Partial Eclipse . 14x11 inches . 2008

Ingredients: acrylic paint, beach sand, crushed sea shells, finely ground glass, varnish, phosphorescent pigment, water & light.

I think one of the things that I find fascinating about eclipses is the time involved: Practically none! They only happen so often, and only last a few minutes. People make treks across the world to experience them first hand.

[you can see the sun's atmosphere!]

See the Etsy listing for all 5 lighting shots.

I'm working with REALLY BRIGHT colors right now.

Beginnings . 12x24 inches . 2008

1. natural lighting
2. artificial lighting
3. artificial and UV lighting combined
4. UV lighting only
5. no light

Ingredients: acrylic paint, beach sand, glass, and varnish on canvas.

I've been fine-tuning this painting since, oh... November, I think. By "fine-tuning," I mean restarting about 4 times. 5? I have no idea anymore. Needless to say, it has captured a great portion of my soul in the process.

In some ways, it's hard for me to look at it. I feel as though I've been looking at it for so long now. My vision has become blurry, and I see the many different paintings it almost was.

I think part of my difficulty was venturing out and exploring a new canvas shape. It's so long! Granted, I'm in love with horizons, so it seemed like it should be relatively easy.

I am very happy to have finally accomplished it. I'm actually well suited for this style canvas, so it would have been quite a pity had I not gained such experience points. In fact, I happen to have a shiny new 12x36 inch canvas staring me down from next to my work bench. I'm really excited to give it a whirl. Maybe not right away, though...

I should mention that, although you cannot see it at all, the painting is covered in those tiny glass pieces I've been obsessed with lately. It shows up as little white "dots" on the non-reflective sections, because that's all the camera flash can pick up. (See the second image above.) You'll have to trust me when I say (as I always do) that this is an incredible effect in person. Also, the greenish color in the glow image fades much more rapidly than the rest of the color, ultimately leaving you with a dark night sky filled with stars and magic that should last for hours. :o)

Of course I'm glad to have reached the end of this particular journey, but all that means is that I've cleared more mental space to begin something brand new. This art thing is addictive.

My New Studio

A studio! No couch! More space!

(Organizational goals for 2008 in full swing!)

I love my work bench. I can paint without crouching. Hooray. We also bought a few cabinets and drawers. I may need one more cabinet. For the time being, I am able to store most of my supplies in the same area of the house, rather than also in the kitchen, the bedroom, the closets...

I have not gotten used to it, and I constantly (constantly) go into the wrong room to get something before realizing that it was in the drawer right in front of me the whole time.

Colin put everything together himself, because he is wonderful and amazing and handsome and I love him. :oD

Meat was angry and spent most of the weekend under the bed, or scowling at us from the floor. He eventually began scowling at us from the couch cushion we kept, and then ultimately seemed to forget that we ever had a couch. Joey is thrilled that we finally realized that fetch is the most important thing, and have rearranged the apartment to accommodate this fact. He even helped us out by scattering his toys all over the newly created space.

As for Colin and I, we have taken up doing martial arts, yoga stretches, and spinning around in circles just because we can. I'm this close to doing a cartwheel in the middle of the room.

Mark my words: There will be hula-hooping.

Oh, and, more painting. Of course. :o)

A new year, a new package to ship.

I admit that I go a little overboard with packaging sometimes, but I do it because it makes me happy. A friend of mine does packaging with only recycled materials (boxes, paper bags, etc) out of respect for the environment. I love this philosophy, and I actually feel slightly guilty about how much bubble wrap I use because of it. But I swear, I can't help it. It brings me joy to wrap my paintings up like a gift. There's something romantic to me about fine art wrapped in fabric and tied up with hemp. I love to use fabric, and although I assume my collectors likely just toss it out, I use a long piece to wrap it up in, just so they can have the experience of unwrapping it. I think it really adds to the moment of seeing the painting for the first time when surrounded by a beautiful fabric, like the one I used to mail the painting above. (Which I purchased many yards of, just because I was so in love with it.) I also use a really long piece of hemp to tie it with, partially because it looks neat, but also because sometimes there are legitimate uses for things like a long piece of super-sturdy hemp!

