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| "Chloe and Higgins" |
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| "Sophie" Spinone Italiano |
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| "Cab" |
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| "Maxie" |
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| "Jackson" |
Wednesday, July 23, 2014
East Dallas Pet Portraits
Here at Art Paw we ship all over the globe and yet these last few years I find myself creating more and more portraits for clients in my own East Dallas neighborhood and often I know these pets so it makes it even more fun. Today I will post just a few of our local Dallas pups.
The smiling duo above is an older project. I met Chloe & Higgins' Mom years ago when I rescued a Cow Dog Stray from Little Forest Hills.
Above is Sophie and her Mom owns the Rocket Science Hair Salon on Garland Road. Since her Mom is a genius with color highlights I figured I should give Sophie some good highlighting. I also did some fun text about her breed in the background, I was tickled and pleased when this proof was chosen.
The handsome cow dog above is Cab and he lives right next door to me. I have known him since he was a wee puppy. His Dad is the President of our neighborhood association.
Maxie is another neighborhood pup and her Mom owns Blue Ribbon Lady Landscaping.
Jackson is a local Dallas dog and his Dad did 3 large projects with me years ago. He had 2 huskies and a Bulldog.
Monday, July 14, 2014
Mosaic Monday: Working In A Series Class
My next mosaic class starts next Weds. night the 23rd of July. We will be working in a series in this class. I will also help my students write an artist statement towards the end of the class. I will supply three 6 x 6 inch cradle boards and I will ask my students to work on all 3 projects at the same time. We may not finish each mosaic in this short 6 week class however we will get started on a consistent theme and work towards creating a cohesive body of work. Below is an intro video to the class with samples of various thematic works I have created over the years.
Tuesday, May 20, 2014
White Rock East Garden Tour 2014 / Birds, Dogs, Cats & Robots
Last weekend I participated in our local neighborhood garden tour here in East Dallas. Every year they invite a few artists to set up in the yards of the homes that are on the garden tour, making it a very well rounded event. I had a great time!
When I first started Art Paw way back in 1998 my main form of advertising was local outdoor events, everything from Art Fairs to Spca rescue events. I stopped doing as many of these in 2005 when the demand for my custom pet portraiture was way exceeding my free time. With that said, I do absolutely love the Garden tour because it allows me to meet new neighbors, see old friends and connect with a few of my mosaic collectors. I did very well this year and sold everything from clay robot heads to dog and cat bookmarks. I sold a lot of mosaic work as well this year.
I always feel a bit schizophrenic when I put out my art wares and people see everything from digital art to ceramics. Sometimes I think I should bring either the traditional media work or the digital work, but the reality is I sell both and different people respond to different work. Some folks like the dogs, some like the robots. If I continue to do a few of these sales I need to work on my signage and my display. I need better fabric coverings for larger tables. I also need to get organized with my work and keep it ready to go in plastic tubs ... after I shoot it well and offer it on Etsy all year long.
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| "Analog Crow" 4 x 4 Mixed Media Mosaic Sold • © rebecca collins |
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| "Robot Mosaic Trading Card" Sold • © rebecca collins |
When I first started Art Paw way back in 1998 my main form of advertising was local outdoor events, everything from Art Fairs to Spca rescue events. I stopped doing as many of these in 2005 when the demand for my custom pet portraiture was way exceeding my free time. With that said, I do absolutely love the Garden tour because it allows me to meet new neighbors, see old friends and connect with a few of my mosaic collectors. I did very well this year and sold everything from clay robot heads to dog and cat bookmarks. I sold a lot of mosaic work as well this year.
I always feel a bit schizophrenic when I put out my art wares and people see everything from digital art to ceramics. Sometimes I think I should bring either the traditional media work or the digital work, but the reality is I sell both and different people respond to different work. Some folks like the dogs, some like the robots. If I continue to do a few of these sales I need to work on my signage and my display. I need better fabric coverings for larger tables. I also need to get organized with my work and keep it ready to go in plastic tubs ... after I shoot it well and offer it on Etsy all year long.
