Small, dark, moody vignettes

I was trying to come up with a title for this post, which is about the five pieces I want to share with you today, when it occurred to me that they are all little stories on the canvas. And what the story is, or what it means, is entirely up to you.

I see the moon

I see the moon, the moon sees me. The moon sees somebody I want to see. God bless the moon, and god bless me, and god bless the somebody I want to see.

Music in the pumpkin patch

Hand-torn papers, including pumpkins.

Ghost music

Hand-torn ghostie.

Batty Bat

Named for a song by the Count on Sesame Street. Which I am singing as I type.

Birds in the pumpkin patch

What story do you tell yourself about this?

All of the above art pieces are 5”x7” in size on a deep canvas with finished edges. They are suitable for hanging on the wall or sitting atop a dresser, table, mantel, or shelf. Created using hand-torn papers (including the pumpkins, ghost, and bat), acrylic paint, and acrylic inks. Perfect for Halloween or all-year evocativeness. $35 each, which includes US shipping.

I haven’t added these to my online shop just yet, so you can email me to claim one if you don’t want to wait!

Well, hello October!

Fall is well and truly here in southern New Jersey. We’ve been enjoying cool nights and excellent sleeping weather. In only a few short weeks, it will be time for Halloween, which makes me mindful that I have some offerings that would be PERFECT for both the Fall season, and for Halloween.

Fall is my favorite season.

I’m not a person who usually has a favorite anything, but I do have a favorite season, and it is Autumn (or Fall). Which partially explains why I created the following pieces of art. I love the fall palette when it comes to creating art. I love the leaves (both in real life and in art).

Here are six paintings—four for Fall, plus two specifically for Halloween. All come framed, and prices include US shipping. The first, square piece is a 12” square canvas framed in wood. It features a quote from Sense & Sensibility: “It is not everyone who has your passion for dead leaves.” It is for sale for $150, which includes US shipping.

The second and third paintings are 8”x10” canvas board, matted and framed. Both feature Emily Dickinson quotes. The first, with the butterfly, is “Autumn—overlooked my Knitting” and the second is “If you were coming in the Fall”. Each is priced at $125, which includes US shipping.

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The three pieces in the bottom row are all 9”x12” mixed-media collages on canvas board, matted and framed. The first features a quote from Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery, “I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.” The middle piece features a Cornish blessing, “From ghoulies and ghosties, long-leggedy beasties, and things that go bump in the night, the Good Lord protect us.” The final piece just says “Boo” and features a handprinted ghoul. All three pieces are $150, and include free US shipping.

If any of the above pieces appeal to you, please get in touch to claim it. You can order from the website, drop me an email, or message me on social media.

Restocked for Fall

I’ve been working on some new pieces for fall, and there are now some at both Olde Pear Primitives on Lafayette Street in Cape May, NJ and at MADE. Artisan Marketplace on Broad Street in Woodbury, NJ.

What you see above are hand-painted papers cut into hearts that form Halloween garlands on black & white baker’s twine, which are stocked at both locations, four pieces that I left at Olde Pear, and my shelves at MADE, where I left garlands and one of the little 5”x7” pieces.

Party on

This 5”x7” collage includes paint and sparkles. $25 plus shipping!

What you see above and below are the three 5”x7” collage pieces that I currently have here in my studio, ready to mail out. If any of them call to you, they are a steal at $25 (USD) plus postage.

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I have been having a good time painting inks and paints onto heavy watercolor paper in shades of orange, white, and black. Despite being essentially those solid colors, each paper has at least 6 or 7 colors involved—for example, the “black” is blended from black ink, Payne’s Grey ink, and some indigo and Burnt Umber acrylic paint, and includes some speckles of orange, green, purple, and white.

Halloween garlands

$8 each or 2/$15.

I will try to update my website this week to add some new pieces to the site, but if any of what you see here is YOURS, by all means, let me know! You can email or fill out the contact form here on the website. Or, y’know, holler at me on social media.

So glad I live in a world where there are Octobers

October was a beautiful month at Green Gables, when the birches in the hollow turned as golden as sunshine and the maples behind the orchard were royal crimson and the wild cherry trees along the lane put on the loveliest shades of dark red and bronzy green, while the fields sunned themselves in aftermaths.

