I just started going to the Art Students League in an effort to feed my love for oil painting, and carve out specific time to spend with these lovely paints. It seriously is the love of my extracurricular activity life. Here is last week’s painting.
Art Whino’s G40 - beautiful and fun
Trekked out to Crystal City this past weekend to see some of Art Whino’s G40. There are five floors of eclectic art: paintings, sculpture and installments, and a lot of mural-y street art (see photos). It is an intriguing experience to wonder through the various rooms and displays - a journey akin to exploring Artomatic. Unlike Artomatic, however, G40 is curated.
For those hands-on kind of folks, Albus Cavus is holding some super fun workshops at G40. On Friday, we got to have at a blank wall to do with anything we could dream up. Which rocked.
G40 will be up until March 30th. I fully recommend checking it out. For now, check out some of my Flickr shots of a couple of floors…
Empowerment for Valentine’s
On days like good ol Valentines, whether loving it or hating it, I like to focus on inner strength and empowerment. Love for yourself is the basis for all that mushy romance stuff for others. Without it, the mush is really just complete fluff.
I’m out here opining on all this because I have an artsy style that is a cool Valentine in the sense that it is an expression of love and strength… but is definitely not your normal lace and hearts kind of thing. These are paintings I create - portraits - inspired by a journey I took through India. To me, these paintings embody inner strength. It is why I love and paint them.
I want to contribute to a Valentines (and life beyond V-Day, frankly) that celebrates empowerment in ourselves and our loved ones. These portraits convey these ideas, and they are truly sacred to me… So I don’t mean for this message to come out and tell everyone that its the most perfect Valentine and buy buy buy. I only want to paint them for those who feel the same strength I do from these images… And to offer it as an artist who loves to paint them. Check it out if you feel so inclined.
Sale for Haiti
As a broke artist, I figured this is one small way I can donate to relief efforts in Haiti, and help others to donate as well.
Through the end of January, 30% of the profit of all items in my Etsy shop will go to the American Red Cross for their work in Haiti. Upon purchase, you will be mailed your art and proof of donation.
Introducing Custom Masked Portraits
A couple months back, a woman approached me asking if I could paint her portrait using my Kerala Muse style – a style inspired by my travels through India. I readily agreed to this creative and exciting idea. So, she sent me some photographs to work from. I sketched and created her likeness with my watercolor paints, then added the mystical, expressive markings of the Kerala Muse style to her portrait.
This project was so much fun, and the customer so happy, that I decided to send out the word for folks interested in having a portrait of themselves or a loved one done in this technique. With the holidays here, it also provides a sweet, personal and uber-unique gift. Check out the deets.
