Awwchuuu....Spring is upon us

The winds have been fierce recently around the Southern Nevada area, and the pollen count has been in the HIGH range everyday. Add the COVID pandemic and I find it's just a perfect time to stay in the studio and be creative! I know much of the country has faced bitter cold and lots of snow so SPRING is always something to look forward to as we hunker down and try to stay warm. Drawing colorful spring flowers and little critters has been my focus for the past few weeks.  These little drawings have brought me a great deal of joy, and I am pleased at how this spring collection has turned so far. Who doesn't love dark purple irises, sunny daffodils and bright pink tulips? I'm already making plans to add crocus and gladiolus to finish out the spring blub flowers.  For my gardening friends, am I forgetting any other bulb flower? 

 I'm just dying to show you what I've done so far. Be prepared to smile.

 

 

Wouldn't these pieces make an adorable wall art collection for a baby nursery or a child's room. I have options where you can print them yourself or I would be happy to do that for you.  You can hope over to either of my Etsy Shops and just search SPRING.  Hint, hint....these would also make wonderful Mother's Day cards and gifts.    

PRINT YOUR OWN AT TOWNCO STUDIOS

SHOP MY MAIN ETSY SHOP- JULIE TOWNSEND STUDIO

Coffee with Julie- Just CHILLIN with my iPad

 

Even though it has been pretty chilly in my studio these past few weeks, I've been working on some new spring designs for my shop. I can't think of any better subject to use than a "Herd" of adorable bunnies. They sure can wreak havoc on your garden but here on this sticker or note card they are as cute as can be.

In reality, there wouldn't be any flowers left at all but since I'm the artist and I create my own reality, little spring flowers and butterflies abound.

The sweet little bunny at the bottom is named Flo and she will be making more studio appearances in the future. Of this fact, I am certain. She is just too cute not to have her become a studio regular.

I decided to carry on the flower pot theme this week with my next studio visitors, two sweet little kittens. The little gray kitten at the end is named Bella and she also is going to become a studio regular. So watch out for Bella, she has little streak of mischievousness in her.

I had a blast drawing this pair of cute kittens playing hide and seek in the flower pots. I was trying to think of something funny to say about them when I saw the play on words of "CATcus" I just had to make some changes by adding a cactus to my end flower pot and now I chuckle every time I think about the title. 

Bella wasn't ready to leave it seems, because yesterday she showed up hiding in this knitted pink mitten looking as cute as ever.  Before I was finished with the composition I decided to draw a safety pinned note that read, "Don't forget your mittens.  Love Mama" and a soft pink and gray watercolor background. Now I think it is PURRFECT!

I think all these designs have turned out so adorable and is perfect for all the cat and bunny lovers on your list. Did I mention that I created all of these images using the app Procreate on my new iPad Pro?  Yeah, I didn't think so.  I've had my new iPad for about 3 weeks and I'm just having so much fun with it.  We may find ourselves still stuck at home for much of 2021 but I'm going to have some fun doing it!

These three designs are available in cards, prints, stickers and magnets over on my Etsy Shop. 

Have a purrfect day!

THE GOOD THING ABOUT CYBER SPRING CLEANING - YOU DON'T EVEN GET DIRTY

Since time is something we all seem to have plenty of right now with the quarantine and all, I have set out to freshen up my online image.  I think it is good to do a bit of cyber spring cleaning once in a while and the really great thing about it is that you don't even have to get your hands dirty! 

If you are like me then the year past has brought about changes in your style or maybe you have new favorite artwork that need to be incorporated into your marketing materials or online banners and logos. 

I've noticed that many websites and blogs have changed from having dark colors to almost white minimalist feel.  I like that look so I've been changing over all my sights so that there is uniformity and cohesiveness across my cyber domain. 

I've done a lot of painting this past year and while most of them were smaller pieces, they can really add a mighty punch when used in as part of your marketing materials.  What can show people what you do then to give them pictures of what you do?  Does that make sense?  So this past few weeks I have redesigned my banners for my Etsy Shop, my Facebook Studio page, Twitter and Instagram.  Let me know what you think of my NEW LOOK.

I have even begun learning about marketing on Pinterest and how to brand my art by designing cool pins and getting followers to my boards.  I'm excited at the possibilities for growth there and certainly will be sharing more about that in the future.

2018/19 Banner Design

My new and improved 2020 look

These three little sweeties are actually from paintings I finished in January and February of this year.  I LOVE their faces and I think they are the perfect representatives of my "FARMHOUSE WHIMSY" art.  Don't they just make you want to run up and pet them? 

