On Vacation!

Well..I have really, really neglected my blog, my website, and my business in general the past month. Sometimes you think you have everything under control and..wham...life just hits you upside the head! It always totally re-affirms my belief in God and the fact that He has a sense of humor!

Most of the chaos from the last month can be attributed to some unplanned and last minute occurrences (ie..2 (vaccinated!) kids with chicken pox, not at the same time, of course; repainting a living room, excess heat, etc.). Anyway..life goes on and eventually I'll catch up with it!

I'm heading off to vacation over the next couple of weeks. I'll be relaxing either by the ocean or on the farm in North Carolina,both the source of inspiration for most of my paintings. Of course, it won't be all play and no work, I'll be taking photo after photo of references material while I'm there. Last year I believe I had about 600-800 shots, I'm hoping to surpass that this year. Although I have to admit, taking pictures at the beach or of farm-animals and calling it "work" really makes me LOVE my job!

Anyway, my internet access will be very spotty over the next few weeks so there won't be any blogs updates or web updates for a little while. If you absolutely, positively, can't live without a painting or just need to talk to me..call me at 214-450-9800. I should have cell service everywhere..just expect to get voicemail first! If you are desperate for a piece of art before I get back, I'll have my people take care of you (yes..I have people!! what a neat feeling!)

Here's my latest masterpiece for your viewing pleasure. It is Making Friends, my largest acrylic painting to date at 60" x 36". This is a portrait of my son at when he was 5 feeding my parents' horse, Sugarfoot. This is also my first full-body figure painting in acrylic. Although it took right at a year to complete, I am very happy with the results.

I did something interesting today.

I like to think of myself as a fairly techno-savvy kind of gal. I've been on a computer since my uncle introduced me to his Commodore Vic 20. Although my husband and I shy away from television and all its inherent (and expensive!) evils (ie. cable, satellite, tivo, etc.) we still have a few sci-fi shows we Netflix and love watching a good movie.

Well, today I had a taste of the future. Not so much a new techo-toy, but a new way of interacting. I called into a tele-seminar. The tele-seminar was authored by Peggy Klaus and hosted by Alyson B. Stanfield, a well-known art business coach and guru.

I basically dialed into a party line and listened to a fascinating hour long part-interview - part-lecture with a brief question/answer period at the end. I was comfy at my kitchen table and, truth-be-known, multi-tasking a bit by signing my new prints. But..the point was..I didn't shell out $4 bucks a gallon for gas, waste travel time, hire a babysitter, or even change out of my favorite t-shirt! With the skyrocketing cost of transportation, is this the classroom of the future?

What about art sales? Word on the street (via art festival participants all over the US) is that attendance is down and sales are even worse at art festivals this year. Many factors can be cited but transportation costs are one of the top. I recently participated in a festival that was moved this year in order to be near public transportation in the future (electric rail-line) but this begs the question..Who wants to transport a painting home via rail or bus?

What does this mean for artists, craftsman, and photographers who make a living at these festivals? Will consumers get used to the high gas cost and proceed as usual about their lives? Will they have any money left after filling the gas tank? Will art festival artists be able to afford to drive to festivals?!?

Will consumers turn to technology like I did for my seminar? Art sales are starting to rise on site like the infamous E-bay and Etsy. Will this be the future of selling art? How much do you buy on the internet and how do you feel about buying fine art over the internet. If you are an artist, how are you utilizing the internet?

For myself, I have this blog, my website, Twitter, Facebook, My Space, & LinkedIn. I am also researching how to sell my prints on E-bay and Etsy and/or putting a shopping cart type store on my site to sell my prints. Can I do more? You tell me....

Art News
My last show of the summer is this weekend at the Dallas CityArts Festival in Downtown Dallas. Click here for maps and more information. It is going to be hot but I have a great fan in my booth some come on by and see me!

My latest print in back from the print shop. Last Two Beachfronts is now available as 7.25" x 16" archival print on Somerset Velvet watercolor paper and priced at $65.

Class News
The deadline for Summer Camp registration has been extended until June 15. I can't accept registration after that date so let me know if you are interested! See the schedule here.

Artfest & Last Day of Classes

Wow...I am so glad to see the end of May. What a month!

Last weekend was Artfest, which can be summed up in one word...HOT. Blazing hot, melting hot, sticky hot. However you can imagine hot..that was last weekend. I think more people came out in the rain last year than they did in the heat this year. Oh well..that's Texas! My booth looked good and although sales were scarce I did ok before and after the show with sales from my studio.

This week was also the last week of my Spring Session art classes. It should have been last week but my youngest child came down with the chicken pox (yes, she's had the vaccine!) and that threw me all out of whack!

We had a great week though, finishing up projects and having a little fun the last 15 minutes of class. We rounded out our study of animals and people portraits by turning ourselves into animals. I'm a giraffe in the first picture and a tiger in the second. As I painted myself differently for each class..I also became a flamingo, parrot and an owl. The kids were excited with the change of pace in our usual "serious" class and did a great job painting their OWN faces! I was only able to get group shots of 2 of my classes. Enjoy!

Prints are here!

My first Limited Edition Prints are here! I'm very excited and my hand is a little crampy from all the signing..but it is worth it. I'm hoping to release 4-6 new prints per year so this is the start of a new tradition at Charlotte B. DeMolay Art Studio.

Each Limited Edition print will be hand-signed and numbered and will be accompanied by a Certificate of Authenticity. Each print has a half-inch white border on all sides. The prints are not matted or framed but are fixed to a matboard with clear corners and placed in a protective sleeve.

Well-Seasoned: The Chipotle Chicken is limited to 25 prints sized at 10" x 10" with a price of $55. The original painting is still available for purchase.

Playing with Pink is limited to 25 prints sized at 8" x 12" with a price of $50. The original painting is still available for purchase.

Beach Bunny is limited to 50 prints sized at 9" x 12" with a price of $60. The original painting is not available for purchase.


Shipping is $5 regardless of the number of prints ordered. Sales tax (7.75%) will be charged to Texas addresses.

Busy week.paint..paint..paint!

This past Friday I attended the opening of the Aria Salon and Gallery in downtown Dallas. It was a nice gathering with perfect weather. There were two groups exhibiting, local artists and an on-line gallery that produces reproductions. I was a bit disappointed that the on-line gallery overshadowed the local artists a bit, but otherwise it was a nice show.

Yesterday I was back at the Arboretum painting again. It was sunny and bright for the first time and I really struggled with how fast my acrylic paint was drying. I got a bit frustrated but was able to tweak my paintings today in the studio. This is definitely pushing me out of my comfort zone with painting..both painting outdoors and the subject matter! Do you have any idea how much green there is outside?!? Definitely a lot more than I ever gave Texas credit for!

Also, the Artist's Proofs came in for the paintings I'm doing Limited Edition prints of. They look awesome and I'm getting very excited! I'll post all the nitty, gritty details soon.

My Spring/Summer postcard went out last week, if you have not received a card with a painting of String of Fire on it, please let me know and I"ll add you to my snail mail list.

Paint Out at the Dallas Arboretum

During the month of May the Dallas Arboretum is sponsoring a Paint Out for artists. For a modest registration fee, artists' can come and paint all month long at the arboretum. In July, artworks created during the paint out can be submitted for jurying into a show in September at the arboretum.

I signed myself up as well as convinced my friend, student, apprentice, slave, (oops..did I say that out loud?) Mindy to sign up with me as well. I went for the first time last Thursday to check things out a do a dry run and also because it was actually officially May and I was bursting at the seams to do this!

I have never painted en plein air with acrylics before but I was very excited to try. After loading up my stuff and trudging around and painting in the arboretum for about 3 hours I learned some valuable lessons:

1) My stuff is heavy..not at my studio or by the van...but after an hour in the garden..its heavy...really heavy.

2) A lot of people go to the arboretum.

3) Every single person mentioned in point 2 walked by me while I was painting and looked at my canvas..some more subtly than others..but they couldn't resist looking!

4) Children are the best ego boosters in the world! They all though I was great! Even when they had to ask me what..exactly..I was painting..I was still great!

5) Using acrylics outside is easier than I thought!

Mindy and I went today and she enjoyed it as much as I did. The garden was far less crowded today but that was probably due to the drizzle we were painting in. The dampness didn't affect my paintings but her pastels had a little added texture from Mother Nature.

These photos are from last Thursday. I'll update photos from today as soon as I can find the camera in all the art stuff. One painting I liked..one I'm going to keep working on. But I am learning lots and that's the point!

Pet Portrait Commission - Harley

I wanted to share a pet portrait I was commissioned to paint earlier this year. It was a gift for someone so I had to keep it hush-hush. It has been presented to the recipient so I can now post it on my gallery.

Harley is a beautiful 10 year old Great Dane. She came to visit me in my studio twice. The first time was to get adequate photos of her to paint by and the second to was do some touch ups on her coloring in person near the end of the portrait process.

Harley is truly a "gentle giant." She patiently sat through my 30 or so clicks of the camera from all sides and angles and then later let me position her head to double check dots, spots, and coloring.

I was very pleased with the outcome of the portrait. She is a very lady-like and regal dog and the formal portrait suited her personality very much.