Wish They Were Here

I watch a lot of home decorating shows, and one brand name I have seen over and over again is Z Gallerie. The national chain has some of the most beautiful merchandise, and I've always liked the furniture and accessories I have seen from their store on shows like Clean House on Style Network. I decided to take a peek at some of their newest items on their website.

Of course, as a graphic designer, I headed straight for the art category first. Thanks to a couple of typography classes, I've developed a new appreciation for type, and the art made by Zoey Riley is a good example of how typography is an art in itself. Riley has a series of 20" x 40" canvas prints that has the name of a city and some of the well-known streets in that city. The crackled finish gives the prints an aged look, and I like that she decided to stick to the same two fonts when she mixed serif and sans serif fonts together. I find it interesting that all of the prints are on a black background except for the Miami print, which is on a turquoise background. I think the color choice was inspired by Miami's more tropical environment, and I think she made a good decision on this one. I was also drawn to the work of Kate Birch, whose two prints bear the name of "Chocolate Covered Cherry." The combination of flowers, vines, stripes and striations makes her pieces fun to study. it looks like she painted an outline of each part and went back in with a wet brush to pull some of the color into the middle. I have got to try that! After oohing and ahhing the artwork, I went to the furniture category and saw a subcategory called Affordable Chic. Of course, I had to go there - it had the word "affordable" in it. The page has some nice-looking contemporary couches, and the one that caught my eye was the Benny sofa. I have a thing for mid-century modern furniture, and this sleek tufted couch hits all the right notes with me. I can see myself putting a couple of brightly colored pillows on it and making it my own. I also went to the accessories page, and Z Gallerie definitely has the Christmas spirit. I love how elegant (and grown-up) their ornaments are. They mainly stick to red, silver and blue, and they don't look cheesy. My favorites are the starburst ornaments since they look like little sunburst mirrors (I've always wanted one of those mirrors). Of course, if you have a think for kitsch at Christmas, they have these cute little glass dog ornaments, and the dogs have one these cute little outfits. I think the Boston Terrier wearing the feather boa is hilarious!

I wanted to see if they have a store in my area, so I went to their store locations page. Oh, bummer - they're not in my state yet. If you happen to be one of the lucky ones that lives near a Z Gallerie store, I suggest that you check them out. For the rest of us, we can still shop online, and they'll even ship items in a gift box for you if you want surprise that special someone. Sounds good to me!

Good news, good news!

Last month, I posted about how I was freaking out about a difficult class I had to take. Well, guess what? I GOT AN A! WOO HOO! I was also inducted into the National Technical Honor Society last week, and I will be inducted into Kappa Pi Honorary Art Fraternity next week. On to of that, I was approached personally for some ongoing freelance work. I think that at this point, I can call myself a graphic designer now instead of a graphic designer wannabe. :) I am also enjoying the mixed media class I'm taking now. I haven't worked with soft pastels since high school, and I forgot how much I enjoyed them. Last week, we were asked to play around with the medium using different techniques. This assignment reminded me of my coloring book days; see the attached images. I'll be drawing something recognizable this weekend, so if I remember, I'll share the finished product with you.

Phew! I've been busy...

Sorry I haven't posted in a while, but it got harder to get back here after I started going back to school online in April of last year, and things got even tighter when I was working two part-time jobs in addition to that for a few months. I'm back down to one part-time job, and I just finished a life drawing class last week. I got an A! :) I am going to create a PDF portfolio of my art projects once I decide which pieces of artwork to put in it. After all, I want to be sure to include my best work. When I create it, I'll share it with you. I have been thinking about putting my portfolio on a Web site, but I haven't decided what kind of format I want. Do I want to keep it simple, or should I get one of those fancy Flash sites? I like the sleek look of many Flash sites, but sometimes they can take a while to load, and I don't know if a potential employer or client would feel like waiting for the site to pull up on their computer. The site would pull up faster on a simpler HTML site, but would it be too plain? Hmmm, what should I do? If anyone has any ideas, please share.

Check out my new header

I've been meaning to replace the Simpsons version of me with a more elegant header from some time, but since I've taken up babysitting my nephew for the past several months, I hadn't had as much time on my hands to regularly modify my blog layout. Well, I sneaked in some time early this morning before the baby got here to finally come up with something. When you get a chance, take a look and tell me what you think. I designed the header using GIMP, a free software similar to Photoshop. Today was the first time I actually got a chance to play around with it, and although the software is pretty good, I'm still stuck on Project Dogwaffle software (also free) since I have used it longer and am more familiar with it. I'll probably like GIMP more over time, at least until I can afford to buy Photoshop. By the way, I plan on posting more in the near future. It's been a challenge lately, especially when you're chasing a 1-year-old nephew around the house. I've seen a lot of artists online that I wanted to blog about, so I will do that when I get time. Don't forget to tell me what you think of the header. Thanks!

Moran Fine Art

I mentioned in a prior post that when I paint, I prefer using acrylic paint. It dries quickly and cleans up easily. However, I wondered if I would be able to get more depth in my paintings without having to use oils. Well, I have discovered that it is possible after looking at the work of Moran Danan. Her abstract, landscape and music-themed paintings burst forth with color and richness. I noticed that she uses a lot of black and warm colors, and any cool colors she uses tend to be very bright. This combination of colors and her strokes, especially the way she paints flower petals, makes me feel like there should be smooth jazz music playing in the background every time I look at a painting. I've used similar strokes in my digital paintings, so maybe I could try that with acrylics. Please visit her gallery. I hope you'll enjoy it as much as I did.

Diana Levinson

I saw this abstract artist in action on Martha Stewart about a week ago, so I just had to check out her work on her Web site. I love the colors and the movement in each piece I saw in her online gallery, which contained oil and charcoal paintings and prints made through etching and aquatint. I love the whole gallery, but if I had to choose a few favorites, I suppose they would be Meter, Naples, Diptych I, Meander I, Vertical Tangle and Page from a Sketchbook IV. Levinson also has a video of herself painting one of her masterpieces, which is fun to watch. I usually work with acrylic paint, but I am tempted to grab some oil paint and "go to town." Her work is truly amazing and inspiring.

The 30-Day Creative Challenge

I took the challenge on another forum and had a great time doing it, so I'm presenting the challenge to my readers. Here goes: For the next 30 days, do something creative at least once a day. You could draw, paint, make crafts, write a poem, sew a shirt or whatever it is you enjoy doing or will dare yourself to try. Have a mantra to motivate you throughout the challenge, such as, "Art is my life," or "I am so creative I can hardly stand it!" If you miss a day of creating something, you have to add a day to your challenge. In my case, my challenge ended up being 35 days long. So, go for it! Post your activities here by commenting under this blog entry. I can't wait to see who will take the challenge and what will be created as a result. I'll be waiting... :-)

Bitten by the shutterbug

Since I bought my little digital camera this past summer, I've discovered something about myself: I LOVE PHOTOGRAPHY! I mean, I always liked pretty pictures, but I never thought I would enjoy taking them so much. I should have known, though. Throughout my life, I would look at a sunset or a tree or a flower and say to myself, "Wow, I wish I had a camera right now to capture this." I guess I never got into it before because I hated the thought of taking a picture and not being able to tell if it turned out right until I got the film developed. Now, since I get instant gratification with the digital camera, I can retake shots all I want, and I can upload and share my work right away.

sunrise at the park, # 4 by reasontolive
Get this custom print  at Zazzle

Bogue Chitto Creek by reasontolive
Get this custom print  at Zazzle

These are two of the pictures I have taken that I think turned out very well. I have many more in the Nature section of my Zazzle Web site, which includes my first calendar.

Dramatic Nature Calendar by reasontolive
Get this custom calendar  at Zazzle

I am hoping to one day have more equipment so I can take even better pictures. First on the list: a tripod. This blog entry brought to you by:

Digital artwork by Shane Gilreath

Good use of color and repetition of subject matter - need I say more?
make custom gifts at Zazzle

Lisa Overton Robinson

Lisa, a private art instructor, has bachelor's degrees in art and Spanish. In addition, she does Web design and photo restoration. She also hosts an art camp every summer and is a gallery director at Go Creative Arts and Athletics. Go here to see her portfolio.

1st Lite Fine Art Portraits

Dawn Rosenburg, a Mississippi artist, has an impressive portfolio of portraits and retouched photos. Her infant and scenic photos are my personal favorites. Go here to see Dawn's collection and contact her if you would like for her to take some photos.