Big Move Coming

I apologize for not posting anything in a long time. My family and I will be moving from New Hampshire to Vancouver, Washington. I have spent the past couple of months repainting walls in the house, decluttering, and making it pretty to sell. It officially went on the market last week.

I don't forsee too much art making in the near future. I have 2 workshops coming up and a commission to do, but I will be focused on selling our house, then finding a new house and getting moved in. I will make a couple posts on my workshops so you can see what we did at them.

Next Saturday is my first workshop:

Saturday, January 26, 2013
10:00 - 4:00
Salvation Army, 15 Roxbury Plaza, Keene, NH

If you would like to sign up here is the form. http://monadnockareaartists.org/News/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/caulfield2013.pdf

 There are still spots available. Beginners to intermediate are welcome to join!

My other workshop is on Ann Kullberg's cruise in March! http://www.annkullberg.com/cruises/cruise_home_feb13.php 

Fisher 400 available in the US!!! & Squirrel Food

I am so excited that Fisher 400 is now available in the US. Fisher 400 is a sanded paper very much like UART. I love how it works with colored pencils and only use it for all my portraits. I'm sure if you search my blog you will find many mentions on my techniques on it.  

Here's the link on where to get it. .http://www.proartpanels.com/fisher400-proart-panels/

Squirrel Food 6"x18"

If you follow me on Facebook you might have seen me talking about y little squirrel friends. We've had these little red squirrel visitors on my back deck for a while now. I had never seen them before, or maybe I have but since they are the size of a chipmunk I may have assumed the speedy little guys were chipmunks. They have been so much fun to watch I had to find a way to put one in a still-life. 

Print Shop

I've updated my Print Shop to get ready for holiday shopping! Instead of housing the shop on Etsy I've built it into my website. http://www.nicolecaulfieldfineart.com/home/print-shop  

Up until Christmas I am offering all of my prints with free shipping. They are all printed on archival canvas using archival inks and are sealed with varnish for glass free framing that gives the experience of an original. I a super happy with how these prints have turned out and they have been hugely succesful at my shows this summer and fall.

There's another reason to buy a print right now besides they are great Christmas presents. My daughter's cheerleading team, that cheers for the Keene Knights football team, have been doing great with two 1st place wins at competition. If they win one more they are going to Orlando for a national competition. Any prints sales from now until then will help me pay for the trip. 

I've also added a couple of oldies but goodies to the print shop to spice things up! 

Light Vanity 8"x10" print on canvas available in the print shop

You can get to the print shop using this link: http://www.nicolecaulfieldfineart.com/home/print-shop 

Keene Art Tour

This weekend I am participating in the first Keene Art Tour!

www.keenearttour.com

Our town, Keene, New Hampshire, is rich in artistic talent, and home to many artists.
Yet there’s never been a local open studio tour here, devoted exclusively to artists living and working in Keene–until now!Come meet our artists. You’ll not only see wonderful art, you’ll get a peek inside their working studios. We want you to see how artists work, to experience what it’s like to make art.
But most of all, we want to show you the diversity of creativity, talent, experience and media you can find right here in Keene.
So we mixed nationally- and internationally-exhibited artists and fresh work from emerging artists.
We sought artists working in traditional fine art media–oils, watercolor, pen and ink, murals, acrylic–and fine craftspeople working in wood, fiber, glass and clay.
You’ll see photography, fine art furniture, wall hangings, jewelry and sculpture. You’ll find beautiful realistic portraits and abstract work. Traditional landscapes and folk art. Work inspired by our modern world, and work that looks back to prehistory.
In short, something for everyone. All within Keene’s city limits, and most within walking distance.
Join us in this, our very first, Keene Art Tour!

It will be at my studio and I will have some new prints on offer. I also have the pleasure of hosting visiting artist Kyle Stuckey - who is AH-mazing. 

My studio is at 31 Trowbridge Rd in Keene and you can pick up a map to see the other artists. 

Just for Pumpkin Festival

I created a landscape of Keene in the fall with Mt. Monadnock in the background and yet another fall rain coming in. :-) I'll be offering it as an 8" x 8" print for $20 and as a necklace for $8. 

