New Year, New...Everything

It's funny how we wait for the new year to come in order to make change in our lives and a bunch of resolutions that will have disappeared before the snow.  On the contrary, this coming of the new year does arrive conveniently at the same time I'm looking to make some changes with Reenie Rose.  For starters, I will be gaining an addition to my one-woman-show staff.  Some lucky contestant will join me in an internship to help jump start some real business this year.  While I start a new painting, my intern will be on the look out for new opportunities.  This will leave me a lot more time to get some work done without being pulled in so many directions.
There will be a severe decrease in friends and family freebie gifts as I anticipate a boom in business with the help of my intern....sorry to those out there hoping for one.  New people will be met and and relationships will be shared.  Additional details will be spiced up too....my website, my activities and my blog.  Everything is going to get turned up a notch.

So, as I toast to the new year by sipping a glass of champagne and gazing at my final painting of 2009, I extend to everyone a very happy new year filled with wishes being made, dreams coming true, and much prosperity.  Cheers!!!

Into a New Year

It is the eve of New Year's Eve and I thought I'd post before the grand finale post of the year which should be a finished painting.....will be a finished painting.  I will save all of my many words of wisdom for later and leave you with this image of another rung in the ladder of Victoria's painting.

Christmas Cheer

Here's a little holiday gift..an update on Victoria's painting.

Here's wishing everyone a very merry Christmas and a prosperous new year.

Victoria Update

Here's a little update on Victoria's painting progress.  Enjoy the weekend and be sure to finish up all your Christmas shopping!

The Beginning of Victoria's

You may remember back on a day in September where I had 3 weddings going on....one that I was in, one that my parents where going to and one for a friend.  Today I introduce to you "the wedding my parents went to".
Victoria and Zak were married in a Northern Chicago suburb on a farm.  I was able to see Victoria's bouquet the day before the wedding to capture the chosen composition below.

I've now started the painting and have it all sketched in and ready to go!

Mary's is finished!!!

I realize I implied in my last post that I would be showing additional posts on the progress of Mary's painting, but instead I decided to just finish it without any of the fluff in between.  Mary's painting is a great example of how much life a painting can bring to an all ivory bouquet.  The colors and contrast that come out of it really make it a piece of art.  The added sparkle of the brooch and rhinestones are an extra bonus.
Next on the list....all of my September wedding gifts....

Thankful for Painting?

My last post came before Thanksgiving and just before I was leaving for NY, so it's been awhile.  To update you, my NY visit was lovely.  Alana and Ben loved their painting!  Better yet, the wet painting arrived perfectly!  It even got to ride business class!

Here's a pic of Abra and me at Peter's exhibit.  Definitely take a look at the images from his Underground Entrepreneurs exhibit....it was an amazing experience.

Thanksgiving has also passed.  I hope everyone enjoyed a plentiful holiday while giving thanks for everything we are so lucky to have.  I know I've been very lucky this year.  Thank you to my friends and family that have been so supportive this year.
Now that I have had some down time, it's back to the work routine and Mary's painting.  Here's a look at it after working on it a bit yesterday.

I can tell the snow is coming soon....and so is lots more painting.

NY Challenge: Day 7.....And Finished!

Whew, I feel like I ran a marathon.  7 days, 47.5 hours and a 20 x 20 inch painting is finished.  The painting turned out amazing, and I am so excited to personally deliver it to Alana and Ben in New York.  Let's just hope that having a fan on it for another 10 hours will dry it a bit more. 

 
The main reason I am going to NY is for Peter of Mozar Photography's photo exhibit this weekend.  You'll remember that Peter took the photograph of me for my website.  The exhibit is a colaboration between photography and music.  His work will feature photos of NY street musicians, and during the opening, the musicians will be performing.  It should be a fantastic experience.  I will be sure to report on the exhibit and painting presentation....a very exciting weekend!

NY Challenge: Day 6 1/2

I only got a couple of hours in yesterday after working a full day at the jewelry company.  It's getting close!

NY Challenge: Day 6

NY Challenge: Day 5

Got a lot accomplished this weekend.  It's coming along, but will I be able to finish it in time?

NY Challenge: Day 4

NY Challenge: Day 3

New York Challenge: Day 2

I didn't have time to post yesterday, so at the beginning of Day 3, here is the result from yesterday's painting marathon.

New York Challenge

I've decided to setup a challenge for myself.  I am going to be visiting New York next Friday, November 20th to see a very good friend of mine, Abra.  You'll remember her sister, Alana, whose wedding I worked day-of coordination for.  As a wedding gift to Alana, I was going to give her a painting of her beautiful peony bouquet.  Sadly, the painting has yet to be created.  The "gift" paintings are always put on the back burner for the "client-based" paintings unfortunately.  Since Alana's wedding was back in June, I am way overdue for gift-giving (though I think you have up to a year to give a wedding gift, so maybe I'm ok afterall).

