Looksy Wednesday - Jessica Swift

I found out today is Jessica Swifts birthday!! Jessica paints beautiful paintings, fun, and brightly colored! She's having a special sale at her Etsy shop.

BUY ONE GET ONE FREE!!!

The only problem...is that i want more then two!!! Head over to her page and wish her a happy birthday, or buy a really beautiful print!!

Happy day to you!
Jenipher

Looksey Wednesday! - Yumi Yumi Studio

Hello friends! How is your week going?
Well i hope!

I was stumbling on Etsy's "new listings" broswer and found Aline's shop
Yumi Yumi Studio.

I love how many different styles her prints are painted it. All very beautiful. :D

Make sure to stop by and check out the rest of her work!

I hope you are all having a brilliant week!
Smiles and blessings to you!
Jenipher :D

Paintings You Wish You Could Eat!

I 1st saw Abbey's painting's on Etsy. Abbey's shop is called Ryan Studio. She has these brilliant paintings on there that make me hungry just looking at them. I love her painting style, and love all of the random subjects she paints. She also has a neat blog where she posts her daily paintings.



My name is Abbey Ryan, and I currently live in Philadelphia.

How long have you been crafting?

I have been painting for as long as I can remember. I only really started to study painting in college, but I have pictures of me at age 3 and 4 standing at my easel, painting away! So, I guess I have been seriously doing oil painting for about 8 years. I graduated with my MFA in painting in 2007, and since September I have been selling my small daily oil paintings online - http://ryanstudio.blogspot.com



Did you always craft in this genre?

I have consistently painted with oils since college, but I also do scientific illustration and design work. In addition, my personal studio practice (aside from my daily oil paintings) consists of works on paper using ink and graphite. These are shown on my web site, http://abbeyryan.com.



Who or what inspires you?

I find that I am most inspired in my life by positive energy, freedom, and nature. Color is an important inspiration for me - as it relates to light. I'm drawn to moments where colors are subtly manipulated through the presence or absence of light. The music of Bob Dylan and Patty Griffin have also been huge sources of inspiration for me as well. I spend so much time in the studio, and am usually listening to either Bob or Patty. :) And of course, I am also inspired by my amazingly supportive family (especially my mom, Liz Ryan, who's also a painter -- http://eryanstudio.com ).





What challenges have you found while taking your craft into the business world?

I am relatively new to the business aspect of making art. I've found it to be incredibly inspiring and exciting to sell my work directly to art-lovers via the internet. Thus far, I've also relied just on word of mouth to get my work out there. I think getting publicity is the biggest challenge, but it's also a really fun part of the process, too.



So head over to Abbey's shop and tell her hello, she's really nice and I'm sure she'd love to hear from you! :)

Adorable Art!

How cute are these paintings? When i saw the adorable painting below, i had to contact Marcia. Marcia has a shoppe called Marcia724. She has a great style thats right up my ally. Enjoy them! :)



How long have you been crafting?

I've actually been a crafter my whole life; interested in making things with my hands as long as I can remember. I've only let it consume my life within the last five years. This is not a bad thing :)



Did you always craft in this genre?

I've pretty much been all over the place with my crafting. I like to try everything. I'm not a creature of habit, so eventually I will get bored with one thing and go on to another. Although I must say that painting with acrylics has been about the only thing I've stuck with my entire life.



Who or what inspires you?

Emotions. Situations. Actual, everyday experiences. I could paint a thousand paintings just about childhood situations and memories. The memories have to be something that moves me. It could be in a good way or bad. Either way stirs emotion and leads to a painting.



What challenges have you found while taking your craft into the business world?

At first it was hard for me to even think about selling my pieces. I was so mentally attached to them. I still have a lot of my first paintings because they came from the deepest part of my heart. Now that I'm selling more and more art, I'm getting used to it. I'm just happy they are going to a home where someone will enjoy it.

So, head over to her Etsy or her website, and check out her adorable paintings.

Harmonious Paintings!

I was recently introduced to Harmony when she made a comment on my blog. I'm always intrigued when people i haven't met yet find my blog. [even more so, when they post a comment and say hello.] So of course, i had to check out her blog. As soon as i saw the beautiful tea pot paintings, i knew i had to write about her. Harmony has a shoppe called Harmony Vanlue Tanguay and has beautiful oil paintings. Not only does she paint lovely tea pots, but has a great style, painting angles and objects that are sometimes missed in everyday life as art.



1. I have been creating in one form or another all of my life. My mom is a seamstress (and fellow Etsian - uniquelynancy) and my dad is a carpenter, so I don't think a week went by as a kid when we weren't doing some sort of craft project.



