This past month has been pretty much wrapped up in making calendars which I thoroughly enjoy doing but I do find myself longing for the feel of pastel dust between my fingers or the smell of a freshly laid palette of oils. I admit to sneaking in a day here and there just so I could get that "ahhh" moment.
So, I thought I would share what I've been working on that's kept me so far from my easel's edge. They are little desk-sized calendars of my art. I think it's a really good exercise to see one's own work grouped together and to have to scrutinize and make the tough choices about which images get cut. It reminds me of the submission process for exhibitions. It's not always about being the prettiest picture. Sometimes it is a matter of balancing how one image looks when grouped with 11 other images. I also found that, on occasion, I couldn't include the image I initially selected because when it printed, the colors didn't hold up to the original as well as I would have liked. I find that happens most often when there are strong complementary colors competing with each other.
I really wanted to focus on these calendars as miniature art which is why I included the mini easels as part of the package. Besides that, I think these easels are just adorable. With that in mind, the paper and image quality were paramount for this project. For those of you who might want to try this at home...I decided on Moab Lasal double-sided Photo Matte paper. It's spendy but worth it if what you want is a top-quality feel to your little print (or big print). Even though I'm not printing on both sides, I like that the paper is thick, rich and is the same color on both sides. The colors come out beautifully on my Epson printer. Well, now that those are done, I am off to the easel! Yay.
The calendars I did for this year are CATS, SEASCAPES and BIRDS. You are welcome to view (and purchase) them on my wesite:
