Artist Spotlight - Sandy Laipply

 

Read a bit about Sandy and check out her work! - Post in the comments what your favorite piece of her art is!

Tell us a bit about yourself: Did you go to school for art? Are you self taught?
I have been creating for as long as I can remember, starting with making new clothes for my paper dolls as a little girl- after I finished all my coloring books. I had 2 years of high school art, and my teacher gave me a wonderful foundation. Other than that I am self taught. I try to take classes whenever I can, in all kinds of mediums.

What inspires you / where do you get inspiration from?
Anything and everything can inspire me, but I think mostly nature. I love flowers, birds, animals, landscapes and seascapes. Sometimes it is the words in a song. Or just not painting for a while. I find that I tend to get very cranky if I spend too much time on the business side of my art and not the creative side. It's often difficult to find the right balance.

Do you work in just one medium? Several?
I work in almost every medium. I spent 15 years working in the craft industry, helping companies show their customers what to do with their new products, and I loved teaching and demonstrating. My friends keep encouraging me to license my work, and when I decided to do that, I knew I needed to focus. So right now I am working in watercolor-my favorite painting medium. Photoshop and Illustrator are so much fun, and allow one to provide clients with files in the format they need, but I still go back to a paintbrush in my hand. Nothing compares to the thrill of putting pigments on paper and watching the colors merge and magic happen!

What are you working on now?
I'm working on a collection of fruits and vegetables in watercolor. I'm on the Board of our local Arts Council, and this summer we were invited to show our work at the local Farmer's Markets. Seeing all that lovely produce each week was very inspiring and I was allowed to take a lot of photos for reference. I see a trend of using a lot of fruits and veggies in home decor, and several clients have asked for them.

Anything else you want to tell everyone?
I love working with manufacturers and learning about their product processes. I got my first licensing deal because I did cold calling on manufacturers at the Atlanta Gift Market, after I had walked the show 6 months earlier and identified companies I wanted to work with. I met a manufacturer who liked my style, but I didn't have what he wanted in my portfolio. We worked together to come up with the look he wanted for his product line, and it has done very well. Click here to see some of the Pretty Tools products with my art:  http://sandylaipply.com/art-licensing/licensed-products

I've since signed with an agent so I can spend more time focusing on my art, cplicensing.com. We're currently in discussions with several companies. Handpainted art is very much in demand now and with a computer I can format my art for almost any surface. I want to be in tabletop, giftware, home decor, greeting cards, party goods, etc. And since I love to sew, I definitely want my own fabric line.

Are you an early riser? or night owl?
Definitely an early riser. I'm often up before 5 am, and I love watching the sunrise. I prefer painting in the morning when my studio is full of light, and then do the business side later in the day.

What is your favorite food?
Chocolate. Or chocolate covered caramels. Or Reese's Cups ( chocolate and peanut butter) . Or chocolate ice cream. Or chocolate cake. Did I mention chocolate???? Maybe I should start painting a collection of chocolate candy......

You can find Sandy: SandyLaipply.com       sandy@sandylaipply.com

Phone-419-562-9825      FB-Sandy Laipply's Art      LinkedIn-Sandy Laipply

If you are interested in being spotlighted - email me: anntroe@cox.net

Thanks doodlebugerz for reading and posting your comments. MAKE MY DAY and follow this blog :-D

Artist Spotlight - Cindy Wider

Artist and author started out in Papua New Guinea 

Tell us a bit about yourself: Did you go to school for art? Are you self taught?

I studied art right through high school, then I graduated with a Diploma from 'Art Instruction Schools Inc. USA' (which I studied by correspondence when living in Rural Australia). I was also awarded a government scholarship to study silk screen printmaking to further develop the style I work in. So my background is in commercial art and design but like most artists I am a continual vacuum for learning.

What inspires you / where do you get inspiration from?
Mostly the memories from my childhood growing up on an island just above Australia called 'Papua New Guinea'. The gorgeous flora and fauna, brightly coloured plumages on the birds and long hanging vines all remain with me in my imagination and just call to be expressed. I am also inspired by the works of many other great artists such as the famous French artist Henri Rousseau, and Modern Primitive artist Raul Del Rio to name a few.

Do you work in just one medium? Several?
I paint in acrylic on paper or canvas and often create studies in realism graphite and charcoal. I  mainly create images in Adobe Illustrator for my art licensing projects. I love working in Illustrator because its so versatile and I can act upon the creative decisions really quickly. I work hard to make sure that my digital artworks maintain the softness of a painted image. I like to breathe soul into the image and inject it with personality.

What are you working on now?
At the moment I am working on my 'Castaways' series (above). The first in the series was 'Castaway in Paradise' which was just shown in 'Art Buyer Magazine' http://www.artbuyermag.com.

The second is 'Castaway Home'. In this line I am expressing the fantasy escape to paradise. I love the whole idea of getting back to nature and through these artworks I aim to connect people back to the roots of where all peace and tranquility resides; within nature.

Anything else you want to tell everyone?
I am absolutely besotted by art, it is my life and I love sharing my knowledge about drawing and painting with others. Besides creating art for licensing, I am also an author and I wrote the soft cover books; 'Paint In Your Pyjamas-every woman's guide to finding your life purpose through art' '12 Charcoal Techniques' 'Six Pencil Strokes' and 'Action painting workshop' as well as 37 ebooks that form the 'Complete Drawing and Painting Certificate Course.' My soft cover books are available on Amazon and you can find my course at http://drawpj.com.

Are you an early riser? or night owl?
Night Owl but only if I am working towards a major goal. I like my bed and believe in regular sleep patterns if I can. I limit myself to working no later than 11pm or 11:30 pm maximum and only up to three nights a week or I start turning into a mad woman due to the upset in my body chemicals.

What is your favorite food?
Oh it just has to be oysters, crayfish, prawns, fish and anything seafood yummmo!

You can find Cindy http://www.porterfieldsfineart.com    
Agent: Lance Klass, President, Porterfield's Fine Art Licensing Sarasota, Florida
email: cindy@drawpj.com     (+44) 01274 985 974

You might also like these post: (click) Artist Spotlight - Peggy Wilson  
Artist Spotlight Sarah Hudock
If you are interested in being spotlighted - email me: anntroe@cox.net

Thanks doodlebugerz for reading and posting your comments. MAKE MY DAY and follow this blog :-D

Artist Spotlight - Sarah Hudock

I bumped into Sarah on Linkedin and we met up at Surtex in NYC last spring - I KNOW you will love her roosters! Find out more about Sarah below — Be sure to check out her website!
(click images to see them larger).

Tell us a bit about yourself: Did you go to school for art? Are you self taught?
I spent most of my early childhood either drawing and painting, with my nose in a book, or with animals. I lived a very solitary, inward life during those few years, but then as I grew up and left home, subsequently I lost my artistic way. The world has a way of redirecting us when we don’t know who we are, and for much of my adult life I painted very little. I took it for granted that “I can draw” but it took me decades to figure out how to put it together; to overcome life’s difficulties and to do what I believe I was meant to do. I consider myself extraordinarily fortunate now, to have the opportunity to live with that kind of artistic focus again, and to share it with other people.

What inspires you / where do you get inspiration from?
I have to say, animals. I suppose I could expand that to include all of nature, because that is true, but really at heart it’s my love for animals and my relationship with many of them. There is something about each of their souls that I am always trying to capture – and the look in the eye. They are such sentient beings who share the world with us and I like to call attention to them in ways that make people stop and look.

Do you work in just one medium? Several?
 Mostly I work in watercolor, but have also been gravitating towards gouache and acrylic lately. My style has been changing now that I get to paint whenever I want, and I am getting better at it. It makes me want to try all sorts of new products that I see other artists using. At some point when I find time, I want to take some art classes to try out new mediums just for the fun of it, to open myself up even more. About a year ago I also learned to use some of the features in Photoshop, and that has revolutionized my options as well. I have startled myself with how much I enjoy creating effects digitally.

What are you working on now?
In July I got my first art license (thank you agent Carol White!) – a series of six Rooster Chef images is licensed to AD Lines Eurogroup and will be sold as art prints. It looks like Amia, Inc. is also interested in a series of my butterfly images to use for their glass products. I see a beginning here, and have spent this past year running to catch the art licensing bus, so to speak: I either work in Photoshop or I paint all day, almost every single day to build my portfolio, to practice, and to learn as much as I can. I just recently finished a new series of inspirational Rooster images with detailed patchwork tail feathers (above) that I really love and have high hopes for, as well as a series of Christmas roosters caroling for my greeting cards (and also art licensing.)

Anything else you want to tell everyone?
I stagnated for too many years, and now here I am with 50 years of artwork pent up inside of me! Watch out, world. It’s all an exciting mystery, this Life thing. Isn’t it?

Are you an early riser? or night owl?
I seem to work naturally in cycles. I focus intensely on a project for 2-3 weeks, going to bed at 2 AM every night, waking up at 7 to feed the animals and then diving back in to my artwork until 2 AM again. When I finish, I flop down and sleep for several days, clean the house, check to see I didn’t miss paying any bills, and regroup. Lots of ordinary chores fall by the wayside, but I’ve learned that life is short and you shouldn’t waste time doing dishes when there’s something important like painting chickens to be done!

What is your favorite food?
My favorite food. Hrmm. I guess I would have to say bacon and eggs.



Visit Sarah's website:  http://sarahhudock.com     email: info@sarahhudock.com
Carol White of Artworks! Licensing: http://artworkslicensing.com

If you are interested in being spotlighted - email me: anntroe@cox.net
You might also like this post: (click) Artist Spotlight - Peggy Wilson

Thanks doodlebugerz for reading and posting your comments. MAKE MY DAY and follow this blog :-D