greenstarstudio

Sunday, May 24, 2009

Spring/Summer 2009 Newsletter...

In this newsletter:
* Win a FREE KNITIMAL!
* Get FREE Stuff during the "VACATION" Sale
* Upcoming Shows
* Park Heights Mural
* 2009 Knitimals
* Facebook Group Page

Greetings Green-Friends!
I feel like it's been ages since we've talked... and there's so much to talk about: the teen & adult art classes at school 33 (two more starting soon!), my most recent mural, upcoming shows, the 9th edition 2009 Knitimals, and all the brand new items I've added to the greenstar-catalog. Between newsletters, my blog is the best place to be kept up to speed, so bookmark it and read along!

Now for the good stuff...
I'm getting ready for the summer (aren't you!?) and all the summer shows & would love to give you a chance to cash in on my spring cleaning frenzy. So...

ALL SALES between now and May 31st will be eligible for a slew of free gifts & special offers. Like what? Well:
*All purchases of $10 or more will come with a coupon for FREE SHIPPING & a $5 GIFT CERTIFICATE (both good on future orders) AND a FREE 4 pack of Knitimal STICKERS.
*All purchases over $30 will come with all the above, plus a FREE GIFT of your choice; you can choose from:
1.) a knitimal coloring book, 2.) a 4-pack of Knitimal Magnets, or 3.) a giant Knitimal Magnet.
*All purchases over $50 will come with the free shipping coupon, gift certificate, the stickers, your choice of coloring book, magnets or giant magnet AND an additional FREE gift! You can choose any one of these:
1.) a bar of knitimal soap, a felt knitimal ornament, a hand drawn illustrated ornament, or a recycled plastic Knitimal pin.

That's up to FIVE free gifts!
WOW!

To take advantage of this offer, all you need to do is:
* visit my shop
*fill your shopping cart
*checkout & include the code "VACATION" and your choice of free gift(s) in the "message to seller" section. (If you don't include your choice of gifts, i'll choose for you).
*complete your order, by paying via PayPal

Sound good?

How 'bout a FREE KNITIMAL too!?
yep.

Now, through May 31st, make ANY purchase from my shop and you'll be entered in a drawing to win a FREE KNITIMAL ($100 Value). Really!

This is "Spring" and he's the first of the 9th Edition (2009) Knitimals to make his public appearance & he's looking for a home.

Just visit my shop; pick something out (anything!) & complete your purchase (remember to include the code: "VACATION" in your message to seller). As soon as I get your payment notification, you'll be registered! On June 1st, I'll pick a name at random and send Spring to his new home. The winner will be notified via email & congratulated on the Blog.

easy peasy.

That's a lot of GOOD STUFF.
Act quick... you only have until 11:59pm EST May 31st.

Prefer to shop in person?
You can find me here:
The Columbia Festival of the Arts, Art Park, Columbia, MD: June 13 & 14th 12-7pm and at Artscape, Baltimore, MD: July 17-19th.

I'll be revealing the rest of the 2009 Knitimals at the Columbia Festival, so print and clip this coupon and put it to good use!

Want to be the first to know about the latest Greenstarstudio News?
Greenstarstudio has its own Facebook page--- click here and become a "fan"!

Fans will have access to all kinds of updates, so make sure you get in on it!

Last, but not least... be sure to keep your eyes on my blog for regular updates on the Park Heights mural, upcoming shows, special fan discounts & offers and more! (psst... like these guys).

Hope to see you all online or at a show soon! Until then, stay cool, and hug some art.
xoxo, danamarie

what the WHAT?!: a major snag...

when we last left the mural, it looked like this...

oh, but when i got there on Friday, it looked like this...
don't see a difference? look carefully at the scaffolding...

does that wood look weird to you?
see those metal bars just sorta dangling all this way and that?
see, that stuff's not supposed to be on the ground like that... it's supposed to be all attached and helpful and safe up top.
you'll also notice that the stuff that is now on the ground, used to be a safety cage on the 4th level... you know, protecting me and whatnot.
these pieces of metal are, theoretically, supposed to provide support and reassurance of safety... they shouldn't be hanging by a thread and all dangly like that.

yep.

so it seems that i, the consummate believer in the power of public art and transformation has been victimized. it seems, at least to SOME people, that the best thing about this mural is the access to a little "easy" money. the vandalism was, most likely, an attempt at a get rich quick scheme--- dismantle some parts, sell them to a scaffolding company (maybe a rival company, maybe the company that owned them to begin with). all i know is, my scaffold doesn't work anymore; someone who didn't belong on it was on it and did bad things to it; and for some reason, didn't even take the pieces with them when they were done! maybe they got spooked. who knows.

what i DO know is, i spent the rest of the day trying to get a remedy to the problem and at this point, the only resolution is that the company will put it back together for me... sort of. They won't, it seems, be putting the top access gate back up... because it's "too expensive" (i'm guessing its too expensive a risk to take to maybe have it be dismantled, damaged or stolen)... in the meantime, i will have to see if i am even remotely comfortable climbing all the heck back up there without any leverage, anything to grab on to or steady myself to pull myself up to the top level.

yeah.

this is glamorous.

cross your fingers that a.) when i give it a whirl on monday, it's not so bad and at least do-able enough for me to go up ONCE and finish all the faces in one day, b.) that if it IS terribly scary that i'll be able to convince someone to put the piece back up, or c.) that the mural magically completes itself (or that i grow wings and develop hummingbird like skills and can paint while hovering).

oh dear.

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

a mural in 7 days...

so, i've been a little internet absent, as i've been spending my days in the warm sun, working on the mural. i figured this would be as good a time as any to take you through the past week or so and let you see how a mural is done (well, how MY murals are done).

this is what the wall looked like to start with...

then the scaffold company comes along and puts up a scaffold for me to maneuver around on.
on the first day of work, i'll need to prime the whole wall; this is a coat of essentially the same kind of gesso you'd cover a canvas with before you paint--- it fills in all the little holes and pits and puts a flat coat over the surface, which, in theory, allows the paint to stay on the surface and not get soaked in to the brick...

on the 2nd day, i sketch out the basic shapes of the image-- no details yet, but just enough information to be able to lay in flat color. i've premixed most of the colors i'll need, so i can just roll those into the spaces i've drawn out; it's like a giant color by number! a lot of people have asked how i figure out where to start the drawing or how to plot it out on the wall. well, there's probably an easier way, but basically, i take the sketch and lay it over the photograph of the building in photoshop; i re-scale the image until it lines up. Then with the help of a little basic math, i make a scale, and figure out how many inches on my scaled down drawing equal how many feet on the actual building. I can use the scaffolding itself to figure out how many feet tall or how many bricks tall the spaces between levels of scaffolding are and fold my drawing into rows that correspond to each level of scaffold. After that, i just climb up and use a light colored paint; i don't hesitate much or worry too much--- i just pick a curve or a line and put it on the wall... the rest just falls into place, one level at a time. If there are any unclean lines or things that dont connect, i can clean them up as i paint...

3rd day: more flat color...

4th day: yet more flat color (and starting to correct some of my drawing)...

5th day: more flat color, more drawing correction and getting ready to put the main background color in (its a very pale blue)...

6th day: this is what it looks like now. There are selected bricks that i've painted over with a slightly different color blue, so the surface will have a little more depth and "shimmer" from a distance...

...next week (barring bad weather) i'll start the details; with all the flat colors laid in and the background color having corrected all of the shapes, i'm ready to give my figures faces and to paint in the scenery & landscapes that will fill the lower halves of their bodies. After that, it's just a matter of adding a few details, outlining the figures and correcting any drips or color oddities. And then, i seal it. So, keep your fingers crossed for good weather and good muscle health (these murals aren't easy on the back and bones!).

xo, danamarie

Thursday, May 14, 2009

Weekend Deal!

alright friends, it's almost time to roll out the 2009 Knitimals, but first we have to find homes for handful of sweet 08's still looking for love. And, I'm celebrating a very productive week in the studio, by offering a whopping 30% off all items in the shop, as well as free US shipping with a purchase of $40 or more. All Knitimals will ship with a free coloring book too! WOW. Just enter code STUDIO SALE in the "notes to seller" section at checkout, and wait for a revised PayPal invoice. Sale valid through Sunday, 17th at 11:59 pm

enjoy!

Sunday, May 10, 2009

PLUSH YOU!!!!

and now i'll let a kitten out of the sack...
i've been invited to be a part of Plush You! again this year.
this is a huge show, with dozens of amazing plush artists from around the world. and its a great party too! i participated in 2007 and actually headed out to Seattle to witness its splendor in real life---- and my brother fell in love with the Emerald City; I missed the show last year, but decided to get my butt in gear soon enough to actually apply this year and lo and behold... success. AND, i will be going back out again this year, which is huge because not only will i get to see my brother in his new city and meet his dog, i'll get to reunite with plush makers i met last time and meet new favorites i only have e-relationships with.... like this lovely lady with whom i've exchanged both fabulous emails and overseeing of our dogs forging a long distance love affair. (mason sends his love, waffle!).

so, what will i show this year?
i'm thinking these new guys...
reveal on it's way!