Studio Pictures.

I'm totally obsessed with the magazine "Where Woman Create" I love drooling over the amazing setups and professional studios that some of these woman have. My dream is to someday have a studio/gallery with lots of space, running water (so I can stop getting paint in the guestroom bathroom sink) and room for classes and friends to come create with me. I'm sure most of you have similar workspace dreams. ;)
Though, I am lucky enough to have an extra room to create in, my stuff still spills out into the rest of the house and really that's OK with me. I've gotten used to moving canvases and throwing boxes in closets when company comes. I also didn't really plan my studio, it started out as an office and grew from my day to day needs. Someday I'd like to take everything out and paint and plan where things should go. The only reason that hasn't happened yet is the days I'll lose without my studio together. LOL Anyhow, today I thought I'd share a few photos with you and a few more photos of spots around my home that inspire me. :) I'd love to see your work spaces too! Please let me know if you post pics on your blog or website!

Here is my main work desk. It is great for small projects and close to my laser printer.


A view of some of the goodies on my bookshelf.


A few of my journals. I love how they look together.


Ephemera goodness!


A view of my desk in mid project. Messy goodness!


My inspiration wall.








Treasure! ;)


My mom gave me her old silver plated teapot and I put it to good use. It makes me so happy.


I got fed up with the small size of the Ranger melting pot so I bought a red crockpot for $14. Works great for melting beeswax and I love the color.


My closet space. Jared put the shelving in for me a while back as a surprise when I was out of town. The pretty "create" banner is from my new online class.


Part of my kitchen. I put alot my my finished pieces here so I can see what inventory I've got. This is also the first spot friends and family will go when they want to buy something. ;)


A hall wall. How cute is Oliver in the background? hehe

An ever changing still life setup on my dining table.

One of my favorite bedroom jewelry displays. Many of these pieces I made myself or have been purchased from other artists.
Hope you enjoyed the sneak peek inside my space! :)
*HUGS*
Sarah

los angeles st

...Thinking about painting and life... Painting the Town!

the fool


wow that friendly beating I got yesterday is like the gift that keeps on giving! aahahahah! I invited myself to spiritually become a vessel for everyone's "pain" with their painting, and judging by how I feel right now, there must be a lot of painters out there suffering with their tedious subject matter and/or process. But I like the pain, and look forward to more.

This morning I FUNted over McGregor's effort from yesterday. I wish that I had castigated him more for his lack of imagination, but I must admit he did a really good job reminding me of every bully I ever encountered in middle school and junior high, both in apparent scale and attitude! lol!!!!!

So here's me as the Fool, my favorite tarot card. I have wanted to paint this subject matter for over a year, but never found the inspiration until today! I like it. I feel that everyone should step off a cliff in their art! It's only art for goodness sake, go rumspringa! oil on canvas, 36 by 24

Painting the Town!



episode 11 our guest is founder of the Tiziano Project, a globe-trotting photo journalist, a chess boxer, and a giant of a man in size and achievement: Andrew McGregor! We are going to have some great interview/sparring sessions, we're going to paint a portrait face-off, we're going to play chess, we're going to box,
and we're going to explore new boundaries in our art! Spoiler alert: I lose! hahaahah!!

Earth Days

As the Icelandic volcano Eyjafijallajokull spews ash across Europe, Mother Earth complains to humanity with the barest tip of the Iceberg that is her power and wrath. Her rage at unthinking, uncaring, ignorant humanity is a just, deafening, blinding, inferno. "Ground the damn planes now and forever!"...seemingly she shrieks. We can all have empathy for a planet besieged by one species--- humanity--- which having the capacity to know better, is concerned only with puny self. It is time to begin to think, and think carefully, and think again about the cruelty of bringing new ones into this world. The new ones are innocent, just as Mother Earth herself is innocent. They are undeserving of what greater and greater havoc will be turned by her on the glut of greed and ego that is the ever unthinking and exponential human birth rate.

I do not call for a complete halt, but this is a call to each individual to assess for her or himself the true need for another vulnerable little one added to the mess we have collectively brought down upon our world. This is a cry out to think about how casually we fly in machines that spew millions of tons of carbon dioxide into our friendly skies. Think also of the killing machines we drive which are costing us our atmosphere and killing more people each year than Cancer or heart decease. Automobiles have killed many times the amount of those killed in the hundred or so years since their invention than have all the wars fought by soldiers in the entire history of the U.S.A.

