Since raising kids, a part time job, making art every day, and running the household isn’t enough on my plate, I decided to go back to school!  I am now a graduate student in Art Education at The University of Kansas!  It is exciting and exhausting at the same time.  I still can’t believe I’m doing it at 38 years old, but you’re never to old to learn.  Although, as I’m taking night classes, I do think that sometimes it might be too late at night to learn.  Its a challenge!  One of my current classes is the “Intro to metals and Jewelry” studio .  Our first project was to make something based on a toy.  It had to have a moving element, rivets, and piercing.  I based mine on a pinwheel and made it into a bracelet.  The pinwheels spin, and each of those little stars took an hour to saw.  I didn’t even calculate how long they took to sand and finish!  This process really makes me appreciate the speed of painting.

Back on the home front, we are still finishing the garage, where my art studio will be.  We hope to be done next month.  I’ve been working out there when I can, but mostly still paint in the house.  This week I started 4 new paintings for my show next month at the Bourgeois Pig.  I will be in the Final Fridays show on March 27, and my work will be up during the month of April.  The Bourgeois Pig is a small space.  I might have 10 pieces in the show.  More on that later.  For now, here is a shot of my handsome husband working in the soon-to-be art studio.

“Another Delicious Year” Acrylic on Canvas $125

It is finally coming together!!!!  It has been a manic last couple of weeks, painting, framing, and cleaning, but i’m feeling pretty ready for this weekend’s Artwalk.  If you haven’t experienced it before, you should definately check out Artwalk.  It is a fun weekend in Lawrence, KS where artists open their studios to the general public.  Art lovers travel around town observing, experiencing, and hopefully even buying art!  A map of this year’s artists is here.  (I’m the J on the map).  My hours are Saturday the 25th, 10am-5pm, with a public reception 6-10pm.  Last night, I updated the For Sale section of this website.  If you want a sneak peek at what will be on display Saturday, check it out!  But mostly, I hope to see you all at Artwalk 2014!

Two days until the Annual Fish Fry for the Friends of the Kaw and I am nearly ready!  Today I figured out which pieces to hang in the show.  There are 13 total.  We’ll see if they all fit.  I am so happy I finished the Sunflower painting just in time!  It is called “Toward the Sun” and will be the largest piece in the show.  My husband framed it last night.  This is actually a record for us having everything framed and ready to be hung two days in advance!  Yea team!  Here is a photo of Marcos hard at work in the frame shop.  Such a good assistant!

After lots of staring and thinking and imagining what will go where (such and exhausting job!), I got to work on some new business cards.  I have a stamp with all my info, so its super fast to make my own cards.  Plus each one is different, which is way more fun than passing out the same old card everywhere I go.  I made this batch on thin pieces of wood.  I stamped one side and painted the backs.  Come to the Fish fry to get your own handmade original Emily Markoulatos business card!  Hope to see you there!

I was asked to be one of the artists at the Annual Catfish fry again this year.  This fundraiser benefits the Friends of the Kaw, and is hosted by Abe and Jakes landing.  Last year’s event was a super fun evening, so of course I jumped at the opportunity.  My recent paintings are much more abstract than the wood burned landscapes I was painting at this time last year.  I’m a little concerned about that, just because it seems like this event attracts the landscape crowd.  Not that there’s anything wrong with that!  I too love a good Kansas landscape!  But I am itching to show my recent works.  Most likely, the show will be a blend of my stuff and we’ll just see what happens.  Here are some of the pieces I finished this week, that may or may not make the final cut for the Fish Fry show.  The event is Thursday, September 25th. 

Christmas break is over.  And by Christmas break, I mean the time where I stop making art work and concentrate on making presents for people.  That starts in October, and usually ends in January after I make something for myself.  Well, tomorrow is Fat Tuesday, Mardis Gras, as they say en France, and I finally have started making art works again!  What a long hiatus it was this year.  In my defense, it wasn’t all laziness.  I really wanted to go in a new direction, and wasn’t sure how.  It took some time, and some painting over old paintings, but I have 4 new paintings that I’ve made in the last couple of weeks.  There are 4 more in the works.  I’ve posted them on my Canvases page. Here is my favorite.  My daughter named it Tiger’s Eye.  Thanks for looking!

E.M.