How my Art in Small Format Benefits you! Plus Some Sweet Christmas ACEOs

"Under The Tree ACEO"
Cat and Mouse
2.5 by 3.5 inches
Acrylic on Watercolor Paper
by Linda L Martin
Original Painting listed on
Linda's Every Day Art Store
on ETSY

As a small format artist, I still work more in mediums and sizes under 12 by 9 inches and many of my in-house prints are also in ACEO sizes.  These are smaller affordable works of art that fit into new more down sized houses. They are also less expensive for new collectors just starting to invest in the Fine Art Market. Those wishing to invest should first buy art that they enjoy, no matter what the size. Buying in small formats first will help determine the skill and scope of the works that you as a collector find comfortable owning.

Because the small format work is relatively less expensive for new collectors just starting to invest in the fine art market it makes a good start as you are learning the market.   Also for lessor known artists the investment over time is more than it would be if you were purchasing art of more well-known established  artists who command prices in the 6 figure range or higher. 

I personally love working in small format art because  it allows more people to own original art work. also because I am not as well known as some, my prices are low enough for most people to purchase them and high enough to know that you are purchasing something special as a keep sake  or  to add to your collection.

"Snow Cabin" ACEO
2.5 by 3.5 inches
Acrylic on Watercolor Paper
by Linda L Martin
Original Painting listed on
Linda's Every Day Art Store
on ETSY

To see the entire Holiday Small Format Collection of Available ACEOs  For Christmas Take a look at my  Every Day Art Store on Etsy http://www.etsy.com/shop/LindaLMartinArtist

Something a Little Special for the Holidays!

A Bunny for Chirstmas ACEO
2.5 by 3.5 inches
Acrylic on Watercolor Paper
by Linda L Martin
Original Painting listed on
Linda's Every Day Art Store
on ETSY

A Little More History ACEO Miniature Art

Miniature Works in Art Card Size were revived about 2003-2004 when arts began to sell via internet auctions. Some of these original works of art easily brought between $50 and $100 each among the more prevalent and popular sellers. Some of the auctions were even recorded  as sales as high as $500.  Most original art cards sell for Under $20.00.   With all markets there are peaks and valleys.  For those who continue to market them to new audiences,  the market still remains strong. I have been painting in small format art since 2000. The majority of my original art sales  from  2002 to  2010 were of ACEO sized works. The Details in works this small can be a detailed as  as larger more complicated paintings or as simple as line drawings or splashes of color.

See all the Every Day Art on my Etsy Store: http://www.etsy.com/shop/LindaLMartinArtist

What is an ACEO? More about small format art.

"Green Eyes"
2.5 by 3.5 inches
Watercolor with Acrylic embellishments
by Artist Linda L Martin
Available in her Every Day Art Store
On Etsy

An ACEO is a Miniature work of art that is 2.5 by 3.5 inches and can fit into a standard baseball card sleeve.  ACEO stands for Art Card Edition or Original.  This miniature format has been around for centuries, however became the most popular during the Victorian Era when miniature art became a fad among wealthy collectors.  According to one account I read,  several hundred years ago artists who wanted to compare styles with other artists or show potential patrons their skills, would take small  scraps of canvas or primed board and paint in miniature. These tiny cards acted as business cards for the artists and also were much easier to carry around than their larger works.

 See all the Every Day Art on my Etsy Store: http://www.etsy.com/shop/LindaLMartinArtist

Under $20 art For the Holidays! Christmas!!

Stars and Holly
Christmas Horse ACEO
2.5 by 3.5 inches
Acrylic on Watercolor Paper
by Linda L Martin
Original Painting listed on
Linda's Every Day Art Store
on ETSY

 For the last few weeks I have been re-listing on Etsy some wonderful collectible original miniature ACEO’s. These original paintings have not been listed on etsy since 2010. If you need a last minute hostess gift or stocking stuffer one of these might just fit. You can mount and frame them as miniature paintings or slip them into an envelope for a niece or nephew that lives far away. These are wonderful in stand-alone frames to bring out for the holidays or as groupings to hang on your wall.

"Decorations"
2.5 by 3.5 inches
Acrylic on Watercolor Paper
by Linda L Martin
Original Painting listed on
Linda's Every Day Art Store
on ETSY

See all the Every Day Art on my Etsy Store: http://www.etsy.com/shop/LindaLMartinArtist

My Christmas painting for 2013

The Grand Unveiling!! 

My Christmas 2013 Painting: 

 "A Donkey for Christmas"

A Donkey For Christmas now Available as Cards from Zazzle.

 I love working on these little whimsy paintings.  It is sweet and innocent and yes, it is based on the cardinals in my yard and a wild burro that hopefully will be adopted through the WH&B Internet Adoption  that ends Tuesday November 19th at noon.

There are still a variety of these wild burros that need homes as well as a number of  wild horses. If you know of anyone who might be interested in starting the adventure of adopting and gentling a wild horse why not send them one of my new note cards for Christmas and tell them about wild horse or burro adoption. If they adopt and have never gentled a wild horse before I can even give resources of experienced horse handlers who can guide them through the process.

I hope you will keep watching my blog in future days as I share more of my art and products. The original painting is not for sale at this time, however the  cards are available on  my http://www.zazzle.com/LindaLMartinArtist* shop on  Zazzle

TWO SALES ON ETSY!!!! First Friday Art Walk Etsy!! Come Join Us!!

Well today is the day for First Friday Art Walk Etsy.  Just Search FirstFridayArtWalk when you get to www.etsy.com to find all of the neat items and specials set up for this, the First Friday in November!

I have two sales going on. One in my Every Day Art Store at http://www.etsy.com/shop/LindaLMartinArtist The code for this one is: FFAW20132  This sale is 25% off on alls sales  $25 and over. These are single or combined from any item in my shop and in addition to items already marked down. Now is the time to purchase miniature art and select from the number of prints and watercolors available.

"The Tenant House"
7.5 by 9 inches Original Watercolor
by Linda L Martin
$95.00
Use the FFAW2032 Code to receive the Discount 25%
Sale Ends November 3, 2013
http://www.etsy.com/shop/LindaLMartinArtist

The Second Sale for First Friday Art Walk  is in  my  Mustang A Day Challenge Store at
http://www.etsy.com/shop/MustangADayChallenge  

 The code for this one is FFAW1NOV This sale is 25% off all sales single or combined of $100 or more.  This is a perfect time to pick up that original painting you wanted of your favorite wild horse.

"Jet of Sand Wash Basin"
8 by 10 Original Acrylic on  Canvas Board
by Linda L Martin
$265.00
Use the FFAW1NOV Code to receive the 25% discount when you check out of Etsy.
Sale Ends November 3rd, 2013
http://www.etsy.com/shop/MustangADayChallenge 

If you have any questions please feel free to email me at info@llmartin.com

Magical Mustangs! Wild Kiger Horses Fantasy Art Cards

Magical Mustang Art Cards
Saving Wild Horses  Original Art Cards Can Be fun!
A friend asked me to post some of my available art cards  left over from  the studies from the Kiger Wild Horses Project earlier this year. These are the ones I have left of the Magical Mustangs Series.

These are mixed medium original art.  Each card is sized 2.5 by 3.5 inches and retails for about $15.00. Each comes in a heavy weight Art Card clear ph balanced top loading card protector.
If you are interested or would like to have your horse or pet done in this format just email me at info@llmartin.com

Sold Separately or Together. Subject to Availability. First come first Served.

Dog Days of Summer! Dog Portraits! By Linda L Martin Artist

Prints from my beautiful puppy paintings are now available on Etsy. These are from the Dog Days of Summer Collection. ~Linda

Its true Ive been painting several dog portraits a week from some of my facebook friends since early July. Now  some of them are available as prints on etsy. If you would like to see the full collection here they are: https://www.etsy.com/shop/LindaLMartinArtist?section_id=13929888

Timing is everything: Meeting some awesome people from SAFE.org

This morning I  met some women from safe.org.  They told me  that June is "Prevent Elderly Abuse" month. I had no clue.. I think it must be one of the  best kept secrets out there.  Elderly abuse is a growing concern and it should be as  we are entering a  time when  over 1/3 of our population will be over 65.

