Joyce Shelton's Blog

Blog Hop

What is a blog hop, you ask? (curiously, so did I)  In a nutshell, here's how it works:

Each of the talented artists below, licenses her art for a variety of different products.  There will be some fun projects, crafts, maybe a free pattern or "how to", and some give-aways on each blog for the next 9 days.  All you have to do is visit each blog and leave a comment.  That's it... then you're in for the  goodies!

This is a first for me.  I'm hangin' out on a limb... a fish out of water... jumpin' off the high dive... still wondering what "exciting" project and give-away I will come up with... yikes!  Anyway, the fun starts tomorrow with Terri Conrad so please join in and spread the word.  If you have a blog, you can even lift the "Blog Hop with the Artists" invitation and post it on your blog - the more who post, play & win, the merrier!  Remember, just leave a comment letting us know you visited and then on November 24th each of us will randomly select a winner from those comments for our give-aways!

1.   Terri Conrad  http://www.terriconraddesigns.typepad.com/ (nov 14)

2.   Brenda Pinnick   http://www.brendapinnick.com/blog/ (nov 15)

3.   Tori Higa   http://www.torihiga.blogspot.com/ (nov 16)

4.   ME   http://www.joyceshelton.typepad.com/ (nov 17)

5.   Phyllis Dobbs  http://phyllisdobbs.info/ (nov 18)

6.   Cherish Fielder  http://somethingtocherish.com/archivepage (nov 19)

7.   Joy Hall   http://joyhall.typepad.com/ (nov 20)

8.   Barbara Johansen Newman 

      http://johansennewman.typepad.com/designrocket/ (nov 21)

9. Sharyn Sowell  http://www.sharynsowellartblog.blogspot.com/ (nov 22)

Off to the drawing board to come up with something wonderful.  :~) 

Have a great weekend!

One Liners

Otherwise known as contour line drawings! 

I've been cleaning and sorting in the studio, among a zillion other projects strewn about my house.  For some reason, I am having a focusing problem lately.  I'm here...no, wait... I'm there.  Don't want to do anything I'm supposed to be doing.  Real work? What's that?   Maybe it's the change in the weather.  Ha... What change? 

Anyway, while browsing through my sketchbook, which rarely has anything worth sharing, I was reminded about contour drawing and just how much fun it is.  The thing I like best about it, is that the end result is just so original.  There's no other way to come up with a lighthearted sketch.  If you follow a photograph, it comes out stiff and distorted, but if you just sit with pen on paper, looking up ever so infrequently at a live subject, and let the line flow, the results are sometimes worth keeping and developing further.  Here are a couple of examples.

This was a little coffee shop in Mt. Dora where my friend, Christy and I were enjoying a cup of coffee and dessert together.  This is the type of little vignette that gets me inspired to pull out the pen and paper.  Even the watercolors now and then.

On a recent visit to Jo-Nanny's up in the Poconos, I was inspired to do a quick one of Leann, who was busy sketching.  I'm so proud of her for making this part of her everyday life as an art student.  Love her monkey slippers!  This one actually even looks like her.  Amazing!

Then there's this!  LOL!

She turned and began to sketch me sketching her.  She looks like some strange little munchkin here!  Thank heavens this looks NOTHING like her!  But I really like it.  It's quirky...with a sort of whimsical feel to it.  Again, you could never get this from a photo reference.

So next time you have 5 minutes, Give it a try.  Put your pen to the paper and try not to lift it or even look at it much.  It's fun and you might be surprised to see what you get.

 

Tea Party Sighting!

My 15 minutes of fame... finally!  Last Sunday, my friend Nada called all atwitter.  She had been flipping around the channels and lo and behold, she caught a glimpse of something familiar on HGTV.  While chatting with the realtor, at her kitchen table this lady on the show was drinking from one of my Tea Party Mugs!  I immediately tuned in and there it was! This may seem like no big deal to most of you, but for a designer of product who sits inside like a hermit most of the time... alone with her cat... well, it was just fun to see someone actually using my art!  I'm pretty sure it was this one.