Keene Pumpkin Festival

I usually only do art fairs but I am a huge fan of my town's annual Pumpkin Festival, so I signed up to be in the craft area!

We are in the 22nd year of doing Pumpkin Festival here in Keene. It started in 1991 and was a quaint New England festival akin to the zucchini or pickle festival of other towns. The festival grew and grew however and then they started to count how many jack-o-lanterns people brought starting the world record for most lit pumpkins. We held that record for many years - our highest being 29,762 (pretty good considering there are only about 23,000 people who live in Keene!). We no longer hold the world record, several pumpkin fests have tried to beat us and in 2003 Boston beat us with 30,128 pumpkins.

We've been trying to beat that record ever since, coming close, but not hitting it and now there is a new pumpkin layer on the scene. Highwood Illinois is joining us for the second year. We are having a televised duel of it too on HGTV with the Property Brothers. Fun, fun, fun. 

Back to why I am writing all of this though. I will have a tent at this year's fest and I invited other artists to join my space: Krsitina Wentzell, Luann Udell, Linda Dessaint, Chris Salmon, Patsy DiBernardo, & Mary Pellerin. So look for the "Local Art" sign among the caramel corn and maple syrup! 

Just for the festival I took my daughter's advice and made some small things. I have these cute little 1 inch necklaces featuring my work and little (2.5") mini canvas prints on easels. This is just for Pumpkin Festival though so if you want one come on October 20th! 

I have a little landscape I did as well the same size as my little square drawings that I will be selling as prints. I'll let you see that later in the week after I get a good photograph of it. 

Keene Pumpkin Festival link!

Tomato Variety

hot off the drawing board:

Tomato Variety

8" x 8"

please email me for purchase inquiry

$200 original

$50 framed print on canvas

Fall Foliage Art Studio Tour

Need something to do this Columbus Day Weekend? Join us for the Fall Foliage Art Studio Tour in the Monadnock region. I am towing my camper to 271 Roxbury St in Keene to join sculptor, fiber artist and jeweler artist  Luann Udell at her studio. We'll have loads of art, food, and wine. 

Check out the Fall Foliage Art Studio Tour website to see the full map of the tour and all the artists you can stop by to see. 

\

October 6th - 7th 

10 - 5pm

Flotsam & Jetsam 2

8" x 8" 

Colored Pencil on Pastelbord

I finished these just in time to bring with me to the Heritage Festival in Newmarket, NH tomorrow! 

If you would like to try your hand at some shells I did a kit for Ann Kullberg a while back with shells on Pastelbord! Here is what the finished picture looks like for the kit:

Shells

8" x 8"

colored pencil on Pastelbord

These shells came from a box in my art classroom where I teach. They were in a box with a handwritten note that said "Nantucket Beach 1975."

Flotsam and Jetsam 1

Flotsam and Jetsam 1

8" x 8"

colored pencil on Pastelbord

I'm taking a break from food and doing a series with 3 pieces based on sea stuff, so stay tuned if you like this one! 

Art in the Park

My favorite art event of the year is this weekend: Art in the Park in Keene! The weather seems to be perfect too!

The Sublime Mobile Art Gallery is all ready for the show as well! If you read the article in the Keene Sentinel about mine and Kristina's campers you know it will be at the show. What the article didn't say is that I am just lugging my art in the camper to the show, and my art will be at my tent in the park like usual. For one thing this event would never allow something like this camper. I wouldn't even dream of asking them to let me bring it in. I did want to drive it there however, because everyone is so excited about it. If you want to see it, it will be in the back parking lot where the Colony Mill overflow parking used to be. 

I assured the art association  that I will NOT be selling any art out of the camper and that I would tuck it away in the parking lot not in prime parking spaces after I empty my art out and set up. So if you want to look at it, it will be a bit of a hike. I'm so happy that after some  discussion that I can bring it into the parking lot at all.  :-) It WILL be open completely to the public for Pumpkin Festival, the Fall Folaige Art Studio Tour and the Keene Art Tour, so please come and see it decked out and artified then.  

As you can see it got a new addition! Benches that are also beds when folded flat! I have two of these lovelies but I may only keep one in the camper most of the time. You can see that all of the art is off the walls and packed up for traveling to my booth. :-) I also got the camper legal and moveable! New license plates and registration and a hitch on my car! I still have not tried to move it myself yet. My husband and I are going to hook it up tonight and practice driving it around in the old Kmart parking lot if you need some Friday night laughs. 

I hope I see all of you there! I will have my new square edibles collection in both prints on canvas and some originals as well as my small retro pieces under my tent! I'm very excited to offer these for the first time as a big group to the public! 

I really do artwork as well as campers. Not that you can tell from my last 5 posts. I really appreciate all the well wishes and enthusiasm about my new mobile art studio/gallery space. I am happy to get back to drawing though! Here's my latest piece from my Squared series.

Sushi Squared

colored pencil 

8" x 8" available in print on canvas $25 and original $200

Camper is ready! Sublime Mobile Art Studio

Welcome to the Sublime Mobile Art Studio!

I want to thank all you that have been following the progress of my camper studio. It will have its debut this week at Art in the Park in Keene, NH. It won't be able to be in the show because of the delicate sprinkler system in the park, but it will be in the parking lot. If you would like a sneak peak you can view it from the outside and peak in the windows. :-)

Some more events you can see Sublime at are:

September 1-2 Art in the Park, Keene, NH Ashuelot River Park - The grand Debut of the Sublime Art Studio! Although the camper won't be allowed in the show - it can be viewed from the outside and you can peek through the windows. Come visit me at my tent in the ark for my artwork. 

October 6-7, Columbus Day Weekend, Fall Foliage Art Studio Tour, 271 Roxbury St, Keene, NH.


October 20th, Pumpkin Festival, Keene, NH. Location not set yet.

November 3rd & 4th, Keene Art Tour. 31 Trowbridge Rd Keene, NH. 

All the events so far are in Keene, but I am looking into festivals and farmer's markets before the season is over. If you know of any that would be good for a camper gallery - let me know! Also if you would like me to come to your event or rent it out for your own work, fashion trunk show etc - let me know! 603-685-4238 or email nicolecaulfield@gmail.com

Camper Update 8/24

More camper updates. I've made curtains to help with the overall color scheme of the camper which will now be green, red, yellow, and white. Its funny - with the addition of the curtains, the camper seems to be working its way to its own theme. I thought I would be doing a "campy" take on the girlscouts but after sampling and trying loads of fabrics on the windows (did you know you can return cut fabric?) I settled on this vintage looking lemon print from Joann Fabrics. I tried loads of woodsey prints and none worked as well as these sweet little curtains. SO what is the new theme? I'm not sure but the lemons work right with my food themed artwork!

The most exciting thing is the little green gallery/studio will be getting a new (old) door!

The other door was not in good condition - it is dented, leaking and missing parts. It looked like someone lost their key at some point too and pried it open. So I had someone come and take a look at what I could do for the door. My friend George Ponzini is a glass artist and can sometimes be talked into doing home repairs/kitchen remodels etc. http://www.georgeponzini.com/ You must look at his glass art it is amazing!

Well, we decided on getting on old door from Renew Salvage in Brattleboro VT and cut it to fit the frame. I went by myself and picked one. There really was only one that seemed like it would work and George is not coming until the weekend so I hope I am not jinxing this! I need the camper finished by September 1st! So I have no time for 2nd choices!

While I am waiting for the door it is on to the interior. My friend (& previous owner) painted the inside with a light grey/green which as she put it "is great for sleeping" but its kind of dark in the camper during the day sometimes so I need to lighten it up. I am going for a light lemony yellow and will be doing that today.

Also on the list before the 1st:

• picture rails on the outside
• carpeting in
• furniture in (and some needs to be put together)
• picture hangers/possible shelving in the inside
• clean up tires

Wish me luck! Its back to school and therefore work next week for me! So I am getting a little nervous!

So it is painted! I chose #3, which is like a light jade green. I have some touch us to take care of and then its on to the fun stuff. Curtains, inside paint, furniture, hanging system, attach canopy, carpet. I am hoping it will be finished "enough" to drive to Art in the Park Sept 2nd! Wish me luck!

Color Pick

I can't believe how the votes here and on facebook were overwhelmingly the thirties camper. 

I made a palette of 30's greens from color picking in Photoshop various thirties items from jewelry, fashion, housewares, and vehicles. 

