take two using this stencil. it’s not the best photo, as it was really overcast when i took the photo. the colors aren’t showing up all that well. but i like it, for the most part. i wish i had used smaller letters on the meow’s but since it’s the last layer, there’s no [...]]]>

take two using this stencil. it’s not the best photo, as it was really overcast when i took the photo. the colors aren’t showing up all that well. but i like it, for the most part. i wish i had used smaller letters on the meow’s but since it’s the last layer, there’s no way to fix it without starting over basically. so i’m leaving it. i’ll fix that in the next take. (fae and i have always referred to our cat sticker as a pretty pretty princess.)

really have to get working on a stencil of the other cat, stencil, before he gets jealous!

that is all.

so i’ve been busy over here in the outdoor studio (otherwise known as my backyard), despite the rollercoaster weather. a few weeks back, i decided i wanted to start doing more stencil portraits, of pop culture icons, local (s)heroes, and yes, even pets. i know it’s crowded field – artists doing paintings of people’s [...]]]>

so i’ve been busy over here in the outdoor studio (otherwise known as my backyard), despite the rollercoaster weather. a few weeks back, i decided i wanted to start doing more stencil portraits, of pop culture icons, local (s)heroes, and yes, even pets. i know it’s crowded field – artists doing paintings of people’s pets – but i frankly don’t know anyone at least in new orleans who is doing stencil spray paint/urban folk-pop art style stuff. so i figured i’d give it a shot.

the above piece is my first attempt at doing a cat. my cat, specifically. sticker is his name, but my friend nita calls him mr. toes because he’s one of those hemingway cats (polydactyl) with extra toes all over the place. he has big mitten feet, and he’s a tubby, not very coordinated, princessy feline with a lot of character. i love him dearly. it was challenging trying to get a good one-color stencil that captures his unique look, but i think i pulled it off. after shooting about a hundred photos of him, i found one that worked well as a stencil, even though it didn’t include his funny feet.

about a year ago on one of my daily walks around the neighborhood, i salvaged four small weathered cabinet doors from a rotting set of cabinets on the curb out for the trash. i just really liked their look, and they’ve been sitting in my shed ever since, waiting for just the right project to come along. so when i did the first portrait in the series – frida kahlo (yes, i know she’s overplayed, but i’ve been a fan of hers since the early 80s and looking back through books of her work actually did help get me out of my funk, so i thought she deserved to be the first portrait i tried in this new style) – after testing it out on a scrap piece of plywood, i just jumped right in on one of these cabinet doors and started to play. i think it turned out pretty cool:

i love how using the cabinet doors makes it look like a readymade, already-framed piece of art. and gives it that folk-art feel. i had originally envisioned making mixed media pieces, putting various paper items as a background that would then be painted over such that parts of the print peeked out of the paint blasts… but i just spontaneously started making this one and decided i didn’t want to wait for all that mod podge to dry (usually takes overnight) so i just went with layering paint and design motifs. and this is what i ended up with.

i also did another rachel maddow piece, because, well, i’m obsessed. clearly. those of you who’ve been following me for a while know that i did a bunch of rachel maddow pieces a year or two ago that were really labor-intense 7-layered stencils. while it was a really good challenge and fun to do, once the stencils started deteriorating, i quickly realized i didn’t really want to keep recutting 7 different layers of facial features over and over again. i was able to make about 4 small canvases and a handful of prints on paper with them, but decided that was it for that particular incarnation of rachel maddow in stencil form. so this time, i chose a different picture to work from that was easy to turn into a one-layer stencil. whew.

so that’s 3 out of the 4 cabinet doors. not sure what i will do with the 4th, though i’m considering doing my other cat, the mighty hunter, stencil. but after playing around with the photos i took of him recently, i’m realizing it’s going to be much harder to do. as an all-black cat, it’s hard to create a one-layer stencil that isn’t just a silhouette – that actually gives him some dimension and features. but i’m going to keep playing with it. he’s already jealous of sticker because he has the extra-toes thing going on – i don’t want to slight him, you know? i love him just as much!

so yeah. that’s what i’ve been up to. i’ve also been making a bunch of love signs and posting up more stuff on my etsy site – valentine’s is coming up soon. but i’m hoping this new direction with the stencil portraits ends up being something i can market and turn into some steady income soon.

let me know what you think.

but i am starting to buckle down and get more serious about it. and due to an out-of-the-blue wholesale request the other day via email, i’ve decided i might as well put it out there that i am now [...]]]> ha! if only my arty-crafty biz was an empire. i’ve got a long way to go.

but i am starting to buckle down and get more serious about it. and due to an out-of-the-blue wholesale request the other day via email, i’ve decided i might as well put it out there that i am now interested in wholesaling my stuff to shops and stores. select signs, clocks and even t-shirts if you want ‘em. or really anything i make, i’m willing to wholesale if you’re willing to buy in quantity. just get in touch for pricing and minimums and we can work it out.

you can see my current inventory online in my etsy shop – always accessible via the widget in the upper right of this blog, but here’s the url if you want to bookmark it: http://www.etsy.com/shop/artbymags. and please take a stroll through my picture galleries on this site using the menus to the left – they link to my flickr site where you can see pics of all kinds of stuff i’ve made over the years and see the latest things i’ve been working on in the studio.

i’m also now expanding my stencil obsession to portraits. i’m currently working on a series of pop icon prints/paintings purely based on my own interests, but am open to commissions of anyone or anything you might have in mind. i’m even doing one of my cat, sticker, and if that turns out well i might totally start offering that service for pet owners. it won’t be cheap cuz it takes time to go from photo to stencil and then also figuring out the composition and coloring of the painting, plus finding some salvaged material to paint it on. but if this is something you might be interested, please email me.

