Birds on the wall

This painting was inspired by an image I had seen of a bird. As I was painting suddenly there were two birds and few stars painted off in the distance. Artwork has a surprising even the artist sometimes. This painting looks great with my lightly colored blue walls. This painting is for sale by myself, Vanessa V Hofmann for $1500

This piece has been reworked and has recently been admitted into a great art show in Balboa Park, with museum of the living man.....Super excited about this!

New art and art show

Recently I had the chance to have my art displayed at this fabulous woman owned bike shop, HERevolution, in San Diego, California specifically Solana Beach are really hip, artistic area. With this upcoming show, I had to create some new pieces of art work. I wanted to share a few recent additions and celebrate another sale of an art piece.

Here is one of the recent additions:
This one is called bright orange tricycle. It is a 12"x12" mixed media art piece on display at the bike shop. We are having a little one in mid March so that was the inspiration for this piece.

Another recent addition of artwork is this painting, and even better is that it sold yesterday. Yippee!  It's called green bike and the star fish. It is a 10"x10" piece on canvas and is also mixed media work. 

Mixed media means that it isn't solely one type of medium used (like just using only watercolor, acrylic or oil), but a mix. On my work I usually work in a few different tools. Mostly the painting is acrylic, with additions of pastel, oil bars, and charcoal.

Up next is solo show at the San Diego Art Department starting in February 16th more information to follow. Life seems to be happening in baby steps, but it feels quite appropriate right now.

Screening options inside and out

What are screens and how might we use them in design?

Here is an example of a modern visual screens:

If you want to add some interior detail to your home these are great. And they have a sale going on as well. I am trying to find some way to use them in my own home. The photo below shows a number of product that can add texture to your home or office space.

Office use of visual screen- screens are used to further define rooms in spaces. They work better than solid walls by allowing light to pass through. Thereby not making these smaller spaces feel to small, but feel comfortable. 

The other interesting space to add detail is in your backyard. Imagine a screen like this used around outdoor pergola to add additional screening options from the sun. Even more ideal is to put a screen like this on tracks kind of like doors so you can move them around.
Pergola

Here is a more modern pergola design.



An example of a screen integrated into the back porch of a home. Living in warmer climates like California you have the ability to enhance your outdoor spaces and your home by creating various outdoor rooms that are adaptable to the climate.
 
Here is the link to this company who is having the sale if you are interested.  I am not sure if their product can be used outside.

http://www.crestviewdoors.com/order/diy-kits-and-more/clearance.html

Here is an interview video from my friend Lee Mench. Take a look about how we work at Studio Plank on medical projects.

Hope everyone has a Happy Thanksgiving!

A mixture of emotions- but mostly joy.

Today I sold another painting!!! Happy happy joy joy. Each time it happens I feel a mixture of emotions. I am elated to have someone interested in purchasing an art piece but a little sad to see the piece leave. Each art piece is marking a time and place in thought and process of where I was. My artwork on bicycles simply take me back to each joyful bike ride we took as a kids with no particular place to be. When we just enjoyed being able to travel and explore. You know the rides with the wind in your hair, as your riding down the road in a skirt and sunshine on your face. Watching the wheels go round and round taking you on an adventure.

Today's bike painting is called "Blue Bike 3- Racing Delight". It is a acrylic painting of a whimsical blue road bike with a orange ballon attached to its seat. This painting was sold to a fellow San Diego artist, Nancy Plank.

This woman, Nancy, paints in the same art building that I do in San Diego art department. She happened to be passing by my work one day as I was painting away. And little did she know my head was filled with doubtful about what I was doing and why I was painting bikes. She walks offer and simply said to me. "I really love your work." And even her letter she wrote that my paintings were magnificent and that I am gifted artist...... who doesn't like to hear such great things. Knowing that the artwork will be so appreciated and loved by someone else and to see the new owner's enthusiasm is absolutely contagious and immediately the sadness disappears and excitement takes way.  

Blue Bike 3- Racing Delight by Vanessa Hofmann

It is actually very good that this painting was sold. Since it gives me more room to hang other work in our recently remodeled home. In a future post- I will take about hanging artwork and our latest steps in designing our interiors.

Pick your artwork before you buy that sofa....

Sofa- red, yellow, tan, black or white? Leather, corduroy, linen, wool.... Sofas come in so many choices in colors and fabrics.

