Diane Clancy's Art Blog » A Painter’s Notes

New Soul Painting (Digital)

Diane Clancy — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 21:54:50 +0000

This vibrant, colorful painting of Golden Inner Glow seems to come from and speak directly to the Soul. The richness of the golds and purples feels very spiritual to me … like a window into the soul. I also see a goddess who can guide us and help us stay in touch with our highest purpose. What do you see, feel, experience with this painting? Thank you for stopping by!!

Golden Inner Glow, Digital © Diane Clancy

~ Diane Clancy

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I Forgot a Presentation – Any Ideas?

Diane Clancy — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 02:01:57 +0000

Some of you know I have coordinated the local artists’ group, Artists of Franklin County, for 4 years. I have been cheer leader, chair, coordinator, minutes taker of the group and coordinator of our AWE Project (Artists Window Exhibit). The last meeting we had a great discussion about it being time to share the responsibility – at last there is a stable core group that is able and willing to step up and make the group run by ALL of us.

We had been taking turns making presentations of our work as artists and whatever we wanted. One person in particular had never done this – ME. Most other people had already. Everyone in the group decided it was my turn to present. Someone else is chairing the meeting and taking minutes. Seemed reasonable to me.

But with the illness and death of my cousin … this totally dropped out of my mind. The wonderful person who has volunteered to chair reminded me of the presentation. I would just as soon postpone it .. but the meeting is built around it … so I think I should do it … but I sure am looking for suggestions! Thanks!

This vibrant, colorful painting of Ocean Dreams is now on a mug in my CafePress Shop. Here is the link for this lovely mug. I think it is pretty cool – I hope you like it! You can also get this at my Etsy Shop as a framed print or an Art Card, ACEO for $6. Ocean Dreams is also available in many different sizes. Just ask!

Ocean Dreams Mug © Diane Clancy

Any ideas are appreciated!! Thanks so much!! Thank you for stopping by!

~ Diane Clancy

Technorati Tags: Diane Clancy, vibrant colorful painting, mug, bubblescape, CafePress, Art Cards – ACEOs, Etsy, Artists of Franklin County, AWE Project, presentation

Free Cloth & Featured at One Pebble

Diane Clancy — Tue, 05 May 2009 20:27:55 +0000

Amanda Makepeace featured me on One Pebble: An Art Exchange today. Amanda LOVES pebbles and she has a great offer of gifting someone an original Art Card, ACEO each time someone sends her a pebble. WOW – that is some trade. Awhile ago I walked around the block and picked up a variety of pebbles of different colors, textures and sizes to thrill Amanda … she gets such a kick out of them! She wrote a great post right here about my pebbles (and the ACEO I gave her)!! You can see one of my vibrant, colorful paintings in the image below and much more clearly in Amanda’s post! Thank you, Amanda!

I LOVE the name of her post – Beauty in Diversity!! Please go over and check out her blog about this pebble exchange! Also I want to show you some of the ACEOs that she has traded for pebbles … right here … and from there, you can go check The Artist and other parts of this site. She also have a link to her regular website. Amanda is a very creative artist and very active in online activities. Plus she is kind and generous – a great combo!

Featured by Amanda’s Pebbles

At the Westerm Mass Etsy gathering on Sunday, someone had mentioned that a local shop was giving away tons of cloth (for free – really giving away). RepoDepot is a shop in Easthampton, MA that carries vintage and reproduced fabric. It is about 45 minutes away from Greenfield where I live. We heard it was quite impressive. As we drove up, there were 4 pickup trucks driving odd with cloth piled up 5′ up over the sides of the trucks. Just amazing!

There was a room – maybe 50 x 60′ – that had been full of cloth that was totally being given away. Before there were stacks 7′ high of cloth throughout the whole room – it must have been quite the sight!! Today was the second to last day so it was down to perhaps 400 rolls of free cloth by the time we got there. It was amazing!! We took 5 rolls to use for fairs and also for window displays. I also might be able to figure out how to use some of it in my art. I am not sure if this was a one time thing or periodic – but wow – it is amazing!!