it’s time to start making some $$ with these skills i possess and stop being so passive about it. so help me out: share me with a friend (or all of your friends via facebook or twitter!), give me feedback about my stuff here in the comments , and let me know what you’d like to see/read more of here on the blog.

new small canvas, working out some new ideas about $$$

after months of feeling like i’d lost my way and lost all inspiration, finally things seem to be shifting a little for me. i had a day full of energy and firing on all cylinders yesterday, which seems to happen so rarely to me now. (not sure if it was the extra cup of [...]]]>

after months of feeling like i’d lost my way and lost all inspiration, finally things seem to be shifting a little for me. i had a day full of energy and firing on all cylinders yesterday, which seems to happen so rarely to me now. (not sure if it was the extra cup of coffee or that big chunk of salmon – brain food! – i cooked up the day before, but i haven’t had such clarity in a really long time. it was nice.)

so i think i’ve decided to recommit to the art life. i was on the verge of abandoning it entirely, but i now am feeling new inspiration and a desire to buckle down and get serious about it. so in the coming weeks, i will be tweaking this website a little, moving some of the less art related stuff over to my new domain, margaretcoble.com (catchy, eh?), which will serve as more of an overall personal and professional site. and in so doing, i will refocus this site more on my art and crafty life and process, with the intention of making this blog more interesting to read. (and hopefully update it more frequently.) i might even shoot some video or make a podcast or something crazy like that!

i took the above picture this afternoon in my outdoor studio (otherwise known as the back yard!). i’m working on a new series or set of stencil paintings that i hope are going to turn out the way i want them to. some will be on salvaged wood and cabinet doors and such, others will be on canvas. some will be straight up stencil paintings and some will be more mixed media oriented. i have a million ideas jotted down, but the process will take a while as it requires me making a LOT of new stencils, both of pop icons and objects as well as textures and patterns. i hope the results will be interesting and aesthetically pleasing as well as marketable. it’s not exactly groundbreaking or even highly original in concept or technique, but it is something that i want to make and express and will challenge me while hopefully also paying a few of my bills. it’s a good place to start. and hopefully it will lead to more interesting things.

one of my favorite soulful house songs has lyrics that say “you’ve got to move to create change.” i love that line. this is me moving. just gotta keep it up.

so stay tuned. and bear with me. thanks!

ten days into the new year and, well, there are no big distractions to keep me from trying to figure out the answer to my big existential question of the past year or so:  now what?

the saints are out of the playoffs, and i don’t frankly care who wins the superbowl from here [...]]]>

ten days into the new year and, well, there are no big distractions to keep me from trying to figure out the answer to my big existential question of the past year or so:  now what?

the saints are out of the playoffs, and i don’t frankly care who wins the superbowl from here on out, though part of me feels like it might be kinda fun to root for the big underdogs who beat our asses, seattle. the pure joy and excitement on the faces of the seahawks’ fans and players after our game ended last weekend reminded me of us last year.

and yes, it is carnival season now… but we’ve got a long slog until the first parade (krewe du vieux, on the 19th of february!). now that 12th night is over, there’s not much for us common folk who aren’t in a krewe to partake in carnival-wise until then. (aside from eating our body weight in king cake.)

so i suppose it’s time to get my brain out of holiday mode and start trying to figure out this next chapter of my life.

i wish it would be as easy as my horoscope says it’s supposed to be. susan miller says all the strife i’ve been having with money for years and years is supposed to ease up and get better. and in fact, i was supposed to come into some large sum of money just a few days ago! but alas, this has not happened yet. i keep waiting, but so far, nada. i mean, i got a couple of orders on etsy out of the blue… but come on. that’s hardly a windfall! in fact, if anything, things have gotten worse this month so far because all the holiday shopping frenzy is over. even things with magicmonkey have even slowed down as nita gets some work done in her house.

i won’t hold my breath on money falling from the sky.

so i guess it’s time to start polishing up the old resume (as if i actually have one!) and throwing it out into the world to see if it can get me anywhere. i’m still a little torn between trying to find some type of professional or career-y track type job that would pay nicely and possibly stimulate me intellectually in some way (though what would that be? see, the same old problems crop up because i still don’t know the answer to that question)… or just finding some kind of mindless menial job that pays enough to help me pay the bills but doesn’t tax me brain-wise or emotionally. might be fun to just work and play and have fun for a change.

god, i’m tired of thinking about all of it. i just want to have said job, whatever it is, and work hard and get paid and stop being stressed about having enough money to live on. in some ways, i sort of don’t really care what it ends up being. i just need it to happen. something. anything. some movement. some activity. i need to get out there. get out of my house. be around people. be a normal person. work. (i make a really good workaholic, actually, when given the chance.)

why is this so hard for me? no really. i really don’t understand it. i am not a stupid person. i am not generally a scared person. i am not afraid of people. or of work. i have done all kinds of work in my life. i’m pretty open to whatever work comes my way. i just want to feel useful. productive. participating in society. i want to have a life outside these four walls and my cats. i’m tired of working alone in my house.

that is my intention. i’m naming it. this is what i want for my new year. something new and different. simple, really.

wanna hire me?

but seriously. i wanna crowd-source this shit. if you know of any openings, gimme a holler. the only thing i’m not really terribly interested in is service industry. a) i don’t have any experience, and b) i think i’d suck at it. not motivated there. but i’m good at all kinds of other things. (here’s the closest thing to a resume that i have online, my linkedin profile. it doesn’t have a lot of the little side job things like dog-walking/pet-sitting that i’ve done but does have most of my “professional” experience.)

thanks y’all.