Weekend Projects and Play- mermaid painting, silkscreen creation

Twas a relaxing birthday weekend at home spent hanging out on the patio and working on art projects in the morning while it was cool- then movie watching marathon + lots of naps in the A/C bedroom now deemed "the cave"- as the days got super hot.

I got more work done on my mermaid painting:

I darkened the ocean a lot more so that i could make the bubbles more glowy. Also added some new bubbles in and a couple jets of shimmery lil bubbles. Everything is very very rough so i need to go in and shape everything with more color and shading. I have also decided i need to change her flesh tone to a more pale/blue tint to reflect the fact that she is submerged in water. Still need to decide on how i want her hand to lay on her tail and what i want/if anything sprouting from the top of her third eye. plus more bubbles shall be added as well.

While i was painting Danny was working on an art project of his:

He made this huge silkscreen frame and stretched the mesh himself- the frame is pretty much as tall as i am. Here in the photo he is using the drawing fluid medium to paint out the first part of his intended gigantic silkscreen/ebru(Turkish marbling) creation that i cant wait to see finished.

As the shape is beginning to suggest- he is creating a Buddha symbol which will actually have a few different silkscreen components to make up the finished details of the form.

And for no apparent reason on Saturday i was up at midnight playing with my dreadlocks in front of the bathroom mirror and i had to snap this photo to share:

I call it the "Tower of Dread."
Pretty ridiculous no?

Anyhoo....i am looking forward to doing some body painting tomorrow for a local Portland photographer. It is an "earth mama" themed maternity shoot where i have been commissioned to paint earthy floral patterns on his pregnant model. Should be fun...."work in progress" pics will be posted from the experience as well!

Much love,
-Chelsea Rose

Weekend Projects and Play- mermaid painting, silkscreen creation

Twas a relaxing birthday weekend at home spent hanging out on the patio and working on art projects in the morning while it was cool- then movie watching marathon + lots of naps in the A/C bedroom now deemed "the cave"- as the days got super hot.

I got more work done on my mermaid painting:

I darkened the ocean a lot more so that i could make the bubbles more glowy. Also added some new bubbles in and a couple jets of shimmery lil bubbles. Everything is very very rough so i need to go in and shape everything with more color and shading. I have also decided i need to change her flesh tone to a more pale/blue tint to reflect the fact that she is submerged in water. Still need to decide on how i want her hand to lay on her tail and what i want/if anything sprouting from the top of her third eye. plus more bubbles shall be added as well.

While i was painting Danny was working on an art project of his:

He made this huge silkscreen frame and stretched the mesh himself- the frame is pretty much as tall as i am. Here in the photo he is using the drawing fluid medium to paint out the first part of his intended gigantic silkscreen/ebru(Turkish marbling) creation that i cant wait to see finished.

As the shape is beginning to suggest- he is creating a Buddha symbol which will actually have a few different silkscreen components to make up the finished details of the form.

And for no apparent reason on Saturday i was up at midnight playing with my dreadlocks in front of the bathroom mirror and i had to snap this photo to share:

I call it the "Tower of Dread."
Pretty ridiculous no?

Anyhoo....i am looking forward to doing some body painting tomorrow for a local Portland photographer. It is an "earth mama" themed maternity shoot where i have been commissioned to paint earthy floral patterns on his pregnant model. Should be fun...."work in progress" pics will be posted from the experience as well!

Much love,
-Chelsea Rose

Weekend bliss: Queen Bead, KPG live music, mermaid acrylic painting, playing dress up and morning glory flower

This weekend was eventful and this coming week will be the same way or perhaps doubly so!

First off, one more photo to share from my body painting photo shoot with Queen Bead:


(body painting and photography by Chelsea Rose
Model: Queen Bead )

Why is she called Queen Bead? well thats her artist/stage name. She is the head woman for a local reggae band called KPG - Keep Portland Green and her voice coupled with the music made me tingle. I danced all night long:

....needless to say i was super sore the next day and have realized how out of shape i have gotten- need to dance more!! This was a wonderful way to start the weekend.

On Saturday Danny and I watched T.Ruth artspace gallery
We set up a lil sidewalk art sale and worked on various projects inside while greeting the people who came in to look at art. Queen Bead dropped by with her son, i gave her a CD full of the body painting photos of her and we chatted for a couple hours.

I also managed to get some work done on my mermaid painting:
....i am not sure what it is with painting mermaids but they always give me trouble. I am assuming its their trickster/mischievous nature. I have been drawing them since i was 5, so i better get used to painting them since i love mermaids so much!

...i think she finally did manage to cooperate and i got a fair amount of work finished on her. Shes at least got her first layer of paint on...i am going to put in some flowy side fins on her tail and a bunch of bubbles in her hair. Blue/green and yellow orange is a strange color combo for me and i dont think i can say i have it mastered yet so i will have to do a lot more tweaking with it till i am happy. So there is loads more work to do on her- i pray i can find the time to do it in the next few weeks!