We talked about how children who are abused are more than likely going to be the abusers of not only their own children, but also their adult elderly parents and even their animals. Braking the cycle doesn't only mean learning to stop the abuse and step in and prevent abusive situations, but it also means giving those who are trying to over come, the opportunity to be normal and have social interaction with people who don't enable the activities that lead to abuse.  A Safe Haven so to speak.

I hope to be writing more about this organization in the future. In the mean time Enjoy the potted plant they gave me.  Thanks Ladies I hope you raised a ton of money today and everyone who passed by learned more about what you do!

Honoring Mom: Mother's Day 2013

In my search for photos to use with a different project, I found one of my mom that I had forgotten about. It was taken at our last Thanksgiving together in 2011. We were having a  makeover directed by Kim, who was practicing for her MaryKay business.

Although, we suspected that mom was quite ill, she tried to keep it hidden, because she was afraid that everyone would stop her from going out and doing what she loved best. What she loved best was working with children as a teacher.  There was nothing she loved more or found more rewarding than teaching. She didn’t ever want to retire and she surely didn’t want to be old.

When my mother met a child she didn’t look at gender, race, culture, social or economic background, religion or disability. What my mom saw was the "God" given potential that every child has to succeed in life.

My mom used every creative way she could find to give every child a chance, for no matter how long she was their teacher. And if she saw that the parents were in need she found a way to help any who were willing to finish high-school and make a better life for their family.  A lot of what my mom did cost our family financially and it was a sacrifice we gladly supported on many levels. There were many things mom did without; however, for her, finding a creative solution was just as much an achievement and an adventure as anything.

She did everything she did out of a love for children and a life-time of service to the God she loved. She didn’t always succeed and sometimes people were not supportive, but one thing mom never did was, she never stopped doing what she felt God called her to.

She believed this verse from the book of Jeremiah: “ As for me and my house We will serve The Lord!”

First Friday Art Walk on Etsy! Come join the fun.

Come on and Join the fun
Alot of people might not know that every Frist Friday of the Month the Art Walk Etsy Team hosts a virtual art walk through etsy.  All you have to do to participate is  type in the words " Aweteam" or "FirstFridayArtWalk" in the  Etsy Handmade search on the main page. The search will bring up pages of team member items that are offered especially for anyone who wants to buy. Sometimes there is free shipping and sometimes there are discounts.

I love the May Art Walk because its that time just before Mother's Day and a lot of College Graduations when everyone needs to find that special item for their loved ones. Come on and Join the fun. To see some of what I am Offering see below:

Nikki from Life

This painting is one of the quick studies that I did. It came about because I was photographing fruit and reflections of color for a project for my art students at the time. Nikki just came over and sat down in the middle of everything. This study was from 2004.

"Kitten With Pear" (detail)
Oil on Gessoed Paper
9 by 11 inches
by LindaLMartin Artist
Original is $300.00
If you would like to make an offer on this painting please email info@llmartin.com

 In 2000 I moved to an apartment in a small town in the horse country of Virginia. It was a beautiful big apartment. I didn't have a lot of furniture, just a few pieces that people had given me. I was photographing my apartment one day and suddenly noticed that Nikki was very carefully  walking into each shot and posing.

When I suddenly got a clue I started taking his photo. He really liked it. And being part of the creative process, I think helped him adjust from being a cat that had the fields, pastures, hedgerows and fence-lines of rural life to living in town and not being allowed to go out side. It wasn't long until Nikki was posing for me when I painted. 

My Brilliant Attempt at the New Cheesy Potatoes

Here are the images of Before and after. You might want to cook those spuds for a while before you put the cheese in. Just sayin.

Three Small Idaho Spuds at 375F for 45 minutes in a Convection Oven

Help me name this project, please!

Ok, I need your help. I need name suggestions for one of the projects that I am working on. I'm trying to come up with a name that will brand  the project. 

Watercolor Pet Portraits
starting at $35.00 each
info@llmartin.com

Here is the purpose of the project:

My idea is that this project will provide and train people to provide, special services for the elderly, disabled and terminally ill, to help them keep their pets at home when they can no longer look after them, will foster their pets to be available for visits while the client is in a nursing home or in long term rehab after illness or operations, and will act to help place the animal upon the death of the client.

