I’m pleased to announce that my piece Autumn Ballerina (pictured at left) has been accepted into the Kennesaw State University 7th Biennial Visual Arts Alumni Exhibition. This will be my first year participating in an Alumni show for KSU since I graduated in 2008, and I’m very excited to have this opportunity! I regret to say that I won’t be present at the opening reception as I’ll be on the other side of the country, but nevertheless I’m sure it’ll be a great show and a great reception!

I’m excited to announce that I’ve been accepted into a Master’s Program of Illustration at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, California! I intend to finish their MFA program and hopefully complete some internships to help me further my career. It is an exciting thing to finally break free of the world of The Dayjob and have a fresh start on something new. I just completed my second day of classes, and am excited to be back in the world of academia.

This of course also gives me a bit more free time to work on artwork, which is great because I’ve got a new commission, and a possible chance at illustrating some children’s books.

I’m also in the midst of printing new business cards, and some bookmarks of my art to have a new offering in my Etsy.com store. I also think it may be time for a nice facelift for Joieart.net. New era, new design! I hope to have some new artwork very soon!

I wanted to take a moment and talk about one of my favorite yearly causes– the March of Dimes! I love taking part in raising money to help out babies; I’ve been walking in the MoD for years now. I started participating when I worked at a local grocery store in high school, and have been ever since. I am walking again this year with my employer’s team, but I also am donating a poster-sized print of Redneck Pigs to an auction where all proceeds go straight to the March of Dimes. Let’s hope that it wins tons of money for those babies!

If you’re interested and want to know more information, please visit March of Dimes to find a location to walk in your area or to make a donation!

Edit: I managed to raise $175 in just under 48 hours for the cause! Thanks everyone!

So after two long weeks of hard work, the contestants have entered their final pieces to be voted upon. It’s up to YOU to cast your vote and decide which entrant deserves to win!!

Entry #1	Entry #2	Entry #3	Entry #4*

*(This one was submitted with the title “Believe Me When I Say….”)

Update: The official winner is Entry#4 with a staggering 61% of the votes! Congratulations to Prentice O. of Marietta, GA!

That’s right, a contest! Want one of my prints but don’t have one? Here’s your chance to win one for free! Time to crack out your favorite art supplies because this is going to be a coloring contest. What better way to win some art than be a little creative yourself? Here’s how to get started.

1.) Download the Contest Lineart.
2.) Color it in any way that you wish– it can be done digitally or printed out and colored traditionally (markers, crayons, colored pencils, paints, etc.) and then scanned in.
3.) Submit it to me to become an official entrant in the contest!

Easy, right? You bet! You can get your entry to me via Twitter, Facebook, DeviantArt, by email or right here in the comments of my blog!

Now, how do you win? By being the Fan favorite! I’m going to set up a voting system with all of the entries so that you have a chance to win by popular vote.

!!WAIT that means you can enlist your friends to come vote for you! Spread the word about the contest, get your friends to come vote for you, and WIN!!

Prize:
The winner will be able to select ONE (1) print from my Etsy store and I will mail it to them after the winner is announced.

When is your entry due?

Deadline for Entries: March 21th, 2010 at 10:00 PM EST

The voting will begin the next day, and the winner will be announced on March 28, 2010. That gives you a FULL week to rally your friends to come vote for you!

OMG, are you excited? Colored pencils quivering in anticipation? Hold on, gotta read the RULES first!

Rules:
-One entry per person, please.
-Only entries received prior to the deadline will be considered.
-No voting for yourself, that’s just dirty.
-No purchase necessary.
-The prize can ONLY be selected from Joie’s Etsy Store Account: No exceptions will be made.
-Entries may be submitted via tweet, Fan page posting, Facebook wall posting, email, or comment at Joieart.net.
-No entries that someone else colored for you. This is supposed to be about having fun and being creative!
-No entries may be submitted by postal snail mail. Sorry– visit Kinko’s if you need scanning help!

What if I can’t/won’t/don’t color? Don’t worry. There is a contest made just for you coming next month!

Ok, that’s it! Here is your lineart! GO!

Download the lineart here!