Well I finally did it! I have my Etsy Shop at omies.etsy.com up and running. I had my Grand Opening on April 1st and have been really busy. I am so proud and happy and thankful for everyone that has visited me and especially the customers that have made me feel like it is all worth it. I had been gathering things for months thinking I can do this, I can do this and now I think I really can. It has been a lot of work gathering, taking pictures, writing my descriptions but the most fun has been packing and sending things to others that like my little things too. Thanks to Kelly Rae Roberts and her magnificent ecourse, Flying Lessons: Tips + Tricks To Help Your Creative Business Soar, I am beginning to get the hang of the marketing job that goes along with selling too.
I have so many things still to add to the shop. I have found items of mine from when I was a child and items I have picked up along the way. And I have things that have been my Mother's and my Grandmother's. I have found things that have been in the top of the cupboards and in the bottom of drawers for years. And with it all has come the memories too. So many years and so many memories. I just love it now that someone else will enjoy these things I love too. So I hope everyone will keep coming back.
Something I am planning to add to my blog posts are articles about some of the items in my shop to give some history about the items so others will know more about these little things I love too. So again thank you everybody for making this new journey such fun!
Omies Place
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Friday, March 25, 2011
What a wonderful life
I didn't know life could be so good. This retirement thing suits me real good. My days are filled with busy work that I love. I have been able to paint more, clean more, organize more, relax more, enjoy my family more, Wow! what a great feeling!
I think I told you about opening my Esty Shop soon and I have been working hard to go through boxes and drawers and closets to get things put on the shelves. I will be able to make an announcement soon for my grand opening so watch out, here I come, ready or not.
I and a few other classmates are taking the Get Your Paint On Class again on our own so this will keep me painting. And I will be taking another mixed media class in April that I am excited about. It is with Christy Tomlinson at Scarletlime. I'm taking her She Art Workshop. Her mixed media is so cute and colorful. Really fun! I can't wait to see how someone else makes their art. I love mixed media and hope one day I can find my way into the mixed media world with my own color and style.
Weather has been wonderful here and I am so much enjoying breakfast on the patio! Wishing you all warm and sunny Spring mornings.
talk soon,
Omie
I think I told you about opening my Esty Shop soon and I have been working hard to go through boxes and drawers and closets to get things put on the shelves. I will be able to make an announcement soon for my grand opening so watch out, here I come, ready or not.
I and a few other classmates are taking the Get Your Paint On Class again on our own so this will keep me painting. And I will be taking another mixed media class in April that I am excited about. It is with Christy Tomlinson at Scarletlime. I'm taking her She Art Workshop. Her mixed media is so cute and colorful. Really fun! I can't wait to see how someone else makes their art. I love mixed media and hope one day I can find my way into the mixed media world with my own color and style.
Weather has been wonderful here and I am so much enjoying breakfast on the patio! Wishing you all warm and sunny Spring mornings.
talk soon,
Omie
Friday, March 11, 2011
How I finished...
I have a little story to tell you about how I finished my paintings for the Get Your Paint On class given by Mati McDonough and Lisa Congdon I have been taking. I didn't realize that I would be finishing something in this class that I actually started 2 years ago. The painting I worked on in Week 4 and finished in Week 5 of class I began in my first art retreat.
I went to my first art retreat 2 years ago in beautiful Utah given by the lovely Julie Collings and Candice Elton called the The Art Nest. I can't even begin to tell you how wonderful a retreat these two ladies offer. If you ever have a chance to go to one of their retreats, grab at it. Anyway, I had been following Kelly Rae Roberts for a while (love her art!) and I wanted to take a class from her. Kelly Rae, and 2 other artists, Jane Wynn (she makes beautiful mixed media jewelry) and Mati was also teaching there. So I took my very first painting class at my very first art retreat from Mati McDonough. I had never put a paint brush to a blank canvas before so it was a little scary for me. But Mati was so gentle to those of us that had never painted before. As a starting point she had us write some special words or our thoughts on the gesso canvas first to help us start forming our ideas of what to paint and so...I had just left my son that had been through a very heartbreaking divorce so needless to say my feelings were very raw and close to the surface and I let them spill out. It was such a good time for me to just be alone and let my heart try to heal too. And so without knowing it my Week 5 painting of GYPO began but it was not completed in that first class. Since then I have revisited this canvas several times, covering the whole thing with a new layer of gesso at one time, except for the tree. The tree seem to be the only thing that would always make it through, maybe it stood as the roots of love that we have as a family. So in our class 4 assignment I picked it up again, this time with more determination. I am happy with it now and I am going to give it to my son. I feel so good that this painting is finished because I feel like it represents a difficult part of life for my son and myself is over also. Thanks for listening.
I went to my first art retreat 2 years ago in beautiful Utah given by the lovely Julie Collings and Candice Elton called the The Art Nest. I can't even begin to tell you how wonderful a retreat these two ladies offer. If you ever have a chance to go to one of their retreats, grab at it. Anyway, I had been following Kelly Rae Roberts for a while (love her art!) and I wanted to take a class from her. Kelly Rae, and 2 other artists, Jane Wynn (she makes beautiful mixed media jewelry) and Mati was also teaching there. So I took my very first painting class at my very first art retreat from Mati McDonough. I had never put a paint brush to a blank canvas before so it was a little scary for me. But Mati was so gentle to those of us that had never painted before. As a starting point she had us write some special words or our thoughts on the gesso canvas first to help us start forming our ideas of what to paint and so...I had just left my son that had been through a very heartbreaking divorce so needless to say my feelings were very raw and close to the surface and I let them spill out. It was such a good time for me to just be alone and let my heart try to heal too. And so without knowing it my Week 5 painting of GYPO began but it was not completed in that first class. Since then I have revisited this canvas several times, covering the whole thing with a new layer of gesso at one time, except for the tree. The tree seem to be the only thing that would always make it through, maybe it stood as the roots of love that we have as a family. So in our class 4 assignment I picked it up again, this time with more determination. I am happy with it now and I am going to give it to my son. I feel so good that this painting is finished because I feel like it represents a difficult part of life for my son and myself is over also. Thanks for listening.
