My Creative Soul Revival

Saturday, May 16, 2015

Challenges and New On-line Store


67/100 -- "3 Bowls" - 6" x 6" mixed media on paper - $75

The past month has been pretty stressful with some personal matters and today I'm going to escape to the beach for a little R&R and some creative soul revival time with my favorite art buddies. I'm still doing the 100 Art Works Challenge and am finally up to #67. I enjoy participating in these contests because they force me to challenge myself to do things I either haven't learned before (like abstract figure painting) .....

30 Paintings in 30 Days - abstract figures - 2014

.....or working with mediums that I used to avoid like oil paints!

30 Paintings in 30 Days -- oil paintings - 2015

Besides the 100 Art Works Challenge, I've participated and completed four "30 Paintings in 30 Days" contests. These challenges are in addition to my normal painting routine, and though I do sell many of these works to my art collectors, I haven't really be pushing sales which means I've developed quite an inventory of work that needs to find happy homes.

On May 4th, I opened a shop on ArtFinder, an on-line venue for artists from all over the world. It's a juried site, which means you have to submit your work to be accepted. I was thrilled to make the cut and made my first sale last week to a man in Florida. If you get a chance, please check it out here and let me know what you think!! One feature that I do like about this site is it allows people to make an offer on work they are thinking of purchasing. Since I often discount my work anyway to my friends and collectors, I was thrilled they let me do this.

I'll be adding more work to the site as I get time, and in the meantime I'm starting plans for a huge studio sale which will be at my home studio. If you're in the Sacramento area and want an invitation please send me an email -- jj@judyjacobsart.com and I'll give you more details. I'm thinking an ice cream social with the theme "Christmas in July....." - a late morning/early afternoon event which will hopefully beat the heat!

Monday, May 11, 2015

2 Finished Gelli-Deli Paintings

Working with the Gelli-Deli prints has been a fun experience. When I work with the Gelli plate I tend to go for simpler designs in a limited palette which works perfectly with my theme for the 100 Artworks Challenge! Here are the first two finished works using the Gelli-Deli's - both are 6.25" x 4.25" mixed media on 140-lb watercolor paper.


"Flowers for Mom" - 66/100

"Lost at Sea" - 65/100

Thursday, May 7, 2015

Raindrops are Falling - 5 New WIP's

Woke up around 4:45 this morning to a dripping noise outside my window......got up to look outside and saw raindrops!! What a delightful way to welcome a new day and create some art.

Awhile back I used my Gelli Plate to make some textural-like designs using tissue-like deli paper. I loved the look of the papers and vowed one day to use them in some of my work, but hadn't gotten around to it until today.

This morning the rain inspired me to try something different, so I cut up a couple of the Gelli-Deli sheets to make a few collages for the 100 Artworks Challenge that I joined on March 15, 2015. Above is a photo of 5 new works in progress - each are 6.25" x 4.25", which fit perfectly in some 10" x 8" mats I have lying around. Can't wait to see how these look when they're done!

While writing this post, the sun came out.....looks like the rain show is over for sunny Sacramento. Hope we get some more rain soon.

Sunday, May 3, 2015

Catch Up Time

I've been lax on posting the paintings from the 100 Art Works Challenge. I started out strong and was posting daily, then life took over and I just neglected to keep up. So here are a couple of group photos showing paintings #1 through #30 and #31 through #48. If you would like to see any particular one closer, shoot me an email at jj@judyjacobsart.com

As of today's writing I'm up to #64 and am using some color. Not because I'm tired of working with neutrals but because I was in a show that specifically asked for my work because the curator loved all my color!! Since working with this challenge, I've fallen in love with the vessels and little flowers that sometimes adorn a design, and thought it might be fun to spice things up a bit and bring on the chroma. Here's #49 through #64 - still doing the same vessels but adding some of that "JJ" punch to keep things interesting. Enjoy!

Wednesday, April 15, 2015

Decadent by Design


"Dream State" - #41/100 - mixed media on paper - 6" x 6"

Tax day is here and I'm happy to report I managed to get them filed on time this year!! I'm embarrassed to report it's the first time this has happened in years, but it's a huge goal that I'm happy to cross off my long "2015 to-do" list. Somehow the mere act of getting them out on time helped ease the pain of writing the checks that went along with the filings.

