My Birdsong

Our Next Artist is Up for the Artful Gathering Blog Hop!

Celebrating Artful Gathering 2012 Online Art Retreat, 
Open for Registration!

Blog Hop your way for chance to win!

From June to August 2012, ArtfulGathering.com will be presenting TWO exciting semesters of premiere online video workshops offered by fabulous artists who are known nationally and internationally. We are all very excited to share out knowledge, skill, and creativity with you, and we hope that you will join us for this AMAZING annual online event.

Blog Hop with us for a chance to win a prizes from Jerry's Artarama!

Each week the faculty of Artful Gathering will be announcing a featured blog to visit.

You can hop along with us until the final destination blog is reached, and where ONE Grand Prize winner will be chosen at Random for a chance to win a $200.00 e-gift card from Jerry's Artarama!!!

Two Runner Up winners will also be chosen at random for a chance to win a $25 e-gift card from Jerrys.

Each week I will announce the next featured blog for you to visit, and there you will find a new secret word or words that you will need to collect along your way from blog to blog. Once you have collected all the words from each blog you visit, they will work out to say a very artsy phrase. Here are the rules:

1. For your chance to win, you must collect all the secret code words and submit them upon the final destination blog in May. A random drawing will be conducted from those contestants who have submitted the complete collection of secret words!
2. Three winners will be randomly drawn. One for the $200 e-card to Jerry's, and two runner's up for the $25 e-card to Jerrys.
   
   

Week by week we'll go from one blog to the next!

Remember to collect all the secret words. These words will work out to say a very artful phrase, and you'll need all the pieces to be eligible for the final prize drawings!

Please HOP over and visit the Amazing Mixed Media Artist

Mary Jane Chadbourne

http://desertdreamstudios.weebly.com/

(Pick Up the Next Secret Word)

 

New Items in My Etsy Shop!

Several new items have been listed in my Etsy Shop. Head on over and see what's new! Hope you are enjoying the beautiful fall leaves! The tree in front of our home is in full color and the November skies are just gorgeous. Happy November!

Halloween and Vine in One Week!

I've been busy creating all sorts of Halloween delights for my debut at Halloween and Vine, Saturday, Sept. 24, in Petaluma, CA. I'm so excited and honored to be part of this outstanding show of Halloween artists! It's a week away, so grab some friends and make a date! Petaluma is a quaint town, with yummy places to eat and comfy hotels for your stay. Or make a day trip and hit the wine country on your way home. Get all the details on the show website. Can't wait!

 

 

So Many Fun Art Events Coming Up!

Hot air balloons are hot, and I'll have a few available at my next show, the Fourth Annual Tinsel and Treasures Folk Art Show, Saturday, Sept. 10, at the Alamo Women's Club, Alamo, CA. There's a line-up of fabulous artists who will bring their creative magic to the day.

Also after you've shopped and visited with the artists at the show, head for the Make and Take tables, where you can get inspired to make one or all of three projects, like this sweet Christmas Memories paper doll offered by Dede Warren. She designed this kit so you can personalize it with a family member's photo! What a wonderful gift it would make! Head to the Tinsel and Treasures blog to sign up and to see photos of the other projects offered. And sign up for the show mailing list for the latest news!

 

Next up...Halloween and Vine! On Saturday, Sept. 24, at Hermann Sons Hall, in Petaluma, CA, I'll be in the midst of a cadre of Halloween fans as I offer a table full of art that celebrates my favorite holiday - All Hallows' Eve!    I'll have mixed media collages, like "Nevermore", which pays tribute to Mr. Poe. There will be so many other "fangtastic" artists selling their works, you are sure to find that something special just for Halloween. Learn more about the show on the website, and don't forget to add your name to their mailing list! 

Then, it's Glitterfest on Saturday, October 15, at the Santa Ana Elks Lodge. This is always a great day with lots of art to choose from due to the 40+ artists there! It's not for the faint of heart! Head to the website for more information on artists and location.

 

Finally, Colleen and I are teaching a special event workshop together at Gilding the Lily, in downtown Fullerton, CA, on Sunday, October 16. "Winter wishes," is a one-of-a-kind light up lamp that is sure to become a family heirloom. 

We will have a great time building the lamp, creating a wintery scene and then sculpting and fashioning two sweet now ladies. You don't want to miss this! For information and to sign up, head to Gilding's classes blog.

I hope to see you at one of these events in the coming months! Cheers....Iva

 

It's already the end of May and time is just blowing by. I've been busy preparing for Tinsel and Treasures Folk Art Show set for Saturday, Sept. 10, 2011, at the Alamo Women's Club, 1401 Danville Blvd., Alamo, CA. I thought I'd share a video that was recently put together from last year's event. It holds just a tiny bit of the magic you'll find at the show. Other duties have kept me away from my blog too. 

In addition to taking care of my family (our son is now home from his first year in college - yay!), I've been taking an art class to keep me inspired and learn new techniques. It's always fascinating to see another artist work, and Mira M. White is not only a talented teacher, but a wonderful artist. She was featured recently in Pastel Journal, among her other credits. Here is just a sampling of some of her evocative art work. I fell in love with this piece. Just stunning!

 

Artist Mira M. White

Her Name Is Sophia And She Wears A Dress Of Stars

2010

Soft Pastel/Acrylic/Paper

• • •

Artist Mira M. White

Carnival City

2011

Soft Pastel/Acrylic/Paper

25"x37"

• • •

I hope you've been enjoying spring and new creative ideas and interests are sprouting for you as they have for me. Happy May!

 

Inspiration Comes with Two Tails or One?

 

I get so inspired by mermaid paintings from great artists like Arthur Rackham, Edvard Munch, and Peter Rubens. They all have different styles and they all seem to portray mermaids differently.

For some, the mysterious women of the sea are beguiling sirens trying to lure sailors to their deaths. While for other artists, mermaids are innocent beings just wishing to be human. Above all, it seems artists of yesterday and today vary as to whether mer people should have two tails or one. 

Disney's Little Mermaid is a one-tailed kinda gal, while the smiling saleswoman of Starbucks, sports two. I like the depictions of both, as evidenced from two of my latest paintings found here and in my Etsy shop. But I probably favor one long tail that can be swished from side to side. Of course, this all leads back to my own art and how I illustrate these mythical creatures. 

I've been creating a variety of mixed media paintings, and my mind keeps coming back to the ocean and these sirens of the sea. 

Mermaids seem so lonely to me and yet, so at peace in their underwater surroundings. The vibrant colors of the ocean floor teeming with life provides great opportunities for the artist to splash bright colors in an ordinarily dark world. I imagine the colorful living landscape seems to be like brilliant flowers in springtime, attracting passers-by to stop and enjoy them. I just wonder, do mermaids swim to these beautiful oceanic gardens with two tails or one? 

 

 

 

Dreaming of the Sea

I can hear the sea calling, as I prepare for my next show, Glitterfest Spring, in Southern California, Saturday, March 19. Not that I will be visiting the Pacific on my trip, but I have been researching and reading about the ways people enjoyed the treasures brought forth by the ocean. You see, in times past, ship captains would come home after a long journey at sea and present their loved ones with shell encrusted boxes. These signs of love make me so nostalgic, and I am creating my own take on the long ago tradition. This along with other boxes will be available at my booth.

Additionally, I have been learning more about the lore of mermaids, who were believed to be as fickle as the sea itself. They were thought to be fierce like a raging storm and then quickly become peaceful and serene. I love the mysterious nature of them, along with their magical beauty. All of this lead me to create my next folk art workshop at Gilding the Lily in Fullerton, CA, to be held Sunday, March 20, the same weekend as Glitterfest. "Enchantress of the Sea" is a glass theater, and you can click here for more details and to register.

Can you hear the crashing waves?

Drawing on A Rainy Sunday in January

It's a rainy day here in Northern California which means the perfect time to draw. Thought I'd share what's on the drawing board, as I think about mermaids, shell art and more in preparation for the Spring Glitterfest folk art show, Saturday, March 19, in Santa Ana, CA, and the Enchantress of the Sea Glass Theater workshop I'll be leading on Sunday, March 20 at Gilding the Lily, in Fullerton, CA.

Off and Running

 

I am in high production mode for my  upcoming Tinsel and Treasures Folk Art Show, Sept. 18, in Alamo, Ca and Glitterfest Fall, Oct. 2, in Santa Ana, Ca. But...I managed to paint an original Halloween watercolor postcard and list it on eBay. I was inspired by a vintage postcard with similar Halloween elves hurrying scurrying, and thought I'd put a different spin on the little creatures.

If you like my watercolors, I will have originals for sale at both shows and many of my prints. Please stop by to say hello! Happy Haunting...Iva

Preparing for an Underwater Party

 

I hope you will join me Saturday, as I prepare for a Mad Tea Party! I've invited many guests from the deep including some lovely mermaid friends of mine. There will be many others participating, thanks to our hostess Vanessa Valencia. See you in the cool blue ocean right here on Saturday!