The Desire to Create

Does anyone even read blogs anymore? I’m not sure. But either way, I’m dusting off these cobwebs and starting fresh!

I’ve recently rediscovered something and came to the conclusion that I have a desire to create. For those who know me well, you know that I love to paint and that art is very important to me. I never gave it up- I would still find opportunities to pull out my paints or my stained glass tools for a project. But it certainly hasn’t been my focus.

The past several years have been wonderful. We adopted our two beautiful kids- now ages 7 and 3- and I’ve been in the thick of mom-life. From changing dirty diapers, cleaning, cooking, kissing boo boo’s and tucking them in and singing them songs at night. Now it’s school pick ups and drop offs and taking my daughter to ballet and running to my son’s soccer games. The list goes on! It is a beautiful life!

But in this busyness of mom-life, I got myself in a bit of a rut and realized that I wasn’t taking much time for me. This year I have been determined to make some small changes and go back to my roots of what I really love, and that is creating. I’m taking just a little bit of time every day to paint. I’m teaching a watercolor class to some darling girls once a week. In carving out a little bit of time for this, it has made my life much more vibrant. And I’ve realized another thing. It’s made me a better me! I feel like I am a better mom and a better wife, because I am much happier and fulfilled.

I have been working on freshening up my website and made the cutest new logo. Isn’t it so me?! I also created an instagram page for my artwork, where I plan to regularly post my current projects. I’d love for you to follow along at @jamieanneblake.art.

What would you like to see in the future? I dream of continuing my social media presence on Instagram and have also thought of creating a YouTube channel of me painting with watercolors and the techniques that I use. Any ideas are welcome! I’d love the feedback!

First Official Book Signing

With our recent move out west, it has become much easier to be more involved in promoting my book. So on Labor Day weekend, my little family made the drive to Yellowstone where I had my first official book signing- at the historic and beautiful Old Faithful Inn! I had the best time chatting with people and selling my book. The day was beautiful (although chilly) when we got there, but before too long it began pouring rain and hailing. It drew a lot of people inside, which ended up being good for me. 🙂

I am hoping that this will become an annual tradition- and next time I will be a bit more prepared . . . I have already made business cards and a large poster. Many people came up to me asking where the hotel bar/bathroom/restaurant was. Although the most common question was, “when is the geyser going to go off next?” I guess I looked like customer service! 😉 But I politely answered the questions as best I could and tried to get them to buy a copy of my book before they left.

my little family in front of the inn

I had the best time and can’t wait for the next one!
(to be announced!)

OBX

Just about a year ago to date, our little family went on a week long vacation to the Outer Banks of North Carolina. For those that have never been, that place is downright dreamy. How lucky we were to drive 4 hours out of the hustle and bustle that is the DC metro area and be in such a paradise! There is something so wonderful about the Atlantic Ocean beaches. Tall grass, warm sand, weathered homes on stilts- it’s just beautiful. In fact, just thinking about the fact that we now live clear across the country and aren’t in driving distance makes me almost want to cry.

Perhaps it was the craziness of the year we’d had- of adopting our beautiful little girl and adjusting to parenthood, but that vacation of ours was my very favorite we’ve been on. We needed some relaxation. We shared a beach house with some of our best friends, brought along our dog along (who loved to hop in the ocean waves), and have ourselves the most wonderful, relaxing trip.

My sweet little family at the Bodie Island Lighthouse

We stayed in Kitty Hawk, NC, and all we had to do was walk across the street and we were literally on the beach. In viewing distance from our house, was this beautiful beach home on the water- Pelican’s Perch. Wouldn’t it be a dream to stay there?

Because of our fond memories of the OBX, I wanted to do a watercolor of our time there, so I painted Pelican’s Perch. (using a complimentary blue/orange theme) I thought it turned out great. Maybe not as soft and delicate as I wanted, but still lovely! Although it’s safe to say that I will likely paint many more watercolors of the beautiful Outer Banks, because I love it so. Plenty of more opportunities to create a perfect watercolor.

“Pelican’s Perch” 16″x20″ watercolor and ink

What do you all think?

New Year, New Look

Hey all!

I figured it’s about time that I revive this website and get it up and running again!
Introducing my new website at jamieanneblake.com! One of my New Years Resolutions was to redesign my art website and to update regularly on my blog with all of my latest artistic endeavors. A big task (especially with a cute one-year old daughter who requires a lot of time and attention), but I think a manageable one!

My previous website design was beautiful and colorful. I really loved it. I spent a lot of time designing it, and my husband did all the programming to get it up and running several years back. But recently I started to think that it might be too busy. I want an art website that is clean and simple- something that showcases my artwork, and not the web design. What do you think of the new design?

So here’s to a new year, a new site, and lots of upcoming projects!

Comic Paintings

I know this is like ancient history, as it is the end of January, but I must tell you about what I did for my hubby for Christmas. 🙂 He has recently gotten into comic books, and months ago he said it would be cool if I painted him a picture of his favorite comic book characters. I just stored that little piece of information away and decided it would be a perfect Christmas gift.

I painted 3 different watercolor studies of Batman, The Flash, and The Green Lantern. And Wowza! I think they turned out great. I started working on them in October, and finished right in the nick of time. Here they are:

Batman

The Flash

The Green Lantern

And here they are hanging in Bryce’s office. What do you think?

Coming Soon . . .

“The Adventures of Buffalo Joe and the Blackbird with the Broken Wing!”

That’s right!! My children’s book is going to be published!! This past week, everything has sort of fallen into place, and I am ecstatic! Since I was in Jackson Hole all week, I met with a local publisher while there, and he said he loved my work.  I am thrilled because this publisher seems to be the perfect fit for my book. Check out Homestead Publishing here.

I do have a lot of work to do before my deadline, however, so if I am MIA for the next little while, you know why!! Now I need to get to work . . .

Pattern Design

Stained Glass is something that I absolutely love, thanks to my favorite job I had in high school. My senior year, I landed a job at a stained glass shop where I was trained in foil work. Although I only worked there for about a year before I went away to college, it really spurred my interest, and ever since then, I’ve kept it up!

I thought I’d show you the latest stained glass project that I’m working on. For one of our wedding presents, we received a beautiful piece of artwork with pressed wildflowers. It’s hung beautifully in our home for nearly 4 years, until it fell off the wall and the glass shattered. I was so bummed about it, but was able to salvage the lovely wood frame, and decided to create a stained glass piece to go inside. Here is the pattern that I created:

It’s a simple pattern of tulips, and I think it turned out great! I love flowers . . . I can’t seem to stray from them in my artwork . . . they are my very favorite. Here are some things that you will notice in the pattern design when you look closely:

-each piece labeled with a number
– lines on each piece that indicate the grain direction of the glass
– each piece labeled with a letter, which represents the color/type of glass used

And important things to keep in mind while creating a stained glass pattern:

-The more pieces in the pattern, the more intricate your stained glass project will be. And in many cases, more pieces = more difficulty.
-Try not to have pieces that are very, very small. They could get lost in the solder and end up not being seen. Small pieces also add difficulty to every project.
-While creating a pattern, every piece needs to be thought about. Each individual piece should not have jagged or sharp curves, as it is very tricky–and in some cases, impossible to cut that piece of glass.

So, there you have it! This project is currently under works. Stay tuned for the finished project! Also, if anyone is interested in their own pattern design/custom piece of stained glass made by me, give me a holler. I would be thrilled!