The Artist's Eyes by Jenn Lee

When I first started a serious interest in art, I was always going through tons and tons of paper, canvas’s, pencils, paints and supplies. I always had boxes of past artwork stored here and stored there. As the years have gone by and multiple hassles with moving around, I have either given away or tossed many art pieces. This is why I love my tablet PC….

In today’s day and age, we are all about technology and gadgets. I had purchased a ThinkPad X41 Tablet PC awhile back, for it’s portability and tablet technology. Much like a Wacom digital tablet, it utilizes a full screen touch point ability for use with a stylus. There are several reasons I believe that this is a great asset to an artist like myself.

One reason I believe it’s a great asset is because I am primarily an ECO friendly artist. I try to keep my imprint on the environment as little as possible with my use of non toxic materials, recycling and reuse of materials. With using a tablet/touch pad PC, I have the ability to draw, paint or sketch out ideas all digitally. With this technology I do not have to use any paper, paint or other materials. It not only reduces my material usage, it but frees up a huge amount of office storage space as well.

Another reason I think it’s a great asset is its portability. As a business woman, I need to have a portable portfolio. Having the convenience of being able to carry my portfolio with me is great. As well, when I am quoting a commission, being able to sketch out ideas on location or digitally sign contracts on the tablet PC, increases productivity.

Recently I decided to add switching my OS (Operating System) as well. Mind you I know Microsoft is popular, and standard on any PC purchase besides a Mac, but we are not limited to it. This laptop came with XP Tablet version installed. Though it was nice to power it up and go, it was not as speedy as I would like, plus XP is a retiring OS, which means I will have to switch it out in the near future. Knowing this, the newer Microsoft OS’s will not run efficiently on this laptops specs. With those things in consideration as well as input from my good friend Jason of Webfoo, and his knowledge and passion for Linux, I decided to try running Linux on it.

Linux is an Open Source operating system. The impressiveness of the Linux community building/creating a completely free OS is amazing of itself, as well the amount of people in the community that donate so much time and energy adding to, fixing issues and developing of their own free will and time spent.

With the successful installation of Ubuntu Lucid 10.04 on my little tablet PC, I immediately noticed a more than significant increase in speed. This alone was a moment of pride and excitement. Pride because I consider myself a complete beginner in working with Linux and excitement that it installed and was configurable without a hitch.

Not only was I able to install the operating system, the free applications available are amazing. I hear a lot of people talk about the amount of applications they can get on their iPhones and iPads with Apple, but at a cost. Again I reiterate, the free resources available in the Linux community is astounding.

If you consider getting a tablet PC, Ubuntu is definitely something to do a little research on. GIMP is like Photoshop. It has many brushes, actions and tools just like Photoshop, but without any of the cost. It has a wonderful application called MyPaint that definitely competes with Adobe Illustrator as well. From my standpoint, MyPaint has the full range of capabilities you have with drawing or painting on a canvas that mimics real life. Did I mention these too are free? Some things to think about…in this artist’s eyes.

With my love of animals of all types both domestic and wild, I decided to start a project that I will begin posting May 1st. On May 1st, I will begin posting a new puppy painting each week till I work my way through the alphabet.  Does this peek your curiosity?

Everyone loves baby animals no matter what species, with their cute little faces and comical actions. When you see that little puppy in the pet store doesn’t it just make you say “awwwwe“? When you think of Easter do you automatically think of adorable baby bunnies? That kitten pawing at every thing that moves can bring a smile to even the most serious face.

My friends Jason and Christy, over at Pet Research are very big in their support of animal rescues and have shared their passion with me. All over the world there are animals that need our protection, from animals bordering extinction to domestic pets that have been abused, neglected or rendered homeless by pet owners. I am hoping to add to the many people/volunteers supporting the outreach by spreading the message to others, to support the community in it’s efforts to stop animal cruelty and abandonment.   With these puppy paintings from A to Z, I am planning on donating the proceeds to the Kentucky Humane Society and as always, my paintings are ECO friendly in support of respecting our environment on an ecological level.

I hope you enjoy coming back to my website to follow along with my blog posts of Puppies from A to Z, as well as make purchases that will go to a worthy cause! This is a cause worth supporting…in this artist’s eyes.

