No Sale, but Lots of Exposure

So, I didn't sell either work at the Jackson District Library Community Art Show at the Carneige Branch. That is okay. I wasn't focused on selling as much as I was on showing. I'm just getting back into painting after years on hiatus. I'm getting my footing again and there will be other shows...I hope. I need to keep creating. To keep pushing myself to see what else I can do. I've been watching online videos of painters painting. Some are very helpful. Others, not so much. The library said the event was popular and they want to do it again in about six months or so. I bought more frames at Michael's so my work will be hang ready. Now to create more work to have to hang.

Dropped Artwork Off at the Library

Just returned home after dropping off my two paintings to the Carnegie branch of the Jackson District Library. The paintings-- "Community" and "3 Cherries" are oil pastels I created over the course of a couple hours this past week. I'm proud of my work even though it feels unfinished. The colors in both paintings could be richer, deeper and with more contrast. Even so, it's a start back to the art world--a world in which I am free to express myself in any carefree manner I chose. Right now I have support from friends and acquaintances for my artwork. I feel as if my work is evolving--getting better the more I do it. Kind of like my writing. The more I write, the better I get. Well, maybe not. I feel like I am not free to create in the writing world. I feel like I've gone as far as I know how in writing. I want to get better, but how? Like my artwork it will take study to get better. I can watch technique videos on pastel oil painting and apply those techniques to my work. How can I get better at writing? Should I read more? Absorb technique through osmosis? I don't know what will help me write more better. :) See what I did there? I just know I will continue to struggle along and hope to goodness I get better at writing and art.

Community Oil Pastel

So the other night I taped a sheet of 18x24 inch Carlton watercolor paper to my dining room wall and created my version of the theme "Community" for the Jackson District Library art show at the Carnegie branch. This is what I saw in my minds eye as I thought about the theme. I created a small version in my sketchbook journal to see how the colors would work together. I like this version, but think I could have deepened the colors. As it is, I used two colors of orange and two colors of blue oil pastels to create this work. It is very light and airy. I used mineral spirits to blend the colors and in so doing wiped off a great deal of the original colors. I've all ready taken it off the wall and added the "people" to the bottom (the little vertical strips of color under the orange banner). So I cannot add more color to the painting. The library is accepting works from adults and children starting today, April 7, 2019-April 11, 2019. The opening reception is sometime after 5 p.m. Friday, April 12. Maybe it runs from 5-7p.m. I'm not sure. I'll have to check the article for the times.

Back to Art 2019

A few years ago I gave my oil paints away because I had had enough with trying to create something visually that people wanted to buy. I gave up. Now, I have renewed interest in getting back into art as a way to calm my raging soul. Well, okay, so my soul isn't raging, but I just thought it sounded more dramatic than I miss creating. I've been in a slump with my writing since 2018 was the punch-to-the-gut year of rejections left and right. Every rejection I received came with a personal note to me from the editor or agent as to why they were passing on the project. All pointed out strengths in the writing and what they liked, but when they pointed out the flaws it sent me into a tailspin. I want my writing, like my art, to be perfect. I'm seeing just how far from perfect that I am. I don't like seeing my non perfection. I wish things were different. I wish someone would have picked up my books--yes, books. I wish I would have sold more art so I would feel like continuing. I've come back to it, but will I run away again if all is not perfect? If I'm not selling? I think as long as I am selling I will continue with art, but that cannot be true because I am beginning again and not selling yet. I'm riding high on the anticipation of future sales. (I wouldn't put too much stock into future sales. Isn't just the exercise of creating a piece payment enough?) It should be but it isn't.

What happened to my blogs

August 6, 2018 I wrote at least two blogs about writing, but they aren't appearing here. I don't know why. Ah, I see why. This is my art blog not my writing blog. (Keep it straight will you.) There isn't anything happening in my art world so I haven't posted here in a while. Meanwhile in writing world, there is plenty that has happened. I'm working on a contemporary, inspirational romance novel that seems to be creeping along at a snails pace. Need to have more time in the seat with hands on keyboard and less time in the seat playing on the computer or checking email, etc. Outside, it is raining with sounds of thunder rumbling. Such a nice sound. We've needed the rain.

Stuck in Writing World

May 28, 2018 So I'm stuck in writing world and have been for months. What used to come as a downpour has become a trickle. Two days ago I wrote 400 plus words. I was so thrilled. I feel like I'm walking on ice--afraid to take the next step because it may lead to a fall, but how will I know it will cause me to fall unless I take that step and inch my way along? Writing like this--scared writing--is not fun. I need to get back to the story, but am afraid. Fear is keeping me from writing and the thrill of discovery. In the meantime, I'm working on a revision of a work that was edited by Laurie Kuna of Mid-Michigan Romance Writers Association. She gave me very good feedback. I feel like I need to go eat something--just don't want to deal with this feeling of fear of writing and all it entails.