It's been a crazy past 4 weeks or so with the 100 Paintings Challenge; filing taxes; closing details with the sale of the property management biz; and some health issues that have cropped up. I won't dwell on details, but my body needs some help at the moment and I need to focus on healing. Part of that healing has always been through the creation of my art, and thanks to the 100 Paintings Challenge and a pending show at the end of this month, I'm spending a lot of time in the studio which hopefully equates to lots of healing.

After living in corporate America for decades, it's sometimes tough to remember I'm now working in the art biz full time and I need to actually sell my art in order to make a living. When I was working full time and making art part time, I sold my creations mainly in galleries and on-line. This worked well for many years, but I was sad to watch as 99% of my galleries closed. The on-line market for art has become quite competitive, with lots more artists opening their own on-line stores and others doing nicely with other on-line art sale venues like Saatchi Online; UGallery; ETSY; Zatista and more. I know the key to being a successful artist is making great art, and marketing to get the art seen so people can buy it! No brainer, right?

That said, marketing is beginning to take over my life, and I spend at least 3-4 hours a day updating websites; researching new art opportunities; and writing goals and ideas down. I listen to podcasts about art and marketing when I'm walking my dog and painting. Lately I've begun to feel a little "naughty" for sneaking away to spend the day in the studio to play with paint and somehow that's just wrong!

I envy the artists who are able to stick to schedules and not get waylaid with emails, phone calls and neighbors/friends/family who think it's OK to stop by in the middle of the day because they don't feel I'm "really working."

It's time to implement a schedule and stick to it. Being an artist and a Gemini, I know I need to keep this creative and give myself some wiggle room so I don't feel like a loser each time I don't follow the rules. So here's what I've come up with (My Decadent-by-Design approach to Success!):

Monday - Friday:
- 1/2 hour on computer returning emails (in time increments as needed)
- 2 hours marketing (Instagram; FB; Twitter; Blog; Calls for Artists; Website Updates; etc.)
- 2 hours painting in the morning
- 2+ hours painting/creating in the afternoon/evening
- 1/2 hour minimum walking my dog/exercising
- 1+ hour "creative research" - reading blogs; researching artists & techniques; watching art-related videos; visiting museums & galleries; networking with artists - OR - packaging & shipping out art (hopefully LOTS of the latter!)

The rest of the time is "free" time to be spent as I wish, which might be reading, sitting in front of the TV watching mindless shows, visiting with friends and family and just having some "JJ" time.

This feels doable to me - especially if I don't do it in any particular order or beginning/end time. I don't want to live by my calendar and clock and force myself to paint at 8:00 a.m. if I feel like sending out packages instead. I might want to catch up on my recorded trash shows on my DVR in the middle of the day so I can paint for a couple of hours before I go to bed. It's got to be flexible or I won't do it - but I know these are important tasks that need to be done if I'm going to make this work.

What to do Saturday and Sunday?? Have fun, of course!! Go for a long bike ride or hike with some friends, and get away from art for awhile. Oh - and clean my house. Do laundry. Catch up on life's little chores. And get healthy! The life of an artist - I'm very blessed.

Monday, March 23, 2015

Paintings 18 - 23 of the 100 Paintings Challenge

I thought I was starting to get the hang of the painting and posting and but apparently not.....here is a collage of the latest six offerings of the 100 Paintings challenge. I'm happy to report this series seems to be a hit with my collectors and have sold 6 of the 23 paintings already. I also created a small book on Shutterfly titled "Simple Balance" utilizing all of the paintings made through today. I've been wanting to put another compilation of paintings into a book and was thrilled when Shutterfly sent me a coupon for a free 8" x 8" hardcover book!!

I am starting to get a little bored with the vessel series but have several more in the works so may be shifting subject matter. I'm not sure -- I accepted the challenge with the idea of doing neutral colors only but became enthralled with the vases/vessels and endless compositions available, so I'm not sure. I have a big show coming up at the end of April so need to get busy with making some new art for that event in addition to finishing 3 commissions I've been avoiding.

Procrastination is often my friend, so I'll probably be posting a few more group photo in the days to come. Only 77 more paintings to go - wish me luck!!!