The making of a whale

Follow me on Instagram to follow my progress on my newest Beasts series piece: a humpback whale diptych !   http://instagram.com/janemhoughton 

The space where my Beasts series will hang come October: the Vip room in the Hanover Theatre, Worcester, MA USA

The progression of mixing just the right color for the whale's body. I'm going for a sea glass and sea weed palette! 

the first under layers for the whale piece. It is a diptych on two 36" square panels

under coat of the polkadot seaweed pattern  

I am determined to get the eye right. It's incredible how human a humpback whale's eye is! 

How to spark creative writing in your school aged child this summer

Happy Summer to my northern hemisphere audiences! 

Mermaid ACEO for sale in my Etsy shop: https://www.etsy.com/listing/193682491/over-sized-aceo-mermaid-original-art-on 

This week was a great one for me! I have sold several large paintings and received new boards to start my next pieces for my emerging "Beasts" series to be shown in a solo show in Worcester, MA in the fall. The highlight of my week, however was outside my studio. I was the guest artist in a local fourth grade teacher's classroom. I was asked to come in to meet the students who had used my paintings as writing prompts for the most imaginative stories I could ever imagine! 

"Carole kept a ferris wheel in her back garden to reminder that one could always see things differently" 

Earlier in the year "Mrs. V" had put this image before her class and asked them to write a story to go along with this illustration of mine. She sent me their stories. What a treat it was for me to read them! There were stories of snow storms and bicycle wheels falling from the sky...children running away from home to join the circus and becoming sick on the ferris wheel. This spring she asked the children to get inspiration from my rhino painting, "Garumba" and the results were hilarious! 

detail of "Garumba" 

““One day long ago a giant animal roamed he was a rhino and his best pal a tiny salamander. The rhino’s name was Eeyore and his tiny pal was Ozzie.” - fourth grader”

All the stories are varied and original. One of my favorites involved a poor young rhino that was made to wear an ugly sweater by his mother. I'm sure this story was inspired by experience! 

My visit to their classroom was two hours of pure happiness for me! I was able to meet all these young authors first-hand and to introduce myself and answer their questions about my art. I was also able to share a bit of my technique of using tissue paper in my work. The kids all created a drawing in pencil and crayon/oil pastel of their own gum drop hills with scenes that reflected their interests and fantasies. The variation was astounding! Baseball fields, castles and elaborate villages were lovingly planned and created. I explained the "happy accident" nature of drawing on the tissue paper, ripping it randomly and placing it strategically on the surface of the piece. They really got into it and stayed focused throughout the entire two hours.  

This reaction to my work was overwhelming on the satisfaction meter! Storytelling is an integral piece in my brand. I want viewers to create stories about the pieces and it's characters when they look at my work. I want the viewer's imagination and memories to be sparked and wooed as they live with a piece. To witness first-hand the stories generated by young people's experience with the work was priceless to me. 

And it got me thinking....

What if, 

     - parents and teachers used original art to spark writing prompts more often in their classrooms and homes? Not posters or a photograph on the screen. But, real, live, original art. There is something about the energy, the magic that comes off of an original piece of art that ramps up imagination. 

    - Could they take their students and children to an art museum or sculpture park and let them choose a sculpture or painting to sit and write a story or poem about? Could they then go back to the classroom or home and make an original piece of art inspired by what they saw? I see my local art museum utilize their collection all the time with students who take art classes at the museum and the results are amazing! Could they ask a local artist to bring in a piece to share live with a class? 

    - could I create small, portable pieces or original art that present characters that could spark writing projects for children during summer vacation times? These pieces could be affordable and collectable. Maybe they would spark inspiration in young artists to start their own small illustrations to be traded with friends? So, I did that! Listed here in my Etsy shop

If you are inspired by this idea of using original art to spark writing in your child please share your story with us here! I would love to see any photos of the art the children create as well! I am so excited at the thought of hundreds of little artists and authors creating this summer! Art in the public school curriculum too often gets cut or pushed to the bottom of the priority bin and this effects the experience of every child negatively. If we do not have creative thinking in every aspect of our children's learning, how will they prove to be the problem solvers of tomorrow? 

Nautical Wall Art

This month in Make Art That Sells Bootcamp was nautical wall art. 

Apiary piece gets name and a home

The Apiary piece I have been working on for about six months now found a very suitable home today. The person I named the piece for who writes non-fiction books for children about such crisis as the declining honey bee population and the decline of the monarch butterfly (to name a few), Loree Griffin Burns has purchased this piece today. I am so pleased it will live in Loree's lovely and appreciatative home.   

detail of top panel with more embroidered "buttons" having been added 

detail of center panel 

daily ACEO in my ETSY shop!

A few years ago I did a 100 squares project where I made 100 5" x 5" square paintings in one year. They were very popular! I am now offering a daily little illustration on jumbo-sized playing cards that I have gessoed in order to paint on them. Whether you are an avid ACEO collector or just want to bring a little whimsy into your life - check them out in my Etsy shop! 

Jumbo Playing Card ACEO #1 

Playing card ACEO # 5 

My Etsy Shop link:  https://www.etsy.com/shop/JaneMHoughton?ref=l2-shopheader-name

Nautical

I have had things that live in the sea and float on the ocean on my mind lately. 

Seaweed Sketches

I have begun researching and sketching out compositions for my next BIG piece in my Beasts series: a Humpback Whale. I plan to make it on two large square panels and include embroidered barnacles  and lush colors. 

All very timely, as I received my next mini-assigment in Make Art That Sells bootcamp with Lilla Rogers: nautical themes. I have been pinning images on Pinterest , cutting images out of catalogues like mini Boden, Vinyard Vines and others. Yesterday, I had a few hours to kill so I checked myself into a local library and perused the ocean section of the adult non fiction as well as the children's book section to see what other illustrators had done with the theme. I wish I could head into Boston to the Aquarium - one of my favorite places on Earth. I'm a bit afraid of the ocean itself and do not like being on a boat in open water since a boating accident a number of years ago. But, I am fascinated by all the creatures and life in the ocean. Of course, the boats harken back to my first series way back in 2006 of "Arks"...So, I am happy with my obsession as we welcome summer and all her loveliness! 

"Voyage" Gouache and ink on paper and edited in Photoshop 

I know why the caged bird sings...

“Anything that works against you can also work for you once you understand the Principle of Reverse.” 

             -- Maya Angelou from, "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" 

"And the Song Was Wordless" inspired by a poem written to honor military experience

Acrylic, watercolor, ink, colored pencil and tissue paper on 2" gallery profile wood panel

$475.00 Available in my Etsy shop: https://www.etsy.com/listing/98486156/and-the-song-was-wordless-mixed-media 

I am listing this favorite piece of mine to honor the great life and works of the beautiful Maya Angelou. Enjoy 

A little sunshine for you

Working on some characters and figures lately... 

"Sunrise" Acrylic, gouache, watercolor, ink and tissue paper on wood panel

Have a sunny day! 

the wind

This land belongs to the gulls
And the gulls to their cry
And their cry to the wind

And the wind belongs to no-one
The wind belongs to no-one

I gave my breath to the song
To the song, wasn't mine
Neither of ship nor of sea
Neither of glass nor of wine

Leaving this ghost of a road
I'm climbing hand over hand
Toward that pinprick of light

Toward the seed that God sowed....

- David Gray, "Gulls" 

Spring is finally here ! I love every season in New England (well, you might hear me complain during the heat of August a bit) but these past few weeks have been the opening of Nature's showcase one day after the next! It's like opening a surprise every morning as I drive through neighborhoods near my home. 

Something I marvel at often as an artist is how imagery floats around on the winds of creativity. I don't mean the imagery that one artist might copy from another; i.e.: the numerous girls with angel wings and tilted heads that seem to be everywhere following the very prolific  Kelly Rae Roberts and her success...I mean how certain themes seem to crop up organically, as if they are waiting in the wind and some artists (including myself) hold their noses to the breeze and breathe it in at the same time.  

