Alas, I have been neglecting my blog for far too long, and a good number of things have come to pass or are currently emerging… to the extent that I’ve been more than a little overwhelmed and have little time to write about it. To prevent myself from further procrastination, I’ll start with an outline of current and recent developments (not in chronological order):

* Two of my artworks have been published in the recently released 2011 WeMoon Datebook, and one was selected for the wall calendar!  (“Aquabird Dream” was chosen for the month of April of the Wall Calendar, and it is also represented on page 149 of the Datebook.  “Blooming Meditation” is presented on page 146).

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* My business plan for my art reproduction company was approved and I received a matched savings grant to help me pay for the printing of thousands of prints and cards of my artworks.

* I received an RACC (Regional Arts and Cultural Counsel) grant to help me pay for a brochure to advertise my new company to over 1000 stores.

* I co-designed the brochure with my graphic designer (fellow artist, Amy Livingstone) to create a 4-fold presentation, which required new photographs of my work and many hours of diligent consideration.  If you’d like a brochure, email me, and I’ll be glad to send you one.  Also, if you know of any stores that you think would be interested, please send me their address!  Here’s a web version of my 2-sided, 4-fold brochure:

* I personally created a new website, dreambirdart.com, which is now almost finished! I just need to finish setting up the shipping info and add vouchers which will allow new customers to receive 10% off their first order (as well as a way of offering wholesale pricing for retailers). The site is expected to launch by October 10th, but anyone can log in to register now and add items to a “Wish List”.

* I had an opportunity to move out of my shared art studio into one which offered me around 3 times the space.  I’ve already started several paintings there… and recently finished 5 new ones.

* I am currently the “Featured Artist” at my artist co-op gallery, Six Days Art.  Here’s a snapshot of my display:

One of the paintings not displayed above is in the gallery’s window.  It’s a favorite which I titled “Emergence”.  The image began with an experimental method of creating texture by painting first onto a plexiglass surface, then transferring it to the paper.  When I pulled the paper off of the plexiglass, it created a most amazing rippling effect.  Within this texture, I saw the image of an owl… so I articulated it further.

I find it interesting that, without any direct intention, 3 out of my 5 recent paintings have focused on the subject of owls.  I had actually intended to respond to the theme of next year’s WeMoon call for art, which is supposed to respond to the subject of “Chrysalis”.  But these are the images that were flowing through me, so that’s what I needed to follow at the moment.  All 3 of the owl paintings still respond to the theme in a tangential way, in that they seem to be about “protection”, or a sense of ‘guardian spirit”.   I did create one painting in this recent series that spoke more specifically to the “Chrysalis” theme.  I called this “10,000th Incarnation”:

To see more of my new series of paintings, please visit the Paintings 1 gallery of my website. (I also lowered prices on several of my paintings by up to $200, to help stimulate sales… as a result of the economy and the fact that I’ve had very little cash flow while I’ve been concentrating on starting my new business!)  Please also visit my new website for Dreambird Art!