Vector Feature and recent paintings

Its been an exciting spring.

I am the Featured artist for this month's publication of The Vancouver Vector!

Read the interview here.

I love the Vancouver arts community and humbly thank them for their support and presence.

And I have been so inspired as of late that I have taken to painting anything within reach including mini canvas, wood blocks, broken skateboard decks and even card board. I have begun listing these treasures for sale in my etsy shop, so check them out here!

A chaotic view of my art space.

Been really going a lil nuts on the skateboards latley.

This acrylic painting was done on a 3.5"x9" wood block

Acrylic painting on a 7"x12" piece of corrugated cardboard.

Another painting on cardboard I did in blue acrylic and ink.
The art print next to it is a collaboration between two other awesome pacific northwest painters: Sarah Hoyt and Davey Cadaver !


I am also revving up my gears to get a few Earth Goddess body art paintings/photoshoots done for spring so will be updating on that shortly!

Best wishes,
-Chelsea Rose

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New Painting, Work In Progress Video, Pop Up show and more!

Hello folks,

I finished the painting I have been working on:

"Entwined"

10" x 30" Original acrylic painting on canvas

by Chelsea Rose

And as promised, I have the time lapse recording of the creative process ready for you're viewing pleasure.
Check it out!

Kinda crazy, no?
The painting took me about 7 hours to complete over a string of 45 minute sessions. Good times.

I finished it just a few days before a pop up art show Danny Ebru and I did in Vancouver last night:

I was stoked to get to bring a bunch of my new work out of the art cave for a night.


This short but sweet event was held inside NorthWestShirts. The most dreamy of music lit up the night and was preformed by Quetzal. It all felt wonderful, so I am most thankful.

In other news, here is a look at the month so far via instagram:

Closeup photo of the purple creature from "Entwined."
 Yay for sparkles and freckles. Or perhaps even spreckles?

I painted a pair of TOMS for my lil cousin. It was fun and I enjoyed the way they came out so I am now offering to do custom paint jobs for folks who are interested. Art for your feet!  Check out my  online listing here.

Random lil snipp-its of our art infested home.

Dreads are getting longish!

...lots more photos to be seen here

So yup, thats it for now. I will be doing a bit of regrouping as I get my next painting concept all polished up. I also have plans for more 'Earth Goddess" body art photo shoots in the very near future.

Best wishes!
-Chelsea Rose

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Culture Control show + new painting in the works

This weekend was most enjoyable and fairly productive.

On Saturday we checked out the Culture Control art/music fest at Paper Tiger and NW Shirts:

Can you spot my two square paintings in the midst? As always Olin did not disappoint- the art and the music was a true treat and i am honored to be a part of the show. It will all be up for a month. for more info go here. for more photos go here.

I also managed to start a new painting:


...I outlined her on Saturday and got the beginnings of the first layers of color on. I am thinking about putting in some purple next, we shall see.

Also managed to get a lot of the design/layout prep done for the body art book i am self publishing. Time keeps flying by and i have to have them ready and printed for December so it feels good to be getting somewhere with the project. I think we are ahead with the project which is very nice.

More updates soon!
Best wishes,
-Chelsea Rose
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Vancouver Art in the Heart, mermaid painting in progress + more Wise Woman body painting photos

Had a wonderful weekend of art vending localized in Vancouver Washington- Oregon's close but often neglected neighbor who has quickly grown into a hub of the arts.
On Friday Danny and I drove over the bridge to Vancouver for "Craft in the Village" which happens each first Friday of the month.
Then on Saturday we made the drive over the bridge again and set up for "Art in the Heart" right outside of the Guerrilla Gallery where i am currently having 7 of my paintings on display:

My paintings will be up for viewing during this month of August.
Come check it out in person at Guerrilla Gallery -1001 Main St. (Upstairs)Vancouver, WA 98660

It was my first time participating in the "Art in the Heart" festival but i had great fun rockin to the live music and chatting with the local artists.

And here is a quick snapshot of our set up:

It was an overcast day that managed to still be rather hot so i was again super happy to have my sunhat with me( this thing, as obviously huge as it is has saved me so many times this summer!)

I also made use of my time by working on my mermaid painting:

I like this shot of Danny's because you can see a slice of Vancouver in it. I love it's super old red brick buildings and calm small town vibe. I wish i could move to Vancouver and rent out one of these wonderfully huge live/work studio spaces in these surrounding old warehouse redbrick buildings. Vancouver's cost of living is significantly better then Oregon however i have been told its almost impossible to find a job. Ah well...a girl can dream.

