Paulette Insall - Mixed Media Artist & Mom

New videos and online classes

2008-02-16T00:38:00.001-08:00

Come check out all my new videos and online classes at my Typepad blog where I post usually at least a few times a week. :)

http://pauletteinsall.typepad.com

Painting preview...vlog

2007-11-15T19:50:00.001-08:00

Over at my new blog...
Art Videoblog - preview of finished painting

Inspiring music

2007-11-14T10:45:00.001-08:00

Check out my newest post on my new blog...please update your bookmarks, links, subscriptions....thanks! xo :)

Incredible singer/songwriter Marie Digby - Unfold

New painting ("See The Beauty") & painting in progress pics

2007-11-12T11:52:00.000-08:00

On the new blog :)

pauletteinsall.typepad.com

Funny but true song...posted on new blog

2007-11-09T09:50:00.001-08:00

Just a heads up that I just posted on the new blog....click the link below to check it out. :)

Funny but true song...

New blog....yep I've switched again ;)

2007-11-08T18:22:00.001-08:00

Well, my iWeb blog was not working out so I decided to go ahead with Typepad since I've heard so many wonderful things about it. Be sure to pop over there and update your links/subscriptions, etc. I just posted there about an Etsy artist who's working for caregivers' rights. I hope you'll check it out. :)

http://pauletteinsall.typepad.com

Painting progress pics

2007-11-06T12:40:00.000-08:00

Here's the state of my painting table this morning after working on the painting in the foreground yesterday. Think a cleaning is in order before I start back up today. LOL!

This is the sketch for the new painting...

And here's where it was last night when I had to stop because of a bad headache...probably from staring at this painting too long. LOL!

Blogger is still not letting me upload photos, so I'm having to grab these from my Flickr account and insert them. Think it's about time to try out Typepad.....Blogger is too buggy and my iMac blog is taking forever to load! *sigh*

Well I'm off to fix myself some lunch....and go get Aiden to finish his. Did you ever see a kid who took hours to eat his lunch???? LOL!!! That is unless I sit there and make him eat it...typical day in the Insall household. ;)

New paintings on Ebay & Etsy

2007-11-05T11:13:00.000-08:00

Okay, I’m still recovering from thefrom the excitement of the Etsy homepage feature, but before I get started painting in the studio I wanted to let ya’ll know about my two new paintings. One is up for auction at Ebay and ends Sunday, Nov. 11th and the other is on Etsy. Please click the links below to see the pictures and inspiration stories on the listings since Blogger isn't letting me upload pics after trying for over 30 minutes now(grrrrrr!).

Click here for “Sing” painting on Ebay

Click here for “Pondering” painting on Etsy

I'm on the Etsy home page!!!

2007-11-05T10:23:00.000-08:00

Go look before they switch out the featured home page treasury!!!! My "Hold On To Bliss" art print is on the front page!!!!!!! Doin' a happy dance..... :)

New painting

2007-10-26T13:10:00.000-07:00

Since it looks like many people visiting my blog aren't clicking over to the new blog yet (see link in previous post below), I thought I'd post here about the new painting I just listed on Ebay. Please go check it out....and now I gotta go see about getting Aiden in to see the doctor today. Looks like his cold has spawned an ear infection...at last check his temp was almost 104!!!! Eeek! And looks like my nasty cold is back :(

Click here for new painting on Ebay

Trying out a new blog...

2007-10-17T01:43:00.000-07:00

Well I have had it with Blogger (it's constantly having issues with uploading pics among other things), so I decided to try out the web publishing software on my iMac to create a new blog. I'm still tweaking it, but I think it's already better than what I have now. Sure is easier to edit and upload pics, that for sure!

http://web.mac.com/pauletteinsall

Oh and I've also created a sub-blog for the 90 Features in 90 Days challenge I'm participating in. You can get there by clicking on "Featured Artists" at the top of the new blog page or part of the way down on the right sidebar there's a section called "Etsy Artists" with the day's featured artist.

