Returning soon!

Wow, a month gone by?

Summer is passing by quickly and I have mainly been enjoying this time with my family. We have had so many fun things going on. Lounging poolside, playing games, building a hotel-elevator and all!, nature outings and projects, gardening, zoo visits, hanging with friends, cooking out, hiking, building campfires-eating hobo dinners and smores!, reading, playing school, many adventures, arts gallore and so much more. I am teaching once a month at the museum. My classes might be full, but please come see me for drop-in-art!

July 10th we will be making Design and go Costumes.
Aug 14th we will be painting O'Keeffe Flowers

I have been fortunate to share art with kids at the OKCMOA for a few years. I am still amazed when I walk in the doors and I never take for granted the awesome exhibits and pieces from the permanent collection I am able to see anytime I want.

New to me though, on my own, is working with Metropolitan Library System.

I have done outreach through the museum with the MLS on a few occasions, but this summer it's just me! I have been visiting different libraries around the OKC area bringing art to a lot of kiddos. We have been busy making artist trading cards and learning about printmaking. I have met so many neat kids and parents. I have seen a lot of talent and ambition this summer. Kids hungry for art. Eating through supplies faster than I can buy them. Not only from my own children, but from kids all over the city. It continues the battle in me...artist vs. educator. What do I really want to be when I grow up? Can I really be both?

Do you know what you want to be when you grow up? ;)

Local

I attended the second installation of The Teaching Artist Toolbox put on by the Arts Council of Oklahoma City. We met at the City Arts Center (who has a really awesome exhibit right now by NYC artist Jason Hackenwerth).



He creates these awesome organic underwater animal like balloon sculptures. Just beautiful. You will never look at balloons the same. City Arts is offering free buses for schools. Give a call to see if you can arrange to share the exhibit with your classrooms. They even offer a teachers resource guide. I know I am going to have to take my boys and create a project around this. Will keep you posted. Visit his website. So inspiring!

The toolbox was productive. We heard from different organizations in the city that utilize teaching artists and educators to share their knowledge and skills with children in all sorts of settings.

Then we had an opportunity to break into small groups and share our strengths, weaknesses and how to solve those problems using our strengths as a group. I met new people and it was very productive. I also won a door prize. Bonus! It was an 80 pc. art set and a class pack of chalk. My boys are really pumped about the chalk.

The Oklahoma Arts Council had a lot of good info and I will be signing up for their conference in October... Art at Work: Creative Strategies and Proven Concepts Oct. 12 & 13 in Norman, OK.

I began my painting for The Children's Center and will share the progress soon.

Don't forget this weekend is ARTini! Did you buy your tickets yet???

Local

Things have not slowed down much around here but look what came in the mail.



The latest issue of Downtown Monthly and here I am for the Allied Arts, ARTini article. I had no idea it would be such a large picture. A bit shocking!

I was also delighted to see the latest copy of the OKCMOA's Magazine, Connect. There is a super full page article about Taking your child to an Art Museum with a really nice plug for my blog.



Thanks to both publications for their wonderful work.

I am beginning a new piece for Button Day. It is an exhibition celebrating the Children's Center.

My idea is a small still life. A bowl of sewing goodies-including of course, buttons as that is the criteria for the show. This is just an example for me to use for proportion. I will change up the colors and stuff but this is going to get me painting. I will keep you posted on the progress.



Be sure to save the date for ARTini. It is coming up quickly, Sat. May 15th.

I am also excited to be asked again to serve on the committee again for OVAC's biggest fundraiser, 12x12 which will be Sept. 25th. Mark it down now! Details to come.

Celebrate Earth

I have enjoyed reading all of your artistic art projects that celebrated Earth Day. Here at our house we didn't get around to art projects but we did a huge project in the backyard that I thought I would share with you.



We made garden art. My husband built raised beds and we fenced them to keep our very large digging dog out. My children helped me plant seedlings and seeds. It was a real learning experience for them. They took notes and have been helping us water and weed. I can't wait to see what we grow. It's going to be a learning process for us all.



What did we plant? There are a total of 3 beds. The fenced beds have 6 kinds of lettuce, cabbage, radishes, 2 kinds of carrots, cucumbers, okra, onions, yellow squash, zucchini, several kinds of beans, peas and all sorts of herbs.



