Art Plunge

  This was the year I got rejection letters from every open call I applied to. Granted, it wasn't very many I applied to because I am very picky about what I sign up for AND I am also very jaded about these things of late.  However, this was my best art year to date and I kinda love that it was all rejection notices this year and I STILL HAD THE BEST ART YEAR EVER. Takeaway: Today's open calls are very "agenda based" and the jurors they choose to judge have their agendas. Some want more millennials and younger artists and shun the older artists, some want you to tackle race, gender identity, politics, feminist, pro this or that.... And my art does not. I'm going to stick by  my "Nature is more important than most bullshit" stance till I die because the very atom of life and Nature is more important in my eyes than most of the stuff humans do to feel more important than another group.  But I digress! I did not get into the velvet rope clubs and it was gre

Sometimes it just takes one little action to get things rolling in the right direction. For me the action was ordering a giant roll of bubble wrap I didn't even have space for and when it arrived I had to figure out where it would live because my cats were already trying to hug it with their teeth and sharp little claws.  Also, why bubble wrap? What for?  I'm a big believer in taking some sort of action, big or small to make yourself move in a certain direction. I also believe in productive manifesting and the bubble wrap symbolized shipping. Shipping art out. Shipping lots of art out. Shipping out so much art I was justified in living with a big roll of bubble wrap for awhile!  So step one: order the bubble wrap and step two was the fun task of... Making a place for it to live. So manifesting was already happening and I decided I needed a designated area for shipping supplies and hell.. My printer needed a proper home too. I had a very messy shelf with an old printer on it tha

  Just had a birthday and with that the gift of remembering AGE IS REAL 🤣 I laugh but it's not really funny. Or fun! But I'm a positive soul and can only stay on course. My recent "throwing out of the back" happened right before my birthday and had already brought me to the realization I needed to do something about my literal structure falling apart.  I'm the homeowner of this body and haven't considered my body a very nice home so I wasn't treating it as such. First things first - peace must be made with my enemy. My body has been my enemy for a long time. It betrayed me with this thing called endometriosis which stole my good years, my ability to work for years, created financial devastation and left me always with a million little broken things I needed to fix. Currently it's hormones, weight gain and high blood pressure. See what I mean? Some friend right? I extended the olive branch first. Be my friend again please. I said this as I sat cross le

  Skip navigation  little backstory I was totally working for myself as an artist and you know what? It was HARD! Harder than hard and harder than any job ever. But it was the most rewarding experience and I learned so much about so many things and I want to share that knowledge with you guys... My VIP art club. I didn't get a fair shake from the very beginning of my art career. I suffered a back injury at my "muggle" job which required a lot of physical therapy to get over and which I will have with me forever now. It was actually the impetus for me to quit my job and start being an artist! So I turned my bad luck into fuel for my fire. I saved 5k (painstakingly while enduring all the BS at a terrible job) and then I made the leap. I was so excited and optimistic about working for myself! I had sold little pieces here and there and was sure it was only upwards from there. 2 weeks into my freedom- my Dad died unexpectedly. What came next was indescribable DEPRESSION and a

Ah Rockford files, a comfortable and silly way to unwind after work. Yes, I am completely aware that I've turned into my Dad and watching Dad shows totally cements that theory. I had to start looking at the handsome James Garner in a new light though... He was a rich and famous star in his time and every evening spent curled up watching Rockford Files was an evening a painting wasn't getting worked on. No painting, no art show material. No painting, no galleries. No painting, no money. Would James Garner be watching TV every evening in a tired drowsy ball and not getting stuff done? Probably not.  So I pulled myself away from TV land in the evenings and devoted at least a little time in the mornings as well. Even if it's just ten minutes. Even if you are just filling in all the blacks, blues or whatever... It is progress. Something is better than nothing. I'm proud to say this little habit tweak has totally kicked my butt into gear and I'm producing at a rate I'

  Lately I've been thinking about my place in the arts and I have come to realize a few things... Early on in my art journey I did the "group" thing. I felt I needed help, encouragement, direction and opportunities. I soon realized that groups put a bad taste in my mouth. Despite me playing well with others- there was always someone who was "in charge" because they were controlling, had ego issues, enjoyed being a bossy bitch but still unhelpful. These people usually couldn't take any constructive criticism to make their relationships with others better and really soured me on the "group" experience. Add into the fact the GOSSIP that comes with groups because that's what groups do. Henpecking parties. I thought I was supposed to be creating art - not fighting off drama and feeling like I'm on a particularly terrible episode of 90210.  And if you were labeled a bad egg because you didn't do the sheeple song and dance to appease their ego