New site

please visit me at www.rachaelspeirs.com

Thanks!

New Painting and ANNOUNCEMENT

Hi there! I have been working away on some new pieces and I would like to share my newest piece with you. It may already have a buyer, its a small piece (16x20) made on wood panel with scrap fabric, embroidery thread, paper, watercolor and ink.

click on image to see full size and zoom.

I also have an ANNOUNCEMENT. After some very pressing suggestions that I just could not ignore, I have decided to change over all my contact information (including my blog) to just represent me as an artist.

From now on things will be moving under the name "Rachael Speirs" instead of "hello earth", except for my etsy shop.

I will be sure to keep you posted of my changes so you have all of my contact info.

My email under hello earth will still be active but the emails will be forwarded to my new email address:

rachaelspeirsart@gmail.com

So please contact me via my new address!

This is a really positive and exciting change for me. I have typically felt too shy to share my artwork via my name and felt more safe going under a shop name like Hello Earth, but as I grow professionally I am really excited to feel confident in sharing my artwork under my name.

I hope you all are well and thank you so much!

Rachael

Custom Logo

This week, along with other new paintings, I worked on filling a commission order for a logo for a vintage company from Australia. Stone Fox will be opening in a couple of months so please check them out when you get a chance!

Love,
Rachael

The Queen West Art Crawl

My biggest goal for this year has absolutely been preparing for the Queen West Art Crawl. It was to be my first art show of my life, and kind of a time for me to figure out whether or not its realistic for me to keep going with my artwork. The whole experience has been a bit of a risk but also an adventure. I spent the summer working away at some pieces and this is a post about how it went.

Its kind of hard to see them with the glare of light on the glass (Scott did a great job!). But here are my two babies. They took a lot of time and a lot of hard work. Each piece took 1-2 months to create.

This piece is called Baba Yaga and is based on a Russian fairy tale about Baba Yaga and Vasilisa the Brave. In the story a young girl named Vasilisa is cast out of her house by her wicked stepmother and told not to return until she has a light from the witch Baba Yaga who lives in the forest. Baba Yaga is the goddess of dirty jokes by the way.

Vasilisa ventures into the forest and comes across three horses, the white one brings in the dawn, the red brings in the day and the black brings in the night.

Vasilisa meets the terrible Baba Yaga and is given a set of tasks to complete, these tasks seem impossible except for a magical doll that Vasilisa has that her birth mother who loved her, gives to her and the doll helps her complete the tasks. She is awarded the light and ventures home, however the light is placed inside a skull and upon arriving home the skull turns itself on her stepmother and engulfs her in flames.

This story is a message of using our past and the love and experience of our ancestors to forge a new path in life. And that the frightening things we experience are what lead us to new light.

This piece was purchased by Psychologist Dr. Paul Kelly of Clear Path Solutions and will be displayed in their offices.

My next piece is called The Dollhouse and it was purchased by a wonderful couple with an amazing art collection, Sharon and Fred Kroft. This piece is entirely open to interpretation and the only thing I want to tell you about it is that it is very dark at the bottom and gains more hope and light as you move upwards. One visitor at the art show said I have an obsession with upward movement. This gave me an 'a-ha' moment. All my life I work towards developing and reaching my full potential. Its amazing the subconscious things that appear in artwork. I was completely unaware of this.

Each room tells its own story and has its own adventure going on. Much of the piece was about my own experience exposing myself as an artist and a lot of the insecurities I experience with that.

Both pieces sold within the start of the first day and I have requests for new pieces that I have to get to work on. So its back in the studio for me. And by studio I mean guest room. As each piece takes over a month I had better get to work. I have one in process that I am going to finish up too.

All my love

xoxo

Rachael Speirs

This is my 'im in shock' face.

In the studio....

Im spending a full day in the studio getting paint on my hands! Its been a long time since I have felt this inspired and look out for an upcoming post about it. What do you do to get inspired?

Love,
Rachael

images via weheartit

Coloring Digitally

I have just discovered the joy of digitally coloring my drawings and it is awesome!
Why didn't I do this sooner?

She was walking through a cornfield when she saw the geese fly north and she knew winter was on its way...

You can buy her HERE 
 
He is a salty old french Canadian sea captain and he spends his time fishing in the Gulf of St Lawrence..

you can buy him HERE

This kitty is so happy and so sophisticated. Pick him up HERE

thoughts?

I am still wondering what to do with this young lady. Should I list her? Should I not? She seems stuck in limbo on her chilly bike...

perhaps not the best thing to draw in the winter time but lately I have been feeling fall creeping into my bones and filling me with thoughts of  falling leaves and stew.

I have been trying to force myself to relish the rest of this amazing summer! Why cant I be more grateful?

xoxo
Rachie