Wow!
Time flies when you are buried in a an avalanche of work, huh?
So, the BIG SHOW is only a week away!
That's right, in 7 days, my booth will be almost complete - and in EIGHT days......
THE GRAND OPENING!!!!!
The One of a Kind Show (aka OOAKX15) is almost here!!!!!
EEEEEEK! (I am not sure that is nervousness or excitement - OR BOTH!)
Hey, have I mentioned that I have almost 150 new 6" x 6" and 6" x 9" pieces PLUS almost TWENTY 12" square art pieces??
Well I do!
Here are are 3 new ones.....one of each size!!!
No.....it is NOT "HOT BEAVER" so just stop that:
"HOT DAMN", 6" x 6", Acrylic on Wood $50.00
This one features a drawing of the LOVELY #Kensington Market:
"MEAT MARKET", 9" x 6", Acrylic on Wood $100.00
and finally.....this one.....
"DRINK LIKE A FISH", 12" x 12" Acrylic on Wood, $275.00
Happy day folks!!
So? Are you used to that hashtag yet??
#OOAKX15 --- just rolls off the tongue....or fingertips as the case may be.....
The One of a Kind Show is coming coming coming!
Now......I know what you are thinking.....
"Rob......how are your preparations coming? You've barely mentioned it!"
I DO NOT NEED YOUR TONE.....reader.....
;-0
So....HERE is what things look like right now. in my studio....
Well??? Are you impressed??
That is 110 -- YES ONE HUNDRED AND TEN -- 6" x 6" original paintings,
and 25 (and counting) 6" x 9" original paintings!
CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT?
But I am not done yet.
I am taking a few days to
-label the paintings
-touch up the paint
-rig them
- photograph them
- put them on my inventory lists
- add them to my website
- wrap them
- label the wrapping
and make a label for my booth walls for EACH!
THAT is what being an artist/business owner is all about!
ADMIN!!!! (insert sigh here)
For those of you who are asking......
Photos of my new pieces will be on my website live - on the 25th!
Pick your favourite and let me know how many you NEED to have!
They make incredible gifts (or gifts to self ;-)
Here, my friends is a sneak peak at 3 more pieces:
"Early Bird", 6 x 6", Acrylic on Wood, $50.
Yes.....it has a bird based on one from a Disney film....and it is pink and salmon - which I LOVE!
"Wet Your Whistle", 6 x 6", Acrylic on Wood, $50.
I like this one because it has beer(s) in the background! You love beer, right??
THIS ONE IS FOR YOU!!!
"Chick Magnet", 6 x 6", Acrylic on Wood, $50.
And another "Chick Magnet".
Yes. I have made multiples of each expression BUT each painting is different!
(And delightful!!)
YOU CANNOT GO WRONG FOR FIFTY BONES!
REMEMBER, I am posting photos all the time to Instagram - so you can follow me there for more!
HAPPY HUMP DAY!
Well......now it's 22 days until the One of a Kind Show!!!!
( #OOAKX15 )
As I keep mentioning.......basically I am in "ART LOCK DOWN"......
It's been very very fruitful........I have completed a LOT of new work!
In fact, I am so committed to having my best show ever at #OOAKX15 that I had to keep working the last few days.....both without water and power in my studio!!
I KID YOU NOT!
You see, a very very old tree......on my neighbours yard...........decided to just give up.
this bad boy -- that is twice the size of the houses.......
Not due to wind....not because of an ice storm....the mighty oak just was #OverIt !!!!
It fell.....now let me tell you how it happened.....
PICTURE IT.
7pm.
Toronto.
My husband and I were sitting in our front room, talking about how our days went.
You know.....I complained about my horrible boss, and my irritating co-workers......and he shook his head.....secretly worried that I ACTUALLY BELIEVED that I had these people in my life....
ANYWAYS.......Suddenly there was this rumbling.......I thought at first it was the GO train.....
But it got louder and louder and then the house SHOOK.....not unlike this......
( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7oWUAZzQPg )
We both jolted off the sofa and looked out our front door to see this:
Yes.....on garbage night we put our green bin with 3 bungee cords on our porch to keep out the raccoons! What of it!??
YIKES!
IT WAS A SHOCK!
We couldn't get out of our house. Because there was a tree in our front yard.
It took out the hydro lines! (Obvi)
So we called 311.