I got a lot of work done on my mermaid while i was there. I added side fins, as seen in this photo but later on in the day i also added a lot more on her upper/hip fin area. I will take some more "work in progress photos" soon to share. I plan on putting a brigade of bubbles in the distance to hopefully hint at some depth. It is always a lot of fun to do "live painting" at these art events- it always creates a lot of interest. I love the exchange of conversation to be had over a work in progress piece. I had a very young lil lady come over and ask me if i had named the mermaid yet. I had not yet named her so i asked what she would name her. She said "I would name her Amber after the beautiful colors of her scales!"

So yes, "Art in the Heart" was a wonderful experience.

Sunday I reserved for some much needed "home body" time. I did some patio gardening, some much needed TLC in the art room- straightened everything up so that i can work in it again! The summer wreaks havoc on the art room because it gets torn apart every time we have an art fair to attend. Also managed to take a trip downtown to the "Saturday market" to say bye bye to an amazing artist and friend Anna Tadaro. She is moving to Chicago and will be missed by many!

Also, i wanted to share two more photos i posted recently from my body painting/photography session with Suzanne Owens-Duval:

(body painting and photography by Chelsea Rose
Model: Suzanne Owens-Duval)
I just love how strong and confident this pose is!


(body painting and photography by Chelsea Rose
Model: Suzanne Owens-Duval)
....and this one thrills me with how happy and comfortable she is in her skin- loving herself for who and what she is, loving and living life to the fullest!

A dear friend of mine recently suggested i pick up the book "Women Who Run With The Wolves” by Clarissa Pinkola Estes, PH.D and i have found it to be extremely inspiring and perfect fuel for the creative fires for the women's study body painting project that i have been working on.

I found this quote from the book to go perfectly with the two photos of mine above:

“A healthy woman is much like a wolf: robust, chock-full, strong life force, life giving, territorially aware, inventive, loyal, roving. Yet separation from the wildish nature causes a woman’s personality to become meager, thin, ghostly, spectral. We are not meant to be puny with frail hair and inability to leap up, inability to chase, to birth, to create life. When Women’s lives are in stasis, ennui, it is always time for the wildish woman to emerge; it is time for the creating function of the psyche to flood the delta.”
- Clarissa Pinkola Estes.

Truth be told!

....more updates soon.
Best wishes,
-Chelsea Rose
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Many Armed Goddess Body Painting and Ebru Marbling demo

Its July and its Friday, already- time is such a shifty slippery thing.

Check out this photo manipulation that danny made from my most recent body painting photos:

(Body painting and photography by Chelsea Rose
Model: Deonte
digital editing and manipulation by Danny )
Danny also just recently finished designing and coding a website dedicated to offering our photographer portrait services. check out Lucid Portraiture to see a good portfolio of our various portraits, styles and price ranges.

Last night was very fun. We hosted an artist demo inside T.Ruth Artspace galleryand it was a major success thanks to the amazing and wonderfully talented artist: Reza Antoszewska-she specializes in a fascinating Turkish paper marbling technique called Ebru- a monoprint technique using a thickened medium on which the artist places the paints by various methods, then works the colors in the medium with stylus, combs, and other methods to develop the designs. The print is then carefully transferred to the treated paper or fabric to capture the design.
Her Demo was amazing and everyone who was there got to make their own first Ebru artpeice:

You can see the demo set up in the first photo while the second photo shows Danny holding up his successful Ebru piece while Reza proudly smiles in approval. See his finished Ebru here.
She is standing infront of the wall where she has a spectacular body of her Ebru work up. Now that i have seen the process she is undertaking to create her art it truly is fascinating looking at the work and realizing how much control and skill she harnesses over this process. Reza's artwork will be up and on display till September so there is plenty of time to come visit the gallery and see the work in person. If you are not in the Oregon area feel free to click here to see some of her work.

In other news i am leaving work a bit early today so that we can drive on over to Vancouver Washington and set up a booth to sell our artwork at "the craft in the village" which happens every first Friday of the month. So i will have a full report with photos on how that goes.

Also- on July 4th i will be doing another body painting live inside t.ruth artspace gallery( and NO! i will not be painting her in stars and stripes*gag reflex.*) This will be my first "elderly" woman to enter into the project and i am super thrilled about it! Feel free to come on over and hang out, drink some tea and watch as the art project unrolls.

So yes....expect a photo heavy blogpost for Monday.

