Just Beyond My Front Door

Moving my blog, guys

2011-06-03T16:18:00.000-07:00

I decided that I'm creating way too many imaginary Internet spaces for my art.
So, after some thought, I've decided to move my blog to my website. Thanks for those who fancied my art and I hope you continue to check it out! Of course, there is also my etsy site.

Toodle-loo!

New painting and 4 leaf clovers

2011-05-24T17:08:00.000-07:00

So I used my photography lights and I am still convinced that photography is not my strength, BUT! they DID turn out better than my normal pictures, so I am still proud of the hours and hours I spent trying to get decent pictures. Here are 2 examples (above and below) of my 4 leaf clovers.

When I found these little guys, I was walking to my sister's annual Cinco De Mayo party. It was magic, I found a total of five 4-leaf clovers in ONE day.

Each leaf represents something different; faith, hope, love & luck!

The framed 4-leaf clovers are $15 each. I think the one above is 4" x 5" and the one below is 3.75" x 4.25"

I had to build a light box to get these photos. The fairy below is available on etsy for $8.

The next 4 paintings have been posted before, but I took better pictures of them. The 5th painting is brand new!

Leap Frog
10" x 10" oil on canvas
$55

Rainy Day Duck
12" x 12" oil on canvas
$65

Swinging Gnome
16" x 20" oil on canvas
$175

Fairy Tea Party
16" x 20" oil on canvas
$175

Turtle-ly
20" x 20" oil on canvas
$180

my new website!

2011-05-07T07:52:00.000-07:00

Well, the Children's school auction was a success and I'm happy to say that my paintings did well. If only I could make that much money when I get to keep it!
I've been waiting for these professional photography lights that I ordered so I can FINALLY get good lighting and take better photos of my art. Unfortunately, after I had set up everything in my studio for picture taking, I realized that one of the light sockets wasn't working, so I had to return them yesterday. I promise I will get better pictures of my art and stop apologizing about the quality of my photos.
I have got my website up and running! It still needs a little work, but eventually, my blog will switch to that address.

Here it is! [drum roll]
art-by-erin

Thanks to my friend, Kat, for setting it up. I gave her pieces of a drum set that I had as payment.

In other news, I also set up my etsy shop! art by erin the great.
This needs some work too, but I have some ideas that you might want to tell me is crap or brilliant. I wanted to sell my gnomes on there.
1) do you think that $10 is the right price for adorable gnomes?
2) I was thinking of doing custom acrylic animal portraits on velvet. This example was a gift for a wedding present.3) Acrylic family portraits using the birds of a feather idea, this example is a detail from the painting I did for the Chilren's School:

4) customized water color/ink nursery rhymes like I did for Extreme Makeover:Home Edition:

5) Of course I would try to sell my regular oil paintings, but the last idea was this: I have a knack for finding 4-leaf clovers. I was thinking about framing them and putting them on my etsy shop.

What do you think about these ideas, peeps? lemme know!

Oh, and here is a cute story about Kiel. She was pushing one of those popcorn toys around the house. Every once in a while she would scream and cry and I'd run over to see if she was okay. I could not figure out what was upsetting her. Finally, after the 3rd breakdown, I realized that she was terrified of a piece of fuzz stuck on one of the wheels. I had noticed it earlier, but did not think that it would be so scary to a 19 month little girl.

Auburn vs. Alabama

2011-03-23T09:17:00.000-07:00

Here is a custom painting for Quinn. He loves underwater animals and sports. Auburn,(Quinn's favorite team), is pictured here, about to make the winning touchdown against their rival, Alabama.

Underwater Football Game
Oil on Canvas
20" x 20"

Detail:

Birds of a feather and the playground tree

2011-03-12T13:13:00.000-08:00

Here are the two paintings I made with the Pre-K class for the art auction for the Children's School. This one was inspired by the tree outside of the classroom that the children play under by the playground. The kids helped me glue on the button flowers on the bottom. There are two details of the buttons following this image.
oil on canvas
4' x 4'

detail:
detail:

This is my favorite one! I drew birds for each of the 23 students. They colored them with colored pencils. They are so colorful and beautiful. I don't remember coloring that well at age 4.
acrylic on wood
12" x 48"

detail:

detail:

Collaborating with kids was a challenge, but I am pretty happy with the results. The auction is March 26th. Can't wait to see how it goes!