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Week 3 of the Get Your Paint On class
This week of painting has been real interesting. I am learning so much about myself and paint as a whole in this class. The instructors, Mati and Lisa, are great! Only through painting have I discovered more truths about myself. I recently read a real good book about my Chinese symbol, the Cat, and it fits me to a tee. It has also opened my eyes about who I am and what I am about and it has made me feel better about accepting that self more. I am who I am and that's OK. I like me! Painting has helped me see those things about myself even clearer. And I want to explore more of me and my painting.
This week's assignment was on color and we learned to mix colors to match colors that we like. Another discovery! It was not easy for me. I am a learner of basics first. I have to understand the basic first before I seem to be able to go to the next step. So I searched the internet, read all I could, ran to the library until I had some basics to start from. I have a grey palette made by Jack Richeson & Co that I use and the inside cover gives some color basics and mixing basics. I wanted to share a few things that I thought were useful.
3 parts to color: hue, chroma, and value
1. Value is the lightness or darkness of a color.
2. Chroma is a measure of how pure or saturated of a color.
3. Hue is the name of the color, such as; red, blue, green, etc.
- Adding white to a color lightens the value, makes the color temperature cooler, and sometimes changes the hue.
- Adding black will the darken the color and alters it's hue.
- Mixing a color with its complementary color "greys" or neutralizes the color (I thought this was interesting since I have made a lot of "grey" in my mixing sessions).
- Placing a color's complement near it in a painting will add visual interest.
Here is my week 3 painting. I used the colors of my loveseat as my inspiration for this week's assignment. Even though I love my loveseat, I have discovered that I love red better in paintings so I want to try my hand with red next week.
Get Your Whatever On next week for yourself...
This week's assignment was on color and we learned to mix colors to match colors that we like. Another discovery! It was not easy for me. I am a learner of basics first. I have to understand the basic first before I seem to be able to go to the next step. So I searched the internet, read all I could, ran to the library until I had some basics to start from. I have a grey palette made by Jack Richeson & Co that I use and the inside cover gives some color basics and mixing basics. I wanted to share a few things that I thought were useful.
3 parts to color: hue, chroma, and value
1. Value is the lightness or darkness of a color.
2. Chroma is a measure of how pure or saturated of a color.
3. Hue is the name of the color, such as; red, blue, green, etc.
- Adding white to a color lightens the value, makes the color temperature cooler, and sometimes changes the hue.
- Adding black will the darken the color and alters it's hue.
- Mixing a color with its complementary color "greys" or neutralizes the color (I thought this was interesting since I have made a lot of "grey" in my mixing sessions).
- Placing a color's complement near it in a painting will add visual interest.
Here is my week 3 painting. I used the colors of my loveseat as my inspiration for this week's assignment. Even though I love my loveseat, I have discovered that I love red better in paintings so I want to try my hand with red next week.
Get Your Whatever On next week for yourself...
Monday, February 14, 2011
My paintings
Well I am going to post my first 2 paintings to show everyone what I have been doing. This class has been so FUN! The best thing is that it has made me take time to play each week.
My first week painting includes a picture of my Grandmother and Grandfather with my brothers and myself in a quilt painted framework.
The 2nd week's painting was based on finding our subject matter and mine was houses. I love to draw houses. I think it goes with my love of home, my home, and being home. I loved playing around with the details of this painting. This reminds me of making your house a home.
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Hello 2011
Someone pulled the trigger on the starter gun January 1st and I haven't quit running sense...this first month has been really busy for me so I am sorry I have waited so long to journal. Just everyday living has kept me running. I think I am ready now to get back to my creative list. I have begun to sort through boxes of paper and other things to start my first Etsy Shop. I hope to have an announcement for all of you soon. I hope to have a great shop loaded with old papers, old pictures, old studio photographs, and other goodies for collages. I have found old jewelry, watches, old lace collars, and other sewing notions. I have gathered for years and need to clean it out. Watch for my opening in February. I will give notice on my Facebook and Twitter account too.
This month I have started out taking Mati McDonough and Lisa Congdon "Get Your Paint On" ecourse. Just the first week's assignment has set me on my heels, made me think about painting with a whole new light, and I am so looking forward to what is next...if I do something I like I will post a picture.
I love winter, the snow, coats, scarfs and gloves, warm fires, hot cup of tea, a blanket on my lap, a dog laying next to me and another one at my feet, time to read, snooze, plan, and dream. The change of the seasons, changes our way of life, our moods, our appetites, our wants and needs, and too even our dreams. We seem to slow down during the winter months just as nature seems to slow down, regroup, and recoup. Here is to another month of wishing and dreaming and rest.
This month I have started out taking Mati McDonough and Lisa Congdon "Get Your Paint On" ecourse. Just the first week's assignment has set me on my heels, made me think about painting with a whole new light, and I am so looking forward to what is next...if I do something I like I will post a picture.
I love winter, the snow, coats, scarfs and gloves, warm fires, hot cup of tea, a blanket on my lap, a dog laying next to me and another one at my feet, time to read, snooze, plan, and dream. The change of the seasons, changes our way of life, our moods, our appetites, our wants and needs, and too even our dreams. We seem to slow down during the winter months just as nature seems to slow down, regroup, and recoup. Here is to another month of wishing and dreaming and rest.
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