Fire Sea Studios

Going into hibernation

2008-10-01T22:36:17Z

As of October 2008, Fire Sea Studios is in a state of pseudo-hibernation. I am not creating new paintings, prints, or other products, updating the website or blog, nor am I accepting commissions.

However, if you want to buy an existing painting, or prints that I have in stock, contact me and we'll work something out.

This will allow me to deal with personal health issues that must be resolved before I can give Fire Sea Studios the attention it deserves. It is my hope that this situation will be temporary, but for the moment I can give no estimate as to when I will be fully open again.

New paintings!

2008-02-15T23:48:05Z

Two of them!

"For he is ever a sun, and she a moon."
Acrylic on canvas, 22"x28". Private commission.

Fey Dryad (I need a better title! Any suggestions?)
Acrylic on canvas, 18"x24".

Orphan's Tales Show

2007-11-29T20:31:04Z

This piece is a part of this traveling show to celebrate the release of Catherynne Valente's new novel, The Orphan's Tales: In the Cities of Coin and Spice. Shows are coming up in Boston, Philadelphia, Williamsport, and New York over the next week.

Saturday December 01, 2007 — 7-10pm
Orphan's Tales Concert Reading and Art Show
Pandemonium Books & Games
4 Pleasant Street
Cambridge, MA 02139

Sunday December 02, 2007 — 7-10pm
Philadelphia Orphan's Tales Reading and Concert
224 46th St Philadelphia, PA 19139
contact mvanhelder @ gmail . com for info

Monday December 03, 2007 — 7:00pm
Orphan's Tales Concert and Reading
Coffee and Tea Room
217 West 4th St
Williamsport, PA 17701

Tuesday December 04, 2007 — the gypsies take over from 7-10pm
NY Review of Science Fiction Reading with Cat and Sooj
South Street Seaport Museum's Melville Gallery
213 Water St, Manhattan
New York, NY 10038

MIA

2007-08-17T17:14:28Z

My apologies for being missing in action these several months - it's been a nonstop summer of Teh Krazyy(tm) for me.

Many things are in the pipeline, however, including the move of the site to a new server (hopefully an invisible change for you, but it will make a big difference for me in terms of ease of maintenance). Then will come a much-needed site update, including a new piece or two. Especially watch for new pen&inks, as I've recently discovered that for some reason it's much easier to work on those than paintings with a toddler underfoot.

As long as I;m here - are there any changes you'd like me to make in the site? Products you'd like to see, things that should be reorganized or reworked, new information, more of a particular type of ork? I can't promise anything, but I'll certainly take all comments into consideration.

summer plans

2007-05-07T20:21:53Z

I've been dithering over the last week where to put my business focus for the summer. I've had the opportunity to enter a couple more spring craft shows, but the summer is already so crowded with Life things that I think I'm not going to push it. I've got my application in for Fresh Paint in late August (haven't heard back yet, which is getting a little irritating - I'll poke them in a week or so). I'm definitely vending at NOTOCON in mid-August, and considering doing so at Fires of Lughnasadh in late July. Beyond that, though, I'm going to concentrate on, you know, actual painting, and building relationships with a few more occult stores in the area that have expressed interest in selling my work.

So that's the plan. Plans are good. We like plans.

First live show a success!

2007-04-29T19:19:43Z

Yesterday Fire Sea Studios set up a full vending booth at OLOTEAS' Beltaine Faire. We didn't do much business, but as the purpose of this was more to test out the new booth setup than anything else, I count it a raging success!

things that worked:
-the gridwalls, lashed to the tent by bungees
-prints leveled by using artists tape on bottom back
-3 originals + 11 matted prints hung; could even fit a couple more prints without looking crowded
-the banner!
-gold cloth table runner looked very nice

things that didn't work:
-plastic tablecloths. cloth would be better. at a minimum, fasten the two plastic ones together and use lots of rocks
-easel print stands - way too wind-prone, and as a result the table was boring

things I don't seem to need:
-backing cloths for artwork. maybe bring one in case I get an unavoidable glare, but I don't think it will be much of an issue (and the cloth can hide in the bottom of the box so it stays out of the way)
-weights for the gridwalls - they're heavy enough
-stepstool

definitely need:
-print portfolio
-story cards about the artwork
-placard with pricing schema
-stable way to make the table more visually interesting
-rocks to hold down tablecloths
-a rain plan - tarps or plastic sheeting
-hand truck

The whole thing takes about 2 hrs to set up, 1 hr to break down, with 2-3 people helping; not counting the one person on baby wrangling duty!

