Facing The Trend - Deborah Does Art

Closing Down the Blog

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 22:23:00 +0000

Closing down this blog for now, so please come visit me at my NEW (and improved) home on the web: Facing the Lens! Here you can find info about my new photography business, which I am super excited about. Please also visit my NEW (and improved!) Etsy store, where you can buy my deliciously yummy paintings!

If you are interested in any artwork on this blog, please contact me at facingthetrend @ gmail.com (remove spaces) and I will let you know if it is still available.

Let's Focus on Macro Photography

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 01:09:00 +0000

Feeling the need to focus on photography right now, maybe as a way to cleanse my palate from all the painting and drawing frustration I've been feeling lately. Definitely going to spend some more time reading my craft business books this week and focusing on opening up Facing the Lens on Etsy with some really outstanding prints. I Took the above shot this evening with my beloved macro lens. More to come as I sort through the jumble in my head!

And Now For Something Completely Different

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 26 May 2010 22:54:00 +0000

Once again checking my brain at the door, I reveled in NOT painting food today as well. Using one of my deliciously smooth 9 x 9 inch MUSEUM-wrapped Dick Blick canvases, I painted the lady you see above. At the last minute, I decided to add the 3-D puffy T-shirt paint to a good portion of the image, to make it kind of funky. I tend to do this with a LOT of my paintings. Who knows, maybe I should focus more on texture as opposed to subject matter to achieve what I want?

When Life Gives You Lemons, Paint a Bird

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 26 May 2010 22:53:00 +0000

Decided to check my brain at the door and hang my anal-retentiveness on a hat-rack yesterday. I painted the above bird quickly (within an hour) and without too much thinking. It's cute (only 4 x 4 inches), and it was nice to paint something without feeling like it needed to fit in some kind of "theme."

Drawing FAIL

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 25 May 2010 15:36:00 +0000

The one area of art that I have always felt I'm best at is drawing. I've been drawing my entire life, and if you were to go back to my earliest attempts and compare them to where I am now, you would be amazed at the progression. I can't even begin to calculate the hours I've spent drawing this or that. I think I have a real skill with drawing. And so, you can imagine how deflating it was last night for me, when all of my attempts at drawing failed miserably. I want so badly to have consistency in my work, to find my NICHE, but last night I just was not able to capture it. I feel like I have this nebulous goal out there of being a certain kind of artist, but that it's a goal I'm never going to achieve because no matter how much I try, I'm. Just. Not. Good. Enough. I know they always say that you have to break a few eggs to make an omelet, but I'm starting to feel that no matter how many eggs I break, I'm never going to achieve what I want artistically.

Sorry for the rant. Hopefully the rest of this week will bring better art and more confidence.

Yummy Pie - My 100th Post!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 22 May 2010 23:53:00 +0000

Yes, I've reached 100 posts! It only took several years. Hopefully I'll hit 200 much, much faster as I increase my output and hopefully become a more cohesive artist with an actual style.

In any case, I decided to go full-on Thiebaud this week with the pie painting above. I realized that I hadn't painted anything all week and that it was high time I got back in the saddle. I rather like it. I wanted to do something with very simple shapes and even though it looks like I probably dashed this one out in a matter of minutes, it took quite a while to get it together, as I reworked the layers several times until I was happy. Hope you enjoy it!

I Scream, You Scream

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 13 May 2010 01:46:00 +0000

....we all scream for ice cream? Eh, I think I need to look at some paintings of ice cream, because I'm not sure how much the above actually looks like ice cream, although it does look like *something* I would enjoy eating. The ice cream itself started out as more of a vanilla color, but it wasn't very eye-catching, so I painted over it with the pinks, for a tasty strawberry flavor.

Off to go look at my Wayne Thiebaud book......

A Weekend of Painting

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 10 May 2010 01:40:00 +0000

I ordered a ton of canvases and colored pencils and paints that I had been in need of from Dick Blick the other day, and it all came in on Friday in two HUGE boxes. The blank canvases represent to me a new beginning, a new path to follow. Like I said in my last post, I've been thinking a lot about my art and where I want to take it. I am looking for some cohesion in my subject matter and style, and I think that for now at least, I'm going to work with food as my subject matter. aybe that's because I'm doing Weight Watchers and can't eat this kind of food and it's appealing to me to paint it. :) I guess I mostly like the fact that food is bright and colorful and life-sustaining. I painted the above two paintings this weekend and I like them. Along with my last painting, they look like they BELONG together, and that's something I'm desperately trying to capture right now.

