Julie Pippert: Using My Words

I got a show! Very, very excited! At the end of August I'll be showing about 20 pieces in a dedicated exhibit. I am frantically busy readying all the pieces, and coordinating what feels like an overwhelming number of details. Under it all is this surreal excitement that I am a Real Artist and people like my art, want to spend time viewing it. I truly hope this opens some doors. It might be already... No new image for now, but I promise to add in some I've worked on recently, soon.

A gallery won't show my stuff because she says floral art doesn't sell. Ironically, someone from my art group posted that same day an article from Decor magazine that says flowers are, always have been and most likely always will be, top sellers. It doesn't matter...I don't choose my subject matter like that. Also, I think that this lady really was honest when she said she didn't really have an opening just then. I could see the truth of that. Plus, as diplomatically as possible we agreed that our styles weren't a fit. She did give me some nice information so it was well worth the time. I'm sorta kinda thinking about entering a juried exhibition..well submitting to compete in one anyway. Also, maybe some festivals. Towards that end...I created two framed, large giclee prints (At Ease and Steel Magnolia). It's somewhat of a random choice...but also two I really like. I'll be opening them up to auction hopefully this weekend. Here they are: Ironically...

We're a business...a real, honest to goodness business with an EIN, and all that jazz: Artful Media Group, Inc. We'll be putting up the master/parent page soon: artfulmediagroup.com. I got the logos done and now just need to create text. Oh, and one more logo. Links coming soon! By Julie Pippert Museum Quality Digital Art and Photography Limited Edition Prints Artful by Nature Fine Art and Photography Galleries The Golden Orchid: Original and Unique Wearable Art © 2005. All images and text exclusive property of Julie Pippert . Not to be used or reproduced.

It's a hibiscus . I promise! I know some like to call it an azalea, but really, it's a hibiscus. I like photographing hibiscus...hibiscii? I like arting them up. I also like oleanders . I actually have some hibiscus, oleander and magnolia images I need to finish. Instead, I've been doing logos. I'll post soon about those. By Julie Pippert Museum Quality Digital Art and Photography Limited Edition Prints Artful by Nature Fine Art and Photography Galleries The Golden Orchid: Original and Unique Wearable Art © 2005. All images and text exclusive property of Julie Pippert . Not to be used or reproduced.

It's the lone seagull. I won't ever leave flowers behind, but my confidence is growing and so is my interest. Now, I go with whatever catches my fancy. By Julie Pippert Museum Quality Digital Art and Photography Limited Edition Prints Artful by Nature Fine Art and Photography Galleries The Golden Orchid © 2005. All images and text exclusive property of Julie Pippert . Not to be used or reproduced.

Pure, unadulterated, flat out enjoyment...spraying fountain on a hot day on the boardwalk. Ever notice how unadulterated's root word is "adult?" Ever wonder about that? What do you say to children when they say how they can't wait to grow up? Do anything they want? Do you tell them the price of that freedom? Someone once said that motherhood is like this super secret club and nobody tells you the membership rules until after you join. I think adulthood is like that. Would you have been so anxious to get here, if you had known? Yes and no. I tell my daughter, when she says she can't wait to grow up, that adulthood is a lot like childhood. Sometimes we get to choose and sometimes we don't, sometimes we can and sometimes we can't, sometimes we are free and other times someone is looking over our shoulder. Don't be in a hurry to grow up, I tell her. Enjoy childhood. You'll never get to do it again. I'll never get to see her do it again. It goes muc...

I was so excited to get the opportunity to create a piece for someone else, for someone else to use no less. This was the one not used: You can see the one used at Salon On The Go. By Julie Pippert Museum Quality Digital Art and Photography Limited Edition Prints Artful by Nature Fine Art and Photography Galleries The Golden Orchid © 2005. All images and text exclusive property of Julie Pippert . Not to be used or reproduced.

I'm learning a lot about living in the tropics. In the tropics you don't turn off the air conditioner in your car (a must by the way) or the lines will mildew and mold. You leave it on, despite that story about the battery, so it can drain. In the tropics there are random cloud bursts. In the tropics, you can't sweat because when you step outside the humidity settles on you, taking up all your skin surface area. Some days I think if I hold too still I'll mildew. In the tropics, you spread vinegar on your window sills and doorways to turn away those many nasties that live here, such as ants, stink bugs, roaches and other creepy crawlies. In the tropics, if your windows aren't properly insulated you live inside a glass shower, with the outside blurred by condensation. In the tropics, something blooms year-round. And there are incredible animals like chameleons. In the tropics, you combine all of these and get this through the kitchen window: By Julie Pippert Museum Qu...

This is from someone else's garden...my sister-in law's to be honest. Her garden is full of amazing, healthy, vibrant plants. She has such a green thumb. At a birthday part there, I had my camera and the photos I took are split not quite equitably between the children and the plants. I couldn't capture this butterfly that kept teasing me, a swallowtail I think. But I did capture this: By Julie Pippert Museum Quality Digital Art and Photography Limited Edition Prints www.ArtfulbyNature.com The Golden Orchid © 2005. All images and text exclusive property of Julie Pippert. Not to be used or reproduced.

I am trying to gear up for a presentation to get my art hung on walls. Public walls. Not just my own (currently) private art gallery . Ideally the place would buy them from me. Otherwise, I can hang there on commission. Or just to be seen. This plan, of course, hinges on their agreement. I've pulled four frames and now need to choose the best images that will hang well together. Something about the peach one above haunts me. Although they definitely have their merits and I like them, I worry that these watercolors are too common...too mainstream. I don't know why I say that as if it was a bad thing. Maybe because I'm also thinking of entering a competition. My daughter's art teacher---either in truth or that good teacher knows how to make mom come back for more---enthused to me this week about my daughter's talent and creativity. I don't hear her say this to every mom every time but then again my hands, ears and eyes are usually pretty full. Apparently my daugh...

