New paintings coming, but first........ the "first" paintings

Over the last several months, I've been painting every free moment I've been able to find.  Finding free time this year, however, definitely hasn't been easy.  I honestly didn't expect a webstore to take as much time to build as it did, and the stores and galleries that carry my work, have been keeping me pretty busy this year.  I have finished 4 new paintings, have another 3 near completion, and about a dozen more sketched out.  In 2015, my goal is to release a minimum of 16 new paintings, starting on March 30, 2015.

Before I start releasing the new paintings in March, I'll be featuring TWO paintings each week of my currently available work.  Complete with a blog entry, with little facts about each painting and tidbits about my life.  One painting each week will be from the painting series I did in 2012, and the other painting each week, will be from my collection of earlier paintings.

"Vanity"

This being the very first week of this new blog series, I'm featuring what I consider to be my "first" piece.  First in that it's the first I've ever been a little bit proud of.  I did this piece for a high school art class.  The way my class schedule worked out during my Junior year, the only elective classes available to me were Art 1, and a Home Ec class.  I have two sisters, and my mom made it a point to teach my sisters how to cook, bake, crochet, sew, knit.... all that kind of stuff.  While she was teaching them, she taught me how to do it all too at the same time, which made the decision to take Art 1 pretty easy, so I could learn something new.  I had tried drawing prior to taking the class, but I was never any good.  I always wanted to be.

The teacher of the Art 1 class was an amazing artist, and an even better teacher.  I learned a great deal that year, but even so, most of the artwork I did in that class, wasn't good enough to hang on a refrigerator.  With the exception of one piece:  "Vanity".  My grandmother had a picture hanging in her house, and I was always drawn to it, of a woman looking into a mirror, but from far away it looked like a skull.  One of the assignments of the Art 1 class was to take a preexisting piece of artwork that we liked, and to recreate it with a spin "all your own" on it.  I did this piece with brushes, pen and ink dip quills, and using a very large, very sharp African porcupine quill to do the finer detail work.  It is the only piece that I've ever done that has always been displayed somewhere in my home.

The second painting being featured this week, is the first painting I did of the series of 16 paintings painted in 2012.  I'm married to a French Canadian, so I've spent a lot of time in Canada, going back and forth between Montreal and Northern AZ.  Usually shorter trips, but in 2012 I was able to stay for an entire six months.  I truly love Montreal.  The people, the architecture, the food.....  all amazing.  Other than the lack of good weather, like here in Northern Arizona, I could probably live in Montreal.  I'm too accustomed to good weather, and being able to wear shorts and flip flops most of the year though.  

After spending the first several weeks of that trip playing tourist around the city of Montreal, mostly on my own, while my (then) fiance was at work, I began to feel a need to be creative.  Here in Arizona I have a studio to work in, but in Montreal we rent a furnished room, so I'm limited to a small desk.  I hadn't really had time to paint anything since the fall of 2009, when I did a book cover.  I had wanted to paint, but I stay so busy with everything else I do, that there usually isn't time for it.  With 6 months to do nothing but play tourist though, I finally had time to paint.

"Wedding Cake 5x7"

Painting #1 (of the 2012 series), “Wedding Cake”.  I originally created the couple in this painting as an advertisement for Señor Rio Tequila, having met the owners at a little diner party.  Just barely within earshot, I overheard these two people talking about wanting to find an artist that did Day of the Dead artwork.  Earlier that day I had been selling my prints at an arts and crafts festival, so I had a stack of prints in my car of my Day of the Dead work.  I ran out to the car, brought them back in to show, and was basically hired on the spot.  My life seems to be full of happy coincidences like this. 

"Wedding Cake 8x10"

In the advertisement I did for Señor Rio Tequila, the couple in the painting is holding the company’s signature cocktail.  As soon as I finished that ad piece, however, I wanted to repaint it with the couple holding wedding cake instead. The detail of the wedding cake in the foreground, took forever to paint.  A little fun fact: the cake toppers in the painting are an homage to my very first Day of the Dead painting, which will be one of the paintings featured next week.  

I wrote an earlier blog talking about the odd circumstances in which I first started painting Day of the Dead themed pieces, if you would like to read that, click here.  

"Wedding Cake 11x14"

Prints of all the paintings shown here are available at the webstore.  The paintings that were painted prior to 2012, are now available as a series of specially reprinted, limited edition, hand signed and numbered prints.  Limited to only 10 of each design.

While writing these blogs on the older works, each week, different paintings will be featured.  I'll write a short blog talking about each of the paintings, and for one week will be offering those paintings on the webstore at a discount of up to 50% off.

I like giving people discounts when I can.  While it can be very difficult and not always that lucrative, I'm very fortunate to make a living doing something creative, and I appreciate and thank the customers that make it possible.  Fans are greatly appreciated too.  I rely mostly on word of mouth to advertise so I can keep my prices as reasonable as possible.  Sharing my artwork/posts with friends that you think would like my artwork, on your social media accounts:  Facebook, twitter, blogger, pinterest....  is INCREDIBLY helpful in getting my artwork out in the world.

Looking forward to sharing these blogs with you over the next many weeks.  Looking EVEN more forward to releasing the new paintings.  Some of my best work.  Thank you for reading, for sharing, and if so inclined, for purchasing.  Happy Holidays!!!!

Direct link to all my other blogs: http://dizzybearcreations.blogspot.com/