THE IVORY BUNNY
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2020 Laundromat Mural

6/4/2022

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On May 31, I joined forces with Commonwealth Murals and FreshPaint Springfield to bring a fun and whimsical waterpark to the community!

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We Delivered!

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WOLFDREAM at The Satanic Temple

3/16/2022

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Last Saturday, March 12, 2022, we ventured to The Satanic Temple in Salem! It was quite the adventure! We drove up for the reception of their WOLFDREAM exhibit fro Springfield. Of course, on a day where what you want is sunshine and rainbows, we got tested with rain, wind, and cold. It was freezing.

When we finally made it to The Satanic Temple, our sanctuary for the evening, we were welcomed in the warm gallery with a glass of wine, wonderful hospitality, and a show beautifully curated by Nathan Emm. The proceeds of the show will be going to Wolf Hollow: Conservation and Education Center.

This whole endeavor was very overwhelming. Showing with Salem Art Gallery was already one of my goals, I didn't expect it to actually happen! I had so much fun looking at art  and listening to the first live show ever to be given there with with my husband. It was a beautiful evening. I couldn't have thought of a better way to start getting back out.
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If you would like to purchase any of the art, contact The Salem Art Gallery.
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Getting Started

8/3/2021

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It all started one fateful January 16. I was born.
Just Kidding!
When I was about 8 or 9 (give or take) I wanted to be a ballerina (I was a very bad one). At that particular moment in time, I wasn't doing great in school so my mom pulled me out of dance class. This opened up a hell of a lot of time for me to run around school doing nothing of substance while my mom tutored.
Mommy wasn't having it. So she put me in after school art class until she got out.
This is where Socorrito Diaz comes in. She was my first art teacher (or at least the first one I remember). I don't know what she saw, whether it was passion, or talent, or just a kid that liked being creative and had too much energy but she nurtured my creativity like a person carefully tending to her garden. When I was about 12 or 13, She took my mom aside and essentially told her I was getting away from her. I needed a new instructor so I could continue to grow.
That's when I ended up at the hands of Rafael Rivera Ortiz. He took one look at me and my mom and his words were "I dont teach children". We were both pretty terrified. When he asked me to show him some of my work, I reached into my pocket and handed him a crumpled piece of paper with some animals on it. It was enough for him to give me a shot.
I was with him until the age of 18 and since then, I have had a long line of teachers, mentors, friends and supporters that have shaped me into the artist I am today. Only time will tell what kind of artist ill be in the future.
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Ugh....

2/22/2021

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It's funny publishing after the little wins post. I'm grateful for Michael, he has had to deal with my crying almost on a daily basis. To be honest I'm quite the cry baby. But this week was different. It was a week of starting each and every day with bad news and every single bad news had to do with finance.  It felt like every time something got fixed something else would break off. These moments are the worst, they suck the life out of you and render you useless. 

​If every good painter paints what he is, then I am a clusterfuck.
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Trying New Things...Maybe

1/7/2021

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Doing Things, a little bit at a time is what seems to make a difference for me. The little wins, and I mean very little wins.  They make me feel so good and are like little bursts of fuel that keep me going!
Ok. I promise I started doing this before the new year started.... I have not succeeded with resolutions in the past. But I recently decided to, come hell or high water, I will walk every day!

I already failed btw. I'm the master of setting my expectations too high. Pretty much setting myself up for failure and then, for some reason, I'm shocked when I fail.

Its winter and cold...Its hard enough to get out of bed. But this time, it actually is different. I'm trying to be kinder to myself ("So maybe today you forgot to change the fish but you accomplished to do some exercise in weather you hate! AND YOU ENJOYED IT!") .  That's a win in my book.

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Little Wins List

  • Today I showered
  • Today I folded my clean clothes and put it away before I went to sleep
  • I didn't snap
  • I took a walk
  • I did the dishes
  • I took a picture!
  • I painted for 15 minutes
  • I payed my rent
(Expectations are real low for this, you can pretty much add anything. And why not celebrate the little victories that make us feel so good when we do them!)
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Studio Games

12/31/2020

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This is a little drawing exercise I like playing with when I'm in between projects.

You start with the page of a book, any book, this one is a dollar store book. Then you make your own rule as to where to place the dots (here I put them on the word "the"). You can be creative with this and put the dot every fifth letter or every time they use "she" or "he", have fun with it.

Finally, connect the dots! you will have made a small abstract piece! You can stop here or you can paint each shape a different color or you can try to find other things and draw them out! It's a game for the imagination.

I cut mine out and put it in my sketchbook!

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Creating New Habits

12/24/2020

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So there is this thing that I do. Its not a good thing, but I do it. I start telling myself ALL the things that I have to do and then my brain gets filled with crap and then I'm freaking out because I am having a panic attack because, well, its what I do.