©John Adkins Photography

I recently was commissioned to create several murals for a new business opening in Louisville, Kentucky. The business owner Doug Davis, of River City Canoe & Kayak, and I met and found we had a common connection with our ECO consciousness. This made for the perfect setting for me to create an ECO masterpiece in his new store. Doug and his wife created their dream with their store as well as their focus to involve Kentucky’s youth in their passion. They carried their ECO consciousness into their store in every way they could possible, including fully furnishing their office with ECO friendly furniture! As I watched them put their store together, I continued to learn more about this amazing couple each day. What a dream they had and with their grand opening Friday evening…a reality. I wish them well with their endeavor, they fittingly fit the image of Possibility City ~ “This isn’t just “a place to live,” it’s a place to really live. It’s a town without excuses, blissfully free of the hang-ups and holdups that keep things from happening. It’s a place where blue-sky thinking meets grassroots can-do. It’s a city without limits. Anything’s possible here in Louisville. Especially you.“ If you live in the area, you can visit River City Canoe & Kayak at 814 Cherokee Rd. Louisville, KY 40204.

Approximately 375 sq. feet of freehand artwork, created with 100% No VOC paints, here are the photos of the different stages of this project:

When I started my family, I always hoped one or more of my children would have my passion for art. Sure not everyone feels they have a talent as an artist, but in my mind, every person has an artist inside them. It’s all about finding your niche and how to grow it.

As my children have gotten older, it surprised me to see which one has joined me in the art field recently. My oldest son Vincent has always shown signs of being a naturally talented artist, but his interest isn’t in it as a career. He can mimic drawings really well, but rarely draws as he’s gotten older. My youngest two, Michael and Alexis are always drawing. I think I must go through a package of printer paper every couple of weeks. Michael is more of a fantasy/ military artist and Alexis can draw just about anything from her mind. She has a photographic memory of characters she has seen. Jessica, my second oldest, never really seemed interested in art of any sort, but recently surprised me by joining me to work on my latest mural project.

My mural assistant & daughter Jessica

I feel comfortable with her working on this portion of our project, while I focus on adding details in other areas of my mural project. I believe she will learn more steps as we go along. It’s fascinating to watch the changes a person makes once open to learning new things. I believe she has a new appreciation for the many aspects of being an artist.

Our project deadline is coming close to an end. I am confident we will have it completed by Wednesday, barring no big catastrophe with the contractors working in the store. We are both quite excited to see this projects advancements as well as seeing her ability to see my vision and assist me in carrying it through.

I asked her as we were driving home yesterday, if she wanted to work with me on future projects and she said she definitely did. I couldn’t be more proud and surprised in my late bloomer apprentice artist.

I think my point to this topic is, that a person can do anything if they are open to learning. Creativity as an artist is being able to think outside of the box. If you can imagine something or see it in your head you can create it. It might come slower to some than others but you can be what ever you want to be.

I hope that my other children further their interests in art and maybe one or two of them join me, as well, as they get older. In the end, I am very excited to see my business go from a sole entity, to a family business. A family that plays together, stays together can also apply to a family that works together, stays together. This is a very happy moment for me….in this artist’s eyes.

Iron Horses - 18x24 ECO friendly 3D Wall Art

When you are selling your talents or services as a business, the importance of being able to sell yourself is first and foremost. What is it that sets you apart from your market? What do you offer that nobody else does? Can you say you are unique in your industry of choice?

These are all important questions to ask yourself when trying to market yourself or your art. Think about putting yourself into the shoes of the potential client. What do you look for when you are looking for something to buy? You don’t even have to just use art as an example. When choosing a new pair of shoes or a shirt, what makes you choose one over another? A black pair of dress shoes is a black pair of dress shoes right? Why did you choose the pair that you selected? A mans plain white dress shirt is a great example to use. There must be several dozens of mens dress shirt designers and the style really doesn’t change very significantly, but why did you choose the one that you did? It’s pretty evident something had to have directed you towards the choices you made, even though you were presented with several brands of the same thing.

Scarlet Macaw - 18x24 ECO friendly 3D wall art

Being able to sell yourself requires confidence, perseverance and a lot of charisma. You need to be very confident about what you are selling. When you like something, you talk it up to others right? You tell your friends or family why you like that shirt or that pair of shoes. You give valid reasons that they can relate to, right? Sell yourself the same way. You need to believe in yourself and your capabilities. Nine times out of ten, you not only sell your art piece, but you will gain a returning client. This is an art…in this artist’s eyes.