Cynthia Shaffer

I Am A Working Artist!

I was looking at my 'To Do' list the other day and aside from the usual, laundry, dishes, pick up house stuff, everything else was art related. It dawned on me at the very minute that I am a working artist!

Whether it's an article for a magazine I'm writing, a sewn projects for an upcoming book, paintings for a gallery show, or a sweater for baby Aoi, I am always working on some kind of art project. 

I decided at that very moment that from now on when someone asks me what type of work I do, I'm going to say that I am a working artist. Oh, don't get me wrong, I have called myself an artist for years, but when I tell people that I'm an artist, the conversation usually just dies right there.

So I'm hoping that my new self proclaimed title will evoke a back and forth conversation. 

Stay tuned and I'll keep you posted on how it goes!

Stitch . Craft . Create

Have you seen the latest edition of Stitch Craft Create?

You may remember that the first edition featured my quilted trees on the cover ... And today, they are offering one of my pieces on the Stitch Craft Create blog as a free project!

So cute, don't you think ... a quilted cozy for a bouquet of flowers, just in time for mothers day. You can find the post here along with the list of tools and instructions needed to make this cozy.

Here's a peak at a couple of the other projects I have in this latest edition ... free motion stitched infinity scarf,

A simple rolled rose necklace ... but the best part about this project is that the roses are interchangable.

The sky is the limit here with the different color combinations.

I'm so happy for the good people behind this magazine and Shannon, the editor couldn't be more professional and just really great to to work with. Congratulations F + W Media Inc. on another successful publication!

 

Mother ... Daughter Apron Giveaway!

Hop on over to Lark Crafts and get in on this great giveaway!

 

Photography Class .... Taking Your Camera Out Of Auto Mode!

I'm so excited to be teaching this class again!

Photography 101
Shooting Beyond Auto Mode
with Cynthia Shaffer 
1-Day Workshop on
April 28, 2012 :: OR :: May 19, 2012  

If you have ever thought  about getting that DSLR out of Auto Mode ... Come and take this class. We cover a ton of info ... but I promise that by the end of the day you will be shooting in Manual Mode! 

Hope to see you in a couple of weeks!

And The Winner Is .....

I'll be emailing you to get your address!

Enjoy!

CAN'T . STOP . PAINTING . . . ! ! !

I have lots of work to do and all I can think about is ... when can I paint again!

While most of these paintings are not complete, I am so loving the process, a process/style that has sort of naturally morphed after taking Flora Bowley's class and Jennifer Mercede's class.

Truth be told ... I'm a little bit afraid of forgetting the process that I have discovered here and so, I just keep on painting, when I've got a extra minute that is.

During Jennifer's class ... we were told to use our non-dominate hand to draw and doodle with. This technique has changed my paintings!

Jennifer also encourage us to try Blind Contour Drawing, something I had done years ago in my college art classes, but had simply forgotten about!

This little elephant was actually a blind contour drawing done by Christy Nimeh's daughter Maddy! So adorable! Thanks, Maddy!

As you can see I am out of my mind crazy these days, in love with painting! More to come ... for sure!

 

360 Degrees

An idea popped into my head just a few minutes ago and so I had to act on it ... of course I have nothing else to do ... Ha!

I grabbed my wide angle lens and set out for some photo fun.

I was out a few days ago shooting a model for an upcoming book, and I had her lay with her belly flat on the ground and I did the same, and then snapped away. I remember how nice and warm the grass felt and how connected I felt to the earth ... such a great thing to try.

Here I am flat on my stomach with my camera resting on the grass. This is the back of my house and to the right you can see my favorite tree ... Yummy bacon avocado!

Berklee loved the fact that I was right down on the ground at her eye level. She came and gave me lots of slurpy kisses.

Then I gradually turn in place and snapped photos along the way.

This is the very back of my yard  ... and just yesterday, sitting on the back wall was a beautiful momma opossum and 3 babies ... here's the shot! The baby was yawning.

And this is the side yard and the "Man Cave" aka ... "My Studio" ... as soon as all the kids are off to college!

And that's it ... a full 360 degree view on my backyard!

Stash Happy Applique : : Giveaway!

I have never done a giveaway here on my blog, but thought that today ... the day that my book Stash Happy Applique (Lark Books) is officially out and about in the book stores, was the perfect day to start a giveaway! Right?

So here it is ... a copy of my book, and this adorable house pillow! So fun don't you think?

The book is packed with super cute applique items from wearable, home decor and gifty things as well.

Check out these happy woodsy Gnomes ... so cute don't you think?

Anyways ... here's what you need to do if you want to win that house pillow and a copy of my book. Starting right now ... Tuesday April 3rd, leave me a comment here on my blog, anything really ... I love funny animal stories, and then on Monday April 9th I'll pick the winners name randomly from a basket! 

Good Luck ... Oh and if you'd like to purchase the book, you can find it here.

 

 

Golden Demo and Paints

Last Sunday, a handful of us painter types were invited to Studio Cresendoh to learn about Golden paints and to hear Chris Cozen talk about this wonderful product.

After I quick intro by Jenny Doh, Chris was off and demoing and playing with paint, glazes, pastes ans so much more ... my head was spinning right from the start!

Chris gave us a quick overview of how Golden paints came to be and how the quality and the care behind the products can truly be felt in every tube of paint they produce. She explained the difference between pigments that are mined from the earth and then talked about the colors that are developed in the lab ... I was amazed and loved hearing all this information. It all made so much sense and now I understand why some colors sort of glow and why some are flat.

Golden provided a ton of paint samples and well as already prepared boards with their Fiber Paste and different Molding pastes slathered on them ... then we got to play!

So much fun and such great vibrant colors!

I brought with me a 12 x 12 inch canvas to play with and to add a bit of color so that that scary white canvas wasn't staring at me.

Here's Christy Nimeh, showing me her canvas she worked on ... how come hers looks all finished and pretty?

Mine, not so! After I came home that day, I couldn't stop playing and painting ... not sure where this will end up, but for not, this is what it looks like.

And here's JenEve ... posing just a little once the camera was aimed at her! Too cute.

And Jenny, forever the art collector ... purchasing one of Chris Cozen's beautiful works!

Thanks for a great morning Jenny and Chris!

 

 

 

A glimpse of our day .....

 

Yes, we went outside and braved the rain ... for just few minutes.

And captured some great photographs of the architecture and of the rain frozen in time.

I'm not sure what everyone was shooting here, but I couldn't resist taking this shot.

Cynthia Flores was such a beautiful model and this photo is so fabulous with all the brick, I had fun playing with it and applying different presets.

And back inside we were down on our belly's shooting up, at the ceiling, down at our shoes and at strange and fun angles of each other.

Here's Christine Schulz checking out a capture or two.

We talked about different types of lenses ... the wide angle lens is great for capturing almost everyone sitting at these tables.

And my Lensbaby, sweet 35, tilt shift lens is fun to play with and gives some pretty cool effects.

And here's a photo using my favorite lens to date ... 50mm f/1.2 ... it really doesn't get much better than this! Well, that is until I get my hands on that 85mm lens that I have been eyeing for a while now!

And what a great way to end the day ... Dinner at Memphis!

Thank you Janet Higley, Deborah Ambrosino, Jenelle Van de Mortel, Amber Anderson, Kerri Bradford, Cindy Lantier, Nancy Peevey, Cynthia Flores, Christine Schulz, and last but by no means least ... Rita Reade!