finally ..... originals for sale

i am regularly asked if i will sell my originals and my answer is always no. 

 i don't need to think about it, i just say no. 

 it's a mix of loving them so much so not wanting to part with them, and them taking me so long to create (up to 20 hours) due to the layers and layers, and the working forever on the elements to get them just right - that they really become unaffordable as i would want to sell them at a price that i feel they deserve and i don't think anyone would pay. hope that makes sense.

so - i am now learning to create some paintings that are only taking me a couple or hours or so.

 

I can now sell some originals. 

yay.  

i am really happy about this.

.... here is the first one of very very many.  the reproduction isn't that great unfortunately as it wouldn't fit on the scanner, so took photos of her and the colours and textures aren't showing up as they look on the original.

hope you like her as i really really enjoyed creating her ....

marriage bliss

it was tweleve years ago this week that the irishman and I were married. 

 it took us awhile to get to that day ... rushing into marriage - us?  no way.  we had been together for around 10 years.

 the irishman said that it was the best decision i've ever made for him.  funny man.

it was such a happy happy day. 

BLISS

inspiration - weekly??

my first attempt at doing a weekly post dedicated to something (inspiring short sharp quotes) has almost fallen by the way-side ... quick save tonight might just fix it ... hmm.

one of my favourite ever saying is below. an oldie, and definitely a greatie.  i think it is one of my favourite ever saying because i neglected the whispers in my head for far too long, then when i decided to finally listen to them i realised that life will give you what you want when you really want something.  i had a card with this saying on it on the wall in front of me for years, reminding me that it is never too late .... never.

i actually made this for a card to send to my nephew.  he ignored the whispers in his head for too long also.  he finally acted on them without initial success.  he knew what he wanted so persevered and pestered and fought and believed, until the door was opened for him, and now he is blooming and blossoming and just lovin every minute of his life. i told him that he is my absolute role model for perseverance.  it is no coincidence that he is doing so well in his chosen field because it is his passion and he was meant to be what he is becoming.   isn't life amazing?

woo hoo :: very very excited

i had a very very very exciting weekend, yes i did.

i sold my first print on-line.

woo-hoo.

it was a print of this gorgeous creature on made it.

totally chuffed with myself as i've only really just started selling on-line. i know it is a very small step, but lots of small steps will eventually turn into giant ones - won't they?  and you've got to start somewhere don't you now?  bliss

i also spent the weekend obsessing about leon russell, you know that sexy rock god from the late seventies (i know, i know i'm really old)?  he's touring australia next week for the byron bay blues festival and i have tickets to see him in sydney.  he no longer looks the rock god (believe me on that one), but i'm hoping he still sounds great.  he just released a cd with elton john called 'the union'.  love love love that album, think i played it about 20 times over the weekend and every listen it just got better. am even listening to it now.  obsessed.  my husband is a little over it.

Leon Live album.  www.leonrussellrecords.com

Phew ... panic over and totally unnecessary

why oh why do i panic and stress.  had a great day at my first market.  the weather was overcast and a bit blowy (my stock was flying around at times) and there was rain in the afternoon.  but it was great. i received so much encouragement and so many oohs and ahhs to fill me up with confidence and make it worthwhile.

i was really happy with my sales for my very first market. and a quiet market, as it is a very new market.  my friend in the stall next to me had the worst market in TEN years, so i figure in a busier market i will do really well. 

the setting is just beautiful.  and there were sheep in a field just behind me.  yay.  love sheep.  it is in an old heritage listed farm, so there are beautiful old farm outbuildings with rusted roofs and falling down fences.  just great.  

here are some photos of my stall and the farm.....

my next market is sunday 3rd april (yes next weekend) at Heritage Craft Fair at St Ives.  really excited about this one.  

bliss.

Planning ::Painting::Printing::Panicking - not necessarily in that order

... ten days until my first market and trying not to panic.  trying not to let anxiety take over.  it won't. i can do it. its no big deal. for once in my life i want everything to be perfect.  i know it wont be as i will leave so much until the last minute and not get it all done.  no i won't. 

i am going now to write a schedule of stuff to do. there will be no panic.  hooray!

it will be bliss.

leap and the net will appear .....

... it is one of my most favourite sayings and I have decided to finally take it's advice.

i have wanted for so long to try and sell my art somehow other than online - not that i have been online for that long.  so i have decided to try a couple of art and craft markets.  i have visited two in the past two weekends - the first not so great as it was full of hand made children's clothes.  then i visited one today that was wonderful - Bella Vista Artisans Market.

today was only the second time it has operated and there were alot of stalls, although several sellers told me that it was very quite day.  i remember reading an article years ago about establishing a market, and it said that it takes about 12 months for a market to be well know and establish, so there is alot of promise for this one as it is in a beautiful setting.

i did speak with a very talented stallholder there called genevieve who is an artist and sells online through redbubble.com.  her artwork was wonderful and i really enjoyed talking to her.  she was selling prints of her work in varying sizes as I want to do.  she seems dedicated to the market and has been there for the first two and plans to be there next month.  

so i am busy investigating the most cost effective and professional outcome for printing, designing the look of my stall (the fun part), getting insurance, oh and I must remember to book in to the market.  Bliss

tickets on myself

i was recently swooning over some beautifully hand made tags on a website, and now i can't find the website. drat and double drat!!  anyway, i decided that i wanted to try and make some beautifully hand made tags, but do you think i can find any plain attractive blank tags in this city - N.O.!  I saw these and these but they are in the US and I don't particularly want to pay a fortune in postage - plus I can't believe that I can't purchase some here.

i visited the local scrapbooking store and they said they would make me some on one of those die cutting machine, so that is a last resort option. although not suitable if i want to become a millionaire from selling divine hand made tags (dream away Jenn).

anyway, I decided to buy these very dull manila shipping tags (below).  Lets see what I can do with them hey!

you know, the great thing about me not being able to find those blissful handmade tags, is that I won't be able to compare mine to them.  Bliss.

