The models of American Gothic standing next to their picture (I did not draw this ~ I’m showing it to share the thrill) you can click on some pictures in this blog to see them larger
To Hire Artist Alison G :
(516) 579-4706
optidust@gmail.com

Drawing is just Fun. I like to make Lines. Liyins. Loeennz.

I guess this would be Categorized as a Fashion Sketch. But it wasn’t drawn with that it mind. It was just drawn.

you can click on some pictures in this blog to see them larger
To Hire Artist Alison G :
(516) 579-4706
optidust@gmail.com

My pictures:

and this one includes an unusual picture too. Since I was encouraged to do whatever I wanted, the top picture shows the way I was impressed by the whole scene.

When I looked out over the whole room, the backs of the chairs created a pleasing pattern for me ~ sort of like musical notes. I tried to capture that in a picture. I really like geometric patterns.

you can click on some pictures in this blog to see them larger
To Hire Artist Alison Gelbman :
(516) 579-4706
optidust@gmail.com

and here are some close-ups of those Caricatures from the post titled ‘Visual Music’

you can click on some pictures in this blog to see them larger
To Hire Artist Alison Gelbman :
(516) 579-4706
optidust@gmail.com

Hmmm ~ Decisions. I give it my full attention. I really jump in. Get into the Zone.
What to do ~ A Close-Up of ‘Ring’ with a hint of faces?
A Full-Body Pose of the Traditional Proposal Pose?
A Larger Scene showing the Setting where the Proposal took place?

In this case, I was reinventing the wheel while I designed a Proposal Caricature to include references to the Park where the Proposal was to take place. But then I honed in on just the Traditional Proposal Caricature afterall. Following my Client’s instructions.

Here are pictures of the Park where my Client chose to Propose to his Lady:

Here are the scribbled LayOuts that I designed to set the Proposal in this particular Park:

Here is the final Picture in which I got rid of the ‘World’, and just focused in on the People:

you can click on some pictures in this blog to see them larger
To Hire Artist Alison Gelbman :
(516) 579-4706
optidust@gmail.com

Oh. Quick. Quick. Before I get out to tonight’s New Year’s Eve event. One last post for the year.

It’s been such a Wonderful Year. So many People. So many Pictures. And my New Computer!
I feel like this is the first post for which I had to bring in my Pictures on the new Computer.
It’ so sensitive. A learning curve just when I’m trying to put up these pictures before I run out.

Here are the last few pictures that I will get posted for the year 2014. So many pictures that I didn’t get a chance to show you yet. It’s been such a Whunderfull Whunderfull Whirlwind. Thank You All ~

you can click on some pictures in this blog to see them larger

To Hire Artist Alison G:

(516) 579-4706

optidust@gmail.com

What an amazing day I had. It’s when we deal well with problems that we can come out the other side so thrilled.

I’m glad I give myself plenty of time to get to my events. Because the small Park which my Client had chosen ~ hidden in a busy area of midtown Manhattan where they also had a lot of scaffolding ~ difficult to find. I walked in circles around several blocks, finally found the place.

Still plenty of time to Set Up my easel and…… Ooop ~ someone who worked at this public place told me that I could not set up an easel there. Not allowed. I showed him the pre-arranged Proposal picture, but he still wouldn’t allow the easel. He agreed that I could sit at one of the little tables to draw….

and no sooner than I took down the easel, I saw a beautiful couple come by to take in the scene. If I was just looking for people who looked like the photos that my client had sent, I would not have thought that this was my couple. They didn’t look anything like ‘their photos’. But my client had told me that he would be wearing blue jeans and a gray top. And this man was wearing blue jeans and a gray top. Right here. At the exact spot beside me. At the exact time that my couple could have shown up.

I felt disappointed that they did not look like their picture, but what could I do?
I introduced myself and asked if they would please model for me to draw their picture. As if I wasn’t feeling shaken already ~ barely set up after handling a sticky situation and then seeing that they didn’t look like the Studio picture I had drawn ~ the man who worked there came over and asked if they were the ones who were getting engaged. This is supposed to be a surprise! This never happened before. Now I know to recommend going elsewhere if another Client actually finds this hidden Park someday.

