Dani

a tree called life

tree image courtesy of Katelyn Swanson

(click here to see her photos on facebook or here to see her blog)

title courtesy of ee cummings

My baby girl, Dani, turned 23 last Friday.  Lately she's been into trees and ee cummings so I made this collage for her using a photo taken by one of her closest friends (I did a gel transfer).  I'm finally giving it to her tonite so I think it's safe to have this post publish while we're out to dinner.

Dani is extremely smart, kind, driven, fun, clever, hard-working, creative, a good friend, a loving daughter and beautiful - actually, exotic is probably a good word to describe her beauty.  I am so proud to know her and constantly amazed that she actually came from me!!!  In December, she graduated summa cum laude in humanities from the University of Central Oklahoma and she's going to continue growing into a wonderful woman and I can't wait to see everything that entails.

I love you Dani.

ps -  the birthday dinner was great - here's a picture of Dani tonite wearing the charm bracelet/necklace I made

Rest (completed)

"Come to me, all of y'all who are worn out & run down, and I'll give you rest" ~ Jesus  (Matthew 11:28, paraphrased by me)

Awhile ago I posted a picture of a citra-solv experiment.

I finally took that piece and created this collage.

It was a real stretch for me to work in blacks & whites.

Do you find that you get into a color rut?

For a long time I was into vintage photos so there were lots of ochres & sepias in my work.

Then there was a red kick started by calls for red pieces at a couple of different local shows.

Now I seem to be all over the place -

almost developing a new, more abstract style.

But even with all the changes and experimentation, these colors were difficult for me.

What about you - do you lean toward certain colors?

Is color one of the things that defines your style?

The Dream

“I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.’

...I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.

This is our hope. This is the faith with which I return to the South. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with a new meaning, ‘My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring.’

And if America is to be a great nation this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania!

…When we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, ‘Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!’”

Martin Luther King Jr.

  August 28, 1963

Click here to read the entire speech.

Fear

On my last post, I talked about change and its best buddy, fear.

Now I just want to give you some encouragement if you're contemplating making a change and your stuck because of fear:

Don't wait until the fear goes away before you act -
act until the fear goes away.

Please don't think I'm being glib or unrealistic or foolish. I decided to go for it with my art but I didn't just quit my day job and risk raising my kids in a cardboard box. As a matter of fact, it was years before I could quit my full-time job, then awhile longer until I could transition my part-time jobs into contract work, and it could still be another 9 months or twelve years before I can stop doing accounting altogether.

So, what I am encouraging you to do is to think it through:

1. What is my fear?  Name it.
   - Are you afraid you'll be embarassed?  Um.  So?  Okay, THAT was glib.  But really, it's not like you're having a wardrobe malfunction onstage at the Super Bowl.  If embarrassment is your fear, then just be very careful  who you tell - or tell no one.
   - Are you afraid you'll fail?  You've heard about Thomas Edison and his 3000 attempts to find a filament.  Failing often breeds better ideas.
2. Where did this fear come from?
   - Is that just me hearing mean old so-n-so again?  We often play these tapes over-and-over in our heads because some kid in third grade or a cruel teacher or, worst of all, a bad parent told us we weren't good enough or we were stupid or some other judgment based more in their problems than on anything we did.  Do we really want to give him/her/them control over our current life? 
   - Or, maybe it's your gut telling you something isn't quite right.  Then research it a little more (I'm a firm believer in listening to your natural instincts.).
3. Is it a valid fear?  Could this actually happen? 
   - Am I really incompetent?  Be honest.  Shut off the tapes and evaluate the situation and your abilities, time availability, energy level, etc. 
   - What is the absolute worst thing that could happen and could I live with it? Don't exagerate either. Again, be honest.  I think you'd be surprised how much easier it is to do without material goods (not basic food & shelter, obviously) when you're doing what you love.  That's why they have to pay you more to work for jerks than to work for nice people. 
4. Can I address/resolve any valid issues/concerns? Seriously, is there really a true possiblity that you cannot find a way thru or around this obstacle given enough time or effort?  I am willing to bet you can find someone to help you in exchange for your help at something (quid pro quo makes the business world go around).  Maybe your ideas dovetail with someone else's.  Maybe your spouse is ready for you to finally be happy and will do anything to make your dreams come true (yay for my hubby who feels this way).
5. Make a plan.  Man.  This step alone is a biggie.  Jessica Howard has a time management post and her step three fits here: Make a map and keep following it. I'll just advise that you think of everything you can and then be flexible.  New things will be thrown at you.  Good things.  Bad things.  Boring things. Adjust the plan.
6. And then, to throw one more quote at you - probably one you've heard the most:
   
   "Just Do It!" - Nike™

The artwork today is by Sylvia Drown. I "met" Sylvia in Kelly Rae Roberts online class, FLYING LESSONS, where we talked a lot about facing our fears. I couldn't believe how perfectly the quote on here dovetailed with my post and I am very excited to now own this piece.

