Second Place at an Art Exhibit!!

My recent painting ‘Splendorifica’ just won second place at an art show at the d’Art Center in Norfolk, VA! Which was even more shocking considering I didn’t enter the art show as a contest, just as an opportunity to share my work. I thought I had already ‘won’ just by being accepted, and then I got an email saying that they actually had a juror pick a first, second, and third place winner for cash prizes, along with three honorable mentions. Color me humbled!

Don’t you just love that natural-light-filled space?!

They were kind enough to share a few images from the art exhibit, and it looks like a pretty nice one! It was specifically a portrait show and there are some incredible entries.

The d’Art Center actually sent me a letter as well, and if you noticed they said there was about 770 entries and I won second place out of all of those… Wow… I’m literally speechless!

Unfortunately I wasn’t able to attend the show because it was a little far away, but this recognition is definitely giving me the motivation to continue to apply to various regional shows and hope to get my work seen more in person, and certainly within distances that I can actually attend. I think after these long two years hiding away, people are finally ready to start coming back out into the world and checking out all of the marvelous artistic things we artists have been working on, myself included!

Here’s a little video of me packing up the painting when I was initially accepted. Hopefully I’ll be able to work with the d’Arte gallery again one day!

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7.17.2022

Sewing a Mega Monster

I recently got commissioned to make something I haven’t made in over five years, a big huge giant Mega Monster!! Hopefully you are familiar with the sock monsters I create sporadically, but you are probably unaware that during the time that I used to sell these on a regular basis at craft fairs in music festivals I was also making much larger versions out of fleece. I even had one that was bigger than this and also wearable, Rosco, who I toted around all the events with me. Let me tell you, dancing Rosco was a real crowd pleaser!

Normally I did not make them with straps on them because I had folks buying them for children sometimes, so I was tickled pink when I got an email out of the blue from a person who had purchased one of my Mega Monsters a few years ago and then told me that some thing about quarantine was making her so antsy for the days that she could go out again that she was craving a monster she could wear like a backpack whenever the world is ready for parties again. I was like ‘don’t worry honey, I have got you covered!’

I mean, can you even imagine bouncin’ round the dance floor, lights flashing, music blaring, your fave band killin it… and in front of you is a ginormous monster keeping the beat?!

So long story short, we picked out the fabric online together and I had it mailed to my house but I took me about a week to make the monster and now he has now been shipped up to New York. I haven’t seen any pictures yet from my client, but I’ll share them when I do.

Also, if you are interested in snagging one of my regular sock monsters just keep an eye on Instagram, in my Stories particularly, where I post new releases every few months.

6.10.2020

Painting A Beach Mural at The Arc

Woo Hoo! My very first beach mural! Actually, it’s my first landscape mural of any kind and I learned a lot!

Trying to incorporate oil painting skills with mural painting technique definitely still has me on a bit of a learning curve, but hopefully you will enjoy these mural tips that I was able to figure out already.

I used interior house paint for everything which has a delightfully smooth and pigment rich consistency, although I do look forward to trying out actual mural paint one of these days.

I felt really fortunate to be able to work with the Ridge Area Arc in particular because, although the facility has been shut down for a few months due to present world circumstances so I was alone while painting the mural, I was able to meet a few of their clientele on a previous visit and they were so sweet and friendly and excited to meet me. It feels really good to be able to create upbeat artwork for folks who will really look at it and enjoy it every day.

Read more about the Arc’s mission and our project in the local paper. That’s right, this Birdie had a featured article for her mural project! Yay!! (click to enlarge it)

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5.22.2020

‘Fern Tummy’ in Her Perfect New Home

Any of my fellow artists understand that when a client brings a piece of your work into their home it is a very meaningful transaction and a little piece of your heart goes with each piece you create.

So when another artist whom you love and respect so much decides to collect your work, feelings of gratitude and warmth abound, especially when you get sent a photo like this one of your work born on the ridges of the Ko’olau mountains on O’ahu, and now at home in the cozy woods of New Hampshire.

Ferns with ferns forever… :)

Seana is one of my fave muses and biggest supporters and becoming a closer friend every day. Check out her gorgeous self photography and one of my paintings of her, and then find Seana on Instagram @theillustratr and look at her beautiful artwork.

5.20.2020

April Newsletter Sneaky Peak

I’m working on my next Birds of a Feather monthly letter this week, although I have to admit, with this world turning on end and my laptop breaking down for two weeks, it’s been more like two months - yikes!

This time I’ll be sharing progress shots from the two other murals I’m working on concurrently this week and next.

Yep, that’s two murals in one building at the same time. I love it!

I’ve also got some pandemic positivity and some fantastic ways for you to spend some that abundant time learning new creative skills right from your living room.

And last but not least, I’m gonna let you in on a lil secret goal I’ve been working on that I’m finding quite challenging so that I’ll know in the next few weeks I will have to be accountable for keeping up with it and trying my best. It’s so much easier to fail in secret so I find that if I tell folks about my aspirations, then I’ll be forced to push myself through the tough part and see concrete results.

Are you on board to get my letter yet? If you’re subscribed to the Birdie Blog then you will be for sure, but if you don’t know or you need to, pop over here.

4.9.2020

My First Artist Residency!

Aaaah! I’m living in an art gallery for the next 7 weeks!! How amazing is that?!?!!

I recently got accepted to do an artist residency program here at the Highlands Art League in Central Florida. They’ve put me up in my own quirky yet spacious 100 year-old house right on a lake with the front rooms being used as a community art gallery and the back space being used for a sitting room, studio, bedroom, and even a kitchen for visiting artists (ie me!)

It’s a really incredible program; basically I get my rent etc. taken care of in exchange for doing 20 hours a week of artistic community out reach, either within their museum, local public schools, or with some of the senior citizens that are members. They also said they loved my YouTube videos and would like me to use some of my time to make promotional videos for them.

I am literally paying my rent through art!

I’m beside myself with excitement and I cannot begin to express how grateful I am for this opportunity. Can’t wait to help out and teach and learn and get to know the other artsy folks in town!

If you’d like even more details + pics from my first few days here, jump on my Birds of a Feather newsletter where I share the more personal side of my experiences as an artist, plus all my biggest news first. I just sent one out yesterday about Highlands so pop on my list and I’ll resend it to you too:)

And Happy New Year to all my readers! I hope you find so much success and happiness in 2020!

1.1.2020

Finding Beauty Everywhere

As an artist, you have an inherent eye for finding the beautiful, unusual, or remarkable in everyday life. It is a very special gift we visual artists possess and we should never let location or materials hinder our creative spirit.

Today I'm going to talk to you about finding beauty everywhere while just using a simple tiny sketchbook and regular pencil to do some graphic drawings from life in order to illustrate that you can make art anywhere with anything if you just open yourself up to being inspired.

If you'd like to see my sketches up close, check out my blog post from earlier this week.

12.6.2019

Newwww Tattooooo

So I got something very meaningful created on my body this past weekend….

A finger tat is an idea I’ve been flirting with for a couple of years now, but I could never settle on a design that I felt was meaningful enough until my fantastic day of hiking and plein air painting with Zee on Saturday. All throughout the day I could not stop staring at her brand new Celtic knot finger tat. Something about it rang true for me, but I knew I needed something a little softer.

To me this knot symbolizes somewhat of an infinity sign, but more so reflective of the actual journey of life. I am one who believes you get out of life what you put into it (for the most part / barring tragedies) so this knot makes me think of life going around in circles, and what goes around comes around, even if it’s not always obvious where we will end up.

I was not actually slated to get this tattoo that day, but we had already arranged to finish the beautiful bouquet on my leg - the 4th sitting, which wound up totaling about 20 hours to create this masterpiece!

I don’t have a good picture of it yet as it is still in a protective covering so my clothing doesn’t mess it up, but here are the happy honeybees about to have a feast

Thank you @zeezytat for your incredible permanent artwork, but more importantly your friendship. I’m so lucky to have someone so inspiring to adventure and create with!! Love you sister!! 

4.17.2019

Art Consulting Now Available

Aloha friends, big news today! I am now available for fine art and art biz consulting! Yay!

I am constantly getting asked advice from how to prepare for an art opening to how to 'be more professional' to basic technical skills. Now I am here for you one-on-one and face-to-face through Hangouts or Skype to help tackle any obstacles between you and the art or art biz of your dreams.

Make sure to check out all the options for working together here

And by all means, keep leaving me questions and comments here and on YT! I am thrilled to share my artsy knowledge with this wonderful community any time:):)

3.8.2019

5 Tips for Small Business Artists

Aloha fellow up ‘n coming artists:) Today’s video is especially for those who are interested in turning their love of artistic creation into a small business.

I’ve been navigating my own art biz for just a few years, but even in that short time I have learned so much that I wish I would have known starting out. If there’s one thing I think a lot of us have in common as newbies it’s that we tend to run around in a million directions at once not really knowing how best to focus our efforts and wind up wasting a lot of time.

I think a bit of bouncing around is totally necessary as each artist will find their own flow differently, but today I want to at least impart 5 little nuggets of advice to help navigate your own small art business.

