“Hear, See, Speak » 10″x8″ » watercolor & ink » Prints available

Taking precautions because of all the “evil” in the world, they are learning how to hear, see, and speak. Good luck, they’ll need it.

I’m often asked, what are they? Crows or ravens? I want to settle this once and for all. Yes, they are crows. And yes, they are ravens. How? Because they’re “cravens”? Sure, why not?

Actually, they’re kind of human.

Thank you Amy for arranging and hosting the Superstitions show. Thank you Megan for your awesome job at hanging my work. Thank you Chef Tracie for the amazing food. I’m happy that my favorite and best show happened here. Thank you ci|creative for letting my art crash at your space for a while.

The show is up until Dec 7. Thanks to everyone who came to the opening!

New art! I have been slowly posting my new pieces to the website as they become available as prints.

“Foul Howl” » 8″x10″ » watercolor & ink » Prints available

“Foul Howl” is based on the superstition that if someone hears a rooster crow at night, they will have bad luck. The one having the bad luck is this poor little fowl.

“Lucky Day”  » 8″x10″ » watercolor & ink » Prints available

“See a penny, pick it up. All day long you’ll have good luck!”

(Unless you’re in the wrong place at the wrong time.)

You’ve got to ask yourself one question…

“Do I feel lucky?”

Well, do ya, punk?*

Please join the reception in glory of Friday the 13th of November, from 7pm – 9 pm and see my twenty new quirky illustrations in watercolor & ink.

ci|creative(space) located at Shoppes at Grand Prairie, 5201 West War Memorial Dr., Suite # 230, Peoria, IL 61615 (Map) (Facebook)

Show runs from Nov 7 – Dec 7

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Images of my new work will be online soon!

* Thank you, Dirty Harry.

Today marks the end of outdoor art fair season for me. I spent the day on the Riverfront in Peoria at the Fancy Schmancy Fall Festival and I couldn’t have asked for a better day.

Today I also learned what it’s like to feel like cabbage, wearing 6 layers of clothes because it was so cold. But I couldn’t complain because the sun was coming and going. Clouds were moving fast. The sudden gusts of wind would pick up leaves and send them whirling around me in mini tornadoes. A white butterfly came out of nowhere and then disappeared with the wind. The seagulls were flying all over the place.  (And as I was packing up at the end, a wedding ceremony 50 feet away was closing to this song. What are the odds?)

My display is looking a little empty because at the beginning of the season, even the bottom was full. I have a lot of work to do for spring.

I’m gonna miss all my little weekend adventures:

• Trying to figure out how to fit all my setup into my sedan with room to spare by playing Tetris with it all

• Waking up as early as 4 am

• Driving near and far, to towns and cities I’ve never been to and not knowing what will happen, with coffee and iPod (and some intense highway karaoke) for company … sometimes in horrible fog with 10 foot visibility and painfully under the speed limit.

• Setting up my mobile gallery without a real plan, usually improvising and tweaking as I go (right, Dad?)

• Watching a goose appreciate art

• Blushing as people browse through my work and give me compliments (Such as “you have an amazing mind.” Wow.)

• Meeting and talking with hundreds of people and their kids, including neighboring vendors, store/gallery owners, teachers, musicians & performers, aspiring artists, art lovers….

..and their pets.

• Watching street performers juggle fire, walk on stilts, make balloon animals (and hearing at least one cover of a Green Day or Nirvana song at each festival).
• Trying to teach everyone who asks how to pronounce my last name (Helen, I haven’t forgotten!)

• Having my neighbor booth artist Cathy in Kankakee, IL insist on wanting to buy me a hot chocolate because she mispronounced my last name!

• Seeing people wear my necklaces. Hearing customers say “You’re that Razorberries girl, I’ve been looking all over for you!” or “I know this art, this is where my mom must have bought that print for me”

• Winning awards

• Selling my art to make art another day.

The only way I can somewhat describe everything now is feeling dizzy in a good way.

One thing I sure won’t miss is dragging 80-lb body sand bags and a 200-lb coffin canopy up and down two flights of stairs, to and from my apartment. Although the maintenance man helped me with that once, so that was nice of him. I could have bought him a hot chocolate but I don’t know his last name. Or even the first, actually.. Do all people in the maintenance industry like hot chocolate or is that just a stereotype I just made up?

Anyway, the fun isn’t really over. I’m working a bunch of new paintings that will be in my upcoming month-long show in November, and I’ll have more details on that soon. But here is a (very) little secret preview of one of the pieces I finished yesterday.

Created this 5×7 painting last night as a little birthday gift. Happy birthday, Bernie!

Last weekend I was a part of two different art fairs. On Saturday I went to Macomb, IL. And on Sunday, I was in Quincy, IL. Until then, I’ve never been to either town. Each time I had to drive back home, 2 hour drive, 3 hour drive, back and forth.. Lots of getting up early, driving, setting up, and tiredness. It was also a weekend full of surprises and excitement.

       

I want to thank John Graham, curator of WIU Art Gallery, for choosing two of my pieces for a purchase award in Macomb, IL last Saturday at the Gazebo Art Festival. Disappearing Act and Pigeon Pile are now part of the permanent collection at Western Illinois University Art Gallery. If that wasn’t enough, less than an hour later I was awarded with 1st place by the festival. Thank you John and thank you Macomb!

I arrived in Quincy, IL for the Riverfest 2009 during rain on Sunday, which always puts me off balance because setting up becomes harder and annoying. But, like magic, the skies cleared as the fair opened to the public. And, like magic, I was awarded 2nd place. Thank you, Arts/Quincy!

This makes 4 awards within 2 weeks!

Is this real life?

I didn’t tell very many people, and almost didn’t write about this because I didn’t want to brag. Then I mentioned to a couple more and they were like “AND YOU DIDN’T TELL ME?” — I wanted to, I swear! It’s probably a good thing I’ve waited this long to write about it or I’d be typing in ALL CAPS WIHT HORRIBLE S;PELLING AND NO P7UNCTUATIHON — and if I’m typing like that, you can only imagine how I’d be acting in person.

I swear, everything seems to happen in waves. One day I’m wondering if I should just find a ‘regular’ j.o.b. and just forgetaboutit (that’s a lie, I could never forgetaboutit, but would get a job before I end up on the street), and the next day, an art career doesn’t sound like a bad idea.

Thank you, mom and dad, for meeting me in far away places when you can and helping me/setting up/tearing down/believing in me.

..bubbles going to burst. When the bubbles burst, there will be… no more bubbles, of course!

“When the Bubbles Burst” » 8″x10″ » watercolor & ink » Purchase print

Am I not making any sense? Sorry, it must be the bubbles talking. They want me to tell you that this print is now available in the store.

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This has probably always been my favorite Led Zeppelin song.

Sometimes being the early bird will get you a better deal on parking, or breakfast. But other times, it’s not quite what you’d expect.

Someone’s about to learn a lesson..

“Early Bird” is a new print, available here.

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The title (of this blog post) is a reference to the Soup Nazi episode of Seinfeld and I just wanted to state that I hate that show and its cheesy slap bass music. But that was the first thing that popped into my head while trying to think of a title for this post and now I’m slightly ashamed.