New artwork

Fat mini #2 HERE

I have been spending a ton of time in my studio lately...way more than usual. I thought I'd show off some of my latest pieces. 

I'll start with abstracts and these "fat minis" so called because the thick, impasto oil paint makes these 6 x 6 pieces of paper heavy for their size.

Fat mini #1 HERE

 I had a huge backlog of half finished canvases in my studio and, frankly, I think it was depressing to see all of those incomplete thoughts that stacked up everywhere so I got seriously busy making them done. Once I started, it was truly fun.

"Out is through" HERE

This abstract was one of them. I had thought it was done. maybe even photographed it and for some long forgotten reason, I started adding white and immediately hated it. It was all the way against the wall turned in shame and I pulled it out, quickly finding where I wanted to go with it.

SOLD

I had also been wanting to get a few medium sized nudes done and a few unfinished abstracts were the perfect starting point.

email inquiries to art@kerrysteele.com

A few framed linen pieces happened too.

They seem so vastly different from my other work but my flower paintings are a great visual and cognitive break from my usual.

Sunday Flowers HERE

 Lots of paper pieces are in my Etsy shop too.

This is just a fraction of the work I have done but I often post it on Instagram as I go.

Hot chicks

I was painting in my studio all day yesterday and managed to fill an Instagram request for abstract figure studies in a small size on paper.

This morning, I leisurely pulled out my photography supplies and took the shots I needed. I posted them on Etsy and then Instagram. Boom! They sold in minutes. I guess I will be painting more this weekend.

I also worked on several canvases with figures too. This chick is the only one I finished. I think I am holding her back for a show later this year.

ORC-Whew! Its done!

As always, many thanks to Linda of Calling it Home for dreaming this baby up.

Are you all exhausted too?
If you need to catchup here are the previous weeks.
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
 Week 5

Let's take a look at my plan for my 17 year-old daughter's room and the results.

I had the bed, curtains and loveseat beforehand.
The girl likes chevron so I indulged.

I ordered a Lucite chair (from a company I won't recommend) and the blue and white chevron rug was a last minute Homegoods find.

The accessories in the room were the most fun for me. We both love elephants and the brass one was a thrifting score.

I found this vintage magazine rack at a local thrift and hit it with some gold spray paint to tie it in with some other accessories and hold all of my old her records.

I actually had the table in my basement. It was a side-of-the-road broken find that I repaired and lovingly refinished years ago. I took a deep breath and just started painting it white before I could reconsider.

I use my children's rooms as art hanging spots for my paintings until they sell so we can enjoy the paintings for a while.

That painting is from my new series and my daughter likes things to be color coordinated  and I think this works with her color scheme without totally matching.

The lamp on her nightstand was thrifted and I wrapped nearly all of the books in fun wrapping paper.

The pillows and throw on the loveseat make me want to steal them.

I found these blue and white porcelain balls at a discount store and I may have to buy some for myself.

 I hung her watercolors that are for sale in her Etsy shop with bulldog clips and they serve as inspiration as she works.

A print from The Pink Pagoda and a small abstract of mine work nicely together.

The rainbow was painted by her little sister and hangs with my favorite of all of her elephant paintings. I might just have to snap that up myself.

I learned a lot from this ORC. The main thing is that I never want to redo a a room with a resident slob. Every photo you have seen involved me moving clutter and clothes out of my way and putting things back to the way they were just a few hours earlier.
 We love the Parsons desk and ghost chair andI am really happy with the John Robshaw pillowcover I ordered and my recovered storage cubes.

Are going to spend the next few hours perusing all of the other fabulous ORC linker's rooms, like me?

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Follow me on Instagram to see paintings in progress

ORC-week four-Etsy score!

Linda at Calling it Home has created this fabulous One Room Challenge on Wednesdays and its crazy lil' sister the ORC linking event on Thursdays. Check 'em out!

This is week 4, aka "holy shit!" week. The week where participants say to their significant other in a shrill tone, "You HAVE TO help me_________ NOW!"  The week of no dinners and perhaps a bit more wine than is good.

If you missed them here are my  week one, week two and week three.

Actually, I learned from the last time to tell ask Mr. Designdumonde to attend to a few things early on and they have been accomplished. So no screaming over here.

 But! Shipping folks don't care about my ORC problems, therefore, the DIY

I was going to show you ain't happening right now because FedEX and a certain store have delayed and delayed the ship date of the item to be DIYed. 

Drat! (I actually said something much worse)
So here is the plan once again.

So I will show you my how my Etsy cart and a local store helped me in this room refresh.
 She already has the yellow chevron curtains and some blue and white porcelain that I scored at a local consignment store so my job was to find more blue and yellow items to complete the look.

I saw these darlings on Etsy and it took me about a tenth of a second to start checkout. Yay team yellow!

This pillow in John Robshaw fabric came from the Etsy shop Sierra Pillows

This one is from Festive Home Decor on Etsy. 2 points for team blue!
Blue is kind of winning because I bought 2 of these also but who cares because its blue, right?

Pillow from Royal Furnish

My favorite piece was not found on Etsy at all but in another local consignment store. I just couldn't wait any longer to show you.

 Could you die!!? Well, this dummy looked at it and walked out of the store thinking, "I don't need a mirror" and didn't go back for like 5 days! One night lying in bed I started to think about the mirror, which was only $50 BTW, and thought to myself, "You are crazy stupid, Kerry. You can't get a good mirror at a big box store for that price!" The next day I crossed fingers and headed back, sure it was gone. In a matter of minutes it was mine. Yay!!

The idea was to mix preppy, boho, and modern while accommodating her fickle ways and and budding art business and I think I am getting there with the mix of accessories I have so far.

 I would not spill all of my secrets on week 4 so stop by next week to see more of my plan unfold.

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Like Kerry Steele Art on Facebook to see my latest artwork

Follow me on Instagram to see paintings in progress

Inspiration lately

This gorgeous photo was brought to my attention by the one and only Mary McDonald on Facebook.

I tweeted about it and she mentioned me and its creator in a tweet.  The divine Ms. MM tweeted again that she would love to see my ranunculus painting. No pressure...Aaaaah!  After my heart attack, I looked a little closer at this photographer's work.

Check it out HERE her name is Jessica Nichols and its inspiring to say the least.

I managed to finish my painting over the weekend.

I wish the texture showed up better in the photos like they do in this progress shot.

I took this picture of a very pretty sky the other day. My neighbor had just given birth to a daughter minutes before so I am using it a inspiration for a painting that will be a baby gift.

This is such a fun photo. Its coming to a canvas near me soon.

Very pretty.

I think I am on a floral kick lately.

What's inspiring you?

A new art wish list

A room at the top of my all time favorites list was one of my inspiration photos yesterday for the linking ORC event. It was very well received in the comments too.

The makeover of my son's bedroom is progressing well and I have a nice collection coming together for the gallery wall. I have been on the fence about adding vintage portraits to the mix. I don't want to frighten my overnight guests...or do I?

I have a short wishlist to add to the pieces that I already have for my gallery wall.

HERE

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HERE

HERE

I still haven't decided. I am really trying to keep my project budget friendly which eliminates many possibilities. Avoiding terrifying clowns, axe-murdering grandpa faces and drunk old ladies in the vintage portrait market left me with these four before I lost patience.

Too creepy or just funky enough?

I dream of...

...endless pillows.

I realize that I am totally dating myself with the revelation that the TV show "I dream of Jeannie" was, for me as a young child, a visual treat that fed my imagination and started these mad cravings for textiles and pillows...more pillows!

The cushy inside of Jeannie's bottle was a fantasy of glittery cocooning that really appealed to me.

I was browsing the interwebs in search of inspiration stuff to buy for a room zhush and I noticed my additions to several baskets were all in pillow form and I lingered over other stuffed square and rectangle bits longer than anything else.

"I am coming to your house" this one squeaked.

"Me too, crazy lady!" this one joined in with.

Can I just fill my whole freakin' house with pillows?

Yes, they would lose their visual impact but not their "Jeannie bottle" AKA grown up ball pit appeal.

Why not just a bunch of generic bed pillows? 

HERE

HERE

If it were simply for the flop of a a room sized bed, I would be imagining that, but Jeannie's bottle is pretty (in 5 year old terms) and I could love the indulgence of tons of soft, fluffy, gorgeous pillows.

HERE

Maybe I should check into a twelve pillow program.