1000 deaths, 240,000 auto accidents caused by driver cellphone use in 2002
1,187,037 Americans killed in wars 1775-1998 3,159,489 Americans died in U.S. Highway accidents 1900-1998 

I urge everyone on the planet to re-think their dietary needs and realize once and for all that they do not need meat, it's a very bad habit learned in childhood; it is a habit easily broken. Simply learn to appreciate delicious vegetarian and vegan food. Learn the virtue of good whole local food, food from close to it's source. Support your local Farmer's Market! Grow your own food!

In honor of Earth Day, I urge you to throw out your air-conditioners, jettison your addiction to electrical, gas, and wood heat; learn to dress in layers, move your body to stay warm, open your windows, open and change your minds, before it is too late.

You've been told before and in defense of Mother Earth I'll say it again: use CFL bulbs, turn off lights not in use, plug electronics into power strips then shut them down when not in use (for the day when you leave the home, for the night when you go to sleep), then turn off the power strip. It's easy, it gives you the wonderful feeling that comes with doing what's right, and multiplied by billions, it will make a huge difference.

Let us all put an end to the individual use of pesticides, herbicides, and huge corporate agribusiness. Pressure corporations and congress to come up with solutions to the crisis of global warming and ocean acidification now. The time of worship of the almighty dollar has passed. It is time now to embrace again the ecological philosophies of ancient indigenous cultures worldwide, especially those we stole this land we call America from, the American Indian (they laugh at us for calling them Native Americans---they never called this land America, and all of us born here are native Americans).

Each of us must finally realize, we are in this together, it is not only about my ego, my money, my power, nor is it about yours. It is about a sustainable future for the planet's suffocating atmosphere and oceans and it is about the survival of our and all other species.

All of us together are one eco-system, mutually dependent on us all for everything. Do you care enough about your child to care for her the way she deserves? Do you care enough to not bring him into this world?

I am proud to say I have never brought a child into this world, I am proud that I have been a vegetarian for nearly two thirds of my life, I have not turned on a heater in years, never have I owned an air-conditioner, I never fly, I have never owned a car or driven one, after the license to drive one that I obtained long ago. I walk, ride a bicycle, and public transportation everywhere I go.

I am happier and healthier for facing the truth, I am proud of doing all I can individually and bringing pressure to bear on collective humanity, including the biggest and the most powerful. We are all David against Goliath, if only we are willing.

Tuna Harbor





I was in San Diego this weekend for some family time and went out plein air painting with my mom at Tuna Harbor yesterday. Here's a video and shots of our paintings! not bad! mine is 22 by 28 and my mom's is 9 by 12 and they are both oil. I also added a series of shots of the painting in progress grabbed off the video. And in case anyone is wondering who is that I am painting over, it is Sara Barrett one of our guests on Painting the Town It was fun to paint Sara but no masterpiece so I scraped it down knowing that at some time in the future it would be another painting's underpainting!

New Online Class! Soul Journaling: OutSide The BoOk- Prayer Flags

New Online Class! ====> Soul Journaling: OutSide The BoOk- Prayer Flags!!!
Soul Journaling: Outside the Book is a new series of workshops designed to use the techniques you have already learned (along with new techniques taught in the classes) to push your journaling beyond the confines of the printed page. In Outside the Book - Prayer Flags you will learn to make a banner from muslin that will set free the creative journaler within as well as create a beautiful piece of art to hang in your studio or home.

Traditionally, prayer flags are used to promote peace, compassion, strength, and wisdom. They are inscribed with auspicious symbols, invocations, prayers, and mantras. For centuries, Tibetan Buddhists have flown these flags outside their homes and places of spiritual practice for the wind to carry the “beneficent vibrations” across the countryside. Prayer flags are said to bring happiness, long life and prosperity to the flag planter and those in the vicinity.
In this online class we are going to make our own prayer flags. These need not be a religious endeavor but rather a spiritual journey appropriate for everyone.

