The Artist in the Office by Summer Pierre

The Artist in the Office: How to Creatively Survive and Thrive Seven Days a Week (Paperback)
A guide to living a creative life from 9 to 5 and beyond.

Based on the hit handmade 'zine, The Artist in the Office is an inspirational, interactive book for any artist living in the real world. It encourages small acts of creativity and a simple shift of perspective to help readers bring their artistic selves into the workplace and thrive in all aspects of their lives.

Readers are prompted to undertake a wide range of liberating activities, from the mundane to the sublime, that won't put their 9-to- 5 job at risk, including:

•Take lunchtime adventures to rouse your spirit: a bookstore, a flower shop, or a park

•Pick one ordinary object each day and take pictures every time you see it: coffee mugs, shoes, office plants

•Get up an hour early or stay up an hour later and devote the time to your creative work. Schedule it in like any other mandatory appointment or meeting

•Collect doodles from Post-Its or notebooks and reassemble them in a sketchbook


About the Author
Summer Pierre is a consummate artist: she writes, she draws, she sings. And, most important, she knows how to reach people with her art. Summer's writing has appeared in The Time Argus, Skirt! Magazine, and Not Quite What I Was Planning: Six-Word Memoirs.

Liquin Video by Joss Van de Ven

I found a great video series by Joss Van de Ven titled Secrets of the Masters. Enter the universe of classic painting by learning the Dutch technique of the 17th century. 1) A step by step approach to makeing a good oil painting.

Liquin to the Rescue

I worked on this painting a little more this week and I just wasn’t getting the look I was going for. My dark’s were getting flat and textured when I wanted them smooth and shinny. So after staring at the darn thing for a while I grabbed the liquin and started slapping it on. That was the trick...... and off I went glazing , blending and smiling....oh yea one more thing , the liquin made the candle smoke an easy task.

two paintings linked together

I’m still working on this painting for art class, its is actually two paintings linked together. I painted the still life display from art class which was the bread, purple grapes, watermellon, apples and oranges. When I got home I went food shopping for additional produce to put in the painting and I added more items from around the house to balance out the piece. I used a limited palette of Titanium white, Quinacridone Magenta, Napthol Red, Hansa Yellow med, Phthaol Green, Phthalo Blue , Yellow Ochre and Burnt Sienna,

Elmo and Beer

In art class we started painting a still life of a teddy bear, but when I got it home I felt the bear could use a little help. Perhaps a few props and a good supporting actor. So I went out on a limb and had a little fun with this painting. I got a few reference pictures on line and let my imagination run a muck.