Birds of a Feather

2011-02-25T07:35:00.000-08:00

I have been helping The Children's School with their Pre-K art auction projects. So my idea was to have the little tykes color some birds drawn on butcher paper with colored pencils and I attach the birds onto a painting of a power line in the sky. It goes with my theme of Nature vs. Manmade and includes the children's talent as well. The other painting will be an oil painting of a tree inspired by a tree painting their teacher, Jean, liked. Instead of using a palette knife to make a textured foliage, I am having the kids glue little mirrors in the tree. I'm excited to see how they turn out! I haven't done a collaborative piece since college. Here is an 8" x 8" mock up I made for the bird painting. I used my sister's family to color the birds and then gave them the painting!detail: sorry it's such a bad picture.

Laron Jr

2010-12-12T19:32:00.000-08:00

I can show you the images since the episode has aired! So here they are, if you weren't able to get a good look on the show.

It goes: Little Laron Jr. couldn't be cuter
Eating his Christmas Pie
He put in his thumb
and pulled out a plumb
and said "what a good boy am I!"

Mr. Mailbox Man Goes to Work

2010-12-12T09:07:00.000-08:00

Here is the video of my 2nd children's book. J.R. and I wrote a song for it last night and recorded it on garage band. Enjoy!

My art on ABC!

2010-12-11T13:32:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone, I'm happy to announce that my art will be on ABC's Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. I made 5 ink/watercolors for a nursery. The episode will be airing this Sunday 12/12/10, if you want to check it out!

cheers

Mr. Mailbox Man is finished!

2010-10-08T14:50:00.000-07:00

39 pages of ink and watercolor. Over 2 years of sketching, drawing and painting, my book is finally finished! I was so excited last night that I did 3 victory laps around the house, yelling out "woo hoo, I did it!"

Here are 5 of the illustrations for you to preview. There are a very minimal amount of words in this book. It's a straight up picture book about a blue mailbox's day, from the moment he gets up and gets ready for work to the moment he is in bed reading himself to sleep. I based the neighborhood on my old neighborhood in East Atlanta Village, Atlanta.

Here Mr. Mailbox man has just awoke, performing his morning stretch:

Here he is feeding his cat:Here is grandpa and grandson paper grocery sacks, sending some mail:
Here are some construction workers waiting for the bus:

and here is Mr. Mailbox Man having dinner with his cat:

I have decided to dedicate this book to my niece, Piper. She works so hard everyday, without complaint and it reminds me of Mr. Mailbox Man getting up and doing his job, no matter what (rain or shine). I love you Pippy!

Summer Sky, I must be dreaming

2010-08-23T07:45:00.000-07:00

Here is a video I made for my first children's book. Check it out!

Here is a stop motion video I made for Imagination Head's song "Summer Sky". Our album, On/Off will be released on October 2st.

what's been goin' on

2010-07-29T09:17:00.000-07:00

I know I haven't posted for a billion years, but I have been working my little tooshie off. I am working on Mr. Mailbox Man, who has appeared in previous paintings,
(http://snoodledoodle.blogspot.com/2008/05/rippling-water.html)
but this time he has his own story, called "Mr. Mailbox Man Goes to Work". It is almost 40 drawings and I am using a micron pen (my favorite!) and water color. I have made all of the pen drawings and have been working on the water color. My studio looks like an assembly line, the way I have it set up.

I have been working hard on my little gnomes, I posted a picture on the last post.

I am also working on props for J.R.'s next movie.

Here is his 1st one he made for the 48 Hour Film Fest

Minus Cowboy from JP Marston on Vimeo.

My band is coming out with their 2nd full length album On/Off to be released on October 1st!
www.imaginationhead.com

I am working on getting my very own website and business cards, so I'll let you know when that is up. I am still sketching for my next paintings and am very busy busy busy. so stay tuned!

erin

gnomes, fairies, monkeys, OH MY!

2010-05-30T15:26:00.000-07:00

I had to edit this post because I thought the pictures were terrible, plus, I added a little more detail to the paintings. Anyway, here are my tiny new favorite things. gnomes! I love these little guys more than you can even know. J.R. and I hide them all over the house and I giggle every time I find one. They are so small you can hide them on picture frame ledges etc. I found one in my sugar jar the other day when I was making my coffee. I am selling them for $8 if you are interested!

