January 2015 {all wrapped up}

It’s the end of January, the skies unloaded a decent amount of snow in the last two weeks and yet, I am already missing warmer days. From where I sit I can hear the wind’s tantrum across the landscape. Howling through the boughs on trees and against my wind chimes on the front porch, even my door seems to be buckling against its might.

In this early hour it is quiet. My toddler is fast asleep and I am able to wrap my head around all the thoughts I have and purge them into written word. This feels good. It satiates my hunger for creative release. Sometimes, being an artist is a torturous thing in and of its self, more so on the days I am stifled and unable to disappear into my studio- sadly, those days are more numerous than they have ever been.

I am staying positive and not falling back on those dark thoughts at this time. My goal here, right now is, is to recap my January here at Shadow Horse Studios, LLC.  One major change that you may have already noticed was the site revamp. The second, a name change of my photography subsidiary. I am no longer operating under the name Glass Eyed Pony Photography, but instead, Lyndsey Warren Photography.

Why the name change? The oversaturated equine photography market and that fact that Glass Eyed Pony Photography was a name many in the wedding industry didn’t understand. By the way, a glass eyed horse is a horse with a blue eye and not actually a glass eye!

My current wedding pricelist can be see at Lyndsey Warren Photography 2015 Pricing Guide.

The name change allows me to focus exclusively on wedding photography while I am able to return full time to my commercial art and design during the week. Another change: I am also returning to teaching! I am accepting a limited amount of private lessons, pre K through adult, everything from fine art, design, and photography. I am certified and licensed to teach in VA and MD. My focus with children is on homeschoolers in Loudoun County.  More information will be made available through my website and additional media sources as I move towards accepting more students.

In Progress Example

Where my design is concerned, I have a new partial web client! Rock’N’Horse Fitness! Rock’N’Horse fitness is a Pilates and fitness program that focuses on equestrians. The business was conceptualized by Robing Kockler, PMA-CPT Mind/Body Director Sport & Health at Regency and Rock’N’Horse Fitness. Site will be live once domain transfer is complete from the originating host.
 
A partial web client is a client who opted for a design package that only includes design and minimal support. In other words, I am doing the design and layout of her website, which includes the imagery and support, when needed. Robin is going to learn how to maintain and update it herself while I am there as support. I also included in her custom package a brand new logo and I really love this one!


A full web client is someone I take on entirely. Which means, I design their page, I create the social media pages, the blogger platform, the imagery, and client is subscribed to monthly services and maintenance. The domain and web design and marketing is maintained by me. If you’re interested in web design and marketing please contact me for pricing!

Now, let’s talk about one of my New Year’s resolutions! No, I am not talking about health or fitness, though I should be, and believe me, those too are goals of mine, but typically, those are the same goals every year since I hit 25. No, this resolution is about supporting creative professionals and small businesses as a whole.

Each month I plan on showcasing a creative professional I have purchased from. I am making it a priority to support a creative professional each month. This month I will showcase a fabulous jewelry maker I found on Etsy. Blücha from Cottered, England, United Kingdom, who specializes in vintage style jewels, handcrafted with vintage glass rhinestones. Her work is inspired by Downton Abbey & jewels from bygone eras ~ as featured in Feb 2015 Make & Sell Jewellery Magazine!

I purchased this lovely Dandelion Seed Necklace, Make a Wish Good Luck Charm,Real Dandelion Glass Pendant. All images taken with my iPhone 4s.



The pride she has in what she does is evident in the way she packages her items! CUTE as a button!

Even inside everything is all nicely and carefully bundled!

I have a secret love affair with the Taraxacum and their pappas clad achenes! I wrote a poem the year before my son was born.

Common Dandelion
I want to be free like a weed-
A floret from taraxacum parachute ball released to breeze
A bright future nourished from a promising seed,
Land where I want to, taking root where I please.
This is the way I would like my life to be-
No worries not troubles, just a wild weed
In the moment living free
No constraints and my own creed.

When I saw this necklace, I knew I had to have it!

Again, take note of the packaging! Simply stunning!

If you are in love with vintage era things, especially jewelry, then check Blucha's Etsy store!

~January 2015, is a wrap!
Lyndsey Warren
Shadow Horse Studios, LLC

Caution Wet Pixels

My New Year's resolution for 2013, in terms of my studio business, has started this month! I am making a habit to keep my blogging up to date with the current activities about what is going on in the studio, my artistic pursuits, and my life in general! This has been something fans/friends/followers have been asking me about. The idea was there but the action was on the backbunner, as it took me awhile to learn how to effectively juggle motherhood and the studio.

First line of business, I am completely booked up with commissions for the remainder of this year and have already started booking commissions for 2013. I have been working quietly and consistently on artwork through the years but haven't posted a lot of it online. I just didn't have the time when I became a first time mother and before that, it was seen as a conflict of interest with a previous employer I had.

However, I am back with my art and photography as a full time business and have free reign to do whatever I please with my work, from posting online, to bringing life to my "dark" sided creations once again. I have been doing a lot of conceptual photography work dealing with human form and figure which comes as a relief to me. I have been keeping a lot of that type of work quiet and to myself, suppressed as it was. I have been slowly introducing this body of work into my current works, slowly, so as not to scare people!

Caution, wet pixels....paint? A lot of the work I am doing is digital mixed media pieces and digital paintings. Which has been great, now that I have an active (very active) 17 month old who is INTO EVERYTHING. Not having true wet paint around is a fabulous thing at this stage! My digital mixed media work is typically traditional artwork combined with digital or photography combined with digital work, or all of the aforementioned. Digital painting is painting done just as you would with real painting, only digitally. There are no photographs used as a foundation in a TRUE digital painting.



Work in Progress, a Digital Painting; Started as a pencil sketch and was scanned and painted using Photoshop's wet media no. 9 in various sizes and opacity and a flow set to 75%.


 

I wanted to emphasize TRUE digital painting as there are a load of photographers these days applying textures to photography and labeling that work as a "digital" painting, when in fact by digital art standards employed by digital artists, that is incorrect. A digital painting is a painting done in its entirety from start to finish as a sketch and then painted digitally using Photoshop, Painter, ProCreate, etc.

I am working on video tutorials right now and can't wait to unveil them! Production is taking a little longer than I wanted, but I am a perfectionist and must have EVERYTHING perfect before posting them publicly! They will be worth the wait for sure! 

My real life has been hectic. I have a 16 month old who is into everything and I have very little help. My sitters haven't been able to commit to a schedule or they just don't want to come "way out in the country". I have made the decision to enroll my son in a daycare, which happens to be right up the street from my house (walking distance really). It will be good for socialization and learning in general!

Also, I have been diligently redoing my websites and my fanpages. Currently my Shadow Horse Studios Fanpage is in a state of chaos, as I arrange folders and artwork! Be patient, I am only human, as much as I try to convince myself otherwise ;p

Well, bye bye for now!

Change Is In The Air

That's right folks, change is in the air...

With my photography having taken on its own identity and grown exponentially over the first year since creating a separate identity for it, I have come to a decision! One that was not made with a heavy heart but a sense of relief.  You can read more about my photography here, GEPP Blog.

What is the decision you ask? I am phasing out all commercial artwork to pursue my own work. It has always been a dream of mine but one I was afraid to make until the birth of my son. I am taking the full plunge back into my fine art. Which means,  I will be creating pieces from my heart, works that I am passionate about, and I will be exhibiting my work a lot more. This means I will also be ablt to accept more commissioned work too! Something I know my collectors/clients will love!

I am interested in the "high" art arena and not the crafty local backyard art and craft shows (though I do participate in a few of those). My long term goal is to pursue the high end galleries and exhibits. It is a reach for now as that is a very hard scene to break into.

I am working on a few bodies of conceptual digital mixed media fine art photography, in addition to a new body of wildlife art and equine art. I am pushing my digital painting techniques to the extreme. Since the birth of my son, I have been quietly experimenting with ideas in relation to the usage of the digital art medium in my studio, looking to develop a style and technique that is all my own- doing something no one else is yet doing!

I have found it too! You will be seeing a whole new "me" coming to life gradually and I look forward to showing you all what I have been diligently working on. It has been an exciting journey.

I will be blogging routinely and keeping everyone informed through my FB. I also have been working on instructional videos for Youtube to share some of my Digital Art based Fine Art Photography in addition to other art based videos.

The entire Shadow Horse Studios site has been revamped, I will be blogging about that experience as well! The shop is nearly up and running there. Loads of artwork to add still, but I do have some photography there too, and resources. I am moving all my resources to the site where they will be available for purchase, so make sure to download the freebies at my website while you can! That is not to say I will not be doing texture/resource giveaways via my FB page anymore, because I certainly will!

Well, that's about it for now!
Until next time...