In other news...i discovered that my dreads have grown long enough to do side buns...whoohooo!

Can you tell i was quite excited?

....turns out to be a great dread-do for the hot summer months- helps keep the dreads up to cool off the neck!

Also, I came to realize that the FaerieWorlds Festival is this coming weekend! I must go and so i shall. Also will be happily helping the singer Joanne Berman Juskus who heads the band Telesma by giving her and her drummer a lift to the festival- they will be playing there at 5:30pm. Whats extremely exciting, that i just now learned via facebook message a sec ago, is that they are hoping to have me do some body painting on the digeridoo man( Ian Hesford) for their preformance! I cant wait. I guess Ian usually goes onstage painted up very tribal and has even been painted by Alex Grey for a concert! If you have time...check them out, they make some wonderous psychedelic mind blowing music.

So yes... looks like i will be doing all that on Saturday. This realization had me diving into my costume bag to figure out what to wear:

I love playing dress up!

...i think this hat is going to save me from turning into one big sunburn on Saturday.
I am also super excited to hear that the two corsets i commissioned Danny's amazingly talented seamstress sister to make me are on their way in the mail! Thus...i may be strutting about with one of my new ones on for the fair. I had her make one under bust corset with this crazy 60s mushroom fabric i found and another corset- over bust(1700's styled) out of a wonderful purple brocade. I will take photos when they arrive( due Wednesday i think!)

This Thursday is the Art walk on Alberta st so we are also gearing up for that- will be there around 20th and alberta st ( Portland or) with a full booth boasting lots of paintings, art prints, screen prints and tie dye!

That's it for now....more updates and news soon.
Best wishes and much love,
-Chelsea Rose

P.S

i wanted to share my first morning glory bloom of the summer with you:

bye now :)

Weekend bliss: Queen Bead, KPG live music, mermaid acrylic painting, playing dress up and morning glory flower

This weekend was eventful and this coming week will be the same way or perhaps doubly so!

First off, one more photo to share from my body painting photo shoot with Queen Bead:


(body painting and photography by Chelsea Rose
Model: Queen Bead )

Why is she called Queen Bead? well thats her artist/stage name. She is the head woman for a local reggae band called KPG - Keep Portland Green and her voice coupled with the music made me tingle. I danced all night long:

....needless to say i was super sore the next day and have realized how out of shape i have gotten- need to dance more!! This was a wonderful way to start the weekend.

On Saturday Danny and I watched T.Ruth artspace gallery
We set up a lil sidewalk art sale and worked on various projects inside while greeting the people who came in to look at art. Queen Bead dropped by with her son, i gave her a CD full of the body painting photos of her and we chatted for a couple hours.

I also managed to get some work done on my mermaid painting:
....i am not sure what it is with painting mermaids but they always give me trouble. I am assuming its their trickster/mischievous nature. I have been drawing them since i was 5, so i better get used to painting them since i love mermaids so much!

...i think she finally did manage to cooperate and i got a fair amount of work finished on her. Shes at least got her first layer of paint on...i am going to put in some flowy side fins on her tail and a bunch of bubbles in her hair. Blue/green and yellow orange is a strange color combo for me and i dont think i can say i have it mastered yet so i will have to do a lot more tweaking with it till i am happy. So there is loads more work to do on her- i pray i can find the time to do it in the next few weeks!

In other news...i discovered that my dreads have grown long enough to do side buns...whoohooo!

Can you tell i was quite excited?

....turns out to be a great dread-do for the hot summer months- helps keep the dreads up to cool off the neck!

Also, I came to realize that the FaerieWorlds Festival is this coming weekend! I must go and so i shall. Also will be happily helping the singer Joanne Berman Juskus who heads the band Telesma by giving her and her drummer a lift to the festival- they will be playing there at 5:30pm. Whats extremely exciting, that i just now learned via facebook message a sec ago, is that they are hoping to have me do some body painting on the digeridoo man( Ian Hesford) for their preformance! I cant wait. I guess Ian usually goes onstage painted up very tribal and has even been painted by Alex Grey for a concert! If you have time...check them out, they make some wonderous psychedelic mind blowing music.

So yes... looks like i will be doing all that on Saturday. This realization had me diving into my costume bag to figure out what to wear:

I love playing dress up!

...i think this hat is going to save me from turning into one big sunburn on Saturday.
I am also super excited to hear that the two corsets i commissioned Danny's amazingly talented seamstress sister to make me are on their way in the mail! Thus...i may be strutting about with one of my new ones on for the fair. I had her make one under bust corset with this crazy 60s mushroom fabric i found and another corset- over bust(1700's styled) out of a wonderful purple brocade. I will take photos when they arrive( due Wednesday i think!)