In related news, I got to fill out my first Customs form! Yay!

Shh... I'm meditating.

That's the name of the showcase I curated for Trunkt a couple of days ago. Guess what? It made the front page! :o)

I think all the items are very peaceful. :::breathes deeply:::



Until December 3rd (2007) you can view the actual page of this treasury (with the artist information) here. (After that, you'll have to search through Trunkt to find everything.)

You also now have a much better idea of what the inside of my apartment looks like. :o) All of these items would look AMAZING.

I love art.

My Etsy Shop

... is back. Stuff up. I have at least 2 pieces to put up that are new. 2 or 3. I have plans for more. Some (I'm not sure how many yet) are destined for a gallery on the East Coast in a few weeks.

www.shaylamaddox.etsy.com

Etsy is a lot of fun. It truly inspires support for independent artists.

I like it because it gives me somewhere to exhibit my smaller paintings. The smattering of ideas visible in these smaller pieces really displays my creative process, ever-changing with my mood. They give me an outlet to be freely creative while I hone in on the idea.

Etsy: Your place to buy & sell all things handmade shaylamaddox.etsy.com

Art Gallery Exhibition

Early, 24x36, Sold

The show was great! I think almost everyone I know turned out for the event. I felt very supported. The feedback was amazing! I will post more pictures soon.

One of the best parts of the evening was answering the question about whether or not black light art can be considered "art" and whether or not it can stand under gallery scrutiny. I think we firmly settled that one, huh? :o)

My paintings were spread out over 2 rooms, the main front room, and the smaller room in the back, which was designated for black lights. We all agreed that no black lights were needed to show off my work, so everything up front was brilliantly bright, showing the vivid colors and textures of each piece. We did, however, have a black light flashlight available for those who wanted to see the UV color on everything in that room.

The UV room was the biggest hit. I loved it when crowds of people all piled into the smallish room to see the different lighting adjustments in action. We were able to "flip" between artificial lighting, UV lighting, and no light (for the glow) really easily, which greatly helped explain what "light reactive" means. Of course, towards the end of the evening, everyone wanted to see all the paintings under UV light, so we began swapping paintings around the windows and rooms so that each piece was able to experience its full UV glory.

Opening night sales were great and many people were very interested in coming back. It was nice to see so many people suddenly look sad when one of the paintings they were interested in sold right in front of them. Heh. ;o) At least I'm not the only one who feels an emotional attachment to a particular painting.

The gallery director told us that an opening had never gone that late before! Hooray for us. We know how to party.

This was a wonderful learning experience, of which I couldn't have gotten somewhere else. I like to think of this sort of education as Art School. I gained invaluable information, and feel more motivated to work hard than even before the show! I can't wait to see what the future brings, and I can't wait to start planning the next event. It's been quite a year so far. I have curated an Art Festival with over 30 artists and now I have participated in my own gallery show in a major art mecca.

This was just one stop. On to the next!

Karma Juice Reception This Weekend!

On Sunday, April 22nd from 2pm to 4pm, there will be a reception for me and my art at Karma Juice in Dana Point, California. It is located at :

33621 Del Obispo Suite F
Dana Point, CA 92629


Morning, Artifact, Daydream

These 3 paintings are 10 x 10 inches. They are (of course) uv reactive and glow in the dark. I will be showing these, along with many others through June 15th at Karma Juice.

I'm very excited about this party. I love the environment at Karma Juice, and I feel that my art matches the atmosphere really well. Maybe that's just because its drenched in my favorite incense, and because they sell Sambazon, my favorite purple berry. Either way, it's a nice little bohemian joint that's perfect for a fun afternoon.

Give your karma a boost! Come hang out with us and support art. :o)