Art for Sale! Kyna

     I'm getting an early start this week and posting my latest offering in my Etsy shop.  This is "Kyna," an original acrylic painting from my Celtic-Inspired series.  At one point I started giving my paintings done in this style Irish names.  Kyna can mean love or esteem.  I love painting these Celtic style animals and hope to find them homes where people will love them, too.  You can find this painting at

https://www.etsy.com/RavenmaidCreative/listing/590049597/kyna-original-acrylic-painting?utm_source=Copy&utm_medium=ListingManager&utm_campaign=Share&utm_term=so.lmsm&share_time=1517261223728

  Let me know what you think!  Thanks for stopping by today.  I appreciate it.

Art at the Arena

     It was a hockey night... in Pittsburgh.  Needing a night out, a friend and I were able to scoot down to PPG Paints Arena to see the Penguins take on the Wild.  It was "80s Night" and I tried to think of some rad ways to incorporate some art into our little excursion.

     First off, for most of the past year, I've been giving out these free mini coloring pages at my craft shows and art festivals.  They have a link to my Etsy shop as well as the hashtag #RCpenguin.  The idea was that people would color the little penguin and post of photo of it on a little adventure.  This is one that I did with kinda sorta bright 80s colors in mind.  Here he is with some real live Pittsburgh Penguins!

I also made this "Ninja Turtles" themed sign which, of course, I forgot it at home!

  

    It was a great night for a hockey game, though.  The Penguins won big time, we 80s kids took in a little of the festivities, and we even got to meet the world's most famous groundhog!  Have a great weekend, everyone!  Thanks for stopping by today!

Art IRL: Postcard Sketchbook

      I've been trying to figure out some reoccuring themes for my blog and one of them was Art IRL.  I was thinking it could be about how to incorporate art into your everyday life or even how to use your images as a part of a functional object.  "Intercession" is an old pen drawing from years ago that I had postcards made from.  The idea of the postcard was not to send in the mail, but to have bound with extra pieces of paper to make sketchbooks.  It was inspired by another artist that goes by "Your Secret Admiral" and her handmade books.  I liked the idea of upcyling and making custom sketchbooks.  So I tried it a few times.  This one is made with some extra notebook and drawing paper.  It would make an excellent travel journal, but for now, I'm using this for my Artists' Guild meetings to both take notes and for our monthly sketchbook challenge.  I'd love to learn bookbinding, but until then, I'll just have to take it to Staples.  Have you ever tried something like this?  Comment below.  I'd love to see you work!

Art for Sale: Irish Chain Quilt Painting

     Last year, I was experimenting a little with abstract art.  I prefer more representative work, but once in a while, it's good to get out of my comfort zone and try something new.  Some of my friends and family members are into quilting, but sewing was never my strong suit so I decided to try it with painting instead of fabric.  One thing I love about quilting is the use of scrap fabric to make something whole and beautiful.  Sometimes when I'm working on a painting, I mix too much and still have a blob left over so instead of throwing away this scrap paint, I started using it to fill in the squares and shapes of various quilt patterns I saw in a quilting book.  This one is a variation of one called "Irish Chain."  I like the central focus point and also the Irish part.  I've done one other smaller one so far and maybe it'll show up here eventually.  For now though, if you're interested, you can purchase this one in my Etsy shop at

 https://www.etsy.com/listing/572138516/irish-chain-variation-original-quilt?utm_medium=SellerListingTools&utm_campaign=Share&utm_source=Raw&share_time=1515779451000&utm_term=so.slt

Thanks for stopping by today. 

New Year, New Adventure

   Happy 2018, everyone!  It's a new year and a new chapter in my creative journey.  Thank you to all who have supported me thus far.  I'm hoping for great things in 2018 and am inviting you to join the ride.  One of the first things I like to do at the start of the year is change the banners on my websites and social media.  This year's banners were designed by fellow Etsy vendor, Winchester Lambourne.  (You can find their shop here: https://www.etsy.com/shop/WinchesterLambourne)  They did a lovely job and I like how the watercolor texture matches the shamrock in my logo.  Whenever possible, I like to support fellow artists and small business owners.
   Another thing I've changed is my art portfolio site.  I had a site with Square Space and really didn't have any complaints about it except for the blogging feature wasn't what I was looking for.  So I've come back to my Blogger site and found a way to combine it with my portfolio which will also save some money.  As of today, this is the new cathrynstranahan.com and I hope you follow and check back from time to time.  You'll be able to see what I'm up to and maybe even find some projects to inspire you.

I started this dog painting several months ago, but had to put it on hold because of all my Christmas projects.  Now, being snowed in so much, I've had time to work on it and it's just about done and ready for some spring shows!