Spring in Full Swing!

The show at the Bernalillo County Commissioner's office was a success. Actually, it is still going on there have been several sales. It comes down May 13th. If you are interested in viewing the pieces, as they look very nice, hung by a professional, please contact me! The April show at the Old Schoolhouse Gallery in San Antonito comes down this Wed. Sales were made there too and there are lots of other great artists' pieces displayed there as well. I am busy stocking up on work for the many upcoming shows. The first occurs on May 4th a Saturday at the La Cueva High School at Wyoming and Alameda in ALBQ. The show goes on from 9 am - 4 pm. The second show I am attending is the Old San Ysidro Church Old Church Art Fest held on June 1, and 2, 2013. The Church is located at 966 Old Church Road in Corrales, NM. Then in mid June my husband and I will be involved in the 12th annual 2013 Mono Basin Bird Chautauqua at Lee Vining, California. And I have even more events throughout the summer!! So I have been quite busy in the studio and outside. I have been working on some new plein air pieces. I am enjoying landscapes quite a lot. Using oils has sparked a newfound interest in painting the flora that surrounds me. The tight, graphic depictions of birds has grown a bit tiresome and these new landscapes are allowing me to really create and play. It is a lot of fun! I have also been painting some old ruins down the road from us. Check them out on my Etsy site! I will continue with the birds, I just need a break every now and again...

     

Meanwhile, I am busy making minis and bird paintings for all these upcoming shows and Festivals! I was commissioned to paint the Mono Lake Bird Chatauqua's logo this year, a Mountain Quail.

The quail will be used on this year's tee shirt. 

The 3 Burrowing Owls have been made into the official Central New Mexico Audubon Society logo. 

Thanks to the great photoshop work by Laurel Ladwig! 

Here are a couple of the recent bird paintings I have added to my collection. All of these will be shown on Etsy and for sale. So please check it out. Etsy Happy Wren Store. It really is the best way to see what I have available at any given time. 

And if you are able come see me at my upcoming shows please do so!

Happy Spring!

Spring is Here!

Spring is here! My yurt is up and running and having more space in which to work is wonderful. I have been very busy getting ready for the big show now hanging at the County Commissioner's Office, the office of Commissioner Maggie Hart Stebbins. The reception is to occur on April 5th Friday from 5:00PM - 6:30PM. I am hoping I will see some of my new friends from NM and to have a great time!

In case you would like to come to the opening, the event is at One Civic Plaza in downtown Albuquerque on the 10th floor. 

I have another show in April at the Old Schoolhouse Gallery. I was in quite the huge hurry to create some pieces for this show as the Commissioner show took more art than I originally anticipated. I will be unveiling some brand new pieces there. Here is a sneak peak!

2 Western Bluebirds with Red tailed Hawk

Robins Reunion

3 Burrowing Owls

This piece serves a dual purpose. I was asked to provide a logo for the Central New Mexico Audubon Society and this is one of my submissions for that. It was finished just in time for the April show!

While waiting for paint to dry I always do more painting! I have decided to work on some landscapes in a loose and fun fashion. I have started several and just finished this one I call Citrus Landscape.

I am having fun playing with color and using looser more expressionistic painting in with these landscapes. I needed to break free from the tighter portraits for a while. This is the first of a series I will post here. 

I have many upcoming projects to work on in April and am up to the task. A new logo for the Friends of Balcones Bird Festival in Texas, a logo for Mono Lake Bird Chautauqua Birding Festival in California, the rest of my landscape series, and I have started a series of East Mountains Churches. There are so many cute and charming churches from Madrid to Mountainair. I thought that it would be fun to paint a few of those! I also started a coupe of the Quarai Ruins. Stay tuned for pics as I finish them!

Please also see my Happy Wren Facebook Page! I post a piece of art almost every single day. Some

brand new, some rather old. I hope for you to "Like" my page!

Thanks and Happy Spring!

A Busy Late Winter....

Here it is approaching late Feb. and man, am I busy! I am working like mad to participate in almost all of the art opportunities that come my way, while creating enough art for each of them! It can be quite a balancing act to do this. 

My first event is the San Diego Birding Festival, where I will be a vendor. It begins on Feb. 28th and runs through March 3rd, 2013.

http://www.sandiegoaudubon.org/events/bird-festival/general-information

I have been painting like crazy trying to get a body of work that is pertinent for the festival, as well as making as many minis as possible. 

 If you are in the area, come see me at my booth!

In addition to preparing for the festival, I have been asked to show my work at the Bernalillo County Commissioners Office in downtown ABQ beginning in mid March - May. 

It is quite an honor to have been asked to do this and I am very excited about it. I love that you can find people who support the arts in all areas of our fair city, ABQ, NM. 