I hope you like my blog's new home. Please leave me some comments there and let me know what you think of it. :)

It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown

2007-10-14T22:30:00.000-07:00

It's that time of year again (where has the time gone???) and last Friday was a trip with Aiden's preschool class to a local pumpkin patch. It was really foggy when we left that morning, but by the time we got there the fog had lifted thankfully. :)

Aiden had a wonderful time, but as usual I spent most of my time chasing him around. Typical four year old boy I guess, huh? He sure lives up to his

name (the Gaelic meaning for the name Aiden is "fire") 'cause he's a spitfire for sure! lol

He already knew that he wanted a little pumpkin (which I was so glad to hear since I knew I'd be the one hauling it around). He spotted the one he wanted right away and spent the rest of the time just exploring the pumpkin patch.

The rest of the time was spent looking at the baby animals and many, many trips through the hay maze....this kid is crazy about mazes I tell ya, so he was in total heaven!!!

On the way home, I couldn't resist snapping a few pics of the lovely fall colors around us. It's my all time favorite time of year....I could sit and stare at the trees for hours!

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend! We are sick with colds....again....well Aiden and I are.

Looks like we're on that cold season merry go 'round again. Ugh! As soon as I feel a little better, I plan on updating the shop with new paintings and prints. Just need a little time to get back into the swing of things...and I have some fun art journal pages I want to share with ya'll too. If you want to know as soon as the new paintings and prints are up, you might want to join my mailing list because I announce brand new listings there before I post them here.

Artist Feature :: Beth Alexander

2007-10-14T15:41:00.001-07:00

Etsy
Buy Handmade
Cryztalvisions

A little about Beth Alexander and her work...

Beth of

Cryztalvisions says she's been fascinated by crystals and stones for as long as she can remember. During her childhood, she had wonderful teachers that passed on their love of nature, geology, crystals, and gemstones. She comes from a long line of artists on her father's side.

Creating jewelry for almost 20 years now, she says she's still excited by the process and delights in the creation of each piece...each one unique with it's own energy. As she works, she is brought to a place of deep knowing, relaxation, and happiness, which really shows in her

work! She becomes immersed in the creative process and is fascinated when some pieces seem to magically design themselves.

Beth says that her work is a constant exploration of the interconnectedness of man and nature. Her special pieces

carry with them healing energies of the materials used in their creation.

One of my favorite items in her shop is this pair of sterling silver Dragonfly Spiral Earrings. Most of the jewelry I own is sterling silver and I just love freshwater pearls! I also have recently become fascinated with dragonflies and their symbology, which Beth talks about in the listing for these beautiful earrings.

You can find out more about Beth and her work at her website and her blog cryztalvisions.typepad.com.

Artist Feature :: Kalicat

2007-10-13T23:57:00.000-07:00

Etsy
Buy Handmade
Kalicat

A little about Kalicat...

Kalicat has trained in jewellery at Central St Martins and Hatton Gardens, in London. Mom of 2, she says: "I keep sane by painting and illustrating Fashion, jewelry-making and dreaming about all the things I will create in the near future".

All of her jewelry is sterling silver unless stated

otherwise. Findings are either purchased as is or made by her: handsawn, soldered, fabricated and crafted by Kalicat herself. She gets her top quality gemstones from suppliers around the world and designs her jewelry to last. She also offers a 6 month guarantee on her items. One of the things in her shop that caught my eye were these Nera Blums Sterling Silver Earrings. I love the detail of the little stamens poking out of the center of the petals...so very lovely! She has a wide array of beautiful jewelry in her shop made from gemstones, freshwater pearls, glass beads, and more.

On her blog honeyandsweets.blogspot.com she features indie designers, artisans, and artists who sell their wares online so be sure to check it out for even more eyecandy!

And for more info on her jewelry, you can visit her other blog kalicatdesigns.blogspot.com

Artist Feature :: Karen Jinks

2007-10-12T17:40:00.000-07:00

Etsy
Buy Handmade
Kala

A little about Karen Jinks and her work...

Karen is a professional artist and illustrator from the UK whose also mom to two

beautiful children. She loves to create and says she has trouble deciding what to do so she usually ends up trying to a bit of everything from painting to jewellery making and crochet, which is the reason why she opened her Etsy shop where you will find her artwork, prints, and cards.

