Anne Leuck Feldhaus Adventures & Art

Feed Your Soul With Art...

Today during what I like to call 'productive procrastination' I decided to clean out the 'drafts' folder in my email program...I found many forgotten little notes to myself: Some reference people or companies I would like to do business with (in most cases I had actually written an email to send to them, then chickened out, these have been waiting all this time for me to muster courage) other ones reference artists who I would like to meet and that I found particularly inspiring ... Mary Jones is one of those, this piece is called "Betty", her paintings are so detailed and fun. She has a very clever, whimsical view of the world. So instead of deleting emails I ended up taking a delightful visual cyber trip and then a nice bike ride to the lake. Newly inspired I'm now back to work!

Artists Found on FLickr

I just found another wonderful artist..this time on Flickr. This ceramic piece "large head with avocado" is by Kim Murton of Washington state. She also has great illustrations and 2d work on her Flickr site. I found her on a flickr group...yes, I'm finding that all these sites have multi-layered networking capabilities.

It's one thing to know there are many talented artists out there but now with sites like etsy and flickr you suddenlty realize you have no clue...you are just skimming a little corner of an endless, awesome pool of amazing talent, creativity and cleverness. And those are just the sites I'm referencing...there are a gazillion others that I
don't even know about as well as all the amazing illustration artist sites (but that's a whole other post). Here are some I know about and a few I belong to:

AbsoluteArts.com
MyArtSpace.com
Fine Art America
Imagekind.com

Do you have any favorites that you would like to share?

Art Girls Pot Leuck April 2008

Last Wednesday I hosted the monthly Art Girls Pot Luck or Leuck as I call it when it's at my house. It was a lovely evening with great food and fun conversation. It was also Mary Laskey's birthday which we celebrated with a yummy cake brought by Eva May from the Swedish Bakery! (yes that's silly Eva with her tongue out!)

See more photos from the party on my flickr page.

Old Izzerloo getting love from art girls Eva & Stephi, my dear friend who owns the delightful and delectable Angel Food Bakery.

Pounce

My normally productive procrastination has gone to the wayside. I am addicted to etsy's POUNCE search feature. You can click and see all the most recently sold items...the hot list! Etsy is this amazing never ending cornucopia of beautiful handmade items and art and shops to explore. Here are a few of my most recent favorite items (in case anyone wants to buy me a gift!):

Artist Found...

Back in 2005, Rich & I took a magical little 5 day trip to New York City. It was featured in my very first blog entry. What made it magical is that we let the trip take us, not really planning just having fun and unexpected adventures. Among them, renting and riding bicycles through Central Park, going to a Broadway Show with Half Price Tickets, going to see the band Sleepy Time Gorilla Museum ...my first experience in a non-smoking club..it was great! Walking across the Brooklyn Bridge...an awesome experience and my highlight, going to the DUMBO art event in Brooklyn where in addition to seeing and buying some fabulous art I also surprised one of my sculpture pals from college whose studio was listed in the program. We had not seen each other in 15 years. So after all that...the reason for this post and the image above: yesterday while perusing etsy in the shop local arena, I keyed in Brooklyn and came upon Faune Yerby, the artist who I had purchased this wonderful photo collage from. I didn't have any info on her or her full name so I was so really glad to find her...it is a small world. (Image: my kitchen sink/window sill art gallery, piece on the left by my friend Cathi Bouzide, on the right a Marquette I made for one of my clay sculptures).

Sunday...back track

I'm backtracking a bit with this post. On Sunday I had lunch with my friend
Johanna in China Town (dim sum!), got to see her ubercool new loft, then
stopped by her fiancee's studio (master furniture maker Mark Cwik) to get
some reclaimed lumber...if I can call it that? perhaps recycled, re-used?
They were scrap pieces he could not use. I can't wait to paint on them.
Here is a photo of one of his beautiful Bubinga Tables (no this is not the
kind of wood I'm painting on):

After picking up my boards I delivered my print (top image): "Dreaming
Uphill" to Woman Made Gallery for their April 12th Art Auction. Then
came home and got creative in the kitchen with a new recipe. I did a
Butternut Squash / Hazelnut Lasagne. The recipe was passed on to me
from my art pal & jeweler, Sara Lenart. You can find the recipe at
epicurious.com It was pretty tasty,I felt guilty not inviting anyone over
to share it with us!

You Make My Day!

Fabulous illustrator Andi Butler gave me the "you make my day award" for my blog...

What a surprise, I'm just humbled (and a little embarrassed) to know that people are out there reading this. I'm inspired by Andi and so many other working artists today...here are my 5 in no particular order ...

Catherine Thursby ... and her Red Shoes Blog complete with good music. I LOVE her art, her store, her decor (we must share a gene) all the delightful things she makes. And the way she so generously shares it all, so honest. One day I'll make a field trip to Ann Arbor so I can meet her and visit her store!

Claudine Hellmuth ... Blogger, artist, writer, Martha Stewart guest extraordinaire. It's always fun to check in and see what's happening in Claudine's exciting world.

