Come out this weekend!

I will have work in the W7 Collective sale this weekend. It will be the first opportunity to see/buy my new photo block collection.

I am very excited about these pieces. I took the photos within about the last year, and I had processed some of them, but having this show to prepare for led to me finishing out the set.

The photos are mounted on high quality plywood board prepped for hanging. They have a beautiful surface achieved by a hand-brushed varnish that gives the photography a layer of surface protection and ultra-violet protection. I will definitely be taking photos of them at the sale, because I didn't have time to before I dropped them off. I will have both photos and pastel paintings at W7. Come out to St. Paul this Thursday, Friday, or Saturday - details below!

Pompeii

Around town

Last Friday, I went to the St. Paul art crawl with a couple friends. It is always fun to go around visiting the artists' studios, and finding some great art. Our favorite artist discovery was Mary Barrett. She had a large printmaking studio filled with many landscapes, primarily woodblock, but also intaglio, collage, and pigment paintings. Mary was very willing to talk with us at length about her work. She used to teach printmaking at UW River Falls. I'm sure she inspired many students!

Tomorrow, I'm going to go to a meet and greet with the CEO of Etsy! She's in town, and there's going to be an event over at Nye's. I'm very excited... will report back this weekend.

Welcome to MN Maria!

Front page!

It turns out you can miss a lot when you are crazy busy. I was checking in on my google analytics today for my Etsy shops, and I saw a huge spike in views from September 21. I went over to Craft Cult, and searched through the front page treasuries from that day, and wah lah! My pastel piece The Thicket made it on the front page!
Thanks StudioElan!

(I was also an alternate in this front page treasury October 4. It's been an exciting week for me!)

Treasury

FuriousDreams has included me in a treasury with some other great artists on Etsy! Click here to visit and get a closer look!

Treasury

I just got a treasury spot on Etsy. Click here to get a closer view at any of these beautiful photographs.

Work in Progress

Here is an image of a work in progress- a large-scale digital landscape painting. When printed out at full size, this will be 20x36". This is the first digital piece that I've attempted on this big of a scale. My husband and I are buying our first house this summer, and I hope this turns out well, so I can showcase it on our new livingroom wall!

Etsy Treasury

Thanks to RozzyToz for including one of my photos in this treasury, with so many other beautiful items.Click here to visit and look closer at any of the included items. Click here to visit RozzyToz's Etsy shop and view her lovely beaded jewelry and appetizer picks.

Time flys by

Well, once again it's been a while since I've posted. I spent some time working with my husband and my friend, updating the webpage for our photography business, Thole Imagery. Its all together now, and we have a studio to shoot in, which is great! We are located in south Minneapolis, so it is convenient for most people in the Twin Cities metro area. We are also offering several new services this year, such as the old-fashioned hand colored look. Look for this service available for your own photos in the Thole Imagery Etsy shop next week!I also offer my digital portrait paintings through Thole Imagery as well- if you don't have a good picture to work from, come have a portrait session first!

I'm starting to add more things to my sarahthole.etsy.com shop also... I finally added the layered drawings that I blogged about here months ago! It's about time! I have tons more art ready to be listed. I have a ton of little abstract pieces I was hoping to frame first, but I might have to work on getting images of lots of them this weekend.

Etsy Treasury

Fell Painter, of fellpainter.etsy.com has made a wonderful treasury of paintings (including one of mine) check it out at http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=38522

Museum Visit

The Minneapolis Institute of Arts and The Walker co-hosted an exhibit this winter on the architect Eero Saarinen. I really wanted to attend it, because of my love of mid-century modern design, and the fact that Saarinen and I both have Finnish roots. For some reason, I thought the exhibit ended mid-December. Yesterday, however, I found out it was still up until today, so I got to see it after all. Architecturally, Saarinen designed a variety of types of buildings, from colleges to corporate campuses to homes to churches. He also designed furniture- chairs and tables, including his famous womb chair. He was also the designer of the Gateway Arch in St. Louis. Surprisingly, he managed to do so many big projects before the age of 51, as he died an early death as a result of a brain tumor.



While at the Walker, I also looked in on the Text/Messages exhibit. It is an exhibit of books by artists. For me, there were a few treats- books that I enjoyed much more, however, I have been unable to find images of them online. This exhibit is up until April, so if you are in the Minneapolis area, you have time to see it for yourself. My favorite pieces from the exhibit were by the Belgian artist Mark Luyten. They were pages out of a book, on which he made suddle abstract ink and watercolor paintings. It seems that this is a great diversion from the art he is best known for. There was also a version of Alice and Wonderland, which was illustrated by Salvador Dali. There was a book about artists, in which the majority of the text had been sewn over, leaving selected passages uncovered to result in a new text and meaning by the american artist Jen Bervin. My final favorite was by Sarah Sze, an american artist known for her delicate, elaborate sculptures of mundane materials. It was a typical legal pad, in which the pages had been strategically separated and geometric portions cut out, so that the resulting piece resembled architecture.

