Winter Sunset

I'm back, after a long and luxurious break from the technical world. I must admit, it was refreshing to spend days, yes, even weeks away from the computer, but it's also good to feel connected again. I wanted to share my newest painting, of a treeline silhouetted against a lovely Ohio sunset. This is a scene by my brother-in-law's home, and it was a lot of fun to do. The water in the pond had a thin layer of ice over it in places, which reflected the color of the sky in an unusual way. I find water is not the easiest thing for me to portray. If there are any artists out there with some tips, I would highly welcome them! I will get this posted to my etsy shop as soon as I can manage to get some decent pictures of it. In the meantime, I will endeavor to create another carbon pencil drawing, perhaps of some type of animal. Shall I follow the etsy trend, and draw an owl? Or perhaps something else woodsy, a squirrel or a deer. Hmm, we shall see!

Christmas stuff!

Well, I've had my first non-payment in my etsy shop. Etsy has an odd check-out process, in which you may click on the "commit to buy" button and purchase an item without actually paying for it. This causes some problems, particularly if the buyer is new and doesn't understand how etsy check-out works. So, I had someone buy an ornament, and not pay for it. It's only been a day, but this person hasn't responded to either of my messages and still hasn't paid. I'll give her another day or two, and if she doesn't pay by then, I'll start the process of cancelling the sale. I've been very happy with my customers so far, they've all been great and their positive feedback has been very encouraging. Here is one of my favorites: "Wow! They look even better in person! Thank you so much, I can't wait to see everyone's smiles when they get them for x-mas. Thanks again for the custom order!" I've been working on another custom request, a poinsettia ornament. I think it will turn out really nice. I'll post pics when it's finished. In the mean time, I love my new Christmas tree, and I have some little gifties underneath, all wrapped up and beautiful! Enjoy the season, and remember to have fun!

Mockingbird painting

Here is a picture of my newest painting. I have not yet listed this on etsy. It's in a very different style for me, which I have been wanting to try out. I used a lot of glazing in this piece, so the colors are quite rich and deep, which doesn't translate very well into the photo. However, I'm thinking of doing another one in this whimsical style, only with a winter theme. I'm very seasonally oriented, if that isn't obvious. :) And on another happy note, I sold my first painting through etsy today! I'm so excited about it! And I really, really hope the buyer loves her new piece of art! It's one of the first paintings I did when I started this whole art thing back up again, and I love the pop of red in the leaves. If you are interested, you can view the painting I sold here. Happy day all! I know mine was! :)

Twitter

I'm on Twitter now. I'm still not convinced that Twitter is all that great, but I'll keep you posted on how it turns out. If you would like to follow me on Twitter, my address is: http://twitter.com/SilvanArt. I was feeling discouraged this morning about not having any sales yet on etsy, so I looked around in the forums there. That was quite encouraging! There were all sorts of tips and advice, as well as stories of how long it took people to get their first sales after they started their shops. So, I'm feeling energetic and inspired again (hence the Twitter thing). I will now walk to the University and sketch for awhile, then take Dan some lunch. I made a fabulous Italian feast last night for dinner, completely from scratch. It was parmesan polenta served with a creamy Italian sausage and vegetable sauce. The book said it would go really well with a Sangiovese, which is one of my favorite red wines. We did not have any on hand though, so just drank water. It was still quite yummy, and is destined to be our lunch today!