This is a really important service because almost every agency available to people cannot provide basic care for companion and service animals. Families usually are not equipped  to take on pets of family members  leaving the pet owners with additional worry and stress at a time when they need their companion animals the most.  
 

Once the program is in place persons trained in this as volunteers or micro businesses will also be an additional source of contact for those needing the service.

 
Services that can be provided from those certified through the program:
Vet visits
Grooming Nursing home and hospital visits
Basic care and feeding in home
Daily walks

Also  training in how to assess if special funding for basic care, feeding and annual shots is needed and setting up provider sources for that.

I would love to hear your ideas on what we can name this project.
I'm working on a basic Curriculum out line now. Once we get approval for the program and its budget,  We will begin fund raising. If you have any ideas  on that I would love to hear from you as well. Post here or email me through info@llmartin.com with your ideas.

Los Lonely Girls.. What I would love to do with the Ladies!

The year was 2004 and I was recovering from the loss of my dad and a long illness. I decided that I was tired of  the media portraying woman as this unrealistic toothpicks that never aged. I wanted to let woman see that they were beautiful, aged beautifully and celebrate their inner strength. So I painted 20 paintings. Oils on paper.

See the online exhibit at this link:
Los Lonely Girls

I choose Oils because traditionally it is the medium that lasts the longest in doors (next to stone sculpture). However, I choose heavy watercolor paper because of its fragile state that actually mimics the historic significance of the contributions of woman and the frailness of their daily lives. 

I also made an important choice as to how to portray them. I choose to show them in intimate private moments where they were hiding away from the drama and demands of daily life. Alone with their thoughts trying to figure out this survival. I had actually wanted to do more than Hispanic, Native and White women in this portrayal,  however none of the women of  African-American decent would agree. This is important too because it also documents the self-image and lack of confidence that so many woman have. Especially women who have been fighting the fight of raising children alone, acting as sole caregiver for aging family members, as well as acting breadwinner and head of household for a number of family members who have chosen not to work or who are plagued with addictions.

There are a number of women who contributed to my own understanding of what it is like to be poor and working class in America with little opportunity to make good choices and yet they persevere. I thank them for their tolerance and patience with me and their friendship.

What I would love to do with the series is to show it and sell it to develop a mentoring program to help women find their way, to make not only good choices, but even better choices so they can find their voices, and use their talents to shine.

If you or your company is interested in sponsoring this exhibit please contact me at  info@llmartin.com for more details. Just type "Los Lonely Girls" in the subject line. The entire collection is available for sale  or it can be sold separately.

Helping Raise Money for the Wild Horse And Burro Assoication

This Week: I am offering 4 original paintings of South Steens Wild Horses in Oregon to raise money for the Wild Horse and Burro Association. Three of these magnificent horses passed away in 2012. Two very popular band stallions Golden Boy and Honor were humanely destroyed after fatal injuries due to fighting. The mare, Jingles, was believed to be around 30 years old and produced her last foal,  a beautiful chocolate silver stud colt in 2011. She managed to stay with the colt even through declining conditions until it was strong enough to survive alone in the band. These are memorials to these wonderful wild horses.

The Wild Horse and Burro Association offers a number of support opportunities for owners of adopted Wild Mustangs as well as a registration service to help keep track of the horses and potentially reward those in competitions to show chase these amazing animals. I support this fledgling organization because I believe that working together to protect those that have been adopted as well as those in the wild is the best way to preserve our living wild mustang horse heritage.

To bid ask to join the group via Facebook at this address. https://www.facebook.com/groups/377913412305368/

Thank you for your support.

Playing with the 8B Soft Lead: Jorji Drawing

Jorji in #8B soft lead
5.5by 8.5 inches Graphite on #110 Paper
by LindaLMartinArtist
$50.00
Available on etsy: https://www.etsy.com/listing/123012258/jorji-in-8b-soft-grapite-drawing

Original Graphite Drawing of Nikki. Prints available.