This Thursday is the Art walk on Alberta st so we are also gearing up for that- will be there around 20th and alberta st ( Portland or) with a full booth boasting lots of paintings, art prints, screen prints and tie dye!

That's it for now....more updates and news soon.
Best wishes and much love,
-Chelsea Rose

P.S

i wanted to share my first morning glory bloom of the summer with you:

bye now :)

Humble beginnings and The Space art collective

Hello dearfulls.

Its been another one of those busy weeks but i did manage to start a new painting!

This is where i am at with it thus far:

this is a close up of some of the humble beginnings of the color layout.

I was flipping through an old sketch book of mine and came across this drawing which i ended up using very loosely as inspiration for the painting:

this was a pen and ink sketch done a year or so ago. As you can see for some strange reason i drew her smack dab in the middle of two pages in my sketch book-thus i have never been able to get a good scan of it. Ah well.


This is a quick process shot i took of it after i had kinda free handed a basic sketch onto my 14"x14" painted canvas. I think i might change up the shape of the wings a bit...or add more detail and flow. We shall see. I still need to build out the rest of her form + poofy skirt. Also thinking about adding some green into the background on the bottom to suggest water at sunset...or grassy hill of some sort.


and here i am workin in the home studio. I call this hairdo my "art bun." I have found that its best to keep the dreads tucked up into a high bun while painting, otherwise my tips end up as paintbrushes rather quickly! And acrylic paint is perhaps the hardest thing to clean out of dreads other then peanut butter :P My headband was handmade by Livley! and yes, i love it.

Today i am leaving work early so that Danny and I can cruise on over to Vancouver, Washington. We are participating in their Craft in the Village, where we will have a table out sellin our art prints, paintings, tie dye and screen prints!
We will also be actively participating in another art space opening at The Space!
Check it out:

I will be the official face and body painter for the event! And there will be an open drum circle and a community canvas free for all. I LOVE IT!
for more info on The Space check them out here.

I wanted to leave off with another body painting photo that i posted a few days ago:

(body painting and photography by Chelsea Rose
Model: Courtney)

Have a super yumtazmic weekend, everyone.

PEACE n LOVE!
-Chelsea Rose

Humble beginnings and The Space art collective

Hello dearfulls.

Its been another one of those busy weeks but i did manage to start a new painting!

This is where i am at with it thus far:

this is a close up of some of the humble beginnings of the color layout.

I was flipping through an old sketch book of mine and came across this drawing which i ended up using very loosely as inspiration for the painting:

this was a pen and ink sketch done a year or so ago. As you can see for some strange reason i drew her smack dab in the middle of two pages in my sketch book-thus i have never been able to get a good scan of it. Ah well.


This is a quick process shot i took of it after i had kinda free handed a basic sketch onto my 14"x14" painted canvas. I think i might change up the shape of the wings a bit...or add more detail and flow. We shall see. I still need to build out the rest of her form + poofy skirt. Also thinking about adding some green into the background on the bottom to suggest water at sunset...or grassy hill of some sort.


and here i am workin in the home studio. I call this hairdo my "art bun." I have found that its best to keep the dreads tucked up into a high bun while painting, otherwise my tips end up as paintbrushes rather quickly! And acrylic paint is perhaps the hardest thing to clean out of dreads other then peanut butter :P My headband was handmade by Livley! and yes, i love it.

Today i am leaving work early so that Danny and I can cruise on over to Vancouver, Washington. We are participating in their Craft in the Village, where we will have a table out sellin our art prints, paintings, tie dye and screen prints!
We will also be actively participating in another art space opening at The Space!
Check it out:

I will be the official face and body painter for the event! And there will be an open drum circle and a community canvas free for all. I LOVE IT!
for more info on The Space check them out here.

I wanted to leave off with another body painting photo that i posted a few days ago:

(body painting and photography by Chelsea Rose
Model: Courtney)

Have a super yumtazmic weekend, everyone.

PEACE n LOVE!
-Chelsea Rose

Out with the Old, In with the New- paintings

3 day weekends are such blessings.

On Saturday morning I was very excited to learn that i had sold a painting!

------------SOLD---------------
14"x 18"
Original acrylic painting
by Chelsea Rose

I was contacted by someone who had been passing through Oregon and just so happened to wander into the feminist bookstore InOtherWords where i had a bunch of artwork being featured. While they couldn't buy and take anything home right away because they had a lot of musical equipment to fly home with...they decided to contact me once they were home about purchasing the piece. Thus,today after work i will be shipping this one out. This will be the first time i have shipped a larger painting of mine and I was a little nervous about it but I am happy to learn it isn't going to be a super expensive endeavour.
I am very glad "The Reckoning" has found a good home, although i am going to miss my gaggle of "fish of perceptions" and their weighty stares.

