Kirsten Bailey: Art

It’s been a great weekend for me art-wise!

Yesterday I presented a talk and tutorial to the lovely ladies of the Springfield Lakes Art Group.  I demonstrated some of my watercolour techniques to them, and talked a little about my keepsake boxes and promoting art with Etsy.  I was really nervous but had a great time.

This is the painting I did as part of my demonstration:

Today I  finished and delivered the commissioned piece I was working on for a dear friend of mine.  It was very satisfying to see it finally hanging on the wall:

As one door closes, another opens they say – well, as I completed this commission, I received a new one – a customer wants a personalised painting similar to a painting I sold titled “When it is Dark Enough”.  I look forward to the challenge of creating a piece she’ll enjoy!

I finished two other watercolours this weekend too, titled Poppy Field and Winter’s End.  I also started work on two acrylic paintings which I hope to include in the upcoming Abundance exhibition.

I got a print done of my Sunset Storm painting for a customer in the US, and at the same time did some 4″ x 6″ prints of various paintings to make into cards.  I also put in an order for some new business cards from Moo.

As you can see, I got a LOT done this weekend – I didn’t get any housework at all done besides cooking dinner tonight, so I owe it all to my wonderful husband that I got so much arty stuff done

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I’ve always been a summer kind of girl.  I love the feeling in the air as things start to get warmer.  I love that I can wear lots of different clothes and not have to cover them all up with a jacket.  I love being able to do things like go swimming.

Of course there’s a few things I don’t love about summer – the temperature my classroom reaches on a really hot day.  The nights spent awake because it’s too hot to sleep.  But over all, I’m a summer girl and it’s with a twinge of sadness I say goodbye to our Australian summer for another year.

So this Saturday Selections is featuring my favourite summer products from fellow Aussie Etsyians!

Now I know a scarf is not the first thing you think of when you think of summer – but this one by Rainbow Revolution is so lightweight and floaty, it would be perfect for draping around your shoulders on a sunny day by the pool.  When the weather turns cooler, you could wear it as a scarf and add a little summer sun to a winter day!

What better to pair such a bright and beautiful scarf with than these gorgeous “Summer Sun” earrings by Pardalote?  The beautiful silver, burnt orange and amber hues will chase away the clouds on the coldest of winter days.

This gorgeous necklace by beadsme is called “The Sunshine Coast”, and I could certainly see myself wearing it at the coast.  The silver swirls remind me of the water and the stones are like the warm sun in the morning.

I hope you’ve enjoyed my tribute to the last days of summer!

This afternoon I’m off to do a talk for the Springfield Lakes Art group so I hope to have a blog post up about that very soon.

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This month I’ve been lucky enough to be a part of the DUST team‘s swap.

Basically what happens is that any team member who’s interested adds their name to a list.  Everyone is paired up with someone else, who you contact, have a chat with about their likes and dislikes, and send them an item or two from your shop.

I was thrilled to be paired up with Michelle from Pardalote – and boy did she spoil me!

I love her French Wire Beaded earrings, and so when I opened my package to see these I was very excited:

They’re the perfect colour to match a new dress I bought last month that I haven’t had a chance to wear yet.  Maybe I’ll wear it to the Abundance exhibition‘s opening night?

I didn’t only get one pair of beautiful earrings, but TWO!  These light blue earrings are elegant and pretty, and just my style.  I’m no expert at photography, and I don’t think this photo really does them justice – they are just beautiful:

As well as two pairs of earrings, I also got a pretty bracelet (I told you I was spoilt)!

I love braclets but I usually get annoyed with them after not very long because it’s so hard to do anything when wearing one, and I can’t wear them to work because I’m always writing and they get in the way.
This beautiful bracelet is so dainty even I could wear it without being annoyed by it.  And it’s so pretty!

I had so much fun particpating in this swap – I’ll definitely be signing up for the next one!

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It’s been busy busy busy for me lately, and it looks to be a great year for art!

I thought I’d share with you all a few upcoming events I’m involved in.

Firstly, I’m excited to announce that I’m going to be a part of an exhibition at the Art Factory gallery in Merivale St, South Brisbane.  The exhibition is called “Abundance”, and it will feature an abundance of different styles of art – 10 artists in total are featuring their work.

Many thanks to Michelle from Art Salon for all her hard work in organising this exhibition.

We’ll be having our opening night on Friday the 19th of March from 6pm till 9pm, and then offering morning tea on Sunday the 21st.

Last year I was happy to be able to support Variety by donating a painting to their Heart Art Show.  I’m delighted to be able to donate another painting this year – although I’m a bit disappointed the show is going to be on at the same time as our Abundance exhibition, so I won’t be able to go along.  I’m hoping my painting will make some money for charity though!

My third exciting upcoming event is a talk about my art and technique for the Springfield Lakes Art Group this Saturday.  Public speaking is not my forte so I’m slightly terrified, but I hope it will help me to grow as an artist and a person.  I’ll try to write a post afterwards and let you all know how it went!

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We’ve had a bit of a rainy week this week (in fact it is raining as I write this!), so I thought I’d do a rain themed Saturday Selections of my favourite items from around Etsy.

First up is this awesome stainless steel raindrop necklace with brain contours titled ‘bRain‘ by Morphologica.  Perfect for a geek girl like me!

My next rainy-day favourite is this cute set of “Rainy Day, Time to Play” gift cards from Red Letter Studio.  They would make lovely gift cards for a rainy day, or someone who’s young (or young at heart!) and loves to play in the rain:

I just *love* this print by Kathy Panton entitled simply “Rain”.  I love the mix of colours and the way the paint seems to flow across the paper.  I sat and stared at this one for a while!  It’s easy to see why it made Etsy’s front page.

Finally, I’d like to include this print entitled “Kiss Under the Rain” by Afremov Art.  I’ve admired this artist for a while on Deviantart, and only just found him on Etsy.  The way he uses light and colour is so unique and beautiful!

Hope you all have a great week, and remember how good the rain is for the garden (and the farmers!), if not for getting the washing dry.

Prefer the sunshine to the rain?  Check out my latest post on Handmade Spark, Tropical Holiday.

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As tomorrow is Valentine’s day, I’m doing a heart themed Saturday Selections.

My first item, found via Handmadespark.com, is this pretty Padparadscha Top Drilled Bracelet by Carrie Rachel Designs.  I love the way the pink beads look like little hearts – so pretty!

One of my favourite pastimes when I’m not painting is reading – I have been known to spend all day reading when a book is really good.  I do have an unfortunate habit of losing my bookmarks though.  I just love this Beaded Bookmark with red hearts by jskipcreations – I think if I had a bookmark like this I would make sure it didn’t get lost!  A great Valentine’s Day gift if your sweetheart is a bookworm like me.

I’ve mentioned Inner Earth Soaps on this blog before – I love to recommend them because I’ve used them myself, and know how beautiful they are first hand.  They come up in a silky, creamy lather, and actually make the whole bathroom smell nice!  These My Sweet Heart soaps would make an unique and beautiful Valentine.

Finally, these gorgeous Amber Heart earrings made by Fantasy Jewels are a gift that gives twice!  They are listed on Etsy at Hearts for Haiti - where all proceeds are being donated to Doctors Without Borders.

Have a happy Valentine’s Day, everyone!

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It must be a bright and beautiful kind of weekend.  I’m currently featured in three Treasuries, one of which I made featuring sellers from Handmade Spark.

Do you notice anything they have in common?

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I’m excited to announce that I’ve been invited to write for Handmade Spark.

The site is designed for sellers and buyers to connect.  Through the blog sellers wil learn about marketing, blogging, how tos, and much more.  Buyers will find new shops and items through the handmade features posted by me and a group of writers.  Handmade Spark is also a directory where sellers can submit their links, like Twitter, Facebook , and blogs.

I’m really excited to be involved, and I hope I can bring a little something different to the website as I’m so far the only Aussie writer.

My first post is about ACEOs.  I was inspired by the fact that I made my own first batch of ACEOs this weekend.  I love the way they look on the little easel!  If you’d like to find out more about ACEOs, you can read my post on Handmade Spark.

In other news, my painting Two Hearts, One Love has been featured on a Valentine’s Day post at Calico & Co., the Indie & Handmade Blog.  There are lots of other pretty things there too!

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Many thanks to Trina for thinking of a nice alliterative title for my weekly choice of favourite items from Etsy.  It’s much easier to find the time to write this post on a Saturday!

For this week’s theme, I’ve decided to go for the ever-classy black and white.

First up:  This gorgeous pair of handpainted leather heels by Mitsui.jing shoes.  I LOVE this idea of handpainted shoes – they are completely unique, and just beautiful.

Now for something completely different (and really cool).  I love all of Morphologica‘s science inspired jewellery, so it was hard to pick just one thing to feature today.  I’ve decided to go for this Pyramidial Neuron necklace.  I love the idea of wearing a funky, cool piece of jewellery that proudly displays your science nerdiness – although only to those who know enough to work out what it is   This necklace is also available in white.  Why not pair it with some DNA Double-helix inspired earrings?

Inspired by Australian snow gum trees, this Snow Gum series of glass platters by Jens Studio would make a perfect addition to any home – black and white goes with everything!  I think these would look great with little appetisers on (like little sushi rolls!) or just displayed in the home.  I love functional art like this!

Finally, I just love this set of 6 elegant black and white fabric coasters by Odds & Blobs.  I’ve used fabric coasters and love them because you never get that annoying thing where the glass sticks to the coaster and gets picked up with it.  Also, if someone spills a drink on them you can throw them in the wash!  They’re a wonderful idea and this set in black & white is just beautiful.

Thanks for checking out my “Saturday Selections” this week!  Be sure to have a look at all these sellers Etsy stores, as they have lots of other goodies on offer!

I’m hoping to get some painting done this weekend, so will post later on with an update on what I’ve done

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It’s been a productive weekend!

I’ve done lot’s of work on my lastest commission, a painting for a friend:

There is a lot of detail in this one, and it is HUGE (I can only fit one panel at a time on my easel), so it’s taking me a really long time to finish, but I hope the result will be worth it in the end.

I completed another painting this weekend, and thought I’d show you the stages it went through:

Step One: Painting taped down and ready to go. I've also used tape to separate the four panels (as opposed to wrecking another brush with masking fluid).

Step Two: Spring colours - I decided on pinks, greens and yellows to represent spring.

Step Three: Summer is orange, yellow and green. You can see the paint was still wet when I took this photo.

Step Four: Browns, oranges and reds for Autumn

Step Five: Blues and whites for Winter

At this point, I left the painting to dry before removing the tape.  I painted a tree branch going across the top of the painting.  Here’s the result:

I also made some more art pendants this week, but that’s a post for another day!

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