Keri Smith ... illustrator, writer, and creative role model. She is also the inventor of the very handy Extremely Informative Period Chart (a great gift for all your girlfriends!).

Michelle Allen ... So interesting to watch as this high energy artist and business woman makes her way through the manufacturing process and wholesale gift world with her whimsical designs.

Christine Kane ... A very talented wise-woman and musician. She is so good at challenging artists to rise about the external things in life and bad voices inside that constantly trip us up.

The rules are please pass this to five others who make your day!

1. Write a post with links to 5 blogs that make me think and/or make my day

2. Acknowledge the post of the award giver.

3. Display the “You Make my Day Award” logo

4. Tell the award winners that they have won by commenting on their blogs with the news.

#10 is my Nemesis...

I get lots of emails from other artists looking for tips and help. I have collected a great referral list of sites and other inspring artists to check out among them is Keri Smith...she posted the list above on her Wish Jar Journal and I had to laugh when I read it because I happen to be having a miserable artist's week: Numbers 1,3,5,9,10...especially 10. I'm not supposed to feel this way in January, this should be free and easy catch up time but instead I feel like I'm never going to get caught up.

On a positive note here are some very helpful resources to check out:
www.artbizcoach.com
www.artbizblog.com
www.another.girlatplay.com
www.kerismith.com
www.smartist-telesummit.com
www.cherylphelps.com/workshops.html
www.artmarketing.com/books
www.karenrossi.com/faqs-licensing.htm
www.maryengelbreit.com/ForArtists/GettingStarted.aspx
www.porterfieldsfineart.com/howtolicenseyourart.htm
www.surtex.com
licensingshow.com 

A River Runs Through It

On Saturday I delivered my painting, A River Runs Through It, to Prairie Shore Properties on Central Street in Wilmette for display in their lobby. This opportunity came by way of the Wilmette Arts Guild, which I recently joined. Good to get some work up to the North Shore, I'll also be participating in a group show at the Wilmette Public Library in the spring.

After that I headed back into the city to an art opening for my friend Heather Gentile-Collins at a beautiful new venue called Flourish Studios. It's retail, therapy, art gallery & more. Heather painted a beautiful mural in the kid's playroom and her  wonderful paintings and prints are on display through the end of February.

And as long as I'm posting...my dear friend Erica Huntzinger...(who has this great new website!) had a very exciting opening at the Chicago Cultural Center in a group show called People of the Mud 2 - great turnout...and some wonderful artists..all clay. Also included, another friend of mine, Jason Messinger's cool tiles.

 

One of a Kind Wrap Up...The Goods

Good help is hard to find...I found it! This is Kate...she helped me out for a few days at the show and I needed it, I moved from my location last year and our sales and traffic doubled.Thanks to her wonderful assistance, for the first time I was able to actually go see some of the show without risking missing customers. I also made some great connections with other artists, not to mention brokering some great trades with them! Here are 2 from Minnesota artists (ironically), I'll share the others later this week. Below...from Fiber Artist Susan Hinckley, this beautiful piece is titled "Let it go". It was a hard choice, but this one really spoke to me because I feel like I have made a conscious effort recently to let go of so many things I was trying to control and make happen in my business and suddenly those very opportunities are finding me. I have loved her work since first seeing it a few years back at One Of a Kind.

This painting is by Brian Jensen, a wonderful painter and illustrator whom I met for the first time at the show. This beautiful piece was painted on pine, I love how he allowed the natural wood to become part of the composition. His display was great - like a huge puzzle yet each piece could stand alone. This was one of 4 in a set, I'm regretting that I did not also get the one that goes below it.

Okay...off to bed, I have so much to do  tomorrow!

Neon Matisse - In my Bathroom

 

This is my favorite new piece of art, it's called "Have a Nice Day". I purchased it on Ebay from amazing Canadian folk artist, Helene Lacelle (Neon Matisse is her ebay seller name).  I finally framed it the other day (thank you Target - I just mounted it right on top of the mat that was cut for an 8x10) and hung it in the bathroom, which is all tile from floor to ceiling, not easy to nail into but I worked a few into the grout line. It has transformed the room for me, thank so much Helene! Be sure to check out her auctions and website, just promise not to bid against me!

Art Girls...

Last night I hosted our monthly Art Girls get together...it was "Pot Leuck" I made my Mother's great Seafood Lasagna.  As usual..I forgot to get out the camera until everyone was on their way out. We had a great time and shared lots of good information. It's inspiring to trade leads and resources and hear eachother's news, big commissions & sales, new venues etc. On resource we'll all be checking out soon from  Kathy Frey is the Women's Business Development Center, they offer seminars with business counseling included in the fee. I also shared about my favorite art/client/exhibit database management software Eartist - from Artscope.net. As usual the food contributed by all made for an amazing meal from the appetizer to the desserts....and yes there is still plenty of talk about doing our own cookbook! Girls in the photos Match, Kathy, Mimi, Kate & Eva sporting their flower child candy bracelet head bands! And Sharon & Match...

