What's up with all the chickens?

Saturday and Sunday, January 25 - 26, 2014, the Key West Art Center is hosting the annual Key West Craft Show.  Every year fine craft artists come from all over the country to share their work and enjoy a little warm weather.  The Craft Show takes place on Whitehead Street between Caroline St and Greene St, just a few steps away from the Art Center.  If you are in town head down to see it.


The Key West Art Center
entrance 310 Front Street, Key West, Florida
©Maggie Ruley 2014

I don't have a booth there this year, but I did go into the Art Center yesterday with some cute small paintings for them to sell.  I have been adding some roosters and chickens to my small paintings because they are so much a part what makes Key West the interesting place it is.

Today's Key West Question

One of the most frequent questions people ask is,

"What's up with all the Chickens?" 

Visitors want to know why they are all over town, and if they belong to anybody.

I am not sure there is any one answer, but it is my theory that there is a direct correlation between the crack down on cock fighting in the late 80's and early 90's and the increase in the chicken population.

In 1986 my first studio was in the Blue Heaven building (before the restaurant).  The neighborhood is called Bahama Village and it was one of the few neighborhoods that had free ranging chickens at that time.  Young boys were always running through the yards catching the roosters to take home to their Uncles, Daddies, and Cousins.  After the cock fighting crack down, no one was catching the roosters and when you have more roosters you have more chickens.  But it's just my theory.  And, no, they don't belong to anybody, and yes, the cats and dogs leave them alone.



Dog Gone, acrylic 6 x 6 inches
©Maggie Ruley 2014

This little cottage is on Ashe Street in Key West and is really cute.  I have taken many photos of it over the years.  It used to have a red jeep parked in it's drive way.  I decided a red boat would be more fun.



Dog Gone, acrylic, 6 x 6 inches
framed to 12 x 12 inches
$145

Dog Gone
acrylic
framed
$145
you can purchase directly through me or
The Key West Art Center,
Address: 301 Front St, Key West, FL 33040

Phone:(305) 294-1241

Hours: daily 10am to 5pm

Earthquake in Key West

Did you feel the earth move the week before last?  They say it was an earthquake off the Cuba coast, but I think it was a reaction to the sudden population boom here in Key West.  Surely the rhythm of all those happy feet on our downtown pavement could set up some kind of vibration that would shake up the earth's crust, right?

It's official, it's tourist season and time to share our island paradise with the world.  If you are visiting we are glad you are here and we want you to have a good time.

 I really do want you to enjoy our island, therefore while you are here.............. 

 1. If I see you standing on a street corner puzzling over a map I will ask if I can help you find something.

2. I will encourage you to get off the main streets and do a little exploring of our quaint streets and lanes if you have time.

3. I will answer your questions about Key West to the best of my ability. 
Today's question: Which is the best beach?  Well, our beaches aren't fabulous, but I think the best overall beach is Fort Zachary Taylor State Park, called Ft Zach by the locals.  It's the only beach where the water is deep enough you can swim. There is sun and shade, picnic tables and it's a great place to watch the sunset. But there is an entrance fee.

4. And I will paint some charming little gem paintings that you can take home to help you remember the fun you had. 


Duval and Greene, acrylic 6 x 6"
©Maggie Ruley 2014

Down town Key West takes on kind of a carnival atmosphere when it is busy with tourists, so Duval and Greene is painted in some fun bright colors.


Duval and Greene, framed 12 x 12"
 $145.00

Lucky, acrylic 6 x 6"
©Maggie Ruley 2014

 Lots of boats on the waters these days, I would call mine Lucky.

 

Lucky, framed 12 x 12"
$145

 

Happening now in Key West

 

Quantum Race Week 2014  Yacht Racing.  http://www.premiere-racing.com/ here is a great web site with live coverage and interviews.

 

Saturday and Sunday, Jan. 25 and 26 is the Key West Craft Show.  Wonderful artists from across the country bring their art to Key West.  On Whitehead Street between Greene St and Caroline, from 10am to 5pm both days. 

 Sponsored by the Key West Art Center.

 

See you at the Craft Show this weekend!

 

 

Fun face bead necklaces added to my Etsy store

Fun new molded and stamped face bead necklaces added to my Etsy store.

Each face pendant is 3 to 4 inches long with a 24" ball chain and connector.  Easy on and off.

