Where I've Been...

Please excuse my absence since the new year...I've done some traveling, spent some time in New York City and now have grand plans developing to move from the sunny Central Coast of California a little north to San Francisco.


In the mean time I've been packing in obsessive fashion to store my studio and finished artwork until I'm more settled and can continue to create.

I have started adding my original images to a store on zazzle to offer some products featuring my artwork allowing you to keep my paintings with you everywhere you go. Check out the fun iPhone & iPad cases, mouse pads and other adornments. I'll be adding more images regularly but if you have a favorite painting of mine you would like to see on an iPhone case or any other product offered please let me know.

In addition, look forward to the re-opening of both my Etsy shops, SarahJohnAfana and schemata with limited inventory in the interim.

The Sketchbook Project

Art House Co-op has become an intriguing place to find creative inspiration and an exciting variety of artists work to browse. I’m joining in the fun with their latest BIG event The Sketchbook Project~Tour 2011.

It’s pretty simple…sign up, pick a theme, when your sketchbook arrives~FILL IT UP and send it back. All the sketchbooks collected will go on tour across the United States in 2011 for anyone to see and when the tour is over they will be on permanent view at the Brooklyn Art Library.

Probably not surprising to some who know me but my theme of choice for my sketchbook is “Make Mine a Double” so come back again when I have some drawings to share from the pages of my book (and I’m sure a few recipes for tasty concoctions).

  Bloody Mary’s at Legends of San Francisco at SFO
(What do you do while waiting for your flight to Vegas?)

Revolution

I have been morphing some techniques I learned from drafting kaleidoscope quilt blocks into new collage paintings. Revolution is my first completed collage incorporating the pattern.

Spinning stars whirling and whooshing creating confusion in the air.

Revolution is an original acrylic collage painting on heavyweight rag board. Many layers of paint have been included in this creation along with altered paper (recycled, marbleized magazine pages) as well as metallic silver ink details. It is 11 x 14 inches (27.94 x 35.56 cm) and has been finished with two coats of protective varnish. It is signed on the front; signed, dated and titled on the back.

Tweak your Traditions

I am a self admitted holiday fanatic and celebrating Christmas in July would be perfectly fun for me. I could go with a more tropical approach to the usual holiday traditions. Find a sturdy palm tree to decorate with bright colored twinkle lights and all the fun surfing Santa’s and pink flamingo ornaments I have collected. Host an evening summer feast on the porch with fresh fruit salads and tantalizing pineapple infused cocktails. Instead of carols by the piano, we’ll have Mr. with his acoustic guitar at sunset. A surfer girl can dream…

My early Christmas dreaming is the result of preparing for the busy holiday season by creating new hand painted glass ornaments. I am looking ahead with many new glass cubes to add to schemata. Since each ornament takes about a week to complete with all the layers and drying time between I tend to work in multiples. Below is a glimpse at the steps an ornament goes through until completion.

 
My Christmas in July gift to you…free shipping in the U.S. and $5.00 shipping everywhere else with the purchase of 2 or more items available in schemata.

 
Only 161 days until Christmas…

Take Your Camera EVERYWHERE

When it comes to being a "techie" I will admit to knowing more than most of the people I'm around but considerably less than a lot of other people. I'm utterly devoted to my Nikon cameras and head over heels with my Olympus waterproof camera for taking into the waves with me, but the camera that goes EVERYWHERE with me is my iPhone 3G. I couldn't be more excited about today's release of Apples most recent makeover for the iPhone with its most talked about updates centering on the camera upgrades. Included in the new iPhone 4 are a front facing camera for self-portraits and video chat (FaceTime), a 5-megapixel camera with an LED flash and 5X zoom as well as HD video recording.

...anyway, I thought you might like a demonstration of one of the photo editing apps I currently use on my iPhone photos, FX Photo Studio. With a simple snapshot I can manipulate with filters and effects to achieve a more artistic image, even before the fancy camera upgrades available on the new model.

Original iPhone Photograph

  …to see more of photographs taken with my iPhone check out my Flickr Set.

