day 13

i think this will be slide number two for the fair. there is a couple more things I may do to it, but haven't decided yet.

today was a strange day. i felt kind of tense, on edge.
i'm sure it's the two deadlines i have approaching.

I need to get the art fair slides emailed tomorrow, and Saturday is the pine wood derby.

i'm surprised how anxious that event is making me. There is so many components to doing the car and we've never done it it. We had to polish axles and balance wheels and carve and add weights and use graphite powder to reduce friction. Can't say I really enjoyed it much.
HOWEVER, i do believe that once we make it through this year, next year should be better.

day 12

on ebay now... click HERE

I guess I've got snow on the brain. It looks like we're going to have snow on the ground for a while now.

I've had a good attitude this winter, until my sister reminded me it's only been officially winter for a few weeks. Talk to me at the end of February, she said.

Hmph.

I was awfully cold this afternoon. I have a hard time functioning if I'm cold. I start slowing down, and seeking out heat through hot baths or my electric blanket. I also have been known to bake potatoes just so I can have the oven on for an hour and afterwords I will leave the door open to let the warmth circulate out.

I did turn up the thermostat, twice, so it was running at 75.
Finally I was comfortable.

Tomorrow I think I'll layer more clothes on, and not be so reluctant to turn up the heat a degree or two. If it's the difference from being productive, or being uncomfortable and unmotivated, I choose productive.

day 11

workS in progress
today was a snow day for us all
schools and work were closed
sledding, hot cocoa and a scooby-doo movie was the order for the day
i managed to break away for just a bit.
just long enough to start some smaller pieces

i don't know how little children can handle the snow and the cold and still enjoy themselves.
the second time today they were out, the temp was dropping and the winds were picking up
a neighbor boy was with my two and they were laughing, climbing, falling as if it were a perfect 75 degrees out.
eventually Paul asked for his play tent, which they promptly put underneath their playground and all huddled in together.
like the inuit in alaska no doubt
sharing warmth and secrets
protected from the bitter north wind

day 10 - resolution

woo woo it's finished!!
so proud of this painting. everything is making me happy right now, the quilt, the little white flowers, the yellow stamp house...
I think this will be one of my slides for entry to an art fair I have my eye on

I have gorgeous 8 x 10 prints available for $18 here on etsy

Day 9

work in progress ... the collage with the 'shadow box'
i'm thinking encaustics for the collage. to knock it back and make the box more of a focal point. so that means a trip to dick blick for more art supplies. wheeee

even though i got some studio time in, i really should be posting pics of my son's pine wood derby car. This is the first time we have created a car and I really mean WE. the whole family is involved in this project. Grandpa used the bandsaw to cut out the shape Paul drew. We all took turns sanding. Today we managed the tricky business of adding weights. Paul will be painting the car tomorrow.
I guess the point of this experience is to have everyone involved and working together, but it seems like there is very little for the actual scout to do. Paul is only seven, so besides his crude car shape and sure to be interesting paint job, the rest is up to the adults. I will be very curious to see how well the other cars are done.

Day 8

Work in progress continued...

today was a very successful day. i managed to stay home in my pj's without running a single errand!
i also made progress on a couple of art pieces. I really like working on several pieces at once. I also like my decision to paint everyday, NOT complete a painting a day. I never feel overwhelmed. I know I can squeeze in at least one hour and sometimes that hour turns into even more. The paintings are developing slowly and thoughtfully. I am finally finding my rhythm.

Day 7

I had my blog post ready, but I forget to upload!
This is a photo of something a little different I'm trying. Again, it's a work in progress. I want to cut out a shadow box in the center and drop a little mini frame in it with the bird and that clock piece in it. So what you're looking at is kind of an elaborate frame for a small sculptural type work.
Confused? Me too :)
I'm winging it.
I just love dimensional art though. Not necessarily sculpture, more assemblage.
Yes. Assemblage. That's exactly the word I was searching for.
I've tried a couple things over the years, never to great success. I have envisioned in my mind's eye how fabulous this will look when complete, but so far I've never accomplished one I was proud of.
Stay tuned...

Day 6

today I got to put into practice my new years resolution of listening to myself
i'm under the weather with some sort of head cold/flu type thing.
i was s o t i r e d yesterday and instead of drinking a coffee and pushing thru,
i took a nap.
afterwards i was able to take care of the kids after school, bake some easy bake cakes,
play a little hi-ho-cheerio and cook a yummy dinner.

it was a good lesson for me

day 5

After picking lila up,

We sat at our little kitchen table and ate crackers and cheese

She told me about a disagreement she had at school

Mack told her she had brown eyes,

Lila told him that her eyes were NOT brown, but a very beautiful and unusual shade of HAZEL. (in her own way of course, she is only four)

I’m happy she likes her eyes. My whole life I have received compliments on my light, sometimes sea blue, sometimes grey eyes.

I like my eyes too.

Winter break has broken me

Tomorrow back to our routine. Our blessed routine. I love routine. Vacation with the kids has left me breathless, needing a vacation. Today we packed in as much fun as possible and I even got a painting started. I have an art fair deadline approaching so when this one is done it may become one of my entry slides.

quiet

A new year, and things abruptly go back to normal.

But I’ve forgotten what normal is.

So many weeks of anticipation and purpose kept me, my mind busy.