I do remember another time when I got a similar phone call from my friend, Moni, who had seen two of my prints hanging on a dining room wall on an Oprah show.  It still makes me chuckle - I knew, at long last, I had made it!  The show was all about inexpensive decorating! 

For anyone who's interested, I thought it might be a good time to share a little bit of the product design process.  I am amused at the reaction from people when I explain to them what I do.  They always seem amazed, and admit never having given much thought to the actual process involved. Here goes... from my drawing board to your kitchen table....

After the concept is decided, I sketch out the product shapes for the entire collection.

In this case, I was re-designing Tea Party for Giftcraft, which is my favorite and most popular line.

We wanted to keep it in the same color family for collectors of original Tea Party, so with the already established palette in mind, I went to work developing some new patterns to add to the mix.

I work closely with the VP of product development so once we agree on these, I hand paint each and every piece in the collection so there will be no question at the factory as to where I want what print to be placed.  Many weeks of countless hours.  Who ever says working for yourself is easy has not done it!  I go into what Eddie calls "Hermit mode".  Sometimes it's days of never leaving the house.  Thankfully he feeds and waters me!

Once this leaves my studio, it all goes to Giftcraft and they prepare it for the next step.  As is the case with most of my designs for them, Tea Party will be hand painted at the factory so it's important that my patterns look the way I want them to look and I try really hard to keep this in mind and not make them too complicated so they end up looking like my hand in the end. 

So far I've been very happy with the end result.  What do you think?

This one is my favorite guy in the whole collection! 

I plan to offer a few of items for sale on my website, coming soon. 

My Website created in Typepad

Well, it's been a week out of my life, and I'm sure I've added a few extra inches to my butt from sitting for so long, but it's done!  I finally have a somewhat presentable website!!  And, you might also notice, I tweaked a few things on this blog.  It was about time for it to get a face lift as well.  So one of my short term goals from January has finally been accomplished and I feel pretty darned good about it!!  It's nothing fancy, but the best part is, I can now add to it or change it for free whenever I want without the help of someone who knows html.  I did it all in Typepad and even mapped my domain name from my web host, which to my surprise... actually worked! 

I first learned about all this by reading Craig McGinty's article after seeing it posted on Kirsten Farris's blog.  Working with Typepad's software is so easy once you play around a bit and learn the ins and outs.  Their Help knowledge base is pretty good at answering most questions and they even provide free live tutorials. 

Now this week I will get down to some real work.  I do plan on posting later about a really fun workshop I took this past Saturday, so check back later to hear all about that!

A fan from Norway!

 

 

Every now and then someone out there reaches out and just makes your day!  I was thrilled to receive this hello from a new friend in Norway,  Line Wennersgård.  While on vacation in the US, she bought one of my Giftcraft "Catititudes" and he's been an inspiration in her studio ever since.  Here's what she wrote:  ( I am humbled)

Dear Joyce!
I`m writing to you from Norway! 
My name is Line, i`m too an artist and an illustrator, and I just wanted to tell you how much joy your Picatso bring me! Its just so funny and cheerful J Its become a symbol of my love for my art, and that I have to remind the playfulness, its so easy to get stuck up in all the buisness…
It has a place on my desk and I fell in love with it in a second in a little shop in Palm Springs. I have family in California, so for  about 4 years ago, I bought it and carried it carefully with me home to Norway! I`m not so good at using many colors in my artwork, so for me this cat is a colorful moment in the days. And ofcourse I love cats too.
It also reminds me of Usa, that is my vacation place No.1! Last summer we visited New Jercey, Vermont and beautiful Holden Beach in North Carolina! Just loved it, and I get so inspired of all the great impressions America gives me.
So now that i`ve found your website, I will be checking in sometimes, to get colorful inspiration, and I really like the way you write too. I have been trying to blog myself, but its hard to start, but you inspire me to make it more artful, and personal. So I am trying too.
 
I wish you a great day, and thank you for making the Picatso!
 
