Reading into Things

I try to be intentional with gratitude every day, but today, my gratitude meter has been hovering even higher than usual. Yesterday (on Christmas Day) I enjoyed family, food, and a fun gift exchange.

A Look Up

Protecting the Process

As a creative, a lot of my projects go through the "ca ca" stage (not my word- a classmate once used that to describe my project back in art school). I'm at peace with that, especially on those occasions where the finished work turns out better than I even planned. 

Strike Out

The long, painful writer's strike that had Hollywood on hold has finally come to an end. Here in Georgia, that means many everyday people will be back to an industry that has been growing here for years now.

Menus and Meanings

I'm not flabbergasted anymore. I don't freak out anymore when I realize it's the week of Thanksgiving. Time marches on, and if we care to, we can make the most of it.

Novemberish Things

Here we are in mid-November, and I'm sorta just going with the current. Not really feeling super festive, but not exactly in Ebenezer Scrooge mode either.

Autumn Artistry

The natural world is a common source of inspiration for many artists. We find endless amounts of color, texture, and form in nature to inspire our work. For me, being outside seeing trees, bodies of water, wildlife, and the changing seasons, will always and forever feed my soul. Whether in exotic far away locations, or natural beauty found close to home, there's just... a thing about nature. Something that is healing, centering, nurturing. 

All [Green] Thumbs

Fair warning: this post is a little off the usual creative rails because, well, I suddenly had to tackle some things concerning my garden. Creative in its own right, but different.

I feel weird even calling it a garden

Up, Up, and Away

A few weeks ago I decided to raid my inventory of stored work to find something to put in an empty spot on a wall. These are paintings that are (or have been) available for purchase online or elsewhere. 

Creativity

Hello! It's been a long day. Not a bad day, just a long one, with lots to do. I don't have an introspective post written. But I wanted to be sure to share something today.

The Seeker: Tech-knowlogy

My 14-year-old niece recently declared "You know a lot of stuff!". 

This was after I'd told her something I thought might be useful for her to know in life. I don't remember what tidbit of info I'd given her that particular time...

Chaos > Stagnation

If you walk into my studio, you might wonder why I have SO many projects going at the same time. 

Almost everywhere you look in here, there is a work in progress. Some just begun and some just a few mere steps from completion.

Consistency

 The longer I live, the more I realize the common denominator to success in practically any endeavor in life is consistency. 

From my observation, consistency seems to bear more weight than passion, talent, or other resources in terms of realizing any level of success.

An Unwilling Sign Off

Today was one of those days. In a good way. 

Perfection vs. Balance

Here it is Thursday night, and I'm trying to get back on track after missing a few of my projected content items. I think I mentioned it here, but definitely on Patreon. 

Sustainable Things

For years I've been personally concerned about the environment. Climate change has been on my radar since I was a kid. And the problem only seems to have grown. The weather extremes in recent years seem to demonstrate that. I'm only one person, but I felt I had to find ways to make some difference.

boredom

As a creative person, I can say that I never have the opportunity to get bored. For me, there is always something to do. I don't wanna jinx myself or anything, but I rarely have the chance to experience boredom. Burnout, yes, low energy, okay, even low motivation. 

A Quick Quote

It has been a loooong day. But I'm really trying not to break my blogging streak. So I want to share a quote I made into a graphic a while back:

There's a Hole in the Bucket

Sadie Sidecar, once
employee of the month

On the heels of a brief break from studio work, I've been anxious to sink my teeth, my hands, and my energy back into my work. And being on the workaholic end of the spectrum, I thought I could take advantage of the distraction of the July 4th holiday to squeeze in some quality creating time. 

paper Process

 It's been a busy start to the week. So much so that I've already missed one of my items on a new content schedule I've created for myself. More on that later. 

Anyway, since I'm in the trenches, I thought I'd just let you peek over my shoulder at one of the things I'm working to complete: a pair of remakes of an ornament that sold last year in my Etsy shop. These are a customer request. Here are snapshots of just a few of the steps.

To Do or Not to Do

I don't have a creative crystal ball. I don't, as a rule, always know how I'm going to complete a creative project or task when I take it on. I often just have a "gut" feeling, which prompts me to get rolling with it.

Wreck in Review

Have you ever had a week where you repeatedly asked "What the???" Where a series of things that should conservatively be sprinkled over the course of a few months [a manageable touch of calamity for the ordinary person] just keep happening back to back? 

Perception vs. Truth: Signatures

Years ago, as I signed one of my finished pieces, I caught myself doing what I had often done, attempting to slap my scribbled, yet perfectly artful moniker onto the piece with a flourish like I must have seen people do on television or in movies I saw growing up. Somehow it got embedded in my mind that this was the proper way to sign a piece (wth 🙄). But the signatures started to look like crap, and after a while I wasn't sure they were even my real signature anymore. 

