Lovely!!

When talking about shopping at art supply stores I should know better then to use phrases like, "I'll just be a second. Or, I just need a couple things." Not only am I lying to those around me, but I am totally lying to myself!
I get in those places and time stops, life's problems are checked at the door and all of my senses are enticed.
I find new things every time and suddenly my "couple of things" have become "many things". ;)
Tonight was no different, I was going to buy ONE tube of paint, burnt umber... But there was a sale. I ended up with 4 different colors of paint (at least I was focused enough to get the original item I needed), canvas paper AND these lovely, ornate and wonderfully textured origami papers!! These will look great in some mixed media pieces, can't wait to see what I come up with :)

In progress

At 10:30pm last night I was overwhelmed with creative spirit and rather then talk myself out if it (being so late) I went with it. I chose to set a challenge, here are the guidelines;
•No drawing
•No crisp lines
•Use new (to me) techniques i.e. palate knife
•Create texture
•Keep it simple
•Let the process take it's course
• Above all Have Fun!
I must say, I love the direction this has taken. Im most surprised with the color and the tree... I've never really painted a tree before, so I rather like it. :). This is still a work in progress as the sky is too angry looking.
What I am really excited about is the introduction of Widget my little owl. He is one of many owl doodles I've created, I'm rather smitten with him :)

Let me know what you think and check back to see the finished product!

Jill of all trades (master of none??)

I wanted to post pictures of some of my creations the last few months and over the last few years! For those of you that have seen all this work, well thanks for taking another look and for those that haven't I'd love to hear what you think :)

                                          This was my first painting on canvas in June of this year.

                This was painting number 3 ... I feel like these look like paint by number or coloring book pages.
                I can assure you they are neither of those. I like concepts and techniques in each of these :)

     This is painting 2, 4 and 6. This pull toy concept jumped into my head and was created for a friend with
      a baby on the way. I really enjoyed watching this come to life. I really lucked out when I found that
      spools that matched the size of the ones I painted ... it was a over sight that worked out in the end
      (whew). I love what happens after the eyes are painted, its like the personality of the animals comes to
      life :)

                                        One of my first mixed media pieces, this I REALLY enjoyed!

               For the last 18 years I've been painting on this medium, it started as a need for cheap
               (yet meaningful)  Christmas presents for people. I was 14 when I started and with no
               money this was something I was able to do. I started with small ornaments and worked
               my way up from there. Some of these larger statues take hours and hours to complete.
               I rare paint things for myself, so this snowman took me 7 years to finally complete only
               working on it in-between everyone else's gifts during the Christmas season.

                I don't often sway from the Christmas items (as those are my favorite to paint), but this
                my husband purchased several years ago for about 7 dollars on clearance. Since he
                had never gotten to this I decided to paint it. He was really fun to watch as his personality
                begin to show. Despite the picture he is actually 3/4 the size of a real human bust ... he was
                sitting on the dining room table right after I finished him and in the middle of the night (getting
                a drink of water) scared me half to death!  I keep him out during Christmas too, he looks
                much less blood hungry in a Santa hat! :)

                  After taking one art class in college I purchased all the necessary equipment to
                  make these Stained glass window panels. I've only made a couple, it's a tedious,
                  complex (designing, measuring, glass cutting, glass grinding , soldering etc),
                  MESSY art form and without a good place to do it, I don't get the inspiration
                  very much.  This is my own design. I used foil instead of lead. I really like how
                  this turned out. And my friend was really happy to receive it! :)

                          Sometimes art can be found in the mundane. This is a martingale dog collar
                          my Italian Greyhound Luigi wears this. I have several others too. I took apart
                          one of this collars he outgrew, bought the hardware online and I was able to
                          figure out how to make them. I make standard clasping dog collars as well.

        So as you can see I am a "Jill of all trades" and hate to add "a master of none".  I just like art in all forms and enjoy making it. I'd like to think make things that make people smile and like to think I create better than mediocre art! I really love painting above all. The sewing is the lowest ranking of all artistic visual mediums (I've been playing the clarinet for 20 years), that I do. I'm self taught in everything except the stained glass (and the clarinet) and have a long ways to go ... this is definitely a FUN journey.

                                                             Thanks for looking!! :)

Inspirations and Complications

  How do people create? What sparks the figment of your imagination?  How do original ideas develop?  Ever since I picked up the paint brush in June and placed that acrylic to canvas I've wanted to paint more ... its become an obsession. The art blogs and videos I've been viewing have been creating a hunger, a crack addiction of sorts.
  I'm not new to art or making use of its creative powers.  I've always been artistic and for the last 17 years I've been using acrylic paints on plaster; always gratifying and after years of practice very relaxing. In addition to my love of acrylics I used to draw. I've had the ability to draw since I was about 3, I just had a knack for it but its appeal would wax and wane, even adding colored pencils into the mix did little to jazz-up my enthusiasm for it.
  My pull toward the arts has been consistent and I've partaken in my fair share of crafts, sewing, circut art, beading, even stained glass window making. But it just didn't stop there, I've also been a dancer and of course a musician, least I forget my first love of all the Clarinet! I've been playing nearly 20 years and was a music performance major before becoming an ASL Interpreter (which is an art all its own).
  Something happened internally (I've not felt in a long time) when I painted on that canvas ... it was so liberating! It was a moment in time that I knew I was doing exactly what I was supposed to. I was in the zone and I love that feeling. Time ceases to exist, aches and pains are eradicated and energy is endless ... my senses are dulled to the outer world and yet heightened to an internal vortex of creation!  Art truly is my drug of choice haha!!
  Just the act of painting or artistic expression isn't enough though. I need inspiration. I need the spark to illuminate the path I am supposed to take. Being unique is my niche, its kind of what separates me from from you ... lol ... no seriously, I am told VERY often that I am unique. I don't want the high road OR the road less traveled, I want my OWN road. I'm not saying that to sound entitled, but I'm all about honoring all that is ME ;)
  So how can I get inspired to create something new? Practice ... patience? Waiting?  Here's my dilemma, I can look at drawings/paintings/patterns etc and copy them. I can look at a photograph and re-create the image in another form. But this kind of replication clashes with my internal being ... I feel like I am leaching off of another's talent and tweak it to make it my own.  Is that what original is?  I would love for my mind to be as detailed as my eyes allow me to see, but simple thoughts such as "owl, tree, barn" rarely (if ever) give me enough inspiration to create those things the way I want.  How do I get past this hiccup in the creativity process?  HELP!
 