People had piles they werre sitting on while they waited to use the cart to take their cloth home. One person must have had 250 rolls of cloth that she was sitting on while her partner got the truck or van ready. There was one part of the room that had cloth being saved for someone – that stack of cloth was about 8′ high, 6′ deep and 20′ long. It was covered and ready for someone to pick up. Just wild!!

Most of the 400 rolls left were variations of off-white and neutral colors in many different weaves – but I could see from the piles that were being protected that lots of bright colored fabric had already been chosen. There was one roll that I would have liked to take but the roll was at least a foot deep when it was rolled (and very long) and we could never have carried it. In the hallway there were others sitting on their stacks while they too waited to use the carts.

What a wonderful service to the earth and to the community!! Instead of this going to the dump or landfill, it went to theater companies, schools and artists who will put it all to great use. Thank you so much – for me and for us all. Thanks for stopping by!

~ Diane Clancy

Technorati Tags: Diane Clancy, vibrant colorful painting, Amanda Makepeace, One Pebble: An Art Exchange, One Pebble, WMass Etsy Team, free cloth, RepoDepot

Naming Paintings and a Pastel

Diane Clancy — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 22:18:53 +0000

How do you name paintings? Or anything else that you make? I like to give a name because I feel it enhances the painting and also gives a way for the viewer to look at the work – when they would like that way into the artists’ mind. So I name all my vibrant, colorful paintings … but I sometimes run into problems. How unusual! (smiling) This is one of the ACEO paintings I made for the WWAO Swap … and I named them all – of course – I always do!

Green Dusk, Pastel © Diane Clancy

But tonight when I went to write a post, I ran into a road block. This was the pastel I chose to share with you … so I went to my image folder to make sure you hadn’t seen it before … and there was already another Green Dusk .. a digital one! Well, it is too late to change the name of either … so one is a Green Dusk pastel and another a Green Dusk digital. I prefer that doesn’t happen, but obviously I am far from perfect. At least I feel there is a similar feel in one way to them both – so it shows some internal logic in my names.

Green Dusk, Digital © Diane Clancy

How do you keep track of all this? Do you name your paintings? Do you ever use a name more than once? Do you care? Be great to hear from you on this topic!

I have been extremely busy with the AWE Project today. If I had more time, I would give you links to WWAO and also describe the AWE Project again .. but off to 2 more things before I get to bed tonight … so I will see you tomorrw!! Love to hear about you!! Thank you for stopping by!

~ Diane Clancy

Technorati Tags: Diane Clancy, vibrant colorful painting, pastel, ACEO, AWE, WWAO

Pastel ACEO and Thank You Note

Diane Clancy — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 01:31:41 +0000

This is one of the vibrant, colorful pastel ACEOs that I created a couple of weeks ago. I thought you would enjoy seeing it. I really enjoyed making these Art Cards, ACEOs with traditional mediums .. in this case pastel. I have been wearing rubber gloves the last couple of years when I have been creating with pastels. I don’t know if that is silly or smart. I tend to do a lot of blending of colors to lay down a carpet of color to then draw the image into. I sketched a little with pencil so I could work the fields of color into rough shapes. I love smearing the colors around to get the effects I like. I don’t think most artists use pastel this way .. but I enjoy it and some people like the effect.

Glowing Reds, Pastel © Diane Clancy

Each birthday and Christmas I give two of my nieces cards of my artwork. Part of the present is they get to look through my website and blog to choose whichever painting they choose. It is a fun way to have a focus together. The last year or two I have also given them each an Art Card, ACEO of the same chosen image. They have had great fun getting them. And I LOVE getting back thank you notes on these cards!

As a second ACEO, this year I gave my niece Sarah a print of one of the pastel ACEOs I recently created. Here is what she said in her thank note : “Thank you very much for the cards and the two trading cards. I absolutely love them! I really like the extra trading card and how you can see the pencil strokes and the texture (I pulled it out of its sleeve to touch it – just to see – it’s amazing and really pretty!)” This is part of what you would get if you purchase one of these.