:: 2011 - the BLISSFUL year

not sure what to make of 2011, or should i say - what i will make of it.

i've never been good with new year resolutions as they put too much pressure on you. they're great if you keep them to yourself and don't blab to the world.  it is always better to not succeed privately don't you think, as most new year resolutions are so not achievable or are forgotten about by feb?  very negative sounding of me i know, so i am not making any this year.  there will just be my regular daily resolutions that i try to keep front of mind (so much to think about isn't there?) -

make more art, eat healthily, be thankful for my honey-pie, don't drink too much wine, be a positive happy girl that is grateful for her life, love everyone regardless.  there that works for me. happy girl.

there are some goals i want to achieve the first quarter of this year though, but i need to work on them a bit more - think, develop and finalise them.  there, that could be my first goal for the year - work out my goals. 

Bliss will fully blossom in 2011.

thankyou Miss Blu ...

today i was just sitting here thinking about how much my life has changed this year in so many ways.  the most positive is that i am now totally absorbed in art and so so loving it.

earlier this year i decided that i could no longer not do art, so i decided to start from the basics again and do a drawing class at the local community college.  mistake. big mistake.  the teacher was woeful. woeful. i won't bore you with the details, but basically she didn't teach, just put an object in front of us and said draw it, whenever a student asked for guidance she seemed quite taken aback.  odd.

i wasn't giving up.  so I turned to the good ole internet in search of instruction and found the divine miss Suzi Blu.  what an inspiration. what a teacher.  what a wonderfully kooky girl. what an artist!! her art is unique and magnificent.

i have learnt so much from her classes apart from art that I can't begin to tell you.  mostly though i learnt that yes, i am an artist (suzi says so).  suzi has also given me the confidence to open an etsy shop (no one has bought anything, but that doesn't matter, i opened an etsy shop!!!! yay to me!).

suzi taught me to paint backgrounds and beautiful girls. how to blend to make their skin look divine, how to make their eyes pop and their lips luscious.

not long after i started my first suzi class one of my friends had just been diagnosed with cancer and was looking to do some art, i sent her suzi's website and she too enrolled in suzi classes. we spent many an hour talking about how much we enjoy suzi and how much we love painting the girls! also how much we felt encourage by suzi and how much confidence she instills, and i think that is the key to suzi, she is genuine and authentic and truly wants you to succeed in your pursuit of blissful art.  i know i might sound like some crazy groupy nutcase, but she really is wonderful.

i really thank suzi for re-igniting my creative spirit and i hope that one day i can meet her and give her a big squeezy hug and say 'thanks suzi blu - you're great!'. 

so if you want to be an artist, a suzi blu class is the place to be!


here is one of my first girls, just love her ....if i can do this after a few weeks, so can you. Bliss.

Prudence, Wilhelmina and Millicent

Yes, the girls all have names.  I thought it is the least they deserved as they have given me so much pleasure and happiness creating them.  They are lovely girls.  Very friendly, amiable and would bring great joy to any household.  So I know they won't last long in the shop window before they are snapped up.

I have listed prints of the gorgeous girls on Etsy - http://www.etsy.com/shop/TheBlissfulBrush and also on Made It - www.madeit.com.au/TheBlissfulBrush

This is a really big thing for me, I can't tell you how thrilled I am with myself.  Yes, alot of patting myself on the back. It is a small step I know, but a big one on my journey to living the creative life that I dream of.  Yay to me!!!

Now get back to work Jennifer and bring some more crazy haired girls to life!!

Etsy here I come ....

Am finallly finishing some paintings ready for Etsy and my new life with an Etsy shop - woo hoo, very excited.  I am not even contemplating that they will sit in the shop gathering dust.   I am expecting success!! Huge success!

So here they are - two of my gorgeous girlies!

I am getting quite attached to these unusual creatures, having spent so much time with them recently, and have only just this minute realised that I should name them. They deserve unique and unusual names to match their appearance don't you think? What about Methusla, or Gwendolyn? Hortense... Constance ... Lucretia?  ... Wilhelmina? ... Prudence? 

Really need to give that some proper thought.

Woo hoo - my first blog post!!

Hi, it's me .... Jennifer with my first blog - woo hoooooooooo!!!!

Finally have taken the first step and started a blog. I've only talked about it for more than a year (can't believe how fast the past year has gone by the way). I am expecting REALLY big things to happen.   No clue what - but BIG BIG BIG things!!!  But really ....anything would be great.

I have far too many questions in relation to my blog though:

• Will anyone ever read it?
• Will anyone ever leave a comment?
• Does it matter if no one ever does?
• Will I totally freak out if someone does?
• Can I really be authentic and say what I want in my blog without caring what others think?  (now that's a hard one).
• Will I love writing in my blog?
• Will I hate writing in my blog?

Who knows .... but here goes hey!

Welcome to Blog World Jennifer - scary and exciting as it is, I am sure you will love it!! Woo hoooooo!