Fall Art & Craft Festival at Poche Plantation in Convent, LA

 Hello, I want to update you on an up-coming event and project I have been working on.

October 25th & 26th , I will be participating in the Fall Art & Craft Festival at Poche Plantation in Convent< LA. This will be my first time showing at this plantation.......looks like fun. Currently I am working on leafed ornaments and fairy jars.  I believe I will set my tent up with an entire wall dedicated to fairies or at least I am thinking about it.  

I hope you will check it out: 

Also, I am working on publishing a collection of poems called, "Practicing the Art of Manifesting". Originally I wanted to publish the book with the paintings that corresponds with each poem; however, I feel the poetry stands alone. In the future, I will publish the poems with the paintings in a coffee table book size..........but for now I am very happy to have the book published. Hopefully I will have this book ready for sale at the Poche Art Festival.

I plan on selling the book on my website and Etsy site.

  website: Softly-Painted-Stories-Studio.Square.Site

I have a "magical" short video that I will upload to my website and Etsy store........for some reason I had issues loading it to blogger. Once I figure it out I will upload it.

Keep creating your legacy,

Christin

 

Louisiana Butterflies: a work in progress

 Currently I am creating artwork for a show in August.  I am staying optimistic that all the paintings I plan to produce will come to fruition.....at least that is what I keep telling myself. 😁

Anyway, here is a peek at one grouping of paintings. I plan to paint and infuse with encaustic  9 different Louisiana butterflies and show them as a grouping, titled, "When I Was With You." Butterflies to me are simply magical. I love they way they gracefully dance through the air, and transform from a caterpillar to butterfly. What better way to sincerely paint a part of my life with someone. Also, I am enclosing the poem that goes with these paintings. (Again, I am not a poet, but these words had to be written down.)  

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail, gouache on vellum

Pipevine Swallowtail , encaustic on wood panel

Red Admiral, gouache on vellum

Summer  Azure, gouache on vellum

Great Purple Hairstreak Butterfly, gouache on vellum 

"When I Was With You"

Surrounded by nature and the way you looked at me,

Made me believe,

That this relationship was meant to be.

Bright lights and passion flame,

Secrets came out,

No one is to blame.

A difficult conversation,

On an unplanned date,

I thought we were good, and sealed our fate.

My forgetfulness forced me to see you again,

Getting lost wasn't part of the plan.

You pulled me close and gave me a hug,

Oh god, could this be love?

Rough day in my other life and I needed your touch,

You gave me comfort,

Oh so much.

My animal instinct took control,

And desired you heart and soul.

You gave me all that I craved,

And I wanted more & more,

What can I say I am depraved.

Both of us are not in a good mental place,

I said something hateful,

To my own disgrace.

I could sense you were distancing yourself from me,

Well within your right,

Because of the words I said the other night.

I showed up unannounced on your doorstep like a stray,

I knew it was over,

But I begged to stay.

Thank you for your comfort and grace,

For a short while I found my place.

A place where my dark and light were safe,

At least that's how I felt in your embrace. 

Keep creating your legacy,

Christin

New Year, new painting ideas

 Today I finished an encaustic painting titled, "Navigating the Darkness". The painting will be on display during BREC's Swamp Spectacular Annual Art Event. I am looking forward to attending the artist's reception on the 16th.  (I even purchased a new dress for the event....purple velvet:) Check out the event: 

Encaustic painting, Navigating the Darkness:

Inspiration:

The swamp is where I go to release dark thoughts.  I push my bare hands deep into the wet muck.  Pulling away rotted leaves, digging deeper through the tangled roots, I bury those feelings that pull me under. In the swamp's water, I rinse the dark clumps from my still dirty hands, watching the breeze turn my hands from wet to merely damp. Sunlight sparkles on the water's surface and reflects on my face. It is in the darkness I learn to navigate so when the light reaches me, I have clarity.

Thoughts on this years upcoming paintings.  Spirit animals will continue to be featured in my paintings; however, my focus will be on a specific relationship I had, dare I say may have....or at least I want.  I went out with someone on a whim and dove in without thinking. Even though I should know better, I let my emotions control me. Now I am trying to get myself ready for the upcoming hard work that will go into these paintings; which will be on display in August.  NO pressure! LOL.  

Keep Creating Your Legacy,

Christin

Up Coming Fall Art Festivals

 Hi Everyone,

I have been busy in the studio creating artwork  for two fall Art Festivals. 

Check it out: 

Twin Steeples Art Festival in Ponchatoula, LA

Southdown Marketplace in Houma

This month I will be updating my website.  Check out one of my newest paintings.

Treasure Black Feather

If ya' ll come by the markets please stop by and say Hi.

Happy Fall,

Christin

Solar Panels are mounted on my Studio's roof

 A couple of weeks ago I took some time off from work so we could install the solar panels to my studio's roof before it got too hot.  What I thought would take all day only took a couple of hours......we were pleasantly surprised. 

