Commissioned Crafting

Over the past few months, I've been picking up commissioned work here and there.  Usually it's something to the effect of a friend or relative needing something made, and suddenly remembering that they know someone who might know how, or a friend or relative seeing something I've done (ususally on facebook... I post a lot of my projects there) and tells one of their friends who needs something done. I've done a few commissioned paintings (nothing too fancy), a few arm slings for a friend's daughter who has a muscular disorder (and for some reason medical companies stopped manufacturing the type of sling needed for the disease, which I find very rude to those with the disease... anyway), and most recently, I have made/am in the middle of making a few wedding veils.  My first veil was actually sort of spur of the moment for me... My younger cousin was getting married and his bride-to-be needed a veil. She really wanted a birdcage-style veil.  My mom suggested she ask me to make the flower for it, and I ended up making the whole thing.  I had no idea how much fun it would be! This first one was fairly easy.... All I needed was a little thread, backing, flowers, the comb, and the veiling.  Here are 2 not-so-lovely pictures I took while making it, and one GORGEOUS picture taken by my extremely talented cousin:


 

This is one taken before I added the smaller flowers and finishing touches. The style is more of a half-birdcage veil rather than a full birdcage veil.

Almost finished.... This was taken to send to her to see if she liked it so far!

And last but CERTAINLY not least.... My "cousin-in-law", wearing her veil! Isn't she just stunningly beautiful!? She's wonderfully sweet too.. we're so blessed to have her in the family now!
This photo was professionally taken by my VERY talented cousin (who is the bride's sister-in-law), Hannah Wright (Hannah Grace Photography).

Now I'm going to take a few seconds to brag about Hannah. She's my youngest female cousin. She's 18 years old, and has been working on photography for a few years now. This girl had her own photography business established BEFORE SHE WAS OUT OF HIGH SCHOOL.  Between her sweet spirit, outgoing and bubbly personality, and amazing talent... I'm really not surprised. We're all so proud of her!


I'm also currently in the middle of making a second veil. This one is for the older sister of 2 girls I went to high school with. One of them saw Lydia's veil on my facebook page, and asked if I would be willing to do another.  I was STOKED. 
This one is a little more complicated. The bride wanted more vintage-style flowers to go along with her dress (the dress is one of the most beautiful I've ever seen. Like... in my life. GORGEOUS). I was having a hard time finding pre-made flowers that had a vintage flair, so I made some! I started with a soft, satiny felt in cream, stitched a flower together, and embroidered the edges with a beige-yellow color (to give it kind of a worn, vintage look). I sewed faux pearls into the middle, and stitched the flowers to a backing. I then added some wispy white feathers and little white sprays with pearls. I haven't yet attached them, because I want to make sure the bride will like those touches. I'm currently waiting on the Russian veiling to arrive (had to order online because NONE of our local craft stores have it.... WHY??? EVERYONE WANTS RUSSIAN VEILING FOR WEDDINGS, AND LOTS OF PEOPLE LIKE TO DIY! Isn't that the point of a craft store??). It's undecided whether this will attach using alligator clips or combs. I'll get to that as I wrap it all up~ Anyway, here are some pictures so far. I'm fairly satisfied, and I hope she is too!

These are pretty self explanatory. Starting with just the flower, then all 3 flowers, stitched together, feathers added, modeled pictures, and pearl sprays added. I have 3 more very short steps to go... I'm just awaiting feedback before I make everything permanent!


So those are some recent/current projects. My mom said she has a friend who wants me to paint a window frame for her (not really sure about the details on that one yet), and a few other people wanting things done. I'd really love to do this for a living.... I'm just not sure of where to begin.  I'm a BIG scatterbrain.. if my hopping from topic to topic and constant wordiness doesn't already prove that. :) For now I'm going to keep taking those commissions as they come... It's so much fun to turn someone else's idea into a reality.  Maybe someday I'll get my name out there enough to branch out!

Still More Painting...

Last night I was looking through some old briefcases and stuff, and I stumbled across some more of my old water color paintings. I'm not really sure the date of some of them, but they were all done right around 2007-2009.

I've done a few sets of these for different people. It was originally a 2 piece set, with just the long skinny ones, but I also painted a central one at some point.. and this is technically 2 sets plus the one in the middle, I guess.

I painted this for my boyfriend a few years back. Coffee is a big deal to us!! Haha.

I also painted this for my boyfriend a few years back. I painted it using a photo of us as a model.

Odd self-portrait. I have this problem with not getting my nose right. I have a weird nose, I guess. It didn't help that I was looking in a mirror for this one.. facial expressions change.

Another self portrait with a weird nose.

This is my Chinese Water Dragon when he was a baby! So this was probably done sometime in January of 2009, which is when I got him.

Crazy butterfly painting. I'm fairly certain I used white crayon, liquid mask, and leaf prints on this in addition to just regular painting. It was more of an exercise in what effects can be accomplished with what tools... Painted while taking lessons from my Great Aunt Susan.

Sorta just messing around on this one. It was right when I first started painting with watercolor.

When I lived in my first apartment, I lived out in the country on a farmer's property, with only 6 other tennents for neighbors. It was the most peaceful home I've lived in thus far. Anyway, on the little country road that takes you to the apartments (which are no longer standing.. that makes me sad), there is this tree right beside the road. Someone has cut out a chunk of it because of the power lines, and this is what the tree looks like now. I thought it was pretty trippy, so I decided to paint it. Unfortunately, I took absolutely no thought as to the composition of what I would be painting, so it's looked unfinished since I painted it.

