Price of Freedom - painting in progress

Hi all. Thought I'd share what I'm working on this week. This is my painting "Price of Freedom" in progress. I've been thinking for a long time about doing this painting, but I couldn't quite figure out the imagery. I woke up from a dead sleep the other night with the idea of how to put my thoughts all together - so I started on it immediately.

My thinking as I put it together began with the solider in the bottom right. It all started with him - I've been thinking of him for 2 years now and how to incorporate him into one of my art works. My thoughts are about the "price" being paid for our freedom. This solider, while at war defending freedom for us, is missing important events in his life. He's missing his son being born - he's missing his father or mother's funeral. He might even lose his own life. That's a high price to pay. I think sometimes we take freedom for granted - but in reality, it's very costly for all. I know every time *I* look at this painting when it's done, I'll offer up a thought of gratitude for my freedom, and I hope others will do the same.

Once complete, this painting will be available as 16x20 limited edition, signed/numbered prints from my website JaiArt.Com (which I have totally redesigned again).

I've finally decided the type of imagery I want to stick with in my artworks. Mostly, I want to paint paintings which create a feeling - and preferably a feeling of ROMANCE...something that gives a person that warm, fuzzy feeling, and something anyone would want to place of print of in their home.

I also want to continue to create paintings which deliver a message. The only two paintings being offered as limited edition signed/numbered prints on JaiArt.Com right now are Behind the Brick Wall and Birth Journey, as these deliver a message. The Price of Freedom will also do the same. And then I'll be starting my romantic themed pieces - which will all have scenes ranging from the sweet to the sensual.

Basically I'm tired of painting this, that and the other. And I guess the main reason I have done that is to try to appeal to everyone with the subject matter, in the hopes that I'd sell a lot of different works. Well - that ain't working. :)

I hear all the time "You have so much talent!" "You're such a good artist!" "Oh my God what a cool painting!" And I always appreciate that - but I'm at the point where I'm seriously saying "Show Me the Money." :) I really thought that after my ceiling fan ACEO mini painting on Ebay got 75 hits, as well as had two people watching it - yet it ended with no bids. That was very discouraging - especially since the original art was less than $10 for the opening bid! So I'm shifting my focus to NOT trying to sell my originals, though they will be for sale...but not for $10. I'm not going to try to sell them as much as I'll be marketing my 16x20 prints. The Price of Freedom is already set up for a mass postcard ad mailing to be started immediately upon completion. And I can't think of a household in the USA which wouldn't enjoy having this work in their home or office space!

By painting a variety of works - from animals, to landscapes, to florals, to still life, etc. I have proven one thing to myself...I can paint ANYTHING. And that will come in handy to create these scenes and visions I have in my head. Many will probably be landscapes, with a couple in there somewhere, and possibly there may be some animals and still life and flowers involved as well. I love to paint architectual items, so you probably won't see as many scenes loaded with trees as you will see with stone and columns in my new works.

Anyway, back to the easel. I'm shooting to have this done by weeks end so I can get my postcards ordered.

Jai

My favorite painting I've done...Unique Cat Art

Some of you might remember my painting "Behind the Brick Wall", featuring this delightful blue-eyed kitten. I've just added the art to my store on a variety of products. Pictured to the left is the greeting card.

I have to say, this is still my all-time favorite of all the paintings I've done. Of course, the meaning in this one is deep for me - but the art itself with the kitten coming out from the wall like this...is also very unique and appealing to me.

Hope you like it.

Jai

P.S. I can't believe none of my jewelry buddies told me about Ian St. Gielar passing away....I heard from Jo Ann the other night down in Hollywood and she informed me he died on March 21. So young, and such major talent. How very, very sad. :( I've been in a funk ever since I heard about it. Many of you will remember Ian helped me out a lot learning the seed bead jewelry work I did in the past - he even went so far as to send me some supplies. Sigh. You can read about Ian and see his beautiful jewelry designs here.

Running behind on my painting a day....

Go figure. Every time I get started on a project, things seem to "pop up" and get in the way. Sigh. Due to some "issues" where my husband works, there have once again, been some major changes there. Double Sigh. It's probably because of the WPS up there who decided several months ago she had the hots for my husband, and when he rejected her, she didn't like it. Whatever. I think things will work out better - I know *I* certainly feel as if a weight has been lifted from me, as I was helping him with his work and it was taking a lot of time. As for the WPS, perhaps it's time I showed her husband the nice little "notes" she was texting my husband - I'm sure he'd find it very interesting!

