Stanka!

This weekend was pretty amazing - I got to take a 2 day workshop with the incredible multi-award winning portrait artist Stanka Kordic. It was such an honor to learn from her! Her paintings are sort of life-changing, I don't know how else to describe them. Please be sure to check out her website to see for yourself.

Image Copyright Stanka Kordic 2012

Each morning, Stanka did an alla prima demo. She approached the painting a lot looser than I'm used to, making seemingly random underpainting marks and then "finding" the contours and features of the portrait within the loose marks. In almost everything, she used a large brush - sometimes simple house painting brushes! She then layed in large flat planes of color - something that I would like to do more in my own work - and refined everything later. And suddenly *POP!* there he was.

 Amazing!

Here is my go at it:

This photo is a little dark, but you get the idea

 Thanks Eileen at BAYarts, Arthur the awesome model and especially Stanka for a wonderful weekend! Can't wait to try out these new techniques.

Let it Be Encaustic Process

My buddy Randy curates some awesome shows around town. This time it was "Album of the Year," which opened Friday at Studio Le Beau in Tremont (an adorable suburb of Cleveland, Ohio). For this show, we all created 12x12 tributes of our favorite album covers. We of the Rust Belt Monster Collective also used this for our Week 18 challenge topic.

Awesome Poster by Ms. Ashley Ribblet

  I chose to illustrate the Beatles' "Let it Be". 

To create my album cover, I first rendered the image in charcoal on Arches Hot Press 300gsm Watercolor Paper (right now, this is the only paper I use on for charcoal works).

The paper is attached to a drawing using drafting tape. I don't like this tape as much as my usual artist tape (which the store was out of) for 2 reasons: 1) It is lighter and not as sticky, which makes maintaining clean lines more difficult and 2) it is yellow instead of white, which makes you view the color of your work differently.

I spray fixed the drawing, cut it out of the sheet of paper with an x-acto knife, and grabbed a watercolor-paper covered 12x12 hardboard panel I had prepped earlier. This panel had to have an absorbent sheet of paper attached to it since it had come pre-gessoed and encaustic wax does not stick to acrylic gesso.

I then heated up some encastic medium (beeswax mixed with damar resin) on the ole' George Foreman and poured a layer of wax on to the panel. My assistant (boyfriend) and I then used a heat gun to keep the wax liquid long enough to let it soak through the drawing. This basically glues the paper to the wood and "fuses" the wax, making it stronger, smoother, and harder. It also is the most difficult part since the wax cools very quickly. Definitely a 2 person job.

George Foreman commandeered from the Boyfriend... Sorry Ron

Here is the drawing covered in Wax. I love all the cool textures we got! Notice how I accidentally cut it a little too small for the panel... whoops...

Waxy!

And then I painted over the wax in oils! Hmm... I bet you want to see that part. Head over to the Rust Belt Monster Collective site to check it out!

Here is a preview:

Pot Preview

Kiln Wizard Jeff sent these photos today of a few of my new pieces. Can't wait to see them in person! Although those brown bowls were definitely supposed to be greenish...

Pottery show THIS Friday!!

Goings On This Week

Suddenly May is here and my life got very busy again!

Here is where you can see me this week:

Ingenuity Festival's Ingenuity’s Bal Ingenieux • Friday May 4th, 6pm to 1am
We of the Rust Belt Monster Collective will draw a live comic strip over the course of this 7 hour event. This is not to be missed!

Artwork by RMBC's own Craig Worrell

Free Comic Book Day at Carol and John's Comics! • Saturday May 5th, 12am to 2am and 10am to 7pm. This event is a blast! The RMBC and many other local artists all submitted their own versions of Marvel comic book covers. Here is mine:

 See you out on the town!

Long Conversations

From my show "A Study in Wanderlust" on display at Kendal in Oberlin until May 9th, 2012.

Best of the West!

