How Long Should an Artist Ruminate?

 Some paintings feel pretty straight forward- you start them, know where they need to go design-wise, and the color palette is set in your mind (more or less). And then there are those paintings that need a little more time to ruminate - to work things out in your mind. It can take years, and sometimes there are thoughts of loving the painting one minute, and then despising it the next. There are paintings that get painted over, and paintings that never, ever get finished. And then there are some, that after a few years, will spark an epiphany, and suddenly the painting direction becomes crystal clear. That's what happened for me with this painting during Covid lockdown; I suddenly felt renewed energy to finish it. There is such joy in gliding a brush drenched in color across a canvas, and the process that goes along with it. And when it's completed, there's sometimes that wonderful momentum to keep painting, unless one of those moments takes over like it did with this painting. Stay healthy, stay positive, stay creative.

I'm Back to Illustrating and Painting

It's been too long, a few years at least. So much has been going on: one of which is the fact I'm no longer working as an AD for a record label. It was fun while it lasted and would have been way better if the right people were at the helm, but that's life. Isn't that what life is all about? It's all about the ride and what is gained. Even in the losses, there are still good lessons to be learned, and new doors usually open as a result.

I'm painting again, and creating new cards. I'll try and post more on a regular basis, like let's say, at least once a month.

A quick little sketch was just hangin' around for too long in my sketchbook, so I decided to bring it to life and make a card used two different ways. Let me know if you purchase either of them! Love to hear feedback. Have a great week.

                                                          Here's the baby shower link:

And here's the link to the card below.

I'm Art Directing ( Again )

I know, I know, I've been absent here for a long time. So much going on with so many things that I love to do, all happening at the same time. Just when I signed onto a site to promote my art for licensing, I ended up becoming an art director for an indie record label. It brings me back to my ad biz roots, but it seems more fun to me. Here's a promo piece I just designed for the release of an album that was a year in the making. Yep, it takes that long as well as the time and money to promote that includes marketing and PR people.
Check out Cold Roses at your favorite music download site. You'll be glad you did. The album was released today!

Ocean Themed Kid's Products

The ultimate fun is designing art separately that can be transformed in Photoshop in different ways
increasing layout variety for products. That, in combination with some really wonderful new products on Zazzle, had me busy for hours applying my new ocean themed images onto products.
Here are some examples of what is available on my TunaBaby store as well as my Laura J. Holman store ( more to come later ).

Great for kids - I love words combined with graphics as I've done here with these sea shells
                         and whimsically drawn starfish. Find it here.

                     Another adorable theme is the happy starfish tee. This is also available
                     for anyone, as well as kids. Choices are in a drop down menu when you
                     are on my Zazzle store page. You can find the link here.

                      Flip Flops are the best summer shoes, aren't they? Fun to design on also.

                      Ocean themed Flips for the beach for the little ones.

                      Click on my store link here.

      

See anything on my store that you want on a product that's not listed? Feel free to contact me through my Zazzle store. I'll be more than happy to help! I'll be back soon with more product links.

Have a great week! xo

My New Holiday Pillow for Wine Lovers

http://www.zazzle.com/red_wine_grapes_holiday_wreath_with_wine_glass_round_pillow-256052139694866743?CMPN=emc_ProductCreationForStore_Html_blogger

A Sonoma County Christmas

It's been awhile since I posted here spreading myself thin throughout the net universe. Finding time to create and communicate on the net is a tough one to balance.

I was asked by someone about two years ago if I was going to create a Sonoma County Christmas card since I did one for Nappa Valley. Embarrassed to say, I finally had the chance to create one and I'll have it on my stores in the coming week.

I love working in watercolor. It has such a wonderful mind of its own.
I just posted this on Instagram. Look for me there under "holmanart."

New Art Dresses

After having a presence on Redbubble for years, it's nice to see they're offering some really wonderful products to showcase artist's creations. I'm particularly thrilled with their tee and A-Line dresses. I'm really enjoying updating the products offered on my page there.

You can find this dress here.

And you can find this A-Line dress here.

