Sunday, February 27, 2011

Snow! Wait...What?




Yesterday was one of those days when magic was just in the air. Out of the blue, in a town that hasn't seen snow since the sometime around the 1950's, it just up and snowed like crazy for about an hour and a half.
Now, our local mountains get snow from time to time during the coldest parts of the winter; but to see snow in town is a pretty rare event. (And, I know that people from the northern states and east coast are laughing at me right now...because this really "barely" qualifies as snow)
But, needless to say, the second those flakes began to fall the people all over town threw on their warmest coats, grabbed a camera, and ran outside to play!
My entire neighborhood was abuzz with people popping in and out of their houses, walking down the slushy streets, and taking pictures.
The most wonderful thing about it was just how simple it all was. A few moments of frozen water falling from the sky to brighten the faces of every man, woman and child in the area.
I love moments like those; where something strangely out of the ordinary happens and shakes life up a little bit. It's a beautiful little reminder to enjoy every moment; because in every moment there is beauty.
For someone who lives their entire lives around snow; it can lose it's majesty, it's beauty, and it's wonder...but, take that same snow and show it to someone who has never seen it or rarely seen it and suddenly it is magical and wonderful again. It's like looking at life through the eyes of a child...where everything is filled with wonder and amazement.
I think tomorrow, no matter what the weather is...I'm going to find a little more mystery and joy in it.

Thanks for the magic mother nature. ;)

Much love always.

Amor! Part ii

Well...it's finished. I love pieces like this one; where the long hours of painting and gluing seem to fly by and the piece just seems to take on a life of it's own right before my eyes. Sometimes, I get no sense of where a piece is headed until it's finished, but with this one, I envisioned the final piece the moment I started working on it and it was just a matter of creating it.

So, here's to Amor! Cheers!

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Amor!


I'm so excited about one of my newest pieces. After having such a great time making it, getting such great feedback and selling my first Sugar Skull piece; I decided to make another one.
This one has a couples theme and includes both male and female representations.
I just finally finished the painting and now I'm ready to mosaic! The detail painting on these pieces is incredibly time consuming; so I'm thrilled to be finished.
I've also had a spark of inspiration regarding my paper tiles, and I started using this new method on the portrait of my son. So far it's working more perfectly than I could have imagined, and it gives me a whole new range of possibilities to work with.

On the whole, I'm extremely excited about everything I'm working on right now, and enjoying all the new ideas and creativity that's flowing. Much love to all and may you always live Luminously!

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

A day for me...


Every so often I have to take a step back and spend a day doing something just for me. Today, I decided to take a break from my "for sale" work and start on a piece of art that was just for me.
So, during my son's three hour nap I started painting a portrait of him. We have lots of pictures around the house, but I wanted something special for the little guy who inspires me to do my best every day.
It's so much fun to work on a piece that is inspired and influenced completely by what I want, and even more exciting knowing I get to hang it up in my house when I'm finished!
I can't wait to see how it turns out...but I'm already in love with it. :) But then again, how could I not love a tribute to my greatest creation to date, my baby boy.

Hoping everyone is having a beautiful day. Much love always.

Sunday, February 20, 2011

Sharing with our children



As a mother, I think it is so incredibly important to share our skills and passions with our children. Whether or not they find interest in the same things as you; I think it's always such a benefit to at least share in some way in one another's hobbies and interests.
Since I am so involved with art these days, I love to sit down a few afternoons or evenings during the week and let my son draw, paint, sculpt and create with me; just for the pure sake of sharing a special time specifically for art.

Tonight was our first adventure with paint, and my little eighteen month old jumped right into it. He used his hands, he used a brush, he even used the brush to paint his hands. We talked about the colors, what he was doing, and had endless rounds of clapping for successful brush strokes.

There was laughter, there were smiles, and there was such a beautiful atmosphere surrounding us this evening; and I blame it all on the art. ;-)

So, share with your kids; invite them to become part of what you love, no matter what age. There's no better feeling in the world than doing something you love with people you love.

Much love, and may you always live luminously!

Friday, February 18, 2011

Trying out something new...


So, I started trying out ACEO's; which are essentially miniature art pieces with one rule...they must measure 2 1/2x 3 1/2 in. Other than that, the sky is the limit.
I wanted to try a few test pieces to see if I could actually pull off a mosaic on something that small...and low and behold, it worked! Not only that, but they were fairly easy to complete and took a fraction of the time that the larger pieces do.
I've been using the scraps from my larger pieces to do the backgrounds on these, which is even better because it keeps me from hoarding jars full of cut up colored paper. (Because I just CAN'T throw it away...)

So, look for more of these mini beauties soon, because I've got lots more in the works.
Much love!

