Either my readers are incredibly astute judges of character, or I'm completely transparent. The following was my favorite comment received on my blog this weekend (I've left out the name just in case this person wasn't interested in being mentioned!) This cracked me up:
reader: Honeydew-congrats to your friend-but get painting!!! The deadline is looming, and there is a piece of work waiting to tell it's story... :)
Cheering you on!
Oh man. You have me pegged, that's for sure! From now on, I'm going to leave it up to you guys to give me the much-needed kick in the pants. In regards to the aforementioned as-of-yet-unfinished painting (which has a Wednesday drop-off due date) this is how my weekend broke down:
Friday: when I got home, I immediately went to my studio. I decided to stop working on the portrait part of my piece for a little bit and work on one of the other 3 layers instead. I painted some lyrics to an Edith Piaf song around the edge of my mat. I decided to play the song while working. Bad. Idea. Ok, playing a heartbreaking Edith Piaf song while hovering over a painting of your deceased French grandparents is not a wise idea. I spent half of my evening sobbing before I decided it was time for bed.
Saturday: got up early to work in my studio. I finished painting the edge of the mat while (wisely) choosing to listen to NPR's morning programming. Car Talk and Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me! are much happier choices than Edith Piaf. I also got some work done on the portrait portion of the painting. Work actually lasted into the afternoon--even though by then I was absolutely sweltering. My studio is in the loft. Imagine working in an attic with two skylights in the middle of the summer, and you get the idea. I stopped painting when I received a dinner invitation from my mom. Dinner with my mother and family friends turned into a chit-chat with everyone in her living room until 10 at night.
When I got home, I found out that my best friend had finished his album and his website (which I blogged about below). This led to a flurry of e-mailing and messaging with him. While online I, of course, logged onto Etsy. I was shocked to find that my hearts and views had exploded. I had no idea why, so I asked around in the forums. People said that one of my plush characters had been on the front page for a long time on Saturday. OMG. It's been a mini-fantasy of mine to someday make it to the front page...and I missed it!!! I suppose I can't live my entire life on Etsy, though. (Just most of it. Haha!) I was psyched though. Looks like there were good vibes for both Ryan and I on Saturday.
But...so much for finishing the painting that evening.
Sunday: tried to hit the studio again in the morning. I sat miserably in a puddle of sweat totally unable to function, let alone paint. Once the hubby woke up, I forced him to take the air conditioners out of the closet and put them to use. One goes in our kitchen/living room area and the other goes in our bedroom. I moved my painting and supplies from The Inferno to downstairs at the kitchen table. The hubs left to go hang out with one of his buddies, I watched tv, painted for a teeny bit, got lonely, and then called my sister. We had dinner, a bottle of chilled pino grigio, and watched a movie over her place. (Hey, can you blame me? The girl has central air!) Buuuut...I'm still not done my painting.
This is why I'm thinking I'll need to take a day off tomorrow. It's no big deal. I have 2 personal days that I have to use up before the end of June, otherwise I lose them. And I've got a lot to do. I still have to finish the portrait portion of my painting. The mat is at least 95% done. Then, there will be a painting on the glass of the frame. Which I haven't even started yet. Ahem.
I can do it! Really! I swear, it'll be done by Wednesday. Just watch me. (o;
Showing posts with label Honeydew Studio. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Honeydew Studio. Show all posts
June 09, 2008
May 08, 2008
I'm in an Etsy Treasury!
My Madame Meow plush character made it into an Etsy treasury this morning!
Go take a peek! Everything in this treasury is NH-Made. It was put together by a member of our Street Team, Sweet Lollipop Shop. (Yes, she actually makes yummy lollipops...that isn't just the name of her shop! Lol.)
Go take a peek! Everything in this treasury is NH-Made. It was put together by a member of our Street Team, Sweet Lollipop Shop. (Yes, she actually makes yummy lollipops...that isn't just the name of her shop! Lol.)
April 16, 2008
Confidence
Last night's crit on my brochure layout went better than expected! I'm starting to feel a little confident about my design skills, and certainly more confident in my ability to learn quickly. We have only 3 major projects left and 4 weeks until the end of the semester. Yikes! After that's all done, the hubby and I are going on a weekend getaway for our first anniversary. So, at least I have something to look forward to at the end of my trials and tribulations!
