The Open Studio started off slow as people trickled in, then a throng of people arrived all at once. There were quite a few small children in attendance and the atmosphere became boisterous! The whole thing was so much fun. Here are a few photos I took (last-minute, with my cell phone, sorry…) before everyone arrived.

Bedroom–I MUST make a new painting to hang in place of this one, which sold!

My husband’s office had all the seascapes.

Blazington followed me around while I was photographing and wanted to pose for this one:

Blazington’s room with some of the smaller pieces.

Even the bathroom had art on every wall:

This painting was raffled off to a winner at the end of the event. People had a lot of fun trying to buy the perfect number of raffle tickets to increase their odds, and we did a random drawing to determine the winner. She was so excited!

I prepared a spread of snacks and drinks for everyone:

Including sangria!

And all your typical art opening staples (grapes, cheese, crackers, veggies & dip, cookies.)

The studio was jam-packed with artwork! (Sorry for the poor lighting in these photos.)

I spent the following 4 days packing sold artwork as fast as I could. Thursday was shipping day, when 22 paintings were shipped off far and wide to their new owners. (Including one to a nice fellow in Sweden!) The remaining 15 paintings were claimed by local people, and most have picked theirs up now.

My handsome dog Blake wanted to pose in this one:

I was surprised at how emotional I got saying goodbye to some of that artwork–it was bittersweet taking one last look at each one before I closed it into its shipping box. I created these paintings, and have lived with them and loved them well. Now that so many are gone, my home and studio feel so bare! But that was my intent after all–out with the old, in with the new! And it makes me happy to think of all that art now being enjoyed by so many different people in different places.

There will be plenty more paintings, lovely, exciting, inspired ones, in the future. But I’ve been telling everyone that it may take me awhile. July 1st I’m officially going on “maternity leave” to await my new baby’s arrival, and I don’t plan to paint much for those first few months. I’ll get back into the swing of things work-wise once I figure out how on earth to be a mother to not one but TWO little ones. (Wish me luck!)

At the time of this blog post, 20 of them have already been claimed. So go check it out!

Click here!

In 2010, I (in no particular order):

Made 30 original oil paintings, 5 of them very large in scale

Exhibited and sold my art in galleries, and maintained my business contacts

Took part in group exhibits

Sold art directly from my studio

Kept up with my blog, more sporadically than I would have liked, but still

Added lots of people to my mailing list, gained lots of Twitter followers and Facebook fans

Gave my advice freely to help lots of other artists

Made lots of new friends, online and in person

Completely renovated and moved into a sweet new studio

Traveled to beautiful Arizona, sunny Miami, and my home away from home, Asheville, NC

Went camping in the wilderness

Read a lot of great books

Took full advantage of the bounty of local food during the growing season

Hosted and attended some fabulous parties

Grew a garden

Was a fantastic mother to my toddler son, who for the record is clean, fed, healthy, learning and thriving

Got into excellent physical shape through hiking, running, weight training, yoga, and P90X (even if I didn’t quite, ahem,”finish” it)

Said goodbye to my dear dog, my friend and companion, Clara, and celebrated her life

Bought a shiny Subaru Outback

Made my home beautiful and relatively clutter-free

2011, here I come.  Bring it on!

Happy New Year to all my readers near and far!

I was unfortunately out of town when the opening reception happened, but I stopped by to see the show on my own last week and thought I’d shares some photos of the large range of strong pieces there.  I found myself in good company!

This is an amazing gallery space–a few years back I worked there on contract as a gallery installer, hanging all the shows!

That big painting in the middle is mine.

Very long wall!

The opposite long wall.

Wonderful variety of artwork–something for everybody.

For anyone who wants to go see the exhibit in person, it will be up until August 13th.  The address of the gallery is: 8510 High Ridge Road Ellicott City, Maryland 21043, and gallery hours are M-F 10am-8pm, Sat 10am-4pm, Sun 12-4pm.

In other news, since my last post I’ve gone on a trip to Miami, FL to visit family and had a wonderful time–here are a couple of sunsets I witnessed:

And me and my son on the beach:

I also just celebrated my birthday with a party this past weekend, and had a great time playing board games and eating delicious things with friends!  Summer is hurtling along.  I have a green tree painting in progress on my easel–will update with the finished piece soon.

I’ve just spent many hours re-designing the gallery page of my website to more clearly represent my current focus.

Check it out!  ArtByCedar.com/gallery

I’ve got more updates to my site in mind, but it’s currently after 4 am, so I’m calling it a night.

