Jennifer Zalewski Studio

Well I finally opened my Etsy store up again– JENNIFER ZALEWSKI STUDIO.

I have some new stuff to add- will do that later. For now I have a few of my linocuts and woodcuts up. All are on sale!   I need to move this stuff out, and make room for new stuff, lol.

You may have seen I’ve been working on my website a bit- still a haul to go. I’ve been dabbling with “studio” names, trying to come up with a logo, etc etc. It’s hard! I think -think- I’ve finally settled on just using my name- Jennifer Zalewski Studio. I really wasn’t sold on that, and did a lot of research on many art forums re: what to ‘call yourself’ and the majority of “real” (?) artists said that if you want to be taken seriously- especially if you’re looking into the gallery/exhibition route- then use your own name.  I might do some fairs in the future (I dunno, I’ve done some and it’s really not my thing) but I really want to concentrate on exhibiting. We’ll see.

The other thing is that I want to get into showing dogs again. Not conformation, but agility, rally, etc. This means I have to come up with AKC names for my dogs and I have to opportunity to select a “prefix” or “kennel name”. If I have a fun studio name, I could also use it as my “kennel name” handle. That would be fun.

I tend to get tired of stuff though… what if I pick something that I hate 2 years down the line? I mean… when I first got out of College and was building my first website,  I picked  “Laughing Dragon Studio.” WTF? I REALLY liked fantasy/sci fi… I flew to Oregon and saw clouds shaped like smiling dragons… I read a lot of Anne McCaffery… okay. I was 21 and a total tard. By the time I was 25, I started thinking “Laughing Dragon Studio” was kind of lame and had moved on to “Jen’Z Studio.” I figured it was kind of cute, since my last name started with Z, and put together “Jen’z” kind of read like “Jen’s.” “Jen’z Studio”– “Jen’s Studio”. That lasted until a few years ago when I realized people pronounced it “Jen Zee” studio, not “Jen’s” or “Jen’zzzz”. Then I was like… what a cutesy, whimsical gimmicky name. I’m not cutesy OR gimmicky. And I’m DEFINITELY not whimsical, rofl!!! I mean– Jen’z Studio? WTF was I THINKING??? Lol. So I dropped it. It was hard because I was doing some Greyhound festivals at that time and I think people were starting to know the name, but not me.

I guess what it comes down to is that I’m too fickle to live with anything but my own name, sadly.   I mean I can pick a fun studio name NOW, and when I hit 40 in a few years you can BET YOUR BOTTOM DOLLAR I’ll be like, “Fast Flying Furry Dog Studio”-??? WTF was I THINKING???” LOL. And I’ll be in the Laughing Dragon/Jen’z Studio predicament all over again. I wish I had the ability to pick something fun that I’ll be satisfied with the rest of my life, but I can never seem to do that (probably why I am afraid to get a tattoo, even though I want one badly!).

Anyway, so I decided to go with my name- Jennifer Zalewski Studio. Even though it’s plain-jane, I’m kind of a plain-jane type of girl anyway. When I register my dogs with the AKC next month, I’ll use “Zalewski” as my “kennel handle”- i.e. Jack Owasco Zalewski, Lela Zalewski (omg, wouldn’t OTCH Jack Owasco Zalewski be totally rad?!?!?!?!).

Well anyway… Etsy Store is open. More stuff coming. Planning for 2012. Getting ready for The Long Winter. Yadda yadda yadda… more to come… including another installment of Bitey-face/Gator-mouth. 

-Jen

Since I’m “taking a break” from Printmaking for a bit and trying some new.. and old… things, I decided to head over to The Art Store to look at some new toys. I had kind of been thinking about delving back into Gouache (something I dabbled in during college) or trying Watercolor Pencils. The thing is, I’m not really a fan of watercolor. It’s very… delicate. Feminine. ethereal. But there are PENCILS, which are so much easier than BRUSHES, right?? Gouache- opaque watercolor- was a bit more my speed in terms of look, but I worried that I’d spend $100 on a set of something I don’t really like, and, eh…. well, I was hemming and hawing. Thankfully the ladies at the Art Store came to my rescue, talked me through my dilemma, and helped me decide on Golden Fluid Acrylics.

I’ve never really painted with Acrylics before- they’re SO popular, and I for some reason I like the less-tread path better.  I worry that my art isn’t –distinct?– enough on it’s own to stand out in a crowd, so a more rare medium helps with that?? I dunno.  I’ve dabbled with craft paint (not sure- is that acrylic, or tempera?) making camp signs and I’ve worked with Oils in high school, but… not Acrylic. Delving in and buying a whole set of these buggers makes me really nervous!  I’m going to have to visit El Biblioteca for some instruction books, that’s for sure…

We’ll see how it goes! If I really enjoy brushwork, maybe I’ll move into something different like Egg Tempera or Casein next…

Jen

Jeepers. I can’t believe it’s been 2 week since I last blogged. At that point we were spending our non-working hours sitting in the shade of our pine trees, lamenting the 80 degree weather. This weekend I’m in sweaters, mittens, a winter hat and I just …. dum dum DUM!… turned the furnace on for the first time.

Fall is my favorite time of year though. Central New York is just absolutely gorgeous… browns, oranges, yellows, reds, bright greens and olives. It’s windy. It’s crisp. If you can catch a good hike on a non-rainy day, then you’ve hit the Color Jackpot.

I’ve been trying to get out as much as I can. Jack is still in therapy for his Iliopsoas muscle injury (more on that later) so he’s only doing shorter hikes, 1-2 miles (we tried a 3.5 mile yesterday, but it was way too much). Thankfully Lela is more than willing to come along on the longer ones. It stinks not having Jack along though- he just LOVES LOVES LOVES going out. Breaks my heart.

These pics are Green Lakes in Manlius… actually (2) meromictic lakes -that means the top and bottom ‘layers’ of water don’t mix, so the lake looks turquoise most of the time. Really beautiful. The dogs had a blast!

We also went hiking with my cousin Melanie and her family recently- exploring one of my favorite x-country ski areas- Heiberg Forest in Tully. The trails aren’t marked very well but we found our way around somehow and had a great time (p.s.- check out Treasured Toad Designs, Mel’s jewelry blog!!).

Last Sunday morning, Lela and I did a beautiful hike at Highland Forest in Fabius. I was thinking we would hike the 3 mile ShortCut Trail, but somehow we ended up on the Main Trail which is an eight-miler that skirts the whole park. It was REALLY hilly, really gorge-y, and SUPER tough, and of course I had no water/compass/trail map/granola/cell phone/etc which really stunk. Lela ‘helped herself’ to several creeks we crossed, but I was afraid to drink out of them so by the end of the hike I felt like I was on a forced Death March. I never come prepared!!!

Check this out… have you ever seen such a ‘hairy’ mushroom??? It was growing on the side of a tree, and was bigger than a grapefruit but not so large as a cantaloupe.  I REALLY wanted to touch it, but was too creeped out to. So strange- !

I hope everyone is enjoying this beautiful autumn weather!! Before we know it, the 2 foot snow drifts will be here…