I think I will put some prints of these pastels in my Etsy Shop. I am working on some originals also so that I can list them in one or more of my online shops. Let me know if you would like one … you can also buy one here. Thank you for stopping by!

~ Diane Clancy

Technorati Tags: Diane Clancy, vibrant colorful painting, pastel, ACEO

How About This Image?

Diane Clancy — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 03:42:09 +0000

How about this vibrant, colorful painting .. what does this say to you? There are fantastic comments from yesterday’s painting .. I haven’t been able decide the name for yesterday’s painting yet … but I would LOVE to hear what you say about this one! Today I was also very busy and not able to write very much today … but I will sometime soon. Thank you for sharing your thoughts with me!!

How About This One?, Digital © Diane Clancy

Thank you for stopping by! I would love to hear about you!!

~ Diane Clancy

Technorati Tags: Diane Clancy, vibrant colorful painting

Been Working in the Studio

Diane Clancy — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 00:34:46 +0000

I am thrilled to report that I have been working in the studio … using real, non-digital, art materials. This is one of the results. I have created 15 ACEOs that I like … and by the end of doing them, I was getting back in the groove again of how I use pastels. I have never tried to draw so small before – not in any serious way. Some of you know I have been trying to get back in there (the studio) to create with traditional mediums … so this is quite a success for me!

Sunrise Bouquet, Pastel © Diane Clancy

On the last several ACEOs, I was tackling them as if I actually knew what I was doing .. it was a great feeling! I love working digitally and it has been wonderful for me to be able to … especially when I often didn’t feel well enough to be in the real physical studio. But it was also miraculous for me to be able go into the studio … where there is no UNDO button … and start to feel good about creating this tiny little cards (2 1/5″ x 3 1/2″) …. it started to be a whole lot of fun! Even though it is cold in the studio – the temperature is 63 degrees.

I hope you like this vibrant, colorful painting! I know I do … I use pastels in a way unlike most people … but I use them the way that feels right to me … Delighted to be sharing this with you! Thank you … I would love to hear about your own process in creating.

Susan Elkin and I have been working quite hard on her business and she has made incredible progress. By the way, Susan has posted today!! Thank you for stopping by!

~ Diane Clancy

Technorati Tags: Diane Clancy, vibrant colorful painting, pastel, creating

Mark Forster and Time Management

Diane Clancy — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 23:37:47 +0000

Mark Forster has a new method of time management, using the concepts of “Thought – Decision – Action” or “Stimulus – Response.” These are wonderful, new, useful concepts.

I read about a really cool site Get Everything Done (http://www.markforster.net/) so I went and checked it out. Mark Forster has 3 books (at least) and numerous articles about various ways to tackle life so that we may be the person we really want to be. Time management and organization can be the foundation for what we want to do with our lives. Yesterday I read the first chapter of a book that was a big WOW for me … keeping reading to find the change in vision that chapter gave me.

Dreamscape III, Digital © Diane Clancy

I used to be very effective at getting enormous amounts of things done … often feeling pretty relaxed. But circumstances have changed and many readers of this blog knew I have been in an overwhelm mode for way too long. This first chapter (never mind the whole book) has given me a life-line to get back my serene, creative, joyful self!

The key – we each have two parts of ourselves … part of our brain uses “Thought – Decision – Action” and another part of our brain that acts from “Stimulus – Response.” I have been on automatic coming from Stimulus – Response. Working with these two principles is his new system of time management. You can read the first chapter for free right here.

It has been very helpful to me today. I can see the places I am still being reactive to stimulus around me. And I was also able to stay focused a chunk of the day. I have been tangling with taxes and other financial details that I need to do. I guess I am tired enough still that it is being difficult, but I did stay focused and got a lot done anyway.