Sincerely,
Line Wennersgård

Thank you so much, Line... for taking the time to write such kind words.

Now... back to packing my clothes for that workshop!  Getting very excited! 

Newly Recycled Logo

I know, I've been absent for quite a while now.  I don't know why I fall so easily off the wagon. Life is just so all-consuming sometimes! 

I am busy trying to create new work as well as designing a new website in-between real work. This week I found myself with a small window of "deadline-free" time so I seized the opportunity to tackle the first order of business.... creating a new logo for myself.  I've had the same old one for at least 15 years now.  Funny thing, though when I revisited it, I discovered, I really still like it!  It's graphic, simple, not particular to any one painting style and pretty much "me".  So I spent some time beefing it up and trying to make it a little more up to date.  I'm posting it as a test for color. I am hoping it shows up in nice bright colors as it does on my monitor.  The brush jar is turquoise, the cup is chartreuse, the saucer, a dark blue and the background olive green. (Below is the old version) I think it might be a fun exercise to repaint this in a few different styles.  Great idea!  Just what I need... another project!

So whaddaya think?

 

Next order of business... a website and maybe a re-designed 

blog.... what the heck!

Furniture Gender Change

Well, I'm not exactly back at the drawing board quite yet, but I do have a paintbrush in my hand once again.  On December 27th I flew to Ohio (burrr) to repaint the baby furniture I had previously painted all boyish over 6 years ago.  Linda's daughter, Hollis (my baby too) and hubby, Jon are now having their third baby and this time it's finally a girl!  All this blue stuff has to go!!  Time to make it all girly-girly!

BEFORE... Jack and Ryan's furniture

 

The transformation begins

 

 

 

AFTER!  Now it's all Ella's!

Can't wait to see the finished room photos!

Stamps n' stencils

Still experimenting with those stamps n' stencils!
Today I wish I could create a money tree! 

Neigborhood Watch

I guess I'm on a roll!  FINALLY!  I can't decide if I like this design or it's name better?!  It's still in the works, as far as adding more colorways, but this one was so much fun... I want to do more!  

Eddie is on a Japan/Korean tour with jazz pianist, Eddie Higgins and I am in "hermit" mode.  As Tim Gunn says, work, work, work!  I'm off to the store to stock up on soup ingredients, fruits and veggies.  Yep... cutting back on the carbs... not following any kind of "diet", though... I can't go there.  But, I may even dust off my treadmill.  Got to get those cruise clothes fitting a little bit better before November!

Here's the soup recipe I got from the Weight Watcher's site.  I'll let you know how it is - ZERO POINTS!

WEIGHT WATCHERS GARDEN VEGETABLE SOUP
Hands-on time: 20 minutes
Time to table: 1 1/4 hour
Makes 9 cups

6 cups broth

Cooking spray
2 carrots, peeled and diced
1 large onion, diced
4 cloves minced garlic
1/2 cabbage, chopped (or use a bag of slaw, the biggest chunks you can find vs the fine, don't skip the cabbage for it somehow makes the soup)
1/2 pound frozen green beans
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 large zucchini, diced

Spray a Dutch oven with cooking spray and heat on MEDIUM HIGH. Add the carrots, onion and garlic and cook for about 5 minutes. Add all the remaining ingredients EXCEPT the zucchini and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce the heat to MEDIUM and simmer for about 15 minutes or until the beans are tender. Add the zucchini and cook until the zucchini are tender.

NUTRITION ESTIMATE
Per Cup: 61 Cal (3% from Fat, 24% from Protein, 73% from Carb); 4 g Protein; 0 g Tot Fat; 0 g Sat Fat; 13 g Carb; 3 g Fiber; NetCarb10; NetCarb10; 52 mg Calcium; 1 mg Iron; 701 mg Sodium; 0 mg Cholesterol


P.S.  It finally feels like fall in Florida!  Gorgeous day... low humidity!  Outdoor art festival going on in my town this weekend so I'm looking forward to walking around beautiful Lake Lily in Maitland tomorrow and hanging with my buddy Linda!

