Christmas Tree

For some reason the holidays seem a lot less stressfull this year, I think I'm managing my time a little better and narrowing the amount of random art projects I take on.  I'm also scheduling a little more time for hanging out with friends and seeing the finery this city has to offer.

I set a very strict budget for Christmas shopping, and stuck to it. yay!
My Christmas shopping is done.

This weekend I will be baking up a storm: cookies, cakes and  mince meat pies.  I love the smell of an oven full of pastries in the chilly air of my loft.

Today a ton of painting ideas were pouring onto the pages of my sketchbook.  Somehow I think the cooler weather helped jump-start my brain (or maybe it was the coffee).
Once the sketches form into a little more then the chicken-scratch rough ideas that they are now, I will post some photos.

I have uploaded some new work into my Etsy store.  Most of the pieces I'm working on now I will be secretly stowing in a dark corner until their premier reveal at the Three Graces Gallery in Feb.

-Happy holidays all
-Wishing you a white Christmas


-Jen

Winter Art Shopping

I just rotated my inventory of work at the FPAC store.



The store will also be hosting the
Fort Point Holiday sale:

December 2, 3, and 4, 2011
Friday 4-8pm • Saturday and Sunday 11am-4pm
Opening Reception: Friday, December 2rd, 5-8pm
Festive holiday snacks and refreshments

12 Farnsworth Street • Fort Point, Boston • 617-423-1100
find unique gifts of local art, or treat yourself


http://www.fortpointarts.org/shop/

The Wedding

 

Billy Balls and Garden roses from Fiftyflowers.com

 

Above is our wedding cake.  The cake is an almond cake with chai cream filling and a white chocolate buttercream frosting.  The cake topper is made by "Vintage by Crystal".  The macaroons are made by MadMac.

 

The wedding has come and gone,  so much work!

We had so much fun, the weather was chilly and overcast, but it was a beautiful fall day.  I enjoyed spending so much time with my family and friends outside of the bustle of the city.  It was such a relief to have all the wedding preparations over and done with, finally I had time to relax.

My next show will be in February at the Three Graces Gallery in Portsmouth NH.

Enjoy the fall.

The annual Fort point open studios is Oct 14th 15th and 16th.
I'm currently working on final prep and painting hanging while trying to iron out last minute wedding plans... what a lot of work!
http://www.fortpointarts.org/cgi-bin/FPAC?s=open_studios&sub=1

Wedding Bits

I Just finished sewing 50 boutonnieres!

Voltage Cafe Show

Earlier this year I was invited to participate in a group show at the Voltage Cafe. Originally, I thought that I would not have any brand new pieces. For every show I do I try really hard to have at least a few new paintings, for the regulars. This year I have a million events going on in the fall and only a limited amount of work. With some hard work, early mornings and a sudden burst of inspiration I ended up completing three tiny new paintings.

Above are some sneak peeks of the work in progress.

I'm really excited for the opening. It has been over a year since I've been in a show that I could actually attend, and it is in a cute little coffee shop!

Time	Friday, September 9 · 7:00pm - 10:00pm
Location	Voltage Coffee & Art Gallery 295 3rd Street Cambridge, MA

The exhibition will be on view September 9th-October 22d, 2011

Participating Artists Include: Autumn Ahn, Brian Daly, Corey Corcoran, Elizabeth Grammaticas, Jakob Fioole, Jennifer Lewis, Jessica Liggero, Kenji Nakayama, Nick Ward, Polly Becker

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=272404116107110
http://flux-boston.com/

Comic Bits

I started my little comic in the sketchbook for the "Sketchbook Project". Before sending it out on it's travels I hastily made some fairly poor scans of the images. I am now in the process of cleaning up the images on Photoshop and adding text.

Working on a comic, even a mini one like this has proven to be a lot of work, but great fun.

Happy August!

Wedding Design

Weeeeek! After almost a two year engagement it feels like our fall wedding is just around the corner. I am still going to be doing the Boston Arts Festival this year and Fort Point Open Studios. The next few months are jam-packed, so I know the time will just fly by.

I have been hording my vacation time so it will be lovely to have a much needed two week vacation in the country.

Above I have posted some images of the Save The Dates and the wedding invites. I used a gocco printer to print the text section of the invites. I used 4by6 (the company I use for my business cards) for the color map as well as the fox and bunny "paper dolls".

A lot of wedding projects will be hand created to give me an opportunity to work on my design skills. I really need to practice Illustrator and In Design, so I have worked out a Comic/program project for myself. I will be posting some snippets of my work here in the next few months.

