stencils – Reina Cottier Art

This week…..

September 8, 2012September 8, 2012Posted in Abstract Art, art, Kiwi Art, kiwiana, spiral, stencils, whimsicalTagged abstract art, abstract paintings, colorful, kiwi, kiwiana, magical, online painting, whimsical8 Comments

Started this the other day (its not complete) …. got all inspired by a combination of what I have done in the past, (one of my first paintings was of Maori designs on top of flowing swirly shapes), and what I have been doing lattely with my stenciling etc… Ive been wanting to experiment with a more commercial look, one that perhaps could be licensed, printed on fabric, or products. I wanted vibrant colours with definite boundaries,

I also did this:

It sold within a day, had alot of interest in it actually, so was happy about that.
I love the contrasting colours next to each other, really makes the reds/yellows pop out, esp with the dark outline.

So ‘everything in 3’s’ right?

well here’s #3:

Got several commissions on the go, which is exciting, but a week of sick kids and then me has not been conducive for creatove production…. get well this weekend, and FULL SPEED AHEAD next week. 🙂

bye!

Eclipse series :)

September 2, 2012September 2, 2012Posted in Abstract Art, Abstract Painting, art, eclipse, minimal, minimalist, stencilsTagged abstract, art, cosmic, eclipse, galacy, painting6 Comments

I decided to go back to some ‘Reina basics’ for a breather a few weeks ago and re visit some unfinished ideas rattling round the recess’s of my being…. I wanted/needed something simple , so on a whim, produced this:

It sold within 10 mins of posting it up, 🙂 so that was very pleasing indeed, …

I then got on a roll, and produced 2 more, calling it the ‘Eclipse Series’.

Each peice took about half an hour to produce, considering I am a ‘speed of light’ type of gal, these types of creations are immensely satisfying for me… of course, I then had to go back to some ‘fiddly work’ (Gemini moment), but thats ok,.. all Reina’s aspects must come out to play regularly.

I have some more pieces to post up, but running out of time here,…so another post later on this afternoon I think.

Ciao for now. x

Contrasting tones, sprinkles and stencils….

August 6, 2012August 6, 2012Posted in Abstract Art, Abstract Painting, art, commissions, magical, soul, spiral, stencils, whimsicalTagged abstract art, abstract paintings, art, kiwiana, magical, New Zealand, whimsical2 Comments

Almost finished this piece above 🙂 I decided I wanted to experiment with contrasting colours, so used the reds/oranges with the greens/teals… and I have to say, Im liking the result so far. This piece didn’t start off so well…. in fact it was painted over at least twice before I felt an ease and flow with what I was doing. Unlike how I usually paint (lightening speed!) I have taken my time with this, lots of pauses, looking, walking away, and revisiting… getting the bones of it on the canvas was not the issue, it was more, what to do with it after that. ‘I decided it was going to be part of my Magical Wave series, and once I had made that decision, it just flowed along (no pun intended!) nicely.

Above is a commission in progress. This one harks back to a style I was doing about a year ago which proved to be really popular, most of the pieces I did in that time sold quickly. I have loved re visiting this style and had forgotten what a great effect my ‘sprinkling’ gives, (putting paint on a scrubbing brush and then flicking the paint onto the canvas by scraping the brush with a palette knife or spatula). I love the colors the client has chosen for me to work with… this actually increases my creativity, but having ‘limits’ i seem to be far more inventive and creative, than when im left to my own devises.

And lastly, I have been experimenting with different stencils and techniques, shading, shadows etc.

Not always feeling like I have to use stencils in my art, but have found a level of satisfaction in being able to merge them with my own paitning style.

Ok thats about it for now…Ive been very busy getting through all these commissions and still have 5 left to complete of 13 in the last 3 months! 🙂 not compaining though, so love it all, and know how blessed I am. 🙂

ciao!

Nothing finished, 3 more started….

