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The Perks of Being an Artist

Tag Archives: Emily Page Art

Engine #25

03 Thursday Jan 2019

Posted by emilypageart in art, death, dementia, family, painting, Uncategorized

≈ 8 Comments

Tags

acrylic painting, art, dad, death, dementia, Emily Page, Emily Page Art, grief, painting, painting of train, train buff, train painting, what to give a train lover

I started 2019 off the correct way: in the art studio. And it felt so good. I’ve been so busy and exhausted that I haven’t been painting much lately. But I took Tuesday off and just painted what I wanted to paint. And it was a good thing. And it was a bad thing. Because what I chose to paint was this:

engine #25_compressed

Engine #25 acrylic on canvas 24″ x 30″ $750  *links for purchasing the original and for prints and such at the end of the post

You know, ’cause my dad was a train freak. Next month will be the third anniversary of my dad’s death, and between that knowledge and the holidays, I’ve been missing him something fierce. About a month ago, S poppped in some of my old home movies, and I got to watch my dad in his 30’s – younger than I am now. And, for the first time since he was diagnosed with dementia, it made me actually feel happy to watch. I really enjoyed it. And then I started having nightmares about him again. WTF is that? I wasn’t sad watching those videos, so why did they spark a new round of “Dadmares?”

And now I’m struggling again. Every time I feel like I’m getting back to normal, thinking about him a little less and with less pain, I get thrown back in. And what I’m thrown into, more than anything, is those final, horrible days with him, when he was hurting so much and my mom and I couldn’t make it better for him. It just fucking haunts me. I worked so hard to make sure that I had as few regrets as possible as we cared for him following his diagnosis. I’ve dealt with enough death to know that regret that can’t ever be remedied is not something I want to deal with again. So I set out to do things right with my dad. And I did. I’m proud of how fiercely I worked to love him and advocate for him. But there wasn’t anything we could do at the end.

It’s not so much regret, I suppose, as just grief that I was so helpless to make his pain stop. Watching someone you love suffer for that long…it just stays with you. And most of the time, when I think of him, that’s what I think of. I flashback to sitting in the hallway outside of his room after about 48 hours of watching him writhe and moan, and just losing my shit while a CNA watched helplessly. I flashback to lying on his bed and whispering soothing things in his ear to try to distract him from the pain. I flashback to feeling so tired it made me queasy, and ignoring the death rattle for close to an hour because I just couldn’t make myself open my eyes and get out of the recliner one more time to check on him.

Here I am, three years later, still desperate to make his pain stop, even though he’s already long gone. I don’t know how to let it go. So for now, I’m just painting something that made him happy in the hopes that it’ll make me happy.

*Original available here. Prints and stickers and phone cases and t-shirts and such available here, here, and here.

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HOLIDAY SALES – They’re a Thing Around These Here Parts

27 Tuesday Nov 2018

Posted by emilypageart in art, painting, Uncategorized

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art, artist, artwork for sale, coupon, discount, Emily Page, Emily Page Art, Emily Page artist, holiday sales, painting, painting for sale, sales

That’s right. You may not have heard, but holiday sales are a thing, apparently. And guess what? They’re a thing on my website. I’ve got more paintings than I know what to do with, and you’ve got friends and family that need art to brighten up their homes and offices. Sounds like a perfect match. Come to think of it, your home and office could really use some brightening, too. No judgment, but you should really fix that.

Now until December 31st, I’m offering 25% off all orders over $100. Use Coupon Code HOLIDAY2018 when you check out. And note that I’m running the sale until the end of the year, so, if you want, you can sit down with the person you’re buying for and let them choose what painting they’re getting. Because I’m nice like that. And because I’m desperate like that.

So go to https://shop.emilypageart.com and order your artwork now! If you’re more interested in prints of my art or merchandise with my artwork on it, you can find those here, here, here, and here.

1114181914a

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Pin-Up Roses

06 Saturday Oct 2018

Posted by emilypageart in art, tattooing, Uncategorized

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art, artist, black and white portrait, Emily Page, Emily Page Art, harley quinn makeup, oil on canvas, oil painting, pin-up, pin-up girl, Raleigh artist, roses

My fellow tattoo artist at Ratatat Tats, Julio, loves drawings and paintings of women with Harley Quinn clown makeup. He had a bare wall in his studio room, so as a suprise, I made him two paintings. I took the pin-up girl style, added the clown makeup, and then, because he frequently suggests filling in space around tattoos with “some filigree and some roses,” I included each in these sister paintings as a little insider joke. I posted the filigree one yesterday, so here is the roses one. Both are available as prints, shirts, dresses, pillows, mugs, and other fun swag. Links below the image.

