You're Invited!

Please consider coming if you find that you have some free time on Sunday.  I would love to talk to you about my artwork and this beautiful gallery.

This Sunday, April 24th is my closing reception at the Boulder City Art Gallery

FOR WHOM THE COWBELL TOLLS?

Perhaps a commissioned cowbell tolls for you!  


I know it may sound like I'm bragging here this morning, but think it takes some skill as an artist to do a commission piece from a small photograph.  I've heard horror stories about artists trying to use a tiny, faded, wrinkled black and white photo of grandma to capture everything that the family remembers of her years after she has passed away.  I can only imaging how very hard it would be to make a realistic portrait on a canvas under these circumstances.  My commission experience wasn't anything so drastic but I was asked to paint a commission bell of of a beloved pet, in this case a horse and transfer that likeness to the small 4"x 6" metal surface of a cowbell. This morning I decided to share with you my experience.

Painting so many of these cowbells have given me some valuable practice and I think, just like consistently drawing in my sketchbook, these small artworks are also giving me valuable practice as an artist.  Painting small can be a real challenge because I naturally prefer to paint much larger. Today, I can report that I'm feeling much more confident at painting in general and I can almost paint chickens in my sleep. 

Up to this point, my cowbell commissions have been pretty non-specific and rather more a general theme such as "Can you paint me a rooster, a cow or a sandhill crane?"  I also get request for certain flowers such as the Texas blue bonnets, lavenders or sunflowers.  This particular commission request was much more stressful because this is not just any horse but the clients horse "Lady" and I had to get it right.  

I was a bit nervous during that time that I sent the initial photo of the finished bell to her Facebook message thread to the time that I received the "I LOVE IT!" reply.  Let me just say I gave a huge sigh of relief because this bell probably took me as long to paint as it would have taken to paint maybe 2 or 3 bells of a different subject.  

I am happy to report that this bell is today packed up and waiting for the scheduled postal pickup, soon to be a fixture in it's new home in Ponca City, Oklahoma.  As an artist, there is a great deal of satisfaction to take a project, even if it is as small a cowbell, from start to completion.  

Please contact me at Julie Townsend Studio Contact Page if you might be interested having me do a commission cowbell for you.  They make GREAT gifts!

FLOCKS OF FEATHERED FRIENDS

The old saying is true, "Birds of a Feather, Flock Together" but in this case my flock is one of great diversity.  I was sitting here this morning, drinking my McDonalds coffee, considering doing some blog entries that features my artwork in a collection format.  I didn't realize how many times BIRDS are the focus of my painting efforts but I see that I actually have quite a few pieces that feature my feathered friends.  All of these original pieces are available for purchase (except number 4 "On the Hunt" that has found a new home in the Netherlands) on my website at JulieTownsendStudio.com. I hope you enjoy this BIRD VIEWING AREA

Sometimes it's CHICKENS and Sometimes it's FEATHERS

A hard reality that I'm certain that most artists have faced is that unless you are independently wealthy most of us actually want to sell our work....Probably so that we can buy more paints and a couple more canvases.  I hear artists talk about "The Good Old Days" before the economy failure and collapse, when there were collectors out there that actually paid money for your artwork.  Unfortunately, during that time period I was busy pushing a 10-key and was stacked up to my eyeballs with paperwork, working as the business administrator for a large private Christian school and church.  Painting was a far distant memory and the dream of being an artist was pushed so far down in my heart that I really didn't even give it serious consideration.

That all changed a couple of years ago when I decided to finally take that drawing class at the local community college.  For years I attended college classes there and online with University of Phoenix but each class always consisted of either being business or accounting related and it wasn't until I had gotten my BSBA did I even think I could take a "FUN" class.  With drawing 101 under my belt, I decided to give some online painting lessons a try so that I could try to resurrect that skill that I had so long let lie dormant. I went through the 12-week landscape lessons presented by Tim Gagnon (timgagnonstudio.com) and my excitement and confidence was reignited and the past three years are history.

So I have been retired from my "day" job for 6 months and now I'm painting full-time.  I've sold a couple of things this year but like all the other artists I know, I want to sell much more.  So I have my work hanging in a little co-op gallery in town and have packed up my "inventory" and hauled it out to a number of art shows.  I've created a nice website and paint almost daily.  I've decided that I'm going to offer smaller pieces that I can produce in less time and hopefully sell in a price range that will entice potential buyers to dig into their wallets.

Yesterday, even though I prefer to paint much larger, I created my first 8x10 masterpiece that I spent about an hour painting.  I chose chickens as the subject matter because I have witnessed the reaction that my fellow artist and friend Anna Norris got from the public when they saw her "Rainbow Roosters".  annanorrisfineart.blogspot.com  So I'm going to be offering 8x10's for about $50 instead of my normal price range of $150-$300.  This piece I think I'm going to call "Chicken Little" and it will be the first of a number of smaller pieces I'm going to paint in the next few months.  I hope you enjoy.

"Chicken Little"- 8x10 Original Oil

Faces and Feathers

At the beginning of April I started an oil painting that I found to be very fun to paint.  Using a reference photo that contained 7 or so roosters full of attitude, perched on a stone wall and the flavor of a favorite Robert Duncan piece I came up with my own creation of the scene.  I even used a palette knife to lay in the stonewall and that is a first for me.  I had to put it aside as I worked on a large commission piece and so this week I was finally able to get back to give these guys some faces and feathers.

I'm trying to remember to use brighter colors and I think that the mountains came out looking pretty good.  Even though they are close I laid the colors loosely and didn't try to focus not as much on detail as impression.  This is a technique I'm going to use again for sure.

I think a nice barn wood frame is in order and as soon as it drys a coat of varnish will finish it up.

If you are interested in purchasing any giclee prints of this particular piece visit my Fine Art America site at:Julie Townsend- Feisty Fowls