WELCOME FALL!  Whooo Hooo!!!

Some Happy Results

It’s all starting to come together!  I’m enjoying some happy results by combining sketchbook watercolors with hand carved stamps, stencils, pen & ink sketches and my Mac. Maybe I’m on to something I can stick with for more than a day!

While reviewing the latest trends in colors and patterns, I realized how much I like the simple, clean-line look currently popular on textiles and stationery products.  So, I’m on a mission to create a new signature style of my own using some rediscovered techniques that keep me pumped up.

Cutting my own rubber stamps has been so much fun!  I love the end result and the  fresh look of the print.  As soon as I get one stamp cut, I can't wait to cut the next! Who knows where they will show up?

Two informative books that I discovered along the way have proven to be valuable resources for the latest techniques in simple printmaking and a great addition to my art book library.  Printing By Hand by Lena Corwin and Lotta Prints by Lotta Jansdotter.

Back to the drawing board to create more happy results.  Also busy redesigning my website which hasn't been updated in almost 4 years!!  Think I'd rather go cut some stamps!

Missing but still in action

I know... I’ve been absent for a while... might want to pull up a chair! 

Daily life seems to have returned to normal, so now it's back to work for me.  Every so often I get this uncontrollable urge to seek a fresh new look with my art.  I look at what I’ve got in my portfolio and suddenly hate it all.  Funny, I feel the same way about my closet these days!  I could throw out 90% of it and not miss a thing. 

This being  my present state of mind, I’ve buried myself (and every available surface in the studio) with a vast variety of art supplies, mountains of reference books and any other sources of inspiration I can get my hands on.   I've been dedicated to daily sketching (even in my sleep)... all in search of that perfect new look. Stylishly-trendy, sale-able, yet still ME.  Oh, one more prerequisite... I’m looking for that process that propels me from one piece to the next with unbridled excitement! 
Okay, that might be a bit much to ask for, but well, it could happen!

Making new entries in the sketch book has been the biggest “Ah-ha!” moment for me. Sadly, somewhere along the way, I dropped that habit and have recently come to realize how important it really is to the creative process.  

I’ve not only enjoyed painting and sketching little snippets of design elements on a regular basis, but I’ve learned it is invaluable when faced with blank canvas syndrome!  Well, duhhhh!

Talk about new-found confidence... I’ve even invested in two Moleskin sketchbooks... the Cadillac of all sketch books!!  A small one for my purse and a larger one for outings.  Okay, so I have not worked up the nerve to actually mark in a page yet, but I will... in the very near future!

Now for the toughest part of the process...I’m trying to be still and listen to my inner creative voice which is often difficult for me - there is so much I like to do and so many different mediums I enjoy working with.  Staying focused is always a struggle.  I found these books from Northlight to be extremely helpful with suggestions for finding new ways to explore your individual creative process: “Finding your Visual Voice: A Painter’s Guide to Developing an Artistic Style”  by Dakota Mitchell and Lee Haroun, “The New Creative Artist” by Nita Leland and “Art Escapes” by Dory Kanter.

I’ve always been attracted to print making. Something about the freshness of the imperfect print continues to tug at my heartstrings. For many years, before I immersed myself in the art licensing business,  I earned a living selling my one-of-a-kind monotype paintings at outdoor art festivals.

Although it’s not exactly a precise style for commercial illustration, I did manage to use it successfully for many assignments such as the Olive Garden, and Walt Disney World Polynesian Resort menu covers below.

This was a messy, and sometimes tedious process as I had to use oil based inks and a press which I no longer own, but still, I miss the unexpected pleasant accidents of this style of printing.

Experimentation, for me, is a necessary form of what sometimes turns out to be days of tedious frustration.  But finally I had a small breakthrough! 

