Featured Artist: Allover Art

1. Tell me a bit about yourself (name, location, affiliations, personal stuff).

Hello! My name is Ruth Jones and I am the artist and owner of Allover Art in Holly Springs, NC. My husband and I are newlyweds, and we live with our three year old rescue German Shepherd mix Kasey. We adore her and she has been a great inspiration to me. I specialize in original fine art oil paintings on canvas, as well as any other creative medium I can get my hands on. I also dedicate myself to creating custom art that speaks uniquely of you. I possess the ability to render an enormous diversity of subjects through oil paint. My custom work includes pet portraits, wedding portraits, family portraits, and landscapes. My talent for, and delight in, painting first took shape in high school where I was a member of the National Art Honor Society. A graduate of Rutgers University, I received a degree in Art History by studying the various eras, techniques, and great masterpieces that helped shape the art world into what it is today. I interned at a New York City art publication where I received further exposure to the workings of the art community. A few years later, the desire to share the knowledge and experience that I had gathered initiated the creation of Allover Art!

2. What is the first thing you can remember making by hand? How and why did you make it?

I was sitting in my bedroom one day on a weekend, back when I was in high school. I must have been bored because I decided I would realistically draw my hand. Well I drew it and my mom saw it and complimented me on it. That spurred me to enroll in a general visual arts class in high school, and it was there that I fell in love with painting.

3. Why should people buy your product?

I often find that people are looking for a painting to go in their home, or a way to memorialize a pet, and then they come across me. The majority of my work is custom and I take great pleasure in working closely with my clients to create exactly what they want. When it comes to my pet portraits, I have often heard that my paintings look like photos. A fellow Etsyian even said that when they went into my shop they thought I did photography, before they read my descriptions and realized that my works were actually oil paintings. I work to exceed the expectations of my clients.

4. Besides what you feature in your shop, do you plan to turn your creative mind elsewhere or what do you hope to creatively do next?

I am contemplating creating miniature acrylic paintings on wooden tiles. I have several 1 1/4 inch tiles that I am going to create small works of art on, seal in resin, and turn into pendants for necklaces.

5. Where would be the best location for showing off your product (the Louvre, Buckingham Palace)?

My work is best displayed in my clients' homes. However, I have found that vet offices and any place that dedicates itself to animals are also great environments for my work. Art galleries are also great environments for viewing my work.

Etsy Shop: http://alloverart.etsy.com
Etsy Teams: NCTriangle Team
Website: http://alloverart.net
Blog: http://alloverart-nc.blogspot.com

Featured Artist: Paint with Barb Oil Paintings

Paint with Barb oil paintings and beaded treasures

1. Tell me a bit about yourself (name, location, affiliations, personal stuff).

Barbara Furlong, Hermiston, Oregon, USA. I have been crafting all my life but I only started in oils in the last 4 years or so. I always thought oils was too messy but now that is all I do. I love it. I teach oil painting so I have lots of paintings to sell. To see all my paintings go to www.paintwithbarb.com

2. What inspires you? Where do your ideas come from?

Photos of the sea, books, my mind. I think my students inspires me the most, they ask for something and then I have to do it.

3. What is your favourite thing in your shop and why?

All of them are my favourites. I love each of my paintings.

4. What is the best thing about your products?

They are priced fair, if you buy 3 paintings or more, free shipping.

5. What is the best homemade item you have ever bought?

Quilt

Etsy Shop: http://www.paintwithbarb.etsy.com
Etsy Teams: Interiordesignteam, wwao, bbest
Blog: http://paintwithbarb.blogspot.com/
Website: http://www.paintwithbarb.com