So enjoy the video and then scroll down for notes

1. Don’t spread yourself too thin

When first starting out many artists are given the advice to ‘be everywhere’ online in order to share your artwork with as many people as possible (ex. Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Deviant Art, Pinterest, YouTube, Tumblr, Etsy, Society 6, etc). Now it is true that building an audience is the most important thing you can do for your art biz, but it’s actually much more effective to find 2-3 platforms where you think your target audience is most likely to hang out, then put forth your best, most professional efforts there. The worst thing you can do is sign up for so many platforms that you are unable to keep things updated so when folks do find you your page is an unloved, archaic mess. What a tragedy!

2. Follow journeys of ‘Goal Artists’

We all have artists that we hope to emulate one day either by style, success, or both, and that’s a very healthy thing. It’s great to have idols! Especially in the crazy world of professional art where there really are no set rules or protocols for building a prosperous and fulfilling career it can be incredibly helpful to have people to pattern after.

My advice is to pick 2-3 of your favorite contemporary artists whose style and/or target audience matches your own and who have also achieved a high level of your ideal of success. Remember that success looks different to every artist so it is important that you get kind of specific with this ideal; it won’t do you any good to emulate an artist being granted huge sculptural instillation art contracts when you are trying to paint pet portraits for celebrities. (You can love any artists’ work without trying to replicate their careers :) )

Then simply research and follow each artist consistently. Find their website and check out their CV or Exhibition/Awards roster to see potential venues to apply to or contests to enter. Sign up for their email list to hear about where/what they’re showing next. See if they teach workshops or college classes, or even jury for certain exhibits. Find them on social media and stay abreast of upcoming projects. How do they market themselves and their artwork? How do they get their audience excited about new artworks? What are specific ways that they engage with their audience?

Since basically everyone is all over the internet these days it is easier than ever to see how your idols are advancing but please, no matter what, do not ever make the mistake of comparing yourself to them. It can sound cliche, but it is very true that no two artistic journeys are ever the same. Gathering inspiration or references from favorite artists is fantastic, but you have no idea how exactly they got their start, how their socio-economic background influenced their educational opportunities, or how they may be connected either through location, schooling, or lineage. Circumstances are always different when peering from the outside in, so use your goal artists as just that, inspirational goals… not rigid one-size-fits-all rules.

3. Practice, expand and grow!

Now I know this one may sound obvious, but I honestly think this is one of the easiest ways that we can get lazy as artists. Once we are finished with official schooling it can be very easy to stick with our usual routine of style/materials/subjects/techniques and not keep branching out but it is really important to do so. We as artists need to be challenged regularly and we should always be striving for improvement, which comes with never ending practice.

Of course as we build an audience we want to stay true to the artwork that brought their adoration to us in the first place, but don’t forget that although we as humans like what we are already familiar with, we also need growth and change to keep our interest piqued. Trying out a new medium or a different subject within your same style is a great way to expand without alienating your audience. Or maybe use your artwork to collaborate with a clothing designer, children’s book writer, local event or good cause. The bonus is that by trying new things you will inevitably expose new people to your artwork along the way. Win win!

4. Be consistent

This is soooo much more important than I think a lot of young artists give credit. There are literally thousands of other artists all vying for your audience’s attention and if its been too many days/weeks/ or (dog-forbid) months since they’ve heard from you they are not even going to remember you when they move and need new art for their walls or when their sister’s birthday rolls around and they want a custom portrait created.

Consistency is also one of the best and cheapest ways to look professional. Literally just showing up on a predictable basis with quality work will put you head and shoulders above so many ‘amateurs'. Plus social media algorithms loooove consistency and we all know we need to be pleasing the mysterious algorithm entities as much as we possibly can!

5. Say yes

Often times in our lives we are presented with jobs, gigs, or opportunities that perhaps don’t specifically align with our end goals which we tend to say no to out of lack of interest or sub par compensation. Now I will never advocate for obvious time-wasting or being taken advantage of, but there is something to be said for getting out and doing as much art-related work as possible during the early stages of one’s career.

The thing is that so many random seeming opportunities morph and push us in unexpected directions and often turn into surprising and unique learning endeavors. Not to mention that as young artists we absolutely need to be exposed to as much of the business side of the fine art world as humanly possible (especially since art schools teach bupkis about the biz aspect of things). Also, working in any creative sector will garner more and more personal contacts who will in turn present you with more artistic opportunities. It can be a very exciting and lucrative cycle indeed!

My advice is to branch out into as many creative endeavors as you can handle reasonably and with quality. Never take on more than you can do well by giving only half efforts as your reputation will proceed you and could cost you excellent opportunities in the future. Just do your best and have an upbeat attitude and people will be thrilled to hire you again and again.

Skippity-do it’s as easy as that folks! Show up to your own life consistently and enthusiastically with your best effort and you should do great! Yay!

3.1.2019