A Blogger Slump

I can not believe that I have gone since October 25th to now and not one post here on my blog.  That is about the time I noticed that something changed at my favorite morning coffee and blogging spot...McDonalds.  I just love their coffee and I take about an hour to catch up on my social media marketing and start a new blog post.  I often get the rough draft of the blog finished there and then come home and make it “pretty”.

I have no problem with the WiFi log in but I did notice that my Bluetooth keyboard stopped working.  It is several years old so I decided it probably had just died and that I needed a new one.  I found a really good deal on Amazon and ordered a new pretty keyboard for under $16.  The first keyboard arrived didn’t seem to want to sync up so I ordered a second one and returned the first one.  All that said...my new keyboard was working great....UNTIL I TRIED TO USE IT AT McDONALDS!  I mean my iPad knows it is there because the on screen keyboard won’t come on if the keyboard is turned on.  Also the “lock” key will work and shut the iPad off.  I just can't type on it.  Technology is such a fickle beast.  Any one have suggestions on what I can do to unblock whatever it is that is interfering with my bluetooth keyboard I would love to hear from you.

This has really thrown me into a Blogging slump.  So here I set at 4:16 pm on a Thursday afternoon trying to claw my way out of this dark blogging hole and produce something that I can publish that is semi-coherent.  I may have my goals set a wee bit high today.

My Artist Friend , Jan Harris Arduini

The past 2.5 weeks has also been a very difficult one on me as I have lost a dear artist friend and co-gallery director on October 30th and I’m still trying to grasp that reality.  There is a journey one must go through to turn grief into a creative emotional expression.  I’m not there yet.  Oh, I’ve created a few things, mostly out of necessity, but as I sit here in my studio, I realize that I haven’t actually cried this week about losing her.  I know that it takes time but I know that urge to pick back up those brushes will return and if God sees fit to give me breath in the year to come, I am determined in 2018 to create so much art it will make your head spin.

Let me quickly show you a few art highlights from the past couple weeks and then I think I will call this blog done.

The first weekend of November I was out bright and early at the park in Boulder City.  This would be the maiden voyage for my tent as I purchased it several years ago but hadn't actually taken it out of it's bag until now.  These new card display racks Brad made from repurposed drawers worked great.  There was always someone looking through them.

Card Display Racks 

My Half of the ten set up and waiting for the crowds

 

November is also the birthday month of two grandsons.  I've tried now for several years to create a special piece for each of them for their birthday.  Noah likes Minecraft so I decided use that as a theme and I even had the piece blown up into a 16 x 20 poster.  He loved it. 

Hunter is turning 1 and loves Mickey Mouse Club House so I created this piece especially for him holding his toy elephant.

 

 

Why is RED the color of Love but You See RED When You're Angry?

Here is a little Valentine Joke for you....Q: Why do melons have to get married in churches?   A: Because they cantaloupe!




This past week I have been frantically working on some designs specific to that lovely holiday that shines a bright spotlight on sweethearts.  You know the one where large masses of pink and red bouquets of hot house flowers clog the entry way of nearly every retail store and the smell of chocolate can be found wafting in the air.  Yes it is soon to be Valentines Day.  I'm frantic because not only do I have just a few weeks before THE day arrives but coming up with designs is the just beginning of the work.  I have to make the cards and market them.  I'm afraid that I have already lost the war but maybe I can win a small battle.  Next year when ghosts and pumpkins fill the shelves I am going to be seeing only pink and red!

Country Girl Valentine

First is my Country Girl Valentine.  You might be able to take the girl out of the country but you sure can't take the country out of a girls heart.  I had so much fun filling this heart with comical little chickens.  I plan on at least having a cow version of this design by the end of the weekend. (Fingers crossed and behind my back)

















If you have followed my work at all you know that I have a soft spot for both mice and chickadees.  That soft spot has once again made its way to the surface to combine with a fun Zentangle heart design.  I had so much fun drawing these and I think they will look great printed out as cards.  At least that is my hope and I will be working hard this weekend to make that happen.  Cards will soon be available in both Boulder City and at City of the World just in time for the 14th.  

I took a few minutes just to put together a couple of cards so that I could show what I had in mind.  I had purchased a pack of gingham craft paper a few weeks back and I think the pink and red will be perfect for this project.  I just grabbed a few items off my Valentine decoration from my entry way to stage this quick little photo session.  Lighting this time of the evening isn't the greatest but I think you can see just how cute these designs will work.




If you like my work and want to see more of it, please check out my Facebook page at Julie Townsend Studio or my website at JulieTownsendStudio.com.  I can also be found on Instagram and at my Etsy Store.  Thanks for spending a few minutes of your time with me.

Chickadees Galore

The season is changing outside here in Las Vegas but it has been slow coming with November temperatures still in the upper 80's but in my studio there is snow all around.  Winter and the holidays has arrived in full force. With December approaching I am finding that every gallery I affiliate with has decided that a holiday themed show is the thing to do and I have 4 of them I'm busy trying to create for not to mention my recently completed ornament that is on it's way to Washington D.C. to be hung on the National Christmas Tree.  I've been one very busy artist!  This ornament features the Mountain Bluebird, which is the state bird of Nevada.






After finishing the ornament, I focused on creating more unique Christmas designs including a painting.  As you can see this week has clearly been a Chickadee kind of week.  I finished this 12 x 12 acrylic snow scene and what fun I had painting it.  I'm calling this one "Chickadees in the Snow" and I'm thinking of hanging it in the Boulder City Art Gallery for December.












Then I decided to add a couple of more sketches that featured a similar pair of birds and those adorable red berries by having them appear to be stringing garland or decorating their nest.  I thought it was a cute idea and the "Stringing Garland" piece looks really great on a greeting card.







Speaking of greeting cards, I have also been working on improving the look of my cards by adding a border around the 4 x 6 print with a slightly larger rectangle of Christmas designed card stock.  I bought a pad of 60 sheets at the Michaels Store  just to see how I could spice up the design on my cards and I think they have turned out really nice.  I'm looking forward to filling card orders and making these available at a number of local area galleries and hope to take some out to the store in Pahrump.




A final design created this past week is more in a cartoon style but those little Chickadees are still going strong.  This one I have called "Decorate to Impress".

If you enjoy my work please leave me a comment below and check out my website at JulieTownsendStudio.com or follow me on Instagram or like my Facebook Page.