Alana also lives in NY, so I thought that it would be great to bring her her wedding gift after all this time.  So, I am putting my skills to the test this week to see if I can finish her painting in exactly one week with the hopes of some drying time to spare.  I will have to take a short break from Mary's painting.
Above is the composition Abra chose for her sister's painting.  Below is the painting sketched in.  I'm up for the challenge, so let the games begin.....and may the artist win this battle.  Check back for (fingers crossed) daily updates!!!

Mary, Mary Quite Contrary

Looks like I've only been posting once a week on my painting progress.  I've been painting a few hours everyday and I guess I like to post when the progress is very noticeable.  With this one, there's a whole new flower started!  If you'd like to see more more often, let me know!

Halloween weekend!

Here's a look at the progress of Mary's painting.  In between dressing like an 80's prom queen this weekend, I plan on painting, so expect to see another update soon!  Happy Halloween!!!!

A Start on Mary's

I've made a good start on Mary's painting and hope to continue to work on it between birthday cake and friends and family this weekend.  Smile.

A Family of Paintings

This weekend gave me the opportunity to finish Cate's painting.  I'll be giving it to her this coming weekend at our 10 year high school reunion.  My goodness I feel old.


Speaking of old, a rare site presented itself this weekend when I had 4 of my paintings surrounding me in my studio.  I felt like a mother whose kids were home from college for the holidays.  It's so great to see them all together.  Unfortunately, they must all go to their selected homes....like puppies.  Shoot, my children are pet related....

Another puppy to add to the litter.  You may remember back in July I took photos of a bouquet for a co-worker's wedding.  She has finally selected a composition for her painting, so I will be posting updates of that painting as I work on it.  I think it will be another stunning painting!!!!

Cate Update

I just realized that I haven't updated my progress on Cate's painting in awhile.  It's coming along.  No worries, it will be done by reunion time!  Oh my, reunion.

Yeah! It's finished!!!

I've finally finished Brian and Rachel's painting!   It is a knockout of a painting and I'm so excited to have it in my collection of images.  Thanks Brian and Rachel!!!

Brief Update

Just a quick update on Brian and Rachel's painting.  Looking good...

Mega Update

Wow, it has been awhile since I've posted.  A lot has gone on and is still going full throttle.  First of all, I just got off a crazy wedding weekend.  Three weddings this weekend that I will be creating paintings for!!!  Unfortunately, I am only one person and I was in one of the weddings, so I wasn't able to attend all of them.  Instead, I'm going to be receiving some image assistance from a couple of florists and photographers.

First wedding on the account was one I was in up in Three Oaks, Michigan, for a fellow GVSU alumni friend of mine....Christine and her now husband, Mike.  It was a beautiful event at Willow Harbor Vineyard, and the weather couldn't have cooperated any better for a fall afternoon wedding.  I can't wait to see the photographer's photographs of the day.  We went so many places for pictures, including a pumpkin patch!  Here are some images from the day.  Oh, and a side note....I also created all of the jewelry for us bridesmaids!

Notice how gorgeous her flowers are!!!  They are going to make a beautiful painting.

Here's a cute pic of me with the bride and the rest of the girls. 

Close up of the jewelry set I made for each of the bridesmaids.  Great fall colors!












Wedding #2 was for friends of the family, Victoria and Zak and located in Lake Forest, Illinois.....nowhere close to my location in Michigan.  I got really lucky with this wedding and was able to view the bouquet on Friday before I headed northeast for the weekend.  Even better, the bouquet was created by Kehoe Designs....a fantasticly reputable event design firm.
Victoria's bouquet turned out to be very photogenic.  Expect to see compositions very soon.

Wedding #3 was located in St. Louis, Missouri.....the farthest of them all.  Since I didn't have the luxury of seeing the bouquet early, I'm making new friends and putting my trust into Natalie and Mike's florist and photographer.  I have no doubt that John Fedele (photographer) and Montano Grant (florist) will be able provide me with some amazing images of Natalie's bouquet.

Next on the agenda is some preparation painting for this Friday where I will be attending another First Friday event at Buss Flower Shop in Libertyville, IL.  September's Friday event turned out to be a huge hit, so I encourage you to come out for October's from 6-9pm.  There will be a band again along with food and beverages.  I'll be sure to update before the weekend to give you a preview of what I will be showing at the event.  Tomorrow is a day of painting, so stay tuned for a serious update!!!

Libertyville First Friday

This Friday I was honored to attend Libertyville's First Friday at Buss Flower Shop. It was a lovely night and a great turnout. My plan is to join Buss again in October for a fall evening.

