OPEN! OPEN! OPEN!

As most of you may know, I have been acting as curator and part-time marketer for Farm to Fork (Farm 2 Fork on Facebook) for the past month. I have written press releases, radio copy, hung art and prayed hard. Well, it’s finally here...the opening of F2F!


Friday, Nov. 4, 2011
11 a.m. – 7 p.m.
Chamber of Commerce Ribbon Cutting at 11 a.m.
1637 Alameda
361-500-4095

Please come and join us for the grand opening. We’ll have food, crafts and art and musical guests, Johnson Grass will perform!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=UpkPjHMgBbM
Johnson Grass "Think of what You've Done" (Is It True)
http://www.youtube.com/
Our regular operating hours are every Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m. – 7 p.m.

25% Off Canvas Prints!!!! Coupon Code NEWWAYS2GIVE

Well Pumpkin Head Dog (PHD) and Hedshots have been sweatin' overthe keyboard today. We've been arranging canvas prints just for you. We've selected the best of our art work on 10 16 x 20" canvases! It's been a long hard day. Time for a nap. Enjoy the 25% off and don't forget the coupon code NEWWAYS2GIVE.

http://www.zazzle.com/pumpkinheaddog?rf=238946985861720688

http://www.zazzle.com/hedshots?rf=238946985861720688

25% of the case, speaker, wrapped canvas, photography and necklace product net sale price will be deducted when one or more qualifying products are purchased and the coupon code NEWWAYS2GIVE is applied at checkout. Offer is valid until October 31, 2011 at 11:59pm PT. This offer does not apply to past purchases and may not be combined with any other Zazzle promotional or volume discount offers. If a volume discount applies to your order, you will receive either the discount set forth in this offer or the standard volume discount, whichever is greater. Offer valid on Zazzle.com only.

Zazzle, the Zazzle logo, Zazzle Custom Stamps, and Zazzle Profile Cards are registered trademarks or trademarks of Zazzle Inc. in the United States and other countries.

History and Rubble by Pumpkin Head Dog

Bright Happy Fun Time! by Pumpkin Head Dog

Hermana Muy Curiosa by Pumpkin Head Dog

Tree Island by Pumpkin Head Dog

Lily Bell by Pumpkin Head Dog

Coffee? by Hedshots

Family Portrait by Hedshots

Hyper Pastels by Hedshots

Hill Country Sunset by Hedshots



Moon Flower by Hedshots



Also, don't forget, This Week - Get 50% Off Cards + 10% Off Custom Postage!

Use Code: FALLMAILINGS (details)
Offer is valid until October 26, 2011 at 11:59pm PT.

I Kain't Quit YOU!

So this was the plan. Stay out of ArtWalk for the Summer and concentrate on my work, my two jobs and my home life......yeah, it didn't actually work that way. But I can explain!


OK, so the first ArtWalk I was going to miss was the July 1st show. I had a meeting with a man we'll call Scary Guy, I was looking for yet a third job. I know, a third job....stupid, I'm stretched thin as it is and I'm looking for a third job? Oy.... anywho, the Scary Guy gave me bad vibes so I chose, after much deliberation, not to do business with him. I deliberated because I wanted to earn the extra money sooooo badly but in the end I figured he would be the kind of guy that could dismember a body and not think twice about it.


I was at Agua Java with Scary Guy and then after our meeting I went to Vernon's, where Scary Guy actually ended up as well...a little weird. I asked him how knew about V's and he said a friend of his went there. And then I said, "Well I'm fairly regular here, who's your friend, maybe I know of him." He said oh it's not my friend its a friend of a friend. My sister thinks he followed me there.


Well there I am at V's and so I have a beer and leave and I think, "Well I'm close to House of Rock, I should go and stop by and see how the kids are doing." Yeah, "stop by"....famous last words.


