Kirsten Bailey: Art

Well, sort of.  You may remember I donated one of my paintings, a watercolour entitled “Reach” to the Young Variety Heart Art Show.  While I wasn’t able to attend on the night, I was pleased to be able to support the charity with my donation.

Yesterday, a friend of mine mentioned she had seen a painting that looked very much like one of mine in the free newspaper given out on trains, MX.  She gave me a copy, and Lo and Behold, it was my painting:

I’m not mentioned by name, but that is definitely my painting “Reach”.  Even though it’s only a free newspaper, I was thrilled to see my painting there!  I’m also really happy that my style is distinctive enough for someone to be able to tell it’s one of my paintings even though my name isn’t on it.

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It was a hectic week at work.  To say the least.  So, I’ve tried to pick some of my favourites from Etsy that put me into a calm mood this week.

First, I’ve chosen this beautiful cushion by Norajane.  It features soothing creams, pinks and blues, with pretty little flowers and cute little birds.  I fell in love with it the first moment I saw it.

I love the soft and pretty colours in this romantic necklace from Nostalgic Studio‘s “Edwardian Collection”.  Its delicate design features a beautiful antique hand painted porcelain pendant:

With its soft blue thread, this framed embroidery titled “Flight Pattern” by Jennifer’s Gift would be a beautifully calming influence on any wall:

Finally, I just love this print by Paper Moth.  It’s called “Perennial Moment“, which I think is a lovely title!  I love the soft background colours and the image of the dandilion blowing in the breeze.  A beautifully calming picture.

These items, a cup of tea and a weekend sleep-in are just what the doctor ordered for stress relief!

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I just got an email from a customer I created some commissioned artwork for.  He contacted me a couple of months ago about a set of 4 paintings I’d done, titled “Moons of Jupiter”, which I had already sold.  I suggested I could paint something similar for him.  I was quite happy with how they turned out, and today he emailed me a picture of how they look framed together on the wall:

If your favourite painting is one that is already sold, let me know and I’ll paint something similar, just for you!

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This week’s topic over at Illustration Friday is “Subterranean”.  My immediate thought was of layers of rock under the ground.  This was my inspiration for this litte abstract watercolour, which I’m (not surprisingly) calling “Subterranean”.

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This week’s addition of Saturday Selections is inspired by the rainforest… which my garden is looking increasingly like.  It’s been raining a LOT here recently, and it seems that every weekend we’ve wanted to get outside and tidy up the garden, it’s rained.  This weekend the sun is finally out, and when I wandered out into the garden these are some of the images that greeted me:

The grass is knee high.  There is a huge vine choking *everything*.  The insects are out and about and LOVING it.  It’s not going to last though, because I’m determined to get out there today and tomorrow and tidy it up!

Until then, let’s celebrate the beauty of the rainforest with these wonderful Etsy finds:

My first rainforest favourite is this ‘Rain Forest Rivers’ bracelet by Karmelidesigns.  I love the combination of earthy greens, coppers and blues.  It features a  Pietersite nugget, rhyolite, yellow citrine, deep blue dumortierite, and small black onyx beads, a few antiqued copper spacers, and a stylish toggle clasp.

Matching perfectly with this bracelet is this beautiful Tropical Rainforest Necklace by Aquasphere.  It also features the earthy beauty of rhyolite.  This volcanic stone’s mossy greens, browns and grays are a perfect match to the rainforest.

Of course, once you’re decked out in rainforesty-goodness for your neck and wrist, you need to have something pretty for your ears as well!  I just love these Rainforest Blossom Bouquet Earrings by Eighthnote.  The flowers are pretty and feminine, and I love the way they hang together.  The shades of green and blue are perfect for the rainforest and look beautiful together.

Long before I had ever heard of Etsy, I was posting my artwork on deviantART.  I love the support other artists give with their comments, and am inspired by the work of the wonderful artists who also submit their art to the website.  One of my favourite artists from deviantART is Angela Vandendogard.  I’ve admired her work for years and was delighted when I came across her store on Etsy, Jellybeans.  This print titled Rainforest is a great example of her beautiful, whimsical style:

I hope you all enjoyed this little trek through the rainforest – hopefully by the next time I post, my garden will be looking less like a jungle and more like a garden again!

UPDATE:

I think the rest of the garden will have to wait until after bin day.

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I remember when I was a kid there was an empty field (we called it “the bush” even though there were hardly any trees), where we used to love to go exploring.  One Spring the field was filled with Queen Anne’s Lace, and to my young eyes it was an amazing sight.  I gathered up armfuls of the beautiful flowers to take home to Mum – who was slightly less than impressed, and explained to me that they were weeds

I still love the simple beauty of Queen Anne’s Lace, and last weekend was inspired by the memory to create this painting:

I had a browse around Etsy for Queen Anne’s Lace themed items, and was amazed at how many beautiful things I saw!  It was really difficult to narrow it down to a few items for this week’s Saturday Selections.  Here’s what I came up with:

First up is this gorgeous Teal Green Queen Anne’s Lace Jersey Scarf by Papavier.  It looks so soft and cuddly and I love the asymmetrical design.

What better to pair such a gorgeous scarf with than this Ecofriendly Hemp Bag featuring Queen Anne’s Lace by Uzura?  The colour matches beautifully, and I love the contrast of the dark Queen Anne’s Lace on this bag compared to the light design on the scarf.  It’s eco-friendly and big enough to fit all your bits and pieces in, and maybe a bit of shopping too – perfect for taking to a handmade market!

I knew I wanted to include a pendant in this post, and there were so many beautiful ones to pick from on Etsy that I agonized over my choice for a while.  In the end, I was won over by this amazing Engraved Queen Anne’s Lace locket by Star Creations.  The detail is just incredible and I love the little bird’s nest.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this little trip down memory lane   Try doing a search for “Queen Anne’s Lace” on Etsy – there really are hundreds of beautiful things to find – and don’t forget to check out the stores of the lovely people I’ve featured today.  Have a great weekend!

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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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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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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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