Pinup clown roses_compressed

Pin-Up Roses 20″ x 16″ oil on canvas

Merchandise available here and here.

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At Least We Still Have Tomatoes

28 Friday Sep 2018

Posted by emilypageart in art, painting, Uncategorized

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basil painting, Emily Page, Emily Page Art, Emily Page artist, garlic painting, kitchen art, kitchen painting, photorealism, produce painting, realism, realist art, realist painting, still life, still life painting, tomato painting, vegetable painting, vegetable still life, veggie still life

I finally set up one of the spare rooms at the tattoo studio so that I could do some painting on my down time. I had started this painting almost 2 years ago, but after doing several veggie paintings, I sort of burned out on them for a little while. I finally decided to sit down and finish this little guy, and now I love it!

I finished it while listening to the Kavanaugh confirmation hearing, which was upsetting me for various reasons. I feel like our world is shifting in a very scary direction. That’s why I named the painting, “At Least We Still Have Tomatoes.” Silver lining, right?

At Least We Still Have Tomatoes_compressed

At Least We Still Have Tomatoes 8″x 10″ oil on board $250

Original available here. Prints and other merchandise available here, here, and here.

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Zooey

20 Thursday Sep 2018

Posted by emilypageart in art, painting, Uncategorized

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Emily Page, Emily Page Art, equestrian, equine, horse, oil painting, photorealism, pony, realism, realist painting, white horse, white pony

There’s this super cute pony, Zooey, at the stable where my mom boards her horse, and all the little kids learn to ride on her. For a pony, she’s pretty darn sweet, and, obviously, adorable. So I decided to do a little painting of her:

Zooey_compressed

Zooey 10″ x 8″ oil on board $250

Original for sale here. Prints and other fun merchandise available here, here, and here.

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Generation

22 Friday Jun 2018

Posted by emilypageart in art, painting, Uncategorized

≈ 2 Comments

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Emily Page Art, Emily Page artist, fabric painting, map painting, oil on canvas, oil painting, Raleigh artist, realism, surrealism, triptych, world map

I have some friends who are actually amazing art patrons. They’ve bought a lot of my art and commissioned paintings over the last few years. They had a big open wall in their dining room that needed art, so they commissioned me to create another piece for them. They had seen this painting hanging in my tattoo studio and really liked it, so we used that as a jumping off point:

Very Fabric

The Very Fabric

The husband collects maps, so I decided to add that as a component of the painting I was creating for them. I was giddy getting to work on large canvases again! Here is the finished triptych I just hung in their home:

Generation.JPG

Generation 36″ x 72″ oil and sharpie on canvas triptych

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Blowing Rock Bottles

24 Thursday May 2018

Posted by emilypageart in art, painting, Uncategorized

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art, bottles painting, Emily Page, Emily Page Art, hanging bottles, lavender painting, oil painting, photorealism, Raleigh artist, realism, realist art, realist painting

Every year, the hubs and I and some friends meet up in Blowing Rock, NC and rent a cabin. There’s a seriously cute little main street with boutiques and restaurants and such where we spend the afternoon strolling and shopping. One of the stores is painted with soft lavenders and creams and greys, and I used it as inspiration for the colors in my tattoo studio room. Outside of the store is a tiny little garden, and at one point, they had bottles and bits of chandelier glass hanging over it, and I fell in love with the scene it created. So I photographed it and now, several years later, finally sat down and finished painting it.

I have to admit that, even though I’m having fun learning tattooing, it’s not as satisfying a medium for me as painting. It’s hard to predict exactly how each piece of skin will react to different techniques, and you have to get it right the first time. There’s no changing your mind halfway through and starting over with a better idea. It’s harder to “tweak” to get it perfect. And the feel of the tattoo machine isn’t even close to the feel of a paintbrush and paint. Too much rattle to be soothing to me. So on my one day off a week, I’m trying hard to get into the painting studio and enjoy a little gushy fun.

Anyway, here is the painting:

Blowing Rock Bottles_compressed.JPG

Blowing Rock Bottles 12″ x 12″ oil on board $400

The original is for sale here. For now, you can find prints and cuff links and keepsake boxes and other fun thingsies here, here, and here.

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Lions, and Elephants, and Dancers, Oh My!

15 Tuesday May 2018

Posted by emilypageart in art, painting, tattooing, Uncategorized

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dancer, dancer drawing, dancer painting, dancer tattoo, dancer watercolor, elephant drawing, elephant headdress, elephant painting, elephant tattoo, elephant watercolor, Emily Page, Emily Page Art, Emily Page artist, lion drawing, lion painting, lion tattoo, lion watercolor, Raleigh artist, raleigh tattoo, Ratatat Tats, watercolor, watercolor and ink, watercolor and ink painting, watercolor painting

I’ve been playing around with ideas for watercolor style tattoos for a couple weeks on my downtime at the studio. Since some of them are really fun, I figured I’d go ahead and share them here. If anyone wants me to tattoo one of them on you, holla. The first two are different concepts for the same dancer. The lion and elephant aren’t related, but I’ve seen a lot of people getting generic tattoos of lions and elephants, so I wanted to play with making them really unique.

Dancer black and white tattoo idea_compresseddancer-color-watercolor_compressed.jpgelephant-in-headdress_compressed.jpgRoaring Lion_compressed

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Watercolor Tattoos

20 Friday Apr 2018

Posted by emilypageart in art, painting, tattooing, Uncategorized

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

daisy painting, daisy tattoo, daisy watercolor, daisy watercolor tattoo, Emily Page Art, Emily Page tattoo, raleigh tattoo, Ratatat Tats, watercolor and ink painting, watercolor tattoo

I am LOVING these splotchy watercolor tattoos, y’all. They’re just so cheerful! And I can see my own progress from the first couple I did to the one I did today. In the interest of the tattoos holding up over time, I’ve made sure to include strong black  images that won’t fade as much as the colors. These days, though, tattoo inks have gotten pretty good and they’re lasting a lot longer, so it may not be as much of a concern as it used to be.

Here are the first couple that I did:

no day but todayconstellation watercolor

But I wanted to play with this style some more, so I decided to actually do some watercolor paintings. There’s a fabulous photographer whose work I love named Terry Davis (seriously, go check out her work), and she posted a photo of a daisy, and I loved the shape:

terry davis sunflower

I mean, isn’t this stunning?! You can get prints of it on Fine Art America.

So I used her photograph as inspiration for a watercolor daisy:

 

terrys-daisy-watercolor.jpg

I have been forbidden by my tattoo mentor and by my husband from giving away any more tattoos, so I decided to auction this one off. I posted it on my Facebook page and let my friends bid on getting this tattooed on them. The friend that won requested some color changes and asked that we make the colors more splashy and less drippy. So I did a little tweaking and here’s what she got:

Bonnie's daisy

It’s such a happy tattoo! If anyone is interested in doing the original watercolor I’d auctioned off, let me know! It’s about a 2-hour tattoo.

And just for funsies, I took a picture of the tattoo before I added color, and I love it, too, as a stand-alone tattoo, so thought I’d share it with you.

 

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Lemon Peel Twist

09 Monday Apr 2018

Posted by emilypageart in art, painting, Uncategorized

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Emily Page Art, Emily Page artist, fruit painting, lemon painting, lemon peel, lemon twist, oil on board, oil painting, Raleigh artist, realism, realist art, realist painting, still life, still life painting

I realized that it’s been 7 or 8 weeks since I painted with oils, and after feeling so incompetent learning tattooing, I decided it would be good for me to take a little time out on my day off to do something I actually know how to do. So I got the paintbrushes and oil paints out and finally finished a painting that I had been working on for months. I had set it aside because it just hadn’t been working, but after today, I’m finally ready to call it “finished” and sign the sucker (or, maybe, sign the pucker?).

Lemon Peel Twist.JPG

Lemon Peel Twist 12″ x 16″ oil on board $450

You can purchase the original on my website here, or get prints and other fun stuff featuring this painting here and here. Know a chef? Get it for them! Or, at least, tell them about it and all my other food-inspired art!

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Emily Page

Emily Page

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