Back in the saddle

Artist's Life: Today I spent a lot of time in the studio. I started the first step of a new art doll, though I need to get more clay. Keeping my sketch book on the desk has turned out to be a good and helpful move - when I come up with an idea for a project other than the one I'm working on (my brain can't seem to focus on one thing at a time), I can jot down a word or two to remind me of the idea. I'm still plotting along on the pendant project and am quickly running out of time. I need to give myself a deadline. A former boss once told me that I worked so much better under pressure, so every now and then she'd just stand by my desk and yell, "Hurry, hurry, hurry!" and laugh before she got nailed by whatever I had handy to throw at her. I miss Mary Jane. I will give myself one full week (taking into account the four days I have to get ready for a party - they don't count). Ugh, now I've GOT to get it done. I will post a photo by next Friday. There, it's done. I'll embarrass myself wildly if I don't meet the goal.

Mom's Life: My son has his first girlfriend. I'm trying to be the cool mom, but it's hard. They are so different. She was telling me at lunch about getting into fights at school because someone called her "chicken" and she was going to prove she wasn't by slapping the other girl...way out of my experience as a mom. I'm feeling like a snob and trying to stop. They're just kids, not engaged. That will be my mantra this week.

Silly family

My husband's nephew is one of my favorite people in the world. When I was first married, he was just a kid that teased about my engagement ring being just so SMALL (he was right and my husband has fixed that little problem :-) He was ten and I was 18, but the age gap seemed huge. We lived near each other for a year, then both moved, leaving us on opposite coasts. For years, we had very little contact. Not by conscious choice, but I think it was just laziness and distraction (grad school, babies, always moving). I can't pinpoint how or when it changed (probably when he married the fabulous Marcia), but I'm so glad it did. Reflecting on earlier posts, I am reminded to appreciate the good stuff in life. Travis is one of those good things. No one can tell a nastier joke and make me laugh so hard, no one I know is as brutally honest but still a keeper. He loves my kids and they think the world of their oldest cousin. We don't love the same bands, we don't share any hobbies (barely on the same planet, we're so different), he loves dogs while I love cats, and he'll never, ever be able to talk as much as me even if he tried. I'm truly hard to beat - ha. Oh, and he totally stinks at playing slug bug because he can't accept that his rules are wrong. I love giving him a hard time about that. I don't know why I felt to write about him today, but I feel good sharing. I hope everyone has such a clown in their lives. You rock, Sucky!

There's so much stuff in the studio!

The Artist's Life: I figured that the only way I was going to get anything done was to just go in the studio, shut the door, pick up something, anything, and start using whatever I picked up. With no formal training, I really define the term self taught. So I decided to play with watercolor pencils and combined a little leaf. It's not as easy as it looks! Using a scrap of old textured water color paper, I scribbled, dampened, dried (I cheat and use one of those heating tools for embossing because I am the queen of impatient), scribbled and watered down some more, then applied multi-coloured leafing material. None of it is beautiful, but I had fun just playing. This experiment has inspired me to do more of this every day - just pull open a drawer or get into the closet, grab material and do what I can with it.


The Mom Life: Kevin was moaning and groaning this morning about feeling nauseous. I asked if he felt he needed to stay home from school, and he said yes. He has snuck into the kitchen two times now, telling me he feels "barfy," but that he's also hungry. Me thinks perhaps someone is enjoying a ditch day after the stress of finals more than someone is sick, the big fibber dog. He worked hard last week, struggling with a pretty miserable head cold and impacted sinuses during finals week, so I'll give him the "stay home" pass this once. I've suggested he doesn't need to moan any more, particularly after asking me if he's allowed to play video games. Puh-leeze.

The Artist's Life / The Mom's Life

The Artist's Life: I'm so slow!!! I decided to participate in this pendant swap for the magazine, but I can't seem to make progress. I've made a million notes and jotted down a thousand ideas to try, but I don't get very far. I'm frustrated that my studio is too small (I need the stupid cutting table, but it's hogging up so much space and makes it impossible to maneuver), but need to work anyway. I vow to put in an hour.

The Mom's Life: I want to work in the studio for an hour, but the kids are getting out of school early today (in an hour and a half) because of finals. I was informed of this fact at drop off this morning. Ugh. Our kitty that is struggling with cancer keeps approaching me, looking forlorn, pleading for attention (which, of course, I oblige) and "squishy food" (which I also provide since it's all he can eat these days), while I grouch about the fact that my son didn't do his chores last night so the house smells of dinner which means either I clean up now, or I smell it until he gets home from school. It never ends.

How fast can I clean and get into the studio? How quickly can I drag that cutting table out and find a large space to stash it (the garage?) before the next storm hits and without knocking yet another wheel off of it's base? Oh my.