June 9, 2012June 9, 2012Posted in Abstract Art, Abstract Painting, art, Contemporary Art, New Age Art, stencilsTagged abstract art, acrylic on canvas, art, online art, paintings for sale, stencils5 Comments

I got 3 more commissions this week, AND had already started some other paintings, for fun, so I have a whole pile of unfinished art at the moment, and lots of ‘endings’ to do. It IS like a story, a beginning a middle and an end. They are all calling out to me, and time is just not stretching far enough at the moment. Doesn’t help that i decided to spend 2 weeks celebrating my birthday , and it doesn’t help that I have had the most ridiculous chest infection that has amounted to nothing and something all at the same time- *sigh*. just this silly little ‘cough, cough’ every 2 minutes, grrrr! Its FINALLY exiting my system, so next week (let s just relax this weekend with lots of lying around doing nothing- something Im not very proficient at) I will be back into it, fully committed and CREATIVELY OFF THE PLANET!

Painting for fun #1 below: (not finished)

#2 is a similar one to another I did about a month ago and it sold before it was finished, I enjoyed it so much I did another one: (unfinished)

#3 Going back to my basics and REALLY happy to be doing that, finding myself again with my shapes and tones and shades, …makes me feel good: (unfinished)

There are more, but I dont want to overload the senses lol!

So I have 5 or 6 commissions to complete, ive now lost count, but never fear, I have it written down somewhere, and actually will refer to it at some point. The commisions I am doing are really exciting for me because they are people who I know well, and there is an ease and a flow about creating something for someone when you have that connection.

Next blog post will hopefully be some finished works!

CIAO!

Busy busy!

April 17, 2012Posted in Abstract Art, art, Intuitive Art, moonlight, stencilsTagged abstract, acrylic, art, Heart, moonlight, painting, stencil17 Comments

How I managed to make it in here today, I do not know! To say I have been busy would be a huge understatement and I’ve been trying to get in here to post something up for about a week now. YES I HAVE AN EXCUSE :)… travel, kids birthday, school holidays. AND I have decided that going away glamping (glamour camping) with the kids is more hassle than its worth, …2 days away = a weeks laundry, clean up, put away all the STUFF. ugh. So here we are one week to the day from being back, and I am still putting away sleeping bags properly and washing out chilly bins. Camping yes, ..with kids NO!

TIME, id love a little more time please.

OK, first up, trip to Sydney to deliver the commission went really well!! SUPERB. I stayed with my aunt and uncle with a spectacular view of sydney harbour, incl the bridge, the city and the Opera House… had a wonderful time.

I havent been able to paint anything since then until yesterday,… I finally was able to do some more on one piece and start another.
here is the one I have started:

I have wanted to do a ‘light’ design on a dark background for ages, but kept distracting myself mid way..so THIS time I was committed to the result.. even though its no where near finished, I am rather pleased with the direction its headed in, I like the slightly misty/night/moonlight/snow? feel it has… sort of ‘Narnia meets Twilight’…

I thnk, if I look back, I took ALOT from this older one below, which developed into the idea for the one above:

and the other one I have added to is this:

this is a cropped piece of the actual painting (see last blog entry), I have added some detail.

I am finding my style is mutating now into something that, instead of swinging around and trying lots of different styles I am (subconsciously) blending all my styles into one. I suppose this is a natural progression, I have to say, it feels really satisfying!

In other news, I have been asked my Artpromotivate.com if they can feature my art. 🙂 So I spent an hour last night filling out the interview… typical me, as I started, I was stumped…what to say??????? how to say it? Then.. the floodgates opened and I couldnt stop! Haha. I told Graham he was more than welcome to edit out anything he wanted, but he seemed ok with it, so thats good!

My Zazzle shop is going well, surprisingly so actually, and its a real pleasure to hear that every single person that has bought something from there, has told me they are really thrilled with the product. So, YAY!!!

I have been asked to Jury 2 art contests lately, and really enjoyed that! What amazing talents some people have, the diversity of creative expression out there never fails to floor me.

My art page on Facebook is probably where i spend most of my time, this is where i get to interact with everyone and thats what I love. I guess its like a daily art blog where I can connect more easily with people.

ok, better go sort out something for dinner, take care, love to all. x

March was huge…..

