Saturday, July 14, 2012

My “Other” Creative Life:

Most artist, being creative people, tend to create in more than one way. Many of us create in multiple mediums, and/or in multiple styles. Some artists do this all under one name. Most however, have additional names under which they create. For example, I share my photography under my ArtFullWorld shop on Etsy. And I also have a children’s line of paintings under the name Billie TK. I thought today I’d share one of those paintings with you. If you come into my home, on the wall of my living room is a series of 3 giraffe paintings. Guest have often commented that they feel they are being watched because somehow (I really have no idea how) the eyes of some of my subjects seem to follow you around the room as you moved. I personally love giraffes. When people ask why I started painting them I always ask if they have met a giraffe. Because for me, to meet a giraffe is to love giraffes. They are such amazing creatures. They are tall, really big animals that are at the same time quite gentle to humans. And also impressively can be quite strong when encountering by some of the fieriest animals on the African plains. I find when I take pictures of them that they rarely stay in frame – the most uncooperative of subjects! Giraffes are very curious of us, and the younger ones especially have some of the most comical yet cute expressions when looking at you. So this is what I try convey when I paint them. I know starting out with giraffes as subjects is somewhere of an odd/ off-beat topic. But after painting one of the pictures I had taken of a giraffe, I was amazed at the response of toddlers and young children coming into the group studio I was working from. And so I knew I had a hit. Of course a lot of my paintings actually end up on the walls of adult rooms. Because I am not the only one who loves things that make people smile like happy giraffess. If you’d like to see more of this style of my work, it’s available online at www.BillieTK.com or on Etsy at www.Etsy.com/Shop/BillieTK for another side of creativity see: Behind the scenes look at my Abstract Landscapes