NAME YOUR PRICE (Inventory Reduction Sale)

Autumn always brings a strong sense of change to me. Perhaps it is because the change in the Northwest is drastic and sudden. Spring rolls in slowly and easily but it always seems that I go to sleep one warm summer night and awaken the next morning to Autumn. I love the colors and smells, and the sense of change. Inevitably, I get in to the mood to reorganize and "change" things in my home and studio. This is my time of the year to consider how well the summer art show season went, and to consider inventory reduction.

My summer was great. I exceeded sales goals, and in fact, exceed all my expectations. As a result, my inventory reduction sale can be as dramatic as the autumn colors!

Browse through the paintings below, and contact me if there is something you like. Any reasonable offer will be accepted. What does "reasonable" mean? If your offer covers my cost, you win. If not, I will let you know what my lowest possible price can be.

The blog title indicates how far in the alphabet I've progressed as I add more and more paintings to the offer. And, I've included the painting title, size, and current price so that you have a starting place as you think about making an offer.

Don't forget shipping. Assume $25 for shipping. If it is more, I'll toss in the overage!

Enjoy! And remember, Live In Full Color!

Debra



A New Day 6" x 6" plus mat $50










Afterglow 14" x 18" $175










Alone Again 6" x 6" plus mat $50












Awake 24" x 24" $100











Being Different 12" x 16" $150












Breaking The Rules 11" x 14" $125









Bronze Pitcher 8" x 10" $75








Can't Never Could 12" x 16" $150











Cardinal 10" x 20" $140









Choices II 30" x 24" $325









Contemplation 14" x 18" (plus black frame) $225












Clown 8" x 10" $125










Dorana Vineyards I 14" x 18" $175









Dorana Vineyards II 16" x 20" $220









First Iris 9" x 12" $90










Golden 16" x 20" $220








Green Apple on Red 16" x 16" $175












Heart 16" x 20" $125 (already on sale from $220)










I Hope You Dance 18" x 24" $240












In The Beginning 18" x 24" $240











Into The Forest 10" x 10" $90











Leigh's Raku 30" x 40" $550











Love Song 16" x 20" $220











Meant To Be 5" x 5" $50











Medallion 10" x 10" $90











Mind's Eye 12" x 16" $150











Money Tree 18" x 24" $150 (already on sale from $240)











Moonlight Sonata 18" x 24" $150 (already on sale from $240)









Mountain Lion 9" x 12" $90









Pear In Summer Light 11" x 14" $125












Red Ribbon 8" x 10" $150











Red Flower 8" x 24" $150











Purple Lotus








Psychedelic Mushroom 14" x 18" $175









Pears on Pink 12" x 14" $125












Spring Finale 12" x 16" $150








Speckled Iris 24" x 40" $200 (already on sale from $400)











Snow Family 12" x 36" $235











Simply Spring











Simple Life 8" x 24" $150











Uncertain Times 12" x 16" $150








Tulips in Silver Vase 9" x 12" $90











The Gathering 16" x 20" $220











Swimming Upstream 14" x 14" $150











Spring Roses 11.5" x 11.5" $50











Wolf Baby 16" x 16" $175











Watching II 18" x 24" $240











Village 16" x 20" $220

An Artful Kitchen

Featuring Design Style Guide members.

So many times we see kitchens on TV or in movies that make us want one “just like that”. We may note the stainless appliances and granite counters, the seemingly vast cabinet space and abundance of utensils. But if we pay closer attention to what pulls on our imagination, it is likely to be color and artistic accessories that take us beyond admiration and in to yearning.

Details - it always seems to be the little details that make a mere food preparation area the single place in a home where you can not get guests to leave. The wall colors that make counter tops glisten. The utensil holders that are more than a cluttered container. The butter dish, pepper grinders, cutting boards, and art tucked in otherwise boring spaces under cabinets. These details will turn any kitchen in to a haven of self expression and add the touches that make cooking duties much more pleasurable.

For the sake of this article, let’s say the walls in this kitchen are painted a warm, earthy brown with red undertones. Perhaps there is an accent wall that is deep brick red topped with a Philadelphia Crème ceiling. Let’s assume stainless appliances, a cooktop island and a separate breakfast/dining area. A basic kitchen. How do we dress it up and make it one of those “I want that!” kitchens?

Let’s start with the functional items:

A deep red, copper wire wrapped bottle, by Xanadu2You, filled with olive or cooking oil, on the island near the stove top adds a splash of red to both brighten the counter and pull the eye from the red accent wall in to the center of the kitchen.

