Art Plunge

I LOVE going into the New Year doing what I love...creating. What a life affirming endeavor to approach the new year making something new come to life. So I'll be full on in my studio today working on my wolf and then doing a quick store run for my laid back festivities tonight. Charcuterie 2020! Thats simply how I want to ring in the New Year. Snacks. Cheese. Pajamas. BRING IT! No hangover, smudgy Alice Cooper makeup the next morning feeling like run over poop with a giant headache. That's not how Im rolling into the new decade. I made lots of sourdough baguettes and have a nice baked brie with cranberry sauce that needs to party tonight. I feel like such a disciplined adult. 😂 Im also expecting to be fully asleep by midnight because I don't need a bunch of strangers on TV heralding in the New Year for me. New Year starts when I say it starts and it starts regardless if Im awake to say hi..or not. I'll party with friends another night. Usually I wax philosophic...

          Letting the wolf in my studio Work in progress on a new piece is underway. Still playing with my pink cloud theme but mixing it up and taking it to the woods instead of egrets and cranes. My goal this year is to significantly improve some techniques, learn some new processes and play around with new ideas and elements. Its called growing. I can appreciate having a whole body of work that all looks like it came from the same place but I can also think it gets very boring exploring the same subject matter over and over. So Im flowing where my muses want to take me. It's going to be a busy week of arranging and rearranging and putting plans into motion. New pricing starts Jan 1 and Im also divvying up my time between personal painting, painting for my Shopify and marketing/business/research work. It will fall into place-just takes some adjusting. Now that my health seems to be playing nice it's time to get back in the ring and produce, sell, scout a...

Awake at 1:30 am after falling asleep at 8:30 pm...I opted for just getting up and making coffee and starting early. I used to fight it. Toss, turn, be frustrated...read about insomnia. Stress out that I wasn't sleeping enough. Now I've taken an animal approach. Ok so Im awake and my body won't go back to sleep so...get up then. Take a nap later when youre sleepy. Simple as that. Fighting it is a lot harder than flowing with it. So up and planning the day. Stretches, shower, breakfast and tidying the kitchen then going into the studio to prepare for 2020. Im about to start work on a new body of paintings/mixed media pieces. I have two solos to prepare for. I need to practice with my gopro and get my youtube cranking and also jump back on Patreon. 2020 is going to be a lot of work but it's going to be fantastic. So waking up early to catch the worm...maybe that plays into my favor. Try more flowing and not fighting and see how that works for you. Today I make a g...

One of the most crucial and liberating things I put into practice this past year was TURNING THE VOLUME DOWN on my phone. What? Sacrilege! What if someone needs to get a hold of you?! Sorry but Im of the firm mindset this contraption causes more stress, anxiety, insomnia and depression issues than people realize. I found myself super stressed out and dreading when the thing would PING or ring. It was usually work related, an ad from something or other ...or reminder to pay a bill. None of those things warrants interrupting a nap, my peaceful walk or whatever else Im working on. If its work I'll handle it when I decide Im at a good stopping point to handle it. If Im in my studio painting the last thing that is productive to my work is a pinging phone that wants me to stop and text back and forth. So sometimes (a lot) I don't even have it with me in there. Notifications of any sort are disabled. Especially Facebook-where any Tom, Dick and Harry can message me at leisure wit...

Ready for Hygge time!  It's not cold like I wanted it to be for WINTER but that isn't going to stop me from Hygge time. By now you've heard of hygge and know it means coziness and well being. Today is all about my hygge time. Im revisiting my library of childhood books. Real bound books with golden reliefs on their covers and spines...filled with fairy tails,poetry, French lessons,games,crafts,history and a myriad of brain expanding rabbit holes to fall into. I devoured these ancient tomes as a child and have been anxious to explore them again. Beautiful color plates! Of plant life inspiration no less!             Current view: Hygge Times! So with a cozy flannel on the couch, one of my mom's handmade blankets to cozy up with and my old childhood friends Im embarking on hygge times. The house is stocked with brownies, cookies,pies, casseroles, precooked food,coffee, chocolates and cats...and there is nowhere I need or want to be but he...

          The latest commission project Yesterday I turned over the latest commission project to my client who also happens to be my landlord and my friend. He LOVED IT! And it made me happy because I toiled so hard on that thing! So I'll let you in on a little secret...I am not fond of doing portraits. Dread fills me and I would rather do anything else. Your pet, your plants, your dream. But it is part of life for an artist to get asked to do portraits so I figured I better get good at it. Painting over 500 records got me fairly ok at it but I still didn't like all the background work that goes along with portraits sometimes. This one required lots of detail...that lamp post...the table stuff...the drink with all the reflection stuff and condensation, etc...so much no one even knows goes into this kind of work. But I put my all into it and its one of my better portraits. This year Im aiming for intensifying my "light", colors and composition. I always see...

In 2019 I fulfilled my goal to have actual "stuff" to sell in my Shop. I invested in prints and matting material and a paper cutter and was able to assemble my art prints myself and sell online and at vending events. Some events were fruitful, some were a bust-but they were all good learning experiences and helped me connect with the general public. Heres a short list of goals and also things Im leaving behind in 2019 as I actively try to take my art career and business to the next level in 2020. 1. A bunch of low paying projects to make ends meet. Doing a bunch of low paying projects takes precious time away from doing a high paying project, working on pieces for shows (which fetch triple or quadruple digits) and creating "art art" as opposed to quick sells. My goal is for more meaningful ART ART and Im not interested in making ends meet anymore. Im tired of scrounging, hoping and having to take breadcrumbs. As someone once said "I WANT MILK IN MY CHEER...