Changes...

Welcome to those who have found there way here from the old blogspot address!

All of the entries in that blog have been moved to this address (And it was so easy, too. Praise be to Blogger).

As I posted at the old blog, I recently did some research and discovered that there is a registered trademark very similar to "Paint and Ink" that happens to be owned by none other than Disney. SO in the interest of avoiding trouble with The Great Big Company, not that there ever would be any but just in case, I have decided to rename my project radiogirl designs (or some spelling variant thereof). And in the interest of keeping things as tidy and organized as possible, I have created this new blog address (http://radiogirldesign.blogspot.com).

I will be working on formatting and design changes as time goes on.

I have also changed my Cafe Press site to http://www.cafepress.com/radiogirldesign.

In the meantime, my Etsy shop will stay the same, but I will be changing the look a bit, and will most likely change the user name/address eventually. It's not as easy with Etsy -- I'll have to start a whole new account and relist all of the items up there now. So it will be a little while before I get to it. I will post updates on any further changes in both blogs for a while, during the transition, but all fun content will now be here.

I apologize for any inconvenience and thank you for your patience. Please email me at paintandink @ gmail . com if you have any questions.

(As for the new name, it comes from my pre-marriage initials: AMFM. I've used the nickname "radiogirl" in email addresses and other ways for a long time now, and I am so excited to incorporate it into this new adventure!)

Busy, busy!

Whew... such a busy and productive week it's been. In addition to the new Cafe Press items, I posted a BUNCH of new items at my Etsy shop.


I'm still working on the best way to display the works for sale -- both the background and the actual photography -- but if I had waited until everything was perfect, I never would have gotten this whole thing off the ground. So I put the pieces together bit by bit, and I am so pleased with how it's all coming together.

I see stars...

It's been a busy day in front of the computer today... I've been designing away and I have a whole new section of products up at Cafe Press featuring some fun and colorful new graphics:


There are lots of different treats for holiday gifts and daily use. Take a look and let me know what you think! This one's my own personal favorite:

Happy shopping!

Book Goodies

As many of you know, I adore books -- books of all sorts, from fiction to poetry to psychology to biography -- and I especially, especially LOVE art books, craft books, and how-to books of all sorts. I'm not the best at following step-by-step instructions, but I read these books with gusto and soak up ideas and information on techniques and materials for later use.

So in hopes of sharing that love, I thought I would, from time to time, recommend a few of my favorites, and I have signed up with the Amazon.com Associates Program. Since I have barely begun to learn HTML (anyone have a book to recommend to me?), the links will be very basic at first. I will include a few in posts, and my very favorites down in the sidebar for permanent display.

To start:

The Secret Art of Dr. Seuss is a delightful and unexpected selection of some very non-child-oriented art from Theodor Seuss Geisel.




Artists' Journals & Sketchbooks, by Lynne Perrella, is a glorious mix of colors and ideas for making very personal art from a wide variety of materials. A gift from my mom this week after we visited the Contemporary Art Center of Virginia.



And one of the classics, The Artist's Way, by Julia Cameron, is an incredible source of ideas on how to live a rich and meaningful life. This book is appropriate for anyone, whether they consider themselves to be artists or not. I have found it to be a tremendous help in focusing, trusting my own instincts and creating my own inspiration. No matter who you are, it can be used over and over and over again. It was given to me as a gift almost 10 years ago by a roommate who probably had no idea how much it would mean to me in the years to come. And all this praise comes from someone who has never even completed all of the steps!

Jokers Wild

Okay, I gave my father his birthday present, which I foreshadowed here. My dad works in television, and we play cards a lot, Michigan rummy, with jokers wild. So I combined the two.

My digital camera, combined with so-so lighting in our kitchen, didn't capture the colors so well, but I am pleased with how rich they feel, in person. Other than drawing a few guide lines, I opted to do the border design freehand and not measure it out precisely. Next time, I think I shall try the opposite, more to keep symmetry and balance on the sides, than to get those diamonds uniform, but I still like it this way.


I am quite pleased overall, and I think Dad also really did like it.

Get-Well Wishes

...for my mother, who just had foot surgery yesterday. This is the card I made for her, complete with her tattoo...


Wishing you a speedy recovery, Mama!

NOTE: I wrote this a week ago, but then didn't post it because I realized my mom might see it before she got it. Well, now she's on the East Coast, so she won't get the card for a while anyway, and if she does see this, well, that's cool.

WIP

Here's some more texture, in the hill. I like this painting a lot so far. I want to add something, to the hill, but I'm not quite sure what yet. So it's sitting on the painting table, hanging out with other works in progress.

This is one of the few times I've worked with an actual stretched canvas, as opposed to canvas panel. I really like canvas panels, for their versatility, and ease of use (they're easy to paint flat without an easel, in my opinion, and I like working flat), and I can hang them very easily without framing. I'm also a little intimidated by all the weird things that it seems can happen to stretched canvas as you paint. But it is a luxurious surface on which to paint. I don't know why this is exactly, but the brushes flowed over the canvas like silk. It must be the give.

In other news...

We are going to see this band tonight, which I discovered through this amazing web page, which lists music available in legitimately free downloads through bands' websites and Amazon.com. Did you know that Amazon offers free music? Betcha didn't. Check it out. All genres. Very cool.

And while we're talking about music... this video? Simply brilliant.

Touchy Feely

This title makes me think of a story I read, but I really don't mean this kind of touchy feely:

In February, a 12-year-old boy visiting the Detroit Institute of Arts with his sixth-grade class plucked a wad of gum from his mouth and deposited it on a 1963 canvas by Helen Frankenthaler, "The Bay," a painting estimated to be worth $1.5 million or more. The work had to be removed for restoration. The child "picked the worst piece of art he could have picked" -- an unprimed painting, says the museum's director, Graham W.J. Beal.

Although if one of my paintings were ever important enough that a kid sticking a wad of gum on it made national news, I would be perversely proud.

I've been playing around with texture lately, and sometimes I just want to run my fingers all over the paintings. This one is the best finished example:

Day, acrylics, 9" x 12"

A closeup of the clouds:

Lately

I have been doing a lot of writing lately, but of course now that painting/drawing are part of my life again, I couldn't let them go away again. I'm striving to reach a balance between the two. So here are a few things to share:

This is a birthday gift for someone:

Mountain Trees, acrylics, 9" x 12"

And this, I love. I will be putting it up at Etsy, but it won't be easy to let go. Then again, none of them really are.

Storm Light, acrylics, 5" x 7"

I have one more painting, of which I am very, very, proud, but as it is to be a gift for someone who might possibly, occasionally check this blog, I don't want to post it -- the minute that person sees it, that person will know it is for them, I think. It is quite specific. But as soon as it has been delivered, I promise, I will post.