Two of my favorite paintings have just sold, Fiery Sky and Awakening.  I am actually quite sad about this because I had priced them too low and I’ll never see them again.  Fiery Sky was my absolute favorite painting.  A few days after sending it to the gallery, and it’s gone.  But I know in my heart of hearts that I’d rather all my work be out in the world being seen and enjoyed by others.  Sending them out there makes room for the new work to come in.

Fiery Sky

Awakening

I’ll have a lot to do when I get back to painting full time.

Alright–maternity leaves officially starts………..NOW!

Being self-employed means I’ve got to give myself maternity leave if I want any.  So, I’ve talked to the owners of the 3 galleries that sell my paintings, and I’ve made a list of all the new art I need to make for them between now and October so they’ll all be well-stocked for several months after the birth of my baby.

I’m so glad to be able to make this flexible arrangement.  But I need to make a lot of paintings, and I need to get cracking now.  I’m afraid I’ll fall short, but I’m determined to keep my cool.  A motivating quote I came across today: “Feel the fear, and do it anyway.”

So next up on my list of art projects is to make a small Looking Up painting to replace one that just sold, followed by a large number of beautiful Lotus paintings, which everyone wants because they always sell out.  Stay tuned!

In other news, I have a couple of deliciously ripe mangoes calling from my kitchen, and today I’m going to make a mango lassi, a sweet and refreshing Indian treat made by blending the following in a blender:

• 1 cup yogurt
• 1 cup mango, cubed
• 1/4 cup water
• 2 tsp. sugar

Mmmm!

I’m also waiting for a sunny enough day to get good photographs of the finished paintings.  It has been raining constantly and dark outside all this past week.  The sun is supposed to come out for a bit tomorrow, so you can expect to see photos very soon!

I was telling a friend that out of the 17 paintings I’ve made for my Sunflower series in the past 10 months, all of them have sold, and that’s partly why I’m making 9 more.  It’s rare for 100% of a series to sell out so quickly like that.  So I’m excited that there’s a demand for them, because I really enjoy painting them.

At the same time I’m eager to paint some more trees. 

I haven’t worked on my garden all week because I’m not keen on getting covered in rain and mud.  I can’t wait for the sun to come out so I can get out there again.  Our grass seems to have grown a foot in the past 4 days, but it’s been too wet to mow.

Later this month two of my siblings will be visiting, and I’m waiting for that with great anticipation.

I’ve been making an effort to tweet on Twitter pretty consistently–I try to update at least once a day.  So if you’ve recently jumped on the Twitter bandwagon or have been there for awhile but haven’t connected with me yet: http://twitter.com/ArtByCedar

They are all oil on canvas, 30″ x 30″

Lotus X

Lotus XI

Lotus XII

This picture of me with Lotus XI shows the large scale of the artwork:

If you have a very large wall (8-9 feet of uninterrupted space) you can hang them all in a row, like this:

But these pieces are each visually striking on their own, and can be hung on any wall by themselves.

Today I received a Thai massage from a friend of mine who is a massage therapist.  Thai massage is different from the Swedish massage I’m used to.  She pulled my arms and legs into various gentle stretches, and even walked on my back!  It was just what I needed, and left me feeling relaxed and stress-free.  I highly recommend it!

All next week, I’ll be taking part in an online event for professional artists called the smARTist Telesummit.  It’s similar to any convention for professionals in a field, but instead of being held in a convention center, it’s held online.  A panel of experts will communicate with the artists via web-casts, very large conference calls, and downloadable documents and audio recordings.  The experts know things about art law & taxes, corporate art, social media,  entrepreneurial marketing, portfolio presentation, cultivating business relationships, etc.

I’ll probably learn some new things, and even if not, I’m sure to be inspired towards greater action, and to meet some interesting people!

Irvine Nature Center is the only private, non-profit nature center in the region, and has a reputation for providing impactful, high-quality environmental education programs for Baltimore-area schools and the public.  The Center has a museum, a nature store, and a walking trail.

From Irvine’s website: “It is only because of the generosity of many forward thinking and environmentally minded people that we are able to offer our programs at low to no cost to participating schools in the Baltimore region.”

If you would like to support this organization as well as me and my work, 20% of the proceeds of any artwork you purchase from the show this month will go towards Irvine Nature Center and all the good things they are doing.

I am the first artist to display my work in their brand new facility in Owings Mills, MD.  The official opening of the new facility is this weekend, and all are invited to attend.  If you live in the area, go check it out!

