Villa Montalva :

Yesterday, I participated in a wonderful event at the

Montalvo Arts Center

in Saratoga, CA

I was invited to be one of the artists

to do live painting for

The Final Friday Art Party

with Chris Reed and Tulio Flores.

 

We all braved the heat that day

and enjoyed a casual afternoon on the grounds

of an historic villa.

There was music performed by the talented Chris Reed,

and an art exhibit by the amazing visual artist Tulio Flores.

 Myself and other local artists

set up our tables and easels on the lawn.

-unfortunately, I didn't take more photos during the event! 

This was a really fun experience for me,

working on a new painting in such

an inspiring environment. 

I didn't finish my painting,

maybe because the glazes were not drying

as quickly from the humidity, or

I had too much fun mingling with the guests & other artists!

 

My daughters and I plan to return to the

Villa Montalvo soon to hike the trails.

It has alot of eye candy for me to see 

from the architectural details, to

the artist projects created throughout

the grounds, the large old trees, 

flowers and succulents galore,

and more I haven't seen yet!

I want to thank both Chris and Tulio 

for an amazing afternoon!

My art to yours,

Yvette

 

50|50 SHOW :

Happiness is .....

 being one of 69 artists accepted into 

the Sanchez Art Center's Sixth Annual 

50|50 Show!

The Project . . . .

to complete 50 small works of art on 6x6 mdf panels

over the course of 50 days.

 

Just picked up my 50 panels from the Sanchez Art Center - Woohoo!

My Theme . . . .

"Urban Botanicals" - 

abstract textures from the garden

Doesn't that sound like my aesthetic? 

This promises to be an intensive and creative endeavor for me.

Does that worry me?

 Absolutely not!!

Any artist who is given the challenge to push thier 

creative energies will only flourish.  

(I made that up, but I know you'll agree!)

I thrive on this kind of stuff!

First part of my process . . . .

I needed to prime the front of each panel with gesso,

and sprayed primer on the backs for a clean look.

The art center already drilled holes in the backs.

The next step was to add a nice layer of

molding paste to create my "organic" textured surface.

I varied the marks and crevices to make

each panel unique.

When all 50 panels dried, I was overjoyed with my results; 
the textural patterns were much better than I expected!

(I really get into textures!)

I tried different techniques with my tools and molding paste,

and discovered new ideas for future paintings.

By the way,

my one and only molding paste is from Golden.

The Layout . . . .

 I created a template, on 8-1/2 x 11 paper,
of the panels as they will be hung at installation.
This became paper to sketch my ideas of a
 somewhat cohesive layout.
(More on that on another post)

The panels won't "fit" like a puzzle or read as "one" painting,

but my intention is for all of them

to relate and transition by color and designs.

So if a someone wants to buy just one, their painting

will not be lonely. 

At this moment, I have painted the designs on most of the rows, 
and have added color to some.  

Creating all the colors of my glazes is so much fun!

Thank goodness for all those old plastic containers.

I plan to share my progress over the next two months

here on my blog.

But you can connect with my on an almost daily basis

on my instagram.com/autumnlanestudios page.

My art to yours,

Yvette

New Art Work :

I can't believe how long it's been since my last blog post....

Detail of "Sonya's Bloom" in progress

It's been crazy busy for me, but in a good way.

 [ By the way, I'm posting on my instagram 

and twitter: 'autumnlnstudios' accounts on a daily basis. ]

Last Saturday, my art was shown at 

a local art show/exhibit here in San Jose.

"In Right Mind" 

30% of the sales went to a wonderful non-profit organization-

FAMA Foundation

 

I took this opportunity to create two new paintings for this show.

"Linden Flora"

"Sonya's Bloom"

I am happy to share that both of my paintings sold that night! 

Happy Dance!!

Back to the studio, working on a new project

 that I can't wait to share!

My art to yours,

Yvette

Silicon Valley Open Studios coming up!!

Four Art Shows in One Month!!

It's been a busy month for me, 

never before have I had to prepare for so many

art shows in one month.  

I hope I don't drive my family crazy....

I just finished the annual 

Willow Glen Lifestyle Home Tour.

It was a wonderful weekend with beautiful homes to see

and friendly faces to meet!

Thank you to all who came to see me,

and thanks to all my new collectors!

See you next year!

This Friday, May 9th is the  

Willow Glen Relay for Life Fundraiser:

Wine in the Garden

I feel very fortunate to be invited to particpate

in this special event for such a great cause.

Please click on the link to register for a ticket!

 
This year for the first time,

I will be part of hundreds of other artists

in the Silicon Valley Open Studios!!

Please come by to see my mother-in-law,

Yvonne Head's amazing watercolors and

my art as well! 
To make it even better, we are displaying our
artwork in her backyard patio & garden.

And on May 31 & June 1

I will be participating in the

Foster City Art Exhibit & Expo

at the Art & Wine Festival.
I'm looking forward to meeting some new artists!

Please stay up to date on

my Facebook Page.

Hope to see you there!

~Yvette

 

New Artwork

 What better way to photograph my art....

 but in my garden!

CELEBRATING SPRING

It was a beautiful day in my backyard:

the birds were singing & working hard building nests here and there.

I couldn't resist getting outdoors after the rains.

 

My flowers have been my muse for years, and my

favorite garden design 

has been mixing blooming perennials with

my succulents.  

The textures and colors are my inpiration....  

 These are a few new paintings that I've been 

working on in my studio.  

I have several more from this new series that I'll share later on.

 

My art to yours,

Yvette

If you are on instagram please look me up!

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