Twitter!

I joined Twitter today, after seeing it in a presentation that my coworker / semi-supervisor did. He referred to it as micro-blogging, and it seems quite interesting. I had heard about it before, and seen it on others blogs, but I never got around to actually joining. So I finally did! And there it is on the right side ( -->). To all my stalkers: now you have a more efficient way of tracking me lol.

On another note, I know this has been done for awhile, but it's moreso has been in the process. I have updated my website - with, what I feel, is a more appropriate design in terms of representing my work. It's also easier for me to update, but that's not exactly a concern for my lovely readers hehe.

BUT, the major reason for the redesign is - gasp! I got a small contract with a publishing company! Two of my designs will be made onto cards and available in Spring 2009. It's so exciting and the process has already started. Anywho, my website will be on the back of them, so I wanted to "spruce" it up a bit. I'll let everyone know more about the publishing bit as it gets closer!

So here's a screen shot and link!

www.artbyangie.ca

Commisson

I finished this commission this week, and I thought I'd share it! I really like how the trunk turned out with the names :)

New Paintings!

I've been busy between commissions with some new paintings! :)


"Poppies 2" - watercolor on 9 x 12" 140 lb watercolor paper. I loved my poppies painting so much, that I wanted to make some more to go with it, since it seemed somewhat out of place in my store. I'm thinking about creating at least one more, but we'll see. I have so many ideas all the time, that another idea might go over it.





"Red Wheat Hill" - 10 x 10" acrylic on stretched canvas. I really like how this one turned out. Those reading previous posts, I'm trying to "discover" myself in acrylics and this painting is definitely part of the journey. Right now, the crops are turning and coming due to harvest. Growing up on a farm, I love seeing it all happen.

It's available in my artbyangie shop on Etsy. The colours on this piece are so vibrant, pictures definitely don't do it justice. And, like all my canvas pieces, I painted the sides black so there is no need to buy a frame!

Jellybeans is Moving!

I'm moving! I'm currently in London, Ontario - and I'll be moving to Sudbury, Ontario to continue my education at Cambrian college. The "big" move will be on the 24th.

That's my trip there - in a nutshell - mapquest says that it'll take almost 8 hours - but with holiday traffic, I'm expecting it to take a little longer. I'll be stopping in Verner for a day or so - with my parents, just after North Bay - and then continuing on.

I'm not sure if Oreo quite knows what's going on - he's just enjoying playing with the boxes right now. It will be a hard week for him. He travels fairly well - no throwing up or anything; he just meows (bawls) alot.

I'll still be shipping this whole time. Responses to conversations may be delayed, but shipping will not :)

Etsy Love: Back to School - Notebook Edition

There's been a lot of back to school buzz everywhere, and I can barely even start to think of where the summer went! I'm starting at a new college this fall too - so it's the 'ultimate' back-to-school experience! So, I thought, I wanted to share some awesome back to school finds in a cute little series - today's is notebooks!

Katalina at Etsy has a nice selection of notebooks for class. Being standard size, 8.5 x 11", her notebooks would make a wonderful companion in any class. She offers a variety of hand bound notebooks in her shop! She also has a sale going on in her shop! If you buy two notebooks, you get the third for free (more details can be found in her shop)

Shoofly is a another Etsy artist offering a wide selection of journals on Etsy. She offers moleskin journals of various sizes, all of which are decorated with a gocco printing (like a small silkscreen) - making each one original and slightly unique in its own way. Shoofly's large journals are perfect for class; and her smaller ones are great for keeping lists, jotting down ideas and notes, doodling and using as an organizer. Her journals are available with lined pages, blank pages and even graph / gridded pages! Using moleskins myself for jotting down ideas, they're lovely to use and a great gift!

Jengsshop has a wide selection of small blank notebooks - perfect for random doodles, notes and using as a personal organizer. Her colourful journal covers are all personally designed by herself, and the journals are saddle stitched together. The pages in her journals are 100% recycled and her covers are made with paper containing 30% post-consumer content, making these a very economical choice.

If you're looking for that old-school, retro look to your supplies, theScenicRoute at Etsy is the way to go! There unique notebooks are 100% recycled down to the cover - being recycled from an old box, book or game. Inside pages are blank or lined. They also take custom requests, so I'm sure you could request a lined book of a certain design if you truly wanted one!

The Group of Seven

I was wondering the book store today, and I saw a Group of Seven art book. They were such a wonderful bunch of artists, and very inspiring - they captured the landscape of Canada in a beautiful way.

I really want to get one of their collection books - but I want a good one, with a lot; if not all, of their paintings in it. They're also pricey books too, and since I'm saving for school, I unfortunately cannot splurge on myself. I might go visit a used bookstore when I have some free time and go looking; or maybe hint it to Santa, since he (she) always has a hard time looking for stuff for me.

You can find lots of information and paintings from the Group of Seven at: http://www.groupofsevenart.com/ and http://www.mcmichael.com/collection/seven/carmichael.cfm

A book that i did pick up today though, was a watercolor book - [watercolor] a to z. I love instruction books! They're always filled with new ideas, hints and techniques; as well as tons of paintings to get inspired by. Instruction books help me out a lot too, since I have no real formal instruction - so it's my way to try and attempt to grow and develop as an artist. I'm excited to sit down with it this weekend.

Socks Ahoy!

Most of the skills I have learned have been from going out on random whims. Random being, seeing it for 5 seconds and wanting to do it. Knitting and crochet were learnt side by side one fine final exam period. Cross stitch was learnt just this past month. I learnt how to make bread and fresh pasta early this year; and I'm constantly learning and dabbling with new art mediums with my painting. I learnt how to make sushi. I even learnt how to make a fondant cake after watching the ever wonderful Ace of Cakes on the Food network.

And so, my now my next tackle is to knit a pair of socks! I'm not sure how well it will go over, but I decided that in order to do it right, I should make sure I have everything right in the beginning. So, I decided to get a sock knitting kit from Etsy! Isn't it a pretty green colour?

I had put in an Alchemy request, and the lovely mainwoodsyarn replied, telling me about her lovely kits! It has everything I need to start, and it's nice to know that there's a person on the other side of it in case I run into snags along the way. (Especially since I don't know anyone who knits socks who could help me....well, I think James' mother might know, she dabbles in yarn a lot).

I can't wait to get this kit and get started...I almost wish I went to a store, so I had it right away...but then everything might not work perfectly together...this way is does!