Robin's Creative Space

Warning, the first paragraph is my brain dump on the recent tragedies. Please skip that paragraph if you do not want to read and go below it for my weekly art. I remembered today was Thursday, not Wednesday, and I missed a post day. Honestly I have been a mess these last couple days from the tragedy in Uvalde, TX. Right before this week's mass shooting there was the mass shooting at Tops Grocery in Buffalo, NY. Both assailants were 18 year old kids. I am not here for debates or politics. It just left me feeling numb and angry. Along with asking WTF! Because of that I didn't do art for a couple days. Even trying to draw my doodle flowers that bring me so much joy seemed impossible. Despite being non-creative for a couple days, I have gotten some things done for the Farmer's Market this Saturday: A new simpler design on some of the zipper bags that have been colored washed using acrylic paint. I did an acrylic paint wash in Liquitex Heavy Body Prussian Blue and Iridescent Med...

 Last week update. First, got the banner finished for the Placerville Art on Parade display on Main Street in downtown Placerville. I am so excited to see all the artist's banners on the light posts displayed throughout the summer.  Here is my banner: A Wood Sorrel Summer by Robin Rodriguez These banners are large and this was the biggest project I have ever done. It took up a lot of room. I used a 5'x3' folding table which I set up in my art space. I had no idea that it would take as long as it did to paint. This was definitely a humbling and learning project. Now that its done, I am excited to apply next year! I will be posting my banner when it's hung. (Both sides are painted however I forgot to photograph the back side when I completed it.)  For more info on the Placerville Art On Parade and see more banners from previous years go to  https://www.placervilleartonparade.org/ . Here's a new design I am doing on sneakers for an upcoming class: I will be at Batia Vi...

I have been told that artists procrastinate. If that is true, then I am an artist and I can blame being an artist for my procrastination. I have been like this my entire life. I worked jobs that were high stress with unimaginable deadlines with numerous last minute changes. I think I became comfortable with working well under pressure. Well this last week it has snowballed on top of me. I have been trying to get glassware painted, cured for 4 days and then baked in the oven and ready for the weekly Farmers Market. I have the large banner to finish by this coming Saturday for the Art On Parade and I have to paint several pairs of shoes as samples for an upcoming Painted Sneakers class I am doing next month. All this while I try to post on social media and get this blog off the ground. Happy to report that I have been steadily moving forward on all fronts however I do need to start being a little more organized. Last Saturday at the Farmers Market: The front of the banner is done and var...

Yesterday was opening day for the Certified Organic Farmer's Market in our County here in Northern California. I was approved for being one of the local artists approved for a vendor spot. It started off as a cloudy and cold morning around 40 degrees. The sun started to peak through about 10am which was warming. The weather here has been weird for sure. I was assured by the Master Gardener's that I was not the only one loosing springtime plants and flowers this year. Glad to know my pale green thumb hasn't gone completely brown. Here's a look at my table: I also had a few totes hanging from the two front corners of the pop-up that the market's organizer let me borrow. If I had waited to have a lot of merchandise to sell I would never have set up. I have done that before too many times. Plus I was in it for the sake of putting myself and my artwork out into the public. If I sold anything, that would be the bonus. And I did sell four painted wine glasses! It paid for ...

 Happy Monday! I have had an issue(s) when it comes to posting my stuff. I keep wondering what to post, what would be interesting, when to post, should I even start a blog, do I need to know algorithms, and on and on. I am sure this is why so many blogs end before they even get started. And really, what's the big deal about it all anyway? It's just a teeny tiny spot in the world wide web. If it's read, great. If not, that's okay too. I have to re-read the reason I started this one in the first place. Today my brain is on painting sneakers. I love to paint sneakers, totes, canvas and I especially love it when I can paint m doodle flowers on it all. They make me happy and feel a little lighter. So here are two pairs of mine that I did which sparked the idea to make matching ones for my granddaughter. I just ordered a pair of white Converse Chucks and a pair of black Vans skate sneakers to paint next. My hope is that I can start doing this full time. That is how much I lov...