Every year, Northeast Ohio's "West Shore Live Well Magazine" holds a competition to find the very best local businesses here on the West Side of Cleveland. The grand finale of the annual contest is "the Best of the West"; a trade-show-like party where Clevelanders can vote for their favorite finalists.

I was honored with an invite to help with the "Rae-Ann Nursing" booth at this years event. Rae-Ann is a family-owned nursing and rehabilitation company with 4 local facilities and is a consistent Best of the West winner.  It is very easy to understand why -  The staff are all incredibly kind and welcoming, they have wonderful programs for their residents (including many community art ones!) and.... they have their own in-house bakery!!

At this year's Best of the West, Rae-Ann wanted to promote their many art programs, so they invited me to create some live art with the Best of the West attendees!

The idea was to get Best of the West Voters (A.K.A anyone who attends the event) to engage with the Rae-Ann Staff as they add their own personal touch to an on-going collaborative painting. My job was to get everything ready and to cheerfully invite people to draw... which might be one of my favorite activities anyway, so I had a GREAT time!

We decided to use a 36in x 48in canvas as the support. Since messes were a concern, we bought paint markers for people to use. What fun colors!!! Most of the markers we bought were Sharpie brand paint markers, Medium Size. The sharpie "Bold" size has a tendency to loose its felt tip - which is not so fun when you are trying to get fancy-dressed people to draw! I did like the Elmer's "Painters" brand as well, but the color choices were very limited.

Before the event, I used some of the paint markers to add logos and a floral banner at the top of the canvas.

To make sure everything was exact, I printed out the logos actual size and used transfer paper to get them on the canvas perfect. (FYI: Carefully tracing this way leads to not-so-fun hand cramps. Rest often!) I then outlined all my letters before filling them in (Ron the BF was a big help here!)

The pretty flowers at the top started out as pencil drawings, but that didn't last too long and most of them ended up free-form. They are VERY inspired by my Mexican-ish ceramics last year, particularly this collaborative piece (I painted, Sue threw, Joan Sculpted):

It took me 2 nights to finish all the canvas decoration.

I had a blast decorating this canvas with everyone at the event! I think it turned out pretty great...

The quilt on the right was made by local elementary school students and features Westlake city founders! I LOVE it. Can you guess which square is my favorite (hint it's orange!)?

It's amazing to see what people will draw or write when you give them a fun colored marker!
Thanks Rae-Ann for letting me hang out with you last week - I had a wonderful time. :)

Cameron in the Roses

Cameron in the Roses • 2011 • 8 in x 8 in

Charcoal, Colored Pencil, Gouache, Acrylic paint, Metal Leaf and Encaustic Medium on Paper Mounted to board. 

First Place BAYart's Fall Juried Show 2011

In a private collection

Meadowlark

Meadowlark • Oil on Canvas • 2011

On Exhibit at Kendal at Oberlin until May 9th

Process Pictures after the Jump

Panels and Kitties

I got a visit from the art supply fairies today...

10 beautiful birch panels, ready to turn into some small good things.
Can't wait to get started.

Mika the Ragdoll was really excited too - new BOX!

 
Here is what I used my last wood panel on..

John Singer Sargent / Klimt mash up for a Rust Belt Monster Collective Challenge

This is the rough:

GO check out some other re-imagined masterpieces at the RBMC blog!

Erin Go Draw!

Two new drawings this week!

As Sacred as Water on a Hot Day • Charcoal on Paper • 12 in x 18 in

Summer Spirits • Charcoal on Paper • 11 in x 14 in

Here they are framed:

And the best part is that I got to work outside in this incredible / baffling weather! I've discovered that I can focus much better outside than inside as long as I have my ipod. So much less distracting that working indoors. I had my kitty cat hanging out with me on a leash for part of the time too!

Happy St. Pat's everyone!

War Paint

Me after a hard day working in the mines evening charcoal drawing.

Ron says it looks like I'm wearing war paint

No matter what the medium, I typically end up wearing my artwork. On a good drawing / painting day, I get really into it and loose track of my motions - which includes any marks I make on the paper or elsewhere. This is a good thing, but is always also a messy thing (which is probably a big part of what makes it a good thing).