Fairy Tea Party
oil on canvas
16x20
$175

detail:

Gnome swinging
oil on canvas
16x20
$175

detail:
detail:

A custom order to accompany the Mischievous Monkeys painting ordered for Carter.
http://snoodledoodle.blogspot.com/2010/03/mischievous-monkeys.html
This is for his baby brother who's on the way.
Monkey Brothers
oil on canvas
11x14

Wedding gift for friends, of their dog's, Abe and Penny.
Acrylic on Velvet
16x20

This is the tote I made to keep Piper's 3rd birthday present in: which is a felt board with shapes and characters for her to play with. I was thinking about about Henri Matisse' paper cutout pieces when creating the shapes for her to play with.
Following are examples of the type of art you can make;

Piper and two of my sister's playing with the new present.
http://www.reagansblob.com/

Mischievous Monkeys

2010-03-17T08:42:00.000-07:00

Mischievous Monkeys
Oil on Canvas
Custom order for Carter

Detail of Monkeys:

Full painting:Detail of Mouse:

2010-02-17T16:37:00.000-08:00

The paintings were custom ordered for Colton. He loves insects, music and art, so I painted him an insect rock concert.
2 12" x 12" oil paintings on canvas

Details:

doodle bugs and moons

2010-02-08T06:09:00.000-08:00

Doodle Bug SOLD
oil on canvas
16" x 20"
$100

(displayed at Pigtails & Crewcuts in Buckhead
3208 Paces Ferry Place)

detail:

Cow Jumping over the Moon SOLD
12" x 12"
$65
(displayed at Pigtails & Crewcuts in Buckhead
3208 Paces Ferry Place)

Leap Frog

2010-02-04T04:23:00.000-08:00

Leap Frog
10" x 10"
Oil on Canvas
$55

(displayed at Pigtails & Crewcuts in Buckhead
3208 Paces Ferry Place)

Detail:

Fairy Tale paintings

2010-02-02T07:54:00.001-08:00

This one is a personal favorite. I really enjoyed painting the candy house of Hansel & Gretel (Sold). The cotton candy trees behind the house makes it look like they have found a wonderful world and not just a candy house in the middle of the forest.
Hansel and Gretel
10" x 10"
oil on canvas
$65
(displayed at Pigtails & Crewcuts in Buckhead
3208 Paces Ferry Place)

detail of house:
Little Red Riding Hood (Sold), veering off the path to pick some flowers.
Little Red Riding Hood
10" x 10"
oil on canvas
$55
(displayed at Pigtails & Crewcuts in Buckhead
3208 Paces Ferry Place)
detail:

2010-02-01T07:49:00.000-08:00

These are small oil paintings on wood
7.5" x 5.25"
$30 each
(displayed at Pigtails & Crewcuts in Buckhead
3208 Paces Ferry Place)

Monkey Reading in Tree Sold

Rabbit in tire swingBlack Eyed Susans
Ladybugs in the kitchen
Jumping grasshopper
Caterpillar on railing

Rainy Day Duck

2010-01-24T11:12:00.001-08:00

Rainy Day Duck
12" x 12" oil on canvas
$65
(displayed at Pigtails & Crewcuts in Buckhead
3208 Paces Ferry Place)

Kate's ABC painting

2010-01-11T08:35:00.000-08:00

oil on canvas 11" x 14"detail of alligator
detail of clown
detail of bear & bee

Meg's gnome painting

2010-01-10T13:52:00.001-08:00

Here is a small painting I made for my 5 year old niece, Meg. She, of course, loves fairies so I thought I would paint something that would go well with her fairy themed bedroom, a sleeping gnome and a butterfly!
5.5" x 6" oil on wood (given as a gift)

Piper's Painting

2010-01-09T09:40:00.000-08:00

Here is my second kid's painting. Made for my sweet niece, Piper. Her parents nicknamed her Monkey Frog. I made up a song for the painting:

"Sing a song for Piper,
the one we love the best!
Dance, laugh and play along,
for it's a Pippy-fest!"

9" x 12" oil on canvas (given as a gift)

Kiel Kiel Crocodile

2010-01-06T06:10:00.000-08:00

I decided to try out some paintings for kids. I thought they would be good for baby shower gifts or just a unique gift to give your niece/nephew, best friend's kid etc. This first one is for Kiel, the 2 month old I take care of. Her nick name is Kiel Kiel Crocodile, eyes light up with her big bright smile.

This one is oil 8" x 8". I also painted the sides yellow with orange and pink flowers for extra cuteness.

Just Beyond My Front Door

2009-09-29T10:09:00.001-07:00

These are a few images from my children's book. I always talk about it, but never show anything so here is proof that it actually exists. They are drawings on watercolor paper, painted with water color (and oil on some of them).

"I can stroll around the neighborhood and never notice a thing, but if I look, I mean REALLY look, I will notice EVERYTHING.

'It's all just beyond my front door. Do you want to see?"