After these changes occured yesterday, I decided all I really needed to do to help the hubby from now on - other than the direct mail marketing which I have done for him for this business and several others for the past 10 years - was to fix up his website. So I did. I've busted my butt over the past 24 hours to get it all done, as well as design his next direct mail postcard. It's interfered in my painting schedule, but at least it's all done and I don't have to think about it anymore!

Here's a link to his newly designed website if you want to take a look: MichaelJohnsonLive.Com

I added all the major brands of vehicles, a way for customers to sign up for his free newsletter, completely re-designed our "family" page, as well as added information about his referral program. The only page I have not completed is the links page to his online partners, but I'll get to that soon.

I'm pretty impressed with the way it turned out - it certainly looks a heck of a lot better than the simple page I had set up before! I also deleted my car woman blog I had going - it wasn't getting many hits anyway, and I didn't have time to keep up with it and still do the things I need to do for my own business.

Anyway, if you live in Jackson, TN and are looking to purchase a new vehicle, visit my husband's site and give him a chance!

I have to go to the stables this afternoon, so I'm not sure if I'll get going on my painting again until tomorrow. I still have 4 up on Ebay for bidding though....so stop in - some are ending soon!

Jai

Love Chocolate Chip Cookies? Love to Cook or bake?

Then you'll find this design simply DELICIOUS! Just added to my shop is my painting "A Little Bit of Chocolate..." (goes a long way) on a variety of apparel and products for the home and personal use. Click here to see everything.

Jai

CEILING FAN Original ACEO Painting A Day just listed! (click here to bid)

My next painting a day is titled "Ceiling Fan". I have two sofas in my living room...one which I rarely lay down on. The other day, I chose to lay down on sofa #2 and I looked up (something I don't do a lot of and since I'm a short person, I usually only see things at eye level or below...LOL!). This is the imagery I saw, so I painted it as the next in my series, Simple Things. You can bid on this original ACEO here - and you can get merchandise with this image in my online store.

Thanks for looking and for supporting a living artist!

Jai

New designs added to the shop!

Ready to Ride, apparel and products featuring a child ready to ride her blue unicorn. Children's apparel is included in this section!


The Golden One, featuring Boomer, a buckskin colt who I painted as a baby pegasus horse.

Ragdoll Cat Portrait - look at those eyes! :)

Another "look at those eyes" moment in Sophistication, featuring a portrait of a charcoal gray long-haired feline with rich golden eyes.

And last but not least - every girl's best friend...."The Ring", featuring my graphite drawing of a princess cut diamond ring.

Thanks for taking a look at my shop and helping to support a living artist!

Jai

Updates from Studio Jai...

I've been spending my morning making some changes. One thing I did was re-price my Ebay auctions. After listing for 99 cents with no reserve and not having a bid for several days on anything, I figure Ebay must be so slow these days, it's just not going to matter how low I price them...if the bidders aren't there, they aren't there. So there won't be the bidding wars like there used to be - bummer! Ebay used to be so much fun. Anyway, I re-priced the auctions to a fair price (but still very low for an original piece of art).

If they don't sell on Ebay, I already have matting and framing options in mind to get them fixed up and take them to the gallery here.

I've also worked this morning on my store - I've redesigned the Silajai logo, and I have decided to upload ALL of my previous works of art to be used on products. In reality, this store is the only place I've made any decent money this year so far - so why not capitalize on that? After all, I need to make a living from my art. Having originals scanned/photographed but just sitting here isn't doing me a bit of good...by putting the art on products, at least I can realize some income from my work.

Today I added three new designs to my store: Ragdoll Cat Portrait, The Ring (a perfect design for wedding/engagement/marriage, as well as for jewelry store promotional items) , and The Golden One (a pegasus horse design). I have about 30+ more traditional designs to add, and then I will also be adding my digital designs from years past.

I think that's all I'll do today on the uploads, as I need to get down in the studio and do today's painting-of-the-day.

This weekend I went to a local dog show and got a ton of great photos of different dog breeds. I already know one of my favorites will be Dr. Phil, a male bulldog who posed wonderfully for me!

I can't wait to do a painting of him! (maybe I should send it to the "real" Dr. Phil? LOL!)