Folk Art HEAVEN...

Returned from Alabama last week - the Kentuck Art Fair was a gem, like no other show I've ever done. My first thought upon entering the park was "I'VE DIED AND GONE TO FOLK ART HEAVEN". I was very inspired and moved by all the visionary art work and wonderful artists that I met (first photo William Scrip's amazing sculptures, Robert Seven's art and booth, and one of my wonderful neighbors).

Gabriel Shaffer has a wonderful photo album on his flickr site capturing some the most memorable artists from this show. I had the honor of meeting his mother, Cher Shaffer (a highly collected visionary artist) from whom I purchased this fabulous painting of her cat, Yoda...also got some other nice treasures from Mark Orr (the perfect art fair neighbor), Jim Shores and Kim Young.

My dear husband did all the driving so I was free to read and look out the window and dream, I also did a lot of drawing in my sketchbook. I have some great new images for future road trip / map paintings...scroll down to see them:

Trades...lovely benefits of being an artist!

Kass Copeland is a Chicago artist and illustrator who creates wonderful witty assemblage/collage pieces. She also does a lot of design work for Red Moon Theater. I got this beauty as a trade at a recent art fair we did together...
LUCKY ME ! It looks fabulous on my peacock blue walls. Title: "The Bad Fairies". She assured me they were not evil just mischievous. I asked her to name them, they are Prudence and Cornelia...she said the dog's name is up to me...hmmm..any suggestions?

My Creative Friends...living their dreams

Today I visited the lovely shop of Chicago jeweler Sara Lenart (1924 W. Byron) with another wonderful copper enamel artist and friend Mary Laskey. We all belong to "Art Girls" a group of women that has grown to an evite list of almost 20 over the last few years. Most of us met doing art fairs and decided it would be fun to get together outside of the shows and more often than once a year at the annual Bucktown Art Fest's Patron's Party. We started out meeting once a month at restaurants and have moved more towards rotating potlucks at eachother's homes which is great because there is nothing more interesting than seeing the living space of other artists. On Thursday we met at the home of amazing jeweler Kathy Frey - she just had her first book published! Our talk on thursday was of blogs...and art business and a cook book that we'd like to put together. These art girls are some fabulous cooks...we have quite the tasty pot lucks and you will often find a spouse or partner sticking around to fill a plate - in spite of the sometimes deafening sound of a dozen women joyously conversing around a few bottles of wine...!

So back to my field trip to Sara's store...I am dreaming of getting a store front in Chicago, one where I can be more accessible to my customers and have more space and ceiling height(!) to work in. It's  a very big move to make so it was great to hear nothing but positives from Sara who has had her space for over 2 years...very inspiring.

 

 

Ladies Who Lunch...

A gorgeous day and a lovely lunch spent with some wonderful gals (not to mention amazing artists) to say good bye to my good friend Erica Jane Huntzinger...who is moving to rural Wisconsin in August. Corinne Peterson & Cathi Bouzide joined us...on the menu: Crab Quiche, a Blueberry, Blue Cheese & Pine Nut Salad, Veggies, Ice Tea, Candy Necklaces and Brownies (with an 'E' for Erica)!

Erica brought each of us a sweet little hand made felt and yarn heart necklace with our initials on them.

I'm getting better at this entertaining thing but I still get in a tizzy beforehand, I figure the more I do it the more comfortable I'll become...so come on over! Oh, but you do have to deal with Alice. You have to give her a little time to calm down, she is a lot to take when you first come in the door. I feel like a bad mother who cannot control her child.

Other bonus of entertaining: THE HOUSE IS CLEAN!

Artropolis

Last weekend I made the short trek downtown to visit Artropolis - the annual mega art event here in Chicago, stemming from the original Art Chicago. I made the mistake of trying to see everything. As a result, I cannot recall what I saw in the last hour, as it was just too much stimulus for the eyes, brain and soul to handle. But my first 2 hours were a treat. My favorite show was the Bridge Art Fair where the highlight was seeing the works of Beverly Ashe in person and then getting to meet her and having her tell me she knows my work! Wow. I have admired her paintings for years via the internet - a chance find early on of the gazillion or so hours of surfing I've done. She was exhibiting with her gallery Strange Weeds. I discovered a few new favorites: the painter, Scott Redden with Dillon Gallery and from the the Intuit Show, the works of Franz Kernbeis from Galerie St. Etienne and Theresa Disney of Checkered House Gallery. I just don't do the gallery thing often enough, I am so inspired and happy when I do - this was a big reminder...note to self.

Memoirs of the break-up

Last summer I had the good fortune to get a gig in the movie "the break-up" (coming out in June). There was an art fair scene, so I set up my booth and my friend Eva & I worked as extras for two days of shooting. We had a running joke about Vince Vaughn ... so in my first attempt at collage I made this for Eva for her birthday. I think I'm hooked...too much hgtv!