It is the Night before Christmas...

and I am still working! I can't help it. I love it. This week I wanted to carry on the whimsy of last weeks piece. I had started with a winter market kind of thing. I was going to have peddlers in the town square selling their wares but, I so liked seeing the skating and the sled riding. My daughter started working at a ski resort near our home and I love to just sit in the lobby watch the people milling around. It is easy to forget that while I am at home sitting in of the fire that people actually go outside in the cold because they want to. I hope you enjoy, my winter bliss. Winter bliss, that is a good name for a painting. Merry Christmas to All my valuable clients!

This Weeks Painting.

This is the painting I am starting this week. I love doing these single home paintings. I love Victorian homes. I am not crazy about this yellow color but, in the reference photo that I am using it is lovely.
I am trying to get a feel of when I should stop with the winter paintings and move back to grass. I watched a beautiful movie last night about Thomas Kincade. I didn't think that I would love it as much as I did. I am not a giant fan but, it was really touching. I did identify with a lot of the feelings that Thom had growing up. It is comforting to know that he had to put up with rejection and criticism. One quote from the movie that I adored is "art at its highest level can introduce men to their souls." George Wessels. I don't know if he actually said that but he did in the movie. I think I am going to make it into a t shirt.

Christmas

I did all of my Christmas shopping this year online. I just looked for places that offered free shipping or ship to store. One of the benefits of having stuff delivered for an artist, is that I get a lot of shipping supplies to wrap my paintings in. I figures if I did have to pay a little more here and there shopping online, I still save money by not actually wasted gas going to the store, plus I always find dozens of things I can't live without at the actual store. Thus, skyrocketing my Christmas bill.
I am going to start updating my blog with progress reports from my actual studio. I tried to do this before but, got out of the habit. I may even throw in a video now and then. Keep your eyes open.

Wow have I forgot about this blog!!!

I have been so busy with painting that I totally forgot about this blog. Until, people started giving me pep talks about keeping with it. Well I am doing much better now with my artwork. Things are really selling. I also am getting a lot of commissions. One is something that I hardly ever do, a caricature of four friends. It will be a challenge but, I love a good challenge. kind of...
I also started a new hobby. Drumming. I want to start a band someday called "Pushing Fourty."

Well, the groveling paid off...

Business is picking up again. I am too busy to keep my blog up. But, I am having a blast!

I am so depressed...

nothing is selling. I have been working very hard making beautiful paintings and nothing is selling. What is going on? I am just keeping on keeping on. I am not going to change anything. I am very happy with my paintings and it is great practice. I will take them to sell locally. That is one thing I haven't been able to do before because they sold too fast. I never had more than a couple at a time.

You just never know...

The piece that I finished last week is now for sale on Ebay. I thought that it would sell fast with lots of bids and watchers. So far no bids and 1 watchers. This painting in particular really surprises me. I love this painting. In my eyes it is everything that I ever tried to achieve in my pieces before. Everything is exactly where I want it to be, how I want it to be. I really felt how they say connected to it while I was creating it. Nervous the entire time that I was going to mess it up, but I didn't. It is perfect. So I thought. Well I guess that that is all that matters. What I think. I would just hate to have to sell it for $20.00.

Anyway here is the painting for this week. I had to finish it early because I am leaving today for the "Women of Faith" conference. See ya soon!

It's the most wonderful time of the year...

The kids have gone back to school. Although, Blake has not started preschool yet, he will be gone next week. It has given me the opportunity to get back to painting. I am so happy! Here is the piece I am working on this week. I think it is coming along great. I almost am afraid I am going to ruin it. It is smaller than the ones I usually make but, if it sells well I will make a similar one 16x20. Email me & tell me what you think.

Back to painting...

Perphaps it is the thought of the coming autumn weather but, lately I have found myself with a yearning to paint again. I had some success selling paintings Idid a year ago on Ebay and it started the forgotten Ebay fever all over again. What is it about that process? I find myself checking my auctions every hour practically. Then I remembered my love of painting folk art. I always find myself feeling bad when an idea I had doesn't pan out. I am constantly getting new ideas starting them out and then coming to a stalemate. Something blocked it, being the resources, expense, or marketing. Now, I am beginning to realize it is just timing. It wasn't the right time but, if I hold on to it for long enough I can find a use for it. I see that happen all the time in my work. Everything old is new again.

The dream has come!!!

Last night I slept the whole night in my own bed in my own bedroom no less.
the whole remodeling process is not done yet but, it is completed enough that we could sleep in it. This was the first night I have slept in my own bed since Easter. Yah! Of course, I couldn't sleep well with all the new noises but, I was able to get up at 5:30 to work on my blog.