Hope you all have a great day,

Jai

COFFEE SPOON Original ACEO Painting by Jai (click here to bid!)

Here's my next ACEO in my painting a day project. Titled "Coffee Spoon", it reminds me of one of my favorite things - my morning coffee. :) Not just morning coffee though...many years ago, my best friend and I would have coffee every night at her kitchen table after her kids went to bed. We would sip on coffee and talk for hours! Sometimes we went to Corner Express, a convenience store in Henderson, TN that had food and booths...we would sit there sometimes until 3 am drinking coffee and talking. Ah....those were the good ole days!

The memories make me realize coffee is NOT just a drink...having coffee is an EXPERIENCE! :)

This original ACEO is currently on Ebay, and products with this imagery are available via my online store.

Thanks for stopping in and viewing my work!

Jai

"Glass Bluebird", original ACEO painting (click here to bid)

Morning everyone! I've listed the second ACEO original from my Simple Things series on Ebay late last night - only 99 cents with NR - click here to bid!

Someone gave me this little glass bluebird of happiness about 12 years ago. It has had a presence in my studio ever since...gently reminding me to "be happy". Sometimes when in the depth of despair and anguish, it helps to look at this bluebird. I tend to get lost in the blue glass, and that can be a good thing. The deep blue is like the waves of the ocean, and I imagine them carrying me away from troublesome times...leading me to something better. I hope this little painting will do the same for someone else!

Jai

"Pink Pill", a painting a day by Jai (click here - 2 bid now!)

This week I've started back on the painting a day challenge that I proposed to myself quite some time ago, and never quite got going good. Now I've done several, and this is the first (I'll get the rest up this weekend hopefully!).

This painting is titled "Pink Pill" - you can bid on it here if you'd like (ah come on, it's only 99 cents with NR and I have to pay my doctor bills!:)).

Many months ago, someone said they wanted to see more inside the "personal life" of me - the artist. Well, I've chosen to paint some of the things around me in my personal life in my painting a day series, which I have titled "Simple Things". All of my mini paintings are ACEO art trading cards (2 1/2" x 3 1/2") and they come unmatted and unframed. All are originals. However, I do have a category in my store where I am adding merchandise with my Simple Things imagery. Click here to visit.

This particular image came about because - you guessed it - I've been sick. UGH! For two weeks now, I've had to take this antibiotic, which is an extremely colorful, neon pink pill. Note that the letters are ET on the pill - which I'm assuming identifies the medicine - but E.T. also happens to be one of my favorite all-time characters! (how appropriate for me to get this pill! LOL)

My kids laughed at me for painting a picture of one of my pills. Oh well...you've got to have some fun in life! :)

I have some more ACEO originals to get listed, and I'll try to get it done this weekend. The past couple days have been rather hectic - on top of being sick myself, I had to go out of state for a funeral on Wednesday. Guess I should be grateful it wasn't MY funeral...though I've sure felt like it could have been!

Later,

Jai

January in the Birth Maidens Series of Art

Hi all! I've started by Birth Maidens series - this is a series of 12 images, one to represent each month of the year. When complete, there will be a Birth Maidens calendar featuring all images.

Here we have the JANUARY Birth Maiden, for all those Capricorns out there. The maiden is wearing a garnet red gown and is paired with a brilliant Geranium flower. If you're a January girl, you can get your own unique products and apparel with this art featured right here!

The original January Birth Maiden color pencil painting is available from me directly.

Thanks for stopping in to take a look!

Jai

How much fun can a cockatiel have on the beach?

THIS MUCH FUN!

Announcing the release of my art titled "Beach Dancing" on a variety of apparel and fun products - click here to view all the ways you can have and give Beach Dancing as gifts!

~Bird lovers everywhere with appreciate this fun and unique design~

Jai

Announcing my Beautiful Birds Calendar!

I'm VERY excited to announce the release of my calendar titled "Beautiful Birds", now available through my shop here: http://www.cafepress.com/silajai.129011114

Beautiful Birds features all of my original artwork. It's the most fascinating gift for bird lovers, as it has a variety of colorful birds, such as the Parrot/Macaws, Cockatoo, Cockatiel, Plum headed parakeet, and even a beautiful Blue Bird!

Please stop in and take a look - if you have a bird lover in the family, order them one of these fabulous calendars and they will treasure it for many years! http://www.cafepress.com/silajai.129011114

Jai