The city was FAST!!!
REALLY REALLY FAST.....within 20 minutes they were out with hydro to access the damage.
I was pleasantly surprised!!!!
After a couple hours, all the downed electrical wire was off, and I was able to get a better view of the damage.....
The poor tree split in half....... half over the road.....
The other half on the front lawn.
I was thrilled that it missed out house!!!!
.....or so I thought...........
It took a team of 10 guys, and many hydro people to get us back to "normal".....
The chainsawing was AMAZING......
I decided that a little lack of light was NOT gonna stop me from working!!!
I can't afford ago take time off from my show preparations!
(at which point my husband thought I had actually LOST IT!)
YES.
Painting by candlelight.
THAT is my level of commitment to The One of a Kind Show!!!!
Honestly, I felt like, I need to keep my eye on the prize.....
THAT.....and my boss is a B**CH.....have I mentioned that?
As you can imagine, the chainsawing until 1am made it impossible to sleep.
That, and the adrenaline....oh......AND the bag of left-over Halloween chocolate I stress-ate!
In the light of day......it told a rather disheartening story.....
I guess it DID hit our roof......
....then our porch.......
....before finally coming to rest on our lawn.
In it's trip from sky to ground it took out the hydro, and slammed so hard on the ground it ruptured a water line........
It meant we were without water AND power for a lot of the next day...
Now I know what you are thinking......
.....surely Rob, THIS this is an excuse to stop working.....
NOPE.....I moved OUTSIDE to work.....thankfully it was a beautiful warm day.......
12 of my brand new pieces are ready to go!!!
By 6pm, everything was back to "normal" and I was able to get back down to my studio.
WHAT A 24hrs!!!
SO......I want to say this......
1.) I am grateful (and shocked) that nobody was killed and that our house and our neighbour's houses
were not destroyed by that tree? Really really grateful. Would I have liked it to have NOT
happened? YES!!!
2.) I am grateful that the 311 and Hydro people worked so hard and so late. It was most appreciated!
3.) I am feeling gratitude that I do what I love, and live in a nice house, in a nice tree lined
neighbourhood. (Despite this freak incident!) Let's face it......doing what you love can be a great
distraction from destruction around you!
SO.......YOU need to come out and see what I am working this hard on!
The fruits of my 'single focussed' labour!!
THE reason I have been working from 8am-9pm each day....is fast approaching......
Hey guys!!!
It's new week - and I know I have been a bit neglectful with my posts....
YOU KNOW WHY!!
(Or at least you do - if you are a regular reader!)
I have been prepping for the One of a Kind Show!!!!
(that's the #OOAKX15 if you are a big hashtagger!)
What does that mean? It means I generally spend EVERY day in my studio from 8am-9pm.
My long suffering husband is calling himself an "art widow". And it is true.
BUUUUT.....I have been getting boatloads of GREAT new work done.
I am working up a LOT of pieces that are $50-$275 - for the perfect holiday gift!
Here are a couple of the pieces I did last week........
"For Fox Sakes", 12" x 12", Acrylic on Board, $275.00
This guy is one of the many pieces that have a more 'traditional' painted look, but have my signature 'smart-assery'! Mr Fox looks better in person -- than he does in this photo.....
COME OUT AND SEE HIM IN PERSON!
And then on the opposite side of the spectrum there is this piece:
"Space Out", Acrylic on Board, $275.00
The great thing about doing these smaller, affordable pieces is that I can do ANYTHING I want - as long as the imagery makes a clever word of phrase. I LOVE how much freedom this series allows me!!!
So there. I will try to show you MORE this week.......truthfully I am a little hesitant - because I have pre-sold a number of pieces already...then again......NOT a bad problem to have!
HEY GUYS!!
So I am STILL super busy getting work done for The One of a Kind Show!
I am making some serious headway! OVER FIFTY new works are now DONE......
Including these guys......
"Flip the Bird", 9" x 6", Acrylic on Mixed Media, $100.00
If you are my Instagram friend.....you've seen this one:
"Flip the Bird", 6" x 6", Acrylic on wood, $50.00
This is a larger variation......
"Flip the Bird", 9" x 6", Acrylic on Mixed Media, $100.00
There is this pretty in pink one......
"Flip the Bird", 6" x 6", Acrylic on Wood, $50.00
...and finally there is this one....