Writing

Has it really been two years since I posted here on my blog? Goodness gracious! Time does fly whether or not one is having fun. As an artist, I find myself at a loss for creating art. I'm much better at buying it now and am putting other artist's work on my walls. My most recent acquisition was from Thimgan Hayden, a realist painter from Michigan. I bought "Winter Colors" from her. It is a work she painted looking out the dinning room window in her home. Thank you Thimgan Hayden for creating such beautiful work. It gives me much joy to look at it each day. Well, I started this blog with the title of Writing and have yet to talk about that. For the past two years I've been working on writing romances. It has been fun. No, I'm not published as of yet. Now I find with this latest work that I am stuck. I'm trying to write a Christian romance and have hit a spot where one of my characters has rejected the other's love proposal. Well that threw me for a loop and I haven't recovered as of yet. There are so many other excuses I could use as to why I am stuck, but this one seems as good as any. A writer friend asked me how much time I'm spending in front of the computer screen with this work. Not enough. I'm a panster--writing by the seat of my pants. I don't plot out my work first and so now that I'm facing a wall in my writing instead of looking to the left and right to see a way around the wall I'm left facing it, wondering how I got there and what to do. I wish there was an easy answer to my dilemma. There is one. Reread what I've written thus far and go from there. Ah and now the excuses. I have a headache. I really do and just don't want to put that much effort into what I'm writing right now...and so it goes.

Janet Reid, Literary Agent: MWW Query Workshop

Janet Reid, Literary Agent: MWW Query Workshop

So Long Art

It's been so long since I've created any art. Do I still consider myself an artist? Should I still consider myself an artist? Art is not my sole profession. I have a day job with the State of Michigan, which I love. A good income and lack of pressure contributed to my lack of desire for creating art. My life is not in tormoil. I am comfortable. I have no need to express myself because of this perpetual comfort. I don't wish to be uncomfortable in order to reignite my creative spark. For now, I'll bask in comfort and not worry about producing anything visually creative. I have started back writing. For now, writing is enough creativity for me.

Throwing Art Away

To throw away or not to throw away...When art is so bad there is no recourse but to throw it away. Back some months ago, how long--I have no idea, I hung up a white sheet of 20"x30" pastel paper on my dinning room wall, taped off the outside so the paper would stay on the wall and so I could create a border on the finished piece. I started with a plain brown planter, added a half moon red table on which the pot sat. That's as far as the painting went for months. I didn't like the pot. It was too brown, too plain, too whatever. I should have added the flowers first and then put in the pot between the leaves and petals. Too late now. Such a nagging little thought, but it haunted me. Each day I walked by the painting on my way to the kitchen and out the door for work. After a while I successfully ignored the painting; actually forgot about it until one day inspiration hit and I tried to add some blue and grey flowers above the pot to soften it a bit. No good. Surveying my work from across the room I was disappointed. The blue and grey flowers on top of the brown pot now resembled an ice cream cone. Ugh!! Where had my creativity gone? Had it been bested by a brown pot? It certainly seemed so. Weeks, months went by and again a spark of inspiration came. This time I would cover my mistake with wedges of bright blue and red. The result was terrible--an insult to the eye. Can art go from worse to much worse? Yes, yes it can and mine did. The painting still hangs in the dinning room, still is purposely ignored. I cannot think of anything that would salvage the painting at this point other than wading it up and throwing it in the garbage. I think it would be best for the sake of my creativity to throw it out. But would throwing it out allow me to forget about it and move on at this point? I hope so.

Creating Art: What are you doing about it?

So I've hit a long dry spell in creating art. Why create if no one is buying? I don't need to fill my home with paintings waiting to be bought. What about you? What about people who happen upon my blog or who mean to happen upon it because they too are interested in creating art. I understand writers block--being a freelance writer and having worked as a reporter for a local daily. I understand how to break through the writers block barrier (yes, I meant to be redundant for emphasis), but when it comes to creating art, which takes up a lot more space literally how do I break through? How do you? Please share your thoughts on this topic.

I almost turned off the TV (creativity killer) and worked on a couple of pieces I have had in the works since last year. One was the painting I started for my brother when I found out he and his partner were having a committment ceremony last August. It was supposed to be a gift for them. I never told my brother about it because as I was setting down the layers of oil paint on the canvas, which had been wrapped in plastic my brush picked up random cat hairs, which were then embedded into the painting. I'm not sure if the static on the canvas drew the cat hairs into the paint or if my cats had been using the brushes with which to comb their faces.After trying to rub off several cat hairs, I decided to put the project on hold until I could devise a way to deal with all the cat hair. Help! It's too late now because the paint has long since dried and the cat hair is unremovable unless I turpentine the whole thing and start over. I won't be starting over.

Then there is the oil pastel which has been taped to the dinning room wall for at least six months. I can usually finish an oil pastel in one sitting. I wanted it to be a painting of lovely moon-glow roses with plenty of grey and blues in it. I started by drawing the pot that the flowers would be in--a plain brown planter. This was disasterous for me because it killed my creativity. I realized there was no way to hide the pot and I didn't like the pot so I didn't continue. So there it hangs a pot on a red table cloth and plenty of unpainted white paper on the wall. Maybe I should go back to trading cards. I was much better at smaller works and didn't get so overwhelmed.