And here is a picture of the booth! I'm quite pleased with how it came out.

firesea @ 2007-04-08T12:52:00

2007-04-08T20:00:18Z

A new painting, to celebrate the spring!

Title: Hatchling
24"x30", acrylic on canvas
This painting, originally inspired by a friend's 7-year-old daughter who liked to pretend she was a fairy, sat unfinished, stuck, for over a year, long enough that I thought I might never finish it. This spring, however, she spoke to me once more.

(Image links to more information on my website.)

business natterings

2007-03-18T05:34:39Z

Upcoming sales opportunities (next six months):
OLOTEAS Beltaine Faire
Faerieworlds
NOTOCON
Fresh Paint
OLOTEAS Concentric Circles

For several of these I need to acquire a tent and a table and nice display signs and suchlike - and I need to either relocate my portfolio or remake it, for it has vanished. I'd like to get some freestanding pegboards that I can hang paintings on as well - I see these in all the craft fairs, but I'm not quite sure where one acquires them. (I've also seen metal-framed folding screens used to similar effect, which could work.)

Considering getting one of each of my prints matted nicely, possibly framed depending on cost. (I have 18 print editions open right now; maybe I'll do a selection of my more popular ones. Or just close the unpopular ones. Hmm.) That would show them to much better advantage (and I can sell the matted one at the end of the show for more).

Considering making more card designs based on some of my tattoo flash. Also want to make one with celtic knotwork being unraveled by a playful cat. Maybe with wings. We'll see.

The insane, doesn't-recognize-time-limitations part of my brain wants to run out and learn how to etch glass in the designs from my tattoo flash. Or enameling. Or silkscreening or woodburning or or or or or! Too many ors.

Site update

2007-03-13T23:23:33Z

Today we have:
One new painting: Mask of the Phoenix
18"x24", acrylic on canvas

Two new prints: Instrument of Light and Mask of the Phoenix. All prints are $20 plus $5 shipping.

The next painting has begun, and the creative queue is overflowing. Q1AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA QA11

(types my 6-month-old son)

That good news

2007-02-08T04:55:00Z

I promised big news in my last post, and was promptly left on tenterhooks for a week as they were a week late sending out the notifications -

But my latest painting, Losing Myself, has been accepted to VSAAW's No Boundaries 2007-2009: "Revelations" juried show.

The opening and awards party will be Friday, February 23, at the Harrison Street Gallery in the Center House building of Seattle Center, from 6-9pm.

Yay!

new venue

2007-01-28T17:23:20Z

Goodness, how did I forget to post this here?

*looks over at loudly gurgling infant* Oh yeah.

Anyway, there's a new physical venue for my original artwork for those who don't feel like making the trek into small-town Snohomish - eight of my paintings are now hanging at Moonflower Magicks in Everett. It's not Seattle yet, but it's one step closer!

Moonflower Magicks
1618 Hewitt Avenue
Everett, WA 98201
425-259-6010
Open Mon-Thurs 10-7; Fri-Sat 10-9; Su 12-5

Big news coming later this week. Stay tuned!

alive!

2007-01-04T05:41:33Z

Well, my son is four months old today, and yesterday I finished my first piece since his birth. Motherhood is a tad... distracting. I seem to be finding some semblance of a groove again, though, and it seems I may be going through a bit of a style shift.

Below the cut, the last painting I finished before the birth, and the first painting I've finished since, with the stories of each.

Late August, 2006. I'm 9 months pregnant, and miserable, and this painting begins to form. As it nears completion, I get the wacky idea that finishing it will be the final thing that kickstarts labor into action.

I finish it on the evening of August 30. By 6am the next morning, I'm in labor.... and 48 hours after that, on September 3rd, my son Aiden is born.

Why yes, magick is real.

Invocation of Birth 18"x24", acrylic on canvas

During the first few months of my son's life, I found myself struggling with post-partum depression, and frequently overwhelmed with the sense that I was losing myself in the sleep deprivation and chaos of new motherhood. I pulled myself out by pouring the feelings into this painting.

