TMPixArt: Artwork and Books by Tracy Ruckman: artist

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Meet the Artist: Vickie Emms

NOTE: As I transition my art efforts to this TMPixArt blog from my personal blog at TracyRuckman.com, I will be sharing art posts that were originally published on that site earlier this year. While the posts may be duplicates, my body of art, and the body of art created by my guests has grown and expanded. Because of this, I invite you to visit their websites and explore their art even if you read the blog post previously - you might be surprised to find a new favorite somewhere along the way!

Meet the Artist: Vickie Emms

(originally published here)

Today, I'm happy to introduce a new artist friend, Vickie Emms.

Vickie, what type of art do you create?

I offer my own photography for sale on POD websites on products they offer.

I am a member of Redbubble and Zazzle where I have 4 stores, one of which
is totally my photography, called DiamondW_Photography.

I also create designs from elements I purchase on the internet from commercial use sites and add them to products on either of two of my stores on Zazzle, one of which is DiamondWillowDesigns and the other is a niche store of totally Plaids/Tartans, which originate from Scotland and offers products with those plaids on them on dozens of products in ThePlaidShop.

This is a magnet offered on Zazzle from a photo of a Scarlet Macaw taken in Mexico.

A favorite design from Zazzle would be tartan pillows from The Plaid Shop.

How did you get started creating this particular type of art?

Photography has always been my love and just making photos for sale wasn't satisfying enough. I started designing wedding invitations, shower invitations, wrapping paper and greeting cards, plus hundreds of other items that were fun to do. After buying Photoshop CS5, the products just became a natural to me. I love seeing end results, and specially sales!

Tell us the story behind ONE of your favorite creations.

One of the highlights of my photography travel was visiting Alaska in 2009. This is the most popular photo from that trip.

On the Way to Haines Alaska

Explore Vickie's shops at:

RedBubble
Zazzle: Diamond Willow
Zazzle: The Plaid Shop

About the Artist:

Vickie was born in Scotland in June, 1945. She is married, and is a mother of three grown daughters and has 7 beautiful grandchildren. As well, Vickie and her husband Fred have 8 foster grandchildren, who are no different to them as their own.

She lives in Manitoba, Canada, one of the prairie provinces. Most of her scenery is from those areas, although she lives close to the eastern lakes area of the province called the Canadian Shield and visits and camps in her favorite parks often. She LOVES the Canadian Rocky Mountains and travels almost every summer to Alberta to camp and photograph those beautiful icons.

She and her husband have been married 50 wonderful years, and travel quite a bit, usually within Canada and the United States. So you will see a mixed bag of shots from both countries. They have caught the travel bug the last couple of winters and have visited the Bahamas, Cancun, Mexico and the Dominican Republic and a couple of trips to Las Vegas.

She loves photography, camping, traveling, crafts, flower gardening and music. She has been taking photographs most of her life, upgrading to the newest cameras as they came on the market. Now with digital, she is having the time of her life. She's had photos published in Canadian Wildlife, a magazine by the Canadian Wildlife Federation. She has had photos published in Our Canada and More Our Canada and in the August/September issue of 2018 another is being published of a Cedar Waxwing eating Mountain Ash berries.

Meet the Artist: Dayna Bickham

Meet the Artist: Dayna Bickham

(originally published here)

I love how my life overlaps into different categories on a daily basis. I met today's featured artist through an entrepreneur group, then I learned she's an author, too. Please give a big welcome to artist Dayna Bickham.

Dayna, share with us the kind of art you create.

Abstract expressionism:

How did you get started creating this particular type of art?

My friends were art journaling in their Bibles. I too wanted to express my relationship with God artistically, but could not seem to do so in the same way everyone else was. Stickers, drawing and painting in my Bible was not fun for me. I talked with a friend about my lack of drawing skills and my desire to be artistic and she encouraged me to pick up a paint brush. Three years later I am creating art nearly every day and it has become more than a time of devotion. Many of my pieces reflect my emotions, thoughts, or times of worship. It is often a ministry to share my process as much as my art.

Tell us the story behind one of your favorite creations.

A friend of mine told me once that she did not like my work. I laughed and assured her that was okay, not everyone likes all art. I went on to explain that art needed to evoke

feeling and connect with the viewer. It was okay if mine did not connect with her. Fast forward several months (and after her home was hit by the POST Harvey flooding south of Houston) the Lord told her to ask me to paint something for her home. SHE DID NOT WANT TO ASK ME TO PAINT AT ALL. She did and after I laughed, (I am not perfect by any means!) I said yes. She asked if I could worship and paint to a particular song and of course I agreed. The song, "Peace, Be Still" by Lauren Daigle, (The Belonging Co) evoked images of ocean waves and moonlit nights. I wanted to convey the crash of waves and the stillness of the in-between moments of inhale and exhale. I did not charge for this large painting - (30" x 40") but instead gave it as a gift for her house warming. Her reaction was priceless. Needless to say, she loves my art now and even sees herself in the painting, floating in the waters, not worried at all about the wind and the waves of life. (I put her face in the picture near the top so I was super glad she saw it!)

