Art Walk in Pt Richmond Thursday

Posted on May 15, 2013 | Leave a comment

Hi – I will be participating in the Pt. Richmond Art Walk. My table will be 201 W. Richmond Avenue. If you are in the neighborhood or any where close by I would love to see you and chat about art.

ArtWalkFlyerMay2013_2

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Posted in Art, encaustic painting

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Arts of Point Richmond “the art of spring”

Posted on April 28, 2013 | Leave a comment

Hi All – I won’t be able to show my paintings this year at the spring event in Point Richmond but wanted you to take advantage of this wonderful event….I will be in  Minneapolis. Here is the information and what a great deal for $20…..

Arts of Point Richmond

Call To Artists

The Art of Spring Faire

SATURDAY, MAY 4, 2013

11:00 A.M. TO 5:00 P.M.

Pt. Richmond Community Center

139 Washington Ave.  Point Richmond

LOCAL ARTISTS WILL BE EXHIBITING

AND SELLING THEIR ORIGINAL WORKS

Original paintings, Note cards, Fabric art, Book making, Water, acrylic and Encaustic paintings, Prints, Small sculptural & metal art, Garden items, Framed photographs Books by local authors

JOIN US AND FIND YOUR SPECIAL

MOTHER’S DAY GIFT!

$20 FEE WILL COVER THE RENTAL AND INSURANCE PAID TO THE CITY OF RICHMOND.

E-MAIL OR CALL LINDA DRAKE FOR DETAILS. THERE ARE 12 PLOTS AVAILABLE INSIDE.  WEATHER PERMITTING, ARTISTS MAY SET-UP THEIR OWN CANOPIES/TABLES IN THE COMMUNITY CENTER PERIMETER. ARTISTS ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR THEIR OWN SET-UP AND BREAKDOWN.

ARTISTS MUST HAVE  2013 DUES PAID

EXHIBIT & SELL ARTISTS’ ORIGINAL WORKS/PRINTS ONLY

I am returning to AOPR to kick off the 2013 season by coordinating artists and events.
Blessings to all of you!
Linda Lee Calvan Drake
510.672.0793

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My Website

Posted on March 31, 2013 | 2 Comments

I am excited to announce the birth of my website – it was a month in the making and  I am proud of my accomplishment. This was the first website I have ever built.

Go on…..check it out

 

clipart-26250

http://www.theravensnestart.com

 

photo

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Posted in Art, Book Binding, encaustic painting, Pastels & Wax

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Selling on Esty & Goodsmiths

Posted on February 2, 2013 | Leave a comment

I have been wanting to get a website together but feel very overwhelmed by the whole prospect. I am very smart when it comes to many things but haven’t put a website together before. I think I can do it but feel scared so in the meantime I have put all my art on Esty and Goodsmiths on line stores.

I have done pretty ok during the first year, selling a few things here and there but not great. I was beginning to wonder if it was really worth all the trouble. This past year I participated in 6 different shows and sold quite a bit of my art and was beginning to think about putting my own website together and taking my stuff off of Etsy and Goodsmiths. Lately my paintings, handmade books, journals, photo albums and address book sales are taking off. I have sold quite a few things on Etsy – including selling to a woman who lives in Spain. I think it’s pretty cool to send my paintings overseas.

I keep thinking I want to get my own website together but I wonder how much exposure I will get by promoting my site myself. I know that I have the potential to have a much larger audience on Etsy (not so much Goodsmiths because it’s not as well known) than from my own website but eventually I will get over my fears, sit down and act on what I have wanted for awhile. I know that there are many sites out there to help me with my website, I just have to find the right one.

I will let you all know when I have a website and will link it to this blog. I just want to share with you the painting I have sold this past week that will be heading out to Spain on Tuesday.

Je t'aime Paris

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Posted in Art, encaustic painting, paper crafts

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50 has Come & Gone and I am Grateful

Posted on January 29, 2013 | 1 Comment

Well, my birthday has come and gone. I am 50 and it seems like things are still as they were, nothing feels or  looks different. I had a wonderful party with loads of friends, good food, and lots of laughter. I think it was probably the best way to spend my birthday. Sometimes when I think about my age it still freaks me out at bit, I think “how did I get here – wasn’t it just yesterday I was living in France and going to school?”

Life moves so quickly,  I need to remember that and live each day like it is THE most important day. I must remember that I have a sweat life; a partner whom I love dearly and who loves me more than anyone has my whole life. I have the dog of my dreams, I have wanted this dog for at least 20 years. I have a wonderful home and have the best job in the world, AND – I get to create art everyday in studio in the back of my home.

Through out my life, people have come and gone – family has come and gone but through all of this I have loved everyone. I know that one day everyone will know how much I have loved them. I have lived my life with respect for others and tried to be the best person I can. I have tried not to judge others and  tried earnestly to live and let live. I know that even through my life’s choices some of my friends and family have judged me and have said and done things that have been hurtful.  What they don’t understand is that the choices I have made through out my life made me the woman I am today. We all have made choices in our lives that others may not understand – but that’s the funny thing about our lives – they are all different. My choices and decisions that I have made throughout my life have brought me to this most awesome place – and at the age of 50 I can say it with all my heart – MY LIFE IS GREAT!

