Wednesday, March 30, 2011

More Psychedelic Waterfalls~ Even more Abtracts!

 More waterfalls!  Even MORE abtract this time~ I am also selling Psychedelic Waterfall merchandise (keds shoes, shirts, pendants, etc.) in my zazzle store: http://zazzle.com/swartzko  Check out all the cool stuff for sale. The pink waterfall to the left is one of my favorites, I like the juxtaposition of the pink and green colors~
 This one above is interesting, looks like lava is seeping into the water and pink lava is falling from the waterfall!
 And this one is totally abtract, much like the pink one in my previous post, this time reimagined in blues and greens~
This one shows the power of the water, which lends itself to abstract art so easily, I call it "Lava Explosion"

Sunday, March 27, 2011

So we stumbled upon a Psychedelic Waterfall one day on Kauai...


 So a friend who lives on Kauai mentioned this fabulous waterfall hike to us. We went a few days ago and it was absolutely stunning so I decided to make the photos into some digital art, I like how the red looks like lava and how the greenery around the waterfall blends into so many colors.


Our friend's dog, Dee-Oh-gee came along for the adventure!

This one I call "Waterfall Mana", Joe soaking up the power of the waterfall~
The one above looks like my husband Joe is running away from the lava waterfall~
Our 2011 Christmas card for sure above~
I like how many colors are in the purple one above.
                                            A little abstract waterfall fun above!
"Waterfall Wonderland"~ buy a print: http://erika-swartzkopf.artistwebsites.com

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

The Blue and Yellow Pualu (surgeonfish) Fish Story

 Aloha from the island of Kauai, my favorite outer island, nice place to go to get away from the city of Honolulu~ Snorkeling at Lydgate park yesterday, I saw these cool, blue and yellow Pualu reef fish, there were a whole bunch of them together because a kid was feeding them in the water. Not sure what kind of fish specifically (anyone know?) but it is the inspiration for my next painting. The fish really was that blue and the ocean was unusually clear, lucky I live Hawaii, trying to share the aloha to you! Buy a print of the fish on the left here: http://erika-swartzkopf.artistwebsites.com



Saturday, March 19, 2011

Another psychedelic waterfall from our trip to Hana, Maui last year. See my husband's head in the waterfall if you look closely? Tomorrow we leave on our yearly outer-island trip, this time to the island of Kauai~ Hopefully new waterfall and forest pictures coming up!  But a print or greeting card of this image here: http://erika-swartzkopf.artistwebsites.com

Thursday, March 17, 2011

In Hawaii, I often swim with wild, Hawaiian Sea Turtles at Kaimana Beach after work. My shots show them almost flying and they are so peaceful-looking, it inspires a better attitude I have towards life in general and all the little problems I encounter in my daily life. I am selling these shots for $20 in an 8" x 10" size, leave a comment or email me here if you are interested: swartzkopf@yahoo.com
Aloha!

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

The painting of mine at the left is called "Kaleidoscopic  Adventure"~ I based it on the idea of a pinwheel spinning, bright colors and gold flashing, moving, moving, moving. I find it interesting in art how to depict movement in painting where there is none, the illusion of a kaleidoscope creating shapes but never static. It can be hung four different ways and should be framed so it can be easily changed, thus creating four different, separate outlooks. Change is certain in this lifetime, the earth is changing (we can tell by the recent earthquake) and so are we - art should be changeable, too, don't you think? Buy this original for $170 or a print of it here: http://erika-swartzkopf.artistwebsites.com  Big Alohas!

Friday, March 11, 2011

Hearing about the tsunami that affected Japan and Hawaii today gave me a little perspective on life, Live every day to its' fullest ~ you never know what's around the next corner. Oh, and be sure to stop and smell the flowers often~

This original, watercolor painting is called "Shave-Ice Hibiscus", continuing with the shave-ice theme, flowers floating on the ocean in rainbow colors. Original available: $165.  

