The Painted Chair Project : "Time to Bloom"

I'm excited to share that I've been working on a fun project

with two wonderful organizations:

The Woman's Club of Palo Alto & The Pacific Art League,

called 

"The Painted Chairs Project".

Each of the 1930's wooden folding chairs,

from the Woman's Club, are actually party of their history.

I took some photos before I painted mine, it had so much 

character and was still functional.

What a great way to help support and raise community awareness!

I was so excited to be one of 60 local artists chosen to receive a chair!

Now the hard part was to decide what to do with it....

I decided to do a twist on my aesthetic:

floral designs in a bold pastel palette.

As you can see in the lower photo,

I like to draw inspiration from my sketchbook.

On the back panel, I did stay true to my style.

This is one of my latest botanical line designs.

Here is my chair, "Time to Bloom" all finished:

The Painted Chair Auction Fundraiser Event

will be held

Saturday, March 29th from 6-9pm

The Woman's Club of Palo Alto

475 Homer Avenue, Palo Alto, CA

Tickets are $35 in advance, $40 at the door

In the meantime all the chairs will be displayed 

in local businesses throughout Palo Alto.

All the artist's chairs look amazing.

It's going to be a fun evening seeing all the ideas

that each of the artists created.

I know they all worked hard on them!

The underside of the seat

My art to yours,

Yvette

UPDATE:
My chair is displayed in downtown Palo Alto
at Romi Boutique

 Cute pic with my girls!

A Peek into My Art Studio :

I've always been fascinated to see other artist's studio spaces.

How they organize their supplies, 

what materials they use, and

what unique characteristics they add to make their space personal.

After all we spend a great deal of time in them, 

and it's important to me that my art studio keeps me inspired.

Let me explain, 

I don't have one of those fabulous rooms in my house, 

or in my backyard, nor do I have a lofty space downtown (but I can dream!), 

but I do have a small but amazing space just for me.

You see, my husband very graciously offered me some prime real-estate:

inside our garage = his workshop space!

He opened up a space that is roughly 8x8, just enough room for

my fabulous 8 foot wood work table (that he built for me!)

and some wall panels and desk top (on loan from my brother-in-law).

He left himself just enough room for his workbench and tools.

As you can see, part of my husbands workbench is in the background.

Oh, he's been working on a series of recycled wood birdhouses.

We already have a woodpecker residing in one in our backyard.  

Note I have my own electrical outlet on the wall

for my music player and blow dryer.  There is

also a switch to two lamps on the wall panel. 

My green stained work table is usually covered 

in a plastic sheeting to protect it from messy me.

But I had to show it off today!

Like I said this is prime real-estate so every inch is used wisely!

Every single thing has it's own place.

 Brushes and buckets galore: I use them all and more.

 I try to keep this area dry for my notebooks and such.

The shelves are pretty full with mini works of art to finish.

You can see some of my "doodles" tacked on the wall.

 These plastic bins are an easy way to keep my paints and mediums separate.

I find it helpful to label the lids on the jars for quick reference.

 Some more amazing things my husband built for me, 

are these recycled wood tool boxes.

I designed them after the classic vintage ones.

I painted them in my favorite colors 

and then painted on the numbers.

 I got the idea from my grandfather.  

He had several small white open wood boxes

on a shelf in his workshop organized by numbers he painted on.

Here are two that I kept....

I saved one of the favorite parts of my art studio for last:

There is an 8 foot cloth canvas draped on the wall

above my work table.

 

It's that personal piece that is the focal point in my studio.

Something I constantly add to with left over paint.

Call it a large sketchbook or a mural in progress,

but it represents that freedom of expression I crave

as an artist, where there are no boundaries.

I love my art studio!

My art to yours,

Yvette

The Process of Preparing for Art Shows :

Selling art in art shows is a lot of work for artists.

Late this year I participated in 

two very large shows here in the Bay Area.

Palo Alto Festival of the Arts

and 

Mountain View Art & Wine Festival

I wanted to share a few of my thoughts on the process:

First you need to be accepted by the jury application process.

Once the great news comes that you've been accepted,

that's when a lot of planning and hard work lies ahead for you!

What size is my booth?

Where is my booth?

What time do I need to be there?

How long does it take to get there?

Where is the nearest Starbucks? 

Is my husband free to help me set up & take down?

I wonder who my neighboring artists are?

Where do I park?

How do I design my booth layout?

How many display panels do I need?

Do I need to buy more zip-ties?

 What am I going to wear?

Breathe!

Which paintings should I bring?

Do I have time to make new paintings?

How many business cards do I have?

This is like a planning a party or some personal event 

that you hope a lot of people will come to.

  

Will anyone like or buy my paintings?

Did I pack my Square Credit Card Reader?

How hot is the weather going to be?

Don't forget your new battery-operated fan!

What can I eat in my booth that doesn't embarrass me?

I have the best support from my family and friends!

It is the best thing ever, to have them stop by my booth,

bring me a drink and give me a quick break to run to the

port-a-potty! Thank you!

Speaking of port-a-potties, oh, never mind!

Did I pack my hand-sanitizer?

Each of these two shows had thousands of people in attendance.

I had several people walk into my booth, some to admire my

paintings, some to ask about my technique or medium,

and yes, some of them bought my art!

I won't go into some of the strange things that happen

at these art shows!

Like the ladies who walked off with one of my coasters!

The days were long, but I am so glad that I was one 

of the hundreds of artists sitting proudly 

in our little stores 

greeting all of our customers.

To pass the time, I like to draw and doodle 

in my sketch book.

These caught the eye of a new collector.

I took a few quick pics before selling them

hot out of my book!

So now it's time to refocus on how and what

to do better next year.

I've already received some good exposure from just

being at the shows or on the art show web site.

This process was tough but well worth it!

There are some new ideas brewing in my head

on what I hope to accomplish for next year's

season of art shows. 

A girl has to have goals, right?!

Thanks for letting me share!

My art to yours,

Yvette

Local Art Show :

Willow Glen Home Tour 2013 :

For the past four years, I've shown my artwork in the

Willow Glen Home Tour.

Each year I bring a little bit more to this show.

  

 Showing off one of my new hand-painted Tote Bags!

I've been working on other pieces of

 "functional and wearable art".

So I was excited to sell my hand-painted canvas tote bags. 

I painted my designs on EcoBags.

This great event is held on a weekend each year in May. 

You never know what kind of weather you'll get...

Saturday was way too hot and a bit humid, then Sunday was 

a complete contrast: we had wind and 

you needed a sweater since it cooled off quite a bit! 

 

My small works on wood

 - abstract botanical collection - 

hanging with succulents and stones!

Here is a shelf display panel that my husband 

built for me!

It works great for my 

small works on wood.

These lovely young ladies are my daughters!  

They are all ready to sell raffle tickets for the event.

There were about a dozen different 

local vendors and artists

selling that weekend, in the backyard of

 one the homes from the tour.

I made some new friends that weekend and 

a few others stopped by as well. 

Looking forward to next years!

The Willow Glen Home Tour is a

 wonderful charity event for the 

San Jose Day Nursery, here in San  Jose.

Well, back to my studio - yeah!!

My art to yours,

Yvette

  

 

New Work in Studio

Taking a brief moment to share

 a peek into my studio :

These are birch wood panels with my 

stylized botanical designs.

"SMALL WORKS ON WOOD"

by Autumn Lane Studios

 I've hand painted each piece, so they are all

 original and completely unique!

These will be for sale at future art shows,

like the Willow Glen Home Tour

May 4 - 5,

and more will be listed on my Etsy Store.

Hope you are enjoying your Spring!

My art to yours,

Yvette

Art Studio :

 January 2013 has come and gone, but Happy New Year to you all anyways! :)

My Planner Cover that I made

 Every year I make plans and goals to strive for, like many of us.

One special resolution is to grow my business as an artist even more,

so I've been busy in my studio working on several paintings.

  Here's a little peek into my art studio, or my office space these days!
Like many artists, our studio is a personal expression of us.
It's my special niche where I can be the creative soul that I am!

Well back to work!

My art to yours,
Yvette  
  

ArtWalk Livermore Wrap Up :

ArtWalk Livermore 2012

Last Saturday I spent a wonderful day in Livermore, CA.  

My booth was situated next to the music stage, so I had great tunes 

playing through out the day.

 I want to thank my wonderful husband Joe for his help setting up the heavy panels

and  pop-up canopy.  I could not have done it without him!

A big thanks to our friend John for helping me take down 

my booth and load my car afterwards! :)

Autumn Lane Studios at ArtWalk Livermore 2012

The day went even better when I sold three paintings to some new collectors!
I have until next May to prepare for two art shows, so until then
there are some new projects that need my attention. 

 My Art to yours,

Yvette