One of my particular favorites in her shop is her mixed media painting entitled "Fragile" which you see pictured here. It has a dreamy quality that I love with a wonderful asymmetrical composition...and you all know by now I have a thing for butterflies. ;)

To see what Karen's currently up to, visit her blogs at karenjinks.blogspot.com & chalkhillstudio.blogspot.com

Art and Soul show report

2007-10-11T20:21:00.001-07:00

Well the big show is finally over and I think it went really well. I was exhausted by the end of the night and had very little energy left to pack it all back up. Thankfully I sold a good bit of what I had brought so there wasn't nearly as much to repack. :)

I also took two classes during the retreat. Both were wonderful classes and I'll post about them another day. Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures during the class. I have a tendency to get

wrapped up in absorbing as much as possible when I take a class, so I usually forget to pull out my camera. How lucky for me I had a super sweet table mate in my Friday class and she let me use her camera to snap a few "in progress" pics of my work. Thanks so much again sweet Catherine!!!

Well it's a little past Aiden's bed time, so I'd better go get him upstairs. We have a big trip to a local pumpkin patch in the morning with his preschool class....hope I remember the camera! LOL! G'nite ya'll! xo

Something a little different...Artist Feature :: Dawn Brandt

2007-10-11T10:07:00.000-07:00

There are many wonderful artists and crafters on Etsy (where I currently sell my paintings and prints) with more joining every day....so many in fact that you will never manage to see them all. Recently I came across this wonderful challenge, 90 Features in 90 Days. I decided to participate because I've been wanting to share with ya'll some of the other fabulous artists on Etsy and it gets me to post something new every day...which I really would like to get into the habit of. I hope you'll enjoy this little addition to my blog. So without further ado, here's my first featured Etsy member...Jewelry Designer: Dawn Brandt.

Etsy
Buy Handmade
ElementsbyDawn

A little about Dawn Brandt and her work...
Dawn is particularly drawn to creating pattern and texture in her pieces. Through pattern and texture, her designs deliver movement, visual and tactile interest. By way of color and form, emotion and energy radiate out of each design creating a look that is fashionable yet classic. Essential pieces containing simplistic shapes and clean lines evoke a sense of calm and serenity. Stylish jewelry, heavily textured with bold colors and daring lines, suggest passion and excitement.

All of Dawn’s work is done in her home studio with professional hand tools and techniques. She does not use power tools in the creation of any of her jewelry. The subtle nuances and intimacy of hand tooling brings out a richness and

detail that cannot be done through the use of power tools.

Additionally, she is a full-time student, wife, and

mother of two boys. She enjoys listening to music of all types, especially industrial, techno, a little ska, and classical. Dawn is a self-diagnosed coffee and cheese addict.

Please make sure you go on over and browse through her shop as she has many wonderful designs to choose from with a wide array of prices...some under $20...so there's sure to be something there for every one! One of my favorites is this Wide Argentium Cuff Bracelet in sterling silver for $50.

For more info on Dawn and her work, be sure to stop by her blog at elementsbydawn.blogspot.com

Crazy busy getting ready for local show

2007-09-25T22:56:00.001-07:00

I have been planning on posting for many days now, but keep forgetting. I'm busy painting every spare mintue I get in order to have some new original paintings for my table at the Art and Soul show, which is only about a week and a half away. I won't have as many as I would like to have had, but I'll also be bringing archival prints of previous works, so there will be lots to choose from. :D Oh and some mini art print pendants too for those who like to decorate themselves as well as their walls. ;)

If you live in the Portland area or are already attending classes at the Art and Soul Retreat, please be sure to stop by my table and say hi!

http://www.artandsoulretreat.com/portlandin2007-activities.php

If I get a spare minute in the next week, I'll try to post pics of all the new paintings....even if it's just a quick group shot. I have work in progress pics of a couple of them, but those will have to be saved for a later post after things calm down here.

Nite ya'll! xo

First day of school

2007-09-10T15:01:00.001-07:00

Aiden's first day of school was today...it's his second year of preschool at our church. There are many that were in his class from last year and he has the same teacher, which he is really happy about. He loves her so much and talks about her all the time. :)

Aiden got really tired of Momma taking his picture today. LOL! Here's just a few shots from the 100 or so I took this morning...