In other good news, I made a sale yesterday! That was a pleasant surprise since sales are rare for me these days. I haven't had time to promote my shop or make any new items for a while, so it has been really stagnant. Lately, I've mostly used Etsy to buy from other artists and chat. My poor shop has sat there waiting for me to find time to pay attention to it. People seem to be liking my teeny little inexpensive drawings, though. Maybe I'll make some more this summer.
Other than that....when I can, I've been working on organizing my studio. Along with some little plastic tubs, I bought one of these from Target last week:
Note the signature "honeydew" color scheme? Yeah, I'm a sucker for that color. I saw a VW Bug on the road this morning in the same color and I was like, "Hmmm...." as my head filled with daydreams of driving around in one with Honeydew Studio stickers all over the back. I don't even particularly care about VW Bugs. I think it was just the color that nabbed me. Lol. Oh God.
Anyway, I want more bins, but all that our local Target had in stock was the one I bought. I even went back a few days ago, but alas - still out of stock. I'm thinking about buying more online. The only problem is that you must buy 2 at a time online, and it gets pricey with the shipping etc.
That's about all that's going on today. I hope it's as gorgeous outside in your neck of the woods as it is in mine!
April 14, 2008
The Actual Honeydew Studio
I practically live in my studio. It's where I paint, sew, and do my homework. It's where all my art supplies are stashed, as well as my favorite books. I would post pictures, but it's currently also a disaster area. (And anyway, the whole nation will get to see it on HGTV in the 500 series of That's Clever.)
It may be a mess, but it's mine. We moved into our place nearly 3 years ago, and it was the first time I'd ever had a room JUST for my artwork. In my studio's past incarnation, it was a little girl's bedroom. On our arrival it was covered in a too-sweet shade of lavender paint, complete with pink carpet. Then I took over. I slapped a can or two worth of Behr paint in a shade called "honeydew" and moved my stuff on in. (My shop and blog name aren't so mysterious anymore, huh? Lol.) You've never seen a more gorgeous paint color than when the morning sunlight brightens that room. I spend more time there than anywhere else in the house.
The only problem is that it's on the top floor. That's fine for most of the year, but when the humid New England summer finally hits it's unbearable. Especially since all I have are two skylights in the ceiling which aren't air-conditioner friendly OR that helpful with any sort of ventilation.
Last summer, I had 4 commissioned paintings to complete. Could I work comfortably on my drafting table? Of course not. I had to abandon my studio for a TV tray in the living room where at least we had an air conditioner. I've put fans up there; I bought a massive dehumidifier. I've even tried aiming an air conditioner up the stairs. To no avail. You feel like you're trying to fight your way out of scorching hot (damp) plastic wrap up there. It's a sauna. You're guaranteed to be sitting in a puddle of sweat after even so much as a 5 minute venture up those stairs.
In the last couple years, we seem to have gone straight from winter into summer with no real spring to speak of. I'm hoping that, this year, I'll actually have a break before summer kicks in. All I want is some studio time after my classes end and before it becomes impossible to work up there. That's not too much to ask, is it?
It's a love/hate thing. I adore my studio. I hate that it's sort of a seasonal room. What's your working space like?
It may be a mess, but it's mine. We moved into our place nearly 3 years ago, and it was the first time I'd ever had a room JUST for my artwork. In my studio's past incarnation, it was a little girl's bedroom. On our arrival it was covered in a too-sweet shade of lavender paint, complete with pink carpet. Then I took over. I slapped a can or two worth of Behr paint in a shade called "honeydew" and moved my stuff on in. (My shop and blog name aren't so mysterious anymore, huh? Lol.) You've never seen a more gorgeous paint color than when the morning sunlight brightens that room. I spend more time there than anywhere else in the house.
The only problem is that it's on the top floor. That's fine for most of the year, but when the humid New England summer finally hits it's unbearable. Especially since all I have are two skylights in the ceiling which aren't air-conditioner friendly OR that helpful with any sort of ventilation.