March 25, 2012April 4, 2012Posted in Abstract Art, art, Artist, Contemporary Art, Heart, New age, Online Gallery, stencils, yin yangTagged abstract art, abstract paintings, art, Heart, intuitive art, kiwi, modern, original, soulful, stencils, unique, vibrant, zen2 Comments

HI everyone!

March was so busy for me! omg, conpleted 2 commissions, and sold 3 other paintings,as well as organising other art paraphernalia to go overseas.

Somewhere inbetween i managed to start 2 more paintings this being one of them:

felt the need, with such a short summer, to have some greens and yellows, then of course, I have to have the contrast, so threw in the purple and blue….really liking it so far, ..it pulls me in, I feel light when I look at it, so i really want to be careful not to make it too ‘heavy’ both visually and energetically, I want to keep the ‘uplift’ factor going.

And I loved my Heart Soul Whole (see previous blog entry) so much, I started a version of it for myself, not triptych, no words….

obviously not complete, and its big, which i like, big bold piece will be perfect in my entrance way.

Sold this one:

a fun thing i did in a very short space of time…didnt feel the need to add to it, even though i knew it was quite basic and simple, i liked that. 🙂

and sold this one finally, a fave of mine, went to Australia….

Off to Oz on Thursday with commission #2, all but complete, looks fantastic, will post a pic when complete.Staying for 4 nights, really looking forward to it, some shopping in Sydney, seeing some friends, and family. Cant wait. 🙂

Face lifts, Kiwiana & Commissions….

February 3, 2012April 4, 2012Posted in Abstract Art, Abstract Painting, art, collage, commissions, Contemporary Art, kiwiana, New age, ocean, Online Gallery, stencilsTagged abstract art, abstract paintings, art, collage, commissions, kiwiana, modern, original, stencils, unique, zen4 Comments

I have SOOOOO much to post up…. time has been short, kids back to school, GAWD I LOATHE organising stationery, uniforms, shoes, hats, bags, ack. It literally does my head in, I so cant stand the stationery thing, I just ordered the pack for both kids online and had it delivered to the house this year, LOL! The thought of trawling through what they do and dont need, esp with books called LBW4a2 and there is a BIG difference between that and the LBW4a3…… argh!!! … enough of that, you get the pic…..

so what have I been creatively up to? face lifting old art of mine!…….

I dug out an old collage the other day and added some metallic paint to it, some antique gold and some bronze, and some shadowing….

rather pleased with how it is evolving, it looked really flat before and sat in the cupboard for about 2 years, because i couldn’t quite put my finger on what I was to do with it… now its getting some depth and I like the ethereal underwater feel to it too…. still much to do.

This is another ‘oldie’ I have revamped a little (Im really LOVING giving my older ones a facelift!), this one is all but done now,.. some tidying here and there, a tinted glaze or two, a coat of varnish and done I think!

and this one I have just started:

this one is little, and has a very ‘Kiwiana’ (New Zealand) feel to it I think. (pronounced Keewee- ar- na) Again, no where near finished, but very happy with the direction Im headed in.

Now, over the next month, as time allows, I have 2 large commissions to do. Both triptychs. Both with text on them, so they are fairly involved, but I am really looking forward to both of them. Luckily both clients have full trust in my ability to deliver, so they are giving me full creative license which is superb. 🙂 Im only going to post progress shots of one of them as I want the other to be a surprise for that particular client. More on that over the next while.

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WHat else? OH yes, the book my art is in, (and I will feature on what looks like from the proof i have just read, 2 pages) is being published soon. Living Artists of Today Volume 1. Mila Ryk from Art & Beyond Magazine is a dream to deal with! She is publishing the book, such an accomplished artist, and talented business woman, Love her!

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OH! I nearly forgot!…. *drum roll please!*…..and I got nominated for a Versatile Blogger Award!!! *skips around the room* so I will be back later today to do all the things I must to acknowledge this lovely honor and pass it on to others as well…..

watch this space……

xxxx

2012- Reina Cottier Art – Just a quickie!