I think I can go quite a distance playing with these ideas to help me get back on track. Mark has this fantastic list of tasks and he asks us to decide whether they are “Thought – Decision – Action” or “Stimulus – Response.” I was surprised by some of the answered but it sure helped me GET the idea!! He has lots of resources on his website – definitely worth checking out!

What do you think? How do you manage your time? Are you on track? What needs to change for you? Thank you so much for coming by!

~ Diane Clancy

Technorati Tags: Dreamscape, Diane Clancy, vibrant colorful painting, Get Everything Done, Mark Forster, time management

Assessing My Goals for 2008

Diane Clancy — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 02:19:02 +0000

Ok … I promised that today I would assess how I did on my goals for 2008. You can see my goals on Goals for 2008. On the day before that day, you can see my assessment what I did in 2007. Below I look at some of my goals and give my assessment of how I did. I may change some of how I am using this blog, but I definitely want to finish up talking about goals as I said I would.

Sphere Dance, Digital © Diane Clancy

Continue my work with the Creative Economy

I stayed on the board of Fostering the Arts and feel like I am being effective at being a bridge between artists and those who are organizing around the creative economy – I get good feedback about my participation.
Artists of Franklin County – I have chaired and taken minutes as I committed to. The group has really gelled this year and more people are taking true ownership of the group. The group is finding itself and now can decide what to do … it is at a different stage of evolution.
We did the AWE Project (Artists Window Exhibit) three times last year. For the Holiday AWE we even did an Art Fair and Art Stroll also. I received a grant which helped me carve out the time to do this.
I would say my work with the Creative Economy was a success this year and I fulfilled and surpassed my goals.
A hint toward my goals for this year – this work has taken up way too much of my time … let me rephrase that … I have allowed this organizing work to be done in an excellent way – somewhat at the cost of my creative time.

Build my Online Sales

I have expanded my Etsy and CafePress Shops with items and images. That part has been fairly successful. I still need to keep expanding at CafePress with my bubblescapes and putting my vibrant, colorful paintings on more merchandise.
I have opened shops at lots of other online stores … I feel really good about that! I think that has been very successful. Now I need to add more items to these various shops.
I have made some sales this last year for sure – obviously I want to increase them.

Networking

Networking – I have networked a really lot!! I am a leader in several artists teams and have become active in social media. Again – this is taking a lot of time and I need to reassess how much time it does take. There is so much opportunity out there!! I certainly have been effective at getting connected in 2008!!!

Licensing

I did license Conundrum I to be used on a book cover this year. I listened to a phone class to help artists know about licensing.
On seriously pursuing licensing, I did a very poor job.

Graphic Design & Web Design Clients

I had several and we did some good work. I enjoy this work (the way I do it working closely with clients) and it brings in a stream of income. So this was successful.

Rework My Website

I have reworked the front page a little to add a link to CafePress (with an image of one of my mugs) and a link to purchase an ACEO.
I did not add the bubblescape galleries as I had planned … and I have someone asking where they can see them all together – so obviously I need to make some decisions about this.

Pursue Design Work for Hire

I tried one or two potential opportunities – and I am not at all sure that is worth pursuing right now.

Develop Resources for Artists

We set up the Artists Marketing Forum. I spent a lot of time writing and getting articles ready for that. Initially it generated a lot of interest, but it was not sustained. I had been hoping to perhaps get some coaching work from that. I have chosen not pursue it more for awhile .. but perhaps I can use some of the writing in a useful way.

Create Lots of Art

I have created lots of vibrant, colorful digital paintings. Several have sold in my Etsy shop. People have expressed a lot of delight in them – so that has been highly successful.
Getting back into the studio to work with traditional mediums has been less so … obviously part of my goals for 2009.

Health, Harmony & Well-Being

In certain ways this year has been wildly successful – and that is probably the most important thing. I have made some very important changes.
In other ways, I still have lots of room for improvement – but then again, who doesn’t?

