RAD Studio Cruise in Avondale Estates

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The RAD (rail arts district) Studio Cruise is almost here and several Avondale businesses and studios have been busily preparing for over 1000 patrons to pass through our streets perusing emerging artist's works, numerous live performances and demonstrations at various locations along the CSX rail line that runs through Avondale Estates into Decatur's Laredo industrial district and all the way to Scottdale. For maps and venue information, go to www.railartsdistrict.com.

In the meantime, make sure to stop by at 151 Locust Street where the Avondale Arts Alliance presents 7 artists of varying disciplines exhibiting and selling their work. And make sure to stop by between 4-6 pm for a Valentine's Paper Making workshop by Katy DeMent, the paper lady. There will be wine and small bites available as well.

Stay tuned for individual artist profiles in the days leading up to the event.

Hope to see you there!

Arthur Rackham, Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens

This month is somehow flying by and my intention was to get a lot of paintings done, including a few commissions. Yet, it's almost February and I've only barely finished one commission and there are several other pieces ready to go with sketches, but I can't seem to get started! Of course they will all get done in due time, I just feel a bit distracted I guess, and one example of procrastinating is when I rediscovered Arthur Rackham's work this week on Alponse's Room blog. Yes, I know, this blog is in Greek, but that doesn't matter because the collection of Rackham's work along with a lot of great poster work is a visual feast for the eyes. Fairies, elfs, butterflies, creepy trees-and the combination of sinister and innocence is downright amazing to say the least. Let's just say I'm inspired.

What's coming up

A few sketches done in the last couple days while hunkered down from the snow and ice. Just musing about Paris, queens and other fanciful thoughts. I've prepped some wood blocks sized 5" x 11" to bring some of these beauties to life. Now, how to pick which one to do first...?

Where sunflowers shine

A recent Christmas gift commission for a friend in the neighborhood. The recipient loves sunflowers and my friend wanted to give the gift of art this year. I really like having these kind of friends! :)

I'm off to Lake Oconee tonight for one glorious, relaxing evening away with my husband. Sort of a pre-New Year's Eve celebration since we'll be at home with the kids tomorrow night.

Happy New Year and peace to you all.

Lillibands Studio Sale

One last show for this season! I'll be at Lillibands Studio in Avondale Estates this Thursday, December 9 and 10 along with 6 other very talented artisans. There are a few ornaments left (one shown above, front/back) as well as lots of prints in 6x6" and 10x10" formats. I even cranked out a few more 5x5 blocks today and another caravan watercolor, so come on out and see me and get those last minute holiday gifts out of the way (even if it's for for you!)

But no worries, if you miss this one, just contact me at jennifer(at)jensingh.com for a studio visit through December 23!

A pair of leaves

Getting ready for the Little Tree Gallery Holiday Art Show and Sale this weekend so not much time to post much right now! Hope you come by to see me and some other fabulous artists and artisans. Saturday, Dec. 4, 10-6 and Sunday, Dec. 5, Noon-5.

Vivarium

A mixed media collage painted on a 5x5 wood block, this little terrarium is just full of miniature happiness! I received an order of new paints from Dick Blick last week and after the holiday weekend, I was finally able to really break in some of these colors. One of my faves is a turquoise green mixed with pthalo blue-so vivid and lovely. Can't you see how magical it is inside there? hehe

keeping place

As a kid, it always fascinated me out to put insects, toads, etc. in a jar, yet after awhile, it became a little creepy watching them bat around and eventually sit lethargic at the bottom of the jar. We would eventually let them go, with me left feeling sort of guilty for doing it in the first place. Yet when I was at one of my favorite antique markets awhile ago, I found butterflies mounted behind glass and was again intrigued to see these little creatures up close and in detail. I almost bought it, but somehow couldn't bring myself to do it! So instead I did this little painting on wood. It should suffice for now.

Holiday time

Feeling relatively normal today after an insane last couple of weeks. This rain is certainly helping (as well as slipping in a yoga class this morning!) But as I unpack artwork and return emails and phone calls, I'm finding that there is plenty to do around the corner. Next up is the Little Tree Gallery Holiday Show on Dec. 3 & 4. I've got to get cracking on some new work for sure, esp. some larger pieces. Along with a couple commissions, I'm sure my holidays will go by pretty quickly around here.

So I had finished 8 ornaments and sold 5 at my last two shows. Here is a peek at the first five stars, I didn't even get a chance to photograph my other 3 yet and one got out the door before I could even remember what it looked like! Sheesh, no worries though, I'll crank out a few more for the Little Tree show!

New Work

This week, two shows that I'm furiously working on getting some inventory for. "oh, Hello" (above) and "Frog Royale" -a piece you may

recognize (but new and improved!) . I'll have ornaments, more wood blocks and finally, some notecards! I'll show you pics of those as soon as they get photographed.

So here are details about the shows. The first one is called Two Birds, One Heart and is a home show in Druid Hills benefiting the Decatur Cooperative Ministry and CURE. Check out the invitation for times and directions.

And my friend Heather Pyles is having her annual holiday show in Avondale on Sunday, Nov. 14 5 pm-9 pm, 107 Dartmouth Ave., Avondale Estates.