This class includes a work-at-your-own-pace 22 page printable pdf, online support from me, private yahoo group membership, class discussion and photo sharing AND a 48 minute bonus video where I show you how to make an alternative animal banner. In this video, you will see me draw my owl from start to finish. This is a great behind the scenes look at one of my favorite drawing styles! :)










$45 for the class, you get everything at once. No waiting! :) No start or end date so everything is strictly work at your own pace. Once I receive your payment verification email from PayPal I will send you an invite to join our private yahoo group within 24 hours.











Painting the Town!


episode ten has Jasmine Orpilla as our guest and muse, as well as two loves of Bimbo brand pan blanco! break bread and break through your own personal glass ceiling! mixed media on canvas, 48 by 36video platformvideo managementvideo solutionsvideo player

Street Painting for VASE

Visual Arts Scholastic Event
___________________________
I was invited to create a street painting for Houston's Visual Arts Scholastic Event. This was my 3rd time participating as a Master Artist. Like last year, I created an original image that students could interact with, providing workshop time with me and allowing them to have a hand in the finished piece. I only had one day to complete the painting so having the help of these very talented young artists was wonderful!

- The sketchbook pages swirl around a young artist and into her portfolio. Each of the pages was painted by a student with an image inspired by their competition piece.

The Visual Arts Scholastic Event is the only art event of its kind in the nation. Students are provided the opportunity to bring artworks created in their art classes to a regional event where they are interviewed by a certified juror who evaluates their work based on a standards based rubric and their understanding of the art processes involved in the development of their artwork. Only academically eligible high school students in grades 9-12 enrolled in a Texas public or private school Texas can participate in VASE.




Yummy Cupcake Madness!!!!!

Lots of beautiful new cupcake themed pieces for sale in my Etsy store... just in time for Mother's Day! All original pieces lovingly handmade by me. :) Going fast, already sold 2 and they haven't been listed a day yet. Check them out! http://www.etsy.com/shop/SarahWhitmire














http://www.etsy.com/shop/SarahWhitmire

All are calorie free!!! *wink*

A Reminder of the Beauty of Life...


...In the form of a few simple gifts from the Earth: Turquoise, Aquamarine, Beryl, Carnelian, Garnet, Amethyst, Fluorite, Moonstone, Quartz, and more. It is interesting that coincident with the economic downturn, I came to realize with sadness that this was yet another gift not given of Earth's own free will. Excavation, wounding of the Earth, the destruction that is mining is involved. I slowed way down, production of these jewels has all but come to a halt. Now, photography of them has become the thing for me, still not ecologically pure, sadly, yet a nearly harmless pursuit of the joy I take in any creative endeavor. I continue to weigh what I give, what I take, and where I am closest to my ideal of ecology, the areas of greatest neutrality.


Thank You to the Heroes of the Catholic Church Who Courageously work to Bring to the Attention of the World Rampant Child Abuse




It affects children of the church, families, neighborhoods, every kind of temple, schools, swim teams, I defy you to name which part of our world anywhere has not been affected by this scourge. The sisters of this evil are rape of women and men, every nameable and unnameable human on human cruelty. Silence = complicity. Say no to every form of tolerance of every form of child abuse perpetrated anywhere by anyone.. Jail the offenders!

blog jam




I have been having a "blog jam" for a few days because I lost my camera at the Hive during the Artwalk last Thursday. I got a new cheapo camera but I'm not sure I like it yet. anyway... So I have a few paintings to post up! At the artwalk I painted two quick portraits and then I had a big non-sense painting that I worked on intermittently. At some point a girl with a parrot showed up and posed for me, so proud of his awesome feathers! This painting is 40 by 30. Then the next day was Painting the Town! where I made another nonsense piece over a crappy found painting. It's imagery is found in my environment, from my imagination, and from a few text message painting requests from friends on Facebook. This one is 48 by 36. Then Saturday I was live painting at the Roxy Theatre upstairs in the "on the rox" room. I tried to start this painting like falling down a flight of stairs and then let it slowly materialize... people got excited when they would recognize themselves or a friend in the painting. And I also found out that no matter how crappy a job you make of it, girls love to be painted! lol! this one is 24 by 48 and they are all oil on canvas.

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