vibrant, bohemian, and intricate art
Hey gang. You are awesome. You deserve free stuff. i’ve got some free stuff.
Make a comment on this post telling me your favorite lullaby or sleepy, dreamy song to sing to your kiddos at bedtime. Random number generator will choose a winner on friday morning who will receive these 2 free little prints.
xo, s
UPDATE: Random Number Generator chose comment #8 as our winner. Heather, i’ve emailed you for your mailing address. Congrats!!!
i made this little watercolor painting today. i just love this little song. i think it is the most nostalgic lilting tune and sleepy lyric ever. How can you not feel hopeful singing or hearing words like this;
“Say nighty-night and kiss me
Just hold me tight and tell me you’ll miss me
While I’m alone and blue as can be
Dream a little dream of me………
Sweet dreams till sunbeams find you
Sweet dreams that leave all worries behind you
But in your dreams whatever they be
Dream a little dream of me”
Many singers have recorded it, but my favorite, simple and beautiful version by The Mamas & The Papas can be heard here.
“Dream a Little Dream of Me” is a song, from c.1931, with music by Fabian Andre and Wilbur Schwandt[1] and lyrics by Gus Kahn
Today i was a jumble of nerves. And i felt that lump in my throat i knew was absolutely my actual living, beating heart. And i worried. And i looked over my shoulder.
This dude.
Three years old and attended his first day of preschool. sigh*
i haven’t painted in a while. Life has been busy with other things. But today i just felt this need to get all my emotions out in paint.
i named this one Bursting Heart.
It just spilled out of me and flowed onto the canvas in one short sitting. A piece of my heart is not going to be with me all day everyday now. i’m so excited for him!! But i will miss him too.
Good luck. Be kind. And have fun my sweet Grey! i love you!
Last fall i took a course called Make Art That Sells via the Lilla Rogers Studio. It seemed like a fresh start, and a great segway for me since October was my first month pursuing my art business full time. (If you don’t follow the blog, i parted ways with all of my wonderful graphic design clients and decided to take the plunge into solely focusing only on selling/licensing my artwork – agh!)
Anyway, i had read someone post about this course online. It promised to help artists get into the right mindset and learn necessary protocols for getting their art out into the world and in front of manufacturers. i met so many beautiful people during the course! It has been an incredible gift to be able to connect with so many people in my field. i don’t have a ton of artist friends locally – so developing this network of others doing exactly what i am from all across the world has been a turning point. That alone was worth the cost of admission.
Anyway, the folks at Lilla Rogers also hold an annual design contest (GTS) to choose their next artist to sign/represent. Many of my new friends signed up, and despite the hives i get when anyone mentions the word “competition,” i decided to join in, if only just for the comradery and fun. We were given a terrarium theme and asked to make a wall art piece to submit.
This is not the piece i submitted. : )
See, my biggest challenge as an artist is to reconcile the fact that i have a few very different styles.
i’ve tried to choose just one and run with it. It hasn’t worked. The piece shown here is more the style of my personal work vs. my commercial work. It’s what i might hang in my home, but not what i want to pursue professionally when it comes to selling my work. Not that i wouldn’t license work in this style….but it’s not my focus.
For licensing and product, i really want to work in the children’s market…..books, kits, toys, decor. i LOVE creating for kids, teaching kids, being inspired by kids.
Kids are my jam.
The piece here shows my love for messy ink sketching, and drippy, tonal, texturey watercolor. It is also my philosophy.
Yep. i feel it everyday as i try to grow my little art business. It is so much more than painting pretty, flitty pictures. It’s a lot of work in figuring out exactly who you are and what you want to put out into the world. Then digging in to sleuth out the ways to make it happen.
Worth it, for sure.
i will share my official children’s market submission with you next week once the competition gallery goes live. But for now, you can pick up my “personal” lil baby piece in my etsy shop. Or, if you want a larger or framed, or stretched canvas piece, you can grab one in my Society6 shop.
Thanks guys!
xo, s
No matter how many years pass or how many painting and sketching styles i try out along the way, i think i will always continue to do plain old pencil portraits. i love them so. These cutie patootie sisters were too precious not to share.
