art studio

It's finally December

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In this year that has lasted close to a decade somehow, it is finally December: the last month of the year. The light in the Northern Hemisphere may be dwindling, but on those days when the sun is out, there is a clarity to the light that I find wonderful.

Today as I write this, it’s cold and clear outside, and it absolutely feels like winter in my corner of New Jersey. I am thankful for the fire pit that Morris and I bought, since we can still spend some time outside on temperate winter days. You can see a pic of our fire-it and some of that beautiful sunlight below.

Now that the election is done, I realize how much space it was taking up in my head. Even with my renewed worries about COVID, I am finally able to pick up paintbrushes for the first time in more than six months, and have started a new piece. It feels good to be working on new art again. You can see the start of the new piece to the left, above.

Speaking of art: I will be doing a live studio sale this Saturday, December 5th starting at 2 p.m. I will be live on Instagram. Here’s a link to my page. If you follow me there, you can find me live at 2 this Saturday with a clean studio, all clean and set up with art for you. (Which means I better start cleaning and setting up.)

If you would like to order any art or greeting cards (some are above) as gifts, please get those orders in by December 11th, so I can get them in the mail in time for Chanukah, Christmas and Kwanzaa. I’m offering you a special discount, since the holidays are here!

Just enter code FALALA at checkout for 15% off all orders over $20 from now until 12/11/20.

New art this week

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I have reconfigured my studio yet again, and have hung a bunch of new pieces to offer during tomorrow’s live sale.

If you see anything in this post that you like, or if any of the things from earlier this week call to you, let me know before 4 p.m. EDT tomorrow (July 19th), so I can pull it for you! Below are just SOME of the items that will be on offer tomorrow! Click on any to see pricing and further information.

I hope to see you there!!


What's for sale so far!

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Well, if you’ve been following along on Instagram or Facebook or the homepage of my website here, then you already have an idea. But just in case not, here are some pics of last weekend’s studio set up. I still have 5 heart cards (at $3 each, plus postage), both tambourines you see here ($36 each, plus shipping), the four heart collages on canvases in the top left picture ($20 each, plus shipping), the two bright paintings on the wall together (the yellow roses have sold), and the “If You were coming in the Fall” collage ($90, framed, plus shipping).

Over the past week, here are some of the items that have been offered for sale, with prices:

Original heart collages. Smaller ones are 5” square ($20 plus shipping), larger ones are 6” square ($25 each, plus shipping).

Original heart collages. Smaller ones are 5” square ($20 plus shipping), larger ones are 6” square ($25 each, plus shipping).

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Flowerburst

24”x30” mixed media on canvas, $200 plus shipping. (Discounted from $325)

Below, you see my Chakra Heart garlands—each close to 7 feet long, with fourteen rainbow-colored hearts to correspond with the seven chakra colors, all made of hand-painted paper and strung on red & white baker’s twine. Usually $8 each plus postage, they are for sale for $5, plus $2 postage. Two of the hot air balloons that I posted this week remain, priced at $30 each plus shipping ($10). The four original collage hearts this week are different from the ones offered last week. The smaller, 5” squares are $20 plus shipping, the 6” squares are still $25 each, plus shipping. They can sit on a shelf, as seen here, but they are also wired to be hung. The remaining nine pieces are original watercolors, which are matted and ready to frame. (Apologies for any glare from the protective packaging.) The square ones are in 8” square mats, the rectangles are in 8”x10” mats. Your choice, $20 each, plus shipping of $5.

I would love love love to make some more space in my studio, which is why I hauled out all the holiday pieces for tomorrow’s live sale. Here’s a sneaky peak at what the studio looks like today:

“You Only Cross My Mind in Winter” 24” x 36” on canvas. Acrylic ink and paint with charcoal. $250 plus shipping. Cat not for sale.

“You Only Cross My Mind in Winter” 24” x 36” on canvas. Acrylic ink and paint with charcoal. $250 plus shipping. Cat not for sale.

I hope you will stop by tomorrow at 5 pm EDT for the sale. If you miss it, it will remain on Instagram for a bit, and also be posted to my Facebook page.

Wow. This spring was really something, huh?

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I had intentions and dreams. Places to go, things to create and sell.

I was going to see about selling art in more stores, and teaching a class at MADE in Woodbury.