The other bed is filled with 6 tomato varieties, strawberries, red, green and yellow bell peppers, jalapenos, peppers, leeks and more onions along with other full sun herbs.





A fun book for gardening is Planting a Rainbow by Lois Ehlert. I think we might make some vegetable drawings this week. Stay tuned!

Local

Just saw this in the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum E-News. All credits go to them! If you are local, I hope to see you at the opening Sat. night!

Oklahoma Artists Donate Guitars for Exhibition Giveaway In a fun twist related to its original exhibition, "The Guitar: Art, Artists and Artisans," the National Cowboy Museum has invited three Oklahoma artists to paint guitars that will be given away in a drawing at the end of the exhibition which runs from February 12 through May 9. Visitors to the exhibition are encouraged to enter the prize drawing. The decorated guitars were painted by Matt Goad, Erin L. Oldfield and Clint Stone. Museum visitors will be able to see and hold the guitars and take photos holding them in from of a specially design photo opp background that resembles Nashville's historic Ryman Auditorium, home to some of music's most revered performances. Photo: Erin L. Oldfield with her donated and painted guitar.

My Art-Guitar Love

The front


and the back


What a busy time of year it has been. This may be the last post that consists of "my art". I hope to have paperwork completed this week for my new adventure (an LLC) the name of which I will reveal when finished! I'd like to keep my artwork separate from the teaching artist page that this has so lovingly become. I hope to have more of both to share with you all!

The latest project I just finished is the painted acoustic guitar for the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum. Their incredible exhibit, The Guitar: Art, Artists, and Artisans is opening Feb. 13th. If you have a love of music or have any interest in the guitar, you really have to go see this. Here is a snippet from one of their press releases:

There is something about a cowboy and guitar that says "we belong together." Today they do, but that was not always the case. In spring 2010, the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum^® offers a new exhibition showcasing the instrument.

"The Guitar: Art, Artists and Artisans" spotlights three aspects. “First, the guitar is a work of art itself, providing a canvas for artwork that enhances the instrument’s beauty. Secondly, there are musical artists who are identified with the guitar when they perform. Lastly, there are the artisans who create these beautiful instruments,” said Don Cusic, the exhibit’s guest curator, in an article written for the Museum’s Persimmon Hill magazine, Winter 2009.

Organized by the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, the exhibit opens February 12 and runs through May 9. There will be a “sweet” exhibition preview that is free to the public, February 13, 6 to 8 p.m. Whether attending solo, visiting as part of a group or treating your Valentine, enjoy extended hours and be among the first to see this colorful exhibit.

Included in the exhibition are approximately 50 guitars worth millions, from top entertainers — recording artists whose image and career is tied closely to this instrument. These notable artists include Garth Brooks, Vince Gill, Toby Keith, Lynn Anderson, Brooks & Dunn, Eddy Arnold and Marty Robbins.

The 3 guitars that local OKC artists painted will be on hand for children to play and then GIVEN AWAY at the end of the show. You just have to attend the exhibit and stick your name in the raffle!

I was a bit nervous about this project. I have never painted a guitar! Sanding it was a feat in itself. Thrilled and honored to be asked, I could not turn down this amazing opportunity. Well, I finished her up and delivered her today. While I was there I got a "behind the scenes" tour that seriously blew my mind. All the things people never see at any Museum I got to peek at today. Pretty neat!

Local

Last night I attended a wonderful event for Teaching Artists at the Arts Council. Oklahoma City has so much offered to artists right now. It was part one of a four part series by the Arts Council of Oklahoma City and City Arts Center. Last night I gathered with Art Education and Program Directors, Educators, Artists and more. There was some super creative energy flowing through as we listened to 3 speakers talk about Curriculum Planning.

I learned quite a bit, but more importantly I networked. I sat next to friends, one an artist-he talked about getting himself psyched up for this year, getting things done and being on the verge of an explosion. It's how I feel. This is my year. I have had so many wonderful opportunities offered to me this past year I am only building on it this year.