This is just some winter scene, beside a body of water. Not really a whole lot going on... Haha.

Ok. So there are the ones I just found. It's fun to go back through stuff I haven't seen in a few years.... They always evoke memories of feelings and what was going on in my life at the time I painted them.. and make me want to actually paint more than I have been lately! HOPEFULLY that's something that will hit soon.

Anyway, thanks for looking!

And On the Topic of Painting....

I've been experimenting with glass painting. I have this weird fascination with glass.... whether it's glassware (antique or just ornate), blown glass, stained glass, or glass crafts, it intrigues me. I would LOVE to be able to blow glass.

Anyway, as I was saying. I've been experimenting with glass painting lately. Mostly wine glasses and mugs, and I'm starting to dabble in plates and other things.. but here they are!

Peppermint plate. It's about the size of a large teacup saucer or small salad plate. I painted this like... 2 hours ago. Haha.

This is a Jack-o-lantern mug I painted. It was a clear glass mug, but I layered it several times in different hues of orange, red, and yellow.  Could be used for drinking, eating soup, or even putting a tealight in it. The bottom picture shows what it looks like illuminated.  Sadly, my camera isn't that wonderful so it's hard to get a good picture.

This is a wineglass painted to look like a palm tree. I guess a lot of these are pretty self explainatory. Haha.

Set of purple and blue flower wine glasses.

Red flower martini glass.

Japanese Cherry Blossom mug. Has 2 little birds, one on each side. I believe I have this one on etsy right now.

Fall-inspired wine glass.... has different shades of orange, yellow, red, and brown. I think this one is also on etsy.

VERY LARGE wine glass with grapes painted on the front side.

Small martini glass, painted with yellow and orange flower.

And another VERY LARGE wine glass.  It has a Japanese Cherry Blossom design painted all over it, with 3 little birds nestled among the branches and flowers.



Most of these can be found either on my etsy site, or at my mom's dog grooming shop in Indiana. I plan on making several more! They're a lot of fun.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/springsatori

Paintings, finally...

It's been a bit longer than I had anticipated since my last post. So finally, here are some of my paintings!

This may not be my best work, but it's certainly one that I'm the most attached to.  This is a watercolor painting, inspired by iron lawn-birds from my Great Aunt Susan's yard. I painted it sometime in the summer of 2007.
Time for a back-story!
In the summer of 2007, I was able to take painting lessons from my Great Aunt Susan on my dad's side (my grandma's youngest sister).  I hadn't really interacted with her since my childhood, so I never fully knew her personality, on an adult level.  I love my family very much, but there are things that are quite different about my personality and interests, and I never really knew where I got them.  That summer I was able to get to know my Aunt Susan, and I instantly knew where those parts of me came from.  I've always taken after my grandma quite a bit (physical traits as well as interests), so this was really no surprise to me.  I haven't seen my aunt in a while, but I'm hoping to be able to catch up with her soon (she's now giving my dad drawing lessons).  She's such a remarkable woman, and I admire her very much!

Yes, I'm a Beatles fan. This is my "Octopus's Garden". It's actually fairly large, especially considering I usually paint on a fairly small scale (I wish I could get over that...). It's about 2 3/4 feet long and not quite 2 feet tall..  Painted with oils in the fall of 2009 I believe.

Another painting inspired by my Aunt Susan, summer 2007. She was having me practice different techniques, and let me choose whatever subject I wanted. The hand is actually my friend Shelly's hand, and the necklace being "grasped at through water" is one I was given in 8th grade as a joke by one of my guy friends. He thought it was hideous and told me I had to wear it on every date I went on.. I think it's beautiful!  Sorry... another back-story..

Self-portrait. Done in acrylics in the early spring of 2011.

Non-realistic portrait of my Chinese Water Dragon, Mohinder. (I call him Buddy,  Buddy Green-Pants, or Mr. Dinosaur more often than Mohinder.. they're easier to say). Winter of 2009.

Yet another painted while spending time with my great aunt. I actually did all of this at my own house, using an old worn out table I got in high school (I'm now in the middle of re-finishing it with my boyfriend... I'm sure I'll post those at some point). This was a HUGE exercise in creating lighting in watercolor painting. Aunt Susan gave me the model candles (which are actually white and bejewelled), and I used my own Van Gogh picture book and martini glass. Summer, 2007. I gave it to my close friend Nic a few years ago, as a departing gift before his band toured Australia for 4 months. I just saw him this week! :)

I painted this for my beautiful little sister for Christmas, 2010. Acrylics.

My mom actually had me do a set of 3. I took artistic liberty and made the other 2 different... one was mostly the yellowish color, one was mostly the bluish print, but they all had the same basic idea. I don't think I have pictures of them, but I'm sure I could take some. Mom actually gave me a pillowcase as a guideline. It was pretty fun!

Painted for my grandma on my mom's side. She has apples all over her kitchen. Christmas 2010. Which reminds me... I need to get to work on THIS Christmas! :)

Set of watercolor hand-painted note-cards. I occasionally put them up on Etsy!
http://www.etsy.com/shop/springsatori

Close-up of one of the note-cards.

That's all I have for now, as far as paintings go. Thanks for looking!