An earthy brown spoon rest, by Dovecotedesign, near the stove or on the counter by the oven, ties in the warm brown wall color.

Coordinated with the spoon rest, but adding a bit of cool color to offset the largely warm wall colors is a utensil holder by Kathyart.

Again, using the red accent wall as inspiration, deeply colored cutting boards bring art to the counter or table as you serve and trivets cover burners with color and distinction. By Debra Linker.

Remove apples from storage places to this distinctive bowl by PatsPottery.

Speaking of serving, imagine your salad in dbabcock’s salad serving set!

Strategically placed on a counter with a brown wall backdrop, this red candle by MadHattersPottery will tie the colors in the room together. Lighting the candle adds a subtle, warm aesthetic to offset the cold stainless appliance.

And now for the wall art. It is very common for kitchens to have awkward wall space - tall and skinny and seemingly useless. Consider brightly colored paintings in the same aspect ratio as the wall space such as this Tuscan Vineyard scene by RenieBritenbucher.

My favorite trick … utilizing the space between overhead cabinets and counter tops. It is usually a narrow space, and often dark. Small art, even 6” in height, is very suitable for these areas, and will add drama and color to an otherwise boring, ignored but very visible area. See LanitaPhoto’s pears.

Or consider well spaced triptych’s such as Debra Linker’s small format fruit set.

For otherwise unadorned areas such as above light switches or in the space between the pantry door and the wall corner, consider three dimensional pieces such as NatureStudio’s leaf.

Another area of the kitchen which is either cluttered or ignored completely and is an ideal spot to add character to the room is a window sill. Picture a detailed, even whimsical silhouette by Mountainbrook.

The opportunities to make your kitchen a showcase of art and style, search the Design Style Guide using your imagination and you will find no shortage of functional, artful kitchen accessories. Be warned - these accessories will likely become necessities once you start looking around your own kitchen for the opportunities awaiting you!

Not a member of Design Style Guide - but would like to be? Click here to join!

Portrait Workshop For Seattle Area Artists !

I attended a workshop with these two artists/instructors last month, and it was absolutely awesome. Day One ALONE was worth the workshop fee...and it is a 3 day workshop. Even in these economic times, this workshop is worth the money!

Creative Approaches to Drawing and Painting the Portrait
With Dan Riley and Joe MacKechnie
Feb. 27, 28, Mar 1 – 2009

Frustrated that you can’t seem to make great portraits? Do you lack the necessary drawing skills? Are you tired of producing photographic style portraits? This workshop will first review the basics of drawing and painting the portrait. Then will offer several approaches to making creative pictures. Finally, you will learn about the 6 basic emotions and how to portray them in the portrait setting. Every section will have a lecture, demo and lots of hands on experience. This workshop is suitable for beginners through advanced artists.

Section 1: Drawing Fundamentals

Section 2: Light and Shading

Section 3: Black and White Techniques

Section 4: Creative Color Techniques

Section 5: Facial Expressions

Feb. 27, 28, Mar 1 (Fri. - Sun) 9 am to 4 pm
$250 for all 3 days (includes model)
Arts Umbrella, Country Village, Bothell, WA.

For information: email rileydk@comcast.net or call Dan Riley at (425) 746 2555. Send deposit of $100 (or full price) to Dan Riley, 1437-159th Ave. SE, Bellevue WA 98008 in order to secure your reservation.

McAlister by Dan Riley

War Councilor by Joe MacKechnie

See more of their works at:

www.jlmackechnie.com

www.danrileyart.com

When creativity slumps, buy a printer and some caramel!

Many have suggested I sell my art as reproduction prints and art cards. I had a great source for printing and began the endeavor quite successfully. I did find, however, that ordering a print, waiting a week to see the outcome, wanting to correct color or format, then waiting another week was more creatively dampening than fulfilling.

Along came Etsy, again, with consistently generous and helpful shop owners participating in the forums. http://earcmra.etsy.com/ responded to a request for large format color printer recommendations with a glowing referral to Epson's Stylus Pro 3800. One purchase and two days later - and I could not be happier or more inspired.

This printer is complex and technically challenging - but even out of the box, the color quality and accuracy is amazing. I have surpassed the quality of print I was getting from my vendor and do not have to wait to see the results of color correction tweaks. I'm ecstatic!

As a result, I will have a great flexibility in custom sizes for reproduction prints and making art cards is a sheer joy! The best part of it all is that I can do more, at a higher quality, and charge less. My customer base expanded over night.