I hoped she didn’t hear his question. I quickly said “I’m just an artist. Just drawing a picture.” and I turned my attention to the couple.

I don’t usually draw anything while officiating at a Proposal. I just pretend ~ while I choreograph their experience ~ Standing Up. With Energy. But this drawing board with these little tables ~ the couple could see what I was drawing. So I just started drawing. And I felt better. I’m always happy when I’m drawing.

Done. I unveiled the hidden Caricature that I had previously drawn in the Studio. But the woman said “That’s not the picture you drew. I want the picture I just saw you drawing.”

Egads ~ Apparently she doesn’t even recognize them in the Proposal Caricature. Could she be turning him down??? This never happened before. This was really a first.

“They’re both for you,” I said. “Really.” And I said “You’re probably confused because I didn’t finish this picture yet. I need your help.” I handed a marker towards the lady, and I asked her to fill in the talk bubble. She refused to take it. She refused to draw on ‘my picture’.

She was really turning him down. I couldn’t believe it. The guy was so nice. He had planned this months ago. They came to me after going ice-skating and they were planning on going to the museum afterwards and he was even going to surprise her by having pre-arranged for their Parents to meet them at a restaurant afterwards. He was so easy to work with. He loved her and wanted to show her such good things.

It looked like he was about to take the ring out of his pocket, but then he moved it back into his pocket. They were going to leave ~ unengaged. She said that they had only gone out on a few dates so far.

Is this it? My Proposal had never been turned down before. I felt so bad for ‘my client’. I gave them hugs as they left with their quickly drawn picture. I tried to slip the Proposal Caricature into the bag, but she refused to take it. Really.

After they left the park, I texted my client. I felt so bad for him. I focused completely on what to write. Such a loving man ~ I didn’t want him to give up on Love. I texted and texted and texted. More.

After I clicked the Send button on my phone, I looked up and saw MY REAL COUPLE sitting at a table Right Next To Me. They looked Exactly like the people I had drawn in the Proposal Caricature. They looked exactly like their photos. And he was looking at his cellphone ~ just starting to read a message…..

“Oh. Oh. Hello,” I said. “Oh, I feel so glad to see you. The perfect couple. Oh please let me draw you. I’m an Artist, and I would really feel a lift if I could draw you. In this beautiful spot.”

Whew ~ talk about flustered. Now I was drawing at that little table again. Officiating at The Real Engagement when I was emotionally spent. I had just handled an engagement and been Turned Down. At least, that’s what I Thought. And barely a breath before I was grabbing papers and drawing with extra chairs all around and between us and…

Okay. Okay. I’m telling myself “Just draw. You still have the ready made Proposal Caricature, and it’s just Perfect. And I’M SO RELIEVED THAT THAT NICE WOMAN HADN’T WALKED OFF IT IT!!

The real lady that I was supposed to draw ~ She was delightful. She was happy, although sensing Something ~ what could it be ~ She was happy to be there. Together with her man. And when I showed her the Engagement Caricature ~ when her man enacted his Proposal ~ the tears, the joy, The Acceptance.

I’ve been smiling and laughing about my day ever since then. So if I’m so thrilled about how everything turned out, I can just imagine the intensity of the Joy that My Couple is feeling.

and I’m wondering about how this affected the extra couple ~ they’re also probably laughing over the excitement of the day. And maybe I’ll even get a call from Them some day ~ when they’re ready to take their Fun Dates to the Next Level.

you can click on some pictures in this blog to see them larger
To Hire Artist Alison G :
(516) 579-4706
optidust@gmail.com

My little lemon tree never became bare ~ never lost all it’s leaves like the big Maple tree that grows in front of my house. I bring it inside for the Winter.

So I felt surprised to see it this morning. I had noticed that it was looking a little sparse ~ that the few leaves that dry off have been adding up.

you can click on some pictures in this blog to see them larger

To Hire Artist Alison Gelbman :

(516) 579-4706

optidust@gmail.com

I’m more likely to get a request for a specific Theme at a Face Painting Party than at a Caricature Party. But I did get a request for ‘ Frozen ‘ for this weekend. My Client wrote:

We would like to hire your for the full duration of the party. There will be around 15 girls……I think for the sake of time, it’s better not to ask what each child’s hobby is and they can just get a Frozen-esque caricature (the theme of the party is Disney’s Frozen–of course, right? LOL!)…so I was thinking maybe each caricature can have a little snowflake or some blue on it, and maybe with the child’s first initial on the snowflake to make it more personal? Of course, I welcome any ideas you have.