In the afternoon on Saturday Danny and I watched T.Ruth Art space Gallery from 1-6. We both brought art projects to work on. I was finally able to finish a painting i had been neglecting for far too long:


"Endowed"
11"x14"
original acrylic painting
by Chelsea Rose
( the quality on this photo is poor. I will try and replace it with a better one soon)

....and because i love process shots, here are a couple photos i took while creating the painting:

The painting was based on this drawing of mine:

( pen and ink drawing by Chelsea Rose)

i made this drawing while watching an interesting cartoon movie about Wonder Woman's amazonian princess origins. Seeing all the fierce strong warrior women was inspiring. I got to doodling and this daunting creature came out. I think she is some kind of druid, high priestess warrior woman who is "endowed" with an extra set of "windows to the soul." I wonder if they shoot laser beams?! :P


Here you can see how i transferred the drawing onto a red painted canvas. I transferred the pen and ink by projecting my illustration onto the canvas and tracing the outline. I then went in and began to put down the first layers of color.


...more color work being done here.


...and here it is all finished. I was letting the varnish dry at this point.
You can see a lot of changes from this photo and the one above. I added a heavy black vignette around the piece while dropping her arms down and repositioning her hands. I also made the skin more blue/green with darker shadow.

...now i have to decide what i want to paint next. I have a bunch of blank canvas and they are all calling.

On Sunday Danny and I ran around to the local hardware stores working on getting the new apartment more livable. I picked up a bunch of pots and seeds and planted an herb garden on the patio: rosemary, chamomile, thyme, basil, cilantro, serreno chilies + more. I also planted some wild flower mixes and some morning glory vine. I am really hoping i get some sprouts!

Monday involved more home improvement chores...although Danny and I did slip away to hang out with some dear friends we had not seen in a long time.

All in all...it was a pleasant and productive 3 day weekend and i find myself feeling refreshed and ready to face the rest of the week. How was your 3 day weekend/memorial day weekend?

Much love and many blessings,
-Chelsea Rose

Out with the Old, In with the New- paintings

3 day weekends are such blessings.

On Saturday morning I was very excited to learn that i had sold a painting!

------------SOLD---------------
14"x 18"
Original acrylic painting
by Chelsea Rose

I was contacted by someone who had been passing through Oregon and just so happened to wander into the feminist bookstore InOtherWords where i had a bunch of artwork being featured. While they couldn't buy and take anything home right away because they had a lot of musical equipment to fly home with...they decided to contact me once they were home about purchasing the piece. Thus,today after work i will be shipping this one out. This will be the first time i have shipped a larger painting of mine and I was a little nervous about it but I am happy to learn it isn't going to be a super expensive endeavour.
I am very glad "The Reckoning" has found a good home, although i am going to miss my gaggle of "fish of perceptions" and their weighty stares.

In the afternoon on Saturday Danny and I watched T.Ruth Art space Gallery from 1-6. We both brought art projects to work on. I was finally able to finish a painting i had been neglecting for far too long:


"Endowed"
11"x14"
original acrylic painting
by Chelsea Rose
( the quality on this photo is poor. I will try and replace it with a better one soon)

....and because i love process shots, here are a couple photos i took while creating the painting:

The painting was based on this drawing of mine:

( pen and ink drawing by Chelsea Rose)

i made this drawing while watching an interesting cartoon movie about Wonder Woman's amazonian princess origins. Seeing all the fierce strong warrior women was inspiring. I got to doodling and this daunting creature came out. I think she is some kind of druid, high priestess warrior woman who is "endowed" with an extra set of "windows to the soul." I wonder if they shoot laser beams?! :P


Here you can see how i transferred the drawing onto a red painted canvas. I transferred the pen and ink by projecting my illustration onto the canvas and tracing the outline. I then went in and began to put down the first layers of color.


...more color work being done here.


...and here it is all finished. I was letting the varnish dry at this point.
You can see a lot of changes from this photo and the one above. I added a heavy black vignette around the piece while dropping her arms down and repositioning her hands. I also made the skin more blue/green with darker shadow.

...now i have to decide what i want to paint next. I have a bunch of blank canvas and they are all calling.

On Sunday Danny and I ran around to the local hardware stores working on getting the new apartment more livable. I picked up a bunch of pots and seeds and planted an herb garden on the patio: rosemary, chamomile, thyme, basil, cilantro, serreno chilies + more. I also planted some wild flower mixes and some morning glory vine. I am really hoping i get some sprouts!

Monday involved more home improvement chores...although Danny and I did slip away to hang out with some dear friends we had not seen in a long time.

All in all...it was a pleasant and productive 3 day weekend and i find myself feeling refreshed and ready to face the rest of the week. How was your 3 day weekend/memorial day weekend?

Much love and many blessings,
-Chelsea Rose