January 25, 2012July 23, 2023Posted in Abstract Art, Abstract Painting, red, stencils, stipple, tealTagged abstract art, abstract paintings, acrylic on canvas, art, painting, stencils6 Comments

just fininshed this and wanted to post it up cos i love it! ADORE reds & teals/blues together!!!! SO this is acrylic on canvas with layers of varnish in between each layer, started off with some of my stencils to get the bigger more sweeping shapes, tehn layered it up with all shades of read and orange, with sprinkles of mustard and blues/purples…. more varnish, and then stenciled the finer detail on top for the final effect.

WOW, January almost over! and month 2 of 2012 is about to begin…. kids back to school, and that only means ONE thing in this house………….more painitng! YEEHAR!

Go well friends, xxxxx

2012- Reina Cottier Art -Book, Word Art & Practice runs……

January 17, 2012July 23, 2023Posted in Abstract Art, Abstract Painting, art, Heart, painting, published, stencils, Word artTagged abstract art, abstract paintings, art, heart space, modern, stencils, word art6 Comments

hey all 🙂

I completely forgot, in my last blog, to mention that I got this email 2 days before Xmas and what a GREAT early Xmas pressie!

Dear Reina,

Congratulations! I’m honored and thrilled to let you know that your artworks will be published in the Living Artists of Today: Contemporary Art International. Vol.1

I’m starting production next week and book should be printed by end of the first quarter of 2012.

Have a great Holiday Season!

Kind regards,

Mila Ryk

Publisher – Art & Beyond Studio, inc

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I had submitted a some images to be considered for this a while ago, and it was really awesome to hear back with positive news.I am not one to submit my stuff left, right and center, or ‘spread myself to thin’, I feel like I could go to town all over the internet, uploading my images everywhere, but then there is upkeep and ongoing marketing and it all gets very very time consuming. Having said that, I do dedicate a small portion of my day to this happily, and it has certainly paid off with a number of sales of original, prints, cards, several big commissions and ongoing commissions from regular clients. (Facebook is the BEST, soo many sales thru that alone, but the best thing is meeting such fantastic people and building a relationship with them, both clients and other artists too) Without the internet NONE of this would have happened. I am in New Zealand, literally at the bottom of the world with a population of around 4 million… its not a place you can make alot of $ in the art world. I am also a busy mother of 2 full on girls and a hairdresser (I work from home), so there is not enough hours in the day for me to be painting 8 hours a days, 5 days a week to produce enough work to sustain an ‘originals only’ selling lifestyle… let alone pounding the pavement putting my art in cafe’s and such… its just not where Im at really. Striking a balance with all these things in my life has been interesting, and I am also totally blessed to have an amazing partner who supports anything I do or dream 1000%.

So! while my kids were away for 10 days with their dad over Xmas, I used the time as productively as I could and finished up a whole pile of stuff as well as doing some ‘practice runs’ for other things…..

first up is this piece:

yes, something different for me! I had been ITCHING to try this style for ages, using a water spray on the canvas first then applying the paint with a sponge and letting it drip and spread with the water around the canvas. This was FUN! I loved doing it, and I will do it again at some point, and or integrate this technique with my other stuff. There was alot of drying time inbetween stages involved, so that was slightly irritating to this ‘I want everything yesterday’ girl, lol! but hey, with a little help from a friend- a fan heater- we got there relatively quickly! (Im not into waiting for hours, its just not part of who i am, if i cant bang out a painting in an hour or 2, forget it! LOL!)

this one is not finished:

Im playing with words directly onto the canvas (like “Evolve-last post) rather than Photoshopping them on as i normally do. Also integrating my BELOVED stencils (can you tell??? hehe) with the word process…. this was very much about the earth below- foliage, forest, land, growth…then the sky, galaxy above,..there is a heart shape up there-unfinshed, you can barely see, but i think it will be cool when its done… i want to maintain the translucent look of it… love that.

this is my practice board!…..

its turned out to be quite a nice piece on its own! 🙂

Its school holidays here for another 2 weeks, we are in summer, so there wont be a whole lot of painitng going on, but as soon as they are back to school, ..Im full steam ahead!