   

Time to unplug?

     I'm addicted to the TV. Yeah, I said it ... A-D-D-I-C-T-E-D, a-ddic-ted!  The "boob-tube" is on when I sleep, when I eat, when I read and even when I think. I watch so much television that there are moments in my life when I envision a commercial break, as if I were staring in a long running series. Sad, right?
     However, the "goggle box" does not  rule my entire life. I maintain employment, I see friends and do lots of activities that don't include spending time in front of the television set. In fact when I visit my GA family for a week at a time where "no t.v." is a religious rule, I survive just fine.
    My habits don't prevent me from living my life, and I'm not harming anyone ... so why do I want to stop?
    Well... watching the "tube" is just not necessary. I find I watch things I've seen, I'm bored with whats available and I feel like its an over stimulant. I don't just watch the "idiot box"  I'm always multitasking, painting my nails, talking on the phone, talking with my husband, playing a board game, painting, drawing etc, etc. Mr. Telly has simply worn out his welcome!
    On a more tangible note, cable isn't getting cheaper. Our triple-play costs us $185.00 a month!! Could you imagine having an extra $185.00 a month?? I can, I see debt being paid off, investing in my future and saving for a rainy day. Perhaps a vacation, a shiny- red- patent leather- pair- of- heels, a rain slicker or a tattoo!! So many possibilities!
    In all honestly breaking away from the MTV, ESPN, TLC, NAT-GEO and every other acronym will allow me to live in the present. I want my days to be filled with art projects, heart-felt conversations with my husband, dinner at the table, long walks with the dogs, watching the stars and thoroughly enjoy a movie because I want to, not just because its there.
    So the cable must go ... after 19 years this will be a challenge, but I think spending time reading, writing and creating will bring out the "ME" in me.

Thanks for Tuning-in!

This Blog was brought to you by the letters, J & B and numbers 7 & 9


 

Blog: deceiving eyes:
Eyes that deceive: when I got home from running errands I was confronted by this crumpled-up spider by the dogs bed. I was horrified and although it appeared to be dead I was in fight or flight mode. 
I honestly wanted to flee, but for the sake of my doggies and my ability to sleep tonight I knew I had to confront my arachnid fears. 
My hairs were standing on end and I began pacing back and fourth... My ears ringing and my brain calculating the best way to confront this intruder. I decide to take a closer look to be sure it was dead... I blew on the crumpled mass and it rolled effortlessly across the wood floor. I look again and begin to chuckle with my sly left-sided smile in full view of my two dogs.
It wasn't a spider at all, but a wadded up ball of string... Such a poser! 
I look at my two canines whose heads are cocked, tails wagging and lacking all judgment... yet tell them," haha, I knew all along it was string!" 
*sigh* deceiving eyes...

Writing for Writing's Sake

     Have you ever started something with all the determination in the world only to watch it fizzle out? Yeah, me neither ... haha. 

     I begin this blog to WRITE because it is something I love to do. I thought I'd have endless possibilities and countless topics just screaming to be placed into type for the world to see, but I was coming up empty. Yet it wasn't writers block, I just lost my focus. The pit to which I yelled was so vast I am still waiting on hearing my echo ... I walked away. I left a perfectly good blog to sit helpless on the internet, starving for attention. 

     I never forgot about it, in fact it wouldn't leave me alone. I was reminded on a daily basis of my blog, every text, email or tweet had a subliminal message: "you are a blog failure". "Gasp ... what? Failure? By who's standards?!  Mine. I have no readers stocking me for my next blog post, I still have no comments. I'm not yet established so how did my standards get so high? Well that is how I roll.

     I have the habit of taking on a task with the objective to be a master on the first attempt. I jump from step-one to step-five completely bypassing steps; 2,3 &4. That recognition is monumental because I'm able to refocus and learn.

     Most of our successes are not based on the arrival, but on the journey. Imagine if Dorothy in "The Wizard of Oz" was told by Glinda "The Good Witch" to click her heals and was immediately sent home right after landing amidst the munch-kins. Short movie eh?  The middle part is where ALL the good stuff happens, I still need to find my scare-crow before I can be a writing success ... I already found my "Glinda" (you know who you are, if you are reading this).   

     My goal? To be "ME" and write to become a better writer. I want to stretch the bounds of the English language, to engage my readers and take them on a journey with me. Ultimately I want to write a book, get it published and have a best seller ... sound lofty? Probably. Can I do it? If I can dream it, I CAN do it :)

    Stay tuned!

                                                                  (Thank you to my cousin Greta, who helped to inspire me to write today.)