I like them all in a way - which do you prefer? 

Camper Art Gallery Designs

So I have the camper primed! If you are following along and want to paint the outside of a camper to make a mobile art gallery of your own, I'll let you know the process as it goes. I looked into what paint to use and after deciding not to use car paint (because it is expensive), and not to use rustoleum (because I was told its color fades fast) - I decided to use what a lot of websites said to: exterior house paint! I know I was surprised too. Since the aluminum had the factory finish on it all I had to do to prep was lightly sand and wash it. That is if you forget all the stickers to remove and caulking to fix. :-) 

The primer I used was Glidden Gripper for latex paint. It gave me some problems when it was sunny because it dried super fast, leaving some goopy stuff that I will need to sand off with a fine sandpaper. I wanted to spray the primer but it was too thick to squirt out the sprayer and it said not to thin it down. 

So the next step is sanding, like I said, and then paint job! I have two designs I like below that I sketched in thumbnail. I have already bought a vintage looking red and white striped canopy that will go IN FRONT of the camper over the door and the whole of that side. I am showing it on the side in my sketches so it doesn't block the design. 

The first design is a space age design that would go with the name my daughter came up with for the camper: Hover Craft. My camper is propped up really high so it can be dragged up a mountainside, so I was trying to come up with a name that went with that. The blue will probably be different but you get the idea. I also have a little tail fin thing at the top that a lot of campers have that would have to be made and attached.

This design I think goes with my kitsch art and has a fun feel. 

 My other design is thirties inspired. It has almost a jadeite green, but a little darker. I would have to beef up the red accents to go with the red and white awning (that again will be in front of the camper, not the side). It kind of reminds me of girl scouts and bright red and shiny camping gear.

The 30's design is clean and simple and much more traditional.

So let me know what you think!

Camper Update

I just got back from another summer trip. This time it was back home to Chicago to visit my Mom and sister with the kids. We do it twice a year and get to visit amazing places with family. This year we added a trip to the top of Willis Tower, the American Girl store, and as always to go see the Bean sculpture at Millenium Park. I love that sculpture - I don't think I could ever tire of it.

So now I am back to work and getting worried about school and the fall art shows coming on fast. I am committed to have my camper gallery up and running before Columbus Day weekend for our Fall Foliage Art Studio Tour. 

It doesn't look like I've done much but at one point this baby was a military camper and in its many lives it gained many stickers! Before painting I had to remove them all, and sand. There is also some messy frosting like caulk that I am just trying to give a clean edge to so it doesn't look funny when being painted. My firend Lisa Is sooo good at this kind of stuff so I have her coming this week with her paint sprayer to kick the project in gear! First we are painting it with a primer for aluminum and then we need to paint it all white and then finally the color I choose for the camper. I want it white and something else... but still need to pick it.

In my original post I said I wanted to paint it turquoise but I talked one friend (so far) into doing a camper art gallery with me and hers came beautiful on the outside in a light turquoise. Can we say jealous much! She had the foresight to make a kickstarter fundraiser to help pay for it - I wish I had thought of that! Here's her website where you can see her beauty. Although the outside of hers looks great she still needs to empty the inside and get it gallery ready. I love her idea of having a hanging system on the outside as well as the inside. http://www.kristinawentzell.com/

Okay so here is what colors I am trying to decide on... I already bought a red and white striped awning so it has to match that.



This is what I riginally wanted to do. I c ould just got a shade darker than Kristina's.



They actually look quite cool in red - especially if I add a zig-zag!



Or what about green?

I need your help and opinions! Make sure to look at Krisitina's to see why I am wavering on the turquoise!

Here's my original camper post where I talk about where I came up with the idea! http://www.nicolecaulfieldfineart.blogspot.com/2012/07/camper.html

Edit: It is now raining and it says rain for at least the next 5 days! ugh! Also there is one major snafu on the color. I have been given the good advice of keeping the color light because it will fade! Especially red so that is definitely out! ft!

Mushrooms Squared

Mushrooms Squared

8" x 8"

$200 original $50 framed print on canvas 

I thought I better do a couple of neutral ones to go with the series. This one has a lot of color actually for being a neutral!