SOLD!


I get so excited when I sell a piece. It's probably because I'm still fairly new to all of this "selling art" stuff; but I literally get all jumpy and smiley for hours afterward.

There's a quote I love from the movie Transformers (Revenge of the Fallen...yes, I am that big of a nerd) when Sam says, "It's just that my low self esteem is at an all time high", and that's kind of how I feel when a piece sells.

I love my work, I love creating it, I love showing it off; but in my mind, most people couldn't care less and give the ol' halfhearted "Oh, that's very nice" speech to shut me up. Don't get me wrong, I have unbelievable support from friends, family, and fellow artists and Etsy sellers; but I think I have a "overly critical" filter in my brain that mutes and distorts the good and blasts and enhances the bad. (As is true with many artists it seems)
So, when people say "That's really good"...I hear "Eh, it's cool, but nothing to get too excited about"

But....when someone actually spends real, honest to goodness, actual hard earned money on a piece of my art; I am overwhelmed with joy! It's the 'in your face" kind of validation that helps me to keep putting my low self esteem on the line and put my art out there (instead of hoarding it in a dusty closet).

So, today...My low self esteem is at an all time high! Much love always. ;)

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Well that was fast...


Ok, ok...so much for a long labor of love.
I sat down to work on my "Mother Earth" piece this evening and thanks to an amazing hubby (who bathed and put the baby to bed), I got several hours of uninterrupted work time in, and viola! I'm done!
I estimated a little more actual mosaic on this piece, but once I finished the border, I couldn't convince myself to do anymore. It screamed at me to stop...so I did. I finished up the detail painting and I'm thrilled with the outcome!

Much love to all! And Goodnight...

A Labor of Love


I've been working like crazy the last week or so; trying to put my ideas down on paper as fast as they pop into my head. (Which seems to be every ten minutes right now...and I'm not complaining!) :-)
I've been trying to break into the world of ACEO's, which should be very interesting, given that with my particular style...smaller isn't always easier. But, I can finish a small piece in a fraction of the time and I think it helps keep me focused to finish a few small pieces while still working on one (or two, or three) big pieces.
So, for now...my big piece has been this "Mother Earth" piece; inspired by some photographs I took when I was pregnant with my son. I absolutely LOVED pregnancy and it suited me quite well, so needless to say, it was a point in life that I felt radiantly beautiful. Since I occasionally dabble in photography as well as art; I've done a few photo shoots for other mothers to be, and I just think a pregnant woman is such a beautiful form of the female body; that I really wanted to create a piece that captured that.
So, that's what I've been buried in the last few weeks...along with other various ideas and pieces.

The creative thoughts are flowing and I'm just along for the ride and enjoying the view. :-)

Much love always.

Monday, February 14, 2011

Share the love...

Oh, and since it's the day of love today; here's a little shout out love to some fabulous artists and some amazing treasuries on Etsy.

Farm House

Sage Advice

Scrumpdiddlyumptious

Softly Softly

Here comes the Sun...

Metal Health

Mix up some love...

It's Monday morning again...and here I sit. Desperately trying to procrastinate doing the laundry and cleaning the house. And since it's been a while, I thought I'd share another fabulously healthy recipe from my arsenal.
And, since it's Valentine's Day, what better than a delicious dessert that's a little bit sour, a little bit sweet, but all around amazing (kind of like love is...)

Raw Key Lime Pie

Pie Crust:
1 cup soaked almonds
1 cup soaked walnuts
1 cup soaked and pitted dates (soak overnight)

Cinnamon or other spices to add flavor

Blend in food processor till nuts are chopped and dates are blended in. Press into two pans for thin crust, or 1 pan for a thicker crust. (these can be frozen for future use if you don't want to use both at once)

Key Lime Filling:
4 Avocados
1 cup lime juice
2 cups dates, pitted (not soaked)

Blend together in food processor and pour into pie crust and freeze for two hours, until fully set.

Sunday, February 13, 2011

Melange Team Collection



Check out this fabulous video of some of the Melange Team's latest work. All these amazing artists can be found here

Bee-utiful

It feels wonderful to finish a piece. I don't know what it is exactly; but it's a very peaceful feeling for me. This one is by far my favorite. Honeybees are especially close to my heart and I think this one turned out far better than I imagined.
I love creating something special and seeing how all the hard work and effort come together to create the final piece.

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

FINALLY!!!


I can't even begin to explain what a short attention span I have. I was once taught a meditation called "Monkey mind", that essentially consists of following your thoughts as they bounce from subject to subject. Well, I have a "Monkey on crack" mind. I am thinking non stop, all day long, about any and every subject that could possibly pop into my brain.

