finished painting

 Diana

Kelcey Loomer

24” x 30”

Antique wallpaper, paper, acrylic paint,

ink, epoxy resin, pencil, varnish

2012

 {detail}

{detail}

As many of you who follow my blog know, I have been working on this painting since January. I finished it last month, and I haven't shown it here yet because it still seems like such a mystery to me. As the artist I often feel pressure to explain the meaning behind my work, and yet, sometimes I am at a loss for words when it comes to explaining what and why. 

So... here is what I can tell you about this piece. 

* The cat is my late cat Salome.

* The house is one of the last houses standing in a blighted Detroit city neighborhood. 

* The moon is cycling through this painting representing sacredness and the passage of time. 

♥

Kelcey

inspiration

I put together a small gallery of a few things I am feeling inspired by today Here. ♥

from our garden

Cherry & yellow pear tomatoes, cucumber slices, yellow squash and homemade pesto on pasta, nasturtium flower. 
We have so much to be grateful for right in our own yard!  

500 sales!

making sour pickles

Alex and I made pickles from the cucumbers in our garden this week.  We soaked them in our cold water overnight, and then hodge-podged a recipe up in the morning. We settled on a sour pickle that ferments rather than the vinegar type preservation.
Here is a neat link to a sour recipe: http://www.wildfermentation.com/making-sour-pickles-2/
I didn't read this recipe until after we made ours. If I had, I would have added some of our grape or oak tree leaves because that sounds interesting!

 We don't have much fridge space, so we are considering keeping them submerged in the water near our spring head. The water there is colder than the fridge. I hope it all works!

toad

the little one and the big toad. 

fun news

Silver Woodland Fox Earrings

This weeks print disaster was tempered by the good news that my silver fox earrings are going to be featured in Bead Style Magazine's earring gallery in November! The magazine contacted me to see if I was interested, and I just sent off the earrings for them to photograph. It should be fun to see my jewelry in a magazine for the first time.  

mistakes

To Thy Own Self Be True
Kelcey Loomer
6" x 6"

Alex and I discovered this morning that approximately half of the last batch of resined prints we made have formed thumb size air pockets under the print. It was a glue malfunction (The glue didn't malfunction, it is the way we applied the quick drying glue actually) that caused it.
So now we have 15 un-sell able prints and an estimated 15 to 20 prints that we have sold in the last month with this problem.  Um, yeah, that stinks.

So I had a mini breakdown. I told Alex I want to give up. He said "Making the resin prints?"
and I said "No, owning our own business... being an artist...I am a FAILURE."
He said, "I am not even going to respond to that".
So I shed a few tears.

After a few minutes I was able to voice my frustration and embarrassment and pull myself together. I only want to put out the highest quality products, so it is a big deal to me to have sold something faulty. But whenever something like this happens I console myself by thinking of much larger mistakes like carseat or even car recalls. Those are big deals. What I am dealing with is a small deal in comparison.  You know?

So anyhow, if this has happened to a print you bought from me please please contact me and I will make it right!

tea party

While Alex and David worked on various outside projects this morning the kids helped me make whole wheat, chocolate chip, carrot muffins and pick mint for mint tea. While the muffins were baking the kids decided to make invitations for the guests who were waiting anxiously on the stairs. After the muffins cooled, the invitations were handed out, and all of the guests (stuffed animals) were seated, we had a tea party.  Barbie was uninvited because her legs were too stiff and long to sit properly at the table. But everyone else was well behaved. All the guests generously decided they weren't hungry and they wanted Lil to eat their share.

After the festivities the party-goers who had eaten the chocolate chip muffins were sent out to the trampoline to jump.

seed & sky update!

 I am beyond excited to finally have my new silver necklace bezels in my hands! I added the first necklace to the shop today, and I feel really proud of it. It has a nice weight to it, it feels like a lucky stone when you hold it.
While you are visiting our ETSY SHOP you may notice some changes. We have discontinued several of 2011's designs and due to some shifts in our business, and upgrade in supplies, we have implemented a noticeable price increase throughout our collection.  (If you had your eye on something with our old price don't be sad! We will be having a big thank you to all the Seed & Sky fans sale in the near future. I will keep you posted on that!) 
Also in the works:
* I also am working on our ABOUT page for our shop. I still need to take some photos of our studio and designs in progress to fine tune it.  But in the meantime, check it out!
* We have been working out the kinks in the branding of our business. It feels like we have come so far, and yet have still so far to go on this one.
* We are trying to make our packaging even more interesting and beautiful.
* I made a new banner for our shop. Changed the word handmade to designer. I still am on the fence about that choice.
* We are planning on joining wholesalecrafts.com in the coming months to bring in more wholesale accounts. Whoohoo!

maple seed necklace

* And Lastly, I am in the process of designing a 2012 Fall Collection which I can't wait to unveil in the coming weeks!

xxx
Kelcey

fall

inventory

Today : doing inventory for Seed & Sky.

new work

A fun and colorful small piece:

Inner Vision

Kelcey Loomer

6” x 6”

Antique & handmade papers, acrylic paint,

ink, pencil, and varnish on panel

2012

Sold

weekend

Lili had her first kid sleepover this past weekend with her cousin Gita. Gita read both of my kids a book in her bedroom before Seo was shooed out so the sleepover could start. Gita has a little loft bedroom just like Lili, isn't it cute?

Other exciting things that happened this past weekend:
* Lili locked our keys in the car by accident and we couldn't find the spare. Eventually, Alex broke into our car (with no damage) like a pro.
* I saw two bears (in separate places) as I was driving on our road!!!
* It was the tail end of my mother's visit, so we had lots of great family time. ♥

on my kitchen windowsill

new work

It is difficult to capture the milky matte depth to my new painting in a photograph. These photos look blurry, but it is actually the transparent nature of the painting that you are seeing. It is has subtle layers that blend together and the surface is truly luscious feeling.

Botanical Unfolding

Kelcey Loomer

24” x 30”

Antique wallpaper, paper, acrylic paint,

ink, epoxy resin, pencil, varnish

2012

packing up photos

I love how this photo shows the different textures so well...

 The day before the Biltmore show we put a sheet down on the floor, and our living room became a framing/packing station.

paintings on the table: ready to be packed!

new work : new show this weekend

The Air Was Aflutter

Kelcey Loomer 

6" x 6" 

Paper, acrylic, epoxy resin, glue, ink

2012

I have been painting in my studio a lot... It has been painting all day long, computer work and Olympics at night.  It has been fun to share the experience with the kids. I don't know about you, but I have been staying up way too late watching the Olympics. 

I have also made some exciting leaps and bounds personally/artistically the last few weeks which feels good. There have been some major mess ups too (like messing up the finishing coat of a painting I had already spent 30+ hours on. Oops.) We are doing a show in Biltmore Village (Asheville) this coming weekend. It will be all art and no jewelry. I am looking forward to seeing everything I have been working hard on all together in one place!