Midas Touch?

Golden thumb by Mahtab Hanna

Has anyone out there ever worked with gold leaf? Well, I am working on a humongous triptych for a church using a heck of a lot of it, and let me tell you Friends, stuff is no joke! It is all "Hi, I'm shiny and beautiful" and then you go to apply it and its all "Oh, what I meant to say was that I'm actually the most fragile, temperamental, flat-out moody material on the planet!" My studio is covered in gold, Friends. I mean...there are pieces of it stuck to my hair. Things were looking that bad by lunch today.

Good news though! Turns out that I was sold the wrong adhesive. After a few hours of general huffing, puffing and stomping around this morning, I took a look at the bottle and discovered the mistake. Lucky for me, I had been working on a practice surface, and things have been looking up since I went back to the store for a trade in.

Plus, these guys were there the whole time to keep me in check. One of my now friends/past clients recently stared making them and stopped by my studio yesterday to let me pick two for myself! Aren't they fantastic?

 They've joined this guy...

and this guy (made by my awesome sons) and formed their very own little Greek Chorus to cheer me along and keep me smiling. Somehow looking over at this little brood when I had ripped wads of gold stuck on every finger helped me take myself a little less seriously. 

Being the Tortoise in 2013

Have you read this article? As much as I adore this time of year for its goal setting, I promise that I will not write about resolutions all year. Really, I do. But this article is so fabulous that you have to read it. Trust me.

The gist is that success comes from setting and sticking to an achievable game-plan toward a personal goal, without failing short of or exceeding our daily goals. Are you snoring yet? I know, I know, I would be too. That "exceeding" is the key though and it will revolutionize the way that you approach this new year. 

I'm a visual girl. I never claimed to be a compelling writer, but this article is so, so good that I promise you won't be disappointed. Really, check it out! And then let me know what your 20 Mile March will be, OK? 

P.S.-- #6 is so key but understated that I almost glossed over it. I hope that you don't. We cannot predict what life will grant us, but being prepared for the ultimate battle can only lead to good things!

Just when I think I've been putting together some pretty amazing color and pattern combinations...

...I peel a beet.

Touche', Nature. You astound me every time.

:)

I hope that 2013 is off to a shining start for you, Friends!
I am up to my ears in exciting projects, and have been daydreaming about starting my own studio team like Takashi Murakami's to help me finish everything on time!

While rushing through a slew of business e-mails yesterday though, I opened this one and smiled:

Dear Nicole,
     I am *** and I am in Girl Scout Troop ***. In that troop, each kid leads a meeting.This year, our project is to interview someone who does a job we would like to do when we grow up. I would like to be an artist. I heard your interview on the radio and I thought you would be willing to do it. Please do.

                                                Sincerely,  ***

Isn't that the sweetest? I feel really blessed to have been able to work on my Urban Portrait Project for a lot of reasons, but receiving e-mails like this one takes the cake...or the thin mint :)

READY, SET, GO!!!

Happy New Year, Friends! I hope that you had the best holiday season. It is always a busy time of year for my business, but this year, the Christmas commissions have extended well into the new year.

This was my solution for people giving gifts of art that wouldn't be painted until after the holidays.

I'm booked solid through the beginning of June. As you can imagine, this is both a thrilling and exhausting prospect.

Every January though, I reread Jackie Battenfield's guide for artists. I am so looking forward to making myself a big pot of coffee and going to town plotting out goals/filling in my schedule for the new year. Having a plan = clearing out a place for the muse to dance.

Bring it, 2013! I'm so ready for you.

The World Just Got a Little Smaller

One of my favorite things about the Christmas season is opening holiday cards from friends near and far. Today there was an envelope in the middle of the pile whose return address I didn't recognize. It was a Christmas card from the sister of a lady whose portrait I painted for AS IS! 
I have been struggling like everyone else to wrap my mind around the horribleness of so many little lives lost recently. During a time of such awful sadness, it gives me some comfort to think that this project might be touching a few lives and helping our world to feel just the tiniest bit smaller.

Wishing you all much peace and love this Christmas.

Anatomy of a Commission

Remember this beautiful old farm? I visited it in the Fall to shoot reference photographs for a painting commission.

The property is quite large, and has so many amazing little vignettes and beautiful textures. Someone could literally spend an entire lifetime painting there!

So I started off the commission process by drawing a loose sketch of my idea for the final painting. That way the client and I could be sure that we were on the same page in terms of the composition.

Next, I translated the approved drawing onto a canvas, and set up color keys to guide me.

The rest of the painting unfolded fairly seamlessly, just in time for Christmas!