Food and Art and Focus

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 03 May 2010 01:46:00 +0000

So, I've temporarily closed down the Etsy shop. I'm wanting to refocus and figure out what I really want to paint and draw. Right now, I'm feeling very much inspired by Wayne Thiebaud, an artist I've loved since college. The above painting (which I did last night) was painted in his style, and I really do like it a bit. I feel like I need to rethink my approach to art if I want to be serious with it, and to plan my output a bit more. I don't just want to throw up any old piece of crap on the wall and see what sticks; I want to only show my best pieces and offer only those pieces for sale. I want everything in my shop to be of a single theme; I want you to be able to look at everything in my store and see how it all links together. I want to find my niche as far as subject matter and style go, and I plan on doing so during the month of May. I'm hoping to reopen the shop next month, with a new direction, and a really distinctive style.

Wish me luck!

New Collage

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 04:11:00 +0000

Not much to say tonight, apart from the fact that I'm taking tomorrow off to spend the entire day painting and collaging and doing MORE ART! I'm very excited at all of the possibilities. I made the above collage tonight; it features a picture of my grandmother from 1941 and is mounted on top of a museum-wrapped 6 x 6 canvas that I painted several weeks ago. This canvas has sat on my work table for weeks now, untouched. I think it was waiting for just the right moment, don't you?

New Camera, New Lenses, New Excitement

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 12:34:00 +0000

Last week I finally broke down and did it: I bought the Nikon D90, along with the kit lens (18-105mm) a beautiful, fast little all-purpose lens, and the coolest of them all: a macro lens so I can get all up in the grill of flowers and bugs and other tiny things that are beautiful and often unnoticed. I'm so excited at the possibilities this camera is going to offer me. Truthfully, I'm hoping to get some amazing nature shots and possibly sell them on Etsy. I'm even squatting on the store name Facing the Lens. Get it? Hahah!

If you'd like to take a gander at some of the pictures I've already taken with this lens, please go to my Flickr page. I will be taking a night class soon for my macro lens and hope to be adding to this page (not to mention my skills) constantly.

Oh, the excitement!

Note: Above image was taken this weekend with my macro lens. It's unbearably beautiful in my eyes.

Bleeding Heart

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 23:55:00 +0000

At last! A new painting! The above acrylic painting is of the Dicentra flower, which is more commonly known as the Bleeding Heart flower due to its heart-like shape. I was really struck by this flower and its simplicity and tried to replicate that in the painting itself. It is painted on a very yummy piece of white gesso panel which contrasted very nicely with the vivid colors.

If you would like to see more pictures, or would like to buy the painting for yourself, it is now in the shop!

New Etsy Items in the Shop!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 23:37:00 +0000

The two paintings from my last post are now in the shop! Please click on the links below if you are interested in buying them!

Daffodil

Daisy

I'm BACK, Baby!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 22:38:00 +0000

So, lest you think I've done absolutely NOTHING since my last post, I am proud to show you two (yes, TWO!) paintings that I've completed in the last two weeks. Both are painted in acrylic on beveled edge wood. I'm not sure of the dimensions off the top of my head, but I like that they look like they are part of a series. I'm thinking about painting more flowers with back backgrounds, using lots of impasto. (I'm not sure if you can really see it in the large, pink painting or not, but it's definitely there.) I'm actually QUITE proud of the daffodil! I'm thinking about putting them up on Etsy soon as I've not posted anything new there in ages, but I'm still thinking about it. Hope you enjoy them!

Amy Carson Photography

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 15:48:00 +0000

First of all, yes, I'm still here and still alive even though I haven't posted anything new in nearly two months (dear GOD!). Will hopefully post some new pictures and/or art soon, but for now I wanted to share the photography blog that my good friend and coworker Amy has created. She's quite good, and you owe it to yourself to check her out: Amy Carson Photography.

New Drawing

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 03:32:00 +0000

For the first time in a month and a half (ouch!) I picked up my colored pencils and went to work. This is another drawing based on an image from the latest J. Crew catalog, which, as always, I am in love with. I drew the above image in about 30 minutes, but I think it looks like I spent more time on it than that, so I'm happy with it.

