Arts In RI team members decided to creatively challenge one another to embrace the season of love with Valentine themed products. Between now and Valentine's Day we will share some of these "lovely" designs with you here on our blog. Let us know how you feel about our art by leaving a comment. Everyone who leaves a comment will be entered into a random drawing for an Arts In RI gift basket featuring goodies from many of our shops. (one entry per person per post. In other words you can enter once every time we post a new product!!!) Be sure to check back on the blog on Valentine's Day as we will announce the winner that day. Entries will be accepted until midnight February 13th.
All great loves grow over time... they start out as saplings and then blossom into beautiful relationships with deep roots. Juile Beck of JulieBCreative painted this cute little painting for our challenge. It's her first painting of 2009 and we are so honored! Julie says of her creation: "The colors are super rich...deep crimson reds and brown, with slight hints of purple in the shadows. The sky is a complex layer of pigments...first the warm hue of unbleached titanium white with a wisp of pure white. On top of that is a thin layer of robins egg blue making the sky an interesting play of color." Give your sweetie a little gift of art! It is painted on high quality linen canvas and it is 6 inches by 6 inches by 1.5 inches deep.
Are you lucky in love? Tell us how you feel about Julie's beautiful painting in the comments section and you will be entered to win a basket of handmade goodies from the Arts In RI artists! It's that easy! Leave a comment every time we post a new Valentine product for multiple chances of winning and check back here on Valentine's day to see if you have won!
If you like this Arts In RI blog post...spread the love!
Our third installment in our collaboration journey is a mixed media piece done by Julie Beck of JulieBCreative and Kim Vredenburg of KimVGlass. Julie attached one of Kim's electroformed skeleton keys with a large glass cabochon to her painting. The theme of the piece is the education of children using the key set against a beautiful rural and rustic scene. We asked Julie and Kim about this project.
Please tell us a little about yourself and what kind of art you make.
Julie: I am an acrylic painter. I am happiest when I'm sitting in front of my easel, painting away while the day slips by...although I normally paint at night...so I guess it's "as the night slips by". My paintings range in all types of sizes, but I like to work in either square canvases, or very horizontally long canvases, bold colors, and nostalgic and/or rural imagery.
Kim: Up until last year I taught elementary school but once I retired I was able to devote more time to my glasswork. I've been working with glass for over 20 years, starting with stained glass and eventually lampworking. There is something so intriguing about melting glass in a flame and seeing what one can create with it!
Can you tell us how you got started on this project and how it has evolved?
Julie: After Arts In RI decided that we were going to do collaborations, I went through all the people participating and landed on Kim. She has skeleton keys that are flat on the back so I knew it would be a simple process to attach to a painting. She started out by making the key, and lucky for me, she had me make decisions along the way. I got to choose colors for the glass, from a selection of keys, as well as which glass cab I wanted when she was done. All those decisions ultimately led me to what color scheme the painting was going to be.
Kim: When the Arts In RI team members were discussing doing collaborations, I remember thinking that there wasn't one member that I couldn't envision working with. They are an extremely talented group of artists! That being said, I was thrilled when Julie contacted me about collaborating with her.
What inspired you about your partner's art?
Julie: I've used skeleton keys in the past for still life subjects, but I liked the blue patina she had on some of her work. Also, her use of color is really vibrant. I stick to bold vibrant color for the most part, so it seemed a perfect fit.
Kim: I love Julie's style, her subject matter, and her use of colors!!! I hoped that combining her work with mine would produce a fantastic mixed media piece....and I think I was right! :-)
How did you ultimately decide to make what you did?
Julie: I sketched out my idea before I started. Once I had the idea down, Kim made the key, and I got to work!
Kim: When Julie and I first started discussing integrating my glass into her work, I just KNEW I had to do an electroformed key. I was positive that it would meld very nicely with Julie's style and subject matter.
Can you give us some insight into your brainstorming process?
Julie: I started with the sketch and an idea. Kim and I talked over the idea and what the look and feel was going to be. We agreed on this type of scene...so the brainstorming process was the catalyst.
Kim: We used Etsy e-mail system and "talked" via Convos until we were able to meet in person. When we met, Julie brought her sketchbook with her and drew out various alternatives. Our project started to take shape at this point.
Did this collaboration stretch your creative limits?
Julie: Absolutely! I normally stick to bold earth tones, but Kim's colors for the key pushed me into a less explored color scheme. It sounds like it's not a difficult thing but in reality, it takes a lot of reworking and layers to get just the right color to match.
Kim: Did this stress me? Yes :-) I wanted to make the perfect piece for Julie and the glass doesn't always cooperate. Did it stretch me, definitely! The color scheme that Julie and I decided would look best with her work incorporated some colors that can be difficult to work with in borosilicate, and not some that I work with regularly. So, I was stretched "technically".
Were there any roadblocks or setbacks?
Julie: Surprisingly no!
Kim: No, this was a totally fun experience!!
Did you find this to be a rewarding experience and why?
Julie: This was a really great challenge and I am already on the lookout for next 3D item I can use in a painting. It not only forced me to work with different colors, but also got me thinking in a whole new dimension.
Kim: Absolutely! When I'm working alone in my studio I can feel a bit isolated (which is not necessarily a bad thing) and it felt good to expand outside my glass world!! It is really great to work with someone so creative!
Julie has created a time lapse video of her painting this work of art here
If you like this Arts In RI blog post...spread the love!
Arts In RI team members decided to creatively challenge one another to embrace the season of love with Valentine themed products. Between now and Valentine's Day we will share some of these "lovely" designs with you here on our blog. Let us know how you feel about our art by leaving a comment. Everyone who leaves a comment will be entered into a random drawing for an Arts In RI gift basket featuring goodies from many of our shops. (one entry per person per post. In other words you can enter once every time we post a new product!!!) Be sure to check back on the blog on Valentine's Day as we will announce the winner that day. Entries will be accepted until midnight February 13th.
