A finished painting

 

(edit: I took a better picture of this!)

This picture is a little blurry, but I F-I-N-A-L-L-Y

finished a painting for somebody else other than me.

I've had half done paintings just sitting,

letting fear overriding everything else.

I am still struggling, but had a nice talk with a friend the other day

and she demanded that I finish a painting!

She suggested that I treat paintings I make for other people

(and this is just family)

like I would if I were just "playing" in my art journal.

I let the fear of it not being good enough halt my creativity.

This is the watercolor before I added the ink.

A better representation of what it looks like.

I hated this painting for awhile.

I knew it needed more, but didn't know what.

Last night with a fresh state of mind I decided to Play.

I can't say this will always work, my Fear is great.

But I like the end result, and it got me out of my head.

(and into my heart!) teehehe.

A detail shot from my Music Book.

I played with gel and texture.

The lyrics by Ray LaMontagne, who speaks directly to my soul.

I get so tired staring at the walls,

weight so heavy and that mountain so tall.

Is there no one who will catch me if I fall?

Its more than I can take and wish I could fake it

or pretend like I don't know whats going on.

Somethings wrong, I'm trying to hold on,

just a little longer.

Thank you all for your support and encouragement on my last post.

I may not always write back, but I read them all, and each makes me smile.

Art Mentor

I have a wonderful, wonderful family.

A few weeks ago my aunt, who lives in NYC

and is a New Yorker in every way possible

AND works with artists as her career,

e-mailed me.

The title: "Art Mentor."

I was intrigued, and she basically said that she

has decided that I need an art mentor if I am going to sell my work...

(she holds steadfast to that about me, even if I don't)

She told me to stop doing my art journal pages

on both sides, basically told me that I need to get my shit together,

and that she was sending me a book to read.

I laughed as I read it, and wrote her back telling her she was QUITE bossy,

so now I am calling her Dictator MB.

A couple of days ago, I received this book.

I am about halfway through it and unsure how I feel about it.

It most definitely is interesting to read about artists

and the people who inspire them, especially Lewis Carroll.

Except, I don't know how this is going to inspire ME.

I wrote my aunt today telling her my thoughts so far,

and she wrote back "Its ok not to feel it.

What I want you to get from this is that you need inspiration,

to allow yourself to be eccentric if needed, or at least

be selfish about doing your art. You don't have to relate to any of them

but you do have to start immersing yourself in the pursuit of art.

So sayeth, MB"

I love this woman! Wise words, huh?

Also, my Nonni (my aunt's mom) is COMMISSIONING me!

Ok, so its my grandmother...but STILL. 

It is quite a project she has bestowed on me.

My family has gone through some rough times this past year,

and she said The Aunts (her 4 daughters) motto is "Onward,"

and she wants me to paint each of them a painting with

that word on it, and signed by me. lol.

She has explicitly stated that I am to keep track of how much

it costs for supplies and my worth because it is not an argument:

it is a sale.

I have some bossy women in my family!

I love, love love all my aunts.

They have all been mother figures for me in many different ways all my life.

This is such an honor.

Now if I can actually finish a project for another person, we'll be all set.

I have about a zillion unfinished projects that are for other people.

I can't do it. Fear? Probably.

And she wants this done in time so she can mail them for Christmas.

EEP!!!!!!

Help! I need inspiration, a kick in the ass, hugs, motivation....belief.

Oh, now that I've rambled for so long (sorry), here are a few things I 

have done in the past few days.

Oh Music Book, I've forgotten all about you.

You've sat on the shelf, sad and dusty.

Don't worry, I didn't completely forget--I have just been having a hard time.

Forgive me?

This is the first "piece" I have done in quite some time.

And in just a couple of evenings.

Record time.

I was browsing through Flickr and was inspired by

Bostinstuff's awesome work, which led me to Rettgrayson's awesome work.

Oh, the joys of Flickr!

Inspired by their use of color, and grid formatting

and a spontaneous idea to try and draw umbrellas (?)

this is what I came up with.

I needed it to be light and simple, so I took out my watercolor crayons.

Just a plain pencil and watercolor crayons and I kinda like it.