Today I had to take an art break...I mean a break from art. That's the fun work. I had to do real writing for a Web site. That's still cool too, but I wasn't ready to tear my attention off of art. Luckily I have a commission, so to speak, for a design so I can justify playing with art some more today. It's a cool design idea, if I do say so myself, and I'll link to it when it's finished. By Julie Pippert Museum Quality Digital Art and Photography Limited Edition Prints www.ArtfulbyNature.com The Golden Orchid © 2005. All images and text exclusive property of Julie Pippert. Not to be used or reproduced.

Look what my daughter found in the backyard yesterday! This photograph is cropped and spliced but just to make it smaller so you can see it. There really were four out there all at once! The dog went crazy but I made him wait inside until they were finished. It was a big excitement for everyone. How very cool is the armadillo. By Julie Pippert Museum Quality Digital Art and Photography Limited Edition Prints www.ArtfulbyNature.com The Golden Orchid © 2005. All images and text exclusive property of Julie Pippert. Not to be used or reproduced.

I love huge trees draped in Spanish moss. My daughter and her watercolors , her mixing and blending, inspired me to create a somewhat abstract view of a tree and Spanish moss. My husband finally said "very cool" about artwork I did. Speaking of...my daughter starts art school today. She's used to being freeform and multimedia. It will be interesting to see her reaction to having a sort of discipline imposed. At her first preschool (Montessori) she could spend half the day at the easel while the other children moved on to other activities. They always let her do whatever she wanted artistically. Other children brought home cute little handprints with cotton balls glued on and she came home with finger paintings glowing with passionate reds and blues roiling on the paper. I could look at her art and see how she felt that day. All this talk of her art...I'll have to post something. By Julie Pippert Museum Quality Digital Art and Photography Limited Edition Prints www.Art...

People ask me what my babies do while I am working on my art and blog. Well, they work too. They are very industrious; they love art and computers. Must be in the genes. Here is my proof....look at my gorgeous lovey go: By Julie Pippert Museum Quality Digital Art and Photography Limited Edition Prints www.ArtfulbyNature.com © 2005. All images and text exclusive property of Julie Pippert. Not to be used or reproduced.

Everything is a huge bloom of inspiration right now. I am amazed at the mass of images I've collected. My camera must be exhausted from all of the photography . I love this one. I got it outside of an Outback Steak House. See? Everywhere. I love the composition and am thinking about where I'd like to go with it artistically. I can create some fine art out of it. By Julie Pippert Museum Quality Digital Art and Photography Limited Edition Prints www.ArtfulbyNature.com © 2005. All images and text exclusive property of Julie Pippert. Not to be used or reproduced.

The dog is loving the long weekend. He's a fine specimen of doghood, we say. He's handsome and happy, just look: By Julie Pippert Museum Quality Digital Art and Photography Limited Edition Prints www.ArtfulbyNature.com © 2005. All images and text exclusive property of Julie Pippert. Not to be used or reproduced.

Our Web site, artfulbynature.com , is still under construction but almost real. The foundation is in, the frame is up, and now we are tackling drywall and hanging wallpaper, as my favorite architect would say. I tell him he is a double-whammy architect: he can build buildings and Web sites. I'm excited, like a child waiting for Christmas. I can't wait for the site to launch, to see it myself and tell others about it. A virtual gallery for art. A dream come true. By Julie Pippert Museum Quality Digital Art and Photography Limited Edition Prints www.ArtfulbyNature.com © 2005. All images and text exclusive property of Julie Pippert. Not to be used or reproduced.

We had planned to go take some shots of a gorgeous orange flower, tropical variety, today. Unfortunately every time we had time, it got dark and dreary. Such is life in the tropics---always the imminent threat of afternoon rain. And the full heat of the season is here to stay, which means my motivation for being outside certain times of the day is very low. We even had some concrete plans for the exact photos. So I didn't make any art today, but I was creative in other ways. I might try for an evening shot. I'll add in a different angle of my red flower watercolor. This one I didn't put up on cafepress. I didn't think it was mainstream enough. Okay, nevermind, my husband didn't think it was. I put up this one instead. I like it very much as well, and put it on a wider variety of products than I have before. Plunge By Julie Pippert Museum Quality Digital Art and Photography Limited Edition Prints www.ArtfulbyNature.com © 2005. All images and text exclusive pro...

He liked my new piece, my periwinkles. It surprised me. I've always prized the pieces I consider more complex, the orchids and tropical flowers. I'd thought he did too. The periwinkles are so sweet and naive to me. This color has a traditional meaning of "early friendship." That is sweet, and hopeful. Maybe I feel that today. I do like their bright faces popping out from the dark green background. It does appear optimistic. Periwinkles By Julie Pippert Museum Quality Digital Art and Photography Limited Edition Prints www.ArtfulbyNature.com © 2005. All images and text exclusive property of Julie Pippert. Not to be used or reproduced.

With the kids, the house, the pets and work, I feel submerged. Plus we are working to make our life different, better. Changes bring good but also confusion and fear. A picture is worth a thousand words, right? Lifeline By Julie Pippert Museum Quality Digital Art and Photography Limited Edition Prints www.ArtfulbyNature.com © 2005. All images and text exclusive property of Julie Pippert. Not to be used or reproduced.