Xoxo

More Love.  xoxo

Babysteps.

Somehow life is so busy right now that when I scrape one tiny moment to get into the studio I swear I just stand there and stare, I don't even know where to begin.  Then, the tiny moment is gone.  Time is so precious and Art time is especially precious and I have to learn how to turn it on and fast once I get that tiny moment.

How to turn it on, and fast...?

For me, one trick is to start in.  So these little works on paper, these failures, these starts-to-something-that-went-nowhere, these non-precious snippets, these are a place to jump right in the water.  There's no worrying about whether I'll mess it up.  Who cares?  It was already studio pollution that did not make me happy anyway.

I say "just start in", as if.  Easier said than done.  I'm analyzing here, trying to figure out my thought process.  One helpful thought for me personally is "babysteps".  I adore babysteps.  They're not a bit overwhelming.  See, thinking "I need to make that humongous triptych become wonderful today" is waaaay too overwhelming.  But thinking "I need to choose a color that makes me happy to apply to this mess" is do-able.  Simple.  Choose a color.  Easy as pie.

Then, once the chosen color is in your hot little hand, its time for another babystep.  "I need to decide the area I don't like the most on this hot mess and apply this color to obliterate it".  See, simple.  Very do-able.

Apply said happy color and get happier.  It will work.  Then, sit, stare, and think about the next babystep.  What will make me even happier about this (now slightly-less of a) mess?  It will become apparent, so listen up.  Then do that.  Still not feeling it?  Make your babystep even smaller.  I need to put a paintbrush in my hand.  I need to refill my water jar.  Get comfortable.  Move the paper one inch over.  Tiny, positively miniscule babysteps.  Dip. My. Brush.  Move. My. Hand.  Yes, I've gone there.

Then slip into the time and the silence.  That's how I made all these little mini-masterpieces (joke) yesterday.  I know they're not mini-masterpieces duh.  But, they are no longer studio pollution.  I actually kind of love things about them all.  And most importantly, I couldn't wait to get going on that huge triptych long-forgotten over in the corner.

Life IS short.  Peaches ARE ripe.  I've got to get painting.

I'm no expert, that's fer'sure.  But, I constantly hear from fellow art makers that they have trouble with "writer's block" and have trouble figuring out what to do  to make it happen.   This is my system.  Every single time I apply it I doubt it will work and every single time I apply it it does, indeed, work.  Something takes over.   Something, somewhere, whoever's in charge.

There's no time to sit there and be not making art.  No time for that.

So find a hot mess and get going.

Warm-Up Paintings To The Rescue.

I had to tidy up the studio last weekend for the festival.  This meant stopping mid-painting on several pieces and I'm finding it tricky to go back in.  So, in order to combat this problem I'm working on "warm-up paintings", little watercolours or mixed media pieces, silly little works that don't mean anything.

The freer I let myself be with these, the more I like them.

This one for example, I couldn't stand it.  Until...I added florescent orange glitter.  I now know that my daughter is correct, glitter does indeed make everything better.

I had some anti-glitter notion going on in my head for whatever reason and today I released it.  Now, glitter on everything, all of it.  (Say this to the 'tune' of "Off With Their Heads"! like the queen would say).

Easy breezy watercolours, all in the name of warming up:

Then I started adding the glitter to these bookcover "cards" that were sitting stagnate for waaay too long.  I couldn't seem to bring 'em home, that is until the glitter came along.

That gold blob area on the right is from my new Wink Of Stella brush pen.  It took a bit of getting used to.  I got it now, duh.  Its actually very subtle, unless you do that.

More glitter.  Its stuck on a line of Elmers.  Tomorrow, once its dry, I'll brush it off and have a beautiful thin outline......?  I'll let you know how this all turns out.

I had several spills.  I spilled the black glitter twice, right in a row.  gheeezz.

Ok are these the brightest yellow Mums ever or what?

I like the pattern on this guy:

And last but not least, our Art Love class carved Jack 'O Lanterns last night.  Each one, perfect.  And best of all, no blood was shed... and there were 11 children and more than several of them were very very very young.  They worked extremely hard and did such a good job.  I am really proud of those kids and how they rallied like troopers at the end of the class in order to finish.  They all helped each other and then everybody helped clean up the Art Room which had pumpkin guts everywhere.  There was not one person in that room without pumpkin in their hair-which is exactly as it should be in the month of October.

Home Away From Home.

I did it, I pitched my teepee.  And its even more adorable than the one at the mall if I do say so myself.  Come on kids, space available...

Its not too far from the front porch, incase you get thirsty.

It has its own welcoming front porch.

And its the perfect day for tenting.  Can it be, is there somebody IN there?

A teen!

Indeed.

Maybe he'll play with the old metal police cruiser next.  One can only hope...

Christmas Shopping Continues.

The Sun's burning off the fog, its time to go shopping.

And its a beautiful day for it.  Jbs and I actually spent the entire weekend (him!) driving me around to stores.  All kinds of stores.  It was the perfect date weekend.  I bought stuff, he hauled it back to the car for me.  It worked out wonderfully.
And driving from store to store was quality entertainment, everything's so pretty right now.

This guy here beckoned us right on in the junk store.  I didn't find the specific junk I was looking for, but they sure had some good good junk.

And just seeing him makes you happy.

A sure sign of some good junk.

After we made the rounds I rewarded my driver, he loves a good hibachi grill.  In fact, I think he'd drive me anywhere if there's hibachi grill involved.

So the next day we switched into a completely different mode, starting at Anthro.  Their junk is in an entirely different realm.  I had to photograph this wire/silk/floral wispy contraption in the middle of the store.  I think I need to replicate it right now this very second and keep it forever in my house.

Yeah, everybody needs one of these.

Everything is so lovely at the Mall.  Its a completely different world than here on the farm.  I feel so out of place when I go there.  I mean, I had on zero makeup (which I remedied immediately with a quick trip into Sephora! I EVEN dry shampooed in there.)  and my cowgirl boots from the Tractor Store.  Everybody else had on these incredible tall fancy boots with way higher heels.    I boot watched the entire time.

This horse is channeling the horse at the Emerald City.

Ok so then I saw this.  The prettiest sight ever.  The little golden danglers looked like painted shells with holes drilled in them.  Mesmerizing.  Now I've got to make one of these too, for my ceiling.

Everything is exquisite at the Mall.

It went all around the store.  They have a lot of elves in the back room to create these displays.  They live back there year around.

This.  today.  I don't have to actually sew a teepee tent, I already have one, so this project will be easy.  I just need to 'pitch' the teepee and find some real cute boho rugs/blankets for underneath.  Add a cute sign and you're in.   Then, hopefully, a kid will come along and play in it.  I doubt the teens will touch this one with a ten-foot pole, although sometimes they surprise me.

Me, I've been carrying my plants and flowers inside every frosty night until Indian Summer hits (today, so they claim) and then hauling them back outside every morning.  But here at the Mall, the flowers never get frost apparently.

I'm in love with this little flower.  If I only knew my flowers I could plant some of my own next spring.

Yes, the frost doesn't affect things at the Mall.  Life is perfect there.

And this proves it!  Life at the Mall is glorious.

These strands of twinkley lights are a must-have on everybody's list.  Waaay better than ordinary lights.

Need.

Time to go, as I am DIY-ing one of these today.  Coolest. Trunk.  Ever.  Too bad it wouldn't fit in the car, the thing was humongous.