Margarita Tuesday

Something is in the stars. I have been absolutely crazy these last couple of weeks traveling from one city to another... jumping from project to project. AND being my perfectionist self, I've been trying to get all of my art projects accomplished on time, and without help. Then yesterday I cracked. As I was compiling a list of "things to do" in my brain... I had to stop and SLOW DOWN. My relationships and sanity had been forgotten and have taken a back seat to my work. I am such a silly girl! Why am I compromising my well-being for work? So I took a new direction. I swapped coffee or pre-made margaritas instead and got to drinking... I thought of it as an experiment. Either I as going to drink too much and get nothing done... Or something brilliant would happen... The results proved to be great. Once I loosened up ... I could really get into my painting! And I remembered why I love it so much! Applying color with ease to a fresh canvas is something I just LOVE to do. I got so much done and I am thrilled to show the results! Cheers to a Margarita Tuesday!

 

 

"Green Wave", 2012, By Karlin Meehan

My Mom always tells me"practice makes perfect". And she's right. Every week I like to give myself a "practice painting"... It doesn't matter what the subject is either... I enjoy just taking a few hours to zone out and put some paint onto some canvas... Since I had several wave paintings already completed... I figured I'd add another one to the mix. Here it is! <

P A P E R

For a girl who doesn't own anything but a bedroom set... I find it interesting that I hold onto every paper item ever given to me. If you got me a graduation, birthday, or celebratory card within the last 15 years... guess what; I still have it. Maybe I hold onto the moment, or hold onto the person that gave me that card in that very moment... but all I know is that over years of holding on... I have a shoe box in my closet full of memories. I guess you could say paper is so much more magical than an email or evite online... It’s a tangible thing that if I take very good care of... will outlast my lifetime... So I've decided that I love the idea of using paper... And its staying power. a>

Art, Chalk, and Charity

I was lucky enough to escape LA for Memorial Day Weekend and headed up the coast to one of my most favorite places on earth: Santa Barbra, CA. Besides walking the pier, and shopping on State Street, I went to the Santa Barbra Mission where I discovered the 26th annual Madonnari Chalk Festival. Every year this event draws thousands of people (25 thousand to be exact) and artists create beautiful works on the pavement before the Mission. Madonnari benefits the Children’s Creative Project, a nonprofit arts education program of the Santa Barbara County Education Office. The project serves 50,000 children in more than 100 schools with visual and performing arts workshops and performances throughout Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties. I loved that this event was not only fun for everyone there, but it served a huge purpose of supporting art education.

Wave Painting for Ryan

In addition to flowers, I get quite a few requests for wave paintings... and I have to say... I really love doing them. Playing with variations of blue, green, and purple... its amazing how many different colors go into these pieces. I started a wave painting a few weeks ago and I documented the process (per usual) and here it is!

Toilet Paper Roll + Scenic Collage = Amazing! by Anastassia Elias

I don't have the patience or skill when it comes to very small, intricate works. But I can always appreciate people who have this special gift of working in delicate media. So I was surprised and delighted to discover French artist Anastassia Elias, who not only paints, draws, and sculpts (a triple threat), but has a series of these toilet paper scenes. They are charming and fun!

Color Color Color

Color is inspiring my world right now.

Orange and Pink Peony

I have been pretty busy these past few months... one of the many projects I've been up to has been creating works for my online shop on Etsy. I realized I had no work to sell since I had been tied up with commission requests. So I've begun a 10 week project in creating over a dozen works to sell. One particular piece entitled "Orange and Pink Peony" was a week long painting process that I documented. Below are the stages of how it all came together. * note: Usually I start a painting with an image or color in mind, and slowly tweak the picture along until I get the right shape and contrast. Then I layer on the paint until I see its time to stop.

My Etsy Shop: www.etsy.com/shop/karlinmeehan