Art by Niki Hilsabeck

"Le Chat Bleu" 12 x 16 Mixed Media on Paper Click here to view Etsy listing On many occasions, the painting itself requires so much work, photographing it is the easy part. This painting was one of those rare cases where the process itself went smoothly (too smoothly, I should have suspected) and photographing the piece proved to be the real challenge. I'm working on a series of color themed mixed media cats. Trouble is, I'm using different paper than usual and working in monochrome, both of which may be contributing to my difficulty with photographing the end results. I like to work on bigger paper with mixed media, so going to a smaller size and scanning the works aren't really an option. I finally got some decent pictures in the bright sunlight, something that tends to wash out my other works but ultimately was needed for this one. Blue is a serene color, even in its brightest form. I knew my "chat bleu" would need to fit the tranquil m...

"Bolsa Chica Grebe" 16 x 20 Acrylic on Canvas Original Photo "Reflected Dreams" by Bunny Clarke Click here to view original photo: http://www.redbubble.com/people/bunnyclarke/art/6743988-reflected-dreams Click here to view Bunny Clarke's RedBubble Profile: http://www.redbubble.com/people/bunnyclarke A year ago, I would have been afraid to tackle a workshop like this: Solo Exhibition's Sojie 12, where artists translate photographs posted by fellow group members. I've never worked on a collaboration like this before, and wanted to select a piece I had a genuine interest in so I could give it my best. I took a class in wildlife painting a few years back, and although I loved it, I never focused too much of my art on painting wildlife in the traditional style (i.e. realistic!) I loved the reflections in this painting, and thought it would give me a good challenge: painting wildlife in acrylic, a medium I've been out of t...