Birthday boy, almost 5

David, James, James, Marcus

Birthday party at Lake Michael. Actually, it was birthday party part 2. The real party was yesterday and I somehow got my dates mixed up, so Jon and Lila were kind enough to perform a do-over for me, Bert and the boys. I don't know what happened. She told me Saturday and I wrote Sunday in my planner. What a dope. Oh well, it turned out just fine. The boys were happy to spend some time together at the lake. It was a beautiful day and Lila had plenty of leftovers from yesterday. I can't believe that James is almost 5. My mind is just a little bit blown right now.

Work in Progress

I started this painting yesterday. I think it is in the style of the impressionists, maybe post-impressionists. I'll go with "abstract post-impressionism". It was fun to do. Not sure what else is needed at this point. I'll sit on it a couple days and see how I feel about it.

acrylic on canvas 16 x 20

Sunday in the Park

Art-O-Mat Special Editions

I've almost finished the Art-O-Mat blocks. I've got 48 completed. Most of them are the generic guitars with generic birds. Then I did these 12. They are real guitars played by real musicians. This was a lot of fun. Had to do some research and look for iconic images. I should be able to ship the completed blocks back to Art-O-Mat next week. I have a few finishing touches to add, like the labels and signatures, and a clear coating. Then I wrap a piece of cellophane around each one and that's it! Sit back and wait to see if they sell. I've had a positive response on Instagram with the few teasers I put out there. I think they're worth $5! SO...fingers crossed...

Graduated!

Congrats to the Grad

My baby girl graduated from Methodist University today with a degree in accounting. She graduated Summa Cum Laude with a 3.9 grade point average. We are so proud of her. She worked so hard. The ceremonies were held in Crown Coliseum in Fayetteville, where the minor league hockey team plays. It was a rather long, drawn out affair...nearly 3 hours. The boys were really, really good--all things considered. It's asking a lot of a little boy to sit still for 3 hours. Afterwards we ate at Twisted Grape in Spring Lake. Adequate food, overly expensive. It was a very nice day, now I've got to get back to painting the Art-O-Mat blocks...

The blocks have arrived!

Preparing the blocks for painting

The shipment from Art-O-Mat has finally arrived. I can now start painting. As soon as I finish 50 blocks, I will mail them back and they will put my little art pieces into Art-O-Mat machines throughout the country. This is so exciting. I hope they are well received.

I have to prep each block. 2 coats of gesso, sand it down a little bit to get rid of the rough edges and then a base coat of acrylic. The backgrounds will take another couple of coats of some design or other and then I'll paint the main object. It's quite a bit of work for $2.50, but it's truly a labor of love.

Many, many thanks to Sharon for turning me onto the whole Art-O-Mat concept.

Another Art-O-Mat purchase

Tiny House 

I'm becoming obsessed with Art-O-Mat art. The idea of converting cigarette machines in art dispensers is just too cool. I love it! My latest purchase is this little kiln-fired earthenware clay ornament. The artist is Kathleen Hill of Kismet Art Studios. I think she's from NY, but I'm not sure. My guitars and birds paintings were accepted by Art-O-Mat so I am waiting for a shipment of blocks so I can start producing my stuff for the machines. This is very exciting. I am a little anxious about having to paint 50 separate blocks. . .it's a lot. But I am hoping that once I get started I can get into the flow and just crank them out assembly line style. They will each be original, one of a kind, paintings, but they'll be similar. I want them to be good. I want people to like them. Good grief. I'm so needy and insecure.