I Was Featured on the Etsy Top Ten List Today!

My recent listing, Argyle Beard, was featured as number 7 on the Etsy Top Ten list this week! Please go here to see the complete list. Much thanks to Tim Adam, a fellow Etsy seller who creates delightful steel sculptures, jewelry and other creations and is the creator of many online venues, including Handmadeology and numerous online sellers courses. You rock, Tim! I have already at least doubled the number of views that I started the day with!

I also grabbed an Etsy Treasury in Treasury West today, so I could feature some other people's work as well! Go check it out in the next couple of days!

New Drawing for the Weekend -- Home

The drawing I started on Friday and finished a little while ago was inspired by another Etsy artist, Laura Berger. I had recently discovered her whimsical style and chanced upon this cute drawing. I really liked the roots of the house and how the smoke coming out of the chimney made a flower. So since I just couldn't help myself, I decided to take the same idea and do something with it myself. I hope Laura doesn't mind, since her style and my style are quite different. I'm not sure if I really captured what I was going for exactly, but it was an interesting first try. This image is drawn in black ink using my Rapidograph 00 pen, then painted using colored inks.

I have already listed it for sale in my Etsy Shop. Clicking on the image will take you to the listing directly.

Five Days in a Row of New Drawings!

I did not post anything to the blog about yesterday's drawing, so I will do a two-for-one today.

Yesterday, I'm not sure if the image was inspired by the song, or if the title popped into my head as I was drawing and reminded me of the song, but this one is called "Little Wing." You can go listen to the original Jimi Hendrix version here, or my favorite, the remake by Sting. Whichever inspired which, I really like that song. I'm going to have to get Sean to play it for me sometime.

So this drawing measures about 5 1/4" x 6 1/2" on acid-free drawing paper and was drawn using archival, permanent ink. It is for sale in my Etsy Shop already...

Today, I wasn't going to draw anything, I was going to get back to all of the other things I need to do. But, no, this image popped into my head this morning and refused to not exist. It is entitled "Argyle Beard" (and subtitled "Baxter," just to piss off my friend Baxter). For this one I got out my colored pencils and colored in the tweedy-looking argyle in his beard, as well as his swell purple shirt. He is also listed for sale in my Etsy Shop.

On a side note, a couple days ago, I watched this video on TED of a talk by Elizabeth Gilbert on genius. I found it quietly inspiring. I think my favorite bit was where she talks about separating herself from the creative process or "genius" as if it is a separate entity, and how it freed her to say to it, "You and I both know that, if this [work] isn't brilliant, that it isn't entirely my fault. As you can see, I am putting everything I have into this... if you want it to be better, you've got to show up and do your part of the deal... and I would like the record to reflect that I showed up for my part of the job."

So I suppose I have showed up for my part of the job, at least for a little while, every day this week. I'm not sure how many of those days my assigned genius came along with me, but we shall see.

Today's New Drawing! Two days in a Row! Nautiloflora

Yesterday, I finished a drawing I had started the night before and decided to list it for sale in my Etsy Shop. This morning I woke up early, saw the other half of the little sheet of paper I had drawn that drawing on and decided to start something new! Not only did I start it, but I finished it by around 10 am, scanned it and listed it in my shop by 11 am! I have been exploring this stream of consciousness thing and seeing where it takes me. I think it is fun to start with a general pattern and then vary each individual detail. It forces me to simplify my thoughts, rather than thinking of a grand, complex pattern, I find a simple pattern and vary it in the next set.

It is funny that I stumbled upon this theme this week, as I had just been talking to fellow Wooden Cow gallery exhibitor, Cindy Chavez, about the stories that go behind certain works and how often that is what compels one to buy the work. These three drawings (there's one more I haven't published yet) have essentially no story to go with them, they don't mean anything as far as I can discern, they are just artistic energy on paper. This drawing measures approximately 5.25" x 6.5" and is available in my Etsy shop for only $20 + shipping! Enjoy!

New Drawing!

I started this drawing last night while watching the Yankees beat the Phillies in the World series Game 4. Finished it around midday today and decided to list it in my Etsy shop right away, just to see if it would be a seller. It's priced at only $20! This is not some digital print, this is an original drawing here people!

