Weather affects everything!

So it turns out I was up (almost) all night. On about 2 hours of sleep I exhibited at the show yesterday. It was a dreary rainy day. The hall was cramped and so warm and muggy. I thought I really might melt. After a few hours though the a/c kicked in and some even complained it was too cold. Things worked out with regard to the space we had to work with. It was nice to be there with all the other women exhibitors and talk about our businesses. Unfortunately the weather kept the shoppers indoors and at home. I really do enjoy the social aspect of the shows though.

Anyway, I thought I would share one of my new paintings with you. Thanks so much for visiting today.

Up all night?

Well good evening my friends. I know it's been a little while since I last updated my blog. Unfortunately when I get busy preparing for shows, the blog tends to be one of those things that suffers. I'm glad you've stuck around though! Thank you!

Tomorrow is what promises to be an awesome show. It's called the Ultimate Home Party. As you can tell by the name, most of the businesses are home party plan businesses. There will also be many artists and other businesses there as well. Even a jeweler will be there to buy unwanted gold! we've had lots of publicity so I'm hoping for a good turn out.

I've connected with a group of ladies here in London and we call our group Women Helping Women. It's an amazing bunch of ladies. Most have a business of some sort and we network and support each other. But the main focus of the group is to support women in our community. This show I'm doing tomorrow is all to benefit 2 really important Women's organizations in London. This is the reason I joined this group! I love that we're helping out women who are in need.

It's almost 1am here now and I am just finished painting. Well, I could keep going but then I'd be up all night and I wouldn't be much good at the show tomorrow! So instead, I'll head to bed and hope I can sleep. Hope you can come out and see me. 10am to 3pm at Aeolian Hall in the East Village. Bring your girlfriends, your money and your old gold! See you there!

I love to paint

I truly do. But sometimes, ok often I doubt my abilities. I have trouble coming up with ideas. Or when I have an idea I just can't seem to translate it the way I want to onto a canvas. This is what causes my artist block. Really It's just that I am afraid to try some things.

Last week I threw caution to the wind and put a 16x20" canvas on the easel and started painting. It was scary! I knew what I wanted to create, what colors I wanted to use, how I wanted it to look. The hard part was actually achieving those things. I got to a certain point and needed it to dry before continuing. So I put it aside and *gasp* I put another big canvas on the easel! Started painting and painting and painting and I didn't want to stop. One thing was that I was afraid I'd lose my nerve and not go back to them. But I did. And I got to a point with the first one that I wasn't sure if it was quite finished. I left for the weekend to visit my father and obsessed about it the entire weekend.

Monday evening after returning from work, my husband says "oh yeah, I forgot to tell you..." He loved the painting! He happened to be near my studio and saw it on the easel. Let me tell you! He has never offered an opinion on any of my pieces before! And for him to volunteer this, and the fact that he liked it! I was so thrilled.

Anyway. I found a quote today and it made so much sense I thought I'd share it.

Uh oh!

Here it is 5 days into September and I have totally forgotten about the 29 faces in September challenge that I joined! Boy do I have some catching up to do!

In addition to that, I am in full-on paint mode! I am prepping for the busy show season (winter/Christmas) and I just joined another challenge of 30 paintings in 30 days. So I'm to complete 1 painting a day for the next 30 days. Maybe I can roll that into the 29 faces challenge.

I don't know much, except I better get to work!

Thanks for stopping by today. Enjoy your day!

What a weekend!

This past weekend will go down as one of the most enjoyable. You may know I had an art show on Saturday. I was really nervous to display my art with some exceptional professional artists. For the most part, they were all friendly and welcoming. There were one or two who treated me as though we were rival gangs or something, but overall it was a great experience. Sales weren't that great, but I did get lots of exposure. There was a pretty good crowd there. We had great weather. Couldn't have asked for better! There was also live music. If you know me, you know I love live music. Almost any kind of music. After a few hours my grandson (7) joined us and that added to the fun of the day. The event was held in a local park. We were in a field that had swings and splash pads surrounding us, along with lots of green space for the kids to run around. It was really great to just enjoy the fresh air, the people and the music! I even got a little bit of a sunburn!



Saturday night I was exhausted after all that. Zonked out on the couch about 9, woke up at 10 and went to bed. My eyes didn't open again until 830 Sunday morning!

On Sunday I decided to tackle something I've always wanted to do. Canning. I have a garden this year for the first time ever and have tons of tomatoes. So I found a recipe that sounded good, shopped for a few items I needed for it and then started chopping and blanching etc. This was an adventure for me. But the salsa turned out great. Only ended up with 4 jars and a bit. I was anxious to try it out so we had nachos for dinner last night. Salsa was good, but a little chunkier than I like it. It was a lesson for sure.