I’ve always been drawn to the old Indian and Pakistani block print textiles, so rich in their ethnic colors and forms.  I want to find a way to re-create the look and use it in my illustrations.  This little flower monotype was done by painting in reverse on a sheet of acetate with acrylics, and quickly transferring the image to the paper with a brayer.  I taped the top of the acetate to the paper, so I could keep it in register, giving me the ability to add paint as needed. I love the way it hits and misses on the rough textured water color paper.  Great look...we’re getting there. Still kind of tedious, though.  I found it works best with monochromatic colors and simple designs.
 

Okay... maybe I can find a way to combine this with another enjoyable process.  The thick and thin line art obtained only with a croquille pen and a bottle of ink!

So...In addition to a new portfolio.. the blog needs updating, the website needs a complete overhaul, and I need a diet and exercise program.  One of my favorite quotes is “Give a busy woman something to do and she’ll get it done!”

Back soon to share some happy results.
 

P.S. while working on this post, I have had my I-Tunes radio on a great station.  In I-Tunes Go to Radio> Jazz> Crooner Radio (10th one down) No Commercials and so enjoyable!  Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, Ella, Diana Krall, Harry Connick ... I’m loving it!!

New Arrivals!

I'm excited to announce the arrival of two Fed-Ex deliveries to the Metz
home last week!

Here's a quick shot of my newest addition to "Tea Party". A different
color palette for me... I like it! They did a great job of hand painting
my designs so I'm very pleased. (It looks much better in person.)

Also... look what else finally arrived!

Eddie's c.d.  It's full of great tunes... really swings and will not disappoint!

For ordering information, check out Eddie's site.

You will hear some great jazz standards such as "Falling In Love With Love", I'm Old Fashioned", "The More I See You" and "More Than You Know" plus some classic songs from the 60's and 70's. Included are Stevie Wonder's "Overjoyed", Burt Bacharach & Hal David's "One Less Bell To Answer" featuring the vocal talents of Nicki and Steely Dan's "Bodhisattva" and more.

Juices flowing again!

I'm afraid I have fallen off the blog wagon yet again!  But now that home
life has settled down a bit and Dad is recovering from his hip fracture, I
am back to the drawing board.  Funny how difficult it can be to start up
again when you've been away so long. 

I was pondering subject matter for my sketchbook when I came across
some photos from a recent trip to our local farmer's market.  What could
be more inspiring than colorful flowers, fruits and veggies? 

Well...it's a start :~)  The goal is a new sketch every day.  Wish me luck!

Atlanta Bound

Well.... it's off to Atlanta market early tomorrow morning for Linda & me.
Exhilarating, exhausting, exciting!  Looking forward to returning home with
loads of inspiration!  Time to get packing.

p.s. the tall skinny chick is my fashion guru, Linda!

Whole lotta changin' goin' on!

So you may have noticed the new look of my blog.  The plan is to
get back to the original plan which is more illustration, design
and topics of artsy-craftsy interest and less bla, bla, bla.

I am working on new illustrations similar to these, but for now,
in order to get a feel for the new look, these old things will
have to do! 

This illustration was done as a thank you note to our friends,
Mat and Rachel Domber, who really showed us the town while we
were in the BIG APPLE for Eddie's c.d. recording in February.

These are two from the archives just to brighten up this post!

"Calypso"

 "Cakewalk"

I have notebooks and sketchbooks full of inspirational quotes and ideas
for creative living.  I'm looking forward to sharing, so please visit often!

Painting Without a Purpose

I know I've been a little slack in posting so I'm going to do my best to get back on track.  I've tried to keep personal journals before and never got further than a page or two. It's funny, when I started this thing, I had an idea of what my purpose would be... to share and connect with other like-minded souls. Now I find myself pleasantly surprised at what I have gained personally. When setting up my blog, I realized there may be very few people who are interested in whatever it is I'm up to in my daily life, but I never made the connection that keeping track of my life publicly, would be the catalyst for keeping a journal - if for no one else but myself.  I hope to get better at making my personal space more interesting to a broader audience, but in the meantime, I'm happy that I am doing it for me.  If nothing else, when I feel my daily tasks are small and insignificant, I can look back and see that I actually have accomplished a few things. :~)

For the past several months I have been stumbling around my studio in a creative stupor, wondering what to do next.  The economy is very scary.  Both Eddie and I are in industries that - let's face it - will be the first to go if the economy crashes.  We all know art and music are necessities, but try to convince the bean counters of that!  Anyway, I'm trying not to let that stress me out.  I've reinvented myself so many times over the past 30 years and can't imagine any job that does not involve creating.  So I will not rush out to get the Walmart Greeter job just yet.  After our little 9 day vacation break I am refreshed and back in the studio creating new images for licensing. 