Tonight, this is the cause of all that mess:

Charcoal on Arches 300gsm watercolor paper - bright white

... And now to wipe off all the charcoal smudges on my keyboard!

Super Spring!

Spring is in the air! It is bright and warm outside (though still freezing in my cubical) and everyone is in a better mood because of it. We product designers work a year ahead of time at Darice and I've been happily drawing spring things all week. This is a much easier task when I can look out my window at blue skies anytime my eyes need an LED break.

At home this weekend I drew this piece of Ralph McQuarrie (RIP) fanart for the RBMC:

I've been in cute-mode lately, what can I say?

This week I plan to:

• Work on a few more charcoal drawings
• Finalize my curriculum for my Costume Cabaret figure drawing class (Space is still available, so sign up now!)
• Do a Moebius tribute illo for the RBMC
• Get back in the pottery studio on Saturday (for the first time in months - hooray!)
• Art Club / Group Therapy on Sunday - YES!
• RELAX

What do you have on your plate?

BEST IN SHOW!!!!

I have some very exciting news...

My painting, "Modern Pixie" won BEST IN SHOW at BAYart's Spring Juried Show!
I am still a little in shock...

If that wasn't enough...the gallery director told me that BOTH of my entered paintings were actually up for the award - which is CRAZY! The judges eventually decided to give "Modern Pixie" best in show and "Crown Wearer" first place, but when they found out that both paintings were by the same artist they rightfully changed their mind so that more artists could be honored.

Here are the two paintings in the show:

the WINNER!

I couldn't be more thrilled!

A veteran sculptor we met at the opening, Louise, asked the question that was most on my mind after I got over the shock of winning: "So, where do you go from here?" ....Goooood question....

In this month alone I was in 5 shows (Small Good Things, Dewey's Coffee Shop, A Study in Wanderlust, BAYart's Juried Show and BAYart's Faculty Show), won a major award, and sold about a third of my inventory. If that isn't proof that I have something here worth pursuing, I'm not sure what would be. So I think the next steps in this career are the following:

1. I need to develop a better internet presence for my gallery work (and illustration too while I'm at it). This means hiring someone to build me a website. I could do it myself, but I don't know enough to make it a smooth build and I would rather spend my limited time making artwork than struggling through the learning process. I also now have a Facebook page for my work. Check it out here: http://www.facebook.com/ErinInArtLand
2. I need to pursue gallery representation in other cities. I think that the truest test of my work will be to see if it could survive in venues that are unfamiliar with me. Starting in baby steps, I will try to seek out galleries in other cities to show my stuff. Pittsburgh and Columbus - I'm looking at you.
3. I should enter my work in more prestigious competitions. So far, most of the awards of my professional career has come from one place. I am incredibly grateful to BAYarts for all they've done for me - and of course I'll continue to support them - but I think I've got something here and I need to find other places to showcase it. You never know till you try, right?

 So that's my plan in a nutshell. This has been a crazy ride so far and though it hasn't been without it's bumps (some bigger than others) - I can't wait to see where it'll take me.

One more time.... EEEEEEEKKKKKK!!!!! BEST IN SHOW!! OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG! hahaha

BAYarts Faculty Show

The art center where I teach is having a faculty show. We were all asked to contribute one water-related piece. I chose to do an encaustic, since it is a good representation of one of my more unique classes.


Before:

and After:

Oil and Water • Oil, Encaustic and Mixed Media • 8in x 8in

 Come see it live, as well as many other incredible pieces, at the show opening this Friday at BAYarts!