Copy Cat!

I have a lot of books on my studio shelves by artists who share their techniques and personal artistic style. I am inspired by their work, try to learn from their methods, and also try hard to be sure that nothing I create too closely resembles the work of those artists who inspire me. My cyber-friend and artist Debbie Fecher has given me great advice in this arena. As a result, I tend to move slowly and cautiously when in a creative mode inspired by someone else. It's important that my work is just that, my work. I try to pause and really think about what I'm doing and avoid becoming a lazy copy cat.


Tonight I was reminded that more "artists" should pause before they make something and then pass it off as their own. I visited a website today that referenced a blog, and that blog listed a few others...you know how you can get lost stumbling from one to another and lose all track of time. The last blog that I viewed had a photo of a table set up for a show/sale and had artwork on it that looked exactly like that of Kelly Rae Roberts, an artist whose instructional book "Taking Flight" I bought and read cover to cover and highly recommend. I thought this tabletop shop was hers and tried to figure out where she was selling, hoping I might be able to see some of her original work if it were nearby. It appears that this particular blog author must have attended a workshop conducted by Kelly Rae or read "Taking Flight," and had generated a large amount of artwork that was so similar as to appear to be copies of Ms. Robert's work. This was the blogger's sale table and there was no reference to Kelly Rae Roberts at all. I then took a peek at the blogger's Etsy site and found more of "her" art for sale that appeared to be more copies of Ms. Robert's work. Shame, shame, shame.

I would rather move slowly and struggle to produce original work with integrity than to copy another artist's work and not only pass it off as my own, but sell it with my name on it. Ms. Robert's has explained in her book and on her own blog what she views as "not okay." This includes replicating her paintings or designs and selling them as the new creator's own work. Someone has clearly missed that part of the book, blog or class and stepped over the line big time. Shame on her.

Rain, rain, rain

The weather forecast calls for a solid week of rain which started yesterday. They mean business! As the clouds were just beginning to roll in, I thought that the wicked weather would be the most fabulous argument for spending guilt-free time in the studio. Before my excuse arrived full force, I put on a tank top (it was actually pretty cold - what was I thinking?) and zipped outside to plant the herbs I bought weeks ago that have been clinging to life in my kitchen. I dug, planted, looked up at the clouds, and realized I wouldn't see the sun for a while. I love the rain, so this is OK with me. But I figured I'd enjoy some outdoor time as long as Mother Nature permitted.

As the wind picked up, I grabbed my kitchen herb scissors and started trimming the out-of-control tomato plant that is still producing in January, along with the overgrown and sprawling Heliotrope plant. These plants, along with a couple of irises, are all in the same planting well, more evidence that I have absolutely no business in a garden. I chuckled to myself, knowing full well that I'll never be compared to Martha Stewart. Stopping every few minutes to watch the clouds roll in, it occurred to me that very few adults do the same. I love going in the back yard and sitting as quietly as I can, trying to pick out all of the wild bird songs. I love watching the hawk sail overhead, hunting and calling out (which I always thought of as being a bad hunting technique). Sometimes I can catch sight of a pair of squirrels chasing each other around the avacado tree, one appearing to be much more in a playing mood than the other that turns as scolds the "chaser" every few rounds. I see the lizards on the wall doing push ups, and watch the bees zoom from little flower to flower, trying not to do my usual flight with my arms flapping and yelling, "buzzer!" I love this quiet time and feel that everyone would do well to enjoy the little stuff that goes on whether or not we're paying attention.

Now I'm geared up to get to work and enjoy indoors. While the rain taps on the window, I will enjoy sitting in the studio with music playing or a fabulous old movie (maybe "A Date with Judy" starring a very young Elizabeth Taylor), brainstorming for my current art project. I'll take breaks to help my son study for finals this week, and enjoy the fact that life is really, really good right now.

Happy New Year!

Time for resolutions! I'm very excited because I actually have new goals for the new year with respect to my art. I want to have a few pieces together by March 1st and will set up a schedule for studio time. I will set up shop at Etsy when I have four pieces complete (unless they have rules that I must have more). I have a goal of participating in at least one publication's call for a swap. I noticed that Cloth Paper Scissors has a call for inspirational/motivational postcards. The entry fee is only $5, and they will publish images of some of the pieces. I figure it's worth a try. The call isn't terrifically inspirational in the sense that it's all about creating a postcard, but I really want to try to push myself to try new things and get myself outside the comfort of the walls of the house. This could be fun! If nothing else, the theme of something inspirational (in the sense of being inspired to be creative) can help me kick my own behind and be self motivating. This is a good thing.