"Flip the Bird", 9" x 6", Acrylic on Mixed Media, $100.00
BAM!
Now this is progress!! But wait......there is MORE!!!!
Hello!!!
Okay, so I am a little behind in my blogging.
(insert best 13 year old girl voice here)
...um.....blogging.....is like....hard....
So I am busy busy busy getting work done for
In the last post, I claimed I would be done over a hundred new pieces.......
Well....its been a week....a week of 12 hour days mostly...including Sunday.....
....and so far I have a LOT done!!
So, you know this piece:
(which is long since sold)
Well I was doing that same idiom again.
As I do!
"Goody Two Shoes" seems to be a popular piece, so I started a new version......I was painting them red, with a polka dot pattern when it HIT ME......
BAM!
THEY LOOK KINDA LIKE THE RUBY SLIPPERS!!
(If you don't know the ruby slippers - you are so reading the wrong blog right now!)
The Wizard of Oz is a huge favourite of mine.....and i have never really done anything related to it.....UNTIL NOW.....so with Oz in mind, I went to work!
Let me show you my first 4 completed paintings.
Each is different and yet similar....
"Goody Two Shoes", 6" x 6", Acrylic on Wood.
and...this one:
"Goody Two Shoes....also", 6" x 6", Acrylic on Wood.
Do you love these???
AND DID I MENTION THEY ARE ONLY 50 BONES!!
Yes...for $50.....you cannot go wrong!!!!!!
Not only do they describe an idiom in pictures, it is also kinda fitting for Dorothy.
Am I right?? (Yes, admittedly, I was more on the side of the Wicked Witch)
So then I thought I would do a few larger......
"Goody Two Shoes", 9" x 6", Acrylic on Wood.
AND...
"Goody Two Shoes", 6" x 6", Acrylic on Wood.
So these bigger guys, are only $100!!!
COME ONE!!
Now, with these in my head, I think I may dive into design for some companion pieces.
YA! More Oz inspired creations.....
WHAT DO YOU THINK????
Here are a couple options (yes they are PUN driven)....
The first three are sure fits.....the rest.......hmmmm......
TOTO = Top Dog
FLYING MONKEYS = Monkey Business
COWARDLY LION = Scaredy Cat
LOLLYPOP GUILD = Sucker Punch???
WICKED WITCH OF THE WEST = every witch way
witching hour
green with envy
GLINDA = witch is witch
good grief
good riddance
good to go
good old days
for good measure
TIN MAN = accident prone ( axe-i-dent prone)
get the axe
con-tin-gent
to be conTINued
TINker around
Tinsel town
SCARECROW = Bird Brain
Brain trust
Brain Teaser
All brawn - no brains
OKAY GUYS.............WHAT DO YOU GUYS THINK??
I'd love your input on a few of these - or maybe you have a BETTER idea??
Or maybe you HATE all of this???
Sure......I'd like to hear from the haters too!!!
Comment - or EMAIL me!
Thanks guys......now I gotta get back to work!
Good day friends!
Now.....I know you HATE the idea of Christmas when it is barely October.....but.....
My biggest show of the year is QUICKLY approaching:
The One of a Kind Show!!!!
YOU will want to check out some of the over ONE HUNDRED new pieces I hope to have ready for this big show! I know what you are thinking.....
"THAT'S CRAZY BANANA PANTS, ROB!!"
I know......but this show is ELEVEN glorious days.....so I need a LOT of stock!
Especially of my Mixed Message Series works - THESE are my biggest sellers!
So, here are 3 brand new 9" x 6" ORIGINAL pieces - yes, they are variations on the same word - but as you can see, they are entirely different from each other.....
This big heel version is pretty cool - it also has some cool bits and bobs on it:
"Reboot"
.....for the person that likes that old blueprint look:
"Reboot"
....and finally for the person who enjoys a good wellie.......
"Reboots"
"Why do so many reboot pieces?"
.....the truth is, each time I do one....it sells! IMMEDIATELY!
Honestly most of this series does NOT last long, bit this one is especially popular......and c'mob for $100 you CAN'T get much in the fine art world....
Also, let's face it, I am a big nerd, and my peeps are AWESOME!!!!!
There you go!
Think about these guys for the special nerd in YOUR life this Christmas!