I'm trying to stop this. granted its by scheduling myself out to the last second. Every minute is accounted for and there is no time wasted.  One of the habits I'm trying to create is this blogging. I always told myself I was going to and then procrastination, procrastination and some more procrastination and voila! The day has come I haven't written a blog or posted on any social media outlet and now I'm completely uninspired to do anything.
To make this easier on myself I decided to not go to crazy "Ok Gaby, work on your SM posts and use that image to inspire whatever you would like to write about." Got to say. its only day 1, but I think it helped! This exercise forced me to write something, ANYTHING, and my sleeping cat was the inspiration. Lets see if I will be able to keep this up! OH.....AND HAPPY CHRISTMAS EVE!!!!!!!!
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The Complete Smartist Guide Review!

12/22/2020

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I don't Read very often. It is a habit that I'm trying to get back at. Not because I don't like to read mind you, but because its something that doesn't really come easy to me. Its usually takes a lifetime and a half for me to get through a book. And when I do read  I very rarely, if ever, write a book review (Writing isn't really something I'm comfortable with either.).

I had to break the pattern with this one though. To quote the back of the book "This is the  book with all the practical information about how to actually make a career in the arts that you never learn in art school." And man alive did it deliver! I'm an artist, like many, whose career has been a series of trial and errors and, my GOD, the errors!

When I got out of college I had no idea what to do, where to go, or what I was doing. I remember asking for help at my university, some guidance to help illuminate my path.... I didn't get it. It was apparently something I had to figure out on my own. Many years and many painful realizations later, I was at an impasse. I could move on, try to live comfortably knowing that I gave up my truest love or keep fighting for it. I chose the latter (I must be a masochist). I bought "The Complete Smartist Guide" expecting the same regurgitated inspirational mumbo jumbo you usually get from self help books. I couldn't have been more wrong. One look at the table of contents and I knew this book was going to be read and reread and dissected. Upon reading the book I  started putting the advice into practice and immediately began to notice a change. Mind you, from the outside these changes were imperceptible. But in my studio, there was a level of professionalism that was palpable. I was no longer lost! I found a book and a community within it that was holding my hand and showing me the way!  The "secrets" of the art world no longer felt like secrets but more like problems with solutions. This book spelled out the problems so it was easier to find the solution that worked best for you.

"The Complete Smartist Guide" will not miraculously do the work for you, but it definitely bridged a gap between my art practice and my art business. It covers EVERYTHING. Not in vagaries like "write a resume, have an artist statement, build a website." but it breaks things down into "this is what galleries want to see, this is what is supposed to be in your artist statement, don't waste your time doing such and such." At the end of every section there is a TAKE ACTION checklist that summarizes the thinks you need to do. After that its up to you. Its all in your hands. This is the type of thing I wish they would have taught me in art school and I am glad that Ekaterina Popova and Alicia Puig are teaching me now.

If you are an artist unsure of where to go or you need help being pointed in the right direction, this book is a MUST in your creative library. Now go forth, and make good art!
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Playtime at the Studio!

5/24/2018

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Here at casa SepulValade were always working on something! Its great!

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Consistency

1/31/2018

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        So there has been a conversation that has been popping up lately about work ethic in the studio. This one is specifically directed at me. You see, I am highly impatient. Before I have even done the work I am already thinking five or ten steps ahead of myself and before I know it I've  burnt myself out. This is usually when I get lectured on how the work has to be done first, which is true. As good as it is to visualize where you want to be, its really not healthy if you are expecting anything to be manifested without the work being done.
         I am done with visualizing. It is time for me to manifest. This step is the one that I would allow to stop me at every step of the way. I would let the crippling fear of failure stop me from ever doing anything. Which is funny because the times I have conquered my fears  I never lost, instead I gained. So why do I still allow fear to win?
       Alex Cole said it best when he said "You have to be confident and brave enough to put yourself out there, because nothing is more fragile than your ideas. Someone's ideas. You're really exposing yourself anytime you're creating something, because it's coming directly from you. And it takes a lot of confidence and a lot of bravery to be able to do that." I don't think I was confident or even that I am, but I am choosing to be brave and putting myself and my fragile ideas out there.
      So I have been getting my shit together and treating my art like a third job. Before, I would work on it when I had time, in between the two jobs and whatever else popped up at the time and after all the excuses I made for it. That is unacceptable. So here I am, blogging on a  Wednesday because  I promised myself I would blog at least once a week. Posting daily because it forces me to be consistent.
       Consistency. This what I need for pretty much everything. I need to be consistent on sitting at my desk and be creative. I need to be brave enough to draw what I suck at. Last but not least, I need to be confident in my own skills and only worry about what I think of my own work. I need to not spend so much time worrying about where my work is going to take me or how its going to go over and just do it. If I don't, it will take me nowhere and I will have no one to blame but myself.
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    Hello! This space is where my mental and verbal diarhea will come out. It may be art related, inspirational, or just random . But it will definitely give you an idea of how my head works! 

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