We interupt this art career for a kitchen remodel!

For those of you who don't already know (although I don't know who that could be!) the Millers have been and still are under construction!

I had heard all the dreaded stories of how such a project can totally consume all your time and energy but foolishly thought our project wouldn't be that bad - I stand corrected! Of all the inconveniences associated with having your house torn apart the one thing that has been the biggest hindrance to my work has been the dust! By mid-October I was forced to pack up all my art supplies and move them to a safer location. We are still without a concrete end date to our project but as construction pauses while we wait for a shipment of crown moldings and the family goes back to school and work, tomorrow looks like a good day for painting!

Happy January!
JoAnne

Art continued...

Hi All,

Well now I've impressed myself! Not with the picture but with the fact that I am actually using the blog on a somewhat regular basis and that I can now effortlessly upload my photos without the help of my dear husband or kids! Technology does get easier!

As promised here is week two of the wedding portrait. I have laid down the first layer of color on most of the flesh and hair. I have begun to work on details in the woman's face and next week will show me closer to done with her.
The background in the original photo is quite dark and I haven't yet decided how dark or what color tone to make the background in the painting - you might see it change a few times!

Check back soon,
JoAnne

Art at last!

Hi All,
When I set up my blog a few months ago keeping you informed on upcoming events and "studio news"
was only part of my intended use for this site. I had always made it a practice to visit the sites of fellow artists for inspiration and noticed that many had blogs. What I found most interesting were the ones that would chronicle the progress of art they were currently working on. Now that I recently have learned how easy it is to import images onto the blog site I have no excuse!

When I am asked to paint a portrait the first step is to help the client decide which photo to use. After that is decided I will take the digital image and use a photo editing program to crop and adjust colors, lighting etc...( the wonders of technology!) When I have what I think is a good image the next step is to sketch it out on the canvas. At that point I can make any final adjustments before paint is applied.

The image to the right is a canvas in sketch form entitled "John and Jessica". It will become a wedding present to the couple when complete. Normally I would not chance ruining a surprise like this but the couple does not know me and the work is close enough to complete that I think I'm safe! Check back for progress on this piece as well as others.

Due to a no-school day I was lucky enough to visit Old Sturbridge Village on Tuesday. It's one of my favorite places to take pictures and I hope to do a second series of paintings from that trip if my photos are good.

Have a great day,
JoAnne

I feel a little silly!

Having had teenagers for some time I am fully aware of websites like "my space" and "Facebook." Websites designed for the young people to connect! However in the past few weeks I have met more adults (people closer to my age!) with facebook accounts. Some have sent me links to their accounts and for those of you who know how this works I therefore needed my own account. So with Brad's help (poor Brett has done enough!) now there is a fourth place to find me on the internet!
I must admit it feels a little silly to have a facebook account, but with websites like classmates, linked- in and I'm sure dozens of similar ones people seem to be networking in a whole new way!
Classmates enabled me to chat with an old friend recently after almost ten years from the last time we spoke! It was great to catch up and has given me the inspiration to "seek out" others I have lost touch with over the last decade!

From a professional perspective we monitor my websites traffic from occasionally and have noticed that my web traffic has increased this month. It' all very exciting to me and I hope this new venue (Facebook) will help me stay connected with my friends, family and customers as well as possibly reconnect with old friends from long ago!
Sincerely, (or TTYL!)
JoAnne

Dear Friends,

It has recently been brought to my attention that I have become quite delinquent on not only updating my studio's website but I have yet to post a second blog entry since March!

I had on occasion sat down to post entries on my blog but my lacked the computer skills and mostly patience with electronics that it takes to get those things done! (not to mention constantly having to ask Brett for my password!)

However,I realize we live in a computer age and I must be able to do certain things to move my business forward so ......

Welcome to my 2nd online post! (more to come I promise!)

Since the March posting I have been very busy on a series of portraits. I expect to have the portrait images on my website very soon. I have enjoyed exploring this new subject matter and have a few more that I will be working on this fall. (this little boy was commissioned in April as a gift to his parents.)

Our family also enjoyed a trip out west this July that may or may not produce some Colorado paintings in the future!

I'm hoping to get a newsletter out this fall to keep people posted on "studio news" and plan to add a few new sections to the website as well.

Thank you for your patience and support,
JoAnne

my first post

Hi! My name is JoAnne Miller, owner of JoAnne Miller Studios. I'm excited to be starting this blog to journal the artistic process through which my artwork is created. I hope you find this blog interesting and informative.

Thanks for reading, and check back soon for more entries!

JoAnne
www.joannemillerstudios.com