Palm Springs View - Twitter Art Exhibit 2016

For this year's Twitter Art Exhibit which will occur in March in NYC, I decided to try something different - something I rarely do, and that's to paint something scenic. I was deeply inspired by a photo a friend who lives in Palm Springs posted to his FB page. Luckily, the size for the art for the exhibit is small - post card size. So, if I really messed it up, I would be able to start over without feeling too depressed about it. :-) I sketched free hand ( which I always do, whether from my mind, or reference ) the scene making minor changes. I marked where I will be cutting it to size in pencil, but I always work before cutting out the exact size I need the art to be. This allows complete coverage of the area and I feel it gives me sort of a psychological freedom to extend a bit beyond the area allowing me to design a better piece. I worked in watercolor and gouache, which I love. And for once, I didn't outline anything in black, which I normally love to do. I'm always willing to paint new things, and experiment with new mediums and styles. I feel it keeps me on my toes. I love the challenge.
If you want more info on the Twitter Art Exhibit and have a Twitter account, click HERE.

Quick Napkin Sketch in Ink

Thought I would give my iPhone time lapse feature a try and realized I could have really used a tri-pod for my iPhone. iPod sounds kind of cool. Anyway, a normally fast sketch for me to do seems to go by in a blink of an eye here. Just a little fashiony face I saw in my head while sitting at the kitchen table with a pen in my hand and a napkin that was hanging out on the table.

The Amazing Universe and my Early Inspirations

An intersting thing happened recently. I signed up for email from Artist Patience Brewster's website after reading a wonderful article about her and the wonderful Christmas ornaments she creates, and then separately a few weeks later, I hear she is reaching out to bloggers and inviting us to talk about our art in honor of Artist Appreciation Month. When I received that encouragement from her, I realized once again how important it is to blog!

   Now for the fun part, and the part that I think is the most difficult for most artists to do - talk about themselves. Wouldn't we much rather hide behind that curtain of anonymity and keep creating? Of course, but the followers of our work would love to know more.

  Instead or rattling forever and losing you to a sea of words ( because I personally rather see more visuals than words ), I will break out the answers to her questions in separate Blog posts. And I hope you'll come back for more.

  Question #1 - As a child, do you recall a significant moment when you felt truly affected or inspired by any particular artwork or artist?

My ability to draw was apparent at an early age. I have a very strong visual memory and drew a giraffe from my memory in kindergarten. My teacher raved about it, and my mother took it in stride. I think she saw my talent as something fun and no way a future source of income for me when I grew up ( neither my mother or father were artistic in any way ). No one else in class could draw without copying from something. I sat there whipping out things I saw in my mind. I started to feel more freakish than born with a gift. I was never one to tell anyone I was an "artist." My friends would say it for me. As I became more aware of my surroundings, I would have to say that the world of fashion, not a particular artist or artwork, was my greatest source of inspiration. I think I've been a "Vogue" subscriber since the age of eight. Well, not that young, but I know it feels like forever. I would sit and draw fashiony kinds of figures and loved drawing the outfits ( illustrations below were in my head at the age of 12, no reference material nearby ). And when Twiggy became the rage ( yes, I'm seriously dating myself here and you can see the visible influence of her in my art in the far right figure ), I was in heaven. And Jean Shrimpton. Need I say more? Google these fashion icons. You'll know why I was so obsessed, at least for that time period in fashion.

As I grew into my teen years, I would write stories for my High School English teacher complete with illustrations. He said they were the highlight of his Monday mornings. I can only imagine. Then in my free time in the evenings, I would draw and write comic books about my friends. I would actually draw for hours alone in my room getting out every now and then for more moments of inspiration. My Dad even scored me a huge drafting table to create on when I was about sixteen. It overpowered my bedroom, but what did I care? Drawing was my life. The bigger the table, the better.


Hang in there, I will answer the next question next week!


Now a little about Patience. I read a wonderful article about her in a FB Art Licensing Group I belong to. She is a true visionary, and focuses all her energy in creating a magical Christmas every year with her designs. She is also a brilliant combination of creativity and business. Two things, that no matter what art field you are in today, is sorely needed. The businees part of art is seen as the less desirable part, but a part that is becoming more and more important. Many art colleges are acknowledging this fact and are offering courses for artists to understand and feel more comfortable with this aspect of art.

Have a look at Patience Brewster's beautiful ornaments. They're magical and whimsical, and the culmination of hard work and talent. I hope you love her work as much as I do!

xo Laura

Twitter Art Exhibit

It's happening again in Moss, Norway. The Twitter Art Exhibit!
My art is on its way as I write this. I worked in watercolors and watercolor pencil on Arches paper. The title of my art is "For the Love of Owls." The two owls I painted are indigenous to Norway.
I was happy to be able to participate again in the exhibit. Sure wish I could be at the event. Maybe one year!

Design of the Day on GCU

Greeting Card Universe awarded my Valentine's "Cupid Cats" design of the Day yesterday. This card has many relation specific versions. Check it out at this link.