Monday, May 19, 2014
Art Paw On TV in Atlanta!
Did you know that Atlanta is #3 on the national list for cities with the most pampered pets? Yep, very cool and this morning we were featured on the morning show there at CBS46! Check out our 15 seconds of fame ... Gift Ideas to Pamper Your Pet!
Cooper below is the star pup that I created both a Warhol and a painterly style project for that you will see in the clip.
Cooper below is the star pup that I created both a Warhol and a painterly style project for that you will see in the clip.
Monday, May 05, 2014
Mosaic Monday: Sama Conference
Sama Conference Recap Part 1:
Wow, way too much to pack into one blog post so look for more next Monday. I just returned from Sama 2014 in Houston. Every year the Society of American Mosaic Artists puts on a huge conference that is jammed packed with classes and speakers. This year I went with a couple of my favorite mosaic buddies and we all had a blast. Today I will post just a few pictures of some of the people and the hotel. Next week I will try and post a more thoughtful summary of what I learned at the conference along with some videos I am working on that will include some actual mosaics.
The best part of the conference was of course the people that all share the same passion for mosaic. I was fortunate to get to connect with a few cyber pals that live in other states, some I was meeting for the very first time in person.
The hotel was large and lovely, so was the downtown area. I played around a bit with an ap on my phone called paper artist. As a professional photoshop artist I generally roll my eyes at easy-cheesy phone aps, but you know what ... I have decided that they are fun and have their place.
Ok and the last share today ... everywhere I travel I shoot patterns and textures to bring home to create colorful background templates for Art Paw. The pattern below was created using the wacom tablet and the smudge tool. There were some huge metal doors at the hotel that I shot and played with this morning to create a background I have already used on a dog portrait of Bingo.
Wow, way too much to pack into one blog post so look for more next Monday. I just returned from Sama 2014 in Houston. Every year the Society of American Mosaic Artists puts on a huge conference that is jammed packed with classes and speakers. This year I went with a couple of my favorite mosaic buddies and we all had a blast. Today I will post just a few pictures of some of the people and the hotel. Next week I will try and post a more thoughtful summary of what I learned at the conference along with some videos I am working on that will include some actual mosaics.
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| Connie Marks, Rebecca Collins, Rebecca Morgan Elevator Selfie |
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| Christine Brallier and Barbara Keith were there selling their lovely books! I was meeting Barbara for the first time. I got a great big hug from her. It is always fun when you tell someone that you have been following their work for years and then they say the same thing right back to you... that happened a lot last week. |
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| I really enjoyed getting to meet Cherie Bosela. We have been web buddies for years. Cherie joined the Sama Board of directors and will be serving this next year. She is fun and just a little bit goofy ( in a very good way), I wish I could spend an entire week with her. She has a light and healthy sense of humor that makes you feel good. |
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| Hyatt Entrance The hotel was very nice |
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| The hotel had a zillion floors, we were on 26 ... we were lower at first but had to move up due to a non functioning air conditioner. I liked being up high. |
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| Elevators |
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| Downtown Houston ... getting out of the hotel was much needed. |
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| Phone sketch of stranger in the bar. |
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| Abstract Background art |
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| Metal doors |
Monday, April 07, 2014
Mosaic Monday / Working in A Series
Well it is official ... I have started a new series with my Robot butterfly mosaics. I have not finished my first one and I have started 2 more. As an artist I have always enjoyed working in a series, and as a result people typically will recognize my style and my work when they see it.
Later this summer I will be teaching a class at the Creative Arts Center in Dallas for mosaic artists on the very subject of working in a series. I often see mosaic artists labor for months and months on one project, say a bird or a landscape and then when they are finished they are so ready to move on and do something completely different. While this is very understandable it does not allow them to build a cohesive body of work that tells their audience what they are about as an artist and what is important to them.
