Which Morphs In To....

A new painting, heading in a new direction. I started this last Friday night while my wife was away. I had some bonus studio time and thought I'd just paint for the sake of painting. My wanderings and musings led me to this:

    Since this picture I've decided to take the faces farther and add some blue, hoping to copy some of what's going on in the lower right face. This isn't a very good picture, but I did take it with my phone and posted it on Facebook for the whole world to see, with the push of a couple of buttons. I marvel sometimes at the technology I have access to. It's so much easier to show your art these days than ever before. On the downside there's so much art (and other things) on the internet that it's often hard to stand out from the crowd. I like to think I do a pretty good job. 

    I recently finished a painting that was another experimental piece. I wanted to mix some people with some geometric shapes. It sounded so easy in my head, but it took me almost three weeks to get it to where I liked it. Considering I often finish a painting in less than an hour it seemed to me that it took forever . I still can't get the feel that it had in my head. If only I could print images directly from my imagination. 

"Three Heads of the Dragon Prophecy"

  

The Key To Happiness

Could it be this easy? Could it be that a lowly artist has found the key? Here's what I think the answer is:

• Do what you were put here to do. Don't over think it. Everyone was put here for a reason. You may be here to create art, to be a businessman, to be a mother. They're all equally important in the grand scheme. If it's what you're here to do it will come easy to you and you will enjoy doing it.
• Don't worry. Worry does absolutely no good to anyone. If you have a problem you can sit down and figure the best way to solve it, that's a good idea. It's a positive channeling of nervous energy. Worry just wastes time and energy. It makes you pretty miserable too.
• Laugh every day. It promotes good health and good energy.
• Help people when ever you can. It brings about good karma and creates a positive energy flow.
• Do something special for someone every day, preferably someone different each day. It's even better if it's a stranger. 
• Do something for yourself as often as possible. While you're helping others on their journey through life don't forget about yourself. You're the most important person you know.
• Don't look back, something might me gaining on you. 

"Catwalk"

Oh, it probably wouldn't hurt to buy some original artwork and hang it in your house. 

There Are No Mistakes

I haven't always believed that. I sometimes regret things from my past. Things that I did or didn't do. Sometimes I stop and think that everything from my past has made me what I am today, put me where I am today. Maybe I should have managed my money better, but then I wouldn't be working where I am and wouldn't have met all my friends there. I might be better off than I might have been. All my stress, pain, and struggle have made my art what it is today, and I wouldn't trade that for anything.

"There Are No Mistakes" acrylic on canvas $400

I May Already Be A Winner

It's been a pretty good week. I had a good weekend at work, at least as far as money goes. I've got car problems and my poor PT Cruiser runs like it has the hiccups. I'm hoping to get it fixed this week. Apparently you can't just take a car in to get fixed anymore. I have to wait for the big man to get to work tomorrow in hopes he can tell me when I can bring it in for them to look at so they can decide what's wrong, tell me about how much it will cost to fix, and then have it fixed. I used to just take my car in and then pick it up in a day or so after handing the mechanic a fist full of cash. If only I could fix it myself. If only I could wave my hands in the air and have them fill with hundred dollar bills. Same chance of happening. I really should clean the house. The roof could stand some attention. I need to do laundry. It all seems to pile up at once. My wife tells me to concentrate on the good and not stress over the bad. That brings me to the focus of this post: my studio.

It's kinda messy. It's too small for what I really need. I'm positive that gremlins live in it, hiding my supplies and ruining my brushes. It's also the place I can get away from everything and relax. I play some music, get the vibe going, stand in front of my easel and create masterpiece after masterpiece (Well, to my mind anyway. My daughter and my wife think they're pretty cool to). I am thankful that I have someplace to call a studio. I know there are many artists world wide that don't have that luxury. I am a pretty lucky guy. Enough of this mush. Here's another painting:

"MYSTERY CAT"

So Many Things I Should Be Doing

I'm falling farther behind I fear. I'm not getting the production I need from myself. I do paint on a regular basis, mostly to keep my sanity, but I'm not taking pictures and posting them online nearly as often as I should. I'm not making the effort I should in promoting and selling my art either. I have increased my sales as of late, but I always think I could be doing more. I haven't kept up on my phone calls to family and friends, I don't get out to mingle with other people, I don't read as much as I'd like; there's really no part of my life where I feel I'm giving all the effort I should. I thought maybe if I put it in writing on the world wide web it might motivate me to do better. I guess we'll see. In the meantime, here's a new painting.

Progress Comes Slowly

Life has been exciting lately. I've finished four commissions in the past week and I've got about $1,000 worth of people interested that I need to coax in to buying a portrait of their children. I really wish I had more time to devote to all this. Work has been sucking the life out of me and life seems to be poking it's head into my studio and taking me away. I've been working on something new the past week.

I started with a profile face and then got the idea to add some geometric lines and shapes to it. I thought they might all blend together, but that didn't happen. I was pretty frustrated, telling my Facebook fans about it. I posted a picture (this one in fact) to show them where I was stuck. I got an avalanche of positive comments saying what a great, innovative (at least that's what I remember them saying) painting it was. I'm thinking "I'm back at the start here, I don't know what to do next" and I'm hearing "we love this, let us hang it on our walls". I'm afraid I'm more confused now than I was before.

What do you want to hear?

It's been a long time, again, and I'm finally posting again. I could make all kinds of excuses as to why it's been so long: the heat has sapped my energy, I've been working so much I just want to sleep on my days off, the alignment of the earth in relation to the sun has caused me to lapse into a coma-like hibernation. Basically I just haven't sat down for fifteen minutes to update my blog. I've been painting regularly but I could still find more time to create more. I have been doing a lot of commissions lately. A lot of women wanting paintings of their kids. That makes me feel good and they typically aren't much trouble to do. I've basically finished the four painting series I'm doing for my friend Josh's movie. I just need the final opinion of the other producer and a minor tweak to the eyes and they'll be ready for their trip to Dallas. On the other hand I've had computer and modem issues. Very minor issues, everything still works well enough, but issues that keep me from working the exact way I'd like to. I suppose if that's the biggest worry I have right now then I should count myself among the lucky ones.

That Same Old Problem

It seems I've fallen back into my bad habit of not updating my blog regularly. I've been overwhelmed by life these past few weeks, working a lot and trying to get too much done on my days off. What few hours I can carve out for my career have been used for creating rather than promoting. I'm still working on streamlining my social networks, but not making near the progress I need to. I've figured out my target audience but haven't done anything in the past two months to try to reach them. I need to organize my art supplies but I have enough in reach to do my acrylic paintings. I feel overwhelmed and tired. I wish I had more time, although I often think that my problem is more about time management than it is about needing more hours. If I didn't get three or four paintings done every week I'd probably feel depressed and tired. I have kept those two at bay for the most part. All I know to do is keep on moving forward.

It Has Been A While

  I haven't posted on here in a while. I've stayed busy but somehow haven't made as much progress as I would have liked. I got all my paintings back from the delicatessen in Sikeston Missouri, all 65 of them. Unfortunately I really don't have room for all of them in my house, so that has really caused me some problems. I've sold 8 paintings so far this year. I'm very happy on this end of things. I'm really hoping to build on this success and keep selling more art. I'm also doing a painting (actually a series of paintings) for a movie a friend on mine is producing. It's the story of a lady artist whose husband dies and she does a portrait of him as part of her recovery. I have to do four paintings which represent four stages of the portrait, beginning, two middle, and the finished painting. I'm not sure how to do this the best way, but I'm hoping to figure it out. It is a nice problem to have. I've also been working with my wife on a business plan. It should be nice to have a road map to follow while I'm marketing my work. I should have done this years ago. Ah well, it wouldn't be much fun to do things the easy way.

Looking Back and Looking Forward

Well, it's Wednesday again. My last day off this week. I've had a pretty good three days off this time, but it never seems that I get enough done. I feel like I have to cram all my art time in to one or two days instead of being an artist a few times a day, every day. I can't really get into a flow if I know I have to go to work later and it's usually always so late when I get in from work that I usually just shower and head to bed with my wife. I don't mind the way things are set up now, but I really wish I had my own studio in a separate building, somewhere I could get away from the distractions that I encounter here. I'd like for the job of artist to be the one that pays the bills so I don't have another job stressing me out and getting in the way of my creating. I've been there before, and I plan on getting there again. I've been hitting Facebook hard with my artwork lately. I'm getting a lot of good leads on art sales on there and getting a lot of people to see my art. It's a great way to get seen, but I've got so much going on internet-wise that I can't keep up with all of it. I've got a lot of my social media sites interconnected to save time, but sometimes I also get posts repeating at times. I really need to tear it all down and redo it now that I know more about what I need to do, but I doubt that would be possible. Instead I'll just keep building my internet presence and promoting my work as best as I can. My big break is just around the corner.

"The Redbird and Another Canary"

New Year, New Attitude (?)

I know, it's been a while. I was doing pretty good at regularly posting on here, right up until the holiday season got into full swing. I managed to make it through with my mind still fairly sound. I had the day to myself today and spent it painting and rummaging through thrift stores for inspiration. I've finished five paintings today, plus fixing one that I did last week. I'm in my studio, music playing, paints and brushes handy, motivation coursing through my veins. I've also sold quite a few paintings in the past three weeks, with several more people showing strong interest. I'm hoping to build on this momentum as the year progresses. It's not my new years resolution, it's just the smart thing to do (which may explain the shocked expressions on some of your faces as you read that last sentence). I'm typically more of a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants kinda guy that a plan-ahead guy. I am doing better though and I expect it will only get better. Anyhow, here's a painting for you to look at:

"Something About A Bird"