I've Gone Postal Art

It's always a bittersweet experience to sell a painting. It's like sending your child off to college, only you will never see your child again. This ( art ) child has been created solely for the purpose of creating something that I love, and also with the hopes of connecting with a buyer and making them happy. Granted, not every painting an artist creates sells, and the creation process in itself is what brings the ultimate joy. But to me the ultimate satisfaction is connecting with someone who feels a connection to my work. I make it as easy as possible for a buyer to own my work; many times placing the payment on a lay-away type payment plan. When the art is paid for in full, it is shipped. I package the art myself with the help of my husband and the process takes about half an hour. I use UPS to ship and I'm grateful to say that my art has always arrived at its destination in perfect shape.

But as I place the art in a huge, plain, white box I feel there is something missing. The box becomes a blank canvas to me and I put myself in the receiving end of this box realizing that what's on the outside does not match what's inside. There should be some sort of art on the box "announcing" the arrival of what the buyer has invested in - something to make the buyer feel special. So with each box I ship ( and they have been pretty large ), I get my trusty markers out, roughly outline a design in pencil, and go to work on a piece of art on the box. Nothing super elaborate because the likelihood of it getting to the destination unscathed is pretty slim. The above photo collage is from the buyer of my painting "Amphitrite" as she photographed the steps upon receiving the art. She was thrilled. I believe in making the buyer feel special, because that's exactly as she/he should feel when they make an art purchase. It's a bond between creator and buyer that there are truly no words for. Expressing it visually is the closet I can get. Happy Creating!

Personal Sketchbook Entry - Woman in Hat

I just bought the most wonderful sketchbook from Barnes & Noble. Nice thick perforated pages beckon to me to draw everyday. I love to use black ink on nice, white smooth paper, and I challenge myself to let go of my need for perfectionism without sketching first in pencil before I outline in ink. I just start drawing and wherever the pen takes me I go. If I make a mistake I just let it go and learn to live with it. It's challenging and also very freeing. The paper is white, but my cell phone insists  it's grey.

Totally SWEET!

I have two sides to my artistic talent- one side is the graphic arts side, and the other is the fine arts side. Each one takes 100% of my time and effort, and both do really well for me. But strangely enough, my fine arts side is winning out because I actually sell my paintings. Still, it's hard for me to let go of the graphic arts side and the link to how I made a living for so many years. Granted, the greeting card biz is a whole different animal from the ad biz, and one that I feel isn't going to make me rich and famous, but I do enjoy creating cards and I try and design cards that I would buy myself. I'm particularly proud of my latest creation which involved many skills in PhotoShop that I was completely unable to do just a few years ago. I'm total proof that you CAN teach an old dog new tricks. I think the real key in keeping the brain sparking is to accept change and go with the flow every inch of the way. When you resist change, your mind closes up, and can't be receptive to new things. There are so many new things happening every day in technology. Why not embrace it? Learning new things is truly what will keep you feeling young and current. You may not look the part ( hehe ) but you'll certainly feel it! Check out my new "Sweet 16" card at my Card Gnome store. You can also comment on the card there if you'd like. See you there!

A Vision to Help the Healing for Newtown

Thinking about the tragedy in Newtown CT, USA, a vision came to me. While I didn't draw every child and adult, a loving crying angel has taken the innocent victims into her protection forever...

My Boxed Fine Art Cards

There's nothing like sending a boxed set of your fine art cards along with your sold art to a buyer.
You can find them on my art FB fan page.

Inspiration and Support from Fellow Artists

I have to say I've met some really wonderful artists online. Not only are they supportive of their fellow artists but also very talented. Artist and friend, Martice, has a wonderful new site, and linked artists that inspire her to one of the pages on her site. I'm honored to be one of them. Thank you Martice! Check out her art and beautiful new site-

Martice's link to her inspiring artists.

Wonderful Opening. Sold a Painting.

The gallery opening night was filled with wonderful family and friends as well as many gallery patrons who had wonderful feedback regarding my work. I even sold a painting on opening night- my beloved "For the Love of Pia" but I'm so happy to say it's going to a good home; to a home of a person who collects art. My painting will be among some famous artists. That certainly made my day!

Lemur Painting Number Three

I don't know what it is about these wonderful primates that I'm obsessed to paint, but I'm now on my third one. Untitled at the moment, I wanted this one to be a little more dramatic; the eyes more riveting. I think I accomplished a lot in three hours yesterday.