Share your story.

It has been a while since I've posted. Not much is happening in the art world for me. I clicked on the "next blog" link at the top of my page and found an artist's work that I really like. All I remeber is her name is Catherine someone. I thought I saved the link to her site and thought I joined her discussion group, now I cannot find her blog. Oh poop!!

Rain Drop Photos

Such a simple thing--photos of rain drops, but how lovely.

Found Artist Portfolio

Maybe I should not admit this. I thought I dreamed it, but I didn't. It is real. Four months after writing the post about looking for my lost 3'x3.5' artist portfolio, I found it in the front closet. Guess I don't hang up my coat enough. I was tidying the dining room and wanted to hang up my winter coats. I opened the closet door and found the portfolio. I didn't pull it out. I was tidying during a commercial and wanted to get back to the TV quickly.

Taking a break at work, I remembered the what I thought I had dreamed. It wasn't a dream. At last, the lost portfolio has been found. Yeah!

It's been a while...

It's been a while since I posted here. There were three art shows I tried to get into this year and didn't make it. That's a creativity killer. I've been enjoying showing my work to myself by hanging it in the living room. I love my work whether or not I make it into shows or am selling anything. It is frustrating to not make it into shows, but more so to not be selling anything. Why create if nothing is going out the door and all I've made leans on the floor against the wall forgotten by me and unseen by others.

All is not sadness: This morning as I drove to work, I was caught in a down pour of rain. Instead of turning on my windshield wipers I watched the rain bead and squiggle toward the top of the windshield. I grabbed the little point and shoot camera in my purse and photographed my windshield up close.

At work, I reviewed the pictures and was very pleased by what I found there. Even if I'm not selling I'm quite thrilled to still be creating even if it only is in pictures. Please share your struggles with creativity. Thank you.

How to Make a Living as an Artist by Chris Bidlack, Bidlack Creative Group, for Ann Arbor Women Artists in Ann Arbor Michigan

How to make an impression as an artist from Chris Bldlack, Head Honcho, Bidlack Creative Group

Chris shared information  about how to make a living as an artist. He said his talk assumes we make great “art”.

• His first recommendation was for us to “show off” and write our own positioning statement. Positioning statement should answer these questions: who? (who are you?) what? (what do you do?) for whom? (who is your target audience?) what’s needed? (what void are you filling?) Differentiation  (what’s different about your work?)
• Have a business card and use both sides; make it interesting.
• About being an artist, 1) Be proud – being creative is important. Know that many people that don’t have creative skills envy those people that do have those skills. Not everyone can do what you do. 2) Own a category; specialize in something. Get really good at something, and let them know you specialize.  3) Brand. You are a brand. Design yourself a brand symbol. 4) Charge a lot of money! (This one got a nice chuckle) Value what you do, or no one else will.
• Learn to use social media such as Facebook,Twitter, etc. They’re here to stay, and a huge number of people subscribe to those tools. Constant Contact is a good social media tool for newsletters.
• Write a Blog; WordPress.org is good
• Consider making a u-tube video, if you’re good at that kind of thing. He said to use the “candy bar description” of telling the viewer what’s under the wrapper.
• For more information, see:  http://www.bidlack.com/

Artist Trading Cards

This is the Compartmentalized Lemon artist trading card I created March 10, 2012. I used a hand scanner to copy the card. It seems a bit more elongated than the original, but it is close.

Call for Michigan Artists

http://www.semarts.info/

This is the link for the call for artists in southeastern Michigan for 2012. Please repost this blog and share with others on facebook and twitter. I'm still trying to get 50 blog followers by the end of March. Help!! Thank you for reading.

Artist Portfolio

I'm getting desperate. For the past several weeks I cannot find my artist portfolio--the original one. Ann Arbor Book and Art Supplies went out of business yesterday. About two weeks ago I went to the store and picked up a bunch of art supplies including a new, larger portfolio because I haven't been able to find mine and because I needed a bigger one in which to store 26"x30" oil pastels that I don't want to frame and put on the wall right now. The larger portfolio was $19 dollars--a very good investment.

I've searched all my usual hiding places for the portfolio. I've checked behind things, in closed guest bedrooms and such, but still have not located that portfolio...there were several paintings I wanted to enter into Red, but since I could not find the portfolio, they were not entered. So much for living alone in a huge old house.

How in the world could my artist portfolio be missing this long??? Uh!!

American Red Cross Red Show in Jackson Michigan

This evening after work I visited the American Red Cross Red Show in Jackson. I've been in the Red Shows for the past three years, but I'd never been. I was impressed. There were quite a few artists work. I don't recall seeing any sculptures. The prices ranged from $50 to $10,000. All of the works priced under $100 sold. Some of the ones prices under $200 sold. None of the works over $200 sold. I priced the one piece I submitted an 11"x14" oil pastel on board titled "A/P" at $50. Mine sold. I was thrilled to see that.