SO MUCH

Hey guys!  So sorry for the delay in posts!  As I mentioned previously, I am working on so much these days!  I had the St. Paul Art Crawl this last weekend to prep for, I have been trying to work on this grant proposal and today I started the painting for the Pianos on Parade for the City of Minneapolis.  Oh, and, I also have to take care of this 18 month old!  WHEW!!

Let me tell you though, this piano painting so far has been so fun! I mean, I know it has only been one day, but I feel so energized getting to paint ALL DAY sans kid around!  Thanks to my mom for coming down to the cities to watch him for me, otherwise this would not be possible.  I am so excited to share the progress with you.  Hop on over to my Instagram (@the.beatnik) to see daily updates and videos.  

Ill post some pics on here as soon as I can.  I better get back to it!

it's been a minute

Guys, I know you are probably wondering, "Where are the encaustics??" Its been a couple weeks since I have worked on one!  So, I work from a home studio - which has its pros and cons.  One of those cons is that there is little to no ventilation in my workspace.  I went hard for that little bit with the new pieces I did make - I was being stubborn and just wanted to make them - and after a bit, I started to feel a bit dizzy.  Even with my new mask! So, I decided to smarten up and wait until I could work outside and since I live in Minnesota, it takes spring FOREVER to show up.  We are supposed to get more snow this weekend! UGHHHHH.  No, seriously you guys, it's April 15th and we had a major blizzard yesterday and it is STILL snowing.  STILL!!!!

So, in the meantime, I have been working on larger acrylic and mixed media paintings.  I even finished a large piece!  (I have uploaded a bunch of new work in the 2018 section of my website.  Please feel free to check them out!)  I have also been super busy working on taking the next step in my career.  I have recently-ish decided to apply for the MN State Arts Board Artist's Initiative Grant - that's a mouthful.  The last few weeks have been filled with webinars, meetings (with some really fun people!) and setting up time for photography and documentation.  I have also been trying to get some time to sit down and start writing the actual proposal.  (Which, I should probs be doing right now, however, I realized it's been a really long time since I shared what I have been doing!) I find that I have an extremely hard time trying to write out what my work and process are for things like this.  So, I have a lot of editing coming up.

I am so excited to be able to work on this grant though!  I will be even more excited if I actually get it!  My main goal in writing this grant is to fund a studio space so that I can get out of my basement.  It really REALLY hinders my ability to work on what I want.  I also think a studio space will help me grow my business, I will be able to be a part of open studio events and hold open studio hours so people can pop in and talk to me in person and see the work up close. Wish me luck!

I will try and keep you guys updated as I go along!  

back in the studio

Hey guys!

I thought I would add a little blog section to keep you updated on what I am working on - or not working on.  When you have a kid, you just never know, ya know?

So, after a few months of lying low I have started working on 2 new series.  One is a series called A Mad Millinery (a series of hats with the dumbass stuff 45 says) and the other is new work in encaustics (wax painting).  After getting a bit discouraged with the Millinery work, I decided to break out my encaustic supplies.  It has been a few years - LIKE FOUR YEARS - since I have made any new encaustics. I have so missed it!  

Some of you might know that I used to live in Hawaii and have been fortunate enough to go back and visit multiple times.  Now living in Minnesota, and also being a stay at home mom, this winter has been especially long.  LONG.  It really seems like its never going to end. SERIOUSLY, SEND COFFEE AND WINE! Here we are in the middle of March and we have so much snow still that I can barely see our fire pit in the back yard.  Not that this is uncommon, but DAMN, the ice and snow is almost as tall as my son and taking him out to play in it is a little harder than you'd think.  So, looking back through pictures of my last trip to Hawaii, I have been missing the ocean HARD.  (Also, I have been seeing so many reminders - people wearing HI t-shirts, hearing some of my fav podcasters talk about their vacations there, the recent missile scare all over the news, POWWOW blowing up my Insta feed).

This all led me to these new pieces inspired by the ocean and beach.  I just love the vibrant colors and the calmness of the waves.  It is a nice little distraction from the near constant greyness outside, bleh.  Maybe, by painting these, I can will spring to get here sooner.  PLEASE, I'M BEGGING YOU.

I will continue to share my progress with these, and maybe, if I can get some nice lighting - a video or two. 

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My little work station. In my basement. Not ideal.