in progress

My Mom is in town visiting, and she watched Seo so I could have some studio time today. It was a huge treat. (Thanks Mom!) This is the new painting I have been working on. The owl body surprised me by turning into a lacy cocoon of sorts. 

our tiny home tour

Stats about our home:
* 650 square feet (about 100 of the square feet are stairs)
* Downstairs we have a painted concrete floor (what it will be in the future is yet to be determined) with piping running underneath so in the future we will be able to heat or cool our house with water. 
* The first thing you see when you walk in the front door is the shower. When we build our addition, the shower (and hopefully a bath as well) will be in the bathroom, and the current shower will become a coat closet. 
* Our water supply is pumped from our mountain spring.
* We built our home (with TONS of help from family and friends) in 2006.
* While we built our home we lived in a school bus on our land for a year and half.
* If you are facing our house, our future kitchen addition will be the the right.
* Our home sits on 2.5 acres that we share with my brother and sister in-law & their kids.

Enjoy the sneak peek!

out our front door

We almost stepped on this queen bee mating in our front lawn. Can you see how her partner is about a third of her size? In response to us gawking she tried to fly off. She barely hovered an inch above the ground dragging him upside down through the grass.  It was such a crazy sight! 

More queen bee inspiration...

Atticus: He has officially lost that teenage wild side, and has settled into being a lovable protector. 

Summer rainbow that was visible throughout all of Western North Carolina. 

eliseo

Alex built us this shoe shelf last year. I really love having it, however, one of Seo's favorite things to do is pull all the shoes off the shelves. Several times a day.
Usually the day starts and the shoes are lined up all nice and neat. By the time Alex gets home they are shoved every which way. I was about to say he thinks it is so funny... but I am realizing that I don't know if he does think that. He does it systematically, almost as if it is his job to pull out all those shoes. 

prepping for wholesale

Alex had the day off from work yesterday and so I got to have a long awaited work day of my own. Sadly, I didn't get to paint, there is a whole list of other priorities.  On the top of that list is getting prepared to take on wholesale accounts for Seed & Sky. As I step further and further into this role of businessperson I am biting my tongue every step of the way. Everything in my whole being wants to shout out that I don't do business, and I am happy being a shy hermit in my studio... 

However I am finding bits and pieces of myself here and there that likes being a businessperson and thinking in this way. Statistics, strategies, money, profits, advertising, branding, and on and on. There is so much to learn, and that is the best and most scary part. No, I take that back, the scariest part is putting yourself out there and risking failure.

So yesterday I designed this double sided, large postcard to give to potential clients.  It will be stuffed in an envelope with suggested retail prices and our wholesale terms.  If you know of a retail store that you think would be a match for us we would LOVE to hear your suggestions! (kelceyloomer@hotmail.com) Exciting times!

 front

back

Hope all is well in your neck of the woods!

xxx Kelcey

tuesday drawing

staying cool in the heat

My Hot Weather (okay cold weather too) Smoothie Recipe

1 banana
1 cup of milk
3 Tbsp peanut butter
2 Tbsp chocolate syrup or powder
12 ice-cubes
cold water to thin if needed

Put all ingredients in the blender. blend.

Makes 2.25 pints / 1 Liter

beach vacation 2011

Vacation came and went in a hot, salty, swirl of family, food, and waves.

* Lili conquered her intense fear of the roaring ocean.
* We built a sand castle.
* The kids lived on cheese, crackers, and juice.
* We drank beer and ate rich food all together.
* We spent time quality time with my grandparents.
* I went for a long beach walk with my aunt.
*Had sister time. Even though we are lucky enough to live near Becca and Dave, it is special to spend a week together.
*Got to know my step-sister Naomi better & Lili loved playing with her.
* I drank coffee and listened to my Dad and Amy do the crossword each morning.

Unfortunately, while we were there both kids got sick, got fevers, broke out in full body rashes, & threw up. Seo all over me, Lili all over the rental house comforter (and that is when the house washing machine called it quits.) We had a more low key vacation because of them not feeling well, but in some ways it was nice. We read a lot which was a treat.

Before we left I had planned on working at least a little while there, but then at the last minute we decided to leave it all behind. It was refreshing to not have the option to work.

Everyone helped tremendously with our kids~ enabling it to feel like a true vacation.
It feels like it went too fast, and I already miss my family...

On the flip side, it feels really nice to be home too.

Artist :: Elly MacKay

Elly MacKay is an artist who lives north of Toronto in Owen Sound, Ontario, Canada. I stumbled upon her Etsy Site recently and was instantly intrigued by the beauty and depth.  

I felt almost dizzy as my head tried to decipher what was going on until I read a little bit about how her work is created. Her prints are photographs of three dimensional scenes she creates. Here is a description in her own words about her process: 


"Once I have some layers I begin to install them in my 'theater', a sweet little one that my husband made for me. The image above gives a sense of the scale I am working with. The theater is open on all sides, allowing me to light things from any angle. I use parchment for skies and often place coloured tissue behind it, to create distant landscape or clouds. Due to the open sides and bottom, it can be tricky to have everything stay in place. The frame of the theater has holes to string wire to hold everything in place." 

I went through ALL of her prints on Etsy, and I fell in love.
"My work often tells a moment in a story, and often plays with the themes of childhood, and the ephemeral. I look to my own childhood, my experiences as a mother, Victorian curiosities, vintage book illustrations,  and set design. I have recently begun working on a larger scale, creating installations." 
~Elly MacKay

Aren't they amazing?

To learn more about her process

Her Etsy Site

and her blog

family vacation :: day one

Artist books and visual journals

 SongWen Matilda Huang

Elsa Mora

 Danny Mansmith

 Aren't these amazing??? Come check out more on my "Artist books and visual journals" section in pintrest!

snapshots

snapshots from the past couple weeks:

a wedding, a brotherly race, a saying goodbye, grandparents, a whiffle-ball game, kids, dear friends, 
& more family.

me and Seo

Marriot Hotel, Elmhurst IL

July 2011

newest painting

Kelcey Loomer
No Title Yet

Acrylic, pen, ink, pencil, antique lace, paper, PVA glue, paste

16" x 20" x .75"

2011

My grandmother who passed away in January was on my mind a lot when I painted this. The shadow across the top of the painting is not part of it~ that is just the shadow from my frame.


My shop is closed for renovations right now, but when I reopen in the beginning of August this painting (and her print) will be there!