One oops we made was waiting to attach the copper wire (ground) to the mounting bracket after installing the solar panels.  We should have done that first........because there was only about 3inches of room between solar panel and the roof and the copper wire had to be mounted in between that. Yikes,  did I struggle and there may have been a few dirty words that slipped out of my mouth. LOL

Now all I do when I walk into the studio is turn the inverter on and bam............I have lights and music.  We ordered a box fan from Amazon and once that comes in.......I will have air flow. I am very happy with the outcome.  I will be able to paint in the evening or when it is raining. 

Check it out: 

Solar Panels on roof with copper ground

Roof shot 

Happy Creating!

Christin

Solar Panels working!

 

I have solar power!  Glenn did all the wiring and mounted everything to wood; which we installed inside the studio.  We still need to install the panels to the studio's roof…….once we remember how we installed the roof brackets. LOL (A little hiccup)

Currently I am moving the two solar panels outside the studio and then moving them back inside when I am finished for the day.

Here are some notes and lessons we learned about solar power for a small space:

 We did purchase a 400 watt solar kit from Renogy. Currently we only have two solar panels wired. Next year’s goal we will be to mount the roof brackets and panels for the remaining two solar panels. 

We did opt for a deep cycle battery.  I am so glad we did and I will tell you why. From my understanding a deep cycle battery is designed for not everyday usage.  I know I won’t be in the studio every day; however, when I am in the studio I need a battery that will hold a charge. So far I haven’t been let down by our battery.  Things to consider with your battery.  Did you know that your inverter and control monitor can use up 20% to 30% of your battery when not in use?  I didn’t know this; which led us to purchasing a battery monitor.  The battery monitor will show you how much “juice” is in your battery. Also, there is an alert system if the battery is too low. Lastly, it shows you that your battery is charging. 

Additionally, after hours of research, I realized I wanted an “on/ off” switch; which we purchased. I knew that I needed a way to quickly shut down our system for “just in case”.  Since the solar panels have been in use now for a couple of weeks, I shut the system off when not in use, and the battery has been holding it’s charge.  

Lastly, Glenn’s research resulting in us purchasing fuses.  We didn’t realize at first but you really want a fuse linked to your battery.  Eventually we will have a small shut off for the battery………but for now the system works great.

I love that I can plug my stereo into the invertor and listen to my favorite CD.  When I have some time off I do want to purchase and LED light and mount on the ceiling so I can have light when I want to paint during rain or at night.

 

Check it out:

"Wires look a little messy, I do need to twist tie them"

"These panels are a little heavy to move in and out, can't wait to install on roof"

Happy Creating with Solar Panels,

Christin 

How not to destroy your Arches Watercolor Paper

 For a couple of years I have been wanting to paint on Arches Watercolor Paper; however, since starting my Studio I have been focused on producing not so much on experimenting.  This year I decided it was time to experiment, grow my ideas and my artwork.

I purchased Arches Watercolor Cold Press 140 lb paper and began drawing on it. Now, I am not the type of artist that can draw something in one try.  I am an artist who likes to draw, erase, draw, erase...etc. Unfortunately Arches Watercolor Paper is not recommended for this type of work.  On my first drawing, I destroyed the paper with the erasing. I was surprised by this.  In addition, I found some of my pencil lines couldn't be erased.  After doing a little bit of research, I found that quite a few artist will draw on paper and then trace to Arches.  It is an extra step but it keeps the paper from being damaged. I do love wetting the paper and dropping the watercolor paint onto this paper. Also, I find you need a lot of water to move the paint around. I do like that the paper can hold lots of paint..........so layering is a plus. Check out the mess ups on my first drawing. I circled the damage to the paper. Also I realized I should have been using a watercolor pencil compared to a soft pencil: 

Arches Cold Press Watercolor paper with mess ups

I still love my Grumbacher Watercolor 140 lb paper. Something about the hills and valleys. I definitely create less damage with my drawing on this paper.......and maybe this will be my go to paper.  I am still experimenting.  Although, I feel I can't add as many paint layers on this paper compared to Arches.  So I guess it depends on your style of painting.  I like to create loose washes, and this paper is great for that. Check it out. Here is an example of a loose watercolor on Grumbacher Watercolor Paper: 

Grumbacher Watercolor Paper with hills and valleys

Then there is the Canson watercolor paper.  I do like to draw on this paper but for watercolor it is ok.  The paper is basic with hardly any hills and valleys to hold the paint; which makes fixing mistakes very difficult.  I have overworked an area of a painting with this paper and the paper balled up. It never fails that this would happen with the painting was almost complete. LOL.  Check it out. This paper is fine for a simple watercolor like this vine work: 

Canson Watercolor paper, hardly any hills and valleys

I hope this post helps anyone attempting watercolors. Of course if anyone has questions, please don't hesitate to reach out to me. 

Enjoy creating.

Christin