So I get there and Michaela and Rene are there and so I get to gabbing with them and next thing you know I'm brokering a deal between a buyer and Michaela. So she finally sold a piece at a show. She's really an excellent artist. She's a Brit, you know and crazy talented. Next thing I know its 10:30 and I'm finally going home after "stopping by".


So I couldn't do it. I couldn't stay away from ArtWalk. Although I did like not having to hang anything or take anything down. Yes, I'm lazy. So I worked up this poster (you'll see them in the downtown area starting the end of this week at the House of Rock).

I want to talk a little bit about digital art. I'm in no way a pro at digital art, as a matter of fact, I'm jsut learning my way around digi-land. But I want to share with you the steps I made and you can share ideas or whatever.

So this is the photo I started with:

Zelda

Now what I did was get rid of the background. Oh wait, where are my manners? This is Zelda, my youngest nephew's dog. I did the digital piece from this photo my sister took. I have a piece I did of the final digital on Fine Art America titled Hermana Muy Curiosa.

So I got rid of the background by just erasing and filling in large areas with white using the bucket tool. I kept the shadow and the whiskers and of course Zelda. Then I selected color as I went along and dumped color using the bucket tool on different parts of Zelda. So wherever the color would stick is where I left it. Here is the piece after I finished using the bucket tool.

Now you can see where the colors stuck and you can see the "dirt". Now when I was working on this piece, and I've learned to do this with all my digi pieces, I work on it in a bmp file and then the I put the finished product into a PNG. It just comes out better than a JPG. I don't know all the technical aspects of it but yeah, I can see the difference.


The "dirt" you see in the colors are just little areas that didn't pick up the color. So you can go back and do what I did which was take the paint brush tool and flip back and forth between different sizes of the brush to get rid of the dirt. After the piece was clean (I zoomed in and out of the piece to make sure I got every color mass nice and clean) I uploaded it to Fine Art America.

Hermana Muy Curiosa
http://fineartamerica.com/profiles/laurette-escobar.html

I took this image and placed all the text necessary for the poster and sent it off to Vista Print where I got 20 11 x 16" posters for $50. All digital work was done in Pixlr (http://pixlr.com/editor/), which I highly recommend for the beginner. The help tutorials are excellent and its free, so that way you're not paying a lot of money for something you're not sure you're going to use regularly. But once you get started, you'll find its hard to stop.

Back to the first topic, ArtWalk. Y'all need to come on down. Hit downtown the first weekend of every month and you will not be disappointed. On Friday nights there is art for every taste all throughout downtown and at the marina on Saturday there's a great Market Place with everything from produce to crafty things. Then Sunday you can walk across the bridge.

Join me at House of Rock on August 5th. House is on 511 Starr St. at the corner of Mesquite and Starr (a block down from KSpace). We'll start the party at 5:30 and continue on through the night with musical guests, Bar Nuts!

The Possibilities of Wearable Art

The wonderful thing about art in this era is that it is more accessable to the general public. Better accessability means greater acceptance and desire of product that is unusual, artful. Art, original art, can be used as an embellishment on more than just T-shirts and tote bags. I have found designing footwear with my and my sister's original art is not only a fun process but it's becoming successful as well.

Our works are available on Zazzle's web site, the address is http://www.zazzle.com/pumpkinheaddog

Please come and peruse our works, tell us what you think.

Lily Bell by Laurette (Pumpkin Head Dog)

Rock Star by Laurette (Pumpkin Head Dog)

Walk on the Wild Side by Laurette (Pumpkin Head Dog)

Chocolate and Cherries by Anissia (Hed Shots)

Espresso Anyone? by Anissia (Hed Shots)

Naked Trees by Anissia (Hed Shots)

Postage Sale - $5 Off Custom Postage!

Zazzle is at it again! This time they are taking $5 off custom postage! My sister and I are happy to share our designs with y'all. Please take a look, I'm sure there is something you just absolutely need!