Connect with Dayna on the Web:

Facebook ~ Dayna Bickham University
Facebook ~ Dayna Bickham Author
Instagram

About the Artist:

Dayna is an avid adventurer who writes, paints, and lives life out loud. Her passion for people leads her on mission trips around the world and into her own back yard. Her art is a business in itself, but she also teaches people to connect with their inner abstract artist and to embrace creativity in all its forms. Dayna never lets fear or circumstances keep her from moving forward because she follows after the ONE who makes all things work together for good. What is there to fear in that?

Meet the Artist: Patricia AZ Phillips

Meet the Artist: Patricia AZ Phillips

(originally published here)

Today, I'd like to introduce you to another new art friend, Patricia AZ Phillips.

What type of art do you create, Patricia?

Wildflowers combined with digital art greenery

I love digital photography. Technology has taken photography to a new level and it is a lot less expensive than film. I get totally immersed in a variety of photography genres that are not people related. I’m sure that tendency has to do with being an introvert. I enjoy photographing animals, nature, landscapes, still life, conceptual, and macro subjects. I take a lot of my shots with two digital SLR cameras, a variety of lenses and other equipment that supports those genres.

Over the last couple of years, I’ve taken a lot of photographs with my cell phone. I always tell people that it’s not necessarily the equipment but the photographer when they are surprised at the quality of some shots. Cell phone cameras have improved and with specialty lenses are capable of a lot more. The advantages over my other cameras is that the phone is lightweight and generally always with me. I also have a small cosmetic style bag that holds a variety of tiny lenses that I can attach to the phone for specialty shots. I do use the macro lens in that kit more than the other lens.

I mentioned technology because it’s so easy to improve and alter photographs these days too. I have combined some photographs with digital art elements for creative results. I also enjoy running some of my photographs through filters and apps giving them a unique appearance. That can get addicting and time consuming but sometimes the results are very pleasing.

How did you get started creating this particular type art?

I started in black and white film photography after joining the Army when I was 19 years

Digital photography mixed with graphic arts

old. I retain great memories in the darkroom with that distinct smell of chemicals watching black and white photographs appear like magic before my eyes in the chemical developer tray.

I soon found out that Kodachrome slides were a great way to store memories from all my travels. I still have trays of slides and a projector to view them. I gave up photography for about 12 years after having my cameras and all related equipment stolen during a military transfer.

When digital cameras began showing up on the market I decided to get an inexpensive “point and shoot” design to test it out. I loved the immediate viewing of images and that it was easy to manipulate the photos right on a computer.

It wasn’t long before I bought my first digital SLR camera (which I still use) and photo editing software. Soon after that I gave the stock photography business a try. I became disillusioned after a short time with the ever-changing requirements. When another photographer introduced me to Zazzle, the online print on demand company, I found a place to share my photography and opened my first store, The Aspen Stand, in July 2009.

Tell us the story behind one of your favorite creations.

Puzzle Pieces & Fork

One of my favorite photos is a conceptual shot that came to mind while I was working on a jigsaw puzzle. I shot a couple of sessions and deleted a lot of the shots but finally came away with several (and particularly one) that exemplified what I originally had in mind.

The image is an isolated fork with several jigsaw puzzle pieces between the tines. Some might think this is an odd photograph to be a favorite but it was the first time I set up props for a photo session and the image has been a successful seller on business cards. The success of the photo on business cards and the fun with the shoot got me more interested in taking still life photographs.

About the Artist:

Patricia was born and raised in New England then spent 22 years in the US Army in a variety of assignments and locations. Upon retirement from the military, she and her Army veteran husband moved west from their last assignment location. The couple made several relocations heading west across the US in search of work and a place to settle down. Eventually, they stopped in the beautiful high desert country of northern Arizona.

They have a house full of rescued fur babies and a lovable old chocolate Labrador Retriever. You’ll see her animal photographs on many Zazzle products. Those images include her furry companions and other interesting critters that she’s photographed over the years.

Find Patricia on the web:

Zazzle Stores:
The Aspen Stand
PaPr Emporium

Website:

The Aspen Stand

Meet the Artist: Mark Spivey

Meet the Artist: Mark Spivey

(Originally published here)

Today's featured artist, Mark Spivey, lives in Australia. Last week, I spotted his adorable designs on some metal lunch boxes, and knew I wanted to share his work with all of you!

Mark, tell us about the type of art you create.