Sunday evening after the Salsa was all canned we went to a neighborhood Jazz Festival. It was really great. Lots of bands set up down the street. Several playing at the same time, but spaced out so they didn't drown out each other. When one band was finished, you could just walk half a block or so and enjoy another one. In one case all we had to do was turn our chairs around. Again, live music, fresh air outdoors... I was happy!

But come Monday I was exhausted! I just felt completely spent. I'm recovered today and have to get back to painting. I have another show in a few weeks and would love to be able to display more pieces. Also want to come up with an upright display instead of using a table top.

Well, that's about all for today! Thanks so much for stopping by!

Here we go again!

Last week as I was gearing up to create some beautiful pieces for my art shows I had a little accident. I fell down the stairs. Well, if I'm being honest, I fell down 1 stair. Yep. Just one. On the last step down I stepped on this folder that the kittens had knocked onto the floor. The folder slid across the floor as I stepped on it and down I went. And hard!

I was sore and was just positive I had done some damage to something. Hit my head, my elbow, my knee and my hip along with twisting my back. I managed to get myself off the floor and get some ice for my most sore spots. Turned out all those things I thought I really hurt are just fine (the elbow was the worst of it). But about half an hour later I got sick. It got worse as the day went and after a big spaghetti dinner (I was starving), it got really bad. I spent the next 5 or so day feeling miserable. I couldn't eat or really drink anything. I wont provide any further details but let's just say I really didn't enjoy not knowing if I should sit or kneel when in the bathroom. 'Nuff said.

Now I finally feel like a normal person. I'm about to get down and dirty right now in my studio! The invitations to art shows and craft shows are really starting to come in now so I need to get to work.

One thing I've done is join a challenge. It's called 29 faces. This means that in 30 days I will create and post 29 faces. This will keep me working, keep my blog active and will hopefully give me some artwork to display at my upcoming shows! The challenge begins on September 1st so you can look forward to seeing some faces starting then. I am not very good at them, so I'm not promising much, but this will give me practice!

Down to the cellar I go! Thanks for stopping by today!

Art

Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep. -- Scott Adams

Working away painting, painting, painting. Have lots to accomplish before the art show.

But before that, I am volunteering for 2 races this weekend. Saturday is the Color Run. Of course as an artist I was sucked in by all the color. This race will have me working from 6am until 1pm. That's a long day. for a 5K I would have expected it to be shorter. But I know it's gonna be lots of fun. My husband is even volunteering with me! That will make it more fun! The best part is that we were both assigned to a Color station. That means we get to douse all the runners with color! Lots and lots of color! i am excited. Then on Sunday is the Rock the Road race. It's a benefit for Bethany's Hope. I have been drawn to that charity since I first heard of it. This race is a 10k. Since I learned about it far too close to the date to prepare for it, I decided to volunteer. I wanted to be involved somehow! So if you're in London, please come out for either one of these races this coming weekend. I would love to see you (and maybe dump some color on you!).

Of course!

"Inspiration exists, but it has to find you working." ---Pablo Picasso

Amazing!

It's so amazing. I have been whining about how I just wasn't feelin' it. I couldn't find any creativity. I thought I was doing my best. I've been looking at the work of artists I admire, trying to get myself into the mood. Trying to jar something in me to give me some ideas. Turns out, all it took was for me to pick up a paint brush and put some paint on it!

I started out just trying to fix a painting that went wrong. I made this painting weeks ago. It was a real quick one. When it was finished, I hated it. My husband hated it. Even my 7 year old grandson who thinks I'm the greatest artist there ever was just wasn't feelin' it. So last night I thought I'd take a shot at trying to revive it. I was amazed to find that while working on that one, all these ideas started flooding into my head. I couldn't believe it! So in the middle of that I decided to sign up for another show to exhibit my art. That makes 2 I need to prepare for now. As I was doing that I started having all sorts of computer trouble and got sidetracked.

It got too late for me to start anything new, but I'll tell ya! As soon as I was out of bed this morning I wanted to grab a paint brush! I knew just what I wanted to do!

During my search for inspiration I visited a friend's blog. She'd been on a watercolor kick recently. I'd never used watercolors before, but of course I had some! I was just afraid to try them out. Seeing the work she created, how beautiful it was made me want to pull them out of the drawer.

Just to try my hand at them without giving much thought to design or subject, I used one of her pieces as my inspiration. I really enjoyed this. It was quick too! One of the things I enjoyed most was there's very little mess! I hate cleaning up after I finish creating something! If you saw where I create, you'd believe that! Anyway, below is what I painted this morning, and you can see my friend's piece and all her other beautiful work at tracywburgos.typepad.com. Now I'm off to create more art!

Bad blogger!

I am so sorry to have put my blog aside for so long! I am back at it and hope that you will continue to join me as I delve into the world of Mixed Media!

I need to find some creativity so I can prepare for some upcoming shows. I'll have pictures to share along the way.

Thanks so much for sticking with me!