AnnieBanannie's

Summertime Art Week

Kymmie — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 17:04:11 +0000

Well I finally managed to get working on some art yesterday afternoon. It has been awhile since I’d done any painting, so I decided to incorporate some drawing with some painting. The result is Misty. I am starting to get into the whimsical style and see where that leads my work for a little while. I am going to bring her into PhotoShop today and add some other details that she needs before she is what she will be.

Let your heart sing – make some art today!!!

Toodles,

Kymmie

Gettin’ Ready for A Little Art…

Kymmie — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 06:16:29 +0000

I spent a good part of the day cleaning up my office and clearing out clutter in my art studio. I can now officially find my art board. It is amazing how quickly a person can collect a ton of stuff. Just stuff….and more stuff….then more. Okay, I’m like a big kid…wait I’m short…so little kid. I love stuff…art stuff…okay, okay…and techno stuff. The problem is when things get outta hand like that I wind up not getting anything accomplished. I am too easily distracted. Too much STUFF!!!

This week my plan is to unplug, get my daughter going on her school work, and get busy making some art. So I have officially designated this as a week of art…kind of like going back to school week, since I took most of the summer off to play. So to get back into the grove of things, I am going to challenge myself to a little drawing, painting, calligraphy – and then a little photo collaging.

And this evening there was this amazing moth by the front door…I told him that I would catch him next time….too lazy this evening to get the camera out…okay, Kymmie vacation is officially over…

Toodles,

Kymmie

What A Week…That I Could Do Without…

Kymmie — Sat, 21 Aug 2010 16:56:09 +0000

Well this has been one of the worst weeks I’ve had in a long time. Ironically, in the aftermath, I am able to let go of my anger and become more focused on what I need to be – my art and my art classes. I have seen the ugliest side of human beings this week…I cannot be in the midst of that kind of stuff…no thank you, I’ll pass. Some of these individuals made statements that will haunt me for a long, long time. I can completely see where the “witch hunt” mentality comes from and the lack of ability to have open dialogue in a respectful manner – and no one should “apologize” for another’s statements – it’s that person’s responsibility if and only if they are moved to do so. Well, the damage is done, time to move on…and leave this mess behind.

Today is a new day…

Butchart Garden Images

Kymmie — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 06:43:29 +0000

I finally had a chance to work on some of the images I took while I was in Victoria, BC last month. Hard to believe that it is almost September!!! I am just getting ready to start working on my online courses for this coming fall. I hope to have at least two of the courses by late fall and another two by about mid-winter. I’ll be starting with an Intro to PhotoShop and most likely an Intro to Mixed Media Art. I’ll post more as I get closer to launching the courses.

I hope you enjoy the images!!!

Toodles,

Kymmie

Finally have some lighthouse images up…

Kymmie — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 16:49:59 +0000

I was finally able to get some lighthouse images up from the Newport trip.

I still have to go through more of the Yaquina Bay images and there is still a lot to do on the Yaquina Head images, too. I still have nine more to shoot along the Oregon coast. So this is just the beginning.

Ciao,
Kymmie

Time…I Need More Time…

Kymmie — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 17:43:10 +0000

I am taking a much needed break from Facebook for awhile. It seems that I wind up not getting to things that I really need to – like my artwork – and I wind up having other things land on my plate – which are creating distractions from where I need to be with my projects time-wise. So I’m going to be spending more time here and getting back to my artwork and working on my upcoming online classes – and much less time on Facebook.

I am having such a hard time believing that it’s already July!!! We are finally getting nicer weather – but sadly, most of the summer is over. So the amazingly loooong winter will be returning shortly and the darkness and cold will return. I am one of those people that does not like being cold – I can handle the heat, but the cold – no thanks. I am learning more and more from “The Artist’s Way” that I really, really need to clear things out or I am never going to get my artwork back on track. I just seem to be one of those people that everyone gravitates to when they need something – and then never hear from them again…that is until the next time they need something. I am really done with that. I don’t mind helping people, but when it’s such a one-sided relationship – forget it. Don’t need it and don’t want it. Julia Cameron calls them “Crazy-Makers” – these are people who continually keep you down and fill your life up with an amazing amount of drama and distractions – so that you never have anything left for you. This is what I am currently sorting out of my life – all of my Crazy-Makers…and unfortunately for me, I have quite a lot of them.

I did actually manage to get to Salem last week – the trip was too short and there was way too much driving involved for me. But I did manage to start my quest to photograph all of the lighthouses in Oregon. My first two were Yaquina Bay and Yaquina Head in Newport, OR. I am just now getting my images uploaded – I should have gotten that done last week when we got back, but as I wrote above – too many distractions. Here is a image I took of Yaquina Head – it’s the tallest lighthouse in Oregon – and it was not a fun journey to locate it, but that is a whole other story.

I am not too thrilled with how the text flows on my blog – so I will be working on a new layout for this site soon. I’ve been trying to get to PHP, but my distractions have prevented me from doing that so I can build this site from the ground up. Hopefully, I can get things moving before I journey to Washington week after next. If not, it’ll just have to wait until I get back. Unfortunately, by then, summer will be almost over. Too many things going on….and not enough time!!!

Ciao,
Kymmie

Glass Tile Pendants Are Finally Here!!!

Kymmie — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 18:25:04 +0000

Yea!!! I have finally worked out the problems with the glaze and the glass tiles. That was a chore. I walked away from it for a few weeks and then decided to check on the coating for the photographic papers that I was using. Sure enough that was the root cause with a reaction to the glaze that created a lot of the bubbling. I am so happy!!! These pendants will be featured in our AnnieBanannie’s store and we will have customizable options available.

This one is a customize painting that I did with a gunmetal finished backing and chain. I really love the look of the gunmetal finish. However, I find that my preference is for the antiqued brass finish on this pendant that I did using a vintage rose image.

I love antiqued things and the image and the backing pair very nicely here. I will be adding two additional backing options and also bail options when we launch our web store. I am hoping to have the store up and running this fall.

I am off to work on some screen printing this morning – I was going to cut some stencils for airbrushing onto a few shirts, but the weather is a bit gloomy today – so I think I’ll just work on some screen designs and pull ink onto some shirts instead.

Cio,

Kymmie

Getting Busy with a Forum

Kymmie — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 17:14:04 +0000

Well today on my agenda is getting my site forum up and running. I finally got our contact form up and need to get that tested too. We should hopefully be fully operational by August!!! I am hoping that the weather will improve here so I can get out and gets some shots this summer. I am heading out to Salem in late June and then will take a few trips to the coast hopefully in July and August.

I am hoping to have some new work posted at the end of June or early July. It’s been difficult to find the time lately to work. I am still planning to build an educational feature into the site – I haven’t quite mapped that out yet – but hopefully that portion of the site will be operational by sometime in early to late fall.

Ciao for now,

Kymmie

e-Commerce Here We Come…

Kymmie — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 18:22:49 +0000

Well, I am in the beginning phase of building the web store for AnnieBanannie’s. This is really exciting for me – after a lot of years of hard work and finally things are starting to come together. I think that I have come to realize that I have a “Saka-like” (see Avatar: The Last Airbender) approach to everything that I do – I don’t follow a conventional path and in the end things somehow wind up where they should be. LOL!!! So hopefully that pattern will follow with the opening of our web store this fall!!!

Ciao,
Kymmie

Building Social Network Access

Kymmie — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 17:19:59 +0000

I am currently in the process of adding a social network component to the site. Hopefully I can get all of the bugs worked out and be up and running by the end of the week. I will be building the workshop and class area – which due to the nature of online learning – will need to have interactive features. My goal is to have everything operational by the end of June and then get busy working on a couple of class offerings for the fall. Along with that I hope to get some fresh work posted this summer. I have a couple of adventures lined up – so hopefully, I’ll have some good subject matter.

Here’s is hoping for a smooth process as this site build gets underway!!!

TTFN,
Kymmie