Dream Big

I am presently drawing fun cartoons of animals, birds, fish, insects, etc. I like to create pictures that have an element of humour or silliness. Much of my art is inspired by growing up in the Western Australian countryside in Albany and observing the funny side of creatures that live there as well as the farm animals and ocean life.

I sell my art printed on clothing, mugs, greeting cards and many household items though my Zazzle store. That way it is being used in a practical way and is seen and enjoyed.

How did you get started creating this particular type of art?

Funny Fish Fishing

I was always interested in drawing from an early age and did very well at school art
classes but was not encouraged to pursue it as a career so I studied electronics instead. I used to also read a lot of old farm style cartoon books from artists in Australia and New Zealand and this has influenced the style I use today.

In my late 20s and 30s, I experimented with drawing small cartoons on paper and colouring in pencil and making these into magnets to sell at a local petrol (gas) station to tourists, which was successful. A couple of years later I also became interested in playing music and began recording CDs and doing the same which also did quite well. This convinced me that yes, there was a way to produce art and actually make it pay the bills.

In 2012, I discovered POD services like CafePress and Zazzle and began to work with a computer and drawing tablet. But it wasn’t until recently (after getting married and working long hours to pay a mortgage) that I was able to devote some real time into my drawings, which is what I do after work and on weekends now.

As I work on the road in my job (Community Aged Care) I usually do rough sketches on paper during lunch breaks and scan these into my computer when I’m home before creating the final result with drawing software.

To draw and colour digitally I use an old Wacom DTI 520 (hard to find these days) that I purchased off eBay which allows me to draw directly onto a computer screen and this works for me.

Share the story behind one of your favorite creations.

Frog Artist

I always was a big frog fan from an early age, catching frogs and tadpoles (living near a creek does that for a small boy) so this picture which was originally meant to just be part of my store logo ended up being printed on a number of smaller items such as this coffee mug.

Learn more about Mark and his art at his websites and Zazzle store:

Website: The Frog Factory

Zazzle: The Frog Factory

Music Website: Mark's Music Australia

About the Artist:

Mark Spivey is an artist and musician living in Perth Australia who draws fun cartoon style designs of fish, birds, animals and other cool stuff for kids and adults who are kids at heart.

His sense of silliness and whimsicality (is that a word?) printed on customisable everyday items is designed to add some colour and happiness to your day.

When Mark is not drawing he is supporting the elderly in the community, playing music at his local church and sometimes actually doing what his wife asks him to do.

Meet the Artist: Krystine Kercher

Meet the Artist: Krystine Kercher

(Originally published here)

When I embarked on this art journey - of making my photos and photo art available for purchase, I began meeting or getting reacquainted with other artists. I've loved hearing their stories, exploring their work, and being inspired by their dedication and creativity. I thought my readers might enjoy learning about them, too, so I'm going to introduce some of them to you in the coming weeks. Each Friday, I'll feature an artist here and share some of their work.

Today's guest is Krystine Kercher. We've known each other for many years through writing groups and prayer groups. Now we're members of art groups, too. Krystine is the person who talked me into trying Zazzle for my art, so we have her to thank for creating a monster!

Purple Spring Tulips
Monogrammed Tote Bag

Krystine, what type of art do you create?

I'm kind of quirky and eclectic. I use original photos I've taken in some of my artwork, but I also do colorful cartoon drawings, and I like to play with word art. I love experimenting with new techniques.

Almost all of the artwork I currently have available for sale is digital.

Cute Funny Tiny Cartoon People
Graduation Tie

How did you get started creating this particular type of art?

I got started creating digital artwork after I acquired a point and shoot camera in 2009 that allowed me to take nice photos. This led to playing with photo editing software, which led to discovering that I could draw and edit, and even paint with pixels.

Tell us the story behind ONE of your favorite creations.

From the Bible Story Chart Collection

One of my favorite creations is artwork for a Progress of Redemption Bible Story chart that I've been redoing. My favorite panel so far depicts Moses and the Israelites crossing the Red Sea. It's one of my favorites because of the whale with the toothy grin keeping them company.

My daughter says the whale is a little creepy. And then she says that she loves it. That makes me laugh every time.

Where can we find you on the web?

My artist website: Contrary Market

My two best stores on Zazzle are:

Zazzle: Ms Contrary

Zazzle: Bible Story Pictures

About the Artist:

Krystine Kercher developed a love of art early in life, and grew up drawing and coloring her own pictures and creating all kinds of wonderful little sculptures out of clay. She has taken a few art classes along the way, but is mostly self-taught.

She believes that art should never be boring or stale, but interesting and alive, and should always flow from the heart.

Flowers and cats rank high among her favorite subjects, but she also loves drawing cartoon people and animals, and creating word art.

She likes a challenge, and she takes custom orders.