Thursday, March 10, 2011

This painting is called "Shave-Ice Seahorses"~ In Hawaii, we have a treat called shave-ice, similar to sno-cones on the mainland, where shaved ice is formed and put in a cone-like cup and brightly-colored syrups are poured over the top. This painting is inspired by those super-bright colors, what if seahorses were colored as brightly? Aloha!
Original available $175 or buy a print here: http://erika-swartzkopf.artistwebsites.com

Monday, March 7, 2011

Tattoo

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Introducing my most popular black and white drawing on my Fine Art America website, it was created as a drawing first with sharpie, then tweaked with my iphoto for the dark areas in the corners. Looks like a polynesian tattoo to me. Titled: "Tattoo"
Harvey the Seahorse
24-karat Seahorses
Seahorses!  It's a theme that I've been working on for a few years now and people seem to love them, there's a certain ethereal quality to seahorses, they are such odd-looking yet beautiful creatures. These are two seahorse paintings I did last year for a friend, love how they look like they're floating and flying~ you can buy prints of them here: http://erika-swartzkopf.artistwebsites.com

Sunday, March 6, 2011

Fishflower~ sharpie on white paper

Another sharpie drawing on white paper, this one is ocean and music-influenced, I like to include these two motifs whenever I can in my drawings. 
Original $35.00~ swartzkopf@yahoo.com

Saturday, March 5, 2011

Erika's Sea Glass Necklaces! 
The one on the far-left is sold, the other two are $40 each. Made of sea glass, glass beads, Jobe's tears seeds, these are inspired by the colors of the ocean. Email me if interested: swartzkopf@yahoo.com~

The Scribbler ~ a COOL drawing tool, not just for artists!

Can you draw with a mouse?  This new gadget called "The Scribbler" is a great way to draw with gradations of line and graph-like forms and you can save your newly created drawing on your computer, it's way fun, try it! (it's not just for artists)
http://www.zefrank.com/scribbler/scribblertoo/
This painting is called "The Trip Factory" (original available $180). It looked like a sort-of abstract art factory to me, with elements of nature (the flowers) and musical influences (bass clef motifs). There is also an ocean influence going on here, with the flowing, horizontal lines and movement. Prints available here: http://erika-swartzkopf.artistwebsites.com

Friday, March 4, 2011

"Tree Tikis Cuz"




Original: $200 or buy a print here: http://erika-swartzkopf.artistwebsites.com/
  
Introducing my Tiki Series, this one is called "Tree Tikis Cuz", three tikis having fun chatting at a party underwater. Email me if you want to buy the original at: swartzkopf@yahoo.com

Trippy Waterfall in Hana, Maui

Buy a print here: http://erika-swartzkopf.artistwebsites.com/

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Golden Waikiki Sunset~ $180

Buy a print here: http://erika-swartzkopf.artistwebsites.com/
Interesting story behind this painting, "Golden Waikiki Sunset":  My husband had a solo cello gig at an art gallery in downtown Honolulu to play for the Hawaii Watercolor Society (he recorded guitar tracks earlier and played solo cello live to his own guitar recording). They invited people to come in and see the artists paint-in-action and invited me to paint with them, so I did and this is what came out. It really seemed like the painting painted itself, one of my more traditional styles, inspired by my husband's cello and guitar playing!

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Paint like Jackson Pollock!

 Draw like Jackson Pollock yourself! Click on the link below, it will bring you to a blank page, move the mouse to make a line and click on the mouse to change the color randomly, COOL!
http://www.jacksonpollock.org/

Curly-Q Crab~ sharpie on paper $35

I like to do sharpie black drawings on white paper, as well watercolor, I tend to focus more on design aspects, instead of shading and tones. This one looked like a happy, abstract crab, ready to jump out at ya!

A waterfall painting, watercolor-on-paper, titled simply: "Waterfall"~ $175

Welcome to Psychedelic Waterfall, Erika Swartzkopf's art blog! This blog was inspired by the painting at right of the same name (original available $200)  I hope to share the outstanding beauty of the Hawaiian islands with the rest of the world with my unique, abstract style. I plan to post my watercolor paintings, drawings and mutimedia creations that are for sale here with prices, and I ship worldwide. Contact me here: swartzkopf@yahoo.com for shipping quotes or any other questions. I also will post interesting art-related topics and tips that other artists might find helpful. Come with me on this fantabulous journey and ALOOOOOOOHA!