Just finished my first seascape commission! The customer ordered it after seeing some of my smaller personal seascapes, and it was a blast to work on. I finished this painting in one sitting,with about half an hour's worth of details added a couple days later once it had dried some. My secret to quick painting?? A fixed palette! A fixed palette is when you choose three starting colors and mix all the rest of your colors only from those three. It simplifies my life! I don't ha

You can create in a vacuum. You can make things by yourself, without input from others; you CAN. But should you have to? There's something about being able to create while surrounded by other creators, something at the same time refreshing and a little intimidating if you're new to it; there's a sharing of ideas, experiences, and thought processes that those who don't dabble in art might not understand. I've been able to be a part of two very different types of art communit

I just finished my first 3-day spring craft show (which apparently is not a 'big' show to veterans, but to a terrified first-timer, it seemed huge)! I was contacted about entering the show only a month beforehand, and it took us a week to decide to go for it. I had 3 short weeks to paint as much as I could (without spending a fortune on canvases) My living room is my studio right now. Grateful for a husband who lets me turn it into this mess every once in a while! I made as m

Next weekend will be my very first 3-day craft show. I've been enjoying the preparation, the painting, the art-supply-buying, but I hit a wall a few days ago. I was standing, looking at the pieces that I'd finished, the pieces I'd worked hard on and loved, and suddenly was bombarded with worry. "Are these paintings good enough?" "Will they sell?" "Am I a moron for entering this show?" "What if I don't make enough money to cover my entry fees?" Looking down at my art in