Just thought I’d pop in before the weekend with a little progress report. I’ve just been trying to do little snippets of work here and there when I get the chance. I have several canvases collaged with material and I spent a little time yesterday on the next step. I hoping that even though it’s a pretty busy weekend that by Monday I’ll have a nice stack of canvases ready for painting.

Already, the next event where people will be walking through my studio is only two weeks away!  Even though it seems a little daunting (because of the weddings and gallery work that I’ll be doing over the next two weeks) I’m going to set my goal for 10 new pieces to be ready by then. As soon as they’re finished I’ll post them.

On the ankle/no pop front things are going well. Yesterday it was almost like I hadn’t broken my ankle in the first place. I didn’t limp a lot and it didn’t hurt hardly at all. It was quite nice. It’s a tad sore today but I was able to wear some cute flats instead of my tennies so I consider it a victory. On the 5th day without any pop. Slowly I’m missing it less and less  and it’s nice to have the  I have to eat everything that bad for me and delicious RIGHT NOW!!  feeling not consume my every thought and action.

Well, I am off to get a few things done around the house before I head to a rehearsal ceremony this afternoon. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

I’m on my way to shoot a wedding today but I had to share this because I am still so super psyched about it. Ready?

I sold 2 of my collages last night!!

I moved all of the work I’d done to my studio last weekend and hung them right before last night’s event. I honestly wasn’t prepared to sell anything so when people inquired about the price I just threw out a number. It may have been too low, I need to get some opinions from the more experienced artists in my life, but whatever. I sold two pieces!

I’m such a dork. I texted Heath immediately and my BFF, then I found a friend at work and told her. I was *this* close to breaking out into a robot-esque happy dance. I wonder if this euphoria goes away after you become more well known and you sell stuff on a regular basis? That would be a bummer. It’s such a great feeling!  It’s not like I’ve never sold anything before. I was very fortunate to have about 75% of my BFA show sell out. But it’s been a while and the collages are something new that I’m doing. It was very validating and gave me a lot of motivation to move forward.

Yay!

I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

As I type this I am hooked up to a machine at the local blood bank. I used to donate platelets on a regular basis but that stopped around August of last year. I would really like to start donating as much as possible again. They always seem to be in desperate need for platelets and I am both willing and meet the physical requirements to donate. Even though I’ve been stuck with the needle dozens of times I still get a little anxious when they are prepping things.  Now the machine is clicking and whirling away next to me.

Being motivated to make art has taken a noticeable dip since last week. It’s back to the not-so-good old times of being exhausted all the time and running around like crazy trying to get shit done. That I managed to get these little guys  finished makes me happy. Also, the fact that I may have had a revelation as to WHY I am making these is pretty freakin’ priceless. More on that later.

I am also working on some artist trading cards for an event on Friday. Like, tomorrow Friday, and I just started them last night.  Guess what I’ll be doing tonight! I will post  those sometime this weekend.

{3×3}

{4×4}

{4×4}

{4×4}

Check this little one out. Isn’t it cute? I hate to use the C word when describing him because I always felt like it and the P word (pretty) were frowned upon in art school. Just have to keep reminding myself that I am not there anymore. I’m sure that some people would use the F word (fluff) to describe this but I’m not concerned with the meaningful content of my work at this point. I just want to MAKE work!

I finished the little guy above and then started on the larger ones below. I think that’s where I got caught up. This one is larger (although not really that big at 8”x8”) and involved a slightly more detailed drawing . I used to be able to look at a Disney character and draw it almost exactly but I haven’t drawn anything besides nudes as of a late and that was already 4 years ago! (unless you count my Draw Something games, hahaha) Since I’m actually pretty pleased with the way the heart turned out I’ve gotten into the mindset of  I can never draw one that looks that good again. It is precious to me! I will get past that though. Especially since I just came up with an idea while typing this post. Win!!