I'm still so very far behind and it's going to take me a while to get caught back up on everything around here. I'm just trying to take things a little at a time...I appreciate all the lovely comments you all have been leaving. I cherish each and every one even though I just don't have the energy to respond to them individually at the moment. xo

Inspiring words...

2007-09-08T11:45:00.001-07:00

It never ceases to amaze me the words God brings in front of my eyes just when I need them the most...

Celtic Work Blessing

May the light of your soul guide you.

May the light of your soul bless the work that you do

with the secret love and warmth of your heart.

May you see in what you do the beauty of your own soul.

May the sacredness of your work bring healing, light and renewal to those who work with you

and to those who see and receive your work.

May your work never weary you.

May it release within you wellsprings of refreshment, inspiration and excitement.

May you be present in what you do.

May you never become lost in bland absences.

May the day never burden.

May dawn find you awake and alert,

approaching your new day with dreams, possibilities and promises.

May evening find you gracious and fulfilled.

May you go into the night blessed, sheltered and protected.

May your soul calm, console and renew you.

Update on life here the last couple of weeks...

2007-09-06T11:09:00.000-07:00

Ya'll have probably been wondering what happened to me, huh? Well, my Mom came into town for a visit, Aiden had his 4th birthday, we went out of town for a bit (just got back), and now this morning Aiden has come down with some kind of virus that's causing him to vomit every 30 minutes or so. Needless to say, I won't be able to do any shipping today or correspondence. Heck, it's after 11am and I haven't even managed to eat breakfast yet.

Your prayers would be much appreciated. Aiden is quite miserable right now and I know it's serious because he's a tough little guy and just being sick never keeps him down. He's very lethargic this morning, so he must be feeling extremely bad. Please pray that he kicks this virus quickly and that my husband and I don't come down with it (which as all you parents know, is usually what ends up happening).

Well I'm off to try to get a few bites of waffle down before the next round begins.....

New videos & IF - Captain

2007-08-17T12:18:00.000-07:00

First of all, I want to just thank all of you who took the time to leave me such kind and caring comments in my last post. You just totally blew me away with your outpouring of supportive words and advice. It made me feel better to know that you all are out there and can relate to what I'm going through right now...funny how just knowing that you're not alone in your struggle can help. I don't feel nearly as isolated as I did last week at this time and I feel a little better equipped to deal with what life is handing me right now....just trying to take one thing at a time and letting some things slide. I've actually managed to paint a couple of times this week, not for long stretches, but I'm finding that if I don't paint regularly that I have a harder time dealing with things. It's like painting is what helps keep me sane....do you guys find that you have something that does that for you? This is the first time I have ever had something that does that....and now I find myself wondering how in the world did I ever survive without it?

Well since I knew that I wouldn't be able to have the webcam going today, I decided to spend the day yesterday editing my next video. Got it uploaded to YouTube in the wee hours of the morning. It's the third in my "Progress Of A Painting" series. In this episode I paint the face with acrylics and artist painting crayons.

Be sure to check out Episode 2 below as well....it's been on YouTube for a while now, but I never got around to posting about it here.

And one more thing before I go...the topic for Illustration Friday this week is "captain". I started thinking about the topic and thought at first that I didn't have any idea how in the world I could come up with something that would work for it....but then out of the blue I had an epiphany....one of my recently sold paintings, the one from the above videos, was perfect. It's titled "Trust" and it's about trusting in God and letting him "steer the ship" so to speak.

"Trust" ~ Original SOLD, prints available soon in the shop

♥♥♥ Story behind the painting ♥♥♥
Each of us was put on this Earth to carry out our purpose. For most of our lives, we may not know what this purpose is...we may even go from one thing to the next thinking that finally we've found it...only to find out we haven't.We are all on a journey...a journey of many steps...each step in the journey is just as important as the last...each step will lead us closer to that final destination...our purpose. If we just put our trust in God that He knows what it is (for He is the one who bestowed this purpose upon us) and how to get us there...no matter how winding that road may be...He will get us there just the same. It may take longer than most of us would like, but we'll get there. Just put your trust in God and continue on your journey.