Wishing you all an AMAZING week! be well & happy. Reina.x

2012- Reina Cottier Art Evolve~Love~

January 8, 2012July 23, 2023Posted in Abstract Art, Abstract Painting, art, Artist, Evolve, Love, stencils, Word artTagged abstract art, abstract paintings, art, cosmos, evolve, Love, stencils4 Comments

So finally got some space yesterday to finish, or at least head toward finishing some pieces…. its a good feeling to pick them up one by one and either completely change, or edit hugely, …or tweak a little just to complete.

First up: above ‘Evolve/Love’ I started this one about a month ago and it only took an hour to do most of it. My partner had helped to demolish the interior of a shop (he is a painter) and had come home with the perspex letters that made up the shop sign. Of course, what is an artist to do???!!!! 🙂 Id had this idea for a while and just hadn’t got around to making ym own stencils, so was very excited to be able to unwrap a big cnavas and had it as something like a statement, rather than a little squeak. I dont do small very well, Most of my paintings are at least 24″ x 30″ or larger. This one is bigger than that. I thoroughly enjoyed every moment of it. You cant see very well but the heart has some beautiful stencil -and hand painted- detail in it with a washed white, to really punch it out, and the top of the heart has gold sprinkles with the green and yellow. This photo does it NO justice. its way more intense and bold in real life. Almost finished.

Ok, remember this? so this one i have chopped and changed alot. Im getting there, also enjoying it, but not with my usual ‘lightening speed’ power painitng style, this one has purposely been a more ‘careful’ process, one that i have (unusually) considered and pondered, in a most loving way too LOL! sounds weird, but if I like a piece of anyones art, incl my own, a little part of my falls in love with it. 🙂 Its not finished, nearly there.

ok, so this one… i love the colours together!!! something really soothing for me, a cathartic process, couldn’t get it to this stage fast enough, from memory did this in one hit, took about an hour and half, maybe a bit more-used the fan heater to dry the layers in between, dont think i cooked dinner that night- too engrossed. Not finished. Still have to edge the cream shapes with a darker colour and define them against eac other as some of them overlap.

this one! (not finished) this sat in my studio at the very back of the pile for a year, as a background of red, grey and white cloudy looking shapes. Could NOT decide for the life of me what to do with the dam thing…. then POW out of the blue the other day… got it! It was ‘courage’, thats what i got! I need the GUTS to just do something, anything over this background, i literally need to throw some paint at it and see what happened. I love my planetary, cosmic, galaxy thing i have made! still a ways to go…. but yeh… Reina’s world.

Phew! been meaning and wanting to get in here for a long time,..have missed it. So am kidless this weekend, going to paint some more today and start another…. will be back with up dates

Hope everyone had an amazing holiday break! Love to all… xxxxxxxxxxx

Reina Cottier Art – 2011-Stencils & 3rd place in the kids comp…

December 13, 2011July 23, 2023Posted in Abstract Art, Abstract Painting, art, Artist, Children, competition, hippy, paisley, stencilsTagged abstract art, abstract paintings, art, competiion, hippie art, kids, stencils4 Comments

hi everyone! 🙂

well, as the title says, Ive gone a bit crazy with the stencil thang. 🙂 Discovered scrap booking aisle (never scrapbooked in my life- well actually, I was doing all that with my photo albums WAYYYYY back, like in the 80’s & 90’s -you should see my Europe trip album its a masterpiece creatively!-before anyone ever marketed the idea with paraphenalia to sell with it!) at our local Warehouse store and flipped out! omg, sooooooooooooo good for art, the stencils are negatives but i dont care, in fact i like it….. bought one for a whole $1.99 *GASPS* and boy, hours & hours of creative pleasure!

Ready? (these are experiments, some unfinished, some maybe finished, not sure….)