But.. before we get to that, here's what I was doing before I got back into work mode.  I call this little break from routine "Painting without a purpose".  No commission, no assignment, no trying to figure out who would want it... just painting for pleasure.  Here's what I discovered and maybe it will help a few of you who, like me, have a huge fear of the blank canvas.

First, I took a photo from a recent garden tour trip and scanned it into Photoshop.

Next I copied and pasted, playing around with the composition and getting a better feel for tones and values.

Since I like to paint in the style my husband refers to as "Out of Focus", better known to us as "Impressionists", I found this next step to be most helpful.  I played around with the filters which helped
to blur out the tiny details that go along with painting from photographs.

It's still a work in progress, but at least this process helped conquer my fear of the blank canvas... which, by the way, is 36 X 30!  What was I thinking? Following the advice of a fellow artist friend, John Petrey, "Paint it red or paint it big!"

It's a start.  For now, back to painting with a purpose!

Grocery Store Inspiration

Lately I have been so focused on projects around the house that my studio time has been reduced to practically nothing.  I could use some lessons in time management.  That or a few extra hours in my days. We are in the middle of a big remodeling job in our master bedroom and bathroom and it can be all consuming lining up workers, designing cabinets, closets, picking out tubs, faucets and tile... setting up the electrician, drywall guys and tile installers not to mention keeping up with the dust... YIKES!  Who has time to be creative? 

Last Friday I finally said, "Enough!"  You will go out to the studio and you will create!  (As if it can be turned off and on like a light bulb).  Ha!.. I should know better by now.  After several futile hours of pondering over what to paint, pouring over the piles of collected inspiration and surrounding myself with every medium known to man, my husband walked in from the grocery store with a beautiful bouquet.  He knew intuitively that I needed some fresh inspiration.  He arranged the colorful flowers in one of my favorite vases and lovingly placed it in front of me and as if that wasn't enough, he headed to the kitchen to cook me dinner.  How lucky am I???!

It was just the nudge I needed to pick up the brushes and let it flow.  Granted, this is not a big deal of a sketch.  In fact, I think it only took me all of 15 minutes to complete it.  But the point is, it got me moving and it was the perfect inspiration I needed to get the ball rolling. 

It is such a struggle lately to find something that excites me enough to keep up the momentum.  Any body else have that problem?  (besides you, Loreen!)  It is difficult for me to stay focused on a medium and style of painting long enough to build a solid body of work.  Lately, florals and gardens are calling to my creative spirit so I'm determined now to set aside time, away from my household duties and commercial deadlines to keep painting - long enough, hopefully, to at least cover my 20 foot wall up the stairs with big, bold, colorful florals.  In fact, this past week I even ordered a new easel (one that will hold large canvases) and placed an order to replenish my acrylics.  There!! I've done it.  Now I'm committed aren't I?  Very exciting!! I'll keep you posted.

On a further creative note...

try this... while scanning and arranging my sketch for this post, I casually dragged the image into my pre-sized blog document to see just how over-sized it was, and then started playing around with the many possibilities of cropping the same painting.  Here are four new compositions that would each hold it's own as an individual painting as part of a series. Try it... even if you just do it with a painting you have already finished and don't use photoshop - just stand back and squint until you find another composition within your painting.

New Arrival!

From my drawing board to your kitchen table!  My newest collection from Giftcraft is now available.  Look for it at your local gift stores.

Might as well use them!