Materials: Prismacolor pencils, 11x14 Windpower Vellum Bristol Board

Rural Shelby County

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 05:52:00 +0000

I spent about four hours today, driving back roads in Shelby County. I mostly focused on roads between Chelsea and Columbia. I found all manner of interesting things: abandoned farmhouses, an old cemetery, empty motels, and gas stations that clearly haven't been used in years. It was a LOT of fun, and I took about a million pictures.

Since I decided to get a Pro Flickr account, you can veiw all of my favorites here.

Enjoy!

More Photos!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 01:17:00 +0000

Spent a few hours this weekend taking advantage of more beautiful weather at the Botanical Gardens and around Birmingham. My Flickr page has been updated!

Birmingham and Urban Decay

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 15:22:00 +0000

I am starting a new series of Urban Decay photographs. Yesterday I wandered around downtown Birmingham, camera in hand, to document some relics of the past. I found a treasure trove worth of old signs, deserted department stores, and boarded up buildings. I find a lot of beauty in these old, forgotten places, and when I look at them, I wonder what they must have been like in their heyday. I've updated my Flickr page with a ton of photos I took. I hope to go out again soon and take more photographs around Birmingham, as well as around the state.

Oak Hill Cemetery Pictures

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 15:17:00 +0000

This past Saturday (Halloween), a friend and I went on a guided tour of Oak Hill Cemetery, one of Birmingham's oldest and most historic cemeteries. I had a blast. People were dressed up as "residents," and they told us about their lives and what they had accomplished while they were alive. I have updated my Flickr page with more of these photos.

Old Baker Farm Photos

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 13:16:00 +0000

My Flickr page has been updated again with new pictures from this past weekend. My coworker and I went to Old Baker Farm in Harpersville, Alabama over the weekend to attend their Fall Festival. It was fantastic! They had Civil War reenactments, old-timey shootouts, a hay ride, pumpkin patch, Native American Dancing, and arts and crafts. The weather was absolutely perfect: crystal clear blue skies and a high of around 70.

I ended up taking around 600 photos. I went through them all last night and deleted 400 of them, leaving me with 204 shots that I felt were worthy of keeping. I am fairly ruthless and relentless when it comes to my photo editing. I only want to keep pictures that mean something to me or that I think convey a certain spirit or feel. As far as editing them in Photoshop, I mostly stick to cropping and bumping up the color or correcting the color if I can. Nothing too major; just trying to recapture what I saw in person. Hopefully I will be able to get a killer DSLR soon which will open up lots more possibilities for me. I have a film SLR (a Nikon FM10, but I definitely want to invest in a digital SLR camera. Right now I'm using my trusty Panasonic FZ20 and Panasonic TZ5. I'm saving the Holga for other things at the moment.

I've provided a taste of my pictures above; please go to the Flickr page to see more! If we're friends on Facebook, you can see nearly 100 photos from this glorious day.

Flickr Updated!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 18:34:00 +0000

I've updated my Flickr account with some new photos (an example of which is above), and I would love for you to click here to check them out! Last weekend I went to the Birmingham Botanical Gardens and took some of the best photos of my entire life with my little Panasonic TZ5 point-and-shoot. That small camera is an absolute marvel!

To be honest, I'm really doing a lot of thinking and ruminating over my photography. I've been using my Holga like mad (still waiting on my photos to come back from the lab) and I really want to do a series of the backroads of Alabama photos. I want to explore places one wouldn't usually see, and try to capture something about the place. I'm very, very excited at the possibilities, and I'm looking into investing in a DSLR by the end of the year. I also have a trip planned for New England over the Thanksgiving holiday and I hope to come away with some amazing images from there as well. Hopefully this is the start of me getting back into photography with a serious passion!

More Sketching

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 02:17:00 +0000

Another sketch from the new J. Crew catalog. Nothing much to say about this one, other than I'm super proud of that hand!

Quick Sketch

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 22:15:00 +0000

Drew the above last night fairly quickly. It was nice to get the colored pencils out again. The image is from the new J. Crew catalog, which I am presently lusting after.

Materials: 9 x 12 inch pastel paper, Prismacolor colored pencils

Blast from the Past

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 19:20:00 +0000

I went through some of my old sketchbooks this morning, looking for a drawing that I seem to have misplaced, when I came across these studies that I drew several years ago. I'm quite proud of them. Both were done in pen and ink (with a nice wash in the case of the nude studies). I think that it's important to look back to where you've been to see where you're going, so I figured I would share these with my readers.