"Captive"

Captive , Version 2 ©Beth Stafford 2011

These are color trials for the latest PiCassieO. I titled it "Captive" because it came from a larger print in which the linear forms resembled a bird or butterfly caught between two vertical strips of color. My pictures loaded out of sequence (whatever can go wrong, usually does!). Version 1 has lots of cool color with my favorite black lines; in the second one I decided to switch over to a much warmer version that is a little more subdued than other recent work. Version 3 is totally changed: I inverted the image, changed the palette, and then used a filter to "paint" it. Looks like summer to me! Got a favorite? Let me know - I welcome your feedback!

Captive, Version 1 ©Beth Stafford 2011

Captive, Version 3 © Beth Stafford 2011

Of course, there's always the possibility that one or more of these will show up on Keds and other cool stuff at our Zazzle store, so drop by and have a look! Prints are always available on request if they aren't yet listed in my Etsy store or website- contact me.

"Line Dance"

Line Dance © Beth Stafford 2011

Line Dance is my latest PiCassieO - to me it looked like a pair of dancers floating against a rainbow of colors. I like it so much that I reformatted it to use in my shoe designs on Zazzle .
Below is a sneak preview of my first Keds for kids featuring Line Dance. There are four other styles available for adults: Pro Keds Royal Hi, Pro Keds Royal Lo, Lace Up, and Mini Slip On.

The art was fun to make, and the shoes are fun to wear! Interested? Go to PiCassieO and check 'em out!

Are you creative? Zazzle is a fun place to use your photos or art on lots of things besides shoes. See for yourself:

Cabin Fever!

Cabin Fever © Beth Stafford 2011

The title pretty well describes the mood around here - lots of gray, damp weather, and mud everywhere, which limits where Cassie and I can walk (when weather permits). Yesterday I tried to soak up the few hours of sunshine we had, to store it for the week ahead. Feels like the supply is already running out...but at least there is plenty of COLOR in my art to brighten the day! Cabin Fever is the result of Cassie's markings on the storm door during January. I drew over them with the stylus and then used several filters before applying a custom gradient for the color. I've used the gradient before, but the results were a total surprise - I really love the purple and orange and black combo. No subtlety here, for sure!

See Creature?

See Creature? © Beth Stafford 2010
Digital Art Print, 7" x 7"

Still PiCassieO, but once removed! I was printing Lost: Jacob's Weaving (another entry) and got a paper jam, which meant a redo. The square portion that printed had such wonderful colors - it was too good to waste, so I taped it to the back of my favorite toy (a glass brick that I found on a sale cart at Lowes) and photographed the distorted image. It turned out beautifully, after being worked over in the computer! There is definitely an underwater feel to it, and suggestions of fishy critters - couldn't resist a little fun with the title. I will be offering this one in my Etsy store soon, in both a limited edition version and an open edition.

Cassie is OK with me putting my name on this one, since she's not doing much artistically lately. She won't give up deer chasing, which means she's too stiff afterwards to do much "painting". She's like a lot of my former students - they get to a certain age, and choose sports over art!

Midsummer Doldrums

Don't know how it is where you are, but here on the homestead it has been a really miserable summer. The wildlife is hiding from the heat, grass is growing like gangbusters, and the humidity is horrible. Cassie is not a hot-weather dog, so her favorite activity is sleeping, which means the art production is lagging. Nevertheless, she has short bursts of inspiration and I managed to capture some of her recent storm door activity.

This one was tentatively titled Milk Can With Black Strokes (really catchy); in keeping with my post title, I think I like Summer Doldrums #1 better.

Of course, if there was a #1, there is a #2: I applied a different gradient and filter to the original stylus-enhanced photo and this was the result:

And then there's #3: same gradient, different filter.

Looks more like I should title the series Color Riot in the Doldrums!. The next job is getting them to print true, and then they'll be for sale in our store. I had another really nice color variation of #1, but somehow managed to delete it - that never happened with "real" paint. No medium is perfect, I guess - but cyber-color just blows me away!

Got any comments or questions about the work? I'd be glad to hear from you! You can subscribe to our blog in the upper right if you want to be notified of new posts.

March Madness

One of these days I really need to go to a site that generates titles for abstract art - obviously I'm running out of good ideas! This work continues the previous exploration of isolating lines and using pure colors in the background. I also signed it, which is something new. The main reason I added a signature was compositional - it needed the element (IMO) for balance. "Bold and simple" was what I was going for here. Comments welcomed as to whether I made it happen.

Couldn't resist playing a little more with this one - I decided to crop the first one, add more yellow, and see if it still needed that signature. Yep. Vote for your favorite!

I welcome comments (the good, the bad, but please not ugly!) and questions, as long as they relate to content (have been getting some really strange stuff occasionally). You can subscribe to this blog by clicking the button at top right.

And if you're in a shopping mood, check out our store - currently we have 10 prints and some really gorgeous pendants that are tiny abstracts from the art. Don't miss our first "Dirt Cheap Deal" - I goofed when I signed one of the prints and put the wrong title on it. Can't erase on that paper - it's a beautiful print, too good to waste!

Summer Porch

Found a little time to play (work) and Summer Porch was the result. I think the original photo represented a couple of months work at the storm door by Cassie. The colors in this one are incredible! Even though I use a lot of black (traditionally associated with gloom and doom), this is a joyful, energetic work. The black makes the colored areas even more vibrant. It's very hard to judge how anyone sees these on the web - the only way to get the full impact is to actually see the print (done my way!). That means "do not attempt this at home", if you get my drift. Summer Porch will be listed on Etsy by tonight - have a look at PiCassieO . I will offer it as a full-size print and a slightly different version as an ACEO (Artist Card, Edition, or Original) - art to fit all budgets (even mine)! Come visit!

Walking In the Air

The title Walking In The Air came from a song on a Christmas CD. I liked the way Cassie's marks sort of march across the window in this one, although the colors and feel of it speak more of fall than winter. Right now in NC, it feels more like winter than fall! Wet and nasty for several days now - but Cassie is happy because there was finally a deer in the yard this morning. Now I have some new material to work with at last - we've been having a dry spell artistically (but not weather-wise), due to lack of wildlife. Our quince tree is presently dropping its sour fruit on the ground, so there should be a little more traffic out there soon. How anything can eat that stuff, I don't know. They smell good, but have the effect of green persimmons! Ugh.

Big Announcement: Our Etsy store is up and running! We have a dozen prints for sale, and I'm adding pendants and ACEOs ASAP. In case ACEO doesn't ring a bell, it stands for "Artist Cards, Editions, & Originals". You collect them like trading cards and can house your collection in an album. Really affordable art! Visit PiCassieO often and see what we're offering!

West Window September

Cassie made a really wild swoosh on the left window facing west - not her usual spot for viewing, since she prefers sitting on the other end of the couch top. I haven't been able to do much with it until now - just decided to go with dense black strokes and experiment with a new gradient background. Maybe still needs work, but I LIKE the black. It goes back to my student days, when using black paint straight from the tube was frowned upon (my instructors were still hung in NeoImpressionism). Well, I love its absoluteness and strength, and have used it in everything I've done since then - my rebellious streak showing through. I can see some interesting pendant material in this one, too! Be watching at Close Encounters - I'm working on new ones now.