Tag Archives: Raleigh art

Follow Your HeArt

20 Monday Nov 2017

Posted by in art, painting, tattooing, Uncategorized

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It’s official! We own commercial real estate. And we’re going to fill it with needles and ink. That’s right, I’m going to become a tattoo artist! Quick, hide the kids! I’ll go into more detail soon, but I just wanted to say that, as I realized I was having less and less fun teaching at the paint and sip studio (except for the consulting, which I still love), I had to take a long hard look at what I wanted to do next. And one thing was very clear: despite my frustrations at the business side of the art world, I want to make art. It takes away the itchiness in my soul. Making and promoting art is hard, but, fortunately or unfortunately, it’s essential –  at least for me. So following my heart means following my art. For all you other artists out there (whatever form your art takes, be it visual art, performance, literature, or anything else), don’t let the struggles of earning a living get to you. I know, those are easy words to say. This business is hard. But keep returning to the work and you’ll be okay.

Follow Your HeART.JPG

Prints and merchandise available here and here.

Entwined Trees

13 Monday Nov 2017

Posted by in art, humor, painting, Uncategorized

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Just finished up another little watercolor video for you. This time around, I went for a more limited palette and “stayed within the lines.” Not sure how I feel about staying in the lines. One of the things I’ve been having fun with is intentionally being loose and a little sloppy. When I do my realist paintings, I have to stay so tight and controlled, so needing to work fairly quickly for these videos is forcing me to ease up a little bit. It’s forcing me to be a loose woman…wait, maybe that’s not what I really mean…meh. Sure it is.

Anyway, here’s a video of an Entwined Trees painting, by a loose, loose woman.

I’m Back. And I’m Old. And My Back Is Old.

03 Friday Nov 2017

Posted by in art, health, humor, painting, Uncategorized

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A couple days ago, I got to work on a couple new painting videos for you. The first one went fine and you can view it below. But during the second one, three things happened: 1) my phone stopped recording for no reason, 2) when I realised it, I got distracted and knocked a ton of ink all over the painting, and 3) when I stood up and reached forward about 20 degrees, I threw my back out. Awwwwwwesome. Is this what 40 looks like?! So then I stood there for about a half hour afraid to move, all the while screaming obscenities in my brain and wishing I could scream them out loud but knowing it would hurt too much. Greeeaaaaaat. I finally managed to sit, but that made it worse, so I kind of oozed and rolled my way to the floor and lay there for a while. By the way, there’s a lot of dust under the guest bed. I know that now…not that I’ll be cleaning under there any time soon.

Eventually, the need to pee convinced me to do my best Walking Dead impression and I zombie-walked to the bathroom where I stood and stared at the toilet for a while trying to figure out how I was going to lower myself onto it. First time in my life I actually wished I was in a public restroom because there are handicap bars for this kind of thing, y’all. Finally managed to sit and then had to stay there for a while trying to figure out how to wipe without screaming.

Since then, I’ve been stuck mostly in bed with the exception of when I need to get up to pee. I fear the process of getting in and out of bed looks and sounds disturbingly like a cow giving birth, but S married me for better or for worse, so tough shit, Sweetums.

I did manage to shower today, so I smell a little less like a cow giving birth. So there’s that. And I could sit up enough to get this video uploaded and onto my blog because that’s how much I love you.

Watercolor Butterfly

24 Tuesday Oct 2017

Posted by in art, blog, painting, Uncategorized

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People keep telling me I need to do videos of myself making art. The problem with that is that realist paintings take a looooooong time, and it’s tiny little paintstrokes and it’s pretty boring to watch. So I’ve decided to do a few quick and dirty watercoler with India ink paintings. I don’t have a ton of experience with watercolors, and I haven’t used pen and ink since college, so for now I’m having fun experimenting and letting you watch. I did two paintings today, but my phone is an asshole and stopped recording half way through the second one. And now it’s getting dark and my studio has shitty lighting, so I can’t try again. But at least I got one done and uploaded.

I should also note that I don’t have any fancy set up for getting the camera focused on my painting, and I don’t have the money to buy a fancy set up. So I did a little artist hack and jerry-rigged a harness with some twine and hooks in my ceiling. Super hightech over here, people.

camera harness

And now, for your view pleasure, here’s a little watercolor and India ink painting of a butterfly.

Don’t Let Your Lemons Get In A Twist

29 Friday Sep 2017

Posted by in art, humor, mental health, painting, Uncategorized

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Whoooooo, it has been a week, y’all. A serious week. I got my lazy ass in gear and worked out on Monday (by which I mean that I did zumba with no music with my friend in her living room), and then looked at some commercial real estate. I had lunch with a friend that I hadn’t seen in almost a year, and then looked at more commercial real estate on Tuesday. Wednesday, I drove over to a little nothing town in the middle on NC to test-ride a couple horses with my mom (who is looking to buy for herself), then she and S and I spent the night in Winston-Salem, my old stomping grounds. Who’s a giant ball of pain now? This girl!!! But it was totally worth it because I haven’t gotten to horseback ride in about 6 years, and, assuming the horse passes the vet check, we found my mom a new buddy. On Thursday, we went to a Georgia O’Keefe exhibit, then visited my paintings on the Wake Forest University campus, had a little lunch, and came back home. And then spent the rest of the evening discussing a game plan regarding the commercial real estate we looked at on Tuesday. Really, we’ve been doing pretty much nothing but discussing real estate for the last month or so. And I am worn out. This brain? It’s actually just a matzo ball by now. Or maybe a dumpling. Either way, it’s soft and soupy and not much of a thinker. I needed a break.

So I spent the day painting, then napping, then painting, then napping, then painting some more. Turns out, painting actually requires thought, damnit. Who knew? It’s exhausting. But I was able to listen to podcasts while I painted and finally not think about real estate for a minute and a half. Ahhhhhhhhh. And now, I present the fruits of my labor:

Lemon Twist I

Lemon Twist I 5″ x 5″ oil on canvas

Get it?!! Fruits of my labor? Admit it, you kinda sorta secretly liked that pun, didn’t you? Anyway, this is actually one of 2 lemon paintings I worked on today. Hopefully the other, which is significantly larger, will be done in the next week or so. If you like this one, you can buy it on my website at https://shop.emilypageart.com/t/realist-works or get prints or other fun thingsies here and here.

And one more thing: today would have been my parents’ anniversary. They need to come up with a way of acknowledging occasions like this, when it’s no longer happy. Saying “Happy Anniversary,” seems inappropriate now that my dad is dead, but I still want to let my mom know that I’m thinking of her, and them, and marking this day in some way. So maybe we need to come up with a phrase like, “Marking Anniversary,” or “Acknowledging Anniversary,” or “Nostalgic Anniversary,” or “I Really Love You And Know This Day Might Be Hard But I’m Still Kinda Sorta Celebrating Your Marriage.” Or something. So Mom, when you read this, pick which ever of those phrases you like best. Love you.