• Understanding Yourself and Your Art ... When you work in a way where you create a portrait one day, a landscape the next month and then an abstract painting the next month, you are not traveling down a straight path and you are not digging very deeply into what motivates you and what makes you tick. It is perfectly fine to have many favorite subjects, I certainly do, however I find that by spending extensive time focusing on one subject at a time in my personal works I am able to get closer and closer to some core truths about my art and my self and what is important to me.
• Be taken seriously ... I have been in museums countless times and seen work by artists that I do not particularly like however walking away from the show I always state that I am so glad I saw the show and while I may not like a particular artist's work I can still respect what they are doing and respect them. With that said Cindy Sherman comes to mind for me, she recently had a show here at the Dallas Museum of art and while I am not a huge fan, I thoroughly enjoyed that show and I loved seeing her many different periods of work. As an artist if you do enough of something the world can not ignore you. By working in a series you are telling the world that you are damn serious about the subject you are tackling. Give it a try ... be "Damn Serious" and work in a series.
For further reading:
http://www.artbusiness.com/advantages-for-artists-to-making-art-in-series.html
http://artdogblog.blogspot.com/2013/04/mosaic-monday-obsessions-studies.html
Later this summer I will be teaching a class at the Creative Arts Center in Dallas for mosaic artists on the very subject of working in a series. I often see mosaic artists labor for months and months on one project, say a bird or a landscape and then when they are finished they are so ready to move on and do something completely different. While this is very understandable it does not allow them to build a cohesive body of work that tells their audience what they are about as an artist and what is important to them.
Top 3 benefits to working in a series as an artist:
• Playful experimentation ... when you are working on a series of projects within the same theme you can approach each one as an experiment instead of a masterpiece. You can relax just a tiny little bit and treat them as studies. While still doing your best work you can give yourself permission to not have all the answers on the project in front of you ... after all this is not your last one in the series. Some better solutions and ideas will arise on your 2nd or 3rd project within a series.• Understanding Yourself and Your Art ... When you work in a way where you create a portrait one day, a landscape the next month and then an abstract painting the next month, you are not traveling down a straight path and you are not digging very deeply into what motivates you and what makes you tick. It is perfectly fine to have many favorite subjects, I certainly do, however I find that by spending extensive time focusing on one subject at a time in my personal works I am able to get closer and closer to some core truths about my art and my self and what is important to me.
• Be taken seriously ... I have been in museums countless times and seen work by artists that I do not particularly like however walking away from the show I always state that I am so glad I saw the show and while I may not like a particular artist's work I can still respect what they are doing and respect them. With that said Cindy Sherman comes to mind for me, she recently had a show here at the Dallas Museum of art and while I am not a huge fan, I thoroughly enjoyed that show and I loved seeing her many different periods of work. As an artist if you do enough of something the world can not ignore you. By working in a series you are telling the world that you are damn serious about the subject you are tackling. Give it a try ... be "Damn Serious" and work in a series.
For further reading:
http://www.artbusiness.com/advantages-for-artists-to-making-art-in-series.html
http://artdogblog.blogspot.com/2013/04/mosaic-monday-obsessions-studies.html
Wednesday, March 26, 2014
Boston Terrier Art
I love working on Boston Terriers. Today I just proofed Miss Gracie. I have one other Boston to work on this week and a cow dog for a terrific repeat client. Things are a little slow this month, but I am excited about the portrait projects I have in house and I am happy to have some great quality photos to play with.
I will post a few images of Gracie's pet portrait proofs and a couple of Boston Terrier Videos.
This movie shows all of the many proofing options that I showed to my client. In this movie I talk about a little Boston terrier I had growing up and I show up many Boston Terriers I have created art for over the years.
I will post a few images of Gracie's pet portrait proofs and a couple of Boston Terrier Videos.
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| "Gracie" © rebecca collins / artpaw.com |
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| "Gracie" © rebecca collins / artpaw.com |
This movie shows all of the many proofing options that I showed to my client. In this movie I talk about a little Boston terrier I had growing up and I show up many Boston Terriers I have created art for over the years.
