Art Plunge

  Current state of my life: quietly growing Haven't blogged in forever. Just busy living life and catching up on work, growing a garden and getting back into the swing of things. Finally did a DJ set and saw friends in real life. It's Summer now and work is steady. I do not miss a lot of stressful stuff that was going on pre-pandemic and am glad to be free from a lot of that. As weird as it sounds- pandemic helped me kick a lot of stupid out of my life  One thing that's changed is I'm taking my business more seriously and will be more focused on growing some things. I'll keep you in the loop when I launch it. 🌞  I feel very comfortable protecting my time and saying no to things and also to just not caring when I feel someone trying to push my buttons. The puppet strings are officially gone. Can't yank em anymore. I feel so liberated these days!  Happy with me right now and working on myself. Hope you guys are having a wonderful summer! 😘

  Facebook took notes away quite awhile back. No biggie but it's where I used to explain things... Like my current situation of being so damn busy it's making me anxious. Or how I've had to postpone two art show on the calendar because I just don't have my world together yet.  Busy is good. Making rent and bills is good. Now to find time to paint, still continue bass guitar, still stay in touch with family and friends and not be a flake to the people who care about me. Not be a flake to myself, foremost. I'll most likely be picking up more work in the not too distant. I'm in "stack the cash mode" and also plan for a vacation mode. I'm at least giving myself a little break at some point this summer. Got a decor mural booked on Monday and some freelance work floating around that needs to be tended to. I've slacked on my business and website. I haven't pimped out my wares in months. I stopped caring about chasing the business. I'm feeling

  Back in the studio painting. It really should not be taking me this long to finish this painting. Life has been stupid complicated and I am trying to find a balance with all things. Health stuff is weird and I have had some depression. I got knocked out of my healthy routine and took on a lot of stuff. Add into all of that- there's a new kitten in the house! Angus is the newest addition to the house and Tuco is happy to have a partner in crime finally. Chaos would be a good word for my current life. I'm trying to look at the positives and those would be: I'm painting again, I have work, I'm playing bass again and learning new things, I got my taxes done and I'm alive. If I can get all things going full swing I'll be a happier camper. I've admittedly fallen off the wagon of social media hustling and you know what? I love it. I feel sorry for artists who have to constantly make videos and "content" to stay relevant and build "followers".

Bass lessons are coming along and I'm feeling the old frustrations of songwriting again. Ah familiar headache! I'm also feeling a newfound freedom that my hands are better  than they ever have been on the strings. My pinky, which was almost dormant, now stretches and holds strings down like a champ. Making a useless appendage very useful makes me giddy!  Another newfound freedom- just taking one on one time with my bass. No band. No outside forces, no pressure, no gigs, nowhere to be. Virtual bass lessons are the only thing holding me accountable right now. I'm learning a lot from Joe Lally and he has no idea how much he has made a difference in my practice already. I've been steady digging into old favorites and really listening to song structures. I've been asked to jam with a handful of people and I'm politely declining at the moment. I need this solitary time to waltz with my bass, scales, lessons and thoughts.  I'm actually ill with something I'm no

Work in progress! I'm in the middle of a commission and it feels good to be painting again and to look around and see progress.  I'm learning how to structure my time again and get my stamina back up. And it feels nice to see new projects waiting for completion when I look around. New small work awaits... Today it's back to the grindstone of part time work for the week. My heart is really in the garden right now though, if I must be honest. New babies are springing up... Like strawberries and baby tomatoes. Strawberry plant! Baby tomatoes! The herbs are slowly but surely coming in and the collards are fat and leafy already. I even saw the beginnings of my potato sprout happening yesterday and am excited to see if the grow bags work well for them. I've got garden fever! 🤣 It's my plan to spend as much time outside this season as possible! I have fallen off the social art map and media hustle and it is damn wonderful. Declining all things and just being. Working in t

I've become painfully aware of time since the pandemic started. Not that I was unaware of it before. After the shell shock of everything wore away I realized it was time to pick up the reins to my life and actually drive a path. Not just meander and hope the winds would blow me where I wanted to go. And not let a lot of unhappy circumstances remain unchanged. I made a lot of changes, some of which I won't go into.  But the ones I will:  I started Metabolic Renewal again and am well on my way to crying about how sore my body is as I transform into a fitter, healthier version of myself. I started playing bass again and actually properly training my fingers and am in the process of writing again. I started painting back up. I started business back up. Commissions and art shows and letting creativity fly from my fingers once again. Work in progress Gardening- a joy I could never indulge in much because I had no yard of my own...I now get to find therapy in. Sunshine and soil and la