"Sunning"
5.5 by 8.5 inches
graphite on #110 drawing paper
by Linda L Martin Artist
$75.00
Signed Prints Available $35.00 each
info@llmartin.com for more information on purchases or commissions

The First of the Yard Bunnies of 2013

I was out walking Jorji, my little foster dog, one evening a few night ago. I was a bit later getting home than anticipated, so I turned on the front porch light and walked him in the front. And who was out there but a very chubby wild bunny eating the greens on the front lawn. So much warm weather and everything is pretty green here even on the third week of January. In fact this little bunny was so chubby if I had not known he was wild, I would have thought he might have been someones well fed pet rabbit. It was really sort of cool though to imagine that the rabbit was dining in the porch light like someone who was dining at a restaurant courtyard in the evening. Ive always had a sort of fondness for bunnies.  One year I painted rabbit after rabbit and even though I do paint far more horses it was my rabbits that seemed to sell best that year.

Yard Bunny #1
4 by 6 inches Graphite on #110 Paper
Original by Linda L Martin Artist
$35.00 On Etsy
https://www.etsy.com/listing/121442662/yard-bunny-drawing
Prints are also available

Yard Bunny #1
4 by 6 inches Graphite on #110 Paper
Original by Linda L Martin Artist
$35.00 On Etsy
https://www.etsy.com/listing/121443988/yard-bunny-drawing2
Prints are also available

Valentine's Day...

Valentine's Day is less than a month away. Whew. So I thought well..why not provide a $35 gift certificate so my you can provide a surprise. The gift certificate is good in any of my etsy stores or contact me directly for a pet or horse portrait. Its a great option for someone you dont know what to give for the most Romatic Holiday of the year... or even to your mom or grandmom or even your favorite auntie... its all about the love!!!

You can buy a gift certificate through all three of my etsy stores. And Shipping is FREE because its emailed to you in the form of a JPG that you can print out.  Just remember though each certificate has a unique number so it cannot be reused.    Happy Shopping!!

email me directly at info@llmartin.com
or purchase at any one of my three Etsy Stores
Stoneflur
LindaLMartin Evey Day Art
Mustang A Day Challenge

Linda L Martin's Saturday Morning Brain Storm

Saturday Morning Brain Storm  January 12th, 2013

Promoting My Art!

You know something. Im sitting here trying to figure out how my schedule got so full and how my time got so messed up and how on earth I can keep producing impressive high quality art while trying to promote.

Promoting anything on line gets more complicated by the day. I’m buried under a land slide of Social Media options. I have no choice but to rethink everything. I know that I don’t have time to reinvent the wheel. 

For more details:
info@llmartin.com
Please Write $35Gift Cert in subject line

Pros and cons go through my head all the time. 
It  is exhausting.

Yet some people figure it out quite well.  And they not only survive but hit the big time. Yet the type of money I want to bring in with what I am doing; I’ve never met anyone yet doing what I do that has done it except  One or two people.  One died last year.

Stay on story?  Focus? Arrgh .. Creative expression and the freedom to do it.. vs the savvy business principles. What a weird conflict to find myself in. What If I just had the freedom to paint whatever and know that it will be seen at the end of it.  How do I make that happen?

 Today in my brief brain storm I have have decided to slim down and de-clutter.  It will be an arduous process. I have find out what has sold and see if It will sell again. Then multi-task that into promotions.  The rub is .. how the heck do I figure out the time to do it.

There are simultaneous trends happening too.  The Shabby Chic has grown into something that is more like  Prairie Self-sufficiency that you can buy don’t have to Make. The colors are muted milk paint with a few bright warm colors thrown in. And a new baroque is making inroads with classy chic gilt age quality vogue… I just don’t know what to call it. But it is trending and it doesn’t have a name. it includes really good complicated art that plays out beautiful. You can see it all the time on Pinterest.  People just want beautiful things with classic lines be they shabby hand-made prairie art or the new baroque.

I want to be like Jackie O! I want my art to be classic and current without being driven by the trends.  Again as always how the heck do you get your voice out where it can be heard.

For more details:
info@llmartin.com
Please Write $35Gift Cert in subject line