I do hope everyone enjoys their 3day weekend while managing to not burn anyone’s home down or explode away any limbs.
Much love!
-Chelsea Rose
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Craft in the Village, painting in progress and Fuchsia blooms

I had a wondrous time at Craft in the Village in Vancouver WA for the first Friday of June . It was our first time vending at the occasion, even though we have been to hang and play before.
The weather report predicted rain for Friday so we ended up downsizing our tent set up to a single table under an awning. It worked out just right in the end, and we did wonderfully.


( photo compliments of friend and photographer Anni Becker )

I sold a good many 5" x 7" prints + got a commission for an 8" x 10" pen and ink over acrylic painted canvas of my Love Thy Self mermaid drawing.

Danny sold a bunch of his stenciled records and some of his screen prints as well.

But the fun started when i met an amazing artist: Cori Bethune. She was a beautiful voluptuous black woman with multicolor dreads selling colored pencil portraits she was making of empowered ethnic women. She also just so happens to be a reggae singer. You can check out her music via myspace here. Of course, i asked her to be a part of my body painting project and she was instantly very much positive and excited about lending her energy to the project. Now all we have to do is nail down a date for the body painting/photo session. I cant wait! This will be my third white paint on dark skin body painting.

The remainder of the day was charmed.
The Space artist collective was bustling with activity:

( photo compliments of friend and photographer Anni Becker )

They had a live poetry reading, which i volunteered to read a poem of mine that i just so happened to have in my purse. Then there was a wondrous open drum circle, live music by The Shivas and Sea of Oaks ( both local bands to Vancouver WA ). To see photos of the amazing happening check out Anni Becker's flickr account here.
I LOVE VANCOUVER and her collection of wondrous souls!
...enough said :)

Saturday was beautiful too. Danny And I hung out inside T.Ruth artspace gallery greeting folks who came in to have a look at the art. I brought the painting that i started a week or so ago to work on and i got a LOT done on it:

( 14" x 14" acrylic painting-unfinished)
Here is what i have thus far. Got the first layers of color pretty much mapped out. Couple more layers of color and highlight would do. Plus im still undecided as to what to do with her hands. I don’t like the orb idea so much as i thought i would. maybe she could be holding a flower? or a purse? or a dagger? Or perhaps the orb just needs to turn into an eyeball? or have an eyeball inside of it? I will have to do more tinkering...then we shall see.

Sunday was a lazy day spent sleeping in and listening to the rain pound the roof. I had some great moments out on the patio enjoying cups of tea and watching humming birds wizz past to enjoy the Fuchsia bloom nectar:

Danny snapped this photo as i enjoyed being surrounding by the blooms on the patio. Fuchsia plants are so enchanting...something about them really sets my imagination off. I finally found a good place to hang my Faery wall art that my cousin holly bought for me years ago. I think she is happy hanging out by all the blooms. A few weeks ago i planted a bunch of seeds in pots on my patio. The first things to sprout were the various sorts of wild flower mixes, next was the morning glories flowers and third was the Thyme. We are still waiting for the rosemary, basil, Serrano chilies and chamomile to sprout. *crossin fingers*

Thats about all the news i can muster. Im excited to see what this new week has in store.
Much love and many blessings,
-Chelsea Rose
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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
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The Space art collective grand opening and weekend progress

So!
Danny and I had a tun of fun on Friday.
We drove over to Vancouver Washington for the First Friday art shenanigans that included The Space art collectives grand opening night!
It was a total swoon. i am in love!
There was drumming, poetry reading, live community painting, local music, face painting and more!
Here is a peek into the drum circles:

( photos and compilation by the dear Anni Becker )
The beats were strong and full of wonderful intent!
It lasted for a good while before coming to a close so that we could enjoy more local musics.

and then came the live community canvas painting:

( more wonderful photos by friend and photographer Anni Becker)
Here you can see Danny jumping into the community canvas at full throttle- painting Ganesha!

This was the end result of the live community canvas free for all painting:

( another photo by Anni!)
a wondrous, spontaneous community creation.
As Danny helped paint the community piece i was busy giving and receiving face paintings!!


( photo by Danny)
And thus the face painting madness began. Here i am painting Kelly Keigwin(a dear heart and amazing artist) ....and not for the first time either. i have a feeling this will become a well cherished ritual at such art collective opening nights and i look forward to many more!


( photo by Kelly Keigwin)
here i am painting Colleen! Another main member and creator at The Space art collective, whom i truly enjoy interacting and trading creative energy with!


( photo by Kelly Keigwin)
and here i am painting Anni's face...which she then turned around and painted my own- imagine my delight!


(photo by Kelly Keigwin)

and so here we were:

(photo by Danny)
...i dare say a wondrous time was had by all!
On our way home Danny and I stopped by the Guerilla Gallery to enjoy some late night musical musing from more local artists.
I went home with a big goofy Cheshire grin on my face.

The rest of the weekend seemed to pass in a blurr. On Saturday Danny and I drove all around town hunting for treasure at estate and garage sales. Since we will be moving soon we are lookin for some new area rugs and furniture. We found a super groovy lavender shag carpet that was huge along with a few other awesomely wonderful area rugs, end table, book shelf and much more. We filled up our car's hatch back and decided to call it quits for the day.
Sunday we enjoyed the morning, danny made soyrizo breakfast tacos. We then took a nice long walk around the neighborhood( trying to make sure we do get some regular exercise)....the weather was perfect. The sun was up but not glaring and the breeze was choice and comfortable. By the end of the day however, the sky turned grey again so we headed in doors and got a lot of packing done( it finally does feel like we are moving!)
So that wraps up the weekend bizz. i didnt get much of any work in on any of my art projects- in fact most of my art supply is already packed and ready to be relocated. So we shall see when i get to finished my current work in progress, perhaps it will be sometime we move and the dust has a chance to settle.

Hope all is well with everyone and that the weekend was sweet.
best wishes for this new week.

Many blessings,
-Chelsea Rose
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New artwork and work in progress

Its Friday. We made it.
Unfortunately the Last Thursday art walk on Alberta st was rained out so we didn't get to partake in those festivities. Its been rained out two months in a row! I do so hope next month will be favorable. I miss the community, the art, the exchange and the madness of the Alberta art walks. I normally love rain so I know the rain dance....just not the rain go away dance. Ah well, the art walk will manifest when the time is right!

In the meantime i am releasing some of my new creations:


Green Pixie
9"x12"
pen and ink drawing over acrylic painted canvas.
by Chelsea Rose
Gloss varnished and ready to hang as is.
Going for $45.
...and she is ready to go to a good home. check out her sale listing here


Blue Wind Spirit
9"x12"
pen and ink drawing over acrylic painted canvas.
by Chelsea Rose
Gloss varnished and ready to hang as is
Going for $45
check out the sale listing here.


Pink Pixie
9"x12"
pen and ink drawing over acrylic painted canvas.
by Chelsea Rose
Gloss varnished and ready to hang as is.
only $45
listed for sale here

....I love making these! I have a bunch of canvas and Masonite boards that i have begun to paint base colors on so that i can create some more of these ink drawings over acrylic.
I have a bunch of others listed for sale in the original artwork section of my etsy shop...so take a peak!
Also, If you have a certain pen and ink drawing of mine that you wish to have revisited in this manner please feel free to ask for a custom order! You are welcome to indicate what color background you would like said drawing to be done on.

I also wanted to share the bit of progress i made on the painting i am currently working on:

this is a 11"x14" painting that i started last weekend. She is based of off this drawing of mine that i made while watching a neat 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
A friend came over last night and when i asked if this particular creature was menacing he said simply " she looks like a business woman of sorts"...i thought that was a fun response.
I still need to do work to her. i feel the painting is missing something- i need to do something with the background perhaps. Maybe a city skyline or a simple dark oval vignette would do. not sure. I also need to flesh out and work on the hands....and add more layers of color and shine to her. She does have a good bit more color then is present in this photo...i think the lighting washed her out a bit.

After work today Danny is picking me up and whisking me away to Vancouver Washington for a great time to be had at Guerrilla Media's newest gallery/venue. It will be a music and art night featuring some local folk bands and "graf" inspired art.
the invitation reads as follows:

Time: April 30, 2010 from 8pm to 11:45pm
Location: Guerrilla Gallery
Organized By: Olin

Guerrilla Folk
Music by: Aram Arslanian, The Shivas
Abstract, neo-contemporary and graf-inspired art by: voidc, drop, ecru and atoms.
Come out and plan the destruction of the status quo with fellow conspirators.
Friday, April 30rd
8pm-midnite
Drinks w/ ID
Guerrilla Gallery
1001 Main St. (Upstairs)
Vancouver, WA 98660
Guerilla-Media.com
contact@guerrilla-media.com

......sounds yummy, no?

I hope everyone has a splendid weekend.

Much love and many blessings,
-Chelsea Rose
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