I am hoping oh so much that I am crawling out of that black hole.

I kinda need to...I've got family members bossing me around over here!

So please...I need some motivation and inspiration and belief that

I can pull off these paintings for my family.

Projects Galore

I have multiple projects going on right now,

and glad for all the distraction.

Project #1: Rebinding The Sketchbook for the sketchbook project.

 The papers are so thin! Worse than composition paper.

There is no way I could work like that.

I have been struggling trying to come up with ideas

for my theme, "In Flight."

The website says that it is just a jumping off point,

but Eden's posts on her sketchbook has made me think hard.

I have thought about "In Flight" and it eventually 

brought me to a journey.

That is what I feel like I'm on.

I constantly want to try new things, experiment,

so I think I'm going to document it in the sketchbook

and then send it off for the world to see!

Ahh!

I am cutting down papers to put in the Moleskine.

It says you can do 5.5x8.5, but 8.5" was too long,

so I kept it at 8". A little short, but not too bad.

Project #2: Color Journal

I've seen on a few blogs of people keeping

a color journal. 

I've thought about it, but always put it off.

I decided to do one, because there are so many color combinations

and inspiration. I found much of it in the Art Journaling magazines,

but also in other magazines,nature, tv shows. Its everywhere!

This way, if I am ever stumped on color,

I can be inspired!

Project #3: Blurb.com photo book

This has been really hard for me to get going on

InDesign is harder than I thought to use,

and I just want it to look GOOD, NOW!

Is that so hard to ask?

On top of that, I keep on painting in my art journal.

Painting and Baby Ducks

Hello folks! I feel like it has been awhile.

I have officially come to the conclusion that me and art

will never be able to be separated again.

I went 28 years without it,

and now can barely make it 24 hours.

I house/pet sat from Saturday into Sunday,

and I was chomping at the bit to do SOMETHING

by 2 o'clock Sunday afternoon.

<3

The past few days have been a whirlwind of painting.

First up, page 6 (?) of my Music Book

I have been OBSESSED with this Pearl Jam song

that has been playing all over the radio.

Just Breathe 

An apt title for the time in my life right now.

Check it out.

Navigating the Rough Terrain

I have decided to try and start naming some of my paintings.

Its difficult! I guess it depends on the process.

Sometimes I have a certain mood or idea in mind, 

so it is easier to name.

But for this one, I just threw some molding paste down 

on the paper and went from there.

But, I like the name and it fits I think.

detail shot.

Revolution

The words "Its a Revolution, baby!" were stuck in my head.

I want to say it is a Beatles lyric, but I could be very wrong.

Oh yeah..the baby duck part...the place I pet sit for

just got baby ducks and chicks.

CUTENESS OVERLOAD

(one of my favorite pictures)

There.

Now I am SURE you are smiling from all the cuteness.

Painting Galore

Today was a cold, wet, rainy day here in VA.

After being called into work (boo!),

Going to the gym to find out the class was moved (boo!),

I NEEDED to paint. I put on some rockin' cds

(Can anyone say Thriller?)

And went to town.

I really, really love the format of my music book.

I love the creativity it allows me to have using two colors.

Plus, I love figuring out if the page matches the music.

I have had lyrics first, and made the page according to those,

and I have had the page painted first and found

lyrics based on that. I like both methods.

Take a look!

And a page from my Big Journal. 

This page went through MANY incarnations.

Mostly a hate/hate situation.

I tried using colors I don't normally gravitate towards,

and it just wasn't working. Hmmmm.

I don't hate the final result, nor do I love it.

It does look better than this picture.

There are more reds, and it is more vibrant overall.

Solar System

More from my Music Book

Something I noticed tonight.

Once I post on here that I have no new art,

I have the desire to go CREATE it.

Hmmm...Interesting, eh? 

Anyway...I worked on my Music Book tonight.

Take a gander.

Thoughts?

It is amazing what you can do with just

White, Black and a tiny bit of color.

I love that using this palette is challenging my

composition skills.

Front Cover Done of Music Book

Remember me working hard on my music book ?

I finally sat down tonight and painted the front cover.

What do you think?