As I am creating an art piece for our living room, which is composed of three separate canvases, I am surrounded by all our belongings.  Some of which are still in boxes in the house and in the garage. This home has recently been combined- all of my stuff and my husband's for the first time. We have many duplicates of several items. So as we pick through what items will remain to reflect a new combined style for us. Each piece brings elements of our own personality and combining them in the interior design is establishing a uniquely different look for us and honestly still a little ecletic. But I have the ability to create artwork that can combine the elements in the room together- it is like a super power in some way. Saving our room from disorder. Ok, I am just getting silly now. As I began this process, I began thinking about non-artists and how if you pick the art piece last it could be daunting to find the art piece to match your current selection of decor. So I began to think, why not pick the art piece first for a room? 

I am not saying it is impossible by any means, just requires a little more legwork when you are trying to buy an art piece. Sofas are abundant; they are everywhere. You watch tv there is an advertisement for sofas stores. They are in magazines and online. Now good artwork and good artists that fit your budget, and style needs are lot more difficult to find. Once you do find some artists really examine their work. How does it make you feel? Do you just love it? What does the piece say to you? Do you want to continue to look at or do you need to look away? Where is your eye drawn to in the piece?

Also keep in mind, you can request for an artist to create something custom for your home. But make sure you find similar looking styles and colors with in their body of work that has already been created. Don't expect the artist to create drastic changes from their existing body of work. They might try something drastic and they you might not love it either. 

Here is Phase 1 of this piece. I haven't created a series pieces or anything this large before. I have always seriously worked small. Even as a child in school, I would write in this teeny tiny print. So I am amazed that this is not intimidating but really fun. 

I am working with a light shade of lavender on the walls of this room. For color- think light gray and light purple blended together. I had actually started painting this in the art studio and was pleasantly surprised to see the colors matched the room. Once I am done I will share the finished piece with you. 

Feel free to share your sofa shopping stories, or combining household tips. 

Art- as the accent piece.

After only having moved all our belongings in this weekend, I am contemplating decorating of the interior space. The walls and ceiling are freshly painted in the living room, among many other changes throughout the house. The furniture is being arranged and rearranged, but the walls remain bare. We are taking this time to learn to live in our new home. Right now, I am focusing on getting the living room working. My theory is, some order is needed when you are surrounded by confused and unorganized state (of stacks of cardboard boxes filled with your possessions that you just got back from storage after almost a year) you should have one place that is ordered, even it is small space within a space. So we are focusing on one room- the living room. Now you might be wondering why I am not selecting another room like say the bedroom? Well, the bedroom floors aren't quite 100% yet so all the furniture is about a foot from the wall. It is livable at the moment but not ideal and that is an entirely different story.

Here is the before view of this room and the entrance to the house in this short video clip. As I watch this video again and again I keep noticing different things. The accent wall I want to add art to is a bold red wall in the before photos.

Here is 'in progress' shot of the living room's accent wall with its primed walls and a sample of the lavender painted on it. The plastic draping the wall is for protection when they were removing the popcorn ceiling. 

Here is an 'after' shot- showing the very light lavender color and brown toned wood floors. The wall I  will start with is what you see immediately when you enter the home. I want to do an eye catching art piece here, something really large but I not have any really large canvases at the moment and heck they are cumbersome if I want to take it to art class, nor do I have the free space in my garage while it is in progress.  So I am planning to do 2 or 3 24x48 size canvases and hang them all together. I haven't painted anything this large and never had to match it to a room, before so it feels a little daunting.

Today I found inspiration in the photo below, from a blog I read. This photo has a colorful mix of furniture, and motley of style of decorative elements along with the art piece it is a pleasing combination. The silver/ pewter mirror balances the some of the color found in the art piece and creating a harmonious room. My intent is to find a balance similar to this that will compliment our existing stained wood furniture and our existing decorative pieces.  

So besides blog- I find inspiration in this great group of women I paint with every thursday. One of the artists, Ann Golumbuk, I paint with has always painted art work for house. She says this way she gets a chance to enjoy it before it sells. And I absolutely love her work, and her joyful way of living- she is inspiring. She is one of the many people who inspire me. Here is a look at some of her pieces and a link to her website.

I am going to take a photo of her more recent work that isn't found on her website yet- it is really quite fun. She actually took first place in a local art show. Here is her website: http://anngolumbuk.com/


Another artist, I paint with is, Jan Lord. She is this wonderful, kind hearted Canadian who is very talented. Her work that I am currently interested in has these warm and wonderful beiges and with this sketchy images from arrows to fish in them. The sketchy images remind me of drawings found in caves. Here is one of her recent pieces that took 2nd place in the same local art show. http://janlord.net/  Jan is also on pinterist as well. http://pinterest.com/janlord/artsy/

I will keep you posted on the art piece that is created for this wall. I might even do a video on its creation. I just have to let the painting take me where it wants to go.