How does everyone like my new logo? I love it. I am just not sold on the color. Let me know what you think. email me at atmylittlecorner@aol.com with your comments!

On vacation...

We are currently on a vacation in western Pa. I guess it is what you would call one of those "staycations." We are visiting relatives and also my husband is going on a job interview while we are here to help defray some of the gas cost. The drywallers should be done with my bedroom when we get back home. All that would be left to do in there is paint. I am very happy to sleep in a real bed last night and not one of those pull out couches.

Traveling like this gets your mind wondering. Every town has a story. Every person in a town has a story. Some people have many stories. In Johnstown PA, you can't go anywhere without learning something about the horrible Johnstown Flood (and the wonderful Steelers, of course.) It was very devastating, killing thousands of people in one day. They have two museums about it and the accounts of it plastered on walls all around town. I just wonder why people cling to the history of it so fiercely. It happened over 120 years ago. No one alive now would have remembered it. They fixed the dam. It does serve as a reminder to good dam maintenance for other cities with the same landscape problems, like just recently out west. The problem with that is that those people have probably never been to Johnstown.

I am not dissing on Johnstown. This behavior is natural. My question is only, why? Are we afraid to forget all the brave people? Maybe. I don't really remember the single people I learned about there. Only the devastation and loss of life. Maybe, it is just me.

and we are off...

We are taking some time to some time off to visit family. I am looking very forward to getting away from the remodeling mess. The drywallers have the drywall hung and it should be finished when we come back. I am taking my laptop so I will have time to blog while away.

Adventures in Drawing

Since my whole life is in total disarray, I will spare you the worn out meanderings of my torture. I have decided to ignore the entire ordeal. I am especially ignoring how hard it is to get actual work done in this mess.

I would like to discuss something that I love. That something is drawing. Does anyone just draw any more? Not with a stylus or a mouse but, a "for real" wooden pencil on paper?

And continues...

I had the bright idea to make our ceiling in our bedroom a cathedral ceiling as we were gutting it anyway. I thought he would say "we couldn't." I thought maybe "down the road." He thought "cool, let's do it now!"

Needless to say, we are still sleeping on the fold out in the living room. Which is getting old. Especially, for our puppy "Oreo." In my sleep deprived state, the other day I accidentally folded her into it. I wasted five gallons of gas searching for her all over the neighborhood. And so I keep on, keep'n on.

Never a dull momment...

We are currently in the middle of redoing the whole upstairs of our 0ld farmhouse. So our lives as usual, in a state of flux. To top the whole thing off, my husband had six dump trucks full of dirt delivered and dumped into our backyard. Of course, it has been raining for three weeks straight.

I am going crazy.

But alas, I have my work to keep me sane. My store is now up and running. However, I haven't gotten all of the links and the files ready. All of the pieces are available to purchase 8 x 10 direct from me but, most can be made into larger prints in a variety of ways at the AFA link. The digital file downloads should all be available by the end of June.

And it continues...

the craziness ensues. I am working on my web store this week. I should have the whole thing up and running by next week. I can't wait to get back to drawing. I miss it terribly. The good thing is that I am coming up with a lot of new ideas for future drawings. Summer will be here soon and I will have the time to start some new paintings. For a preview on the design of the new store and how it works click on www.cvincent.homestead.com/links.html

I am so busy ...

Life is really crazy here. I am working feverishly to get my store up and running. It is going to be different than any other artist site I have ever seen. Original art will be available as well as prints directly from me and digital files will be available for download for your own personal use.

Ideally I hope to someday I will be able to spend my days just drawing and creating instead of using so much of my time working on my website and marketing plan. I have so many ideas coming to me all the time and I am looking forward to having the time to see them to fruition. I have also come up with a low cost yet very effective marketing plan.

Hopefully some day soon my business will work more seamlessly.

Visit to Franklin, PA...

I have been out of my studio for a few days because of a trip to Franklin, PA. My husband had a job interview there and I decided to tag along. We dropped the kids at Mom's on the way so we had a whole day to ourselves. The interview went very well. I sat in the car outside for two hours waiting for it to be over. Don't ask me how he talks me into doing stuff like that. I was dead set against it when we set off but, somehow I found myself sitting there anyway. I asked him if he has some sort of mind control over me and he said that if he did he would not waste it on making me sit in a car by myself for two hours. That is probably true.