Painting Day

Every now and then I host a painting day with some friends, inviting them to explore and experiment. Recently we got together and went back through some basics in creating light and shadow as well as some color and composition studies.

We started with some "warm-up" paintings which in theory are supposed to be quick and expressive exercises to get you loose and feeling free with the paint. For us though, we were focused on having something we would want to keep when we were done and our "warm-up" exercise lasted a little over an hour.

 

After a while we moved on to slightly larger paintings with more abstract expression and intense color palettes.

Here are some of my results…

Jaunt-acrylic on paper, 10x11 inches or 25.4x27.94 cm 

 
Culture-acrylic paint and silver metallic ink on paper, 10x11 inches or 25.4x27.94 cm

Patina-acrylic paint and silver metallic ink on paper, 10x11 inches or 25.4x27.94 cm

Suspension Series

Bubbles form and begin to rise as they float or flow within a fluid they travel along changing shapes while separating or merging. If you could stop that flow and capture a split second to see them suspended it would be an image like no other. From this image my "Suspension" paintings have emerged through the application of isopropyl alcohol throughout the process I can create a one or a kind pattern.

Nucleation is a culmination of layers to create the many bubbles for which are cornerstones in the series.

Nucleation-Acrylic Paint and Silver Metallic Ink
on 1 ½ inch deep, gallery wrapped canvas 16 x 20 inches (40.64 x 50.8 cm)

Artists’ Tools Aren't Just Brushes

Artist Extraordinaire Ali Herrmann recently had some questions about how I came to be an artist and the ways I market my art. As I reflected on how I got I started I realized many of my opportunities to succeed have come from connections with friends and family. While I don't consider myself a "joiner", networking and maintaining a supportive entourage has created a basis for success I could not have accomplished alone. A BIG thank you going out to all who have helped...you know who you are.

Click over to Ali's blog to read the interview.

Alter Your World

Many of my abstract works incorporate collage techniques including layering altered papers. “Altered papers”? You may ask-what are those? For me, most often I am referring to repurposing pages from magazines that have been marbleized to create new designs from their printed inks that I then glaze onto the surface of my art-specifically, pages from National Geographic. The specific ink used for the amazing periodical are clay based which when mixed with a generous amount of the all-natural, all-purpose cleaner Citra Solv dissolve and swirl creating remarkable abstract patterns.

From Below-
original acrylic collage painting
on heavyweight rag board,
11 x 11 inches (27.94 x 27.94 cm).

Caught in the Net-
original acrylic collage painting
on heavyweight rag board,
11 x 11 inches (27.94 x 27.94 cm).

Watchful-Step by Step

A glance at the making of Watchful…

Watchful-acrylic on paper, 20 x 20 inches (50.8 x 50.8 cm)

More About Me and My World

I joined Etsy Team Treasury this last summer and they invited me to be the featured member for the month of September. I enjoyed getting to share some fun stuff from my home and the team has been a great supportive group of my artwork. Take a look at the interview then explore some of the other members shops, there is one representing almost every category on Etsy.

iStudio

I was recently invited to be in an open studio project by Mod3rnArt.
You can see my work space along with many other hard working artists and crafts people. The gallery of photos shows some of the creative set ups and tools we use to make the masterpieces of our collections. Go take a look and discover some of the talent that has been gathered together.

A Peek Into My Studio

I am currently working on a commission for four landscape paintings, one 24 x 36" gallery-wrapped canvas and a group of three 12 x 12" gallery-wrapped canvases. The buyers were interested in some of my work but needed paintings in different sizes for their home-of course I am happy to oblige. Below is a look at the work in progress. I prefer to work on multiple projects at once, I find it keeps a series cohesive and allows more experimentation. This is just a glimpse at the trio still in progress while the larger canvas is pretty near complete.

A Peek Into My Studio

I spent my available hours this weekend painting.
I was able to start several landscapes, with a few almost finished. I just wanted to share them as a group in their varied states. There will be better photos and finished paintings listed this week on Etsy.