Fall Crawl 2011 pictures!

I am finally getting to show you pictures of how our place was set up during the Saint Paul Art Crawl. Enjoy!

This is the main hallway sort of area after you have walked past our laundry closet and such. It's our first big wall to put art on.  The small table in the corner has my Ferlin book on it, all ready to be picked up and read. Above it are Joe's comic pages and my fairy inks from the Marscon 2010 promo.

This is showing more of the whole wall. Joe's new painting is featured between to his comic pages and the sculls he designed for a friends tattoo.

This is half of our living space transformed into an art gallery. On the round table we featured our magnet packs as well as drawings and business cards. Paintings, prints and books are displayed on the tables just beyond that. Behind our makeshift wall is our working studio space.

This is the other half of our "main gallery." More paintings, prints, and original work can be found on the tables, grids and walls. 

We were lucky enough to find a great display rack to hold all of our many prints. We sell epson, mat finish and lustre metallic prints of a variety of our work.

This is my favorite little corner where we have a print station set up as well as offering paypal. In the background the wall with lots of different posters and art all over it is our studio. It's a very cosy place to work.

So this is what our apartment looked like. I hope you enjoyed seeing our set up!

If you haven't seen my husbands work before, or even if you have, go visit the artwork of Joe Rheault at www.dirtyinks.com

Art Crawl Fall 2011!

My husband and I are opening our apartment once again for the Saint Paul Art Crawl. And as you can imajine this week has been full of making sighns, rearanging furniture, contacting our fellow artist, and as much etc. as possible. We love the experience of inviting people into our home and sharing all of our hard work. If you live in the twin cities of Minnesota there is still time to stop on over.

We are open today Saturday October 8th from 12-8pm and Sunday October 9th from 12-5pm!

This is the poster/handout that my husband Joe Rheault designed.  If there is a particular piece that stands out to you and you want to know more about leave a comment

We are located at 2285 University Ave West, Saint Paul, MN 55114

Come see us and say hi!
I will be posting pictures of the event a bit later. Watch for it!

Yesterdays desk

I am happily working on so many things rite now. Some drawings, paintings and crafty ideas. I'm very exited about it all. There will hopefully be some new items for the art crawl in October as well as my portfolio and a possible etsy shop. Here are some phone picts of what my desk looked like yesterday and a little bit of what I am working on.

This is how my Sunday started with a nice freshly painted canvas that I transferred one of my drawings to.  I  would also like to introduce you to my desk ta da! 

This is the canvas I worked on yesterday. My carbon paper transfer  made my lines a little bit dark, so I erased them before I painted. You can see how light the lines at the top of the canvas look compared to the bottom. 

Here is my canvas that I started with white paint.

Here is my desk at the end of the day. My blue canvas has all of it’s pretty swirls painted on it and I am prepping my fairy tail birds for my yellow canvas. 

I hope you enjoyed getting to see a glance of what I worked on yesterday. I think my desk is a pretty cool place to be and it has a lot of nifty things on it sometimes. Did you notice the jars in the first picture? I’ve got some ideas for my little collection of them.

gather round' the pond

To celebrate one of the last weekends before school, my parents hosted a small gathering of neighbors in their backyard. They made up a quick invitation and I was asked to lend a drawing. I wasn't able to attend, but was happy to contribute. Here is my little sketch that formed the header of the invite.

I drew this with pencil on a simple sheet of computer paper  and then went over my lines with a gel sort of ink pen.

I heard that everyone had a great time and loved the invite. Happy end of summer to all!

modely me

When I am drawing, I know it has helped so much to have reference, weather it's for the folds and details of a costume or the gesture of a pose. The more I have taken photos the more I find myself understanding the form of what I draw, and sometimes now I remember what something is really supposed to be rather then guessing how it might be. For a lot of my more recent work, I have taken photos or had my husband take them. Even if it's just on my phone it's still my own little study of form and shape.