Drop me a line if you’d like to give a portrait gift for a holiday or special occasion. i’ve done quite a few for fellas looking to make their kiddos’ mama cry that happy, mushy cry.
Sometimes being an artist is deadlines and measurements, and technical files and clerical work. Sometimes it is execution of orders and commissioned paintings with specific parameters and color schemes. It’s ok. Every job has boring-but-necessary parts, enjoyable parts…and then stinkin AWESOME parts. i got to make a painting (above- Sparkling Water) purely for my own self expression recently and it was pretty stinkin awesome.
i let myself evolve a little, without being afraid that i’d lose my audience. Because we all evolve. It’s fun. i love change. But when you build your brand on a certain look, a bit of fear creeps in that you need to stay the course and give the people what they want. That doesn’t leave a lot of room for evolution.
But i posted the new art on facebook, as i am apt to do….and people didn’t UNLIKE me. Whaddya know? Lots of folks really liked this it even though it is something new and different. Phew.
i’ve been feeling a real bug to explore muted color and transparent color and mixing of watercolors and acrylics a lot lately. i’ve also been messing with portraits like you wouldn’t believe. (i will share soon!)
It’s wonderful to be able to trust yourself enough to change and experiment. i am going for it full-tilt now that the band-aid has been ripped off.
So much is in the pipeline for this spring, i thought i’d share a little.
i’m doing a juried art show in april at Historic Yellow Springs, here in Chester County, PA. Busily painting for that as we speak. A bunch of new licensed products have hit stores recently, including these doodle book spinoffs.
i’ve also been hard at work designing lots of items that you guys will see available in shops in 2015. More details on that later!
My first ever online workshop, Layers of Color, starts on April 7. So i am VERY busy getting all the content up and running for that. Please join in! It will be a very loose, self-guided worskhop delivered via blog posts, step by step photos and videos on a password protected section of my site. The workshop basically shares all my favorite supplies, techniques, and ways that i lay down color and texture in my signature style. No experience is needed to play along. And you have access to the posts for a full year after the 6 week session is finished. $75. Read more & SIGN UP HERE!!
Some fun collaborations are upcoming with 2 wonderful artists; Stephanie Fizer Coleman and Jenny Alexander. Those will be posted very soon!
I’ve also been working on lots of new commissioned pieces, which is always so rewarding. Portraits, screenprint designs like the one above, logos and canvas paintings have all been heading out the door. If you’d like to chat with me about a special project; check out the basics here, shoot me an email at artist@stephaniecorfee.com, or post a comment on this page and i’ll get back to you lickety split!
One bit of super-exciting news is that my husband and i will be breaking ground in about a month or so to build a new studio space onto our house. I’m hogging the first floor master right now as my workspace, but since we added our third little boy last april, it’s apparent that we need to make some room. We’ve been saving our pennies and plan to do much of the finishes and electrical (hubby is an electrician) ourselves, so i’ll be making a new series of blog posts in the warmer months to document the creation of this project. i am soooo excited, but also super nervous to take this big step. agh!
i can’t think of anything else right this second. Daylight savings is making me so happy for longer afternoons in the sunshine. Spring is finally trying to break through the waist-deep snowfall that slammed us this winter. My last little baby turns one next month. Finally, all the kiddos are feeling better and off their daily breathing treatments, There is just an overwhelming sense of hope and anticipation of what the year will bring.
i’ll leave you with a favorite sketch i made this weekend that is a sneak peek to some VERY different painting work i’m going to be doing in the coming months….enjoy!!
xo, s
Inevitably, there is a lull at the beginning of every new year. i suppose folks are retailed out from Christmas shopping. And i know personally, i am compelled to let my bank account recover after the holiday once i see my year in review during tax preparation. This lull happens every year and never lasts for long. But it still freaks me out a bit every time….like, “will i ever be overloaded with work again?”