The downtown of Franklin is beautiful. It is one of the few Main streets in America that seems to be thriving. Not just thriving there is something more. It is warm, small town yet important. Not at all what I had thought is was for all these years. I hope Mike does get the job so I can return. It gave me a lot of new ideas for drawings. The cycle of life kind of thing. Life is all about cycles inside cycles.

Well Brandi?

I found a quiet place in time

Right now I am sitting alone in my kitchen. There is a very weird sound in the air. It is my fingers hitting the keys of my laptop. I can't remember the last time I heard that sound. Through the constant whining of my kids ... and husband, the noise of the tv and humming of household appliances, the little sounds get lost. The keys form a melody now. One of my most favorite things to listen to is the noise my pencil makes as it sails across the surface of my drawing paper. Different colors make different sounds. It must be because of the softness of the lead but, they do. Of course to be honest, my truly favorite thing to listen to... although it happens about as often as an eclipse of the sun...is the sounds of my three children together playing happily. I have heard it a couple of times, although my husband doesn't believe me.
This week I am working on my store at my website. I will start making a few pieces ready for download for $5.00 or you can order a signed piece for $10.00 plus shipping. Tomorrow I am going to start a drawing of a nest with three eggs in it at nightfall. Brandi, if you read this call me and I will actually believe you read this weekly.

Rough week

Well the flu bug found us after all. It seems like I always get sick this time of year. I will be back next week with some really great pieces.

Another fun week ...

This is a piece that I actually started last summer. I found it filed away as I was moving my studio from upstairs to downstairs. I fought the move for a while but, it has worked out wonderfully. I have found a way to put my laptop on cabinet that I keep my supplies in right next to my treadmill so I actually be online on treadmill. I am a happy girl.





This piece is a huge cupcake. I am really into cupcakes lately. We have this awesome bakery in Camp Hill PA called the Pennsylvania bakery. It is like a piece of Heaven in there. It is like walking into Willie Wonka's Chocolate factory. The pastries are little works of art.


This next week I will list the Cupcake or the Poppies on Ebay on Sunday. Drop me an email at let me know which one to list.

Next week I will be working on a Teddy Bear and wagon scene from the fifties.
Have a great week!
Blessings,
Kori

Sundays Designs

This is the Big cupcake that I am working on. I love working on these. They are just plain fun to do.
I wanted to post the pictures that will be on Ebay this Sunday March 2. but, there is a problem with the pictures here on the blogger. They are a picture of my beautiful puppy, Oreo playing with yarn and yet another fun cupcake. This cupcake is a big one. Really cute. I will try to upload them later.
My sister in law and I are starting a business that has to do with dogs. I will let you know more that later as well.

Back to work.

Today I worked on a piece for the puppy. It is really cute. I will have it posted tomorrow and then for sale on Sunday. I was sad to hear about Myron Cope. He was sick for a long time but, we will miss him. We are big Steeler Fans here.

We had a very good week

...considering. I was working on this piece as my son Blake and the new puppy Oreo played on the chair beside me. As often happens with puppies she got excited and peed on the floor. I picked the dog up and took her outside and came in to clean the pee. My three year old son started to lecture me about puppies as he was making corrections to my drawing with colored pencil. If you don't know colored pencil doesn't erase completely. He said I wasn't making the frinkles right! I was almost done with it. Another hour later I was able to fix all of his corrections. Just another day in the life of an "ArtMom." The finished piece is for sale now on EBay, id "mylittlecornerdesign"

My New Puppy!!!!

It is a girl and the kids named her Oreo because of her black and white hair. She is a 10 week old "Shiz a Poo." She is totally adorable but, has caused my work to suffer with potty training and stuff.

About the artwork...

Ok, my artwork will not suffer with the addition of this new business. I have been working on new drawings that you can see right now on Ebay under my id mylittlecornerdesign . I am working in a new direction with the drawing.
The truth is I love to draw. I have since as long as I remember. The only reason that I started painting is because of my need to start an income on Ebay. The downside to the paintings is that they are so hard and expensive to pack and ship. Also, my studio is freezing as Mike and I decided to save some money in fuel costs by using our fireplace to heat our poorly insulted 100 year old house. So the solution seems perfect to me. I will draw beautiful low cost drawings that are super easy and cheap to ship and can be produced in my living room in front of the fire.
Yes I am living the dream!!!!

I know...I know

I have been terrible about updating this blog. I am sorry. The truth is I have been super busy with my business. I have started a side business on ebay of selling Gymboree clothes with my daughter Autumn and it has taken more time than I thought. It has been worth it so far because the clothes and my artwork target the same audience so I think in the long run it will pay off in more traffic for my website.