Hurray! My Studio is finished.

Four months ago, as I was sending out the final newsletter for 2008, they were just getting ready to drywall my studio. Now it's finished and I'm back to making art on a daily basis. It's fabulous (both making art and my studio).

If you are interested in photos of the studio construction you can view them on my daily photo journal of the remodel. Taking these photos and updating them daily kept me closer to the project and I think made it much easier to live through. While I'm in no rush to do another remodel, when I look back I view it as quite a fun adventure.

I really loved working with the builder and his crew as they were really great guys. I think that is partly why I love the studio so much, it was built by a crew with the same sense of integrity that I share. That positive energy flows through my studio and now into my artwork.

This issue of the newsletter is full of big art, small art and some big expansive changes. Enjoy, and as usual, thank you for subscribing and supporting my art and sharing my journey.

---lisa

PS: If you'd like to keep in touch more than through my newsletter, please check out my writing in one of these locations:

• Lisa's Blog
• Lisa's Twitter Profile
• Lisa's Facebook Profile

 Structures #72
 Textile Painting
 ©2009
 58" x 68"
$20,000  
 

I love working big as I love the impact of large works of art. Structures #72 is the newest addition to my ongoing series inspired by walls and boundaries and is definitely Big Art measuring in at over 5 1/2 feet wide.

My initial color palette for this painting was oranges and greens but quickly diversified as I pulled in some fabrics that were closer to blues and reds from my collection of hand-dyed cottons. They grays and neutrals hold the unusual color palette together.

This artwork was nearly completed while my house was under construction with final touches in the new studio. Dense surface stitching on the quilt surface, as per my signature style, can be seen in this detail image:

I've been thinking about what to call the smaller textile paintings that I create. I love calling my larger works "Big Art". It just rolled off my tongue one day to say "I LOVE making big art" and ever since the label of big art has stuck with me.

So I ponder what to call these smaller pieces and brought up the topic on twitter one evening and an interesting conversation followed.

Someone suggested Chamber Art, as in Chamber music, and I loved that idea but didn't think it would make sense to anyone. For some reason chamber pot comes to mind instead and that is probably not the image I'd like to associate with my artwork. Ha...

So I'm trying out the term "Collectible Small Art" for a while and will see how it goes. What do you think?

Although the name didn't work for me, the idea behind these smaller pieces of artwork is very similar to that of Chamber Music (quotes from wikipedia)

- "a form of classical music, written for a small group of instruments, which traditionally could be accommodated in a palace chamber." Collectible small art is for the smaller spaces in a home or office.

- "Because of its intimate nature, chamber music has been described as the music of friends. " I love that idea, the artwork for friends, this work is more accessible to a larger audience due to its lower pricing.

- "Playing chamber music requires special skills, both musical and social, which are different from the skills required for playing solo or symphonic works." The same is true when creating these smaller pieces of art. Composition and construction are very different as compared to making my larger 7 foot textile paintings. Both are an artform, each requiring different skills and I enjoy working on both scales.

 
Shown here are the newest collectible small art available for purchase. For a complete view of what's available check my website.

	Lines #25 3" x 3" $120 Purchase Here
	Line #23 3" x 3" $120 Purchase Here
	Line #22 3" x 3" $120 Purchase Here
	Ascending #1 Textile Painting - Mounted on stretched canvas 8" x 8" $490 Purchase Here

If nothing here catches your eye, check out my page of Recently Sold Small Art. Maybe I can make you something similar. I don't do commissions but I can make something in a chosen color scheme. If you like the results you are welcome to buy it, if not I will keep it and add it to my art for sale page. Structures #106 on the recently sold page was a result of such an arrangement.

Expansion and integrity are the words I selected this year as my intention. They help guide me as I set goals and move forward. I have them written big and bold in sharpie marker on note cards over my computer to remind me of where I'm going and how I want to get there.

In the first part of the year they served me well as I expanded my house into a home and studio that I absolutely love. As I turn my focus to my art career for the remainder of the year, I have dozens of ideas for making my art and my career bigger and bolder.

To that end I am planning on offering two different newsletters - one focused more on my artwork and a second focused more on my writing about being an artist. I haven't worked out all the details but once I do you'll hear from me.

I love writing and I feel that separating these 2 topics will help me go into each more deeply. My blog will not be changing and will continue with a mixture of topics as there is cross over and completely separating them would be impossible.

To give you a hint of what I have in mind check out the URL I bought back in December when I first thought up this idea: makebigart.com. There's not much there yet but I'm writing my first ebook, which will be available for free once I have it finished. I'll be sure to let you know when it's ready.

In addition to my website, blog, facebook and twitter profiles where you can follow me, you can also become of fan of my artwork on my facebook fan page where I'll be posting more in progress photos of my artwork and studio updates than I do on my blog (along with finished artwork). And you can be one of the first to become a fan of makebigart.com on that facebook also.

 Structures #83
 Lisa Call
 Textile Painting
 ©2007
 12" x 12"
 

As announced in December, I decided to give away Structures #83 to one of my studio newsletter subscribers as a thank you to all of you for your support.

The winner from December didn't claim her artwork so I drew another number and this time the winner is Cheryl Collins, a long time reader of my blog (her first comment on my blog was in December of 2005) and one of the first subscribers to my Newsletter. Thank you Cheryl for the continued encouragement and enjoy your new artwork.

Thank you to all of you for subscribing to my studio newsletter - I very much appreciate the support.

You can see my textile paintings in person at the following exhibit:

Structures #78

SDA Membership Show 2009 Belger Arts Center Kansas City, Missouri May 29 - September 4, 2009 Art Center Website

In addition to the above exhibits, my artwork is also available for sale on my website and through these venues:

Structures #70	Visions Art Quilt Gallery San Diego, California Gallery Website
Structures #34	The Artful Home Website By The Guild, the leading source for artist-made home décor products shipped direct from artists' studios to customers' homes nationwide. Offers consumers more than 12,000 works of original art for the home by top artists. Check out the new work recently added to my page at artful home page here:Lisa Call's Artful Home Webpage
Structures #96	Lux Center for the Arts Lincoln, Nebraska Lux Center for the Arts Website
Home #3	Direct from the Artist You are always welcome to contact me directly via email to purchase my artwork. I've created a new webpage with lower priced affordable artwork for direct sale via paypal. Check that out here for a small treat for yourself or the perfect gift for the art lover in your life: My Small Art For Sale