My work has been hanging at a Radiology/Oncology Center for the past month and a half, and will have to take that work down to show at the commissioner's office. (more juggling of the art) During the month of April I will be participating in a show hanging at the Old Schoolhouse Gallery in Cedar Crest, NM. (closer to my neck of the woods). The theme for that show will be "Birds" so this will be appropriate for my work. 

http://www.theoldschoolhousegallery.com

On top of all of this, I have applied for three different art shows, of various types, locations and sizes. I haven't yet heard back if I will be attending any of them, but will post it here if I do. 

Meanwhile, I am still working on a t-shirt design for the NM Ornithological Society.

http://www.nmbirds.org/?page_id=72

I have also committed to creating a new logo for the Central New Mexico Audubon Society. 

http://cnmas.newmexicoaudubon.org

I was recently contacted by the Tucson Audubon regarding a Bird A Thon t-shirt design they need for 2013. I have provided them with the image they loved, a flying raven. 

So as soon as I return to NM from CA I will be busy working. I love staying busy! My yurt is ready to be set up with electric and heat and when it is, I will have a larger more user friendly space to create in. I am really looking forward to that! But if nothing else, I have learned that I can create in any space.

Another project that I will be starting soon, is the Mono Lake Chautauqua Birding Festival t-shirt design for 2013. Wezil and I plan to attend the festival in mid June to participate as vendor/bird guide. That will be a lot of fun.

http://www.birdchautauqua.org

So I am keeping real busy. Stay posted for next month's blog regarding my projects and shows. Please email me with any questions or comments.

Thanks for looking and here's to the end of winter! ;)

Getting Busier!

Since my last entry I have been approached by a gallery in Black Mountain, NC, ironically 4 months after moving from that very area! It is called the Mountain Nest Gallery.  The first series, 8" squares depict Birds in Dogwoods.
(seen here)

The second series, a group of four longer billed birds, are called Birds in Oaks, Brown Thrasher, Carolina Wren,  White breasted Nuthatch and Ruby throated Hummingbird. 

       The last painting for now, is one I call Northern Cardinal in the Blue Ridge Mountains...As you can see the colors on these Eastern paintings are more subdued colors for a more conservative crowd. When I was painting these, I was really missing my bright brights!! I had to stop and create a colorful painting just to satisfy my need for color! LOL!

Along with this ongoing project, I have been asked to paint an Olive Warbler for the New Mexico Ornithological Society Tshirt. And I have committed to showing my work down in San Diego for their Bird Festival at the end of the month! So I have some serious work to accomplish this month! To top it all off, I now have a large work space, a yurt which was raised on Groundhog's Day! We had a great group of helpers, a neighbor, his brother in law, and our helpful builder too. It was fun! Thanks guys!

We still have some work before I can use it, but it sure is cute to look at!! I am anxious to move in.

Happy February!

Happy 2013!

 Happy New Year!

 Well it is a new year, and a couple of new opportunities have come my way. I am still looking for venues to show and sell my work so if you know of any, locally or not, please send me an email! I have been creating some new pieces. A gallery in Black Mountain, North Carolina will soon carry my work. It is called Mountain Nest. I am busy creating a body of work, eastern bird portraits, for them. I have decided to put a few pieces on Ebay this winter. A link to one of those is here: Art for Sale on Ebay. The colder temps of the winter keep me inside and when I am inside I am creating! Here are some new pieces I have been working on this new year. 

I noticed that many of my  new pieces are done in blues. I suppose the cold temps are prompting me to use cooler colors.

 I got the itch to do some collage-y pieces. I used hand cut stamps, collage, paint, and scratching back into paint for these more textural owls. The experimentation keeps my work fresh. I learn so much with dabbling in other media, and it releases my creative surges so I can focus on my other work.

I am still patiently awaiting the perfect days to set up the yurt. No wind, not too cold, lining up help. But it will come soon enough. Meanwhile, I have straightened up the loft so I can work in a neater environment. I am learning that the smaller the space you are in, the more organized you have to be!

Stay tuned for my next post. Please email me with any questions or comments. 

Happy and Prosperous New Year!

Happy, happy Holidays!!

On this Solstice eve, I look out my kitchen window and cannot believe my good fortune, to live in a place as beautiful as this! I am getting ready to start creating again and really looking forward to it. Although this holiday season has been a bit slow for me, I have high hopes for the future. Moving always disrupts sales. I have moved enough times now, I should know!! Some pieces I have finished at the end of 2012...posted above...
My yurt has been delivered and I am so excited to get it up and running that I can hardly wait. What a wonderful Yule gift I have received posthumously from my father! It will be a large space to create in. What fun things I have in store for 2013!! Please stay tuned and check out my Etsy Store for my newest creations.
Happy Holidays to All!!

More Prints...

As of December 15th I will be showing at the Art Barn at Wildlife West in Edgewood. It seems a very appropriate spot for my pieces. I am happy to leave work there. 

Here are some more pieces I finished for the upcoming show...

My artwork is now hanging at the Lovelace Hospital Radiation and Oncology building. I was surprised to see a huge variety of artwork hanging there. I love a city that embraces its artists and Albuquerque is one of those places!