Things I Make for Me

In a little change of pace, I thought I'd share a "TIMFM" post. 

FOMO

 ... Or just short attention span? The other day I was attempting to zip through pictures on my fourth Instagram feed, both for the sake of interacting and connecting, but also because I wanted to consume as many beautiful, inspiring images of cottages and gardens as five minutes would allow. 

The Lost Art

Is cursive writing dead?? I recently learned (wow, I'm late to this news) that my 13 and 14 year old niece and nephew were not taught cursive writing in school. Like, they never learned something that was a required part of my elementary cirriculum.

An Ode

I've long felt that part of an artist's (of any discipline) job was to move people to see the world around them from a fresh perspective. And since color, texture, and pattern have always stirred the muse for me, I'm sharing this.

Inherited Creativity

I am a multimedia artist. I've spent many years charting my own creative course. And it's definitely a unique one. But I come from a family of creative people (on both sides) who left me a creative birthright and some tools to help me along the way. 

To NOW

As I recently rode through my neighborhood looking at the homes and the people buzzing around, each in their own space puttering, playing, doing various things, I realized that I was witnessing many individual universes in action.

The "C" Word

In this modern time, bursting with so many politically sensitive subjects, there are certain topics and even words that may ruffle a few feathers.

There is one word in particular that bugs me, and, if may be so presumptuous, others like me. It's a word that's sometimes casually thrown around in conversation. Even I personally use it, but only in certain contexts. I guess there's an invisible line one can cross if they're not careful or just plain unaware. But in one particular situation, this word could be utterly cringeworthy (or just "cringe" as my nephew says).

To-Do: on Tasks

Are you a list maker? Some might call me a hardcore list-maker, lol. But I need to ensure I don't forget to do certain things. And that might have stemmed from my years-long habit of jotting notes and making sketches when I had project ideas but didn't have time in the moment to execute them. My

first and foremost!

pet peeve is thinking of something important to me and forgetting to do it, or even forgetting what it was I wanted to do.

Growing Inspiration

Faster than I could count my seeds, it's spring. As I mentioned in a previous post, one of my hobbies is gardening. 

Growing things and being surrounded by beauty inspires me. So for the past few years I've done my best to cultivate my green thumb (with my share of trial and error).

Creative Sustainability

"Environmental sustainability is defined as responsible interaction with the environment to avoid depletion or degradation of natural resources and allow for long-term environmental quality. The practice of environmental sustainability helps to ensure that the needs of today's population are met without jeopardizing the ability of future generations to meet their needs." - study.com

Art Herstory

*This is an entry that was originally written on 11/16/2017 but was forgotten in drafts! Happily, with a few minor tweaks and updates, it still applies.

I've been told from time to time, throughout my life, how fortunate I am to have been aware of my passion from an early age. People seemed to feel that I had my destiny all sewn up neatly from the start. While I don't take my lifelong passion for granted, it's not that black and white.

The gray area has been the time and energy [well] spent experimenting my entire life with all the many different iterations of being an artist, fine-tuning my direction. When I was a kid, there was a wide, exciting world of drawing, painting, sculpting, building, and more that stretched out in front of me, waiting for me to choose. I was largely self-taught, so I went through various self-guided phases. One year, all I seemed to do was draw clowns and princesses in poofy dresses. 

Fostering Creativity

I've been an artist my entire life. But obviously, I wasn't always a professional artist. My creative work began as a seed planted during idle exploration as a small child. I.E. a pastime that I quickly developed an affinity for... and never put down. The pastime grew into a hobby, the hobby grew into an obsession, and the obsession rounded out my life's mission. But not all pastimes become professions, nor do they need to do so. 

"In polite society, we call our obsessions hobbies." -Stephen King

To be clear, when I say "hobbies", I mean things we enjoy doing in our free time, or time we are not committed to things like working, schooling, or other responsibilities. Hobbies come in all shapes and sizes and are not strictly art or craft related. They can be everything from hunting to collecting stamps. 

Dusk Rides

February is nearing a close, and here in Georgia, visible signs tell us that spring is hot on its heels. The days are suddenly hotter (without guarantee they'll stay that way), and the evenings are soft with warm, humid breezes. 

As this Sunday wound down, the evening approaching, I was lured away from dropping seeds into warm soil to hop on my bicycle for a ride through the last remnants of light. This was the perfect day, the perfect time to take a ride. Everyone was inside, busy with early dinners and preparations for Monday. So I had the streets to myself. With virtually no cars to avoid and a sweet stillness, I could cruise through the evening air unbothered.