The Physics of Snow

It's finals week at the school where I am an arts instructor. We do not have any exams in the arts, but are assigned to proctor other exams. I'm watching students take an Advanced Physics exam while a heavy snow falls outside the window. After today I'm done and can turn my attention to filling holiday orders and even putting some new work in my shop. It's amazing how time has flew since I opened my Etsy shop in July.

It's also amazing how tolerant my wife has been about the transformation of our kitchen into my studio. The island is now my work area and I've drilled many screws in the walls to hang pieces to dry. My previous work area was an unheated sunroom away from my computer and sketching area. It's nice to have everything in one place with easy access to the coffeemaker when my midnight stopping time ends up being 4am. I'm looking forward to creating some winter pieces and then focusing less on the seasonal work and making some of the illustrations that have now filled several sketchbooks.

December

Ugh! This blog has gotten away from me. I've been extremely busy as of late, which is great. I had a great November with my artwork on Etsy and looking forward to a busy December. I've basically hit a ceiling on the amount of work I can produce while still maintaining a day job. I had a couple of nights before Thanksgiving when I was up past 4AM. I used to be able to do that every night when I was in college. I'm not even 30 and it's painful now. The several days I was away from the studio for Thanksgiving put me further behind and has left me wishing I would have spent Thanksgiving at home. My wife and I had planned to travel over the holidays and how we're wondering if we'll be able to. I'm very glad to be busy with my work, but discouraged that I've had so little time to create new pieces. It makes me wish I had worked faster in the summer. I want to have my cake and eat it too. This is our final week of classes at the school where I teach. Looking forward to the long winter break we have an hoping to get ahead!

Hello Blog

I've been away for awhile. Not on vacation or anything like that--my studio has been so busy I almost forgot I even had a blog! October was an extremely busy month, thanks to, ironically, people who actually maintain their blogs. The more blogs that featured my work, the more people I had visiting my website and Etsy page, which, in turn, would include other bloggers who would include me on their blogs. It's interesting to see how the blogosphere is playing such an important role in helping independent artists get their work out into the world. I enjoy interacting with buyers, and not having a middleman allows me to keep my work affordable. That said, I think the galleries/stores are great to give people a chance to see the work in-person--I think that experience is important and I'm glad to support it.

Fire & Ice

Finally (almost) finished my leaf peeper print and hope to have it framed up before all the leaves are gone! Actually, it needs a few small tweaks and then it will be ready. If it were actually ready I'd have it as the photo above. Instead, due to the chilly weather, I posted my Constellations print.

I had a local fire department contact me Friday about shooting a bunch of portraits and group shots. Then tonight, I had a person contact me today about buying several of my fine art photographs. I almost forgot that I used to be a "photographer", if only because t I made photographs frequently. I've been focused on drawing since early in the summer and making and selling graphic art and illustrations has kept me busy. Would love to get back into making photographs on a regular basis.

That said, I have several drawings I'm excited about finishing up and it's my goal to have a series of kid's room/baby nursery illustrations ready for the holidays.

I had hoped to have some prints available in Stowe, but the gallery I was working with was not a great deal for me. Especially since my framed work is custom framed in Vermont using frames handmade by my father-in-law, I can't see giving 50% to a gallery right off the top. I love Etsy and using the internet and blogs to sell work. It allows me to keep my work affordable, and I like that I actually get to interact with those buying (or looking at) my work (if only via email). Did I mention my Etsy site? http://www.nativevermont.etsy.com.

Autumn, Front & Center

I was pleasantly surprised to see my Barnacle Whale illustration on the front page of Etsy this morning. It has sent a lot of visitors my way and I've received some nice messages from the Etsy community. Had a special request for a yellow dog version of my black dog swim, so you'll see the new version in my Etsy store soon. I think they'll look great as a pair.

It is getting chilly here and anyone who was in denial about summer being over must finally accept it! I love autumn, although I was hoping to get one more found of golf in before winter!

It looks like I may finally be able to finish up some autumn illustrations and make them available by next weekend. I've said it before, but I do miss having the entire summer off to work all day and have no other responsibilities to worry about!

Getting lots of requests for customized work as I write this. I better get to work!

Shipping Off

Just finished packaging up some prints. Got some news tonight that someone had purchased the old Frog Hollow building in Middlebury, Vermont. I'm going to go to sleep tonight dreaming about moving to Middlebury full-time, running a gallery/store, making work in a back studio, and having my wife teach and make her ceramic work in the basement studios. Goodnight...

Sleeptying

My ten year high school reunion was canceled today. It seems like with Facebook, etc., you pretty much know everything you need to know about everyone you went to high school with, whether you were friends with the people or not. I know for me it was not worth the time and expense to travel back to Ohio for a weekend of seeing people I'm already tired of seeing on Facebook! Have social-networking sites made reunions obsolete?

Plus, I'm too busy drawing owls and moose and lumberjacks! You know you're busy when the week and the weekend blurs together and you've forgotten what month it is. You also know when you're not sleeping much and you get sick and stay sick for awhile. I'm finally starting to feel better, although it's 1:42 and I should be sleeping. I miss the summer when I could get up and draw all day, everyday.

I finished this owl platter tonight that I've been trying to get done for awhile. I think it's really fun. I'm going to post it on Etsy as soon as I get a good shot of it. This weekend is do-or-die for my autumn-themed work. If I don't do it now I'll totally miss the season!

I'm really looking forward to after the holidays when I can focus on some non-seasonal designs, specifically some baby nursery/children's room designs I've been sketching. I'll take a hiatus on the lumberjacks and owls and replace them with elephants, walruses, and penguins.

Tree House

Nice message I received through Etsy today about my Keewaydin print from someone browsing my shop: http://www.nativevermont.etsy.com.
- - - -
Okay, this is funny.
I randomly clicked on your whale print off the front page and stumbled upon this.
Last weekend my family spent our 16th year at Keewaydin for our family reunion.
We've been able to use the camp because Abbott Fenn is my cousin.
It was bitter sweet because this was our last year there and i've spent a good chunk of my life visiting with family there. It was such a nice surprise to click through your work and see this. It made my day.

brie
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Seems as though my lack of sleep has caught up with me and I'm a bit under the weather with sinus-congestion-headache-thingy. I'm trying to make the most of my weekends now that we're back to school, but it seems like Saturday and Sunday fly by and I accomplish a fraction of what I planned. Nevertheless, I was able to fill most of my orders and I'm hoping to get ahead this week so that I can draw some new pieces next weekend.

I bought some really nice paper today, but I'm trying to forget that it is really nice. There's something about crisp, clean, expensive paper that makes me very cautious about drawing, which is counter-productive when you buy paper for drawing. As I leafed through the paper at the store I fantasized about having this tall, tree house-like studio in Vermont where I would sit up on the top floor and draw all day. The studio would be full of really nice paper and I would not be afraid to draw all over it.

Eye Strain

It has been difficult to find time to finish some new work. My in-laws are headed our way this weekend and I was hoping to send them home with lots of prints and pieces, but I've been waiting for supplies and have not had a chance to do anything. I'm customizing some Black Dog Canoe Co. pieces for some different lakes in Vermont and New York. Should have some old but "new" work up on Etsy in a couple of days.

One Down

Very busy, exhausting first week of school. I got very little artwork done during the week. Looking forward to getting up early Saturday, having some coffee, and spending the entire day drawing and working on some in-progress illustrations. I have a lot of prints that need to get shipped to Vermont, so hopefully I'll have everything ready by Monday. I have a couple new lumberjacks I'm looking forward to finishing up--especially their beards.

Hours

First day of the new school year today. I have a new role this year as department chair, which means I have fewer classes, but it seems like I have more work and less time than before. After finishing up some school work I was able to spend some time packaging prints and panels to ship to buyers. I'm trying to get a dozen pieces shipped up to Stowe, Vermont to the Stowe Craft Gallery next week. Looking forward to the weekend and hope to find some time to work on some new drawings for autumn.

New Print

Posted a new Lumberjack print on my Etsy page. http://www.nativevermont.etsy.com

Back to Skool

Today was the first day of faculty meetings at Lake Forest Academy, the boarding school where I teach visual arts in northern Chicago, Illinois.