Losing Myself 9"x12"x3.5, mixed media on canvas

painting while pregnant

2006-08-28T19:50:10Z

There have been times in the past where I have felt guilty or lazy for the fact that on a full painting day I would generally only actually have brush to canvas for 4-6 hours.

I think I was underestimating the amount of energy painting takes - not just physical, but mental, emotional, creative, and magickal as well.

My evidence for this?

That at 9 months pregnant, an hour of painting makes me feel like a pre-pregnant me just hiked 6 miles. Uphill. In the snow. With a duck on my head.

It's that accomplished, weary-yet-energized tired, though. And it's a goooood painting :)

(crossposted to my personal journal)

Why do I do this to myself?

2006-08-21T20:27:31Z

I sit down to paint after far too long a hiatus - and I see the figure on the canvas, in a different position than I had originally planned.

Of course it's a hideously awkward perspective, one that will look totally wrong unless I get it completely physiologically accurate, and one I can find no photo references for whatsoever.

Hello!

2006-07-12T00:38:53Z

I realize it's been quiet here for far too long - I'm well into my third trimester now, and it is sucking up allll of my energy. Funny how that happens.

I do, however, have two new paintings up on the site:

Instrument of Light
24"x36", acrylic on masonite.
On display at Arts of Snohomish

Sekhet-Maat
18"x24", acrylic on watercolor paper.
Gift to Sekhet-Maat Lodge

Artists' Open House, May 6

2006-04-26T16:24:08Z

One of my galleries, The Offset Corner in Snohomish, will be having an Artists' Open House on Saturday, May 6th, from 2-4pm.

The Offset Corner Custom Framing and Gallery
310 Maple Ave
Snohomish, WA 98290
360-862-1100

Snacks, art, and artists! Hope to see you there!

New paintings FINALLY up

2006-04-10T18:22:49Z

The Stardancer
16"x20", acrylic on masonite

Solar Mandala
18" diameter, acrylic on canvas

Damiana
9"x12", acrylic on canvas

The Stardancer and Solar Mandala are on display at Arts of Snohomish through the end of April as part of the Other Worlds show; Damiana is on display at The Offset Corner.

I got interviewed!

2006-03-31T19:35:51Z

A reporter from the Snohomish County Tribune contacted me via email on Wednesday, with some questions about the Sci Fi Show that will be going up at Arts of Snohomish tonight.

The article (which also interviews two of the other featured artists in the show, Brian Taylor and Stephen Lestat) will be out in Wednesday's paper.

1. Can you describe the pieces you will be bringing to the show on April 1? Are these new pieces?

I'm bringing a mixture; some older works that have not been seen locally yet, and some brand-new ones.

One of the new ones is called The Stardancer. What I see when I look at her is a primeval dance of creation, the weaving of the stars into the firmament to create the universe; but someone else looking at her might see the destruction of the universe, or a galaxy come to life, or something entirely different from and beyond all these. What exactly you see is not nearly so important to me as how you feel when you look at it, and I hope that will be different for every person.

2. How would you describe your artistic style?

The most efficient description would be that I paint the anthropomorphization of abstract principles; I take a feeling, of wonder, curiosity, awe, something along those lines, and try to create a figure, a scene that encapsulates and evokes that same emotion. While the style itself has elements of impressionism and surrealism, I wouldn't classify it as either of those. I personally think I'm doing something quite new.

3. Do you try to convey a particular feeling or tone with your work?

Well, I try to paint the feelings that I find inspirational; you could say I'm trying to paint my inspiration itself, even. There's a particular feeling of yearning joy that I feel whenever I look into a clear night sky that is a constant theme in my work.

4. Are you normally inclined toward fantasy/science fiction?

Well, my father is a science fiction author, so it runs in the family, you could say! I certainly have a lifelong love of speculative fiction and art; I like to see and read about things that only exist in someone's imagination, and have my own mental landscape enriched as a result; this in turn feeds my own artistic expression, as I hope my work feeds that of others!

You can see the postcard image advertising the show here!

The show will be up through the entire month of April. There will be an opening reception on Saturday, April 8th from 6-9pm.