Hope you can come to one of the shows to see new work and as well as some other fabulous creatives displaying their wares-it's officially holiday shopping season people, so come check it out!

Museum School Second grade auction projects

The last couple weeks have absolutely been insane, with classroom auction projects, auction committee duties and getting ready for three shows, I can barely keep my eyes open! Yet, it all will come quickly to an end after next weekend. The Museum School auction is on Friday, November 12th at 6 pm at Bart Webb Studios (more info at www.themuseumschool.org)

Ok, so I had to make a little plug there, only because if you can come to the auction just to see all the classroom art projects, it would be worth it! They are simply "museum" worthy and anyone would be excited to hang one of their works in their home.

Pictured above are three upcycled windows the second grade kids painted on for their project. They are currently studying oceans, and specifically the three layers of the ocean. So since we had three old windows, we divided the kids into groups to create the sunlight, twilight and midnight layers of the ocean. They really LOVED this project and I think they did a fabulous job! (top to bottom, Midnight (this one has glow in the dark paint!), Twilight, and Sunlight.

Sugar Skulls

Countdown to Halloween over here in Avondale Estates where it is one of the most anticipated holidays of the year! All the lawn decorations, ghosted signs, spirit awards, and then on hallow's eve, some of the greatest scary houses you can find! So inspired by sugar skulls, I created these 3"x 3" blocks that can be hung or just displayed on a shelf. They are very shimmery with the use of bronze acrylics and finished with a triple thick gloss finish. BOO!

for keeps-mixed media on wood

With only 2 days to go before AutumnFest, there were a few more pieces I wanted to crank out beforehand. This being one example that is a recurring theme in my pieces, combining woodland themes and fairytale-like stories. I was thinking of doing more abstract imagery for this show, but the illustrator in me keeps wanting to have a story to paint about! Well, for now I've got a few of these small works on wood to get that out of my system. And now off to organize and get my display ready for setup tomorrow!

Finally feeling it

That long, hot summer is finally behind us, phew! Who thought I'd be saying that in October? And since we've had a few weeks of cooler weather, it's easy to quickly forget how hot it was just a short time ago. This little 4x6 watercolor piece is part of a season series and is a reminder of those long summer days I don't miss right now, but will surely long for come January.

Rag Ribbon Rainbow

Finally finished with all the inventory for the Rag, Ribbon Rainbow show coming up this weekend in Buckhead. There are over a 100 of my items catalogued for this show! Now, for the first time, there will be a series of 4" x 6" original watercolors available at this event. I've scanned almost all of them for reproductions and will be available on my Etsy site after the show, but the originals will be on sale at this event only!

The meet the artist gala event will be Friday, October 15 at 7 pm at 696 Mountain Dr., NE Atlanta GA, 30342. (just off Wieuca Rd not far from Peachtree Rd.) The show is October 14-16. Check out the link above for hours and directions!

And, the final two watercolors, Virtue and Desire, finished just tonight for drop-off tomorrow-the paint is still wet and leaving marks on my scanner glass!

lil' camper

I've been working on a series of 4"x6" watercolors that will be sold at Rag, Ribbon, Rainbow the weekend of October 16th. The theme is loosely based on my "woodland dreams" concept, basically anything that has to do with nature, forests, small wildlife and wonders or those nostalgic memories of camping as a kid, campfires, etc. I need to deliver my work on Oct. 11, so I'll try to scan as many as I can before they get sent off! Here's a recent one, titled "lil' camper".

Just playing

I haven't done any wood blocks in awhile, so I started 5 simultaneously using a couple out-of-the-box ground colors for me. Usually, I've got the vivid blues, reds and magentas going on, but this week I wanted to create some moody pieces that have more subtle undercoats of colors. I found some pressed rose petals in a heavy book that I forgot about, and I was experimenting with stamps and abstract shapes. I like how the petals kind of look like wings. Any thoughts for titles? I'm drawing a blank for some reason!

Confetti

Tiny works (4"x6") studying negative space, minimalist composition and a little whimsy, of course.

a little study

Just doing some 4" x 6" quick studies using cut paper and watercolor. I'll be starting a "woodland dreams" series based on a painting a did awhile back with the same name. These little pieces will use simple compositions while investigating some color theories and will also act as prelimaries to some larger works.

The Museum School Mission Statement Project

In the past few weeks, I've been busy finding and organizing artists to participate in a community art project for The Museum School. Katherine Kelbaugh, the principal, had the idea to have artists come up with creative interpretations of The Museum School's mission statement. The vision is to have an original work of art that would hang in each classroom. There are a total of 7 classrooms at the school and the artists that have agreed to participate range in style from polymer clay artisans, photographers to mixed media artists. The deadline is October 5, just before The Museum School's first exhibition night on October 7.

I've created a series of 3 mixed media works on canvas that basically illustrate the words in a whimsical style (of course!) It's going to be really exciting to see all the artist's final pieces. I let them have free reign in that I didn't require to see sketches or see anything in progress.

One of the photographers, Sara Speert, will be documenting the progress of her piece, so check it out and see her journey!