More digital portraits completed

I have been continuing to work on more digital portraits. I really enjoy doing these. Sometimes, even when you think the original photo is fairly clear and in-focus, when you enlarge it and look at it closely, it is surprising what information is assumed, rather than clearly presented when you look at a photo. Of course, when I draw and paint (digitally), I have to make judgement calls about what these unclear/muddy areas should actually look like. When I work for several hours on a piece, and the final product just looks so sharp, and just like the subject in real life, it's a great feeling!

I've been working hard on some gift portraits for Christmas. (No peeks at those ones yet!) I have ordered the prints for those now, and I can't wait for them to arrive! The great thing about working on several of these portraits over a short time span, is that I am getting to know the functions of my computer better. I am streamlining my process, at the same time as I am adding new capabilities and increased detail.

Here is an example of something I can do with digital portraiture that is very challenging to do with just a photograph. This client wanted a portrait of her with her cat. Unfortunately, she had a very hard time getting a photo where they were both looking where they should be, and looking good. I liked her cat's expression in this first photograph, and I asked if she had another photo of herself in a similar position, where her face could be seen better. Thus came picture 2. Below those, you can see the final product, where I combined both images to create one portrait with the best of both worlds.

Etsy Treasury

I got a Treasury West on Etsy today. I filled it with ribs and ribcages. Perhaps it would have been more fitting before halloween, but oh well. Our bones exist year round, right? Click here to visit my treasury and look closer at the pieces included.

Doodle Debris

An artist just is.

Another artist on Etsy, Krystyna81 posted an article to the Gallery United Blog referencing the article The Financially Successful Artist: Commercial Sell Out or Role Model? by Denise Ivey Telep. I think the questions posed in this article are important for today's artist to think about.

One statement in the article that really resonated with me is: "An artist is. It’s soul deep."

That's how I feel about being an artist. I just am, to my very core. To me, it doesn't matter what media I have to work with, I am happy to create with it. I am just as happy making a painting, a collage, a photograph, a digital drawing, a clay pot, drawing on a napkin, carving a potato, or sculpting with pipe-cleaners. If one media isn't available, I see what else there is to work with, and each inspires a whole new line of art.

A Little Colored Pencil Love

I have a set of Prismacolor colored pencils that I love to use. Once I realized how rich their colors are, and how smooth they go onto the paper compared to the colored pencils I used as a child, I haven't used any other brand. When it comes to these pencils, however, I don't love them all equally. My favorites are about 10 vintage Prismacolors that I got from my mom. Like an old stuffed animal which is loved ever more with wear and tear, I find the many dents, dings, and stains on them part of their history of use/love, and part of their charm. I enjoy looking at them- to me they are like a work of art themselves.


I also love the typography on these old pencils. The font is quite unique, and art-nouveau looking. I am certain that it was chosen with care. I actually have Prismacolors stamped with three different manufacturer names, Eagle, Berol, and Sanford. Eagle was the original manufacturer of Prismacolors. In 1969, they changed their name to Berol while expanding their brand. After 1995, they were bought out, and the name changed to Sanford. (More info here.) The typeface on these newer pencils is boring in comparison. Sometimes, I am afraid to use the vintage pencils, because I know I will be sad when they are used up. The newer Prismacolors make beautiful color on the paper as well as the old ones, but it just isn't the same to me.

I also wanted to write about another artist who is inspired by the colored pencils themselves. Jennifer Maestre makes incredible sculptures using colored pencils. She creates fascinating forms that beg to be touched!

Heatwave (above)

Aurora (below)

If you are interested in seeing more of her incredible work, visit her website, at http://www.jennifermaestre.com/. She also sells smaller urchin pieces and colored pencil jewelry in her Etsy store at jenmaestre.etsy.com.

*images used by permission*

Soap Factory $99 sale

The Soap Factory is a unique contemporary art gallery in Minneapolis. Their fall fundraiser, the $99 Sale, is fast approaching. The $99 Sale consists of many 5x7" artworks donated by various artists- known and unknown. Sale attendees may purchase any piece for $99, however, they cannot know the maker of the piece until after purchase. This years pre-sale and party is scheduled for September 19th, and the open admission sale is the morning of September 20th. Anyone in the Minneapolis area should go check it out, and support a local arts institution. While you're there, see if you can pick out which piece I made :)

For more details on the $99 Sale, visit http://www.soap99.com/

On the front page of Etsy

It's been a while since my last post. I've had a bit of a "computer vacation." Sometimes you just have to give your eyes some time away from the screen. I have some very exciting news to report though: last week I had a painting make it to the front page of Etsy! This very fine treasury by shavingkitsuppplies featured a variety of figural profiles including this self-portrait of mine.

(hmm, three treasury posts in a row... I'll try to not be so redundant in the future. )

Etsy Treasury

Today I got a treasury spot in Etsy, I made a treasury featuring light colored items, including several porcelain pieces, and some of my favorite artworks. It happens to be my birthday, so you could buy me one of these items... or help me bring this treasury to the front page by viewing it and clicking on the items here :)

I'm in a treasury

My work has been featured in an Etsy treasury curated by the Buddha Builder. This treasury will be up for one more day. To check it out, click this link.