IF - Emergency

2007-08-10T13:14:00.001-07:00

Life...Wide Open (Original available in the shop)
See shop listing for story behind the painting

This week's topic for Illustration Friday is emergency....I feel like I'm living my life in a "state of emergency" at the moment. Everything is urgent and needs to be addressed right away. I'm not the best at handling life when things get this way...I mean, I'm awful at taking care of myself....always putting others in my life first and myself last. At the end of the day, there's nothing left for me.

I know that I should take time for myself and ask for help (and thank you all for your concern and sweet, caring comments you've been leaving for me lately), but the thing is...I already suck at that, so now that things are getting so overbearing....well, I just shut down and shut myself off from everyone who lives outside of my house (even posting this here on my blog is pretty huge for me). I've been this way pretty much all my life and I don't see it changing anytime soon. And since I have a hubby that works alot and a little boy who is so super dependant on his Momma to be his playmate...that just doesn't leave time for much of anything. I've tried many times to arrange playdates with friends, but everyone is just so dang busy these days and playdates just get left by the wayside unfortunately. :(

I wish this post wasn't so melancholy, but this is just the truth about how I'm feeling and how things are playing out in my life right now. And gosh my son's birthday is coming up in about two weeks and you would think I would have at least bought a few presents by now, but no....I haven't...feeling like such an awful Momma right now. *sigh*

Okay...enough with the "o woe is me" stuff. I've got to find a way to get my life back under control before I lose my sanity! Just wish I had someone who could help me keep on track...and my hubby's just not the right type of person to do that and most of my friends either are just super busy or don't even live in the same town as me. I've tried the list thing....great idea...if I could remember to follow it! LOL! Plus I have the hardest time breaking things down into small chunks....I'm great at seeing the big picture, but breaking it down into manageable tasks...nope, that's just something that eludes me. Plus when you factor in that I get distracted easily...well let's just say all of this is not conductive to finishing tasks.

If any of you have any suggestions or ideas, I'd love to hear them....I'm open to almost anything at this point. Even toying with the idea of bringing in a professional organizer or cleaning service at this point and just biting the bullet on having to pay someone to do what I seem to be unable to.

Need a good laugh???

2007-08-06T11:30:00.000-07:00

I so did today after how things have been lately. Over on Michelle Ward's blog today, she posted about the Etsy shop Carol Lee Designs and their greeting card shop called HateMail Greetings....seriously, that's what it's called! Oh my gosh did I go into a giggle fit while clicking through their shop!!! One of my faves :: their mini cards "You Park Like An Idiot". LOL! Gosh I so need those (people who don't know how to park is a pet peeve of mine).

You gotta go check it out...now there really is a card for every occasion. ;) Oh and check out their website for a fun little video.

Checking in...

2007-07-31T01:10:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to let you all know that I'm doing the best I can to get all caught up on emails, shipping, and such, but it seems that just when I think I'm making some headway....something else happens. My hubby is having spasms in his back and up until late this morning, he couldn't even walk. So needless to say, things are pretty topsy turvy around here at the moment. Plus Aiden has now decided that Momma must play with him all day long and doesn't seem to want to accept "I can't right now" for an answer. I so love playing with him, but right now I'm so overwhelmed that I am having a hard time thinking straight...you think I'm kidding? Tonight I was trying to fix Aiden some mac and cheese and while I was waiting for the noodles to get ready, I decided to try to do something right quick on the computer. Then once the noodles were ready, I walked over to the stove to put the cheese sauce in and couldn't find the sauce anywhere. After searching all over the kitchen for it for what seemed like an eternity, my hubby spotted it on the computer desk from his spot on the couch. Seems that I took it over there with me and instantly forgot about it. And it wasn't the only time either....this kind of thing happened to me most of the day.

I appreciate your patience and know that I will get back to you as soon as I can. I managed to get a couple of emails/Etsy convos sent out this evening, but everything else will have to wait seeing that it's almost 1:15 am here and I'm about to keel over from exhaustion.

Oh and in the midst of everything, I forgot to let ya'll know I updated the shop last week with a couple of new originals and a new print. Hope you'll go take a peek.