Customer Sunshine video

2009-09-26T12:42:00.000-07:00

Here is a video I made for our band. It is my first video, so it's really cheesy, but I love it, I hope you enjoy it!

As you can see, it's all photos. I made all of the props and the painting.

J.R. wrote the song, and the band recorded it at WonderRoot Studios.
http://www.wonderroot.org/
One of our favorite places in Atlanta.
J.R. entered this song into a contest to play for a skateboarding thingy. We made runner up and celebrated before realizing that he had entered us into a contest for musicians 18 and younger. hee hee. We had to let them know.

The old and New

2009-06-10T09:31:00.000-07:00

above 16" x 12" oil on Canvas
I like to think the t.v. head series are Imagination Head paintings. www.myspace.com/jranderin
This one in particular, I think is a good candidate for an album cover for our next album: Mannequin Zombie Sunshine Park. I have enjoyed painting borders lately and here is good example of a cityscape border.

below: 16" x 12" oil on canvas

I have not painted a border on this yet. I haven't decided if I want to do more of an electronic border or the city shapes. This is Mr. T.V. head in the morning (sold). Drinking his cup of coffee and taking his sculpted tree out for a walk.

Below are some old comic strips I found while cleaning out my studio. It's about a heart shaped head named Charlotte and her unfortunate experiences at various jobs. J.R. and I came up with the idea when we realized we both had more jobs in the past then your average person.

Here is an old painting I just got back. We couldn't fit it when we moved to Atlanta, so it was left behind and not taken very good care of. There are grease smudges on it. But I love it and am happy to have it back. I painted this right after college. I think I felt like I was growing up too fast.

24"x 47" oil on wood
detail
detail
detail of lost sock
So, I saw some stickers I wanted to put on my cabinets from ikea, but they sold out of them when I finally decided to spend the money on them. So I designed my own shapes, Ikea inspired. Paper shapes, cut, laminated and taped onto the cabinets. I would have painted them on, but my landlord won't let me paint. Take THAT IKEA!

Some pictures of my garden. Herb garden in front includes Basil, Mint & Cilantro.
Strawberry plant
I can't remember what this is called, I'm trying to train it to climb up my mailbox.
marigolds, I tried to transplant a jasmine bush behind it, but it died.
Vegetable garden, just made it bigger, but haven't planted anything on the other side. Right now, just growing pumpkin and tomatoes.

Compost pile with lots of pumpkins growing out of it.
A painting I did in Memphis and gave to Sam before I left. I did a series of paintings of what I could see out of my windows of that first apartment in Memphis. This painting is of the playground/school. 3D & 2D. Small, I can't remember the size, oil on canvas.
detail
detail
Here is another old painting at Sam's house. I painted this in art school during my vulture series. Based on a childhood memory. Probably around 2' x 3' oil on canvas.
detail
detail
That's it! I finished the art on my children's book and am going to start the graphic design soon, with my friend Jenny. I'll post when finished!

back into drawing

2009-03-23T16:53:00.000-07:00

I apologize about the quality of these photos. I can't seem to take good pictures of my art.

This painting is unfinished but I was told that it looks finished so I decided to post it since the background is so detailed and I will lose some of that when it is painted on. I took pictures of trees in Atlanta, mainly in the morningside area and then did quick sketches of them with mixed media on paper bags (there are a few pictures I found and used, but most are pictures I took). The size: 41" x 47" (Sold)

Detail of middle right section:
I found some VERY old photo albums at a yard sale that house some B & W portraits from the late 1800's. The pages have beautiful borders that surround the photos. I want to put my own drawings in these borders, but have had trouble finding the right style. The following 6 drawings are a few of my attempts. I can't wait to have the epiphony of what to put in the albums, but I don't think these will work. I like the drawings, though, so decided to post. Size: 4.5" x 6.5"

A drawing I did of my band, Imagination Head.
Here is the finished table, seen in a previous post without the curtains.
This painting is a collaberation. J.R. had the idea and I painted it. The writing reads "Maybe one more fruit painting will change things" Size: 12" x 16" (sold)
My 29th birthday!

My December posting.