The next class I teach is called, "Costume Cabaret" and is a fun spin on figure drawing / painting and staging illustrations. The class starts on March 20th and runs until May 15th. Here is more information (You can sign up for classes online here):

Costumed Cabaret (Mar 20-May 15)

Instructor: Erin Schechtman

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

6:30-9:00 pm

teens and adults

March 20-May 15 (NO CLASS APRIL 10)

Costumed Cabaret: Drawing and Painting the Clothed Figure

Throughout art history, costumes have played an important role in defining the message of any given painting. In this exciting new class, students will have a unique opportunity to tell stories in their work by painting and drawing from costumed models. Special emphasis will be placed on composition, lighting, illustration, and props. Possible themes include: Victorian, Swinging Twenties, Cabaret, SciFi and others. Students should expect to work in both charcoal on newsprint and in oil paint.

member $175   non-member $190 (model fee included)

member registration - February 25
open registration - March 3

Hope to see you there!

Rust Belt Monster Collective

So... you know how I go on and on about how important it is to have a commnuity? Well... this is MY support network:

5 of the most talented artists and kindest people I've had the pleasure to have known. And yes... that's me in the middle...

We ARE:

• Ben Hale
• Craig Worell
• James Giar
• Randolph Crider
• Tim Switalski
• And...er... Erin Schechtman (you are already at my blog)

Together we form the Rust Belt Monster Collective: a group of 6 artists who, on the constant quest to get BETTER, do weekly art challenges based on randomly chosen topics. This week, we are on Topic 9... a tribute to late concept art powerhouse Ralph McQuarrie ... though we normally draw muppets, superheros, and silly stuff like that. Check us out!

Blog URL: http://rustbeltmonster.blogspot.com/

You are Invited!

I am thrilled to invite you to the opening night of my two-person gallery show at BayArts: Small Good Things.

For this show, ceramicist Sue Kirchgessner and I spent a year developing artwork that reminds us of summer. I created realistic figurative paintings in oil paint and encaustic (beeswax) and floral mixed media pieces that have glowing, gilded accents. Sue made functional ceramic lanterns and beautiful tableware covered in elaborate nature vignettes. The resulting body of work is both playful and powerful and we can't wait to share it with you. Please come celebrate with us.

Friday, February 10th 2012 • 7 to 9 pm
BayArts is located within Huntington park
28795 Lake Road • Bay Village, Ohio 44140
440-871-6543

"Small Good things" will be on display until March 3rd.

An artist talk will follow on Sunday, February 19th 2012 at 2 pm.
Preview our work at http://potteryandpaint.blogspot.com/.

Hope to see you there!

15 minutes

A Serious Artist

I am a VERY busy artist. I do freelance work and commissions, create collections for gallery shows, and teach. Oh, and I also work a full-time job. On the best days, I am on a creative high - delighted to have opportunities to do what I love. On most days, I am overwhelmed and exhausted. Or... at least I was until art marketing consultant Alison B. Stanfield gave me some very good advice:

"Spend just 15 minutes a day checking in with your art."

It is a beautiful idea. Suddenly it is OK to work just 15 minutes a night on your art as long as you do it each and every night. Of course this is not a way to make an entire show or career, but it gives permission for those nights when all you can contribute is 15 minutes. As one who can get overwhelmed by big tasks, this advice is priceless!

In a recent blog post, Gretchen Rubin of "the Happiness Project" fame, also recommends a 15 minute schedule. When facing a seemingly insurmountable task, she tells herself to, "suffer for 15 minutes". Eventually, the job gets done. (Please see that blog post here). As she says, we often underestimate how much we can get done in the short term. So go out there and take advantage of that time!

The 15 minutes can be spent any way you choose as long as it relates to your artwork. For me, this includes anything from creating artwork to marketing to reading art books. It does not include internet time (unless I am researching something specific) but can include blogging time. Usually, the time limit is just the catalyst I need to get my butt in the studio and I end working for longer. However, if I need to stop, I NEED to stop - and that is perfectly OK!

Tonight, my 15 minutes will be spent on sending artwork photos to the gallery for a press release. Did I mention that I have a gallery show opening in almost EXACTLY a month? No? Oh! I have a gallery show opening in a month. Time to get back to work!

One Month to SHOW TIME! Hope to see you there :)