Now THAT is Living in Full Color!

Thank you, Epson, for this high quality product! And thank you earcmra for the recommendation. You changed my world!

Visit earcmra's fabulous Etsy shop - http://earcmra.etsy.com - but be careful! You will not be able to resist her amazing caramels! http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5500038

Along came Etsy

For the last few years, I've spent some time every day painting because it made me feel whole, connected to the universe in some inexplicable way. I had no intention of being in the business of selling my art. I made a website so that I would have a place for people who were not physically with me to see what I was painting. One thing led to another and I ended up opening an Etsy shop to sell my paintings. Since then, the entire focus of my days changed dramatically.

I have met some of the most amazing, friendly, helpful, talented people in the world - yes, in the whole world. People are there from everywhere! The lights never get turned off at Etsy.

I started a group with the intention to raise the awareness in the greater marketplace that Etsy does indeed have high end visual art and that it was more than a craft selling site. In just a couple of months being active at Etsy, I have discovered an additional mission for my group. To raise the awareness of high end visual art WITHIN Etsy - and especially within Etsy ownership and administration.

Don't get me wrong - I'm not there to be the new person on site - telling everyone how they should do it. I'm not antagonistic or even a troublemaker by nature. I am, however, very capable of being an advocate if I truly believe in a cause.

And I truly believe! Etsy is a great concept, generally run very well, and is growing - both as a community of artisans and as a business. It seems that it began as a place for "all things handmade" which translated easiest into a place to sell crafts. Visual artists began to congregate on Etsy and I'm not sure Etsy was expecting us or know quite what to do with us. They do try, but we are a serious lot and seriously ready to be presented at the top level of everything Etsy.

Over the course of the next few days and weeks, I will post entries of our group's mission, goals, and efforts - - and report on our successes. We will have successes. We already do. Below is a link to an ongoing thread of visual artists trying to get Etsy's attention to bring Visual Art to a top level category for listing and searching. My bet...we'll have it before the end of 2008.

http://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php?thread_id=5589069

Stay tuned! And live in full color.

Kerri Birds

Have you ever run across a painting you thought would make great fabric or a piece of pottery you thought would make beautiful flooring?

This happens to me all the time. I am not a designer, but perhaps I was in another life time. An interior designer, a fashion designer, maybe even a choreographer. I constantly see things and wish I knew Michael Miller, or Jimmy Choo, or Bob Fosse so I could refer the artist to the famous one and voila! Match made in heaven!

That was my reaction to Kerri Birds. At the very moment I saw the first one, I was instantly excited about the possiblities. I saw silver pendants, classy silk tees, children's books. I had this woman's art merchandised as if it were the star character in a Disney movie ... a DISNEY MOVIE! YES! That, too!!

Enjoy Kerri Birds. And watch your local stores and boutiques. When this creature sudden shows up on the Red Carpet - remember, you heard it first from me!

(And if you want to own a Kerri Bird, contact me. I'll get you hooked up! They currently sell for $300 USD - but don't be surprised to see the price only go up as they get famous (or picked up by Jimmy Choo!).

Amazing Potter and Etsy store owner

I just purchased two pieces of pottery - salt shakers, to be exact - and I want to tell you about my experience!

I visited a shop on etsy.com called Studio Elan and the images of the pottery just took my breath away. I loved the salt shakers (makes sense, since I've painted so many apples and pears, huh?). LOOK at these!!

The owner, and potter, Eleanor Hendriks, answer a bazillion questions for me before I made the purchase. She communicated with me precisely when the purchase was due to be shipped. She answered my questions regarding approximate arrival date. Then, yesterday, the happy day arrived! The packaging was well done; secure and compact. The pottery well protected. When I unwrapped the actual pieces, and held them in my hands, and watched the light bounce off the finish, and marvelled at the detail - - ohhhhh. It was Christmas in April! Bruce exclaimed, "WOW. Those are BEAUTIFUL!" Pretty cool, coming from a very picky collector of salt/pepper shakers and grinders.

I'm so thrilled with my purchase. I want the world to know about this stellar Etsy seller, artist, and my new favorite place to buy gifts!

Thank you, Eleanor, for being a fine artist, a superb business owner, and a great representative of all things fine at Etsy. You make me proud to be a member of the Etsy community (to see my Etsy shop - click here).

Have you had great shopping experiences at Etsy? We'd love to hear from you. Comment on this blog and we'll spread the love.