I like to accommodate my customers whenever possible. But she wouldn’t have known what all my concerns would be with such a request. In the first place, Frozen is copyrighted. An Artist is not really allowed to sell Someone Else’s copyrighted images. But, okay. She said “Frozen-esque”, and frankly, I’m feeling a bit frozen-esque while typing here in my Studio in the middle of this January night. Wintery, sparkly, I can do that. I can even draw Princesses

But drawing a snowflake on each Caricature? At the event? For a small extra fee, I can come to an event with something already printed up onto each paper (black ink only, or the fee wouldn’t be small anymore), but I didn’t suggest that to this client. Because a black snowflake doesn’t work. So I told her I”d see what I can come up with. Perhaps a swish of blue with some sparkles, or something.

Oh, that would be wonderful, she said. And then I started to work out the specifics. I check out my supplies and ideas ahead of time ~ Before showing up at an event. To make sure that my work would look right.

First thing I did was to draw a little girl. Just a quick thing:

then, ummm, how to put on the glitter. I could use glue, paint it on or scrape it on, I could use glitter-glue, I could spray the whole page with spray-glue and then apply the glitter. Pouring? Sprinkling? Throwing? Pouffing? Painting?

I took out my can of Spray glue. It was all clogged. Tried to fix it with a paperclip:

Aghk. I got it all over my hands! It is soooo sticky. Can’t function. How to get it off? Soap and water didn’t work. I tried rubbing alcohol. Maybe that’s a bit better.

But that wouldn’t do at the Party. I can’t spend 20 minutes washing my hands between each picture. And I wouldn’t want to get the slightest bit of That stuff onto my Client’s furniture/walls. Nope. This isn’t the answer.

Next I scraped on some glue with a palette knife. I used white holographic glitter (on the snow and snowflake), but it barely showed up. Why bother? So I tried a glitter pouffer that very definitely had Blue glitter in it (on the dress). But oh, it looks like gray on the paper. I already knew that that was probably going to be a problem if I tried silver glitter. But I see that the Blue that came in this poufer would be a disappointment too:

Next I used Light Blue Glitter with the Palette knife. Applied to the hair. I see some potential here:

Here are the Supplies that I used for applying the Light Blue Glitter with the Palette knife. (also used a folded paper under the drawing board to collect the loose glitter). It’s reasonably contained:

But let me try something else, too. Perhaps some drawings would look good with the glitter fanned out over a large area, but other drawings would look good with a different type of glitter application.

I guickly made up another picture, outlined the drawing with glue, and sprinkled on the glitter. It’s sort of the same as using Glitter Glue. But I made it a little more complicated. Because

I didn’t like it. Even though glitter is beautiful, I felt like the outline ruined my drawing.

I knew I wasn’t going to use it, but I decided to expand out with more glitter. I don’t know why. I guess it’s the Artist in me ~ I just wanted to See:

Okay ~ on with the focused work that is needed for my job. I liked the spread of light blue. I wanted to try it on other areas of a picture. So I made up another face from my imagination again. Hmmmm, how about a medium blue color stick. And a darker blue glitter ~ I tried dark blue glitter over a swipe of medium blue color:

That’s awful. Just use the Light Blue for the upcoming Wintery Party.
and BTW, I was not working on my drawings because I try to study one thing at a time. Even that gets complicated enough. Still, I had to notice that thinking about the individual features separately did not make a good picture. To draw my next princesses, I actually looked at some Photographs of little girls:

That’s a nice picture. And now, how about scraping glue All Over the Paper and just pouring the Glitter directly from the container:

Nope. That’s not a good idea either. Egads. So I drew one more princess (based on a photo of a real little girl). Applied glue with palette knife over the blue swoosh And skirt. Simple. And good. Direct. That’s why I like Caricatures. Short Stories. Just telling the story without a whole lot of hoopla.