Makes a great gift for your fun loving friends or treat yourself.

$16.00

Shipping $3.80

Income Boosting Strategy for 2014

 

 

I had the good fortune to listen to Alyson Stanfield's Income Boosting Strategy Webinar yesterday.  It was perfect timing.  I was in the middle of doing my 2013 review and in the right frame of mind to start planning for 2014. (or is it left frame of mind? I can't ever remember which side does what.)  The webinar was an hour and she described in detail her 5 Step formula for increasing revenue.  This was tailored for artists, but I guess it could work or any business.

 

 

If you would like to listen to a replay of the webinar, here is a link.  I think it will available until January 14.

 

Listening to the webinar is the easy part.  Implementing the strategy is the commitment part.

 

I decided to jump right in and make a plan with specific tasks written down.  I decided not to take the "it's all fabulous, let your inner-self guide you" approach.  Don't get me wrong the inner-self is often worth listening to, but not if it is telling you to "just go paint, you can do this later", every time the hard work needs to be done.  Which is what my inner-self says most of the time.

 

Here is what I am doing to make the plan work. Please note that this is a monthly plan. So I will need to pay attention to it.  I don't want to get to next October and realize I have 3 months left to meet my goals.

 

 

I made a chart with my income categories and columns to set goals for increasing revenue by certain amounts. Notice that I have set the increases in different amounts 20% - 40%.  I know that there are some categories that I will have to work hard to increase them even by 10%.  But, there are some categories I have paid so little attention to that I think 40% is very doable.

 

 

Notice that right next to the categories is a column for what my monthly average was is 2013.  I have spent the last 2 days doing the work to get me these numbers.  Shame on me.  I should have been  doing them on a weekly basis.  You can't implement this strategy until you know the numbers.

Here is what that unknown numbers formula would look like;

$??.00 x 20% = $??.00

 

 

Next I have added columns for;

1. the additional amount needed to make the increase

2. what that would total each month

3. and  how to get there.

 

 

Notice that I am not saying, "get more likes on Facebook", or "comment more on other people's blogs".  These are income related tasks. I have written these in pencil, so if they don't seem to be working I can change them.

 

So the easy work is done.  Now I just need the discipline to do the tasks and stay on track.

 

Did anyone else I know listen to the webinar? Let me know, we can compare notes.

 

My tasks for today;

1. take photos of the recent pottery

2. use photos to create new Etsy listings

(my Etsy store is in a sorry state)

 

When those tasks are done I get to paint! 

 



Top Shelf

There was a fun still life set up in painting class on Thursday, all the detritus from a New Year's celebration. I can't remember the last time I painted a still life, so that means it has been awhile.

I got a pretty good start on it in class and probably could have left it alone.  But  after class I decided that the focal area should be the blue martini glass and grapes.  So I tightened that area by correcting the drawing and sharpening some edges and working the darks and lights. The other areas then got minor fluffs, because when you work on one area it affects the others, and then they need attention too. 

 

Top Shelf  (working title, not sure yet).  I was thinking of calling it Rex Goliath, because of the wine bottle.  But I'm not sure people will get it.  Oh well, I'll figure it out.  This is going to look great in someone's dinning room or bar.  It has a classical set up and a tropical feel.

Top Shelf

acrylic

20" x 24"

$680

©Maggie Ruley 2014

 

small print; yes it is a new year and prices have gone up.

Wishing you rainbows and Unicorns

 

 

May you have an exceptional ending to 2013... 

 

 





and a beautiful beginning to 2014




 

 

 

Wishing you rainbows and Unicorns in 2014. (My Unicorn photo came out too blurry to use.)


The US1 beginning and end signs are on the corner of Whitehead and Fleming Streets in Key West, FL

The other end is in Fort Kent, Maine.

 

 

 

The signs in Fort Kent, Maine.  The other, colder, (but I am sure just as beautiful) end of US 1.

Visit usends.com to see more highway beginnings and ends.

http://www.usends.com/Focus/FtKent/

 

A 6 point review of paint brands

Very often when I show photos of my work table with its jumble of assorted paints, in this blog I get e-mails or comments with questions about the paints I use.  So I thought it would be good for me to collect my thoughts on the paints I choose and tell you why I like them, or in some cases don't.

I paint in lots of thin layers.  I like what happens when the colors interact with each other and my paint choices are based on that. Also let me say that these are my opinions based on what I want my paints to do.