The stomach (12”x12”) isn’t difficult to draw but I have a specific vision for it so I get paralyzed that it won’t be how I envisioned so I just stop working on it all together. Realistically though, it’s not difficult to draw and even if I flub up big time I can re-use the canvas and start again. Sometimes I just need to say things out loud over and over and over again before the logical side of my brain takes over and I can move past my hang-ups

Since I wasn’t making any progress I set the bigger ones aside to do another small one. They take less time so I don’t put that pressure on myself to make it awesome. I usually like the way they turn out through.

I start back at work on Friday but I am feeling motivated to keep moving forward and making time for my art. Hopefully next week I’ll have the heart done. I’m very exited to work on it now! If you haven’t already please head over the my Facebook artists page and “like” it. Thanks! I’d love to hear you thought so, as always, feel free to comment below. Have a great day!

Is everyone all rested after watching the UK Wildcats win their 8th championship? Is your couch safe? I actually watched the last two games of the tournament, which says something because I usually couldn’t care less about basketball. Part of me wanted to head downtown and party right along with everyone else but alas, after the game, Heath and I caught up on Once Upon A Time and then went to bed at a respectable 1am.

On to the art! I’d love to be able to explain where this one came from but I really can’t! I hope you’ll stick with me despite the randomness. I’m trying really hard to just DO and not over think every little things, as I so easily tend to do. I’ve heard that it’s all part of  discovering yourself as an artist so I am just rolling with it!

This one I can actually explain a little better. For the background I used some paperwork we received from the ER after Heath was admitted for a possible aneurism. Thankfully it was ‘only’ an atypical migraine and after a shot of somethingorother and another days rest Heath was good to go. Over the paperwork is a little happy neuron. Isn’t it cute?  Awwww.

Here I’ve started playing a little more with adding texture. I’ve got several of these in various stages started for next week. They’re on little 4×4 canvases so they’re relatively quick, even though there are several different layers to each.

To see some more detailed shots of these collage head to my Facebook Page. There’s also a little teaser of something else I am working on. Thank you for stopping by!

My biggest challenge from this past week has been working on my Facebook page (as opposed to my profile). Mostly I’ve been dealing with technical issues with our Pogoplug not letting me access the photos that I need. But it’s up, although a little bare. Stop on by to ‘Like’ my page (here) to be kept up to speed. I’ll be posting most art-related updates on there from here on out.

Last week I worked on changing some of the collages from the week prior to experiment with layering. The text behind the one on the right? A page from my journal circa 1995. Oh.my.god. Reading that was so embarrassing, no, humiliating is a better word I think, lol. I like the second version better, I think it’s more of what I’m looking for-messy but still colorful, more depth. Although whenever I look at it REM’s Man in the Moon pops into my head.

Obviously I removed the eyes from this one (borrowing them for the one above) and then gave it a layer of acrylic.

I’m not very pleased with either version of the one below so I’ll keep playing around with it.

This one wasn’t a makeover but I’m digging it.

As usual comments and constructive criticism are always welcome in the comment section. Next weeks goals: 3 blog posts and 3 collages.

I’m very glad that I had all these photos prepped and ready to go this morning. Ruby is home today with a fever still hanging around from yesterday. I’m pretty sure that it’s from her molars coming in, all four at once. Her gums are a red, swollen train wreck! Right now I’m in her room with her as she plays attempting to make myself comfortable while  typing on a computer and trying to keep my leg in a comfortable position all while leaning on her Zany Zoo cube. There is some manner of wooden animal digging in my back right now…..

Anyway. I ordered my business cards (from Moo.com, I love their cute mini-moo cards). For now I just went with a plain, colorful card. Designing a logo and branding myself is just way beyond anything I can comprehend right now!

I was able to finally finish my About Me page. I actually had to Google ‘how to write an about me page’ so that I could get some tips on what to say! I went with a ‘from the heart’ approach. I still need to get an updated photo though (can I lose 50 pounds first?), I think Ruby is 5 months old in the picture I’m using now!

On the art side I was able to finish 4 collages this past week ranging from 4″x4″ to 12″x12″.  I took a slightly different approach using some old textbooks from the 60′s that I found out and about. I love the yellowed pages, illustrations, and the outdated facts!

For this one I did 2, one with and one without pages in the background, just to do a comparison.