BTW, did you notice what was going on with the Snowflakes in each of these practices? Another thing my Client would’t have known to consider is that it takes time to draw a snowflake. Simple, anyone can do it, but you would be adding quite a bit of time to each picture if I’m to draw a few whole snowflakes on them.

On the first picture, I started with some basic snowflakes. A big one on top left of picture, and a few small hints of snowflakes on the other side of the ‘face’. Then I decided to see about putting an initial in the snowflake, as my Client suggested. I used the letter ‘A’. That was fun. And maybe there would be time to include it on most of the pictures. She is expecting only 15 girls.

So I tried the letter “B’ on the picture with the dark black braid. “B” doesn’t lend itself to sparkly snowflake as easily as an “A”, but I like how I handled that. By closing up that snowflake a bit.

Then I tried the letter “C” near the bottom of the picture of the girl with the two yellow pigtails. I didn’t like that snowflake a much. I’ll think about that some more before the event.

And I tried a “D” on the apron of the last picture. Not too good. But I’m feeling like I can pull it out a bit ~ give more ‘motion’, as the art teachers say, to the “D” before snowflaking it. I’ll work on that idea. As well as going to the Art Supply Store for more glitters. I used up quite a bit of glitter on just these few pictures, and I don’t want to go into my Glitter Tattoo Kit where I buy Expensive Glitters for when I do Freehand Glitter Tattoos on people’s Bodies. Such high quality glitters are not needed for use on Paper.

And maybe I’ll see even more ideas when I’m at the Art Supply Store:-)

you can click on some pictures in this blog to see them larger

To Hire Artist Alison Gelbman :

(516) 579-4706

optidust@gmail.com

Follow Up ~ written the day after I posted the previous message:

I wanted to say that it was a good thing that I tried out my ideas here last night. Because it helped me know what to buy when I got to the Art Supply Store. I went to #ACMoore.

The salesgirl told me the same thing ~ I could either buy Spray Glitter or Glitter Glue or the Loose Glitter. I looked at what they had, and I chose 2 types. A Glitter Glue that was a Colorful White (if you know what I mean). And a Loose Glitter in the Prettiest Light Blue ever.

Then I came back to the Studio and drew a new Princess (based on a photo of a real little girl ~ I feel just finger-tied when it comes to making up people without references these days.

Then I added the White Glitter Glue to the eyes, dress, and mound of snow. I wish the glitter showed up better in the Photos. Because it’s just so absolutely perfect. Ahhhh. I got it.

I had applied that Glitter Glue with my Finger. So I could swipe it over a large area. With no hard edges. It was fine! Even though I used the pointer finger of my Drawing Hand, I did not feel sticky. I was ready to continue working without stopping for a major hand-washing.

Next I decided to try the Glitter Glue in lines ~ squeezed directly from the bottle. Without spreading it out with my finger. I put a few lines of Glitter Glue into the hair:

That’s not good.

So I spread it out with my fingers. Ahhhh. Nice, THIS IS THE APPROACH I WILL BE USING:

But my Studies Continued. Maybe there’s something more……While the White Glitter Glue was still wet, I decided to try the Light Blue Sprinkle Glitter right on top of it. Aghk! Picture Ruined. It looks like a sprinkled Black Pepper onto my picture. I feel so glad that I try out my ideas Before I’m at work. I want everything to look smooth when I’m at an Event. As though everything I do is just Right. Even if my Client had asked for something unique ~ Something that was not in my Samples on my Blog

Now I feel confident about handling this Client’s Special Request. I will make time to go buy more of that White Glitter Glue. I will apply it with my Fingers.

I am a little concerned though that the wetness of the Glue does make the Paper curl. A little. I know ways to avoid that, but they would not be reasonable to use at the Party. (for example, I could soak and stretch the paper ~ the way I would prepare A paper for a major Water-Color Painting ~ that would take at least 30 hours of work plus 30 new drawing boards all of which would have to be Carried to the 2-hour Party. Or I could paint the Back of each curled Paper with water after it dries ~ to bend it back the other way ~ but when and where would I do that during/after the 2-hour Party? I get paid by the hour. I’m only expected to be in this Client’s house for 2-hours.) Sooo….. a little curling of the Paper will happen. Because that is the nature of the supplies. Concerned only because it’s unusual. But it can feel Lovely ~ Fine ~ Fluttery. Sometimes we just have to let things be the way they will be.

