my 30 paintings in 30 days…

Posted on October 8, 2014 by susie carranza studio

if you’ve read my previous posts, you know I took part in a ’30 paintings in 30 days’ challenge in the artists’ group HeARTspace on Facebook (created by artist Jeanne Bessette). the challenge ended yesterday and I’m proud to say I completed the whole challenge!

I won’t lie – sometimes I didn’t post one photo each day. with both my mom feeling under the weather (again), then my mother in law being hospitalized (again), my mind was often occupied with other things and I couldn’t get myself to finish artwork in front of me. but I played catch up, staying up late when needed. one day I posted four (or five?) paintings all in the same day in order to catch up!

here are all 30 pieces. I still consider a couple of them to be unfinished, but the purpose of this challenge was (I think) to dig deep into our creative selves, paint consistently and purposefully, and see what we learn about ourselves in the process.

I’m still marinading over what I learned about myself, my work, and where I want to go with it. (another blog post for sure!)…in the meantime, here are group shots of all the pieces. Look for much better individual photos to come, as well as most of these new pieces being available for purchase! 😉

’til next time…

paintings 1-15 of 30 paintings in 30 days challenge…

paintings 16-30 of 30 paintings in 30 days challenge

30 paintings in 30 days: Days 5 through 10…

Posted on September 17, 2014 by susie carranza studio

I’m happy to say that I’m still going strong with HeARTspace’s 30 paintings in 30 days challenge! Here’s what I’ve been up to…

Day 5: “For Patty”, mixed media on 7″ X 9″ hardboard.

Day 6: “Unknown”, mixed media on 8″ X 10″ canvas board.

Day 7: “It Never Stops”, acrylic paints on 5 1/2″ X 7″ canvas.

Day 8: “Dream”, mixed media on 11″ X 14″ canvas.

Day 9: “Still Together”, mixed media on 5″ X 7″ wood plaque.

Day 10: “Two”, mixed media on 6″ X 9″ canvas.

not much painting going on…

Posted on August 3, 2014 by susie carranza studio

the past several days have been very busy around here. unfortunately, no new artwork has been created in that time!

this past week, my mother-in-law ended up in the emergency room. she ended up undergoing another angioplasty to open up a blocked artery. so Lawrence and I have been spending our days at her house, keeping a watchful eye…

on a more positive note, renovations are finally under way at my in-laws’ house. a little backstory on that: when my father-in-law was diagnosed with cancer in January 2013, Lawrence made the decision that he wanted us to move in with his parents for the time they had left with us. unfortunately, there were other individuals in the house who stood in the way of us doing that in time to live with my father-in-law (we lost him within a month; he passed away February 2013). I won’t get into the details, but I will say that we are FINALLY able to get necessary repairs done to the house, getting us closer to moving into Lawrence’s childhood home so we can live and care for his mom. so we’re also dealing with contractors and renovations! I’m enjoying seeing the work being done – I really wanted to join in and tear down some walls…

so, as you can imagine, I’m not getting much artwork done. today’s the first day I’ve been home for awhile, and it was spent printing out invoices and letting customers know orders were shipped out. I do have some photos to share, at least!

’til next time…

newest pieces: mixed media wood plaques

on our way to Kaiser Permanente on Sunset Blvd.

lavender hibiscus in my in laws’ garden

bougainvillea flower hanging on to Lawrence’s shoe

spent most of a hot Friday under this…

check out my husband’s new Etsy shop!

Posted on June 5, 2014 by susie carranza studio

hey again…

after the experience we had a few weeks back (remember my last blog post? opportunity knocked – we answered!) i think my husband was inspired to get back to creating more work – and he decided to open HIS own Etsy shop!

his shop opened this week; he only has a few pieces, but each one is unique, mixed media in style, and if i say so myself – very cool.

here are some pieces created by Lawrence. let me know what you think – and then head over to his Etsy shop, Art by Lawrence Aguilar. it’s still in the very beginning stages, but we’re working on it…and remember, Lawrence also has work available at our website Arte de Nuestro Corazon.

who knows, one of you reading this may be his first Etsy customer! 😉

’til next time…

i’m still here!

Posted on May 6, 2014 by susie carranza studio

okay, so i’m not great at this blogging thing – yet. i just realized that it’s been over a month since i’ve posted here. i’ll try to do better! i won’t bore you with the details of internet problems and a non-working camera. i’ve gotten accustomed to taking all my photos on my iPhone, and it’s really convenient – i just need to work on taking and editing better photos…

just wanted to share some of what i’ve been up to. i HAVE been painting A LOT lately – finally! i’m getting back into the groove and loving it. the top photo shows a stack of canvases with finished backgrounds (most from my gelli printing sessions) that were just waiting to be finished. i’m working my way through the stack one by one…

this 8″ X 10″ mixed media original is one of my new favorites! titled “forever”, it’s a gelli printed canvas with acrylic paints, recycled papers (love to reuse and recycle!), and hand drawn touches. it will be available in my Etsy shop later today!

“Love knows no boundaries”, another 8″ X 10″ mixed media original, started with a map of the Pismo beach (California) as the background, then layers of texture with acrylic paints, Sharpies, and recycled papers (hearts are cut out from gelli prints). (this one is available in my Etsy shop now.)

stay tuned for more new artwork! 🙂

i’ve also been destashing supplies i’m no longer using (again!). i’ve been giving a lot of thought to this art business i think i’m in, and i’m come to the realization that i need to FOCUS. i want to try SO many creative things, i want to do it ALL – painting, drawing, beading, hand stitching, collaging – you name it, i wanna do it. which is fine, but if i want to sell my work successfully i think i need to focus on my strengths.

so – my Etsy supply shop is getting filled with items i’m no longer using: stamps, ribbons, paintable items, miniatures…you need to see for yourself!

newest items added to my Etsy supply shop…

Etsy supply shop collage (from Instagram)

that’s all for now…hope your May is off to a great start!

’til next time…