new work, wow, painting feels good

Ok, dead computer (now rebuilt, thanks to lots of my own patience and a bit of ranting to my husband, but it was all my time and hard work – he just got to listen to my frustration.)  It’s almost back to normal (almost) – I still have to load a lot of my backed up files. Between this, Stella graduating puppy K (I was so proud) – and just trying to balance being a doggy mommy I snuck into the studio this weekend (twice) – the result, two 12×12 cats that are really awesome.  I am looking forward to putting in a lot of weekend studio time this summer.  Unfortunately between my day job and the dog and oh, lives little things that busy us, my day starts at 6am and ends at 10pm with no room for studio work.  Someday!  For now I savior my time to paint on the weekends and focus on quality not quantity, it’s what I need to do to get through.  I have subscribed to Cat Fancy for the last year or so, and the reference is amazing, so now I am going to get Dog Fancy too.  I am building inventory for a fall show that is all about Pets.  In the meantime, we are launching the Co-op, which has been lots of work.  After having Stella 1 month, my husband and I are getting into a grove, and luckily when he does outside work on the weekends, she is more than happy to be with him for most of the time and I get to paint.  Even an hour here or there feels great! At some point in the future I would like to scale back to a 4 day work-week and dedicate more weekday time to painting & Stella.

OK – nothing has been photo’d yet, but when it is I’ll send it.

In the meantime check out some of my new work on my site.

www.wetpaintstudios.com

Sylvia Kania Gallery Grand Opening Friday August 1, 2008

 

Join us for the First Friday Artwalk from 5pm – 8pm

Sylvia Kania Gallery – The doors are open

Well, sort of – right now the gallery is transitioning from a blank canvas to a work of art.  You might stop by and find some of our co-op members working in the space and installing the artwork at all hours.  Our “official” hours after 8/1 are Hours:  Thursdays – Sundays 11am-7pm

And location:

Venue: Sylvia Kania Gallery is located at 148 High Street, Portland, ME 04101

(Directly across from the Eastland Park Hotel in the State Theater Building)

Hours:  Thursdays – Sundays 11am-7pm

 

Phone: 207-615-6019 (YES, look this is new, we have a phone, which is a great way to find out if someone is in the gallery working on the space before you stop by – prior to 8/1  of course.

For More Information: Email Jessica Lauren Lipton at jessica@jessicalaurenlipton.com (She is our manager and the designer of the LOGO, the amazing shelving that is unlike anything I’ve ever seen, way to cool for words!)

Thanks to Jen Joaquin, our chalkboard wall is DONE! (I saw her do this myself.)

I have to say this creative group has amazed me and despite the fact that my assignment is to market the place, I think the members have all pitched in and made this happen fast!  Not only are the artists working to get the space ready for our grand opening 8/1, but any number of Jess’s friends or her boyfriend are continuing to lend a hand.

When I peaked in on Sunday (it was closed, but will be open on Sundays in the future) – there was art on the wall and it was SO exciting.  I have to say this has been an amazing journey so far.

In case you missed my earlier blog:  Here is all the information!

SYLVIA KANIA GALLERY

 

“A funky artist-run cooperative focused on culture, outreach & conversation in an invitingly offbeat space”

 

 

Dates:  August 1, 2008 – Sylvia Kania Gallery Grand Opening 5pm-8pm

(Details on viewing the gallery prior to our grand opening are below in Sneak Preview!)

           

Venue: Sylvia Kania Gallery is located at 148 High Street, Portland, ME 04101

(Directly across from the Eastland Park Hotel in the State Theater Building)

Hours:  Thursdays – Sundays 11am-7pm

 

Phone: 207-615-6019

 

For More Information: Email Jessica Lauren Lipton at jessica@jessicalaurenlipton.com

 

Skinny: Sylvia Kania Gallery is cooperative journey featuring a diverse group of twelve local artists. The creators behind SKG, Cat McKenna and Jessica Lauren Lipton are realizing their vision of a community-based gallery.  Make NO Mistake! This is not just another Portland Art Gallery! Our aim is to set up an organization that gives a mix of artists an opportunity to earn all or part of their living. In the spirit of fostering unity and working together, we will reach out to local businesses to develop partnerships through cross-promotions. Our business model includes becoming a viable part of the Art and Downtown District and a Resource for the Community in which we operate. Come on in to hang out on our couches, listen to some music, check out the artwork, and read and write messages about art our art conversation black board wall!

