inspired?

it is late and the day has been so very long.  having nobody to care for my wee one (too long and boring a story to tell) i was forced to call in to work today, and in lieu of going to work i called a friend, packed up the baby, and went to the st. louis art fair.

i have not been to this particular fair in several years, for several reasons.
1 - it's huge.  overwhelming, really.  you have to really love art to get through the whole thing.
2 - it's not terribly close to my end of st. louis
3 - parking in non-existent
4 - all the work being shown is very high-end, and therefore i have no delusions of ever purchasing anything
5 - it is normally in mid-september and that means h o t for st. louis
this year proved that #1-4 are still true.  i like my life, but today left me feeling unsuccessful as an artist and terribly poor financially.  no more st. louis art fair for me.  to top it off i was not terribly interested in any of those showing.  and their website sucks.  there.

wait, i take one thing back - the not being interested in anyone showing.  there was a local gal who was doing and art demo that we caught the very tail-end of.  i was quite taken with her style of painting and her down-right ballsy use of color.  then when i looked in the program i found that her name was not listed.  boo!  boo st. louis art fair!  luckily, she mentioned her name while she was speaking and it stuck in my head.

jennifer hayes

check her out.  you'll thank me.

the busy day has not allowed for much more than sketching.  my honest hope was that i would come home with so much inspiration that i would get right to work.  what actually happened was i hopped into my pajamas and cuddled up with the babe to watch the new star trek movie.

alas, in the spirit if artists inspiring other artists i do present a small collection of my atcs - artist trading cards.

(left to right, top to bottom)

i see roses in these weeds, meadow, hanging on a moment, she brings grace and beauty,

stand tall, twirl, true love

if you have not heard of atcs, they are 2.5"x3.5" pieces of art that one creates and trades with other artists. 

i originally got into the trading to do just that - i wanted to have a collection of art.  what i found was that it is an awesome way for me to create 'rough drafts' in miniature with little investment.  atcs are an awesome tool and tons of fun besides.

this series of atcs i call 'sweet nothings'.  i was experimenting with embroidering on photographs and paper.  these actually lead to a larger series of pieces that i'll show you some day.

greener grass (framed)

tomorrow i promise something new.

pleasant dreams.

jo