WEEKEND FESTIVAL
Saturday, September 13
10 am – 4 pm
Sunday, September 14
noon – 4 pm
On Saturday and Sunday, bring the whole family for two days of free festivities and fun. Experience our new interactive exhibit hall; catch a puppet show; try your hand at traditional Native American games; meet our resident animals; take a guided nature walk; or head over to the main stage to sing and dance with award-winning musical acts. And don’t forget the food! Local and organic treats will abound, prepared by vendors who respect Irvine’s zero-waste goals. With so much more to explore, why would you ever want to leave?
Free and open to the public!

Irvine Nature Center is located at: 11201 Garrison Forest Road, Owings Mills, MD  21117

Other news:

My dog Clara is doing much better!  Thank you so much for all of your caring and compassionate letters when she was so sick.  Click here to read an update on her health.

I am happy to report that Clara has also gotten a new baby brother.  He is 8 weeks old, half lab and half springer spaniel.  His name is Blake Fanghoff and his antics are hilarious.

This past week has been spent chasing this little guy around, making sure he doesn’t eat houseplants or tubes of paint, and working on potty-training, which involves taking him outside at all hours of the day and night until he’s big enough to hold it for longer.  It is an exercise in patience and devotion.  The repetitious, often frustrating task of raising a puppy is so rewarding in the long run.  Every day I am a little bit more enamored of him (which is saying a lot, since for me, it was love at first sight the day we adopted him.)

My life is so good lately.

Many of my paintings have sold this summer–both to new and repeat collectors.  I am so grateful for this steady income that has been allowing me to pay the bills and to continue making my art.  My work is selling in galleries.  People are finding my website.  People are asking about commissions.  Sometimes I can’t believe that I am really making this happen–my “art career.”  But I’m doing it!

All this and I’ve hardly been in the studio since mid-July.  There have been many adventures.

I attended Sugar Hill 2008, my first contra dance weekend, with one of my oldest friends and also lots of new friends, all of whom are thoroughly charming.  The whole thing was marvelous beyond all expectations.  It included canoeing and swimming all day, delicious food, and dancing all night–literally all night.  I danced till 4:30 am.

I went to Cincinnati and visited several art galleries.  There’s one that I really like there, and my art would totally fit in, but I can’t even think about taking on another gallery until I make enough new art to keep up with the galleries that already represent me.  But it’s a good possibility to keep in mind for the future.

Then, I went white water rafting in the New River Gorge, which I did last year and just had to do again.  This time we opted for the “High Adventure” option, and I fell out of the raft several times, which was very exciting.  We even capsized completely, twice.  (Only once on purpose.)

I’ve ordered my copy of my 2009 Calendar, and I can’t wait to see it.  A friend of mine wants to sell them in the pet supply store where he works!

And, I have several new paintings done that you’ll see as soon as they’re photographed.  And, I’m working on building several large canvases–the plans for several spectacular large paintings are currently percolating in my mind.

I painted the sun and moon in such a way that they could be allegorical characters, so looking at their interaction may conjure thoughts of epic myths and creation stories.  The swirling colors bring to mind the incredible photos of galaxies and nebulae taken from satellites in outer space.  Whatever you may take from it, it is an inspiring image.

Because this painting implies the enormity of the cosmos, and is full of dynamic motion, it is titled “Cosmic Dance.”

Acrylic 36″ x 42″

What it looks like in a room:

Details:

The psychedelic qualities of this painting made me recall a poem I wrote when I was 16, called “Psycho Sunrise.” Despite its obviously being written by a 16-year-old, its descriptions are vivid.  Click here to read it.

In other news, my painting “October Hawks” is currently on display at the HoCo Open 2008 show at the Howard County Center for the Arts.  The reception for the show is from 6-8 pm on July 22.  Unfortunately, I’ll be out of town on that day, so I won’t be there.  But if you live in the area, stop by and check it out–the show includes 100 pieces of art done by local artists.  (And, by the way, as the gallery installer for the Arts Center, I am the person who hung all 100 paintings.)

The exhibit will be up until August 17th.  The address: 8510 High Ridge Road, Ellicott City, MD 21043

The next month and a half are going to be crazy for me.  My husband and I, between the two of us, have six trips planned this summer.  The shenanigans include two family reunions, house-sitting in NC, visiting friends and scouting out galleries in Ohio, contra dancing in Indiana, and white water rafting in West Virginia.  Kevan will also be going on a road trip with his cousins.

So if I appear to drop off the face of the earth for a little while, that’s why.