 

Artists: Artists include: Cat McKenna, Jessica Lauren Lipton, Jonathan M. Dunitz, Lori Rae Curole, Kelly Donahue, Gregor Arturo, Jen Joaquin, Linsday Torrey, Felicia Teach, Elizabeth Sherman, Vicky Lloyd & Susan Hazzard (Additional information enclosed)

 

First Friday/Special Events: First Friday Art Walk – SKG will be the “must stop” place to go to on the art walk, with special events including live music, non-alcoholic beverages and guest artists. Our opening event on August 1, 2008 will be the first of many First Fridays and enticing themed openings to come.

 

Sneak Preview:

Come on in while we put the finishing touch on our gallery on or after Saturday July 19th and during our hours: Thurs-Sun 11am – 7pm. Works for sale include a broad range of prices from $5.00 and up.

 

Interviews: available by contacting Jessica Lauren Lipton at jessica@jessicalaurenlipton.com

Moving Forward: In the near future, SKG will coordinate special events, host a coffee bar, and extend our hours to include additional evenings as we grow. Our community outreach will provide information on organic farmers, food co-ops, promoting community barter, and living green resources.  Sylvia Kania will join Portland’s locally owned business campaign to promote the “Buy Local” way of life. SKG plans to increase their unique art talent to include new genres, as well as a total of twenty-five permanent artists by the end of 2008.

 

About us: Want to get to know this creative group? Stop by to meet us, in the meantime here is some information about a few! Cat McKenna, has a passion for art and a fondness for late Aunt Sylvia Kania “a feisty woman with enough class to spare” who is the namesake of the gallery.  Cat creates Celtic Art. Jessica Lauren Lipton is the Gallery Manager and is a talented Installation artist using the juxtaposition of objects to question the relationship of an individual to a larger society and the reciprocity of that relationship. Felicia Teach is a Plein air oil painter who works in the realist tradition. Jonathan M. Dunitz, Photographer, captures unique perspectives of architecture & decaying vehicles. Elizabeth Sherman creates ceramic, glass and metal work.  Jen Joaquin, a painter feeds her addiction for color by painting. Lindsay Torrey, pottery and jewelry, uses vibrant colors to make one-of-a-kind pieces. Lori Rae, Painter, shows diverse vibrant colors in offbeat subject matter. Gregor Arturo is a wildlife photographer who also dabbles in sculpture and calligraphy. Vicky Lloyd who creates pottery has recently discovered her passion for sculpting.

 

Stella/co-op/my dead computer

Ok, so I have been forging forward trying to work on marketing for the co-op, and in the process my computer dies.  I “may” have killed it when I tried to install a new Norton product, anyway after a phone call to Norton who said, call Microsoft, and a phone call to Microsoft who said, “Have you talked to Norton” – shoot me now – then they both said call HP, I called HP and a very nice gentlemen working from halfway around the world assured me that YES, a SMARTFRIEND would fix my broken fatal error for a small fee of 59.99, and they couldn’t, so I will get that refunded (so they say) – and have ordered a Recovery Disk from the PC Surgeons for 31.00 with shipping.  SO, to say the least, I’m a bit behind on my work outside work and as my husband cooked dinner and played with Stella, I made 10 phone calls and then quit.  My recovery disk should be in by the end of the week.  Thankfully I was able to work on my husband’s computer last night and acheive tons, but I still have more work to do.  The soft opening at the Co-Op is this weekend, Grand is August 1…I am in process of designing a postcard a tri-fold and a PR Statement for all the world to see.  STELLA is great, Rich thinks she might be a momma’s girl, but we are not sure.  I’m sure he will be demanding his “own dog” in the next 5 years.  NAH HE loves her and she loves him.  She is very attached to us and we love her.  She plays hard, sleeps great and is a little love.  We run her at the park twice a day and I play with her on my lunch.  It’s a whole new life for us.  We have puppy K tonight, 3rd class…doing GREAT.  As far as art I have a new cat in the works, I have really been drawn to black and white animals lately!

ciao’

Painting Again

Ok, I have to admit, I found a picture of a little black and white dog with big giant scruffy ears and I have no idea what kind it is, but I painted it this weekend.  Normally, I lay in a background before or after but this time the background is white.  I love the effect, it’s almost like pen on paper or pen and ink, except for the places that I built up the white for furr.  It was a quick study but a keeper.  I didn’t get to paint as much as I hoped this weekend and I should give myself a break because I have been sick for 10 days – but when I did, it felt great!!!!

Busy with the puppy, the Co-Op Marketing, Lollipop in general, and oh yeah, the day job that pays the bills and allows me to have more financial freedom.

More later – have to work on Co-Op stuff now, PR Statement is going out this week!

Working from home

Wow, I’ve been busy, I spent about five hours on my computer at home doing everything from computing sales tax owed for mid-year to getting ready with some signage for the co-op.  I’m beat.  Of course I had another great puppy day, and so did Stella, which is why she is sleeping right now (I wish I was!) 

On monday I made myself a list of all I wanted to accomplish this week, sans going into the studio, and I have finished it all!  YIPEE.  Tomorrow and throughout the weekend I am going to start a new series in the studio.  The prep for the co-op has been time consuming, and I’ll be dropping work off there this weekend or early next week.  We plan to change out the work every 6-8 weeks, so I can breath a bit now.  My art spaces are also all set through the end of September.  Wow, maybe I really can get in the studio and produce some work – it’s all the other stuff that gets in the way.

On an unrelated note – even though I’m getting work done while Stella naps (which is a lot) I love having her in my life, we are having a blast. She is very peppy and a bit naughty with the biting, but we are working on that.  We learned tons at puppy K last night, it was a great investment.

OK she’s up, time for doggy dinner.

til tomorrow -

Working Vacay

It’s amazing how much I can find to do on my week off, day 1 that is.  In addition to having a new puppy that seems pretty intent to be by my side (and I by hers) when she is not slumbering….I actually accomplished quite a bit of work yesterday.  Having finished a small commission for a friend, I met her and her mom (who the painting was for) in the Petsmart Parking Lot (gimmee a break, I live there now!)  Anyways, she was in mall-land anyhow so it worked for both of us.  The cat painting is of Fluffy, an 18 year old big fluffy cat with blue quinty eyes and lots of grey fur, the picture they gave me had the cat in a Red Sox Tee Shirt and she looked really angry.  I went with a rectangle format instead of my usual square because this cat’s head is more wide than round.  I also went with a double thick canvas which I favor for smaller works at times.  The result, another happy customer who said the painting was dead on!  Yay, the eyes they said…amazing.  Stella and I also delivered an order of notecards and got a massage (stella slept in her travel crate like an angle.)  But anyways, seriously, running to the printers, two art spaces, staples, the pet store and not to mention the obigitory trip to Rich’s office so co-workers can see the baby.  Stella and I were pooped by the days end, we deserved that massage.  This, after I worked in my home office for 2.5 hours in the morning.  Crazy, not enough hours in the day.  I wonder how I get stuff done when I am working 37.5 hours per week.  Hum – Today, well, more doggie socialization (although yesterday there was 3 dogs and several new sets of hands petting stella) – I have a bit of work to do for Lollipop today (naptime Stella???? not that it takes much, this pup likes her sleep!) – but today Stella is going to come into the Studio with me in the afternoon and chill (one hopes) while I work on a painting.  We have a full morning of visits and errands right after I do a well deserved pilates class!

Thanks for reading…have a great day