I am grateful for all the things I have done, the places I have gone, the adventures I have been on (good & bad) all the people who are and were in my life – all of this has shaped who I am today – I KICK ASS 50-year-old woman, artist, dog mom and wife.

Pictures below: 1. Me and my partner 2. The view from my studio 3. My dog – Chimay  4. My last art show in San Francisco

birthday pic looking out my studio

My Belgian Malinois playing at Yosemite - Chimay

My Belgian Malinois playing at Yosemite – Chimay

Raven at the Gallery

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Posted in Art, Birthday

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I am turning 50!

Posted on January 12, 2013 | 1 Comment

Well….here’s the thing. I am turning 50 and I am not sure how to feel about things. On one hand I am totally freaking out and on the other I think I am still pretty hot and don’t look at all 50 years old.

Most days I feel ok but last night I received an AARP application in the mail and totally lost it. I was bawling like a baby —– see I can’t be 50 if I am crying like a baby, right?

I have been trying to think about what I wanted to do to celebrate the fact that I am turning the big 5-0 and couldn’t come up with anything. I somehow suspect that if I didn’t come up with anything it would all go away. Well, it’s January and only 13 more days until “B-day” and I think I might be coming to terms with it. I say “might” because I still feel a hissy fit coming on, but I have finally found something to do for my birthday that I am excited about.

I spent an hour or so with an old boss/friend of mine yesterday and we were catching up. I had brought my dog to meet him and we were just chatting about this and that. I told him I was turning 50 and freaking out a bit. He said that I should just have a big party and I asked him if I could host it at his house (it’s beautiful) and he said, “of course”. It was settled, I was going to have a big birthday bash as this amazing house in San Francisco and I am now getting excited. I started planning what I was going to serve and things I was going to do and I started feeling happy about my birthday.

I love having parties, spending time fixing up the house, preparing food for everyone, making sure there is something for everyone and buying all the alcohol and non-alcohol so everyone has what they love. I just love putting on a good party! I love talking to people and spending time with my friends.

I came home after spending the time with my friend and put together and evite and sent it out. I am already getting people rsvp-ing and it seems like everyone will be able to make it. I am still freaking out a bit about this birthday but I think I will be ok. I think I will make it through and once I get to the other side of 50 I’ll be just fine.

This is a picture from my encaustic painting show from 2 weeks ago.

Raven at the Gallery

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Posted in Art, Birthday, encaustic painting

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2012 was a great year!

Posted on January 6, 2013 | 1 Comment

What a year 2012 was! I was so busy; busy creating a space to paint and giving myself time to do what I love. It’s very hard to juggle working a full time job, having a family and painting. Luckily I have a studio in the back of my house which allows me more freedom to work on my art and spend time with my family. I also spent a lot of time planning.

“Plans are Nothing, Planning is Everything.”  Dwight D. Eisenhower

I spent a lot of time before each show planning; planning what I was going to paint, actually painting, figuring out where the paintings would hang on the wall and how I was going to promote my show. My first show really was exciting, it was a group show at a gallery in San Francisco called 4N5, it was a huge space so I really needed to work out how my Encaustic Paintings were going to look on the walls. For this show I already had a large body of work so planning what to paint was removed from the equation. The show was a success and this is the only painting left that didn’t sell. It is titled “From the Safety of Paris.

Je t'aime Paris

My Second show was in downtown San Francisco put on by the San Francisco Arts Council and was very “urban” I had some really fun times in this show. The council shut down 2 street blocks and the invited artists hung their work in store fronts. It was a lot of fun; there were street performers, trucks with mobile art for everyone to participate and lots of media. I planned how to promoted this show and sent out postcards, posted an event on facebook and word of mouth. I didn’t realize how much word of mouth really works. My planning for this event worked really well too. I only had a few paintings left after this show.

gold leaf sacred heart

My 3rd show was also downtown San Francisco and was sponsored by the Urban Solutions San Francisco. It was an art walk and really fun. I had put up a bunch of paintings in this really awesome pizza place with bright yellow walls. It was fun. I got my name in the San Francisco Chronicle paper and sold a few paintings. The planning I did for this show really paid off.  This is the article in the SFGATE which is the on-line newspaper.

http://www.sfgate.com/default/article/The-stroll-that-became-a-headlong-run-3972369.php

show picture

The rest of the shows during the year were also about planning, and the most unexpected wonderful thing that happened was all the great people I met during this past year. I made me realize how important getting yourself out there and meeting people really is. I loved it and it made me feel so wonderful to have met and created friendships with people I met during 2012. I am working and planning what I want for my life and for my art in 2013, pay close attention it’s going to be amazing!

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