And then came the pandemic and the shutdown, and it somehow shut down my ability to make art. I have legit made only one new thing since February, and it’s the wonky giraffe you see below. And in May, in shut down MADE, which meant that quite a lot of pieces of art came home.

Hello, I am a wonky giraffe.

Hello, I am a wonky giraffe.

I have, however, been able to write. No poetry (alas), but I have been putting out weekly content for my coaching site, as well as two bursts of daily content over several weeks. Both of those bursts turned into ebooks that are available for purchase and immediate download: “12 tips to help you sleep” and “Lower your anxiety”. They are chock full of strategies and practices that actually work to help you get better sleep, and to lower your anxiety.

As you can tell, I’m a fan of clear labelling. There’s even a book bundle if you want to get them both (at a discount).

I have also been busy doing podcast interviews and sending submissions to publications. Which reminds me that I have an article in the newest issue of Mantra Wellness Magazine, which should be hitting stands in another week or so. Needless to say, I am over the moon about having an article in a nationally distributed publication!

With so much art now packed into our house (seriously, so so much art), I have decided to try home studio sales next month. I will be posting a piece of original art per day every day in July on my Facebook and Instagram accounts. First to claim any piece will get it in the mail, along with my undying gratitude for both the purchase and the free space in my home. AND I will be doing one “studio sale” per week, live on Instagram stories, where I give a tour of my studio and show a number of pieces, each for sale.

If you’ve always wanted one of my paintings, you will not do better than these coming sales, as I am ready to release a lot of art into the world in an effort to make as many people happy as possible. Because you know that only good vibes and positivity are involved in ALL of my pieces. And I plan on offering discounted prices on it all, to make things easier.

There will be sailboat collages, hot air balloons, large paintings, art tambourines, and mixed media pieces, literary collages, sweet garlands, greeting cards . . . It’s going to be FUN! Below are just SOME of the pieces likely to come up for sale.

For those of you who have always had an eye on a particular piece

Feel free to get in touch with me NOW, ahead of July, and make me an offer I can’t refuse. I mean, there are some offers that simply might not work out, because I need to cover both shipping costs, materials and at least some of my time . . . but if there is a piece you just KNOW you love, HIT ME UP.

Sharing a quick cleaning tip

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And if you are not an artist, this may sound like it doesn’t apply to your life, but stay with me for a minute.

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As mentioned in my last blog post, I’ve been working on some oil pastel paintings (and yes, that’s what it’s called when you cover an entire surface with oil pastels). In fact, here’s a closeup of one of my favorites:

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Wild poppies

One of my favorite new oil pastel paintings, which I made using Sennelier oil pastels and cold-pressed watercolor paper

Turns out I didn’t just cover watercolor paper with oil pastels, I also managed to get a decent amount on my fingers. And on the surface of my wooden work table. And also? I dropped a bit of the wrapper from one of the oil pastels on the floor, and stepped on it, and it left a big white smear. And Kismet, my helpful studio assistant, knocked bright yellow on the floor and it smeared like WHOA when I tried to wipe it up. And I was temporarily bemused (not amused, trust me).

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Lemon

So fresh, so happy

And then I remembered that I am a distributor for Young Living essential oils in possession of many oils, but most specifically, of LEMON essential oil, which is the go-to for removing things like “chewing gum from hair” and “label adhesive off of glasses” and such. So i put two small drops of lemon oil on a paper towel, and wiped, and lo! the oil pastels transferred onto the paper towel and off the floor (and table) and all was well.

In fact, it was a bit better than that, even, since it left my studio smelling lemony fresh.

So if you, fellow artist, manage to get oil pastels on your surfaces, reach for lemon oil. If it’s on a wood surface, remember to wipe in the direction of the grain of the wood.

And same goes for anyone else with a sticky or greasy sort of issue that needs tackling (like tree sap) or something sticky that you’d like to remove—like chewing gum from hair, or stickers from things, or temporary tattoos on skin. (If you don’t have a local supplier of lemon oil, you can get in touch and order Young Living lemon essential oil from me.)



Scenes from my studio on New Year's Day

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We are happy with our quiet start of 2019. I got a pretty awful upper respiratory virus last week, and spent all of Saturday in bed with a a miserable fever. I mean, I shouldn’t judge, I guess. But it made me feel miserable, so I assume its feelings won’t be hurt if I reference it that way.