How about you? Have you been assessing how your last year went? I would love to hear about it. Did you fill your goals? Did you do things important to you that were not on your list of goals? I would love to hear how others are thinking about this for themselves and for their work and passions. Love and blessings to all life! Thanks for coming by!

~ Diane Clancy

Technorati Tags: goals, Creative Economy, Fostering the Arts, Artists of Franklin County, AWE Project, grant, Online Sales, Etsy, CafePress, social media, licensing

Viewpoint & Illustration Friday – Pretend

Diane Clancy — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 20:25:05 +0000

Illustration Friday has a challenge every week. I so much enjoy doing this challenge. This week is Pretend. I was getting ready to continue writing about yesterday’s topic of organizing things in my life … I made an image for today (as part of Creativity Every Day) and WOW – this image I created screams Pretend to me so I am mostly doing Illustration Friday today – But look to the end of the post with a realization about organizing! Also I talk some about art and how I see this image. Illustration Friday is a great way to showcase your work and a wonderful opportunity to meet lots of interesting people! I encourage you to check it out! Lots of fun people and paintings! Thank you for stopping by!

Have you ever seen the image with the woman’s face and the vase? Look one way at the image and you see 2 women looking at each other – look another way and you see a vase pop out. This is about foreground and background. Look at it one way and the vase is the foreground. Shift your focus slightly and the faces are in the foreground and the vase becomes the background. I have always been fascinated by such things! Those 3D books that came out several years ago are related too … look straight on, and you see an image, shift your perspective and it becomes 3D.

When I first looked at this digital painting I had created, I saw the yellow center as the foreground – I thought that was what the image was about. Then immediately my focus shifted and the brilliant blues became the foreground with the yellow band behind the 2 fields of blue. WOW! I created one of those images was my immediate thought – I have always wanted to. I love looking at it from one viewpoint and then shifting to the other viewpoint. This will not surprise people who understand how much I like reflections and seeing life and the world in various ways.

Now on to the organizing part. In thinking over both comments to that post a few days ago, I realized that there were a couple of core issues … One is what I am calling organizing – that is for sure – and tomorrow I am going to share some of what I mean. Of course, the second is how I am spending my time. But the third relates to how I present myself (both to myself and others). Ultimately, this one is probably the most important long term. I am off to start tomorrow’s post – I hope you are having as much fun as I am in exploring this. I welcome your comments! Thanks for stopping by!

~ Diane Clancy

Technorati Tags: organizing, Creativity Every Day, Illustration Friday, foreground, background, focus, digital painting

Thinking about Organizing

Diane Clancy — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 23:51:12 +0000

Last night Butterfly wrote a very thoughtful response to my post. I read it before going to bed and have thought and thought about what she wrote since then … I have been responding a whole lot in my head. I so much appreciate her caring and thinking .. and also I appreciate Grace‘s thoughts on herself also. I want to share some of these thoughts out loud – so to speak – in an unorganized way!

Part of what Butterfly wrote is “It seems to me that you spend a tremendous amount of time organizing your own and other people’s work that only indirectly have to do with the actual art of creation. It seems that you hardly ever have time to sit down for hours on end to craft your art, or am I getting completely the wrong impression now?”

I definitely want to get more unbroken creative time with traditional materials – I think that would feed my soul greatly. Butterfly has spoken to me in a kind way that helps me rethink some priorities for sure. Clearly, my In Box for email is out of control. I know I am not alone. There are many opportunities of artists wanting to exchange links and requests to network with artists on other sites. At least I mainly skim and file all the great info that I get each day. (Some I skim, some read, most of the info I just file … for that needed day in the future.) But I also have some sense of what things are about and often remember to go find someone useful if I need it.

But I have almost 200 emails I haven’t knocked off. I can’t seem to get down to the bottom with lots of old ones that I need to make decisions about. … Lisa Call is an incredible contemporary textile artist! Her blog often makes me think. One of the things she said struck me really hard. People are always asking her how she gets so much done, she said (paraphrased probably) “I make decisions – I don’t waste a lot of time spinning my wheels about decisions.” I have kept this in my mind since then. I am working to get better at this with my email – for just one place. As I am doing my graphic design work, I also keep this in the front of my attention. So I know I need improvement.