Anne reveled in the world of color about her.

“Oh, Marilla,” she exclaimed one Saturday morning, coming dancing in with her arms full of gorgeous boughs, “I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers. It would be terrible if we just skipped from September to November, wouldn’t it? Look at these maple branches. Don’t they give you a thrill—several thrills? I’m going to decorate my room with them.”

Doesn’t that above excerpt from Chapter 16 of Anne of Green Gables make your heart sing, at least a little? That Lucy Maud (L.M.) Montgomery sure knew how to write about the seasons.

The image at the top of the post is of a piece of art I created in 2017, which sold straightaway to a collector in Virginia, but I do have greeting cards featuring the image available in my online shop. And I did another original art piece featuring this quote, since I love it so much, the original of which is available online as well. Here’s what it looks like:

©2017 Kelly Ramsdell Original currently available at 20% off.

Of course, it’s only natural that autumn leaves drift by your window, right? So I also have a print featuring a rather wry statement by Elinor Dashwood, one of the two heroines (some would say THE heroine) of Jane Austen’s Sense & Sensibility. After listening to her younger sister, Marianne, rhapsodizing about how beautiful their now-distant home must be in the autumn, Elinor responds, “It is not every one who has your passion for dead leaves.”

©2017 Kelly Ramsdell Currently available at 20% off.

To celebrate the scarier part of the season, I created a piece entitled “Nevermore”, which features some Poe-like imagery, including a collaged raven perched upon a skull, rather than on the “bust of Pallas”. The original piece of artwork is in a private collection in Massachusetts, but greeting cards featuring the image are available in my online shop for the Poe lovers in your life (or just to send for Halloween).

©2017 Kelly Ramsdell Original sold. Greeting cards available.

And for this month, all four of these items (two original pieces of art, and as many of each of the greeting cards as I have) are discounted 20%. So these two greeting cards are offered at $4, rather than the usual $5. And each of the original artworks are 20% off as well.

Finally, I have two additional Halloween-related pieces available in my online shop. They are each $65 unframed, or matted and framed at $90. The first is listed as BOO!, and the second as Things That Go Bump in the Night. No further discounts will be taken on these two original art pieces for Halloween.

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Falling for Autumn

When I was younger, spring was my favorite season. I loved the newness and everything bursting into bloom, the longer days. But for the last 15-20 years, fall has been my favorite and my best. (That phrase borrows from “Snow is My Favorite and My Best”, the title of a Charlie and Lola book by Lauren Child.) I love the lengthening shadows, that whisper of chill sweeping through on the breeze, the way the leaves change color and eventually fall and swish and drift.

The setting sun on my studio the other day. I love that golden light.

I spent the equinox yesterday at ArtWorks in Trenton, surrounded by other artists and writers at the closing of the Creative Capital program that I was lucky enough to be selected for earlier this year. It renewed my commitment to thinking and acting strategically in my arts business, and also started me thinking about the direction of my art and what I want to work on in this coming fall season. I don’t have the answer yet, but I’m listening to the whispers of the leaves, and the whispers of my heart, and I’ll keep you posted.

Whatever it is, it’s likely to be explored and begun at least partially in South Carolina, where I’ll be spending most of the month of October. My dad has begun radiation and chemotherapy for esophageal cancer, and once I’ve done my upcoming IV infusion for my own health issues (hello, rheumatoid arthritis!), I will be hitting the road and heading south so that I can help with transportation and anything else that needs helping.

Meanwhile, I’ve got two new collage pieces available just in time for Halloween decorating. The first contains an ancient Cornish litany: “From ghouls and ghosts and long-leggetty beasties and things that go bump in the night, GOOD LORD, deliver us!” The second has far less to say (“BOO!”) Both are 9”x12” mixed media collage pieces on canvas board, and they look spectacular matted and framed. They are going into my online store at $65 plus shipping for the piece alone, but will happily sell them matted and framed at $90 plus shipping!

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Also available for fall are a piece with a quote from L.M. Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables about the month of October, plus an Octobers greeting card and a Poe-related Raven greeting card entitled “Nevermore”. Hope you’ll check out the shop!

Happy fall to you! Drop a comment to let me know what your favorite season is, and what plans you have for fall.