While I was at the Store, I was also attracted to some Holographic Star Stickers. Once again, the Photograph of it does not show it well. It’s actually quite Beautiful:

I didn’t want to spend the Big Stars on my Practices ~ I wanted to save them for the Party. So I put one little star near the top of the picture. Egads. It looked like the teacher gave me a Star, like an A+ or something. Not like it’s Part of the Picture. So I tried a little star near the bottom of the picture ~ over by my signature. That wasn’t good either. Perhaps it has to be the bigger ones? I tried one of the Bigger Stars near the top of the picture ~ Still did not take it’s place as Part of the Picture.

But I do like these things. And what better to do with them than share them with some cute little girls? I’ll feel happy to bring them along to the Party ~ just as a quick little extra Surprise. It feels Magical when I put the little Star on my adult hand. I imagine it would look better when I use the Large Star on a child’s hand.

Or perhaps I will just put a little star on a child’s Finger ~ for that ‘Magic’ touch. Oh it’s Fun to Play:

I do feel ready to handle the extra request for this Client. Even though I still might try out some more ideas. Like, ummm, perhaps I’ll try drawing the Outlines with Blue Markers.

BTW ~ Did you notice the extra shading on this successfully glittered picture? I had decided to add extras ~ like a simple swipe along the side of the face. Because I observed that on the simply drawn #FamilyGuy cartoon that I surfed by last night.

I like my new Supplies. I am looking forward to drawing at the upcoming event. I feel good about going to work because I prepare.

you can click on some pictures in this blog to see them larger

To Hire Artist Alison Gelbman :

(516) 579-4706

optidust@gmail.com

Oh Yes. Teenagers really like to Party

you can click on some pictures in this blog to see them larger

To Hire Artist Alison Gt:

(516) 579-4706

optidust@gmail.com

You are all in a position to make me feel so good. Thank You for making the effort to do so ~

I just received an email from my Agent. He thanked me for “doing a terrific job”. He said that he follows up with every client after every event to make sure they enjoyed the entertainment. He said once again, the client was ecstatic ~ replying with rave reviews. Wow. This is what he wrote:

Awesome! This was a terrific event, thoroughly enjoyed by all! Alison G was very accommodating and had a crowd around her, watching her create everyone’s caricature. Awesome! Neil Strandberg

Thank You ~ I feel so grateful when people express their appreciation for all that I do for them.

To hire Artist Alison G : optidust@gmail.com (516)579-4706

When a client gives me a lot of instructions, it’s sort of like working out a puzzle. This client, for instance, gave me some unusual instructions for his Marriage Proposal. I could feel that he was definitely excited, happy, full of Love for his Lady. But the things he wanted were not trite fill-in-the-blanks for Romance. I wanted to see his excitement from His point of view. Not tell him what he Should be wanting.

Before he flew in from England, he ordered his Proposal Caricature ~ planning on proposing at the Falconer Statue in Central Park. He gave me the following instructions for his Picture:

It’s be be Fun. Romantic. Stand-out-ish. To resemble Them And NYC. Across the bottom, it’s to say:

Anthony & Jamie
New York City
27th December 2014

He’s to be wearing Velvet Slippers (very important). No Socks. White Shirt. Bright Pink or Purple Sweater tied over his shoulders as in the reference photo. He wants them wearing what they normally wear. That would be sexy clothes for his Lady. Note her Eyebrows. AND

AND he wants me to Include The Statue of Liberty and the Empire State Building AND

AND King Kong!

Whew ~ No short order. How to do this? How to do this? Should I show them in a Bubble? Clear and protected, with a dark smashing scary city around them? No. That’s not the City he would be experiencing. They’re flying in from England, and staying at a quite upscale hotel. Expecting a sparkling good time. Here’s what I came up with:

based on these Reference Pictures:

But then, Oh. Change in plans. They will not be here for the Proposal afterall. Client asked if I could email him the picture. So he would get it printed up in UK in time to propose on NYE.

