Studio Tuesday!

You may have noticed (or maybe not) that I haven’t been blogging much in the last 4 months. We were having our house renovated, and it was, overall, a great experience, but left little time for blogging. Anyway, I now have a real studio, with electricity and everything!! Here are a couple photos from downstairs – you may notice how white it still is. I was having trouble breaking it in, but finally did it today – there are now paint drips on the walls and floor!

While we were out of the house, friends of mine graciously lent me their basement to use as a temporary studio space. This is the painting that I gave to them in gratitude for their generosity!

Here are a few paintings that left my studio space last year, without me talking about them. I made the first one for my friend Harold at Gorilla House. When I arrived that night to give it to him, a woman who was visiting GH fell in love with the painting, so I sold it to her and made Harold the new one you see below the first!

Here are a couple of paintings that are hanging around the studio – they are looking for new homes, but I have yet to make listings for them. If you are interested in any, just let me know.

It’s Strange but I like it!

I’m so glad to be back in the swing of things – I’m painting more regularly and really enjoying it! I am finding today’s composition to be a little bit odd, but sometimes odd is good. So I am embracing it and as usual, enjoying creating color explosions!

Today’s painting is up for auction on my Facebook page, so please head over there to bid! The auction ends tonight at 9 pm MST.

Feature Friday: Eden Thompson

I’m not sure how many works of art one needs to buy to be considered a collector, but I have a feeling that I am an official collector of Eden Thompson’s art!

I first met Eden about almost 5 years ago, and fell in love with his work right away. Eden paints and uses collage and layering techniques to achieve his unique look. Plus, he isn’t afraid of colour, which I obviously adore.

These are some of Eden’s pieces that I own (no, not all..!!), in chronological order.

One of the things I love about Eden (apart from being an all-around awesome guy) is how he is constantly trying new things – new techniques, new images, new styles. He is a total inspiration. He recently started making paper portraits, so I asked him to make one of me.

I love it! (isn’t it great??) Looks like I will be getting the rest of the family done, too!

Check out Eden’s work!
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JetBlackDragonfly
Website: http://www.nucleus.com/~sophiaarts/
Shop: https://www.etsy.com/shop/jetblackdragonfly

Inspire at Triple Flip

I’m so excited to show you my art on a bodysuit, made by Triple Flip!! Triple Flip is a Canadian clothing company, with roots right here in Calgary! The clothes are bright and bold, and they have a special focus on fit, which is really important for the preteen years; anyone with preteen girls knows how hard it can be to find clothes that fit properly, are age-appropriate, AND look good.

Over a year ago, the company asked me if they could use this painting to create a bodysuit:

Here it is… how cool is this?! I love it!

Photo from Triple Flip.

Photo from Triple Flip.

Painting in … New Zealand!

Remember this tutorial I posted back in 2011? I had no intention of writing a serious tutorial, but I thought it would be a fun way to show how I paint. Turns out, it’s my most popular blog post, ever, with almost 10,000 views. I am still stunned by how seriously people have taken that post! And happy!

Most recently, a group of students at the Kokatahi-Kowhitirangi School in New Zealand used the tutorial to make their own paintings. The class was led by their teacher, Megan McLellan, in the process. Megan and I went to high school together (and used to take the same bus!) and we have been connected on Facebook for several years.

Here’s a photo of the students and their paintings:

I feel like a proud mama!! I hope they all had fun with it (I see smiles – good sign)! One of my greatest wishes for children is to enjoy the process and have fun with art!

Studio Tuesday

Here are some recent works in progress!

I worked on this one today. I’m feeling like it’s almost finished, but I am going to let it sit for a bit, and see how I feel about it next time I head down to the studio. I know that when I am not completely sure, it’s probably not done. On the other hand, when I leave a painting for long enough, I sometimes get used to how it looks, and it becomes done (like the one on the ground in the photo, with the squares!).

How do you know when you are done?

Painting Progression (Wordless Wednesday)

A Valentine’s gift… TEA!

I am so excited to show you the new label for tea tins at the Naked Leaf in Calgary! They are perfect for Valentine’s Day, and let me just say, this shop ROCKS. Awesome tea, awesome people, and they even have locally made chocolate made with some of their amazing teas – they are SO yummy (smoky pear is my fave)!! They also do tea subscriptions, which I think is an amazing idea: sign up and get one tin of tea every month for 6 months or a year. How cool is that?!

Here’s the new label!

These labels are still available, too!

Gorilla House Live Art 24: Wordless Wednesday

Sketchbook Project 2013 Update (my 300th post, ever!)

For other Sketchbook Project posts, click here.

The end is so close! I am almost done, and I would love to finish this before Christmas so I don’t even have to think about it in January! The Sketchbook Project is now a more flexible thing to join – you can sign up at anytime, and take your time finishing your book. The deadline only comes in if you sign up for a tour. It must be an easier way for them to organize it, but I have to admit, the grandiose-project feeling is a bit lost now for me. I haven’t decided if I will continue with it, yet. Are you more inclined to try it, now that the pressure is off? I guess I work better with a little bit of pressure!

Here are the next 5 spreads in my book!