New Clothing Line!
I now have my own clothing line! (thanks to Jacquie Hawk who directed me to this wonderful site) I always thought my alcohol ink paintings would make great designs for clothes and now I have found a place called Vida Voices that will accommodate my thinking!! You can purchase my designs in scarves, sleeveless tops, and silk tees here.
http://shopvida.com/collections/voices/alene-sirott-cope
VIDA is a global partnership of creators, pairing designers from around the world with makers in Pakistan in accordance with high ethical standards, to create original, beautiful products. And the best part is that using part of proceeds from the sales of the products, VIDA creates literacy programs for the makers, so that they have opportunities to learn reading, writing and basic math that they would not otherwise have.
Please pass this link around to friends and family.
I, of course, want to purchase one of each!! I have a 2 week window in which to sell 3 items. If you like color, you will not be disappointed!!
Use the code VIDAVOICES for 20% off.
Caribbean Rooster
So I go away on vacation and for the first time in 20 years on this Caribbean island, it rains for 2 weeks. Cloudy, cool, windy, rainy. Lovely. So I am so glad I brought 3 little bottles of alcohol inks with me and a few alcohol ink markers and had fun anyway discovering what I could do with such limited tools. I used original photos we took while there. These roosters and chickens are all over the island, running wild. There are chicks and moms crossing the roads everywhere so you have to be careful, plus, you drive on the left. Quite challenging! BUT, it was certainly a lot warmer than here!
I will be uploading more work soon to my galleries.
Please leave a comment as it would be nice to see if anyone reads this blog! 🙂
At the Beach
With all of the snow we are having, painting beach scenes while watching the snow falling heavily outside my studio window, makes me long for the beach. Any warm beach with palm trees will do. Although the tile painting was relaxing, easy, and a whole lot of fun, harnessing my obsession of the medium has been very rewarding for me. I am so excited to be able to hold workshops and teach this medium to others who are unfamiliar with it’s properties. I never thought I could produce a lovely painting, as this is definitely not my forte. Because this medium nearly paints itself, the outcome is always interesting, if not simply beautiful. Learning how to work with it through limited instruction (as it is so new to the fine arts genre, there are few books out there) was there best investment I could have made!!
Online Art
I have never taken an online course of any kind but I very much wanted to learn everything I could about alcohol inks. So, when offered a Christmas discount, I purchased three online courses from an instructor Karen Walker, who teaches a series of these classes on “Chalkboard”. I chose Animals, At the Beach, and took a beginners course to learn the techniques. It opened up a whole new world for me. It challenged me to try painting scenes and objects that I was afraid to attempt before. When I look at all of the paintings I produced, it’s hard to believe that I actually was somewhat successful! I adore the spontaneity of the medium, and now I know a bit more how to control them. Best money spent ever! Next course, landscapes!
Black Horse
This painting was a challenge for me but I needed to see if I could handle it. Using the lessons learned from one of the only famed alcohol artists I could find online, I used her process, not believing it could ever work. At first, I disliked the fact that covering a large area the first time with tihs medium was almost impossible. After I learned to accept what came forth, and after I completed it as far as I could take it, I loved the effect that I had originally thought was a disadvantage. I am so happy that this medium has opened up a new art direction for me. I love it!!!