2008-12-05T16:53:00.000-08:00

So, I started this table at the beginning of the summer because I wanted something to hold my record player, records, t.v. & movies. I ran into many problems but overcame them all (such is life) over the last few months and am pretty proud of myself. All done with a jigsaw and drill. I decorated it with some children's books, some favorites, some just visually pleasing (Heidi, Pinocchio, Little Women & a 1946 copy of Through the Looking Glass). I use old books as backgrounds to my paintings sometimes. I just LOVE how it looks. Following are a details of the book pages:
Front view of table. The last step is not finished. There are curtain rods in those sections, waiting for their curtains.
Another view, notice the napkins under the leg, to keep the table from wobbling. Hey, I'm a novice.
Here is a picture of J.R. wearing a mask from Chucky Cheese that we found, but I have a feeling that the name used to be different. Reagan, help me out on this.
This is an old painting I found at my friend's house while playing a show in Knoxville a few weekends ago. When my family lived in D.C. we used to climb on this Einstein statue. I had to paint it for some reason. The little kids on it look really crazy, like scary movie sort of creatures. It was one of those paintings that just came out really fast. I think I finished it in two days which is very uncommon.

Some random photos of J.R's garden, the city, Lion cubs at the zoo and Halloween. I am a broken china doll and J.R. wore a wig. That's about the most dressed up he gets.

I finally found a way to protect the wishing tree

2008-10-16T15:31:00.000-07:00

and here it is. You may not recognize him behind the mustache on a stick. oil 44" x 44" (Sold) (I don't know how it ended up being such a strange size)
detail:
Detail of mustache on a stick:

Detail of the goat lady:
Detail of abstract city:

As for my next project, well, I'm still working on sketches for it and am starting to question the strength of the concept. I might put it down and work on the children's book, since I wanted to finish that by the end of the year.
p.s. this is my favorite month of the year!

How the pigeon flew into a ceramic cage

2008-10-02T10:34:00.000-07:00

The first 4 images are details of the 5th image. I forgot about this painting hanging at a friend's house (Sold). 2006. It's about 4' x 3.5', I think. Watercolor, mainly Oil and a tiny bit of sculpture. I remember my inspiration for this piece was from cleaning houses, which I did right before moving to Atlanta. I was always thinking of Aesop's Fables. "How the Chipmunk got it's stripes" or "Why the elephant has a long nose", etc. Looking at all the crap we decorate our houses with, I started thinking, how did the rooster become a kitchen commodity? Why are pigeons Ceramic pieces on our pianos? etc. I began to imagine the pigeons flying/evolving into their ceramic bodies. This is probably the most energetic piece I've ever created.

That peppermint, below, is the tiny bit of sculpture I was referring to.
The owner appropriately displays this in his kitchen, (explanation of the bottles near the bottom).

box monsters really DO exist

2008-09-21T14:22:00.000-07:00

Here I am at my most recent art show.
J.R. after the midnight shift. Karate has no excuse.
These guys decided to move into my house plant's yard. I've had the thing for over 2 years with no mushroom neighbors. The babies are the cutest.

We'll dance, we'll sing! da na da na na la...

2008-08-14T19:00:00.000-07:00

Lately, I've been working a lot and haven't had all that much time to create. On the left is a flier for an art show I'm in. Yay! All the artists are required to make a mix tape for the show and I've spent a lot of time listening to all of my music thinking about what would work with my piece and what I want to say. Music and painting are so important to me, but have always remained separated. It's a beautiful thing to bring them together, if I might say so myself.

Below is a doll house I've been working on for a VERY long time. I finally finished the exterior (from a kit) and am excited to work on the interior. Which will probably take another year and a half.

Below is the wishing tree (Sold). It started as a song that J.R. wrote and I drew it. It's been a re-occuring image in my work and it needed to have a solo. Following are two details.

And finally, just a few pictures I took in SC, UT and GA during this summer...enjoy.

rippling water

2008-05-17T15:43:00.000-07:00

Instead of these pictures just sitting in my studio, facing the wall, I decided to show them off. Hopefully, I can get some feedback and you will enjoy looking at them as well! This is a drawing I made during my long distance relationship with my, then, fiance. size: 11"x 14" (Given as gift) Mustache on a stick is a favorite image of mine. Two details of this drawing follow:

This is one of the first drawings I made of Atlanta. I spend a lot of time driving around and find some neighborhood trees manicured dramatically to avoid power lines. This can be, to me, sometimes humorous and sometimes very saddening. This is a collage about 30"x 22" (Given as gift).

I finished this cape this morning for a little boy I nanny. He is turning two soon and I thought he might enjoy being a super hero, like me.
22"x 30" mixed media. I love smooshing together the real image with it's transformed representational image. Here, I painted a pigeon with a sewn pigeon body. This interest started when I was cleaning houses and getting exposed to different types of knickknacks.
Three details:

The self-recycling-song-machine cruising the town. Oil and ink on paper. 30"x 22" (Sold).
Two details:

This is my most recent painting. Self Portrait, kind of (Sold). Oil on Canvas 3'x3'.

Three details: