Return of the Lazy Blogger

I admit it!!  I’ve been lazy…well, when it comes to blogging anyway.  But I have an excuse…I really do!  It’s because other art related stuff has been taking up my time and I’m really happy about that!  OK, so other social media networking has been a big time suck too…don’t you ever fall into that Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. time warp where you start out promoting your craft and get caught up in the home page posts of friends, cute animal videos & political drama when you realize, CRAP!…I just wasted an hour on fluff?  Yeah, guilty as charged but I have honestly been really busy with for-real art stuff too!  So, to catch you up, here’s what’s been happening in my creative world so feel free to post comments about how you deal with the bombardment of social media & how it effects your work.

TEACHING IS FUN!  Being someone who is not a fan of public speaking I didn’t know how I’d feel about giving art lessons but when it’s one-on-one or a small group, I found it’s awesome!  So I have a cool group of students of various ages (even one across the pond that I do Skype lessons with) & it’s so awesome to pass on creative knowledge and see people really get into it & see how their work progresses during the lessons!  Aside from art lessons I also give creative marketing lessons as I have extensive experience in sales, fund raising & marketing from previous art & non-art jobs I’ve had over the years before making the leap to full time artist!  My goal is to give at least one class a day (5 days a week) & I’m pretty close….so if you want to hone your creativity or know someone who does, drop me a line here & I’ll get back to you!

Dream Of Trees 2, oils (c)Lauren Curtis

ART SHOWS ARE FUN TOO!  Especially when stuff sells!  I’m currently in a 4 artist show at the Merwick Care & Rehabilitation Center in Plainsboro, NJ & the above painting pre-sold!  And I sold both pieces that were in the last show I did at Gallery U in Westfield, NJ.  Now I’m preparing to submit work to 4 new exhibits so fingers (& nails) crossed. (If you know me at all you know I have crazy Ripley’s Believe It Or Not length nails!).  So hopefully my next blog will be about some of the new shows my work will be in…

YAY! COMMISSIONS!  As a full time freelance artist nothing is better than getting hired to create art & design work for clients!  Luckily I’ve been hired to do illustrations for books, graphic design work, and one of my favorite things, pet portraits, for a variety of clients across the US & abroad.  This has not only kept me busy but helps pay those bills too so the more work the merrier!  Keep it comin’! Here are just a few examples of the work I’ve been doing lately that has caused my lack of blogging…

pencil illustration for a children’s book (c)2017

Commissions welcome so message me for details!

So, you see?  I haven’t been lazy with my artwork, just with blogging….I’m trying to get back in the swing….so can I ask you a favor?  If you can read, comment, follow & like posts it’ll encourage me to keep at it and to start getting interesting guest bloggers again so it’s not just all about me….there are so many fascinating people out there creating awesome work that I’d like to share so drop me a line if you’re interested & help end the blog slacking!  Thanks for reading…till next time…which will be soon, I hope…..fingers & nails crossed!

New Sc-fi book “FOUR” kids

As a long-time  fan of sci-fi, and as an artist, I was thrilled when author Elmo Adams contacted me to illustrate his new book for kids (tweens – teens)!  I was equally as happy that he wanted hand-drawn artwork…too many people request computer generated art, which is awesome, but it’s nice to go “old school” and draw by hand.  My illustrations for this book were done in pen & ink with watercolor.

Thus started our partnership on FOUR, which is now available for purchase!  Here’s more information that Elmo provided along with links to the book & sneak previews:

FOUR – the BOOK

Have aliens visited Earth? Do they continue to do so?
I am sorry to say I donʼt know. Many people say they have and continue to do so.
Four is a story about two middle school students and two of their teachers. These four are rather “normal” citizens of Central Florida. They do not live far from the premier Fantasy Vacation World on Earth, but their lives are not screen plays. They are normal.
Until that all changes. A violent Florida afternoon thunderstorm causes the change when it cripples the vehicle of a spaceman.
The FOUR meet the man from space, and there is no going back to the world of normal.

Here’s the link for the book:  http://tinyurl.com/cfzc4r9

Click on “GOOGLE PREVIEW” for a sneak peak into these exciting adventures!

About the Author: (in his own eloquent words)

ELMO ADAMS, Born Kansas City, Missouri 1945.
A liberal arts Grad from Stetson University, Elmo is well qualified to listen to Public Radio and can often be found doing so. Put under pressure, he can also craft an English sentence and does that most weeks. This is often done at www.steampunklanding.com where he is the Viscount and Elmo would welcome a visit from you there.  (note: your blog host is the artist for Steampunk Landing!)
In addition to NPR, Elmo likes the great outdoors. He likes the Great OD best when it is of a civil nature as opposed to when it is manifesting its majesty by being a tornado, hail storm, or some such.

Likewise, the Viscount likes the Great Indoors. Again he is most charmed by the Great ID when it is managed by some efficient climate control.
Thanks for getting to know Elmo Adams a bit. Drop him a line and he will likely write you back as he does not have that many friends. Also his name is not very common so he is easy to find. For example there are only 12 people named Elmo Adams on Facebook. Two of them are black women. Elmo is not a black woman but thinks it is fine thing to be.
Ciao