Happy New Year! 2011

I know I'm a tad late in wishing everyone a Happy New Year, but I've been waiting to stumble upon a few free moments in my somewhat hectic schedule.  So 2011 has arrived and I couldn't be more thrilled!  I decided this year 'round not to spend a lot of time festering over my mistakes of the past.  Instead, I'm focusing all my energy on my lofty and exciting goals for the year to come.  Goals that mostly revolve around diving head first into my ever growing art business.   But more about that later....

I wanted to mention momentarily that I spent my NYE night saying farewell to 2010 in one of the most beautiful settings I could possibly imagine.

Snowshoeing in the Mt. Hood area was a first for me.  It was gorgeous, it was majestic, it was quiet, and it was under 10 degrees.   We tromped around for hours with pink cheeks and frozen fingers, only to arrive back at the cabin and feast on soul warming spanish coffees, delicately spiced pulled pork, and 2 different kinds of pie.

As the clock rounded towards midnight, we hopped into our puffy coats and waterproof shoes and ran out into the field to watch the year turn over under a blanket of stars.  We popped open our icy champagne and toasted to family, friends, another year passed.  It was one of my coldest and most memorable New Years.

Now, for the exciting news.  On Christmas day I made a big purchase.  Big, as in very expensive, but also big in a more exciting, life changing kind of way.  This purchase will hopefully be a key in advancing my art career to whole new levels.  I present to you, the Epson 2880 large format photo printer:

I've now invested not only immeasurable amounts of time following my artistic passions, but also loads of hard cash money.   And since my studio is so small, and this thing is almost 30 inches wide, my dear father made me a perfect and practical shelf to maximize my space.

He built it on wheels, so I can roll it away from the wall when I need to fold out the printer trays during printmaking.  That's my other printer/scanner on the bottom shelf.   Thanks Dad!

This was my very first print!  I'm really happy with the quality of the image.  It does a fantastic job of replicating the watercolor look.  I plan to make many more prints of a handful of my paintings and putt them up in my etsy shop, and eventually get them into some of the great craft boutiques in Portland and elsewhere.  Head on over and take a look, maybe you'll find something you like.  And keep your eyes peeled for greeting cards and other fun items soon to come.  

I've been painting up a storm lately.  I have a few newbies to show you!  Enjoy, and have a spectacular week!

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