Tuesday, March 25, 2014
An Artist Lives Here / The Bower Bird
I have always thought that if I was going to be a bird I would be a red tailed hawk because when I see them they take my breath away, they are my favorite feathered friend here in East Dallas. With that said, today while listening to NPR I discovered a bird that I may truly have the most kinship to and that is the male Bower Bird. He is an artist and an interior decorator. Although their distribution is centered on the tropical regions of New
Guinea and northern Australia, some species extend into central,
western, and southeastern Australia. They occupy a range of different
habitats, including rain forest, eucalyptus and acacia forest, and shrub lands.
The male bower bird decorates his bower with brightly colored found objects that range from natural berries to plastic toys and bottle caps. He arranges them all meticulously to attract the female. He even understands perspective and will in fact arrange objects in a way to make himself appear larger. They arrange objects in the bower's court area from smallest to largest, creating a forced perspective which holds the attention of the female for longer. Males with objects arranged in a way that have a strong optical illusion are likely to have higher mating success.When you go in and move the items around he will return to his bower and put things back in their proper place.
I love this bird ... he looks like a natural mosaic artist to me ... finding bits and pieces and placing them thoughtfully in the perfect spot. He often will work in one color scheme.
Here is a video that shows a Bower Bird in action:
You might also want to check out Tim Laman's amazing photos of Bower Birds and their decor.
The male bower bird decorates his bower with brightly colored found objects that range from natural berries to plastic toys and bottle caps. He arranges them all meticulously to attract the female. He even understands perspective and will in fact arrange objects in a way to make himself appear larger. They arrange objects in the bower's court area from smallest to largest, creating a forced perspective which holds the attention of the female for longer. Males with objects arranged in a way that have a strong optical illusion are likely to have higher mating success.When you go in and move the items around he will return to his bower and put things back in their proper place.
I love this bird ... he looks like a natural mosaic artist to me ... finding bits and pieces and placing them thoughtfully in the perfect spot. He often will work in one color scheme.
You might also want to check out Tim Laman's amazing photos of Bower Birds and their decor.
Monday, March 17, 2014
Mosaic Monday / Xerces Blue Beta An Artificial Pollinator
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| Xerces Blue Beta / An Artificial Pollinator Work In Progress © rebecca collins |
You can see more of this project and hear my thoughts on it by watching the video below.
Friday, March 14, 2014
Robot Invasion Workshop
Robot Collage Class
Materials : Recycled packaging, metal eyelets, cardboard, spray paint, metal washers, found objects, gems, glue.
Yesterday I taught a class over at Pigment School of the Arts here in Dallas. It was a kid's workshop and I had 5 students that varied in age. We had a lot of fun and I was very impressed with all of the creativity and imagination these young artists demonstrated. The kids were all a breeze to work with, they were each very focused and enthusiastic. Here is a real quick little slideshow I created with some cell phone pics of our projects. My assistant Brittany and I did a couple that you will also see in here as samples ...
Below are just a few things I learned yesterday about working with young artists:
• Younger hands are not as strong as mine and simple tools like a hole puncher may be difficult on sturdier card stock and cardboard.
• A little conversation and asking questions before you start creating can stir the imagination and ideas will emerge easily for them. We talked about Robots a little and what types of jobs they do ... even what types of hobbies they may have.
• Kids use a lot of glue when making collages. I told them to use a lot to get things to stick and boy they did! I had plenty, and I am glad I took the big jug of weldbond.
• I took some acrylic sleeves for them to place their finished projects in ... the same sleeves we send our little 8 x 10 Etsy prints out in ... the sleeves were a big hit! Giving my students a way to neatly protect their finished works gave them additional pride in their creations and taught them at an early age about presentation.
• I should have taken my good camera to get decent photographs of all of the projects. My cell phone pics captured the day, but the image quality does not do justice to their terrific Robot collages.