So when recently I was asked to be a model for a day, by my friend the Abundant Empress, I was pleased to pose.  She wanted to "take pictures that would serve as inspiration for fairies, medieval princesses, and mythical beings." I was so happy to be found such an inspiration and thought of as a light spirited fairy.

 Photo copyright 2011 Abundant Empress, LLC

Photo copyright 2011 Abundant Empress LLC

 I really like my twirl. Capturing motion is always dynamic. In the second photo I really like the tilt of the head, the leg that is bent, and the way that my hand is against the tree. When I am collecting images for reference, it's some of these kind of details that Laurel was able to show that make a pose worth drawing. Thank you Laurel!

You can read Laurel's blog at............www.abundantempress.blogspot.com

new fairy!

A little while ago I finished another commissioned fairy sketch. I still love drawing fairies and I learn a little more about drawing everytime. When it comes to drawing, I always feel challenged. Cheers to more drawing and as always more fairies! There will be many more to come I am sure!

Copyright Megan Rheault 2011. This fairy is drawn on an off-white handmade rag paper .

Wear it!

Did you want a MarsCon 2011 t-shirt ?!! If you weren't there and you really want one....I don't have any, but a very few are available while they last at OffWorld Designs! They are a company based in Chicago that prints and embroiders all kinds of t-shirts. They do t-shirts for a lot of conventions, including MarsCon.

This is me wearing my size small shirt. The actual shirt color is light gray and the art is very vibrant.

This is what the illustration on the shirt looks like. Notice our signatures (Joe and mine) under our characters!

Please go to their site and send them an email or call if you are interested. The MarsCon 2011 shirts are Hanes, thick cotton. There is 1 small, 2 mediums, 9 larges, and 3 extra larges left, so hurry and get yours today before they are gone forever!

The direct page to buy the t-shirts is.....
http://www.offworlddesigns.com/p-654-marscon-2011-t-shirt.aspx
You can also call them up at 815-786-7080 and they will be happy to answer any question you may have. Happy purchasing!

Paperclay you say?

A while ago I was talking to my friends about possible ideas and projects they are working on. I got really exited about the topics of munny's (plastic customizable toys), etsy (the online shop of handmade goods), dollhouses, and the use of creative paperclay (an air drying sculpting clay.) My friend is making munny's and has them for sale on his etsy site. He is using sculpy to customize them, making them dimensional and adding details. There are so many ways you can customize your munny and the topic of munny's reminded me of the product Creative Paperclay. It's a product I haven't used yet but have heard great things about.

The paperclay site totes this message...

"Creative Paperclay  is a non-toxic modeling material that can be sculpted, molded or shaped, and air dries (no baking!) to a hard finish that can be carved, or sanded - perfect for artists and crafters of all kinds!"

Exiting! I am thinking of of all the possible applications for it. I have seen people make hand sculpted ball jointed dolls - who have full range of motion and posing capabilities. I have also seen it used as an additive, such as on munny's, where you can attach it to an object to make details. On the side of a dollhouse you can use it to sculpt and carve brick, stone or other patterns. From what I have read you can sculpt it, let it air dry, and then add more to your sculpture if need be. You can go on to carve it, drill holes in it, sand it to smoothness, paint it intricately, and seal it for protection. In my mind it sounds like the best highly conceived mix between paper mache and wood that has ever been invented. I'll be sure to let you know if it lives up to my grand assumptions when I give it a try here in the future.

Anyways here is my someday idea I have proposed to myself.

This is a little sketch I did for my future paperclay sculpture. I imagine that she has poseable arms and that she can move her head. In her heart there is a cut out area that has a little bird inside, because her heart is aflutter.

To find out more about munny, the "do it yourself toy" visit...........

www.kidrobot.com/Toys/DoItYourselfToys/

You can learn all about different artists, events, contests, and inspirations to create your very own munny.

To learn all about the wonders of paperclay visit www.paperclay.com.
And be sure to look them up on facebook to discover new ways people are using their paperclay everyday.

Lake Mills

For my sweet cousin Nikki's graduation, my family and I visited Lake Mills Wisconsin. My husband and I drew a card for her and I made a sign for the card box and wrapped it. While we were there we also had a great rainy day walking about. I am so very inspired. Oh how I love little towns....see what I mean.

This is the card that Joe and I drew. Joe drew Nikki first looking at one of her grad picts for reference. It looks so much like her. After he drew her I added in all of the scrolls, border, words, and stars. We had to snap a quick picture cause we don't travel with scanners and it needed to go in the box asap.

This is the card box that I wrapped and then made a sign for. I just drew it up super quick and taped it down. I like drawing borders especially when they are swirly.

On our rainy walk I saw this beautiful garden and I had to take a closer look.

This Venus statue is hidden in a garden just to the side of a driveway belonging to an old church building. The church is currently a residential building that is up for sale.

I went even closer and took her from a different side. She stands in the very middle of a maze-like walking path around her made up of short hedges.

These are peonies along the border of the driveway. There were many, many bushes of these beautiful dew filled flowers.

You can see how large and full the blooms are. So pretty. These were just outside of the little Venus maze garden.

Across the driveway there was a small little alcove that I was so curios about.

So I walked closer.

And there was a charming seated area under a trellis full of vines. I really wish I could buy this place. I can see me being so very happy here.

Here is the church building from across the street. Notice all the details like the tower, the stained glass window, and the stairway.

Walking a bit closer. 

This is one of the side doors. The roof and vines are so charming.

This is the largest window. Everything looked a bit gray that day. I can only imagine how stunningly magical it must look in the sun.

Another way to get in. I found three, but I am sure there are more.

I so wish could buy this lovely property, but alas it doesn't live where I do and it's price is only in my fantasy range.

Although I found myself very taken with the Church, continuing on our walk there was still more to be seen. This building is the towns library. Architecturally I am so drawn to the brick, the roof line, the little steeple, and the gingerbread doorway. It's located along the main street, that borders a central park.

This house is just one example of the charming buildings that make up the neighborhoods of this little town. There are so many pretty houses including many built in the late 1800's and early 1900's.

While walking along the main streets there were plenty of artistic stops to be found. I found this vintage store called Calamity Jane, which was not open that day, but it had a great entryway to look at threw the window. I pressed my camera/phone up to the glass to get a pict of this amazing and useful cabinet. I was so drawn to the colors of it and it’s staged really well with all those accessories. I challenge any girly girl to not like this piece.

If you want to buy the featured church building or just to see the spectacular pictures of the inside visit this site. www.cynthiaweston.com As amazing and fairy tale as the outside looks the inside is truly enchanting! If you do buy it please let me visit you! As an update they seem to have taken down the pictures or maybe the site is just not working for me today, either way it’s worth a try.

To see more about the shop Calamity Jane visit their Facebook at www.facebook.com/calamityjaneswi?sk=wall And be sure to stop by if you find yourself in lake mills.

fairy sketch love

For the spring art crawl I had hoped to draw many fairies. I wanted to have framed sketches of pretty fairies filling a whole wall, lots and lots and lots and lots of them. Although I still hope to do that, this fairy was the very special only one I had a chance to draw. She was so sweet in her expression, so hopeful, so understanding, and compassionate. She was so well received that I was commissioned to draw her again for a very special gift. This fairy has found a wonderful home, twice, and I was so honored to know that a seemingly simple drawing can mean so much to so many. Sometimes it's not about how many fairies I could have drawn, it's the one that I did draw and got to hang up on the wall.

I am really loving drawing on this particular paper. It is a rag paper that I drew my previous fairy from"i want to draw another fairy" post.  I can easily erase with my kneaded eraser and it doesn't leave a lot of marks because of the texture in the paper. I also really like the creamy color that makes all the drawings have a warm glow.