What I want from my paint.

I  want the paint to just flow off my brush, almost like ink.  I want as little drag as possible.  I like all different surfaces, canvas, paper, primed board.  They each bring their own personality to the finished piece and the paint has to work with all those surfaces.
I want to be able to put out big piles of paint without,  "OMG! What is this costing me?"

 Above is my diagramed photo (kind of like the photos in the Arlo Guthrie song Alice's Restaurant) of the paints I am currently using.  I have circled and number the paints and they correspond to the list below.

So in descending order of least favorite to most favorite they are...

• #6 Liquitex Brand Paints    Don't look too hard, you won't  see many on my work table.  The heavy body paints get snotty in the tubes and almost impossible to mix.  The soft body paints aren't worth the price.   Except for...........
• #5 Liquitex Gesso which I use for white.  It flows great and has good coverage.  If you use a lot of white this is a very easy on the budget alternative to Titanium white in tubes.
• #4 Lukas acrylics in the big squeeze bottles.  The blues are good,  the reds and yellows, not so much, too transparent and un-pretty color, except I did like the vermillion red and the Indian yellow.  The price is good.
• #3 Amsterdam Standard acrylics.  These are the student grade of the line. The price is similar to the Liquitex Basics, but they are much better.  The white is worthless, the pale tints aren't good by themselves but they are great to mix with other colors.  You get a lighter value of the color that isn't the same old boring blue + white = pale blue. You get some really interesting colors.
• #2 Amsterdam Expert acrylics.  Really good paint for the money. Lots of pigment in the colors.  A little stiffer than the standard but still okay.
• #1  Totally Awesome Holbein Acryla.  But they are really really spendy and look how tiny the tubes are!  But there are some must have colors, Compose Rose and Opera. 

I know I didn't mention a lot of brands, Golden for example, but these are the brands that are working for me now.  Maybe next year will be different, we'll just have to see what the next year brings. 

Great day of painting.

After spending most of the last 8 weeks working on pottery it feels good to be in the painting studio again.  I finished the painting below.  It had been having a "time out" for several months.

Mural finish

 Here are the final phases of my mural.  I was almost finished at this point and stopped to have a discussion with the clients about moving some of the foliage onto the adjoining wall.  They thought it was something they might want but decided to wait until the end to make the decision.

After I took the plastic off and pulled the blue tape away so they could see the adjoining wall they decided the wanted to go ahead with placing some foliage on the next wall.

I also gave them a little sail boat on the horizon.

This is the view of the mural from the hall.  This was the only place I could stand and get a photo of the whole wall.

I was very fortunate and my clients were wonderful to work with.  I gave them the sketch I worked from as a gift.  (30" x 22" acrylic on 300# paper)

On another note.  This blog sight is experiencing some serious technical issues.  I will try to resolve them.

Mural project, day 2

 
On day 2 of my mural project I loaded the premixed colors in my car and went back to work.  I had premixed 3 different greens, a cool green, a warm green and a yellow green.  I also mixed an orange and a purple. I neglected to mix a couple of browns. In hindsight I wish I had.  The palm tree trunks took a lot of time and if I had a couple of browns it would have been easier.

 

I save the Styrofoam trays that come from the grocery store to use as palettes and I took a bunch with me.  I had one for palm fronds, and one for tree trunks and one for light colors.  See the box top things that the paint cans and squeeze jars are sitting in?  I took a bunch of those and set the cans and buckets and things in them so that if I spilled something it wouldn't go everywhere.  I only used large house painting brushes the first day for the large areas.  Day 2 and 3 I used my regular brushes.

 

 

This is the end of day 2.  At the end of the day I had the home owners look at the mural and I told them I wanted to kick up the color in the clouds.  They said fine, they would be happy to have more of a sunset feel there.  We always planned on there being a lot of color in the palms and the grasses, but the sketch they okayed didn't have a lot of color in the clouds on the horizon.

 

I finished day 2 much more confident that this mural was going to be fine.  The colors in the squeeze bottles made my life much easier.  I didn't worry the entire time about the mess and I could really concentrate on the project. I left at the end of day 2 knowing just what my next steps were going to be and fairly certain that I could complete this in one more day.

 

 

I decided to take a ride by the beach on my way home and take a look at the sunset for a little inspiration.  It was a lovely one.

 

 See you day 3.