But some of my other thoughts to Butterfly (and you too, because you are part of this conversation also) focus on what life is like for the modern artist. It is expected today that at least 50% of an artist’s time goes to marketing her work. That is a lot of time! I do spend a lot of time marketing, a lot! I have been rethinking this at the back of my mind – as I know many other artists are also. Online marketing is great – and it is also endless … I need to prioritize there also. And I have been spending less time marketing online and my sales have gone down. Obviously, I am still tweaking that. I have been looking at that and I know many other artists are struggling with this too … I am not alone!

I think I will wait until tomorrow to say several more things that I want to share with you, A biggie is an insight about how I am presenting myself. Other parts have to do with the reality of my life. I am very eager to share them with you … but will wait til the ‘morrow -I sure hope you will come back to read the conclusion – or is it going to be the middle of the story?

I have been thinking and thinking about these issues anyway, but thank you, Butterfly - for your comments have propelled me into high gear in processing and thinking, (I know – doing too, but I need thoughtful action, not just action). Thank you for coming by!

~ Diane Clancy

Technorati Tags: Butterfly, Grace, creative time, traditional materials, priorities, email, network, Lisa Call, graphic design, marketing

Layers of Meaning

Diane Clancy — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 12:44:30 +0000

This looks like a Goddess Mandala to me. It looks mythical and deep with layers of meaning. It looks like a scared symbol of an earth culture. For me it is a sacred symbol – I see a goddess created from ancient, significant symbols. There is a human aspect and also a nature deva facet. And of course, the colors have profound spiritual implications. Absolutely amazing the way the unconscious speaks in art!!

I have a give-away to celebrate my 500th post. You can still enter to win!! Here are the details. It is FREE to enter! Thank you for stopping by!

~ Diane Clancy

Technorati Tags: Goddess, Mandala, scared symbol, deva, spiritual, unconscious, give-away, FREE

Green Dog (vs Blue Dog)

Diane Clancy — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 12:32:46 +0000

You may have heard of the Blue Dog series … you can see George Rodrigue‘s work here. I came across him years ago and have always wanted to do a series about my kitty in a similar way. I love his work – I found him before I painted at all and this art inspired me greatly! So here is a green dog in sunglasses!! My own version of the Blue Dog. I was playing around and this image popped right out!!

I have a give-away to celebrate my 500th post. You can still enter to win!! Here are the details. It is FREE to enter! Thank you for stopping by!

~ Diane Clancy

Technorati Tags: Blue Dog, George Rodrigue, play, give-away, FREE

Progress in Digital Art

Diane Clancy — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 19:36:19 +0000

This is a digital rework of Conundrum I. When I first used this program of Studio Artist several years ago, I worked with this piece to start with – since it is one of my very favorites. I am pleased that this one I created today, has so much more depth and meaning to me. Clearly I am mastering both the techniques and the substance much better of digital painting. I am pretty excited!! Here is a demo of Studio Artist if you are interested.

~ Diane Clancy

Technorati Tags: Studio Artist, digital painting

Paintings Tell Me What to Call Them!

Diane Clancy — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 18:34:58 +0000

I hope you like this new digital art! And you are correct! There is a bubblescape involved in this image … those are transformed bubbles that are peeking around! It was confirmed today I do have an infection – so why I have felt so crummy for a week – so hopefully I will feel better by tomorrow and be able to write more!! What do you think of this title? I am not sure it looks like a crown, but the name keep pestering me and wouldn’t leave me alone until I agreed to it … now you know a little more about my creating. Not only do the creations themselves have life and boss me around, they often tell me what their names are and let me know if they don’t like what I choose. Welcome to Diane’s World.

PS I LOVE that paintings tell me what to do – in case you had any question!

~ Diane Clancy