Took me a bit to figure out what he was talking about. UK ~ that’s United Kingdom. And NYE ~ that’s umm, maybe I’ll look it up later. I photographed the Caricature, sent it to myself in an email, downloaded it onto my Desktop, and Imported it into PhotoShop from the Desktop. So I could crop the background of my Studio off the photo…..

But then, when I opened his email to ‘Reply’ with the picture, I realized Oh. NYE. That’s New Year’s Eve! Uhoh ~ I’d better contact him. Because he had had me write December 27 in Ink.

We decided that I could just make the change on the emailed version. By doing it in PhotoShop.

On my New Computer. I had been given a much needed new Computer for my Birthday. It’s a sleek new Mac. Much different than the PC I had been using. At the time that I had to deal with this situation, I wasn’t yet completely comfortable with my MAC. At the bare hint of a touch, pictures became transparent and the windows combined with each other. I had to do my own ‘on the job training’, so to say.

I flipped around the options, and I found a place where I could change stuff. Hmmm, I’ll change this, I’ll change that, I’ll set it up this way best…… Success ~ I can now keep the pictures in separate windows in PhotoShop on my Mac.

But now what. My activities must have affected the Computer’s ability to import pictures from my Printer into PhotoShop. I had written 31 on a separate piece of paper, planning on Moving it into place on the Caricature, and just covering up the New York City part. But it did not pop up in PhotoShop when I ‘Import Picture from Device’. And it didn’t show up in Documents, Downloads, or Desktop either.

I spent Hours trying to figure out how to Import Pictures from my Printer (Scanner). My client expects the picture to be emailed right away. It was finished on time. All I had to do was email it to him.
What to do ~ What to do for my heart-filled Client ~

Aha! I hadn’t yet done much with PhotoShop on my new Mac yet. But I quickly figured out how to add Text and affect it. Here’s what I finally came up with:

It has a different ‘flavour’, but it was extra work that I was doing. Not part of our official Agreement. I figured out how to Import the Pictures later ~ on my own time. For now, this represents the experience. And isn’t that what Art is supposed to do anyway?

Done. But then I had no job for December 27, 2014. A very busy time of year, but I had previously turned down a Couple of requests because I was committed to the arrangements I had made to handle this Studio Caricature in person. So, kinda time off. I ended up sitting in Starbucks with my IPad and my Client’s reference pictures. I decided to Surprise him with a free Bonus picture. To help him deal with his feelings about his Girlfriend’s changed plans. And to perfect’ my Party Style Digital Caricatures at the same time.

I worked in Layers.
First Layer was an Underdrawing:

On top of that, I did the Linework:

Here it is when I deleted the Layer with the Underdrawing:

Then I put in the home-colors:

I liked that. It’s my style. I might even prefer it at this point ~ before the shading and the highlights and the extra playing. Easy on the eyes. Peaceful. But the following picture does make more of a Statement about the situation. So I felt happy to send it to my Client. An Engagement Gift from his Artist in NY.

you can click on some pictures in this blog to see them larger

To Hire Artist Alison Gelbman:

(516) 579-4706

optidust@gmail.com

I like people. Even when they play around, overexaggerating funny faces when they sit for their Caricature. But it really isn’t necessary for me to see a funny face. It actually just slows down the picture production (many clients ask me ‘how many can you do per hour’) and makes it Harder for me to see what to draw.

As long as we’re having a Fun experience, I just keep on drawing. This photograph shows a quick Moment that these guests showed their Caricature expressions. Being playful. The guests tried to control what the Artist would see. It actually just confuses what I do see with what they want me to see

I certainly wasn’t able to see the affectated expressions the whole time I was drawing. Even if a guest Thinks s/he is holding a silly pose, the Feeling of it actually changes constantly. And that’s what makes the best Caricatures ~ when I can capture the Feeling of the expression. I feel so much more comfortable when the guests sit Naturally. It’s so much easier to come out with a good picture. But I do not dampen their Party Spirit. I just draw keep on drawing. Letting the kids be kids. Letting the people be people. Happy hearts

you can click on some pictures in this blog to see them larger

To Hire Artist Alison G:

(516) 579-4706

optidust@gmail.com

I don’t like iphone-gloves. I feel Colder in the spots where they are iphone-sensitive than if I wasn’t wearing any gloves at all. So I cut open one fingertip from a pair of knit gloves, and I’ve been wearing them under knit mittens that can flap-up to expose the finger when I have to iphone…….. But I couldn’t find flap-up mittens that were Waterproof. For shoveling snow. So I asked my husband to wrap duck-tape around my knit mitten ~ something that I saw on the boy who pumps my gas. It worked great!

you can click on some pictures in this blog to see them larger

To Hire Artist Alison Gelbman :

(516) 579-4706

optidust@gmail.com

and here are some close-ups of those Caricatures from the post titled ‘Visual Music’

you can click on some pictures in this blog to see them larger
To Hire Artist Alison Gelbman :
(516) 579-4706
optidust@gmail.com

a nice relaxing picture

you can click on some pictures in this blog to see them larger

To Hire Artist Alison Gelbman :

(516) 579-4706

optidust@gmail.com

perhaps our lemon tree is rootbound?

i feel exCIted with the Yellow, but im concerned about the dry leaves. Falling off. Will transplant it if I can find soil. I hope the new planter will fit on a rolling dolly. It’s hard to pick up a Tree.

you can click on some pictures in this blog to see them larger

To Hire Artist Alison G :

(516) 579-4706

optidust@gmail.com

Once again, I feel thrilled Love for my Clients. This happens so often these days. I don’t understand that I get so emotionally involved with the people that I know lightly for just a few hours. I do have a very Loving Husband and Family. They thrill me tooooo.

I guess that if you are feeling true Love for one, then another, and another, and they are loving you back, you get to the point that you are feeling the Love with many others.

Here is a picture from an event that I drew for a Lady who knew me from an event where I had drawn 8 years ago. She still had those Caricatures on her wall (framed), and now she really Searched to find me again ~ saying that she wanted only me to draw for her, or else she would not have been arranging for Caricatures at all. And they took real good care of me at their Party too. Oh Wow ~ I felt blown away with the Love.

you can click on some pictures in this blog to see them larger

To Hire this Artist:

(516) 579-4706

optidust@gmail.com

Valentine’s Day. A confusing Holiday.

On the one hand, we have all sorts of Children’s Events. Most noted was the yearly classroom activity of handing out Valentine’s Day cards that was always done while I was growing up. Sort of like a homework thing in which we were supposed to prepare a cheap card for each person in the class.

But on the other hand, we’re told that it has to do with Romance. Intimate Love with our Significant Other (apparently everyone Must have a Significant Other ~ It can feel even more imperative than getting our Homework done for school). Private.

I feel like the holiday makes a Little more sense when I remember the story about St Valentine ~ A man who sent real heartfelt Love notes from his prison cell. In That scenario, I can understand that a person might have a serious heart-yearning connection expressed just through the mail. It reminds me How Important marks on paper Are. How one heart affects another heart. Whether expressed through drawings and decorations or through the written word.

you can click on some pictures in this blog to see them larger

To Hire Artist Alison Gelbman :

(516) 579-4706

optidust@gmail.com

The Word. The Name of the Lord.

This is interesting. It’s what it’s about. How people feel in the moment.

Sometimes they arrive at Parties nervous, self-conscious. My first view of them might look something like This. I feel like they’re covering up their naturally happy hopeful hearts:

I try to make them feel Welcome. They start to warm up. I show them what I drew, and then

WOW! You can see by their Reactions that this Party has just become Better. This is now a Great Party!

I feel so grateful to be able to see what my Caricatures actually Do. It’s more than just a drawing. It’s encouraging Joy .

Encouraging Joy. Even the word is interesting. The word Courage is in Encourage. It takes Courage to let yourself show. It takes Courage to let go and EnJoy. And of course, it takes Courage to be an Artist. A Party Artist.

Guests can’t keep up their defenses when they see My Artwork

you can click on some pictures in this blog to see them larger

To Hire this Artist:

(516) 579-4706

optidust@gmail.com