Upcoming Exhibition: HalloWhimsical Women at the Witter Gallery

For the month of October 2022, four fantastic female artists will fill the Witter Gallery in Storm Lake, IA, with a selection of their artwork. The reception will be held at the gallery at 5:00pm on Saturday, October 8th, and I'm extra excited because I'm able to give a little sneak peek here today!

First up, I'd like to introduce you to Melanie Cable, also known as Ms. Chevious! She lives in Canby, MN, and I have known and followed her artwork on social media for over ten years now. She creates her artwork with more mediums than I can list - whatever she needs for a piece, she's going to figure it out and make it happen!

That's one leak that doesn't need fixing!

This is the main centerpiece for a new series of paintings she calls "Creativity Leak." There will be seven paintings in total, with each one reflecting a different aspect of herself. Painted in acrylic on stretched canvas, she added a variety of accents and coated each one with resin. You can find more of her art and upcoming events on her Facebook page.

Next up is Rachael Sitzman, of PrettyDoll.Art! She lives in Linn Grove, IA, and is another fantastic mixed media artist. She paints, sculpts, draws, collages, and more! I have a number of her pieces in my home, including a pair of earrings and a portrait she painted from one of my wedding pictures.

Is anybody else hungry?

Sitzman’s recent mixed media artworks have been utilizing tessellations (a pattern created out of shapes that fit together without gaps) for her backgrounds – for this one, it started with an adorable little cow getting abducted by a spaceship. Then as she continued working on it, it turned into a 50’s style diner with a space alien twist! Her official page can be found at Facebook.com/PrettyDoll.Art.

I'm honored to introduce the third artist, Cindy Barahona-Roth! I first met her through the Witter Gallery, as she has been the Director there for years. She also lives and teaches in Storm Lake, IA. I have only recently been introduced to her artwork, but I am crazy about it!

Who would’ve guessed that green and purple would go so well together!

She studied make up in Hollywood, and brings that experience and knowledge into her artwork. It’s obvious with the level of detail she has added here! For many of her pieces, she uses “found” art and paints on top of it to create new art! I particularly love the color scheme in this one, as well as the juxtaposition of the precise painting of the woman with the drippy, watery background.

The fourth artist is myself, and I’m honored to be sharing the gallery with these amazing ladies! If you didn’t know already, my name is Haley McAndrews and I live in Denison, IA. I am an illustrator and I create my art with acrylics, watercolor, pen and ink, and a variety of other mixed media.

Brrr, so chilly!

I’ll have 12 pieces on display at the gallery total, all created within the last two years. They range from cities to toasters, trees, and other characters. This one is called “Winter in April” and I painted it first in watercolor on paper, then I used acrylics on top. It was inspired by the cozy feeling I get when I wear my winter coat, which has a massive furry hood on it. You can follow me on Facebook at Red Stone Art Studio.

Our exhibition will be during the month of October, and we will have our reception at 5:00pm on Saturday, October 8th at the Witter Gallery. The Gallery is located inside the Storm Lake Library building, at 609 Cayuga St, in Storm Lake IA.

I look forward to seeing you there! 😊

30 Drawings in 30 Days! Part 3

We are in the home stretch now, with only ten days left in my 30 Drawings in 30 Days challenge! Here is the link to the first post, with days 1-10 and a link to the second post with days 11-20!

21. Your dominant hand, drawn with your non-dominant hand (drawn in pencil) I've said before, I picked the prompts because I knew they would actually challenge me! If I wanted to make it easy on myself, I would have picked 30 prompts like "draw a comic of a woman doing xyz..." This particular prompt wasn't just a challenge, but a physical challenge as well! I have to admit though, I'm impressed with the result!

Not too shabby!

22. Draw a lamp (possibly your favorite?) (drawn with pencil) Like Steve Carell, I too love lamp! And while I didn't pick my favorite lamp to draw, this one is my second favorite! 

Nothing snarky to report, it's just a great lamp!

23. A tree or other outdoor plant (drawn with pencil, inked with pens) Last year I planted over a dozen lilies around the base of one of our trees, and they came up beautifully this year! So I picked one of them to draw, with two flowers on top. The drawing is in black and white, but the flowers themselves were pink, with dark maroon freckles.

#Lilies have been trending in my drawings lately.

24. A still life of fruit (drawn in pencil) I had to Google it to be sure, but an avocado isn't a vegetable - it is actually a fruit! I even used cross-hatching (the technique from an earlier day in the challenge) and am really pleased with the final drawing!

Avocados are surprisingly fun to draw!

25. A single shoe (drawn with pencil) I chose my daughter's dress-up princess shoe for a subject this time - while my shoes may have more character from use, hers are hands down a lot cuter! ;) 

You just can't go wrong with faux diamond studded shoes.

26. Draw the building you live in (drawn with pencil, inked with a brush pen) I love, love, love house portraits! Seriously, check out #houseportrait on Instagram sometime. It's wonderful. So here it is, chateau McAndrews! I opted for a brush pen and quick strokes for a more impressionistic drawing. I wasn't worried about getting the angles perfect; the feeling of "home" was more important.  

