Looking back at 2013 and forward to 2014

Beginning 2013

This year has been a challenging year, but it has also been full of blessings in many different ways. Our family had some personal challenges that were hard to work through, but with support from family and friends, it has helped me to get through them.  I found a new good friend who has helped me out in so many ways, that I want to thank her for her support and friendship.  It was a blessing to find a new friend, at this stage of my life, that I can trust and enjoy spending time with.  At the same time, you should keep your friends close, because you never know when they may be gone...or come close to it.  So, keep in touch with your friends...old and new.  Thank you to my friend, you know who you are.  (Kat)  And to my oldest friends from Pine Bluff, you are a blessing to me as well! Love you all!

Ending 2013

It has been a blessing to stay very busy with my art in 2013. Thank you to everyone who has supported me by being a customer or just encouraging me in whatever I do.  I really enjoy doing this full time. I am doing what I love to do.  In 2014, I plan to make some changes. I want to SIMPLIFY my life. I have been moving towards this for awhile. I am de-cluttering my space and now I need to refocus my art.  I have been all over the place with subject and media, but I have decided to start out the new year with a 30 day challenge.  It is a 30 paintings in 30 days challenge for January.  I hope that this challenge will help me to focus more on what I want to do.  So be watching for painting challenge photos.

Some of the commissions that I worked on this year include, the Snow House at the beginning of 2013. And one of my Christmas commissions was a cute little Yorkie named Khloe. She is a little cutie patootie! Looks like she may be a little spoiled, just like my little pup! This drawing was done with pen and ink.   I've done many others with color, including watercolor, colored pencil, and acrylics throughout the year and hopefully, more in 2014...so I'm looking forward to 2014 to see what it brings.  

Happy New Year!
Beth♥

The Christmas Rush is Over

Every year I tell myself that Christmas should not be so stressful and that next year will be better.  But the next year comes along and the stress starts building.  This year, I decided that shopping was not going to be one of those stresses.  So I did a lot of my shopping online this year.  I didn't have to take time off work to go spend a whole day or more looking for the perfect gifts.  Besides, the perfect gift does not come wrapped in a gift under the tree.  The perfect gift, for me, would be to relax with my family and enjoy the time together. No stress, no expectations of the perfect holiday, Just a special time to get together and make nice memories.

As a family, we changed our usual schedule and places for the Holiday festivities.  It was a nice mix of old traditions and new traditions.  

The stress comes when I try to take on to much work for others. After all, I am an artist, who works at this for a living. So I should be able to take it on.  I can work hard and long hours.  But the reality is, my time is limited before Christmas.  Custom orders cannot be late for Christmas.  Scheduling some projects before others because of shipping issues, drying or firing times, and just the fact that many of the things that I create take A LOT of time.  So, even though it comes with the job, it is stressful because I want to make everyone happy and I find it difficult to be limited by time.   

But after all the food was cooked and eaten, the packages were unwrapped, the Post Christmas illness settled in.  This year it took the form of a bad head cold.  As I type this, I am sitting on the couch, in my new pjs, that my sister gave me, with my pillow and blanket and tissues and medicine, wishing I felt better, so I could enjoy being home.  But this head cold that I got for Christmas is not allowing me to enjoy the time to relax.  Seems like many people have also gotten a cold this Christmas, as well.  I have to wonder if it is the stress that helps to bring on the Post Christmas illness...the dreaded cold.   I run myself into the ground trying to make everyone happy and try to make everything perfect...which is impossible...

...Which gives me my goal for next year....SIMPLIFY. 

So now I have to figure out how I can do that for 2014...and still make a living with my art! 

Until then...Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays! 

Beth♥

Studio Organization - Colored Pencils

Colored Pencils
Artists are notorious for having lots of art supplies. I'm guilty as charged. It is a necessity. It is a passion. It is like baking supplies for a foodie. And to make matters worse, I work in a variety of media...from colored pencils to pen and ink to acrylic paint to watercolor paint to oil paint to clay.

So I am constantly fighting to keep things organized and within reach at the same time.  So I thought I would post a few photos of a project that I've done to 'try' to get my studio organized a little.  But keep in mind that this is a work in progress.  One step at a time, right?  So, one side of my studio is devoted to drawing. The other is devoted to clay and paint...the 'messy' media.  Today I just want to talk about the colored pencils on the drawing side of the studio. In case you cannot tell, Prismacolor Colored Pencils are my favorite. I have a lot. I have more stored in containers in my desk.


Organizing Colored Pencils

Problem: Keeping said colored pencils organized (in one place) enough that I can find the colors when I need them and make good use of 'small nubs' of colored pencils.
Solution:
Buy (2) 2' length White PVC Pipes
( I used 3" diameter, cut to preferred size to hold the pencils)
** I cut 5 pieces approximately 4 1/4" each with the remaining piece being 2 1/2" for pencil nubs.

NOTE** You may want to get more, or longer, PVC and cut all pieces the same size.  But I always have little nubs of colored pencils that I want to keep up with.  I use them to glue onto new pencils!  But that is another story!

(2) 22"  length 1x4 painted white boards (I cut them to fit the number of pieces of PVC I wanted AND to fit the top of a bookshelf that sits beside by drawing table. You may want to cut one wider board, instead of two to fit onto a table or desktop.)  I wanted 2 separate boards so I could move them around later. Also, I already had the wood pieces painted.
*E-6000 Glue (or any strong glue) to adhere the PVC to the boards, making sure the black words printed on the pipes are facing each other for a cleaner look.

I had my husband cut the PVC pipe on his electric saw.  Then I placed them on the board, into position, the way I wanted them to be glued.  I positioned them so that the 'unattractive' words that come printed on them would be facing each other.  Then I started by picking up the end piece and spread glue onto the bottom of the PVC and placed it back on the board.  I continued with that until I finished with all six pieces. Then I started on the second board.  I let it dry overnight before I organized my sharpened colored pencils by color groups and placed them on the bookshelf next to my drawing board.

And for current projects,
there is just enough room at the end of the two boards to hold two large mugs that will hold the colored pencils that I will keep while working on a project.   I think this will work pretty well for me! I've been searching for some ideas for keeping up with my pencils and found some ideas on YouTube, but I recently went to a colored pencil workshop and the instructor, Nancy Charles, had a similar version of this.  So I modified it to fit my needs and came up with this.  So, thank you, Nancy, for the inspiration!

Beth♥

Pretty Leaves are Going Fast

This week as I was outside walking the dog around the yard, I was also looking for pretty fall color in the yard.  This year another red maple in our yard started turning pretty red colors that I had not seen on this particular tree before.  This tree is special to me because we planted this tree in our front yard the first fall that we moved into our house 17 years ago.  Our house was a new house, so it did not have any trees, so we wanted to have some pretty colors eventually.  My son was in first grade at the time.  He and his friend helped his dad plant the tree in the front yard.  After several years, the tree did not grow very much. The tree is a Red Maple and is supposed to grow quickly, but it was not thriving like it should.  So we decided to dig it up and move it about 30 feet towards the backyard.  The tree must have liked its new spot, because it started to grow and thrive.  Now, 17 years later, the Red Maple has grown into this tree. It decided to show us its pretty red leaves this year. But they are falling quickly. They are covering the ground now.  But even on the ground they are pretty. I may have to  preserve some of them in a drawing or painting or maybe even a clay design.  I'm still hoping for a repeat of last years color from another tree in the backyard, but the cold weather last week may have changed mother nature's plans this year.

Beth  ♥     

Fall Palette of Color...

The colors of fall are so pretty.  Fall and Spring are my favorite seasons. They both are so colorful and I love color!  I created a hanging tile with fall colors that includes a little owl.  It is now listed in my Etsy shop: My Etsy Shop

I have also been watching for changing leaves for photos. Here are a few photos of what I have taken, but it is still early. But they are changing quickly.  I've been taking Sophie for some short walks to see some of the colors in the neighborhood.  I'm sure I will post more over the next few weeks.  Enjoy!
Beth  ♥     

Painting Birds with Acrylics

Painting is Good for the Soul
After spending hours and hours getting ready for the Norcross Art Festival and finishing up a large commission, last week I just crashed!  I spent several days unpacking and re-organizing my tent display items, then re-listing items in my Etsy shop, so I was working, just not on the creative part of my 'job'.  So Friday I pulled out a canvas commission that had been waiting to be finished and by Saturday morning I was in the mood to be creative.  I painted all day Saturday, finishing 2 painting commissions and then on to one just for fun!  And it felt really good to paint! It was a rainy day, so it was good to be in the studio.  It lifted my spirits quite a bit.  The blahs turned into a happy feeling.  I think I will spend more time painting in the near future, mixing my time up with some drawing, clay work and painting.  Sounds like a good mixture to me.

Whimsical Birds on Canvas
 A couple of months ago I painted the background of this canvas.  I used a coral color first. Then I rolled blue on top of the coral, leaving some of the coral showing through.  After that was dry, I drew the outline of the birds on the branch.  Then I put it away to get ready for the art show...then pulled it out Saturday. I got so excited about painting, I forgot to take photos of the background first.  I started lightening up the background (around the birds and branch) with loose brushstrokes of lighter blues, pinks, and yellows.  Monday I worked on the painting again and ended up here...

I'm letting it sit for a few days to decide if its finished or not.  We'll see. Now I'm ready to work on some commissions because my Soul is refreshed!

Beth  ♥     

Checking My List...

Norcross...done!  Last weekend we traveled to Georgia to participate in the Norcross Art Fest for the

second time.  I really enjoy going to Norcross. The people are so nice and it is so nice to be a part of such a well organized show.  The other artists are so nice and helpful. The weather was great and the crowds were large. The only thing I do not like about it is that it is so far away and so expensive for us to attend.  I really hope to find a show that is closer to home and just as organized and whimsical and creative as the Splash Festivals in Georgia.  I'm still learning this whole Art Festival business and still have a long way to go.  My booth is looking a little better each time we go.  I think it looked better this time, but I still have some ideas to improve on my display on the right side of my booth.  If we can find another good show, in Arkansas, I may have to try it out.
So, I can check off this event off my to do list for this fall.  Now I need to concentrate on working on commissions that have been waiting patiently for me to return and listing new items in my Etsy shop.

Next on my to do list.. some paint, some drawing, some clay....have some fun.

Beth  ♥