WSMV News Channel 4 Story: Quitting Corporate
Posts by ErinElise
Monthly Germantown Art Crawl
Come see current works in my studio every third Saturday of the month at the Germantown Art Crawl
Event updates at: https://www.facebook.com/germantownartcrawl/ Check the Events tab for specific dates!
*I occasionally may miss a Crawl, you can always find my updates at my facebook page at www.facebook.com/erineliseartiste
The Making of a Best-Selling Gold Leaf Painting
This relatively small-sized nugget taught me some big life lessons! It is my 16″x20″ small but mighty #1 Best Seller! It also kicked off an earth-tone, foggy lake series that is reminiscent of a visit I had made to the Northeast coast to Anacortes, Washington.
- Just Start, Don’t Plan. I’m a planner – I like to see an end vision – and the steps that I’ll be taking to get there. I like to map out a schedule of milestones, and know about how long it will take to get the prize. How many times have you NOT started something, because you hadn’t researched enough? Didn’t have ALL the info? Didn’t know how to do it exactly? This series came from a complete abandon of “knowing the end game”. Most entrepreneurs will tell you, they just jumped in, without the perfect plan, before they were “ready”, before they perfected the product. That’s how this little lovely came about….
- Listen To Your Gut. OK, so you don’t have a plan. This painting started as a pure abstract. I was guided only by where I felt the color should go. ALLLLL the feels….it was a long time before I realized that “feels”, and gut, and inner guide, and your heart, and, instincts, and maybe even your higher power or God or whatever name you use…Those are essentially the same! After I had a nice dry pleasant but basically boring abstract, I had this URGE to add some thin, crisp, high contrast spikes! Those spikes became the island….
- Only Fear Disobeying Your Gut! Art is a fear-mongering-heartland. It takes courage to start a new painting, pick a big canvas, commit to the colors, and then place the brush to the canvas! When my gut started to tell me…HEY…what if…I paint little spikes in the middle of this soft cloud of gold tones…the devil on my shoulder was like NOOOOO DON’T MESS UP THIS LOVELY BEGINNING! I could quote a million people on fear – but I’ll spare you with just one:
Great Smoky Mountains Park, my heart!
Last week on Nov 23rd, a fire started in the Smoky Mountains at the north peak of Chimney Top and spread to 17,000 acres and Gatlinburg area. The fire is believed to be a result of human activity – spurred on by an exceptional drought and high winds. 14 people have lost lives so far, and 1,700 structured damaged.
As a kid, we spent a lot of family trips in the Smoky Mountains in cabins. My dad kept us actively pursuing the outdoors, which I can appreciate as an adult.
Hiking a portion of the Appalachian Trail is on my bucket list. I feel so lucky to live close enough to the mountains to spend a weekend connecting with my source through nature and clearing my head.
I’ll be sending help through Friends of the Smokies who is taking donations for fire relief efforts – click here if you’d like to also http://friendsofthesmokies.org/donate/
Last year, I found a gorgeous Smokies photo on Pinterest, and painted it’s likeness (Original photographer unknown). I hope the painting sparks a fire in your heart to donate.
Cheers to you Great Smokies – 36″ x 48″
Original has sold, but I have prints available in any custom size Here
I caught my mutt Brodie having a pouty moment of you-don’t-pay-attention-to-me….
Print of the original painting…
Hand Painted Prints
It’s Christmas time! I have been thinking, what am I going to get all my friends?
I LOVE making and getting handmade gifts. But that can be pretty time intensive, and still fairly costly.
Enter: Art Prints, with hand painted elements!
Something gold, something new…
I’m not a big print person myself. I prefer something a little more handmade looking SO, I am hand painting these prints with my favorite gold leaf method. YUMMMMM
Instead of printing on smooth, glossy paper you see for most prints, I went with a textured watercolor quality paper. It’s thick, and tactile, and still uses the Giclee quality print method!
Check out the texture, and hand painted gingko leaves!
Find prints for sale on my Etsy Store Print Section or message me about printing ones that aren’t listed
Prints are on trend right now in DIY “Gallery Walls”…you can find it all over Pinterest!
Tips for Hanging Wall Art from Apartment Apothecary
GORGEOUS Gold frame tossed into the mix from Centsational Girl who has awesome interior design and DIY’s! Her pinterest is a follow-must
Too girly? Try this more masculine touch from a modern farmhouse look from Home Polish
Is your career making enough of a difference in the world?
Today Marie Forleo put out a GREAT video on what it means to do meaningful work
There was a moment when I questioned if creative work like art made enough of a difference and contribution in the world?
When I worked in healthcare consulting, it was easy to see us we were helping people. It felt like a no-brainer.
It’s a little more intangible as an artist. Actually art sometimes feels selfish! Like play time! I had to wonder – do I, as an artist, need to be making a social statement with every series?
The answer for me is like Marie says….maybe you are making a difference even if it isn’t by the masses. If even one viewer who gets the feels, is inspired, shifts their mood, transports to a memory…I know the work is worth it…
I love Marie Forleo – she is a total goof, but she pulls off being sexy and sassy and then busting business balls…
AirBNB Artist Commercial
I love getting to meet travelers from all over the world and giving them the highlights of Nashville through homesharing on AirBNB. Here’s a little commercial by AirBNB with highlights of my art, pup, and studio!
Interview: Create the World You Want to See
Be the Change interview about my heart project – an annual non-profit event, and pursuing my dreams.
Ginkgo Leaves or Butterfly Wings…
Sometimes all it takes to unlock an entirely new style is a new tool – It’s like that 2 degree change you make in your golf swing that makes all the difference…
I bring to you – the fan brush – Oh yesssss, I’m a fan of you Mr. fan brush…
Dipping the paint super thick, I used the brush like a stamp….and my first thought was – ginkgo leaves!
But Maybe …. Butterflies? Or maybe they are just an abstract burst of energy from the exploding light within….oh yeah, take that…
This piece started out with one goal – simplicity within the lines of my current series colors. Then it transformed, and it OWNS the canvas, can I just say. In a late night, with the addition of a little wine, I got bold and decided to attempt to ~lightly~ brush some gold leaf into the center. I say BOLDLY because gold leaf doesn’t just feather onto a canvas. It is opaque, heavy, statement-making medium. But by some stroke of wine-infused talent, it went on beautifully just so lightly that you only see it reflected as you walk past!!!
30″ x 40″ Original Acrylic and Gold Leaf Painting
SOLD to an Oncology Clinic in Memphis – but available for a hand painted original like reproduction – Purchase Page Here or as a gold leaf embellished print in the print section!
*reproductions are really cool – they are still one of a kind, but if you loved the original, you will love the one I paint for you just as much if not more. And you can choose your size/shape. I have had many thrilled reproduction customers : )
I OWN you Storm!
Sometimes you hit a stormy part of life.
Storms are wonderful little challenges. They make you work for that sunny day. They make you appreciate that sunny day. They give you a little spice in life.
Best of all, when you come out of your storm, you are a warrior, a goddess, you OWNED that storm. I OWN YOU STORM!
You come out with a storm badge. That badge is like a secret weapon against the next storm, you are equipped with the know-how for the battle. It’s the growth that makes your next storm more of a sprinkle. And now you can handle a hurricane.
This little love was painted in a stormy time for me, and I just adore it. It has been repainted here in a large 30″ x 40″ for a medical office in Colorado.
24″x 24″ Aerial Storm for purchase on Etsy
30″ x 40″ Aerial Storm for purchase on Etsy