My homie.

27. A superhero of your own design (drawn with pencil) My first thought was to design a new Spider-Man, but I had a lot more fun with this one! Introducing Princess Politically Correct, with superpowers of empathy and understanding, multiculturally colored bandages for boo-boos, and reasonably sized heels! 

She's not here to save the day, she's here to make sure everyone is included!

28. A non-domesticated animal (drawn with pencil) We were so excited when the Henry Doorley Zoo in Omaha had two baby elephants born around the same time, so why not draw one of them for this challenge? Fun fact: elephants are the only animals with four knees.

That baby weighs more than my husband!

29. A self-portrait but dressed up (drawn with pencil) This prompt is the opposite of the prompt for Day 2 (a self-portrait in pajamas.) I was originally planning to draw DC in a long, sparkly evening gown, but instead I chose a work uniform for her - because I had recently been hired at a bank (after 5 years of being a stay-at-home-mom) and I was so excited I just had to draw it!

Anybody got any good accounting jokes? Leave them in the comments below!

30. Something anime style (drawn with pencil, inked with pen) We made it, number 30! I know this one isn't for everyone, but I started drawing anime-style characters back in high school and I will love anime until the day I die. Drawing this, I thought about my teenage self who wished for nothing more than to draw like this back then. Patience, my younger self, because practice makes perfect and you'll get there!

She's walking her dog!

We made it to the finish line! Again, here is a link to days 1-10, and here is the post with days 11-20.

I'm not sure I really learned anything (except that avocados are fruit) but the practice and the process was a lot of fun. The most unexpected result was that my Facebook page blew up! Well, blew up for little ol' me, at least. I ended up with over 25 more followers/likes. The most popular drawing, by a landslide, was my terrible portrait of Jessica Alba... it had over 1,500 clicks and 22,600+ organic views. 😂 Not my finished paintings or drawings I put hours of effort into, oh no, I go viral for a bad portrait!

Would I do this challenge again? Absolutely! Every single year? Maaaaaybe not. I think one challenge a year is enough for me, and in 2023 I'm thinking about jumping back on the Acrylic April bandwagon. The next 30 Drawings in 30 Days challenge will have to wait until 2024 or beyond. Who knows, maybe I'll do a 30 Portraits in 30 Days challenge and really blow up the internet.

Artist Interview - Laura Comito, Artworks Studio

One of my favorite feelings in life is the one you get when you realize you have met “one of your people.” It’s an excitement, an embodiment of time flying while you have fun, and a feeling of kindred spirits. The last time I met one of my people, her mom high-fived me.

It’s one of my happy places!

The first time I stopped by Artworks Studio, in Carroll, Iowa, I was expecting it to be a wine-and-paint shop. It is so much more, with such a variety of both art and supplies, and a drool-worthy workshop area in the back full of tables and stools with walls of shelves and drawers filled with creative treasures beyond belief. I spoke for a while with Cecelia Comito (Laura’s sister) and she said, “Laura needs to meet you.” She knew I was one of their people, and I was beginning to realize they were my people. Now, every time I tell my husband I’m stopping by Artworks, he knows he won’t see me for hours. I really do try to keep it short; I just get lost in talking about anything and everything with them!

Classic Comito: A Frida shirt and a Wonderland themed assemblage!

Laura Comito is a multi-talented artist. Similar to myself, I don’t think she’s able to settle on just one medium to use for the rest of her life. Her favorite medium to use, however, is jewelry. She enjoys blending colors and textures into wearable art. She also creates mixed media and collage art of a variety of subjects.

She creates her jewelry under the name “Terra Bella Jewelry.”

Comito is currently working on a mixed media collage with tiled mosaic of Frida Kahlo (you can tell when you walk into Artworks Studio that Comito is a huge Frida fan, that flowery unibrow is all over the place!) Her next project is the set design for Water Rocks! The Musical.

Art in progress!

Comito teaches classes on the subjects of mixed media art journaling, assemblage, mosaic, and stained glass. When I asked her what her favorite tool for creating art is, she replied, “Holy cow! You mean I have to just pick one? For my 2-D mixed media work it would have to be a Pitt Pen.” (I use Faber Castell Pitt Pens for my drawings, too!)

A work-in-progress shot

“Procrastination and having too many ideas in my head sometimes keeps me from producing,” she admitted. Her advice to artists starting out? “Just do it. Every single day. Not everything you create will be a masterpiece but all those few minutes here, a half hour there, all add up in the long run. Art is just like anything else in life, it takes constant practice.” And she’s right! I believe that artists are their own worst critics, and we scrutinize our own art worst of all. It’s alright if not everything you create is award-winning or sells as soon as you finish it (or before, wouldn’t that be a great problem to have!) We are all working to improve our craft.

“If anyone tells you that you can’t – prove them wrong.”

To see Comito’s artwork and meet her in person, stop by Artworks Studio in Carroll, IA, or you can visit the website 24/7 at www.artworksstudio.art. You can also find her on social media on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest.