After a Long Sabbatical....

Made You Smile, painted sheet metal cut-out

Well it's been a terribly long break from posting! Since my last post (about 6 months ago) I have been involved with several side jobs, namely filling in as a long-term visual art substitute at a local arts middle school. Baldwin Magnet Middle School was actually the school that I attended when I was in Jr. High. The art teacher at Baldwin went on Maternity leave early due to complications with her pregnancy so I was able to teach art in a public school setting for the first time in my life. I was there from January 6th until April 13th. It was actually more awesome than I had anticipated. I will post several images of my time there in the near future.

This flower painting was a piece that I did for the American Red Cross here in Montgomery, AL. They hold a charity auction each year and invite local artists to paint garden accessories made of sheet metal. This year I was invited and I was given this large flower to decorate. I thought it came out fairly well. My inspiration for the piece was a mix between Anne Geddes and cabbage patch kids. The execution of this initial idea produced unexpected results. The child's face was a little too realistic, pushing the painting too close to a portrait - and who wants a portrait of a random child in their garden?! So I decorated the petals to the maximum in order to pull the viewer's attention from the face. I considered writing "I Have a Stamen!" in the petals but then decided that "Made You Smile" might be a little more safe. Overall I am pleased with the outcome and can't wait to see how well it does in the auction.