I mentioned sort of cryptically a while ago that I am working on something. I am not quite ready to purge the specifics, but I am committing myself to my artwork and more as I continue my search for studio space/small building in OKC. I am promising myself to paint more, volunteer more, share art with more children, network more and push myself further than I have gone in the past. I am happy I have the support of my family and of course my friends. One friend has really made me believe in myself-even if she doesn't know it-I owe a lot of my break out attitude to her. You know who you are. :)

Okay, other excitement is Jason Peters at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art. I CANNOT WAIT to attend the members preview and lecture on the 27th. His work is really exciting. I don't believe anything quite like this has ever been in OKC. I took this pic the other day after one of my classes, he did a small installation outside the Museum Gift Shop. This picture doesn't do it justice. It's actually lit from the inside. Way different. Way cool.


It's hard to tell, those are buckets-suspended from the ceiling. They wrap and twist like a serpent. Love it. He has been working for a few weeks or so with OU students on filling our exhibition space with more extraordinary works.

I am wrapping up my painted acoustic guitar for the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum and it's pretty darn cool if I do say so myself! Thursday after my class at the Museum I am headed over to OVAC office to help with some mailings. As part of my networking 2010 pledge I am joining two other arts related Organizations this week, The Paseo Arts Association and IAO (actually trying to get 2 pieces finished for Money talks, Art Walks in Feb.)

I will post fun pictures from my snowman class after Thurday! I am really looking forward to it. As much as I am dedicating myself to my work, I am dedicating myself to children and the arts as well.

Have a Creative Day!

New Projects

Along with Christmas bells and noisy malls, I can hear the sound of brushstrokes and busy children. Over all that, I hear the constant stream of creative buzz going through my head. I have several projects in the works right now. Here is the latest.



I know you are thinking, what is with the picture of a guitar? Well, I am honored and thrilled to be asked with 2 other OKC artists to paint a western theme guitar for an exhibit at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum. The exhibit is titled: The Guitar: Art, Artists and Artisans. It runs Feb 12, 2010 - May 09, 2010. It is going to be outstanding and 3 lucky people will be the proud owners of the local artisan guitars at the end of the exhibit. During the run of the exhibit children will be able to play the guitars and have their picture taken. I hope you will bring your children to take a look! I will be taking mine!

The guitar painting process should be interesting. I am a bit nervous. I don't want to mess it up! :) I am going to sand the guitar and begin painting right away. I will be sure to take photos of the progress!

If you haven't seen the Museum's Winter and Spring Class Schedule, you should take a look! Classes are filling quickly even though I think this is the most offerings they have had since I have been there. It's a big issue! If you have local little ones I hope to see you in the toddler and pre-k classes.

I am also happy to say I will be working with the Metropolitan Library System this summer doing a summer teen art program. We are going to do artist trading cards and I will let you know more when the schedule comes out.

Busy, busy! I have several new projects for children that I will post soon! Have a Creative Day!

Big Sky

My latest painting titled Big Sky is framed, finished and ready to make big money at my son's school auction tonight!

Roadside Cotton Candy

OVAC's big event 12x12 is long over but I never got around to posting about it. The event was another huge success and I was proud to be part of it once again. There are so many wonderful artists in Oklahoma that want to be in the show and I have been lucky enough to have been invited for the past 6 years. I have also been lucky enough for my piece to sell each year.

This year I did an acrylic titled Roadside Cotton Candy. It was inspired from a trip to Montana that my husband and I took together. It was one of the few trips we were able to make without the boys tagging along. My heart really belongs to the mountains of Colorado but Montana quickly started to win me over with it stillness, wildlife and big sky.

I have been busy in my kitchen studio working away on several projects...I'll keep you posted!

Here is a WIP primed, outlined and ready to be filled with paint!

Rock Mary Underpainting

This is not complete!



This is my newest painting- it is NOT complete. This is the underpainting, or the first layer. All it does is block in colors and today I will go in and begin to add details and lowlights. Tonight, since I am using acrylics I should be able to add highlights and final details. It's hard to show the beginning work like this, sort of like being naked. But, I want to document the process. It's the bare bones and hopefully it will come together and I should have a finished piece to show tomorrow. Then I'll get a frame and present it to my honey. It's for him, afterall!

While I painted, so did my little man. He covered paper with blue (Thomas), red (James) and brown (Toby). What's that you say? Well it's some of the Thomas the Train and Friends gang.