Remember and Inspire.

Like many artists, I work in more than one medium.

 While the main focus for me is Oil, I also try to keep a hand in the watercolors. The looseness and fast drying qualities make it nice for decorative work, especially when there's a little shimmer in the mix.

Before a gallery took on my works in oil, and before another gallery offered a solo show, I had plans to do another sparkling watercolor card class with an emphasis on Fall botanicals.

But preparing for an online class , while enjoyable, is quite time consuming. So with all that's going on, I will not be teaching any for awhile,...per se.'

However I've got something fun for all who enjoyed those classes or for anyone who would like to see what I'm creating between now and December 10.

First though....

Here's what inspired the event I'm about to share.

I did the little practice piece above while out of town a couple of weeks ago having my early morning cup of coffee. The wonderful lady at Panera saw me waiting by the front door and opened up a minute or two early.

I took a first sip of my robust brew in the quiet shop and got out the little paint kit I'd brought along.

As I doodled, I began to pray silently for some of the people I love who are going through some pretty rough stuff.

Doodling has a very reflective and calming effect, by the way. 

The shop became gradually less quiet until it reached the point where I could no longer concentrate. I suddenly realized it had been over an hour and set the brushes aside.

I took a critical look at the leafy watercolor wreath and envisioned a whole set of them turned into greeting cards.

Some folks at the Professional Artist Association advise planning at least a year ahead for seasonal art. Clearly, the time is ripe if I'm going to do that.

So in between work on oil paintings, writing a book, and my private life, I am creating Fall/Winter wreaths in watercolor for the next few weeks in the hope that some will turn out good enough to become a greeting card line for next Fall.

But rather than keeping them all to myself, I am going to photograph them for printing next year, but offer the originals now at a very grab-able price. Sometimes there will be a time-lapse video or I might share a bit of my process  so you can try your own hand.

If you've ever taken a class from me, you will already be familiar with my process for doing this type of pattern.

Here's how that will work:

I'll be posting one watercolor wreath on Instagram each morning at roughly the same time. Each will go to the first person to comment SOLD or privately message me that they want it.

Their painting will be delivered or shipped once payment clears. US shipping will be free and Canadian residents will pay half the shipping cost. These will be available only in the US and Canada. 

Follow me on Instagram @jandalefineart   (if you haven't already)

Heads-up though...

Instagram does not automatically show you every post from the people you follow, so be sure and check each day. I will also share to Facebook, for those not on Instagram. 

Whether you are an artist looking for inspiration, a collector hoping to find something new, or just love watching someone paint colorful wreaths, I invite you to come along for the ride.

And I'll see you on Instagram LIVE @jandalefineart this Monday, November 11 at 7am for the kickoff.

Questions? Leave a comment.

Sometimes we have to push forward with things even if we don't feel ready. The truth is, many of us are scaredy-cats when it comes to inviting people into our personal space. Oh, the inviting part is easy. I do it almost without thinking. But when it comes down to crunch time, I almost never really feel ready. 

Case-in-point: Earlier this summer when I planted sugar baby watermelons in my tangled backyard, I got excited.  I thought they'd make a wonderful subject for a still-life painting. I figured they'd proliferate and ripen just about the time the pandemic wound down and I thought how nice it would be to share the bounty with other artists. So I sent out an invitation to a few artist friends to come paint them with me out in my backyard. I figured I'd get the backyard and my house prettied up by then. Hah!

I didn't count on life getting in the way. I don't know why I didn't. It always does. So when we finally decided on a date, it was squeezed in between two mural projects with not much time between to clear away the garden remains in the backyard.  So the yard was a little messy. Ok, it was a LOT messy. I just didn't feel put together, and that made me more than a little nervous when the day arrived. Add to that a hungry husband who, forgetting that I was saving the tiny melons for the event, cut into the largest one the day before. He apologized profusely, and even came out to apologize to the gals. I have to say that he more than made up for it by helping me clean up before and after the event. What a guy!

        From left to right: Janet Kondziela, Me, Jane Grigs, Gail Churchill

And you know?, none of them seemed to mind, or even notice the tangled vegetation along the fence-line or my less-than perfectly organized studio. We just really had a great time painting! The sun was out and the air was filled with the gentle warmth of early fall. The shifting afternoon light at times had an ethereal glow to it and we got a little excited trying to capture it. There was just a hint of evening chill as we finished up. And the most important thing we all took away was the encouragement we felt after being so isolated the last few months. There's something very comforting about sharing artistic insights under a gentle autumn sun with no pressure to perform. 

To top it off, I was talking about this with a horse-lover/owner friend last night and she invited me to bring a group of artists out to her very picturesque grounds and paint her horses in mid-October. Imagine all I would have missed had I let a messy yard or studio get in the way!

What is stopping you? Whatever it is, I encourage you to push forward. You'll be so glad you did.

Jan

You can view Janet Kondziela's lovely work at http://janetkondziela.com/about

Gail Churchill's "Goldenrod and Milkweed" can be viewed here.

All of us are members of Artist's Society of Dearborn. Some of our work for 2019 can be viewed here.