Summer Fairs

Spring is almost here and summer will be upon us soon and with summer comes all the wonderful summer fairs. This year I am planning to do more events than I did last year! And the month of May is already looking to be pretty busy and I am starting to paint a lot, both large and small pieces in preparing to be ready for the summer events. Here is a series of small works I am doing for the summer shows - all of these are on 6" x 6", Textured acrylics on canvas. Sides are painted the same background colors and the right & left ones have patterns. These definitely add a little extra color to one's space!

  

 

A Trip to de Young

A couple of weeks back we were on the West Coast and got the chance to go to de Young, one of the Fine Art Museums in San Francisco, with one of our friends. The "Girl with a Pearl Earring" by Vermeer was on special exhibit and it was a wonderful experience to see it in person and spend some time taking it all in. We did the docent tour of the special exhibit and our docent was very knowledgeable and pointed out so many things one wouldn't know or easily miss. 

One of the most memorable paintings for me, other than the Girl with a Pearl Earring, of course, was the "Fauna and Flora of the Pacific" by Miguel Covarrubias. For me as a biologist, I was very impressed how he brought everything together so wonderfully and also mind-blowing that I have never seen even a map like this before. I came away with more inspiration to continue to work on my Henna Animals series.

 

The glass exhibit was also mind-blowing and we spent quite a bit of time there. 

And as we rounded off American Contemporary work, we came away with a lot of thought and discussion as to what is art and which art belongs in a museum, especially seeing a work of huge canvas painted with a black and blue border and left white otherwise (The blue made the white whiter and black blacker). 

We also spent some time on the observatory, taking in sights of the city all around us!

Photo credits: Sankara Raman, 2013.

New Anniversary Show

It has been one year since I started showing my art in public in WI. Its been an amazing one year with 16+ shows, 60+ paintings sold. I am now booked to show my works at different venues all the way till August 2013 (well, except in June!). For this month I have a 35 pieces showing in 5 different venues. The most recent being at Art and Soul Tattoo & Gallery in New Glarus, WI. I also have 2 pieces for a group show at the UW hospital, 2 pieces at a salon/gallery in Chicago, 2 pieces at another group show at Sauk City and a few more pieces in a coffee shop on State Street in Madison. If you are in the neighborhood, stop by any of these places and check out my work in person! 

 

Back from a Break

We were traveling in the land of Sunny California last week, visiting with friends and family. After a much needed get away and a wonderful time at art museums and meeting a couple of other artists, I am back from the break - much inspired and ready to be creative. I started this scarf last night and finished it today. As always, when I am in love with the yarn, the task goes so much faster! I am trying to finish a couple more of them for a small holiday fair I am doing on Dec 1. While on vacation, I also made a small hat, taught two friends to crochet, worked on two scarfs that are yet to be finished. 

I also managed to design and order prints for 2013 calendar featuring my artwork before we left and they also arrived in the mail yesterday. To take a look at my other works, please visit my facebook page: www.facebook.com/artbybala. The calendars are $15.00 with free shipping! To order,  click the shop now tab on the facebook page or from my website www.artbybala.com.

 

Scarf with Camel Wool

Day 9 of Art Every Day Month. Finished this scarf today. It's made from camel wool, spun to yarn in Mongolia by tribal women, and sold through the snow-leapord trust. It is super warm. I had to have a fan running while crocheting, otherwise I would start to sweat from the warmth of the yarn. Proceeds from the sale of this scarf will benefit the Big Cat Rescue in Tampa, FL. Measures 65x4.5". $70.00

 

Pattern Painting

Day 8 of AEDM. Here's a painting I finished tonight. Its 9x9" acrylics on gallery wrapped canvas. The gold pattern is outlined by a textured wine colored line. The sides are painted and have golden swirls on them. The patterns itself is inspired by Arabian motifs. It is definitely hard doing a symmetrical pattern free hand for sure!

 

Solar Plexus Chakra

Day 7 of Art Every Day Month. I didn't get a chance to post yesterday. I did a bunch of art -mostly progress stuff for Day 6. I prepped a couple of canvases, went to my stained glass class and foiled the piece I was working on. I thought I would get to finish it, but couldn't. Forgot to take the camera with me for a progress picture. I also started on a scarf with two different colored yarns, made from camel's wool - all the way from Mongolia. More on this when I finish and post the scarf.

For today - here is the Solar Plexus Chakra I finished. The red colored lines are textured. Its also 10x10", acrylics on a canvas panel, similar to the Crown Chakra. Two down and five to go in the Chakra Series :)