Materials : Recycled packaging, metal eyelets, cardboard, spray paint, metal washers, found objects, gems, glue.
Yesterday I taught a class over at Pigment School of the Arts here in Dallas. It was a kid's workshop and I had 5 students that varied in age. We had a lot of fun and I was very impressed with all of the creativity and imagination these young artists demonstrated. The kids were all a breeze to work with, they were each very focused and enthusiastic. Here is a real quick little slideshow I created with some cell phone pics of our projects. My assistant Brittany and I did a couple that you will also see in here as samples ...
Below are just a few things I learned yesterday about working with young artists:
• Younger hands are not as strong as mine and simple tools like a hole puncher may be difficult on sturdier card stock and cardboard.
• A little conversation and asking questions before you start creating can stir the imagination and ideas will emerge easily for them. We talked about Robots a little and what types of jobs they do ... even what types of hobbies they may have.
• Kids use a lot of glue when making collages. I told them to use a lot to get things to stick and boy they did! I had plenty, and I am glad I took the big jug of weldbond.
• I took some acrylic sleeves for them to place their finished projects in ... the same sleeves we send our little 8 x 10 Etsy prints out in ... the sleeves were a big hit! Giving my students a way to neatly protect their finished works gave them additional pride in their creations and taught them at an early age about presentation.
• I should have taken my good camera to get decent photographs of all of the projects. My cell phone pics captured the day, but the image quality does not do justice to their terrific Robot collages.
Tuesday, March 04, 2014
Jade The Cow Dog is Hungry
I am just about caught up with orders. I am currently fine tuning Jade for a terrific repeat client in Australia. I have one more project to do for her and then I will be totally caught up with commissions from Feb. I did hear from a nice gentleman this morning that may send in a Golden Retriever for me to play with. I hope he does, I have not done many retrievers yet this year and I love their strong lines.
Below are a few proofing samples of Jade. My client wanted to see more green options in the backgrounds to match up well with her kitchen. I went a little crazy and gave her 20 new options to choose from. I usually do not go overboard like that on revisions as it can often just make the approval process tougher, making it very hard for clients to choose. I love Sarah though, she always gives me great photos to play with and she is pretty good at knowing her favorites and drilling down to what she likes best. All 20 revision proofs can be found on my proofing site.
Oh ... and yes it is pretty wonderful and appropriate that this food bowl portrait will grace her kitchen walls ... pet people are really the best you know. I do love it when folks send me pics that tell a story!
Below are a few proofing samples of Jade. My client wanted to see more green options in the backgrounds to match up well with her kitchen. I went a little crazy and gave her 20 new options to choose from. I usually do not go overboard like that on revisions as it can often just make the approval process tougher, making it very hard for clients to choose. I love Sarah though, she always gives me great photos to play with and she is pretty good at knowing her favorites and drilling down to what she likes best. All 20 revision proofs can be found on my proofing site.
Oh ... and yes it is pretty wonderful and appropriate that this food bowl portrait will grace her kitchen walls ... pet people are really the best you know. I do love it when folks send me pics that tell a story!
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| "Jade With Food Bowl" © rebecca collins / artpaw.com |
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| "Jade With Food Bowl" © rebecca collins / artpaw.com |
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| "Jade With Food Bowl" © rebecca collins / artpaw.com |
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| "Jade With Food Bowl" © rebecca collins / artpaw.com |
Thursday, February 27, 2014
Art Paw Proofing Archives
Today I am browsing through old client proofs to get ready for Terrier month in March on my Facebook fan page. I started using Smug Mug way back in 2008 as a proofing platform for my clients.
I just looked at my image upload totals and discovered that
I have uploaded 20,787 proofs to Smug Mug in the last 6 years. That does not mean I have had that many clients, keep in mind each single client gets around 10 to 14 colorful proofing samples to choose from. Still, that is a lot of work to be proud of I would say.
In looking over my past pet portrait projects I enjoy seeing how my digital painting style changes and evolves over time. Some months I experiment a lot with different new backgrounds, sometimes I use color turned up all the way until it screams and other times I am more tame in my approach.