Thanks again Jan!!!!

Having Labor to Celebrate

It's Labor Day weekend, and I have a whole slew of work related things going on. First of all, you may remember last month when I posted about Libertyville's First Friday event. Well, it was canceled last month due to the unrelenting rain we had. So on short notice to you, I am participating today! If you need something to do this evening, I will be at Buss Flower Shop in Libertyville promoting my lovely paintings. I'll have both Ashley's and Rachel's paintings on hand.


Next on the list is the update for Brian and Rachel's painting. I'm really happy with the way it's going since I was pretty unsure as to how I was going to attack the more complex areas. Not too bad so far!


I am going to be putting a hold on Brian and Rachel's painting for a bit to start a new painting for an old grade school/high school classmate of mine. This is going to be a new approach to my paintings because Cate was married last summer. I received a photo from her photographer and am going to be working from that instead of my own images. I'm really excited to see how this goes and present it to her at our 10 year high school reunion....crazy!!! Thanks to Cate (Katy still in my head) and to her photographer for the images.


Here's the painting sketched out next to the printed out image.


And, the painting as of today!!!

Finally, I received a call the other day for a painting for a wedding this weekend...eek! Since my weekend is already carved out for me, I am going to try yet another approach to getting my images....the florist and the photographer. Near, far, it doesn't matter, I will find a way to get the images for the weddings....so keep the calls coming!!!
Have a great holiday weekend everyone!!!! Yeah to work/labor!!!

Halfway There

Another update on Rachel's bouquet as I head into the weekend. It's halfway done, but the other half looks to be a big challenge (you can see on the papers to the left of the painting what I have to paint next).
My plan for the weekend is to sketch out a new painting that has its own set of challenges. Stay tuned!

A Little Bit Here, A Little Bit There

After a long siesta, I've jumped back into Brian and Rachel's painting. Don't worry Brian, I haven't forgotten about it!

Libertyville Event

Today I made a couple of updates to my website. First of all, my new painting is now up and ready to be viewed. Thank you to Cultivate Photo for sharing photos of the couple....see above.

Secondly, I have an event I will be attending tomorrow night in Libertyville, IL. The quaint town hosts "First Fridays", and Buss Flower Shop that created Ashley and Mark's bouquet for my last painting has invited me to spend the evening with them to display my newest painting. So, if you're looking for something fun for the evening, come on out to Libertyville and enjoy the summer evening!

Showing Face

I wanted to announce an addition to my "About" page on my Reenie Rose site. I've added a picture of myself and have a good friend, Peter Wang of Mozar Photography, to thank. Peter is a very talented, New York based photographer that was generous enough to take a few snapshots of me while he was in town photographing Alana's wedding (bouquet painting still to come). Peter will be participating in an exhibit starting at the end of August in New York that will be featuring one of his photographs. For info on the exhibit, you can visit http://www.stacarts.org/exhibits/show/31
To view more of his beautiful work, visit Peter's website- www.mozarphotography.com
Thanks again Peter!

It's Finished!!!!

This weekend I stuck to my guns and finished Cathi's gifted painting for Ashley and her hubby. On to the next project now......

Coming Along

Here's an update on the Larson painting progress. Should be done this weekend!

Larson Bouquet Update

Just wanted to update my progress on the Larson bouquet before the weekend. It's coming along quite nicely. One thing I have gotten back into while painting is listening to books on tape/cd. I find that I stay seated much easier. Right now I'm re-listening to the DaVinci Code. Maybe I should start reviewing books as well.....

Alana + Rachel + Ashley + MARY = 4 Paintings!

This Friday I added another bouquet painting to my roster. Mary, a friend from work, made the big walk down the aisle to Eric, and my wonderful boss decided to gift Mary a painting. Thank you to Berkley at Heffernan Morgan for allowing me to come into their studio prior to the wedding to take photos of the bouquet. It is going to make a beautiful painting!


I'm still plugging along on Cathi's gift....

500 Milestone!!!!!

My blog has just passed the 500 visit mile-marker and I wanted to say a BIG thank you to all of you that visit my site. Your support is what keeps me afloat. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Keep visiting!

What to paint first?!

So, I was originally going to be working on Brian and Rachel's bouquet painting, but I thought it would be in my best interest if I worked on a painting that is due at the beginning of August. Sorry Brian and Rachel, but you and the other gifts will have to be put on the back burner.
I will be switching gears to work on a painting that one of my biggest fans, Cathi, will be giving as a gift. Thank you Cathi, and thank you again to Buss Flower Shop in Libertyville, IL for creating such a beautiful bouquet to paint.
Above is the progression....expect more images to come!