Things are getting very busy and I'm hoping I'll have some time to work on drawings and panel work once school jumps into full gear. It has been strange to be back at my "job" and doing other things as I pretty much worked on artwork most of the day everyday from July through August. I got a lot of artwork done this summer -- maybe 25 finished images. I still have a few dozen images in process, and another few dozen ideas sketched and maybe even more just in my head. I remember when I started it was difficult to get things the way I wanted, but after sitting 6-8 hours at a time and just working it was as if I was going through conditioning! I was able to draw the way I wanted and actually became more creative the more I worked. It makes sense, but I have never in the past devoted so much time to working on drawings like this. There is something to be said for a having a studio and a place where you only do your work and you are free from distractions. Of course, it's also nice to see your work as it progresses, which encourages you to keep working.

My goal is to not get bogged-down this year with "job" things and try to make time at the very least on my weekends to keep drawing--and finishing some of these pieces in my head.

Iowa On My Mind

Had a great weekend in Bettendorf, Iowa at a fundraiser for my nephew. Played some really terrible golf, but it was for a good cause! On our way out of town today we stopped at a couple of home decor stores in Le Claire, IA. One really cool store was POSH HOME. http://www.poshhomeleclaire.com/

They had really nice stuff and a great setup. My brother and I spoke with the store manager about carrying some of our pieces and she was very enthusiastic, so we'll need to start thinking about some Iowa-themed pieces ASAP. Rolling hills, farmers, scarecrows, the Mississippi river, and horses are just a few things that came to mind instantly. I'm back to school in less than two weeks and I have a thousand drawings I want to make!

Sent a huge shipment of items off to Middlebury, Vermont last week. Hoping everything arrives safe and sound! Tomorrow we're hoping to get the website polished up and get some new work online....then maybe spend some time drawing some new stuff. I finally got a banner finished for my Etsy page, so we're making some progress!

Long day, but I got a lot of work done. I'm headed to Iowa on Friday for a golf outing supporting my nephew Jack who has Hunter's Syndrome also known as MPS. (http://www.heresjack.com). I'm hoping to get some pieces out to stores before the weekend. Looking forward to seeing Jack and the rest of the family in Iowa.

August 1st. Hard to believe the summer is almost over. I've been working on lumberjacks and polar bears and trying to get into the winter mindset creatively. I need to get outside tomorrow and enjoy the weather before it's actually winter!

New Paper, New Pieces, New Ideas

Getting ready to ship some work off to Bella Donna, a shop that sells my stuff in Middlebury, Vermont. Just bought some nice water color paper and bristol board and I have a few dozen sketches that I'm looking forward to making into finished drawings. I've been producing a lot of digitally colored pieces for print, but these drawings will be made available as original drawings colored with watercolor or just pen and/or graphite. I'm also working on some images that my wife and I will be firing onto ceramic bowls, cups, etc. I'll get some pics up once something is in a near finished stage.

Drove from Vermont to Ohio and then onto our house in Illinois. Came home to find that the school (we live on the campus of a boarding school) had dug a large hole in front of our door and we could not access the house for 6-8 days. Nice surprise. Luckily, my wife has an aunt in Mt. Horeb, Wisconsin, about 20 minutes east of Madison. We spent the weekend with her and had a great time. She has been an art teacher at a public school for many years, so we spent many hours talking about the joys and pains of arts education. So many differences between public and private education. I've seen both sides of it as a student in a public school and now as an instructor at a private school. Anyway, it was great to spend some time in Madison--I had never been! Saturday there was a lot going on downtown; folk singers in the square, a healthcare rally at the capital, and we found a great art supply store and had some great beer at Great Dane Brewery. Glad to be back in my house this evening. I got my computer set up and unpacked all of my drawings and sketchpads from Vermont. Hard to believe "summer" is nearly over. I'm going to try to be very, very busy over the next two weeks and get as much done as possible before school begins!

Vermont

I've been working in the studio in Vermont for the past several weeks sketching some new pieces. Days at the lake and walks in the forest have been great for developing ideas and inspiring some drawings. I'm really excited about the work I've made -- I'm looking forward to getting some new pieces produced!