Two artists floated into my studio this past week that seem to be speaking my thoughts in their work. 

• the first is China Marks who came to my attention via my mother-in-law who attended a speech given by China in Florida. She has taken the traditional medium of embroidery and vintage textiles and combined them with new, fresh and intriguing results. As I bring forth new work in my Beasts series, I attempt to see the challenge of incorporating embroidery into those works with a fresh and unique technique with each new piece. I find her work inspiring as it seems to cheer me on to continue in this vein. 
• the second artist that inspired me to push my new work in even richer use of the tissue paper I have long used in my work is Marthe Armitage. Beside loving her spirit that comes through in the above you tube video (link) I love that she's still working so organically. I am trying out a new technique of cutting intricate designs from tissue paper and adhering them to the surface of the body of the tapir I am currently working on. It was after I started in this direction after waking from a dream I had about doing it that I stumbled upon Marthe's wallpapers. A light bulb went off in my head, "of course!" Wallpaper is another relic of a tradition gone-by. I know that interior designers keep trying to bring it back but this type of hand made botanically-themed wallpaper seems to be something our grandmother's coveted ... as they worked away on their handy work. 

detail: Tapir piece in process - showing tissue paper cut outs on the body of the animal

detail of the foot of the tapir showing tissue paper cut out on the body of the animal

When I find an artist who is working in a similar way to me or playing with similar imagery I always feel a kindred spirit - and imagine that we have been swept by the same wind of inspiration. It's comforting and always urges me on in a way that is hard to explain. 

If you are an artist reading this or a creative person of any kind please share your stories of being inspired by similar subject matter or a technique with another creative person without even knowing about them previous to the path you began taking...and where that led you. 

Getting it done

"An artist's life embraces every job description of a small business: creative director, marketing director, bookkeeper, construction manager, secretary, janitor, technician, and publicist. It is a self-directed life run by a committee of one. Being an artist is a profession . It is not a vow of poverty. If you ask artists to define success, most will say that it's having the time, space, and money to make art. However, many of the skills needed to succeed are acquired only through painful trial and error." 

                                     - Jackie Battenfield, "The Artist's Guide..."

Some of my light reading...

Let me first apologize for the delay between posts! As you may have noticed, I have moved house (so to speak) ...over to a new website that I have created on my own with the help of Squarespace.com. Thank you for your patience ! My hope is that this new home will prove bug-free and easier for me to update and maneuver around. There are still a few holes in my presentation but if I wait until it's all "done and dusted" I will be an old woman! 

This past month I have worked on several commissions, done sketches for new ideas, written an exhibition proposal, learned new skills in Adobe Illustrator, attended the online forum offered and hosted by Jennifer Lee of the Right Brained Business Plan , worked on my business plan, and cleaned my studio. 

The Lilla Rogers Make Art That Sells Boot Camp took a hiatus for the month of April but is back this month and has us sketching figures, faces and vintage dolls. I became immersed in this mini assignment this week ! I have long told myself (and even potential clients) "Oh, I don't do figures" - ugh! Well, I was able to inform my ego that lives inside a box of comfort and lies that, yes, in fact I do "do figures" ! I took notes from some of my favorite children's book illustrators like Tomie Depaola, Jan Brett and Mary Engelbreit and found my own voice. 

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"Corinne didn't know she was a saint" 

The image above is an in-process shot of a piece I did after being inspired by the figures and faces I was creating. I call this, "Corinne didn't know she was a saint". We all know people like Corinne, who hold up the world and make it look easy! Many of these people I know are mothers or woman who have been like mothers to me. 

It's Mother's Day this week .... if you are not a mother - maybe you have given birth to a project, a career, a goal achieved .... to all you mothers out there or "chickens" who have sat on the egg of a dream that hatched - Happy Day of You! Please share what you have given birth to this past month. I don't want my blog to be all about me - really - ! I want you to contribute and let me know you were here. (it helps quiet the sound of crickets that I tend to hear after hitting "post" ). My work is about story telling and I want to hear yours!