Below are just a few old favorites.
Beast had some very bright and bold background options.
Sunny is one of my all time favorite Boston Terriers. This image is on a postcard and is also for sell at my Etsy shop.
I just looked at my image upload totals and discovered that
I have uploaded 20,787 proofs to Smug Mug in the last 6 years. That does not mean I have had that many clients, keep in mind each single client gets around 10 to 14 colorful proofing samples to choose from. Still, that is a lot of work to be proud of I would say.
In looking over my past pet portrait projects I enjoy seeing how my digital painting style changes and evolves over time. Some months I experiment a lot with different new backgrounds, sometimes I use color turned up all the way until it screams and other times I am more tame in my approach.
Below are just a few old favorites.
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| "Beast" 2009 © rebecca collins / artpaw.com |
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| "Beast" 2009 © rebecca collins / artpaw.com |
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| "Angus" 2008 © rebecca collins / artpaw.com |
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| "Sunny" 2008 © rebecca collins / artpaw.com |
Monday, February 17, 2014
Mosaic Monday / Flower Workshop
On Saturday I took a terrific workshop at the Dallas Creative Arts Center from Katrina Doran called Petite Fleurs: Bejeweled Mosaic Flowers.
I had so much fun and it was just the jump start I needed to get my hands busy with mosaic again. I added screws and washers to my flower making it a wee bit mechanical looking. I hope to eventually place it in the hand of a large 3-d mosaic Robot that I am working on.
We worked with a 2 part epoxy clay that dries rock hard and so there was no wet thinset, no grout ... and no stress. We worked largely with beads and jewels so there was very little cutting involved. If you think you might be interested in taking Katrina's next Petite Fleur workshop it is offered in May at the Dallas Arboretum. Katrina can also be hired to work with your own private group in your residential or commercial setting, you can contact her through her website Doranstudiomosaics.com.
Back in 2010 Katrina worked with several of her students creating very large flower mosaics for the Texas State Fair and this workshop is her brain child that sprung out of that experience. She creates petite, medium and large flower sculptures and she is working on a book that will outline the process so she can share her knowledge with more mosaic artists. Each of the 3 different sized flowers are created with different armature techniques that she engineered herself and each has a different level of difficulty. I would love to do a medium sized flower next. I never thought I would want to tackle a huge flower but after doing a small one who knows, maybe my confidence on the 3-D work will bloom some day.
I had so much fun and it was just the jump start I needed to get my hands busy with mosaic again. I added screws and washers to my flower making it a wee bit mechanical looking. I hope to eventually place it in the hand of a large 3-d mosaic Robot that I am working on.
We worked with a 2 part epoxy clay that dries rock hard and so there was no wet thinset, no grout ... and no stress. We worked largely with beads and jewels so there was very little cutting involved. If you think you might be interested in taking Katrina's next Petite Fleur workshop it is offered in May at the Dallas Arboretum. Katrina can also be hired to work with your own private group in your residential or commercial setting, you can contact her through her website Doranstudiomosaics.com.
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| We made our flower forms from scratch. |
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| Flower Mosaic Rebecca Collins |
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| Flower Backside Rebecca Collins |
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| Flower Mosaic work in progress Rebecca Collins |
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| Flower Substrate work in progress Rebecca Morgan |
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| Flower Mosaic work in progress Rebecca Morgan
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Back in 2010 Katrina worked with several of her students creating very large flower mosaics for the Texas State Fair and this workshop is her brain child that sprung out of that experience. She creates petite, medium and large flower sculptures and she is working on a book that will outline the process so she can share her knowledge with more mosaic artists. Each of the 3 different sized flowers are created with different armature techniques that she engineered herself and each has a different level of difficulty. I would love to do a medium sized flower next. I never thought I would want to tackle a huge flower but after doing a small one who knows, maybe my confidence on the 3-D work will bloom some day.
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