Hedshots Designs

Hedshots Designs

Hedshots Designs



Pumpkinheaddog Designs




Hedshots Designs




Hedshots Designs




Hedshots Designs



Hedshots Designs



Pumpkinheaddog Designs



Pumpkinheaddog Designs

* $5.00 of the Zazzle Custom Postage Sheet net sale price will be deducted when one or more qualifying Zazzle Custom Postage Sheets are purchased. The coupon code PHOTOPOSTAGE must be entered during checkout to receive the offer. The net sale of Zazzle Custom Postage Sheet price is the difference between the price of the Zazzle Custom Postage Sheet (excluding shipping and taxes) and the face value of the postage. Offer is valid through June 19, 2011 at 11:59 PM PT. This promotional offer may not be combined with any other Zazzle promotional or volume discount offers. If a volume discount applies to your order, you will receive either the discount set forth in this offer or the standard volume discount, whichever is greater. Offer valid on Zazzle.com only


Thank you for your time and effort,
Laurette Escobar
http://www.laurette-escobar.artistwebsites.com/
http://www.zazzle.com/pumpkinheaddog
artisalie1@yahoo.com

Original Art -- Digital File Sale

I just opened my newest e-gallery called Digital Werx. I'm going to sell files from that gallery for $25 each. I will email them to you once you've paid for them. Just email me at artisalie1@yahoo.com with the name of the file(s) you'd like. Once the payment has hit the paypal, I'll email you the file. This is an unusual sale, I know, but I like trying different things.

Below is the link to the new e-gallery and I've put the sizes of the files in pixels below.

Thanks!

Digital Werx

Feel free to browse the gallery and give me your thoughts on the pieces.

EDIT: Viva Tequila is not available. I lost the original file.

EDIT AGAIN: The sale will end on June 3, 2011

Blown

2425 x 3465 pixels

Look At Me

2604 x 3472 pixels

 

Drag Queen Wedding

2604 x 3472 pixels

In The Thick Heat

2604 x 3472 pixels

Like Minded Thieves

2604 x 3472 pixels

Lilly Bell

3472 x 2604 pixels

Who's A Good Dog?!

3472 x 2604 pix

I Smell Coffee

3160 x 3160

Sk8tr Luv

800 x 600



Pumpkin Head Dog

http://www.zazzle.com/pumpkinheaddog
http://www.zazzle.com/hedshots

Well I've been crazy busy coming up with ways to share my art with the world in new and interesting ways. I think wearable art is the most fun way to do something like that but another great thing is using the iPhone, iPad and Doodle Speakers. I mean imagine finding the right design to suit your lifestyle! With about a million or so designs on Zazzle the possibilities are endless. But I really think you ought to consider Pumpkin Head Dog and Hed Shots before all others....not that I'm biased or anything.

Pumpkin Head Dog is a little outside the box art and is my newest baby. I love PHD! It's so much fun to work on. I can't even really consider it work because I have too much fun with it. Hed Shots is my sister, Anissia Hedrick's store. She's a photographer and she is available for portraits, weddings and whatever other freelance gig you can think of.

Today only, the Doodle Speakers are 50% off until 4 p.m. P.S.T.

It's here: The world's first customizable speaker is now on Zazzle! Perfect for travel, parties, or just a day at the beach, our customizable Doodle speaker is ultra-portable and ultra-fun for everyone. In this exclusive offer for email subscribers, you now have exactly 4 hours to save 50% on any custom speaker! So, shop for yourself, or shop for a Father's Day gift (hint, hint), and you'll be sure to end up with an awesome gadget that makes your music look as good as it sounds! This special deal will be over very soon, so get your custom speakers today!

If you can't shop now, don't worry! After 4 hours have passed, you'll still have the rest of the weekend to save 20% on Doodle speakers. Just be sure to place your order soon!

Thank you for your time and effort,
Laurette Escobar
http://www.laurette-escobar.artistwebsites.com/
http://www.zazzle.com/pumpkinheaddog