2. No, painting is actually a fairly new pursuit for me. I went to school for theatre, graduated and moved to New York. While there, I began figure modeling for artists to make money while I auditioned. I became increasingly interested in the visual arts as a result, and eventually ended up studying with two of the teachers I had modeled for in the fall of 2006. That was my first official art class. I've been painting seriously for about 3 years now.



3. Oh man, so many people and things. I see potential paintings pretty much everywhere I look - the open doorway of my bathroom, the spices on my kitchen shelf, the faces of my friends and relatives, the landscapes of my town. There is really so much beauty everywhere, and in the simplest of subjects. It's overwhelming. I actually have a list of things waiting in line to be painted right now! I'm also inspired by other painters, past and present. Seeing great work inspires me to work harder and improve with every painting I make.





4. It's been challenging for me because art is a tough market to get into, and because this is a relatively new venture for me. Buying art is a very personal experience for people, and I know my work isn't going to appeal to everyone. But I take comfort in knowing that someday the right person will come along and fall in love with one of my pieces and give it a great home! I've gotten wonderful feedback from buyers so far, and that makes it all worth it!



Check out her Etsy site, and look at her paintings of silverware, they are really swell too! :) Oh, and say hello to Harmony, she's very nice!

See the Spray Blue Artwork.

Katrin from Sea Spray Blue is a wonderful painter. I was interested in her work once i saw her "..And then he kissed me." print.

1. I've been drawing since August 2007. I sold my first print in the beginning of September 2007.



2. Before August 2007 I've been more into photography. I really enjoyed working the whole night alone in my own dark room (our bathroom). Also I had specified plans for a short movie with my friends.



3. Music inspires me. Some years ago I was listening to the Morrissey song "Lifeguard sleeping girl drowning". After listening I had a picture in my mind how I imagine the scenery of this sound. I kept it in my mind for three years and then painted it in acrylic as a gift for my boyfriend. Now it's hanging in our living room.
Also going for a walk with my little son in his baby buggy and looking at the surroundings or people. 'I can wait' came into my mind this way.
And in the very moment before falling asleep there are sometimes pictures that come into my mind. The most impressive ones I can still remember when I wake up again. For the 'coming home' print I even switched the light on again.





4. Until now I found no challenges. Far from that. I'm glad that some people like you find my artwork and make it visible to a broader community beyond etsy. I've never done a bigger promotion (except on etsy) by myself. But this year I go for having my own first website. I guess this will be my first challenge in my new artwork life.



She has many other beautiful prints and cards for sale in her Etsy shop. I think you will find them inspiring! :)

Beck-ing Call For An Amazing Painter

I feel so horrid, i havn't written about anyone in a while. My excuse, although not a brilliant one is the Holiday rush. On the bright side, i interviewed Julie Beck, from Julie B Creative ages ago. I found her incredible talented and her work makes me wish i could paint. Looking through her work now, a month or so later, i can honestly say, i am even more impressed then i was the 1st time i saw her paintings. It's even more incredible then i remember!



1) How long have you been crafting?

I have been painting for about 5 years, but as with most people on Etsy, I have been artistic most of my life. Not very good though. I think my drawings as a kid were actually better than some of my first paintings. I'd have to say that only in the past 3 years has my work been "up to snuff."



2) Did you always craft in this genre?

Not at all, I started in acrylics, went to oils, and then back to acrylics. I have absolutely no patience, so the oils were definitely the wrong medium for me. I like the immediacy of water based.



3) Who or what inspires you?

There may not be enough room to list them all but the top few include: books, old trains and railroad tracks, the bins of old photographs that are abandoned and end up in an antique store, flea markets, numbers, ghost stories, The Dark Tower series by Stephen King, farms, bold color combinations. In my daily life, the one tings that always stops me in my tracks is a really good color combination that’s just exisiting...it wasn't planned, it just happened. It's kind of a chaotic natural pairing that makes it so beautiful.




4) What challenges have you found while taking your craft into the business world?

Time management. I work a full time job creating motion graphics. I started offering the custom paintings, which was a really good decision, because a lot of people look for personalized gifts for people...and for so many, like myself, their house is very important to them and it means a lot. It's a place that is somewhat sacred...which is why I started the series. However, each one takes about 8 or 9 hours to complete. This is forcing me to learn how I need to manage my time better so I have more than 4 hours to sleep at night. The nice part about this is I can really start making painting my part time job and cut back my hours at work. It's the one benefit to being a freelancer.




Misc Information:

I took an abstract painting class one time, and I think it really helped my work...the funny part is that the hardest thing for me to do was to not painting "something." Interesting random fact about me: I was valedictorian of my college and have a degree in math.

So head over to Julie's Etsy account, tell her hello and drink in her creative spirit. Enjoy! :)