Now it’s all over, and the emptiness is waiting to get replaced, but by what?

drift

It's January so it means long, cold days, stuck inside, with nothing to do but paint - paint - paint
well, not really, but January is usually a very productive month for me.
To kick off the new year I want to challenge myself to create every day. I will try to post daily updates of works in progress.

Here is a dreamy painting I just listed on ebay, the title is 'drift'

Tap, tap, tap, anyone here?

When I was wrapping all those gifts, on that special night of the year, I didn't think of what it meant for the next day. I had images of the lazy days, months ahead, playing the new board games, oh so many of them. visions of performing mad science experiments with my two little chemists, from their new kits. baking miniature cakes by the warmth of a single 100 watt bulb. But i did not envision attempting to fulfill all these fantasies in the next 24 hours!

I have risen to the challenge though, and with my thumbs sore from punching out cardboard pieces, and my brain pounding from reading so many directions and instructions. we have played, read and shuffled our way through most of it.

Pure fun I tell you. I will be sad when my playmates return to school.























this painting is on ebay now

summer FUN

This year we got 6-flags season passes for me and the kids and even Dad! We probably went six or seven times over the summer, never more than four hours at a time, and it was perfect. We would arrive when it opened and stay till we got tired or too hot or hungry. We never ate there and got a refillable .99 cent soda so we tried to get by as cheaply as possible. I think this may become an every other year tradition for us. After the initial outlay of money, it became something fun we could do without thinking about cost. And since our previous plan of a trip to the Florida panhandle got postponed, it wasn't that bad of a summer vacation for staying in town.

It turns out my six year old son is a roller coaster junkie and so is his dad. Lila, little three year old Lila loved the mine train coaster and would beg to go again and again. We have started a tradition of getting our family picture on the log flume at least once a summer. This was our pic from this year. I SWEAR Lila is enjoying herself. As soon as we get off she says "Again!"

I may use this as our holiday card this year. Should I add little santa hats on us?

Queeny art fair

What a weekend! I just got home from my exhibiting in my first ever art fair! You may have wondered why things were so quiet around here... Well I've been painting, building, sewing and shopping to prepare. I have to say, though I missed my internet life, it was a brilliant experience. I felt so much support and encouragement from everyone. The other artists were so helpful and went out of their way to make me feel at home and share information. I definitely will be doing this again. It was so good to get out of the studio and get feedback.

A few of the highlights...
1. I had a number in my head for financial 'exceeds expectations' and I came very close to it.
2. I won a ribbon!!! A beautiful white ribbon with "Honorable Mention" was in my booth Sunday morning. What a great way to start the day.
3. $300 in 'Art Dollars" were given out over the weekend as raffle door prizes and $150 was spent in my booth.
4. Meeting Amy Millspaugh. She felt like a long lost sister, we immediately hit it off and I managed to trade for one of her gorgeous, whimsical bowls. Also meeting Kay Foley. I didn't have much time to talk with her but I loved her work and I know we have a lot in common.

If this is your first visit to my blog and I met you at the show, Welcome! You all really shared the love and made my weekend incredible!
Here is a link to my etsy where you can find more prints and I'll be listing originals as the week goes on.

Amazing Glaze

I have (re)discovered a dusty bottle of product sitting on my self. It's my Liquitex glazing medium. I've been using it on faces recently. I really like the control I have over color and shadow, slowing building up layers. I can add highlights easily with full strength heavy body acrylic, then knock it down again with a thin glaze. It's a slower process but the results are worth it!























on ebay now!

Happy Monday

Last week was so full, lot's of swimming, a trip to the St. Louis Zoo and tea parties. I even managed to get some painting done!

















I'm loving painting birds. It's so freeing in some way, more imaginative and spontaneous.
This one is on ebay now

I'm going to miss these guys in a few short weeks. Lila will be attending pre-school for just a few hours a week, but Paul is going to be gone for 6 1/2 hours Monday - Friday, he'll be in 1st grade!
He's never been away from me that much, and it's going to be hard to adjust not being there for a big chunk of each day. I'm not a helicopter parent I SWEAR, I'm just a stay at home mom used to having my little boy around.

art and an interview

I was featured on Chrissie Grace's blog! There is an interview and some art. Please go check it out HERE! I hope I don't sound too lame :)

Facebook anyone?

I have become on of the millions of people who have joined facebook, and I even made a little page for my art work called 'art of sarah wyman'

I'm kind of treating like a newsletter where if you join you will updated when I have new paintings for sale, art shows I'm doing or preparing for and the ups and downs I experience as I go along.

Won't you join and become my friend?

follow this link

Jezebel

Our little family was hit with some bad news last week,
our beloved kitty of nine years has cancer, a tumor in her jaw.






















When I say she is the perfect cat, I mean she is the perfect cat. I've had cats my whole life and my previous kitty who lived to 18, was wonderful, and we thought we would never have one so good, and then we met Jezebel. The minute we held her at the shelter, she curled up in the nook of my arm with her nose in my elbow and started purring. She hasn't stopped purring.
She takes meticulous care of herself. The white spots on her are so soft and brilliantly clean. Her hair looks a little unkempt in this photo taken today because she can't keep it up now.
And friendly! She doesn't know a stranger. Most cats are at least skittish of strangers but the minute you sit down in our house you have a purring calico in your lap. She sits on Mikes lap at dinner, and sleeps with Paul most nights.

She has just a little time left, and we are just loving her up.

If you have a pet or even a loved one, give them an extra hug tonight.