So, with that in mind...one might wonder what it is I am doing making art pieces that essentially consist of hours of mundane, repetitive work. But, oddly enough it's the one thing I can sit down to do and lose myself for hours (heck, I can't even get lost that long watching tv!)
In a sense, it's like meditation for me. It forces me to focus my thoughts on one specific task (mainly getting those little paper tiles to stick where they're suppossed to, and figuring out how to line them up just right). It's like putting together a puzzle and for me, it's extremely soothing.
My artist ADD kicks in when I get near the end of a project and I get antsy to be finished.

I've put well over 15 hours into this latest piece, "Pretty as a Peacock" and WOW...was that one tough! It was absolutely my biggest attention wrangling experience yet, and it was SOOOOO worth it. I am so incredibly happy with how it turned out.

But, it's also put into perspective how much more diversity I need to pursue with my work. While having a "big" piece in the works is good for me; it's also a very good idea for me to have smaller, more "instant gratification" type pieces as well, so I don't lose my focus or get too jumpy and try to rush through it.

So, there ya have it. Now, this monkey mind is off to work on the next piece. Much love always and may you always live luminously.

Saturday, February 5, 2011

Inspiration...


(The sky outside my front door this evening)

It can be found anywhere, in anything, at anytime.
Open your eyes, be inspired.

And check out some more inspirational stuff from some pretty amazing Etsy Treasuries:

Tiny Dancer

Secret Meadow

For the Love of Pink and Blue

We Feel

If I was a flower...

Why thank you!

Gratitude is the attitude!
I've been uber thankful for all the wonderful stuff that's been coming my way lately; and I've been making sure to send my grateful attitude out into the universe.
And, guess what....it just keeps getting better!!!

So give those thank you words some exercise. Because what goes around, comes around.

So here's a little extra thanks to those amazing curators who've included some of my works in their Etsy Treasuries! Because of these awesome collections, more and more people are getting to see my work. Thank you!

Blues-and-browns

Dreaming in Mixed Media

Serenity NOW

Somewhere over the Rainbow...

Wake up, Wake up you sleepyhead

How to mend a Broken Heart

Much love always, and may you always LIVE LUMINOUSLY!

Friday, February 4, 2011

A case of the Givee givees


Well...it's gone! My Donation piece was picked up this morning. Eek! I'm really super excited, because I have this weird "thing" with giving my stuff away. It's a compulsion...I create something and then go, "Oh! So and so would love this..." followed by me usually gifting it to said person.
So, since I'm now trying to actually earn money for my work (which I think is a pretty good idea too) I've been trying to squash the "freebie giving" down a little bit.
But, donating to a charity helps scratch the give away itch and helps those in need (which I'm also a little obsessed with)

I'll be going to the charity event too, so it'll be interesting to see how it's received. (I mean, I LOVE my work, but I'm still gauging how other people feel about it) I'm curious; not whether people like it or not, but just "what" they feel about it. I love when people discuss art...even negatively. That's what makes art so amazing; it evokes feelings, good and bad.

Other than that...I'm working on my newest piece and it's a doozy! (I went and got fancy at the same time I also went big!) LOTS of time, lots of painting and a LOT of glue in this one.
I'm also working on smaller "experiment" pieces. I love my technique, but I'm trying to see if I can expand it to other types of creation. It's keeping me highly entertained...and I'll keep ya'll posted on the results.

Well...I'm off to ART! Much love always, and may you always Live Luminously.

p.s. All my fellow Etsy sellers and buyers. Check out The Etsy Swami on Twitter...wisdom and humor all rolled into one.
"Those that know, do. Those that understand, teach. Those who craft open Etsy shops." -Etsy Swami

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

A work in progress...


Newest piece in the works


Donation Piece

Life has been busy busy busy around here, so I've been a little quiet on the internet front. But, I've got lots of new projects in the works. Three new pieces in various stages of painting and I just finished my Donation Piece, which will be given to a local charity group's silent auction to support and empower the women of the Congo.
I'm really really proud of this one. Not only, is it one of my favorite pieces to date; but I'm so happy to be giving it for such a noble cause.

Well...I'm off to bury myself in paint, glue and paper while the little one naps! Much love always and may you always "Live Luminously"

My first sale!


Ok ok, so I'm a teensy bit excited about this one! While my overall goal is not necessarily to make a ton of money selling my art (though, admittedly, that would be amazing!) getting my first official Etsy sale, is pretty darn exciting.
I sold my "Ride Free" horse portrait and I am thrilled that it's going to a great home!
And, apparently in this town horses are a BIG thing, because I've already had several requests for more horse mosaics.
Anyways, just very excited and had to share the news. Much love always!