Last summer, I had 4 commissioned paintings to complete. Could I work comfortably on my drafting table? Of course not. I had to abandon my studio for a TV tray in the living room where at least we had an air conditioner. I've put fans up there; I bought a massive dehumidifier. I've even tried aiming an air conditioner up the stairs. To no avail. You feel like you're trying to fight your way out of scorching hot (damp) plastic wrap up there. It's a sauna. You're guaranteed to be sitting in a puddle of sweat after even so much as a 5 minute venture up those stairs.
In the last couple years, we seem to have gone straight from winter into summer with no real spring to speak of. I'm hoping that, this year, I'll actually have a break before summer kicks in. All I want is some studio time after my classes end and before it becomes impossible to work up there. That's not too much to ask, is it?
It's a love/hate thing. I adore my studio. I hate that it's sort of a seasonal room. What's your working space like?
March 19, 2008
Geeking it out in Typographyville
I had my typography class last night. It was a busy night, and we had a lot of ground to cover. The homework due included a type project, a paper, and mid-semester review of our big "journal" project. AKA - my infamous "artist business card project". It went over well, and everyone seemed impressed at how many cards I've received so far. (Thanks to all of you!)
I'm slowly starting to understand type design. Previously, I never really liked or cared about this sort of thing. I appreciated good design, but wasn't really interested in talking about it or doing it myself. Typography seemed like a foreign land to me. It's like if you were suddenly plunked down in Paris with no French language skills at all. Once you get a handle on the language (be it French or type), the world opens up and there you are on the street cheerily waving to people shouting, "Bonjour! Commant ca vas?" Or in my case, getting way too thrilled with receiving artist business cards in the mail and looking over all the different designs. You know what I mean?
I'm even excited for the next big project. We have to "brand" ourselves and create a type logo for letterhead, business cards, etc. We'll even get to use color. (We've been working in b&w all semester so far). I am psyched. I've been struggling to do this very thing for Honeydew Studio for more than a year.
I have a banner which was made for me by the lovely Ms. Jelene, but a banner is not necessarily a company identity. The last business cards I have were from YEARS ago and are really poorly designed, generic mass orders I made through an online printing shop (which will not be named). When trying to sell your artistic and design ability, these are maybe not the best things to hand out to people. Now I'm going to have my teacher as well as an entire class worth of critiquers to take a look at my design ideas for Honeydew. As far as I'm concerned, this is not merely a class project. For me, this is "real world" design for my shop and services - an area that where I've felt lost and lacking for a very long time. Now, I'll get getting loads of help at long last. (Hooray!!!)
Man, is this the first telltale sign that I'm geeking it out for graphic design? I guess you'll know of sure if I ever start getting excited over font.
I'm slowly starting to understand type design. Previously, I never really liked or cared about this sort of thing. I appreciated good design, but wasn't really interested in talking about it or doing it myself. Typography seemed like a foreign land to me. It's like if you were suddenly plunked down in Paris with no French language skills at all. Once you get a handle on the language (be it French or type), the world opens up and there you are on the street cheerily waving to people shouting, "Bonjour! Commant ca vas?" Or in my case, getting way too thrilled with receiving artist business cards in the mail and looking over all the different designs. You know what I mean?
I'm even excited for the next big project. We have to "brand" ourselves and create a type logo for letterhead, business cards, etc. We'll even get to use color. (We've been working in b&w all semester so far). I am psyched. I've been struggling to do this very thing for Honeydew Studio for more than a year.
I have a banner which was made for me by the lovely Ms. Jelene, but a banner is not necessarily a company identity. The last business cards I have were from YEARS ago and are really poorly designed, generic mass orders I made through an online printing shop (which will not be named). When trying to sell your artistic and design ability, these are maybe not the best things to hand out to people. Now I'm going to have my teacher as well as an entire class worth of critiquers to take a look at my design ideas for Honeydew. As far as I'm concerned, this is not merely a class project. For me, this is "real world" design for my shop and services - an area that where I've felt lost and lacking for a very long time. Now, I'll get getting loads of help at long last. (Hooray!!!)
Man, is this the first telltale sign that I'm geeking it out for graphic design? I guess you'll know of sure if I ever start getting excited over font.
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