Handmade Halloween

Happy Halloween everyone! With all the costumes out there, we are certainly seeing our surroundings a little differently this weekend. I’m already impressed with the costume creativity…such a great time to stretch our artistic imagination. I made my costume again this year and the Barbarella/70s disco outfit went down a treat for our British Expat party.

There’s something so exciting and fulfilling about making your own costume, reminds me a little of when I was young and my brother and I would always be encouraged to dress up and make our own, spending days thinking about designs, finding fabrics and having a fun time in the process. We also had a dressing up box as kids so most weekends we would rummage around and see what we could find, especially great fun when a new friend came round to play and we’d all dress up. The bestman at my brothers recent wedding, commented in his speech how the first time he met us, my brother (who was about 8) was dressed up as an old woman with a long wig and dress (looking like the dress up scene in ET!) Some great memories so enjoy making your own this weekend and have fun!

Tonight, I’ll be recycling a handmade costume from 2 years ago! "The Devil Wears Prada" :-)

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New Art - Holiday season is coming. :-)

Well what a week! I really don't know where its gone to be honest and Halloween is next week with my costume still half made. So the past week, I've been busy with out of town visitors for work and also joyfully setting up my Etsy Store (Yay!) I also finished up some new art for the holiday season. I absolutely LOVE Poinsettia plants and so decided to use the wonderful shapes and colours to create a Christmas/holiday line, the first two paintings are named "Joy" and "Compassion" - two very important things for the coming months :-) Okay so it may be a little early but I was so excited I just couldn't keep this inside. Check them out in my Etsy store. :-) I have posted Archival Prints, greeting cards, notecards and postcards... I love them, especially the gold outlines... I cant wait to create some more designs like these and share with you all... this is such a lovely time of year and the best is yet to come... Hope everyone is enjoying the fall (or spring of course if you are southern hemisphere).

I have a dear friend arriving from the UK tonight so I have put the paintbrush aside to concentrate on conversation, tea, chocolate and indulging in gossip and lovely friendship. :-)

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Hoboken Artists Open Studio Tour

Despite the rainy stormy Sunday and having about 3 hours sleep I made it to the Monroe Arts Centre with my friend Leanne for 9am! We had a great time, hanging our work on the wall, meeting some lovely artists and visitors, eating drinking and exploring the centre ourselves which was full of artists and musicians. More photos here. I bumped into some of my Hob'art peeps for a chat which was great and got to check out some inspiring and fun art along the way. One of which was a photographer who was in his studio shooting small objects upclose. The result being a wondrous design which got his visitors guessing. He had huge prints of his work and it was fascinating stuff. He took a photo of my favourite star earrings so will see how that comes out and post it here, when he emails me back! The big yay is that i sold more of my work, mostly prints (which do seem to be the favourite) so its such a joy to start seeing some return and to get feedback from passers by. Another aha moment today was the excitement i was getting when seeing and talking to ceramic artists....I've been thinking about taking a pottery class and the plan of getting myself back into ceramic design, so the universe was certainly re-affirming that today with all the "signs". So I cant wait to get my hands dirty. :-)

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Happy Roller Coaster

I have to admit this week has been a bit of a struggle.. juggling work, art, a cold and some other personal stuff sucking my energy has all got me in a pickle. The weather is a bit off too, so im just rolling with it and recognizing its okay to feel a bit out of sorts now and again. :-) This new piece of art depicts it for me visually, at first its a "bit of a mess" but its actually titled "dream" and is about dreaming in black and white. (lino print). Its going to be in the group show at the Hoboken Open Artists Studio this weekend alongside a larger canvas painting (20x20) which i didn't get a piccie of yet! So a fab Sunday ahead as Ill also be exhibiting at the Monroe arts centre in Hoboken with my friend Leanne (we plan art, chat, wine and chocolate for our visitors).

Also this week, Kelly Rae asked her blog readers "how are you feeling today, really?" i posted a response and when i thought about it, really hit the nail on the head. "Honestly? I'm about to embark on surfing the wave of daily life...nervous, excited, loved, hopeful, scared, inspired, tired, creative, messy and exhausted (in a good way) but most of all, enjoying this amazing crazy rollercoaster of life that the universe throws at me every single day.. bring it on. :-)". So im going to leave the week with that thought of enjoying the ride, happy to be above ground and to get ready for whatever exciting things are next. :-) Enjoy the weekend everyone. :-)

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Online Shop & Group Opening

Wow what a day... 9am this morning I waited in anticipation as I opened the virtual doors to my online shop on my website. Thank you thank you thank you to everyone who bought originals and prints, such a joy and such a wonderful feeling. My heart is full of warmth for friends and family who have sent over encouraging messages, these all mean so much, so its out there and I'm so excited for the next few months.

10am, I met my fellow Hob'art community to celebrate the opening of our group show at the Sovereign bank in Hoboken - "Fall Colors" runs until Nov 20th. We kicked the morning off with champagne of course and some friendly faces who came out to celebrate with us.

A day recorded in my memory and one for the book in this creative journey.

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Nerves, excitement? I'm in my element!

As Saturday draws closer, the butterflies in my tummy are dancing around..... Most would describe this feeling as being nervous, but i like to think its excitement, not nerves. Excitement for something that is truly a milestone to breath in, experience and savour every moment, whatever the day brings. A milestone to following my dreams of living a more creative life and sharing art with friends, family and new found community.

It was week 3 of Marisa's "In the Fish Bowl" class and how timely this episode was when i tuned in this evening to be covering "creating your online shop" ...Oh universe you are so funny sometimes, but I thank you for "sending me" this little confirmation and encouragement via Marisa.

So big day Saturday! 9am my shop goes live here 10am - Opening reception for the Hob'art group show "Fall Colors" at the Sovereign Bank in Hoboken.

So, Mimosas all round. :-)

Image: "Inspiration Tree". This is my current favourite of my newest art creations and I wanted to share to send inspiration and positive thoughts out to you all. :-)

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Here it comes!

So October is finally here and I'm nervous, excited and loving this Autumn weather! So many things going on in the next few months I can hardly contain myself with the excitement. So I'm getting ready for the rollercoaster ride and I'm not usually a huge lover of the amusement park, but I think this one will be fun. So here are a few of the exciting artistic events I have for this month!

1) The "Fall Colours" group art show goes up in the Sovereign bank in Hoboken this Saturday (ill be busy hanging my two pieces themed "Autumn Swirl" (in this blog post) and helping my fellow artists Saturday morning) I'll post details next week once it opens officially!

2) Sat Oct 10th - yikes! I'm officially launching my online store on louisegale.com sooo excited and can i say scared? (butterflies in my tummy just thinking about it) There will be Originals, Archival Prints, cards and many more exciting products being added :-)

3) Sun Oct 18th - Hoboken Open Studio tour. My friend Leanne and I are exhibiting side by side....check out the event on my facebook fanpage. Hope you can stop by for art, great conversation, wine and chocolate. :-)

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