Winner Selected

Thank you to everyone that entered to win my mini Nurse painting. A winner has been selected! congratulations TracyDawe! I have E-mailed and as soon as I get a reply with your mailing address I will send her out to her new home. Thanks again. -Jen

Disney/Pixar, Brave

I just saw a preview for the Disney/Pixar movie, Brave. The imagery looks like something I would really enjoy, bears, archers red headed girls and dark landscapes. eeek!

I can only hope that there will be numerous woodland creatures included.

Below is one of my pieces... my own interpretation of a wild woodland girl.

In other news I am working on a short comic.

I have posted some sketches below. They are not the best quality photos, but I usually end up taking photos at night after the sun has gone down.

Summer Give-Away

Hello all-

I was recently cleaning up my apartment and I came across this little painting. It is a tiny little thing about 2" square, painted with acrylic paints on a piece of illustration board. I could not find a frame for it so I am offering it as a give-away prize.

The rules:

Please reply to this post.

Provide your e mail address.

On July 21st I will check the posts and randomly choose a recipient. I will e-mail you and ask you for your address so I can send you this tiny painting.

-Good Luck!

Gearing up For the Fall

I know, summer has just started, but it seems like Fall is just around the corner.

I was just informed that I got into the Boston Arts festival again this year. This year it will only be two days, Saturday the 10th of Sep and Sunday the 11th.

I will also be participating in the Fort Point Open Studios; Oct 14th 15th and 16th.

In between my day job (really a night job) and painting I will be working and selling my work at the FPAC store, right next to the yummy Flour Bakery.

Below are some snippets of paintings I have been working on:

Thank You All

A great big thank you to everyone that made it out to the RISD sale and the FPAC open studios. It was great to see you all. It has been a crazy busy few weeks!

The next few weeks will be slowing down a bit (no stints of jury duty, dentist appointments or stitches), finally I will have some time to get back to painting.

The most exciting news: In June I will have a piece in the "Picture This" exhibit at the Danforth Museum of art. This show will showcase new work created by contemporary picture book illustrators living and working in New England. The juried work will be featured in the Danforth's Children's Gallery.

http://www.danforthmuseum.org/exhibits.html

June 11, 2011 - August 7, 2011

Patrons' Preview *Invite Only* Saturday, June 11, 2011 - 7pm - 9pm

All Creatures Great and Small

I've been revisiting one of my favorite childhood series, "All Creatures Great and Small". It is a lovely, witty, lighthearted story about a vet in the English countryside. It is streaming on Netfiix and provides great background entertainment while I paint and work on wedding projects. Someday when I have enough free time I would love to re-read the books. My new wedding project is working on gumpaste flowers, what fun! It is a very hard medium to work with, it dries out very fast and cracks, but I'm excited to learn new things. My current cake inspiration is Cake Opera Co. They have very Marie Antoinette looking cakes. Their color palettes are very unique I am in awe of their use of black and gray and hand drawn elements.

Spring is in the Air (and a little snow)

This year I will have a very busy spring. I will be showing my work at the: RISD spring alumni sale Saturday April 30th 2011 Providence RI Facebook link Website as well as the Fort Point Spring Art Walk. May 6th 7th and 8th Boston, Mass Link Off to do some more painting. -Jen

It is Difficult to Paint on a Record

Visiting Portsmouth NH

I just visited Portsmouth NH. I went up to see my work at the Three Graces Gallery and show Tom around my old stomping ground. The gallery was great. It is full of many wonderful paintings, ceramics and some beautiful wooden tables. I ended up purchasing a little fox assemblage on blocks, so cute.

There are numerous little shops and cafes in Portsmouth. We spent a majority of the day hanging out at Breaking New Grounds sipping cappuccinos. I sketched and nibbled on some Ceres Street bakery Mexican chocolate cookies and Tom nursed his hangover in a dimly lit corner of the cafe. I forgot how early everything closed and ended up missing out on trying on a ring at a hand made craft store. They closed at 4:00! I did find a pile of little treasures. I ended up picking up some antique picture frames and a glass milk bottle.

If you are interested in any of the work at The Three Graces it is available on line as well. They offer FREE SHIPPING! (for a limited time)

http://threegracesgallery.com/

Tiny Tiny Art Show, Opening Feb 4th

The Tiny Tiny Art Show is opening Feb 4th in Portsmouth NH. I just sent them a fine selection of some of my favorite art pieces. Please visit the website for more info: http://threegracesgallery.com/tiny_art_show.html Thanks and enjoy -Jen