I’m okay with these for the moment but I think that I could definitely push the layering a bit more. I think I want them to be a bit messier. Messy, but still cheerful. Does that make any sense? What do you think? Feel free to critique me by commenting on the post. (This is when I really miss being at school, when I need feedback!)

Goals for next week: 3 blog posts, 3 collages, and set up my Facebook page (another thing I’ve been avoiding…)

I had planned to post this earlier but I had some important business come up that took me away from home earlier than expected this afternoon. Better late than never! This past week the collages didn’t fall from my fingertips as easily as they did before. I have issues with a few of them but for now I am just going to enjoy the fact that I made them at all! I’ve hung these alongside of the collages from last week. Seeing them together is very motivating!

One goal from last week was to try incorporating imagery into the college. I tried but I had a really hard time with it. On the one below I tried a couple of different things but I didn’t really like anything, it just didn’t feel right to me. Nothing is glued down so I am going to keep this hanging around until something comes to me.

So. Goals for next week:

2 collages (I’m going to be working larger, around 12″x12″, the ones above are 5″x5″ or 8″x8″)

3 blog posts

Finish the About Me page on the blog. I”ve been putting that off…I never know what to say!

Order new business cards 3/15

This past Saturday I attended a workshop at Kentucky Crafted: The Market about connecting your art to the world. It covered using social media, selling your work on a global scale, and basic booth information.

I felt pretty good about the social media portion of the workshop but I did learn a few things. I learned a little about SEO, search engine optimization, and how comments on your blogs and link to and from your blog help move you up the Google ranks. I learned that more men use Google+ than women, that Pinterest is mostly used by mothers, and that there are more than 300 active social media sites. Crazy! One thing our speaker stressed was the importance of utilizing the Facebook business page. I actually have one started already I just haven’t done much with it or invited anyone to ‘like’ me. Something about lack of work, etc. etc. I guess I’ll be working on that in the next few weeks.

The global marketing portion is a little bit ahead of where I am right now but it was still informative. When the time comes I’ll have the information that I need to get started. The most helpful topic by far was the basics of booth design (used for art fairs) which was taught by local artist Dan Barnes.  Lighting is key as is a simple and accessible design. Display your work on different levels to help move the eye around, make sure to hide electrical cords as well as your supplies, make sure your walls are secure. I’ll admit I did get a little freaked out when he started giving us examples of his experiences with improperly installed booths (other artists, not his own), like the time when a person next to him didn’t weigh down their booth properly and it ended up blowing over, taking 3 other booths along with it, destroying very expensive sculptures. I can’t imagine what that person must have felt like. Lesson learned. Weigh down your tent! And don’t use Easy-Up tents.

Since taking the workshop I have felt very motivated, thus the goals posted in the previous post. I have some long-term goals for next year including applying to the Kentucky Crafted program and applying to several art fairs, just to get my feet wet. I’m exited and terrified, all at once!

I ran out of Shrinky Dink paper and started making these collages.  I know that there’s a lot more to collage than just slapping random images together but when I look at collage work that others have done it looks so free and instinctual. As someone who is always over. thinking. everything. that is very appealing. I’ve always been drawn to, and wanted to explore collage more for that reason.

When you look at these what do you see? I’ve gotten planets, gears, atoms, cells, and even boobs. I’ve worked with these general forms for a while starting back when I was still at UK. I just can’t get them out of my head. I’ve always called them cells but I think of them as a combination of  the aforementioned things (okay, so maybe not boobs but I can see where people get that) including little bits of aura. I was looking at them sitting together on the table and I asked myself, what do I see in these? The first thing that popped in my head was, little pieces of myself.  Any psychologists out there want to interpret that for me? Save me from a lot of journaling?

In general I’m pretty pleased with the way that these turned out. I definitely think that I could push myself a little more in terms of using more imagery instead of just blocks of color. I’m trying my best to just do and not think too much.

More doing. Less thinking. Repeat.

In order to help me stay motivated and give myself some accountability I am going to post my progress once a week. I’m also going to set goals for myself, something that always keep me motivated. So goals for this week: 4 collages, more imagery, and 3 blog posts. Feel free to call me out if necessary!