This year, i am trying to embrace the lull to get things done that always seem to be pushed to the bottom of the to-do list. i’m making new art, experimenting with materials, updating my online portfolios and shops, submitting my work to various companies, and making lists and plans for the business in 2014.
i have been taking a few online courses of late and it has been so eye opening. It has really pushed me to think about my art business, my “signature” style (do i have one?) and the kind of artist i want to be now, and well into the future. What kind of art do i want to make? What, if anything, makes me different? What lets my individuality shine?
i’m a little bit excited, because after months of mulling these things over, daydreaming about them, and experimenting a lot, i really think i have landed on the type of work i TRULY want to create.
It has been tough. Coming from a graphic design background, i spent years working for clients who had their own very specific ideas. In one sense, it makes you stretch your skill set. In another sense, you lose your inner compass a bit. i’d fallen into a rut of thinking about the buyer too much as i was creating and second guessing my own instincts and eye and creativity (read: weirdo ideas).
Don’t get me wrong. i want to make work that people will love and want to buy. But i’d really like my purpose and vision to be distinctly my own.
…and by george, i think i’ve got it!
i think you will all be surprised by new work i begin posting in the next few weeks…..i THINK.
i hope you will like it and will share your thoughts.
A couple months ago, i put a shout out on my facebook page asking for some kiddos to try out a collaboration idea i had. i got a few takers and embarked on a sort of “art pen pal” project. What happened next was maybe the best experience in my art business so far. SO much joy and experimentation and fulfillment and surprise.
Basically, i mail out a blank canvas to each participant with some simple instructions, examples and tips about how i like to work. But i also encourage the kids to experiment and am sure to tell them “there is no wrong way.” Then i wait for the white canvases to come back to me with color! It’s like christmas when i see a manila envelope in the mailman’s hand!
Here is an example (left) of Layer 1 as it was sent back by one child (actually 3 siblings) and then the layer i added for my part (right). i then mailed the canvas back with more instruction and examples for round 2. Below (left) you see the kids’ next stage painting with their doodles added. Then (right) you see how i finished it off with a few of my own doodles and some colored in areas. i mailed the final back to the kids with my signature on the back and encouraged them to sign their names on the front or sides of the canvas, That’s it!
The whole process has been such great fun for me and getting to be part of an artistic journey with kids is so rewarding. Some of the moms have told me the kids feel nervous at first to “ruin” it all. But i hope they come away with the confidence to realize that they can’t possibly ruin their own art. Any mark they make speaks to their own creative eye and hand. It’s authentic and so (to me) it is good!! i’ve gotten such a variety of color combos, shapes and forms back. Some paintings feature neat, tidy brush strokes and some are made with wild abandon. It is just so awesome to see.
Here are some more in-progress images that have been coming out of this project.
The above is stage 2 and completion….
This one is stage 1 from my kiddo collaborator and then my additions – all ready to be shipped back through the mail.
…another stage 1 then my additions all ready for my partner to tackle stage 2.
…one last example of how they look when they first arrive back to me and then go back out for step 2.
In the course of creating these artworks, my wheels started turning, and one day i had a shower idea. Do you get all your best ideas in the shower? What is it? The smell of shampoo? The steam? Aaaaaaanyway, i thought; wouldn’t it be great to sell prints of the finished art in my etsy shop and contribute the proceeds to other kids? Maybe kids at CHOP? or a local arts program?
Kids helping kids through art!! AGHHHH!!! Do you love it!?
Of course, the kids would have to all give a thumbs up. i would never sell their work without permission or recompense. But the few i polled so far all seemed on board. So, when i have a collection of completed works in hand, i will be calling around to find a cause that will be a perfect fit. Oh happy day : )
For more information on these collaborations, take a look at the listing in my etsy shop! Or just follow along and try collaborating with your kiddos at home! You don’t need me! Trust me. You will surprise yourself and your kids will get a confidence boost times a jillion.
xo, s
i had every intention of posting a giveaway last week, and it completely got away from me.
So here we go now with some pictorial evidence of new stuff coming out of the studio and a GIVEAWAY grab bag of a few prints, selected by yours truly, to a random commenter on this post. Tell me if you have a favorite recent piece and why. i really want to know!
-xoxo
UPDATE****** a winner was chosen at random on april 16,2013 – Jennifer Kitakis, come on down! shoot me an email at stephaniecorfee@comcast.net to get details on your grab bag!