Now that I think about it, all three of this original artwork pieces are available for purchase on my Etsy Shop.   I would have thought these would have been sold right away because of their cuteness.  I will give you the link to each of them if you want to check them.  Remember, there is only one original and when it's gone it's gone.

HER GOATNESS
LITTLE SWEET PEA
EMMY LOU

"Her Goatness"

"Little Sweet Pea"

"Emmy Lou"

Besides my new "Wash Tub" series I have been drawing, I had to take down all the artwork that I hung up as the featured artist for March in Boulder City.  I think it hung up for a whole 2 weeks before the pandemic shut everything down.  So yesterday, I started really organizing my studio and and creating an actual inventory room. That is code for "It looks like a tornado blew through and tossed the joint."  I'm the kind of girl that loves to have a place for everything, but I never can really decide where that place should be.  Are you like that?


One great thing to report is that in the 2 weeks my art was on display at the gallery for "Life on the Funny Farm" show,  I was able to sell just over $400 in artwork and my March online sales were once again record breaking for me.  I feel very blessed about that. 

I also saw my goal of 5000 likes to my Facebook Page realized and even now a few weeks later I'm up to 6600 likes.  That blows just really blows me away.

Spring Green, Lime Green or Chartreuse it all means GREEN THUMBS for me

8 x 8 Spring Bee Paintings

Spring is HERE in Las Vegas!  We are forecasted to have weekend temperatures in the 80's and I've added nightly allergy medication to my evening med lineup.  Yes, tis the season of sneezing and stuffy noses.  It is also such a sweet time of new life and brilliant colors.

Yesterday, I even planted some morning glory seeds in my big flower pot outside and added basil to my herb garden.  Besides dirt under my nails, I'm finding my thumb to be green and I'm not referring to the "green thumb" you have when they say you are a gardener.  No, I'm talking a literal GREEN THUMB from all the painting I have been doing this week.

Did you know that CHARTREUSE is the ETSY color of the year?  I found that out last week and ever since then I have had a big pile of bright green paint on my palette.  These little bees have been so much fun to paint.  I started out with painting (3) 6 x 6 x 1.5 canvases with colorful abstract flowers and then adding bees.  The green is just so alive and vibrant as a background color.  Now I have moved onto cowbells and mini bees on 4 x 4 x 1.5 canvases.

Work in Progress- Cowbells and Mini Bees

Sleepy Bee design with scripture on ETSY

Another "BEE" art piece that I created this week involves my "Sleepy Bee" design and a scripture.  Here I have created a matted print available in different sizes, a blank note card and a laminated magnet.  This design is available for purchase on my ETSY SHOP at this LINK

Gesundheit and Stock Up on the Tissues

It has been a week now and I'm still yawning and trying to adjust to daylight savings time.  Here I am at 3:00 am not being able to sleep and so I'm here making stickers and thinking about blog posts.  Spring is certainly arrived with it's high pollen count and gusty winds so I'm taking preventive measures to head off any allergy side effects.  Hopefully I will be successful in that and stave off all that sneezing.


Other than allergies, spring is such an amazing time of year.  I grew up as a child in the Ozark hills of Missouri and the transformation that happens from the gray of winter to the vast color palette of spring is awe inspiring. 

Here in Las Vegas the transformation isn't as noticeable. I do have three chaste trees (vitex) in my yard and sometime in the month of April they are covered in brilliant lavender flowers that resemble the shape of lilac blossoms.  It only last about a week but for that week my yard is amazing. Oh how I miss the sight of the dogwood trees in bloom.  I am going to have to research doing a piece or two that features that beautiful tree.

Anyway, back to original blogging plan, which was to introduce these stickers sheets I designed with spring in mind.  They are a total of 111 stickers here and I had so much fun designing them.  Unlike most of my stickers, I used royalty free images in the designs.  I usually try to focus on my own original artwork but I think this spring set has only the chick that comes directly from my sketchbook. 

I made the 4 sheets available on my Etsy shop as a digital download so that you can print them out at your leisure.  I have provided the link below if you are interested in checking it out.  If you are working on your planner and need something new than you had best hurry and download this file because SPRING IS UPON US! 
So grab the tissue box and get ready to say
"GESUNDHEIT!"


Spring Flower Sticker Etsy Listing

Shake Off Those Winter Blues

“No Winter Lasts Forever.  No Spring Skips its Turn.” (Hal Borland)  As this week brought a cold wind from the north that blew across the valley, just saying the word "Spring" brings warmth to my bones and hope of new creations.  I may just be writing this blog post while wearing my heaviest winter coat but I can’t help but feel the stir that a new year brings to ones creative juices and fills the palate with warm and bright colors.  Rest has finally brought an end to the exhaustion of the holidays and my attention can once again can be focused in the direction of the studio.  There are canvases to paint and sketchbooks to fill.

I'm shaking off the distractions of 2017 and finally emerging from the season of sneezing and sniffles to starting out 2018 with a breath of fresh air and the beginnings of my new spring collection. I just couldn’t wait to show you what I have been working on.


My first task at hand is to get a number of new pieces ready that I can showcase in March for my solo show that I am calling "Dare You Not to Smile".  This show will be on exhibit for the entire month at the Boulder City Art Gallery.  As the title of the show suggestion, I am looking to create more pieces that are whimsical, colorful and humorous in nature.  I'm sure you will not want to miss it if you are anywhere in the area.   As soon as I have my reception date worked out I will be sure and share more on all my social media channels.  You can follow me @JulieTownsendStudio on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook to keep informed as to where my art can be seen on exhibit.

  

The last piece of news I wanted to share was something that I'm pretty excited about.  I am hopeful that with just a small investment this will prove to be a solid move for getting my name out there in the Las Vegas art community for 2018.  Here is a 1/4 page write up on the Art House LV Gallery, myself and three other gallery artists that was published a few weeks ago in the winter edition of Artisan Magazine.  I thought it turned out rather well and so I thought I would share the link with you if you wanted to check out the whole 2 page spread.  I'm on page 18.  Winter edition "Artisan Magazine"

I Create My Own World Full of Hummingbirds and Flowers- I'm An Artist!

Hummingbird on a Zinnia- 6x6

I love the boldness and sharp lines that are created here when I use a black sharpie marker in combination with acrylic paint to emphasize and outline the focal of each piece.  These are a few examples of my work that I have finished in the past few months using this technique and I just wanted to share them again.  I haven't really seen this style represented among other local artists and so I think it offers a unique illustrated look.  They are also very fun to create and I love painting on smaller 6" x 6"x 2" square canvases but it looks great on a larger canvas too.  Small, colorful, attention grabbing and very reasonably priced I think these would add some color to small spaces or in a grouping.
Some critics may say that outlining the art gives it a cheaper appearance but I love the combination of detail fine art and the illustrated comic look together.  When these pieces are all laying around in my studio it feels like spring is in the air and they almost always make me smile when I look at them.  I say FORGET THE CRITICS!  In my happy little world, I am the creator and I create what I like!

All these pieces are available for purchase on my website at Julie Townsend Studio or you can email me at Julie@JulieTownsendStudio.com if you would like a special commission piece created just for you.  

Fallen Leaves- 12x16 

Fallen Acorn- 6x6

Bachelor Buttons- 6x6

Giant Sunflower 11x14

 

Winter on My Mind

The weather here in Las Vegas has been unseasonable cold with several days of temperatures never leaving the 30's.  For almost 20 years we have heated our home exclusively with a wood stove.  This works fine at night to take e chill out of the air, but with these temps the house has been like living in a meat locker all day.  The last few days have certainly been a challenge and my studio has been SO cold that I've been painting in my jacket and scarf.  Mittens wouldn't allow for good brush strokes so gloves weren't an option but for a moment I did consider it.  Seems fitting to have a winter scene in progress on my easel and so yesterday I started working on this 16x20 frozen composition in acrylics.  The weather today is supposed to begin warming up and so maybe spring will soon be in the studio air!

Mojave Blooms

Spring in the Mojave desert is certainly different from that of the colorful masses of flowering trees and blooming undergrowth that I grew up with in Central Missouri, but there is a transformation that takes place, even if it isn't on as grand of scale.  This is my rendition of just one of the many flowering cacti that are native to Nevada.  I think these are called "Strawberry Hedgehog" or "Claret Cup Hedgehog" Cactus.  Whatever the name, they are to be admired from a distance... or better yet, from a beautifully framed canvas.    

Mojave Blooms is 16 x 20 painted in Acrylic. It is an original painting created in my studio in Las Vegas, Nevada

Seasons

I've been a bit distracted the last few weeks, so my current painting that is on my easel is taking a bit longer for me to finish.  I thought I might just give everyone a peek preview...I think I'm going to call this 12x16 acrylic painting "Seasons".  When I was in Utah a few weeks ago this idea came to me to paint the life cycle of an oak tree and have all 4 seasons reflected in one painting.

Now, at this time I have a bit more detail to add but I think you can see composition from this photo that this piece is full of bright colors that draw the eye to the spouting acorn.  I love the rays of sunshine that work their way through the branches to reach the new life below.  You can see in the branches transition for budding in the spring, to the last leaf of the season clinging  and finally giving way to the winter snow. 

$200 + shipping costs