Some people just have it... but you can tell they worked at it too

Image © Harry Stooshinoff

Wanted to tell you folks about a fellow Etsy artist whose work we love around here. Harry Stooshinoff is an artist and teacher living north of Lake Ontario. His work just blows me away! It is loose and precise all at once, and the minimal detail he uses is amazing.

I heard it said once that you know a painting is done when you would add nothing to it and take nothing away. His work has a life to it that seems it could only come from a quick gestural interpretation of a scene, yet each piece is so precise in its composition. No fussing and tweaking is apparent.

When you see work like that, you just know that the artist is one that has an innate ability to capture a scene, and distill it down to only the elements most necessary to give the viewer what they need to recognize what's there.

It's obvious that Harry is a much practiced and skilled artist. You could not do what he does without great knowledge, understanding, practice and control of your medium.

Do yourself a favor and check out his Etsy shop, paintbox.etsy.com.

Changes and Ends

Got some new artwork in the Etsy shop, 2 space patrol craft box art images and a new robot named Lois.

So, in a previous post, I alluded to changes and things ending. What's changing and ending?

Well, in a little over a month, we will be moving house. 3 years ago, we simplified. By that, I mean we made our lives smaller and less expensive. We have been living in a tiny little 1920's cottage house since then. We have owned that house for about ten years, and had kept it as a rental house while we flipped another house. We moved back in 3 years ago so that we could meet the requirements for selling the house without having to pay capital gains tax. It has been a tight fit, especially as the kids have grown, but it has been a good exercise for us. Dumb luck put us in a very manageable lifestyle for the current economic climate, so we are very fortunate to be able to buy in the current home market.

Part of our reason for simplifying was so that I could attempt to make my living solely off my art. My family has accommodated this dream, as it has made me a much happier and accessible person. Not so much, "I can't do that right now because I have to work." My full-time job has been being an artist for about a year and a half now.

Moving into a smaller space meant that my studio had to be moved to a separate location. This makes it difficult to work on shipping, etc. outside of the 9-5 workday. Selling your work through the internet means that people everywhere can buy at all hours. It also means that they will have questions at all hours. I can't answer some of the questions until I get into the studio, and that means folks have to wait, and they can't buy until I have answered their question. Having a studio at home again would make answering questions immediately possible again.

Sometime in mid-May, I will have all my Etsy shops operating from our new home, and I will have the added benefit of my wife, Lee, being on site. She's amazing with organization, and somehow, when I can have her involved, it takes a few hours to do what takes me a whole day by myself. Hopefully, that means more hours in the day to correspond with customers, quicker turnaround times on orders, and more time to create new work.

Our time in the little house is ending. For for 2 of the last 3 years, we have said, "It's just 2 years, we can make it." For the last year we have said, "Okay, we have been here 2 years, we can move now." Now we only have 1 month left. The 3 years sort of went by in a flash, but this last month seems to crawl. I know when I look back in a month, it will seem like the past month flew by as well, but it's a challenge to know that what you have been working towards for three years is within your grasp. But if that's the worst of what we have to go through to complete this change, I'm happy with that.

ABC's Cupid: A Print Giveaway!

Photo: ABC/Kevin Foley

Several months ago, I was contacted by someone from ABC's Cupid series to have 10 or so of my pieces used on sets of the show.

On Tuesday, March 31st, the show will premiere at 10/9c. I am having a giveaway to celebrate my art appearing on national TV. The first person that contacts me with a sighting of my art on Cupid will get a free print of their choice from my Etsy shop! Gotta have details like where you saw it: Trevor Pierce's apartment, the bar he works in, the psychiatrist's office, the psychiatric ward, etc. Also need to know what piece of artwork you saw.

I don't know what episode(s) the artwork will appear in, or even which sets, so you may have to watch a few episodes before you see anything. Giveaway will run until we have a winner.

Cupid is a remake of the cult favorite series of the '90s, from series creator Rob Thomas (Veronica Mars). It is described as such by the ABC website:

"Trevor Pierce is a larger than life character who insists that he is Cupid, the Roman god of love. He claims that he has been sent to New York City by Zeus to bring 100 romantically challenged couples together before being allowed to return to Mt. Olympus. His persistence eventually lands him in a mental institution.

Three months later, Trevor is found to be harmless to himself and others and is released -- but under certain conditions. Placed under the care of psychiatrist and self-help author Dr. Claire McCrae, he must attend her singles group therapy sessions on a regular basis so that she can monitor his progress.

Trevor returns to his rented room upstairs from the struggling Tres Equis Cantina, owned by Felix Araiza and his sister, Lita. In exchange for rent, Trevor becomes a bartender and creates an atmosphere for singles looking for lasting love. His ideas, such as half-price margarita nights and mariachi karaoke duets, could help him bring couples together and ultimately take him closer to the day that he gets to return to Mt. Olympus.

No one believes Trevor's story, but everyone finds him to be quite charming. Although he possesses a great knowledge of Greek mythology, Claire finds that Trevor constantly interferes and contradicts her when it comes to her pragmatic style of helping lonely hearts find their soul mates. In true love, Claire believes it's all about friendship and mutual respect; for Trevor, heat and passion conquer all. Only time will tell who will win this battle for love.

Cupid stars Bobby Cannavale (Will & Grace) as Trevor, Sarah Paulson (The Spirit, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip) as Claire, Rick Gomez (What About Brian) as Felix and Camille Guaty (Las Vegas) as Lita."

Wow! Technology is amazing!

So... I just downloaded a little blogging app for my iphone. Now I can post to my blog anytime and I don't have to wait until I have a free moment at home or at work. I will be a blogging machine.

I say all that knowing full well that I will not be blogging any more frequently. It's more about having something to write about than any ease of use or having time on my hands. But I will have something to write soon! We are in the process of looking for new digs for both the Golden empire and the Golden family. Time has come to put it all in the same place. I can't do it all myself anymore. Gotta take advantage of that free family labor.

So, why a picture of what's probably a 300-400 year old oak tree all chopped up and being carted away? I don't know. I hated to see it destroyed. I don't know where came from or where it was going. It could have been destroyed naturally. But it reminded me that everything changes and that all things eventually end.



-- Post From My iPhone