers my new etsy banner, new prints in the shop and so much more. For my third issue only it came together quite nicely. I have sent it to everyone who's email addresses I had but should you not have received it please leave me a message in the comments section of my blog or on my facebook.

Just back from the printers and my new prints are drooooool worthy! the somerset paper is so delicious yummm could just bite into it. Can't stop touching it...........gotta get me some gloves. It's turning into an addiction! Lynda stop!

ARA The Academy of Realist Art

Survived.....and completed 4 classes at the ARA and am so pleased with the school. They teach the fundamentals of drawing and painting over a 2 year program. We are given a series of exercises to complete from an image of a cast drawing starting with the construct, articulation, contour and finally the rendering. I am now on round 2: Articulation and I am to measure every point and reproduce it as an exact copy. And guess what we use to measure...not a ruler, not a tape, but a knitting needle. Our charismatic Professor Fernando says it trains the eye to see better rather than relying on rulers. ``I keel you`` he says if we don`t get it right!

Mondays are the days we copy from the Bargue plates and wednesdays is live model gestural drawing. The gestural drawing is done using comparative measurement.

It took me months of on line research and several studio tours to finally find ARA with a program that taught in the old masters tradition. I even contemplated places like OCAD, Sheridan and TSA, only to find students of OCAD and Sheridan studying with me at ARA as their establishments do not teach fundamentals that are taught here. I am so damn pleased I found the right institution for my start....if not it could have gone so wrong.....so very wrong.

So below is my first exercise - part 2 - articulation and homework is reproducing all the lines without shading in.

...so back to work for me...lots of homework to complete! 

Halloween 2010

Plans for this year 2010 

2009 decor – mice on flight of stairs

Every year the girls and me make decorations for Halloween so this year we want to replicate the ``bats on front door`` idea and we have cut out the bats and added glitter to them. Last year we had done mice on the steps leading to the bedrooms. The girls are very creative (like moi) and love it when I plan art & craft activities for them. They have very busy minds and need to be engaged in something if not they gravitate to their Phineas & Ferb shows......frown!!!

Will post pics after we adhere the bats to our front door.

Etsy Treasury - featured for the fourth time

Double woohoo!! I got featured for the fourth time in an Etsy Treasury created by the lovely Sue of Oceanaire Dreamer who makes gorgeous hand made jewellery. She has titled the treasury `Imagine One fine autumn day, You, Lake Como & George Clooney`- isn`t that adorbs! and so unique!

What makes me double excited is that I uploaded the `Vespa`painting only yesterday in the etsy shop and it got featured today! woohoo and woohoo again!

CLICK HERE TO BUY

Ava - 8 x8 print

Giclee Print of original oil on canvas painting

Title: Ava (8x8)

Epson Somerset paper

Epson Enhanced Matte paper

CLICK HERE TO BUY

Enjoyed painting this piece especially the eyes. After months of painting on hardboard I painted this on gallery canvas and it felt quite different to me. I am going to do a few more on canvas just so I get a good feel for it and in between might do my hardboards. 

Just back from Curry`s from having to buy more supplies for my art school. We are also learning gestural drawing from a live model using comparative measuring. 

It`s been raining all day and grey and dreary...but.........the fall colors are gorgeous, some trees are a bright red and the grass has never been greener. I am blessed to get to enjoy 4 seasons in a year - quite different from living in Dubai and Bahrain where it is sweltering, boiling and roasting hot 365 days of the year!  

Vespa 8 x 10

Title: Vespa

Oil on hardboard pre framed

8 x 10 inches

CLICK HERE TO BUY

The painting is of a photograph we took out while on holiday in London, UK. I just love the Vespa and would buy one at the drop of a hat. The panel is pre framed and can be put up on your wall directly. Have just uploaded this painting in the shop this evening. 

Shop: www.70popes.etsy.com 

Coach 1st Birthday

I realize I am always mentioning our dog in the posts so thought I would post some of his pics below. He came into our lives on November 24, 2009 at 4 months old and turned 1 yr recently. He gets lots of compliments during his walks and is oblivious to just how cute he is!

Coach celebrating his 1st birthday on September 08, 2010

Coach's front legs are shorter than his hind legs so he looks pretty funny sitting! 

Coach loves water......rivers, lakes and his bath tub! 

Rosa

Giclee Print of Original oil on hardboard painting

Portrait 8 x 8 inches

Epson Somerset paper

Epson Enhanced Matte paper

CLICK HERE TO BUY

Am pretty excited about the prints, the papers feel so nice particularly the Somerset. I am a very touchy / feely person so the texture of the paper really appeals to me. 'Rosa' has been uploaded in my etsy shop: www.70popes.etsy.com. Hope you like her as much as I do. 

Baby It's Cold Outside

Giclee Print of Oil painting on hardboard

Still life image 8 x 8 inches

CLICK HERE TO BUY

After weeks of research we finally found a good Giclee printer and have placed orders for 3 of my original oil paintings. The first print was of the above still life painting of my daughter's wool winter coat. The prints are being offered in two paper options:

- Epson Enhanced Matte paper - print for $20.00

- Epson Somerset Velvet paper - print for $30.00

The prints have been uploaded in my shop - www.70popes.etsy.com

Have fun browsing! 

Back to school

Being a self taught artist most of what I produce is what I have learned from books. However I wanted more. I wanted to hear all the basics actually being 'told' to me. Call it psychological but I wanted more - a formal education in art.

So I enrolled at the Academy of Realist Art and had my first class. They taught us how to measure and draw with exact sizing. Half of what they were talking about I knew or had read somewhere already. But on the other hand I learned the right way to sharpen and hold a pencil. How to use a knitting needle to measure. How to keep a light hand and build up graphite......and so much more.

I was concerned about sitting for 5 hours at a stretch as at home I am constantly moving around, drinking umpteen cups of tea, playing with the dog and basically just wandering around. But I did it - I did sit for the whole 6 hours aside from a 15 min lunch break and drank only 1 cup of tea - very pleased with myself.

It was wonderful being among like minded souls, surrounded by art and listening to classical music all day. I could definitely do this everyday.

Sketch of Corinne Bailey

Sketch of Nicole Ritchie

Sketch of Nicole Ritchie

I am enjoying our walks to school. We decided to walk the girls to and from school as it gives us some exercise and the dog gets his walk too. But aside from that it gives me so much more.....I get to find out first hand about their school experiences (otherwise D would tell me after a long day at work), I get to walk home with their friends too....funny little people 11 year olds are. I get to hear the rustling of the birch trees - such a pretty sound. I get to admire my neighbour's gardens.. I get to greet everyone walking in my path. I get to peek into "Narnia" everyday. (Narnia is this place under the evergreens along our walking path that is fully shaded and by the water canal. Its this secret spot the girls love going into and they have named it 'Narnia'. It truly is beautiful...serene, dark and natureful (new word I just coined). 

Do you have a place you can call Narnia? 

The growing popularity of portraits

Pic and article via the Apartmenttherapy blog

Classic forms of art never go out of style, but recent years have seen a resurgence of portrait popularity. Apartment Therapy has discussed stranger's portraits, portraits in the bedroom, vintage portraits, pet portraits, and just about everything in between. What's clear is that portraits — like the living subjects themselves — never fail to elicit emotion.

Click here to read the full article.

Studio life

If I had a studio / loft space this is how it would look........love the greys, whites and lab hardware...the ladder is my favorite.

Pic via the lovely OH HELLO FRIEND blog