This abstract knotty tree is perched on the precipice of the unknown, and appears to be dripping its heart into the great oblivion below. It was drawn in archival ink (Pigma Micron, 0.20 mm tip) onto off-white colored acid-free drawing paper. It measures approximately 5.25" by 6.5". It is groovy. Tell all of your friends. If everyone wants to buy it at once, I'll have to make prints. Enjoy!

Stocking Stuffer Ideas for Grown-up Girls

Seems awfully early to be talking about stocking stuffers, but since the ByHand.me folks have posited the challenge on Facebook, I thought I'd take a stab. Since my kids are mostly grown, I thought I would feature some of my favorites for adults--everyone needs something special!

Item #1:  The Artful Agenda

I had considered getting this for my teenage daughter, and I still might, but it is just too adorable to not mention. This 2010 daily planner features a plethora of talented artists--something different on every page.  There are month-at-a-glance views, pages for each week, and ample room for notes, doodles, or (oh yeah) appointments, with different themes for the artwork on each page. This is no ordinary stocking stuffer!

Item #2: Butterfly Tattoo Stockings

I have had these stockings in my favorites (and had to replace them a dozen times because they got sold!) for quite a long time, and one day, I may just have to have a pair for myself. In the meanwhile, let me suggest these classy, stylish and unique patterned stockings for the gal whose stockings you stuff. She could be Goth, glam, schoolgirl or not-really-a-waitress in these. They're gorgeous!

Item #3: BeautifulBridget's Hot Cocoa Scarf

While you might have trouble fitting this thick and luxurious scarf into the stocking, the title of this one says it all, doesn't it?  Made from super-soft acrylic, which is my personal preference, since it holds its shape, doesn't shrink, and doesn't make me itch like wool (I know not everyone is allergic to wool, but it is certainly nice to have the option if you are!).

So there's my three for the day! It has been a pleasure participating in this challenge! Please stop by and visit my totally-not-for-stocking-stuffing shop full of my Fine Art at Easily Distracted by Julie D'Arcy!

Newly Modified Work Makes Its Debut at the Wooden Cow Gallery!

Once upon a time, well, in 1994, I sat in my tiny, hot apartment in Rochester, NY, and drew this nude self-portrait:


I was pretty pleased with the result, had it matted and framed, and hung it on the wall for many years. A couple years ago, my husband, who is usually very positive about my artwork, but who never lies, finally came out and told me that he really doesn't like it. I accepted this opinion but never really considered doing much about it, I just figured that maybe someone else would like it and, oh, say, buy the damn thing. No such luck. So a month or so ago, I was possessed by an image in my mind about how words rarely hold as much meaning as actions, and often my best intentions of telling someone my thoughts and feelings don't seem to come out the way I intended them, and instead wind up falling like barely discernible little leaves into the air. So with this vision firmly planted in my head, I proceeded to take the frame apart, hoping that I had not trimmed all of the paper away from the sides of the original drawing. Upon getting it apart, I discovered that I had a good bit of space off to either side of the figure to work with, and I proceeded all the way through conception, planning and execution in about half a day. Here is the result: The original drawing was created by a reductive method (think of laying down a medium toned even color all over the paper, then erasing out the white parts and penciling in the dark parts) in pastel and pencil. I drew new lips onto the figure directly with colored pencil. The heart was drawn with colored pencil onto a separate paper and collaged on. The words were created with a graphics program, digitally blurred, softened and faded, printed out, torn out of the page, then collaged on. A few extra pastel and pencil details later, it was done!

A couple of days after finishing it, I read the announcement for the juried show entitled "Wordplay" at the Wooden Cow Gallery here in Albuquerque, and I thought to myself that it must be kismet or something, as this piece seemed perfect for such a theme. It must have been kismet, since they accepted the work, and now it will be appearing in the show in August.
For any local readers, the Wooden Cow Gallery is located at 7400 Montgomery Blvd NE in Albuquerque, and the opening should be on Friday, August 7 from 5 pm to 8 pm. Hope to see you there!!