I'm dreaming of my Flight to Florence

"Take Flight to Florence" mixed media on watercolor paper

I am dreaming of my flight to Italy. It's less than 3 weeks away!! Did I raise all the money with my paintings???? (for those of you who are new here that was my goal)

No. But a little more than half. About $2600.  Which is more than I would have raised had I not tried at all.

But if you count the clothes, and the spending money I'm taking with me, I think my farming actually paid for my trip. But YAH! anyway.  Every year I want to raise a little more money with my art. And I did that this year ...again.

Of course, I started out the first year with like- hmmm...$85.00.

I've never told this story but one of the first paintings I sold was actually a painting I did after reading an article on Kelly Rae Robert's art  in Cloth, Paper Scissors magazine. Once someone said they wanted to purchase it (exciting day)... I wrote Kelly and asked permission to sell it as it was practically a copy of her original (a bad copy) and she graciously said "yes". Since then, I've learned that a lot of artist start out that way , I mean, copying other people's stuff. I've always been glad that I asked permission and I also gave her credit on the back of the painting and told the girl that purchased it about Kelly and her art in case she wanted other things.

I am really enjoying my Layered Impressions class with Katie Kendrick . She is the QUEEN of creative texture and artistic play. If you want more of that in your art take her on-line class, or order her DVD or buy her book. It has been very freeing for me and I am exploring new paths and loving my paints again.

Big woop that Nourish Your Mind was entered in the Eastern New Mexico State fair by a friend who purchased the original and it won a section (mixed-media) prize ($25.00) and so has a chance at Best of Show. 

I hope you're finding ways to enjoy your art and enhance your life.

Growing up

It's funny that when we you use a bigger brush, start blocking in color, use less color more carefully, remember to look where your sunshine is coming from - they say "your work looks more mature". Those boring things we learn along the way like adding every little detail, using color indiscriminately, being afraid of adding the darks, never looking to where your light comes from makes us look like we are just learning to speak this expression of art. If we only go back to our childish ways, sometimes our paintings grow up. Maybe because it's so hard to stop yourself from trying to give the viewer more than we think he needs. It's funny that our paintings begin moving out of adolescents when we begin moving back to simplicity.

I'm glad I'm seeing a little growth in my paintings. I hope you see it too. But it can be a little scarey growing up. But I just have to keep letting go of what has always been in me and let my little girl child paint.... freely again, without the critic in my ear, without the chatter in my head.

I still have a thousand paintings in front of me. And me and my girl-child will grow old together down this path. You just wait and see.