Ethical dilemma

2006-03-25T05:34:04Z

So, let's say I submit a few of my best pieces to a juried show. There's a month or so turnaround before I'm notified of acceptance.

Should I hold any pieces I submit to shows out of circulation on the off chance they get accepted? The latter feels strictly more ethical, but it's damned inefficient - I've entered dozens of shows and gotten a piece accepted once. Not to mention I don't have enough pieces to submit unique sets of work to a show or two per month, plus keep my gallery spaces full!

On the other hand, what happens if I sell one of those pieces, and then the show comes back wanting the piece I just sold? Do I tell them tough luck? Is there any business-like way to handle this?

Not that this has ever happened to me - I should be so lucky as to have pieces flying off the walls before a show can snap it up. But the possibility bugs me every time I see a new show to apply to.

I'm going to a workshop on business for artists tomorrow at SEAF - must remember to ask this question there.

And on a completely different note, after a long creative dry spell, I've finished two paintings this week. Pictures will be coming as soon as I can find the battery charger for my digital camera....

show announcement: SEAF

2006-03-20T17:14:57Z

For all those in the Pacific Northwest: my prints and cards will be on sale at the Seattle Erotic Arts Festival this weekend! I've not been to the show before, but I've heard nothing but great things about it and am really looking forward to the weekend.

The Festival is at Consolidated Works, 500 Boren Ave N in Seattle. Doors are open Noon-1am Friday the 24th, Noon-1am Saturday the 25th, and Noon-5pm Sunday the 26th. Day passes are $5 at the door or can be purchased ahead of time at several locations listed on the website.

She's baaaack

2006-01-06T23:49:48Z

Well, sorry for the long absence - a combination of computer woes, holiday craziness, and some life-changing news has conspired to keep me from updating the site for far too long. But now I emerge, triumphant! - er, or something.

Below the cut, two new paintings for your perusal.

By Firelight: 12"x18", acrylic on watercolor paper. This was mostly done in 2002, and last month I found it sitting in my 'incomplete' bin, and realized it was only a few brushstrokes and a coat of varnish from done. It's more of an expressionist study than most of my work, but I like how it came out:

And Hera you've seen before, albeit not quite complete - now she's done! 18"x24" on watercolor paper.

And as for the life-changing news - those of you who read my personal journal already know this, but I recently found out I'm pregnant! I'm due about August 30. This should be an inspiration for much new art!

Hera

2005-12-12T22:17:16Z

After leaving her to sit for a couple of weeks, I've declared Hera to be finished.

Unfortunately it's too dark and rainy outside (and I don't have strong enough lights inside without some daylight support) to get a decent photograph.

Tentatively titled "The Queen's Regret".

Currently in progress is an image of the universe held in the palm of my hand (me? a megalomaniac complex? whatever do you mean?). In my head are a couple of others in various stages of coalescence. The usual.

Seattle Erotic Arts Festival

2005-12-09T21:00:06Z

The deadline is next week.

Unfortunately I don't have much of anything in-house that is out-and-out erotic art. Some, even most, of my work is at least sensual, and uses erotic elements, but I wouldn't go so far as to classify it as 'erotic art', because eroticism isn't generally the point.

Lilith would be perfect, but she's already sold. I *might* be able to beg her back for a loan for the show, but that involves double-shipping cross-country and I'm not sure it'd be worth it.

Other works that have erotic elements: Empire's Prisoner, Existatio Proserpinae, mayyybe Lifted By The Wind.... and even more mayyyyybe Mother Within Mother.

The entry cost is very low ($15 for 4 pieces). If I get in, it's huge. This is a very well-known show, outside of Seattle as well as in. So I get good pot odds (to borrow a poker term) even if my work isn't the perfect fit. It's just a matter of finding what's the closest fit.

Any thoughts from the masses?

Artistic inspiration of the day

2005-12-09T05:31:42Z

Photographic Artist Darren Holmes

It's damn hard to choose a favorite, but I think it might have to be L'Amante Sans Amour.

Yuletide Craft Faire - Portland, Oregon

2005-12-08T03:37:09Z

I'll be selling prints and cards, and I'm sure there will be tons of other awesome stuff there as well. Come see!

Yuletide Holiday Art and Craft Faire
Portland, Oregon - December 10, 10am-4pm