Today is for doing just a bit of each of the things I’d like to enjoy and focus on this year. (You can read about that a bit in this prior post.) I’ve done my meditation this morning, and am going to sit down with Morris, my sweet husband, and engage in some “year in review” stuff once he gets home from his tai chi class. There will be time for cooking and laundry and a walk in the sun.

And I’ve already spent some time in my wonderful studio, which is something that didn’t even exist at this time last year. Here are some photos from this morning.

And yes, I noticed that these pictures strategically cropped out a bunch of mess. I was hoping you didn’t notice.

On Living an Abundant Life

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Does living an abundant life mean that you have great wealth? Does it mean you have nothing but good things in your life? What do you do when real life sends you something that isn’t exactly good? Just what does an abundant life look like?

I consider my current life to be an abundant one. No great wealth, not that I’m not open to that (hear that, Universe?). And I do have good things in my life: a place to live that has running water, working heat and air conditioning, a (small but) nice kitchen with working appliances, a sweet cat, an even sweeter husband (seriously, he’s such a good guy), two wonderful daughters out living their lives.

But it’s not all good stuff here. If you’re new around here, you probably don’t know that I’m disabled (two autoimmune issues that require lots of rest and have a tendency to flare up, not just when I’m stressed, but when the weather changes, or just for kicks). My family has been dealing with cancer issues this year, since my dad was diagnosed with esophageal cancer in July. My husband’s sweet and salty cousin Sel died on the 14th, not long after I posted my last blog post about choosing abundance.

Yet while we have been grieving for Sel, and I’ve been using more pain management stuff than usual (heat, salt baths, pain meds, and CBD oil on some spots), we’ve spent more time than usual with family. The funeral, shiva, and Thanksgiving found us with Sel’s wonderful family, and seriously, they are some terrific people. Also leading abundant lives, despite their own issues.

So I guess the answer to the question of what an abundant life looks like is that it looks like anyone’s life. Because the answer depends on you and your viewpoint. If you acknowledge and celebrate the good things in your life, chances are pretty good that you’re leading an abundant life. If you prefer to focus on the things you lack (whether they are objects, cash, or people), or on the things you dislike, chances are a bit higher that you’re not living in abundance.

It’s up to you to turn it around!

Karen Salmansohn knows what’s what.

Karen Salmansohn knows what’s what.

If you are interested in more about abundance or other energy work, I hope that you will sign up for my newsletter. It goes out roughly weekly with information related to living with more positivity in your life.


Before I go, I wanted to invite you to shift your energy just a bit this holiday season by coming out to THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME: a Holiday Shopping Party, which I am hosting here in Williamstown, NJ. I am opening my studio up on Sunday, December 2nd, from 12 noon to 4 p.m., and I’ve invited three other women I know who are makers and who own their own small businesses to join me and sell their things as well. And everyone accepts cash or credit cards. So if you come out, you will not only get snacks and mix with happy people, but you’ll be shopping local, supporting woman-owned small businesses, and shopping handmade. Win-win-win!

Below is a gallery—if you click on the image below, you can cycle through and see some of the items that will be available here:

Just a hint of what you might expect to find this Sunday! If you need the street address for my studio or directions, let me know!

When you should be getting ready for the Pitman Craft Show,

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To pick up on the post title: "When you should be getting ready for the Pitman Craft Show," but instead, you spend your morning cleaning your entire studio and bringing new furniture in. The table you see in the top left photo below was just a pile of lumber yesterday morning, and my wonderful sweetheart spent the afternoon turning that wood into the table you see. I love it--and him--so much! We carried the table in yesterday, and this morning it sparked me to clear and clean the room, including washing the canvas tarp that I use under the table I paint on in the center of the room. This new studio gives me so much joy. I love having my own space to work and dream, and a place to hang my art and my vision boards. This room feels like freedom, in so many ways.

The cart to the right of my teal cart came in from the garage today. It moved here with me, and was sort of taking up space but not really functioning well out in the corner of the garage. Now it's holding all my stamping supplies, pastels (soft/chalk and oil), watercolors, oil sticks, gelatos (sadly not the ice cream variety, though I *think* I have some in the freezer), and other non-acrylic media. And as the bottom right photo above shows, an Ikea rack also came in from the garage where it was being under-utilized (and now houses a lot of canvases and other supplies).

I'm super thrilled with the studio, especially now that it's starting to take better shape, but it did pretty much derail my day by tiring me out. I've spent the afternoon working on writing better copy for the products listed for sale on my website. The greeting cards, hot air balloons and sailboats are done! I'm just over halfway through the tambourines and collages shop, and am taking a break from writing copy to write this blog post. LOL!

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Any 3 greeting cards for $13.50
$13.50

I will be taking greeting cards, hot air balloons, sailboats, tambourines, collage hearts (not even posted in my shop yet!) and a few literary collages with me this weekend to the Pitman Spring Craft Show. I'll be in space X151, at the corner of Theatre Avenue and Broadway. The Craft Show is scheduled for Saturday, May 19th, though there's unsettled weather in the forecast at present, so there's an outside chance I'll be selling things on Sunday instead. (I'll know for sure on Friday.) Whenever it is, I sure hope to see some friendly faces--and sell a lot of items!

It's been a busy week around here

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This week was taken up with lots of construction work. As a person with a couple of autoimmune disorders, I usually sleep until about 9 a.m. most days, but that wasn't a possibility this week, as I had to be up before 8 four out of 5 days, and the fifth day, I had to be up at 8. 

But look! They framed my new studio! And put a roof on! And even managed a bit of Tyvek and an installed window (ahead of a rather wet and wild Nor'easter)!

See my sweetheart in the grey, talking to the project manager?

See my sweetheart in the grey, talking to the project manager?

Despite all the NOISE NOISE NOISE NOISE (that's me, channeling the Grinch), I managed to get some work done.

In fact, I did so many boat collages that I can offer you a boat show!

The 8"x10" boat pieces are going to be priced at $80 and the 11"x14" ones will be $100. Holler out if you spy one that you want!

In the next blog post, expect to see the finished studio. Oh my gosh, you guys, I am so excited!

Breaking ground on my new art studio

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You guys! Things are getting real around here. I woke up this morning to the sound of men's voices in my backyard. (Which was unexpected and mildly startling, but anyway . . . ) It was the contractor and the masons, here to start digging the foundation and footings for my new art studio.

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Can you see Miss Kismet in the window, supervising? 

By the end of the work day, the footings were dug and most of the dirt they removed was carted away. Next up, an inspection . . . and (if all goes as expected) the foundation will be poured on Wednesday

And, um, hey - if you have been looking at my work and would like to help me out by clearing some space before they remove those glass doors and I have to clear half of my living room, just give me a holler. You can see a lot of the available pieces here on my website - three different galleries: one for paintings, one for literary collages, and one for art tambourines.

Just in time for hygge season, it's a 25% off sale!

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Hygge (pronounced hue-gah) is the Danish word for the idea of inside winter coziness - you know the sort of thing: warm socks, afghans, fires in the fireplaces, and snuggling. It's like hunkering down, but perhaps without the sort of isolated bunker-mentality that sometimes elicits. As you can see from the photo below, my cat Kismet has this down to an art form:

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Autumn - overlooked my knitting -

Speaking of art forms (were we not?), I've been making slow progress on some larger pieces as well as on a few literary collages. Above is one that I completed not long ago - it features text from an Emily Dickinson poem, "Autumn--overlooked my knitting--".  It's now available in the "Literary Collage" section on my website, if you're interested, at a cost of $150. (25% off from now until end of December.)

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Ooh!

These are actual building plans.

For a brand-new art studio here at my house.

 

 

 

 

In this season of hygge, I am about to endure weeks of daily assault on my quiet and sanity. On the plus side, in the end, I'm going to have a wonderful new art studio to work in. In the meantime, I'm going to have to move a lot of . . . STUFF . . . in our current living room in order to safeguard it from the work area. And that means I'd really, truly like to sell some finished art. Not just to make money (though who doesn't like money), but because our relatively small house is going to be really hard to navigate if I have to move all this artwork into the hallway and other rooms.

In light of the foregoing, I am offering a HUGE incentive to collectors: TWENTY-FIVE PERCENT (25%) OFF of any piece here on my website. And I'll give you free shipping to addresses in the US as well. 

Why not add to the feeling of hygge in your home by adding some new artwork, while I'm unable to enjoy much of the quite and cozy for a while?