Colorful Owl Illustration

Last week I started a new colored pencil drawing. The idea was to continue in line with the Peacock drawing I completed last year. There are only two days work into it, but I love how colorful it is turning out. I usually start with whatever part of the piece I think will be the most difficult to do and work out from there. That explains why there is so much detail in the face. Anyway, I thought I would update you with where my attention has bounced. I am very excited about the progress so far and expect it to turn out as beautiful as my peacock image. As always please feel free to ask me questions or give advice! 

Owl Illustration- Two days progress

Peacock and Peony Illustration- This is a drawing I finished last year and is in the same style I am seeking for my owl. 

A life I am proud of

The quote that has lingered on my studio wall recently is:

Live a life you are proud of,
and if you are not
find the strength to start over.

I am not sure who the author is, or if there is more to the quote than just the one sentence. However, the phrase has captivated me. Prodded me into questioning my actions.
Maybe it wares on me because my birthday was this weekend. The day always creates a since of renewal to me, more abrupt than January first. A day to reveiw my life goals and see if I am still on course to making things happen.
Regretfully I was unable to produce much art this week. The best I can do is upload an image of my continued piece Imagination and a doodle I did during a seminar this weekend.

Inspiration- Still work to be done. Not very happy with how my castles are coming out, so I need to spend some time tinkering with them.

Doodle- This is the doodle that I worked on during the conference this weekend. I like to keep my hands busy while I am listening to others. This is what it developed into. Such a shame it is on lined paper, lol!

Reality to Fantasy

After today's frustration with my website progress, I can officially state that web design is not my cup of tea. Even though I knew my dislike for technology going into this, I thought I could rise above my displeasure of sitting behind my computer and spend some time tinkering with it. After dredging up what I could remember from college classes I forced myself to make progress only to not have any success with publishing it! Grr. I left it for another day and turned back to my Inspiration painting to allowed myself time to just paint and cool down. Below is as far as I got before my little one decided my attention would be better spent playing with him. So here she is, castles developing in my 'sky' and additions to my stylized clouds. 

Inspiration, oil painting

A Member of the Circus

It seems lately my time has been spent juggling different project. Some I enjoy, others I detest which makes me push them off or drop them completely. My favorite activities, painting, drawing, creating, seems to be the one I do the least because it makes me feel guilty for spending my time away from more pressing matters. I realize the absurdity of that statement. Shouldn't an artists main job be to create? If I only spend my time painting then I end up with a studio filled with art but no where to hang it. That and the activity that makes the majority of my income doesn't get booked, face painting at festivals of all things! It makes me laugh just thinking about how I support my chosen profession, although I do make so many people happy. Face painting at festivals does get me out of the isolation of my art studio though, so I won't complain. I love meeting the other vendors and people watching, I love seeing the look on the children when their eyes light up when they see their faces transformed. Yep, I love that part of what I do. I haven't figured out how to combine my studio art and my face painting although I did include Henna tattoos to my booth this year. I seems to be going over well. 
So between booking events, commission work, my own paintings, selling art online and in a store back home, creating a website, and the normal things like raising a two year old, or house hunting I feel like I am always juggling while walking a tight wire. 

Since this is an art blog here are a few of my in progress paintings that have started this year or late last year. You might as well see what I create when I have the time. 

Inspiration- stage one background , oil painting

Inspiration, oil painting, this is a detail of my in progress project. She is coming along lovely at this point. 

Inspiration, oil painting, still in progress. I have a castle to put in along with my trees. It is my dreamscape. What better way to start the new year than paint a picture that is truly in line with where I see my art progressing. That is what I see in this. It is what the creation process feels like to me- building and growing waiting for the chance to break out and inspire. I still have a ways to go for her to reach the potential I see here. 

Untitled, oil painting. This little one is finished. I even have a frame I like to fit her. I had to paint her over a previous similar painting that never felt right to me. Actually she is hanging on the wall behind where I work and I tweak this painting along with an unfinished landscape that hangs to her left.

The Mermaid, oil painting, I know this one isn't finished I just wasn't sure how I wanted to progress. Maybe I should replace her behind my easel so that I can tinker on her more often. 

This is me at one of my festivals face painting. I figured I should include the face of the author to my blog and validate that  I really do face paint most weekends. 

Yeah, I never paint the same design on me twice. I experiment in the mornings when it is slow, sometimes I never get the chance to finish what I started and have to go the whole day only half painted!  

I can't begin to count the number of pieces I have created over the years or where the ones that have sold or freely given away reside now. However, I am thrilled with the ones that have left the nest. It gives me great pride to say that I have my creations hanging in the homes of people I know and those that I don't. My dream is to have others enjoy my creations, my art, my stories like I do. It makes the rest of the daily craziness completely worth it, because I am living my dream. 

Clouded Dreams

Clouded Dreams- the name that I choose for my studio. Why not go with my own name? Sarah McIntyre or Sarah Elizabeth? I feel like I should defend my choice of distancing myself from my work by not labeling it with my given name. Truthfully, I hate to even sign my art. When I can get away with it, I don't. I would rather stand behind the studio name I choose, something I spent so long pondering to represent my creations. It feels right to me. Why did I decide on Clouded Dreams Studio? Of course it is the image that it conjures in my mind! It reminds me of my past, and guides me towards my future. 

This art blog marks a point in my journey. I can't say it is the beginning, because it isn't. Art has been in my life so long that it is hard to differentiate the parts that it has not affected. However, I can positively say that my life did not take a permanent course on the art path until my junior year in college when I switch from being a biology major to studio art. Building a life with a base in art has lead me to my finest memories and is something I will never regret. Brick by brick I have been laying the foundation to bigger dreams, trying to create a life that makes me proud and stays true to who I am. 

This month I started my first steps in starting my website CloudedDreamsStudio.com. It isn't up and running yet, but at least my blog is. My facebook page has been up for awhile now facebook.com/sarahmcintyreartist. I even occasionally post prints or paintings in my etsy shop etsy.com/shop/sarahemcintyre. Starting my own art website is on my list of accomplishments. We will have to see where this year takes me.