Change

I think I may have mentioned that I'm currently making a lot of changes, in several areas of my life (my online presence, my art-business, my career - not to mention my youngest will graduate college soon so my empty nest will be even more empty).

Change itself doesn't scare me - as you can tell by the 83 gazillion hair-styles I have had (I'm having another birthday this week.  However, I want to be sure that no one will ever be able to tell how old I am because I wear a hairstyle that screams which decade I went to high school or college!!  hehe) or the number of times I rearrange the furniture.

But the ramifications of change can be paralyzing.  Hair grows out.  Furniture can be moved again.  But quitting your day job to pursue your art?!?!?  Are you nuts?  What if you don't sell anything and you end up living in a cardboard box?  What if you sell so much that you can't keep up with demand?  Okay, that last one is not one I've actually had, but you get the idea: 

the thought of change invokes fear.

A fellow artist-blogger wrote about this today.  The fact that she was able to step out of her fear long enough to throw it out into the world says a lot about how much she really wants to make this change.

"I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the Triumph over it. The brave man is not one who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear." - Nelson Mandela

"Only those who risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go." - T.S. Eliot

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepset fear is that we are powerful beyond measure...We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you NOT to be? Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same." - Marianne Williamson

When I post next time, I'll write more about facing our fears.

Creativity Decline

I've been devoting a lot of my time to learning how to grow my creative business.  Then even more time to trying to put some of the things I've learned into practice.  A new blog/website is in the works - same addresses all together with a new look that actually shows some of my art - HOPEFULLY!!!

And all that time and energy spent on the business of art means no time or energy left to be creative on anything but the blog layout.  "Not Creative Sherry" can sometimes mean "Cranky Sherry" but so far I've avoided that thanks to a lot of support.  (Well, maybe you should check with someone else to be sure I'm telling the truth about that - hehe!)

Then, the other day I found an article about the decline of creativity in America.  YIKES!  That's me.  So I read it and discovered so much more than an article about keeping your art alive.  This long but fascinating article discussed the science of how creativity works, how it’s not just art-related, the need for it to solve the world’s problems, and more.

Here’s a quote:

"Creativity has always been prized in American society, but it’s never really been understood. While our creativity scores decline unchecked, the current national strategy for creativity consists of little more than praying for a Greek muse to drop by our houses. The problems we face now, and in the future, simply demand that we do more than just hope for inspiration to strike. Fortunately, the science can help: we know the steps to lead that elusive muse right to our doors."

Like I said, fascinating - so click here to check it out and then let me know what you think.

Courage to Create

CREATIVITY TAKES COURAGE ~ Matisse

So with a little courage I'm declaring this "done" and showing it to you.

Though, quite frankly, I'm really still not sure it IS done. I just struggle with making art that has no images drawn or glued on. For some reason, in my head it's still just a background. Because this is how I do most of my backgrounds: layer, layer, layer.

I started out with a book page and two images from a fashion magazine altered with acetone. Then paints, tissues, modeling paste - not necessarily in that order.

Ink, more paint, more texture, the quote written in sharpie, a copper charm I made but never used. Oh. And apparently very different lighting!!!

Charcoal around the edges, a little more paint, a thin layer of beeswax and still different lighting.

Green crayon and gold encaustic.

What do you think? Is it really done?
Do you always include images in your work?
Thanks for the help ~ Sherry

linked to the week 24 challenge at Lots To Do and
the color green challenge at Thursday Challenge

Hope

Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune--without the words,
And never stops at all,

And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.

I've heard it in the chillest land,
And on the strangest sea;
Yet, never, in extremity,
It asked a crumb of me.

~ Emily Dickinson

I apparently can only come up with one word names for my art these days:

Hope, Rest, Peace.

I have another work in process that I almost named CREATE but decided to give it a longer name in order to break the habit. I'll show you that one in a few days.

Anyway, back to this piece, HOPE. Before I show you some of the various steps, I have to say I like this piece now - but at least twice in the process I messed something up and had to change direction entirely.

So, do you remember the boards I made in my Obscured Text Background How-To? Well this piece started with the music covered board in the upper left:


Then I added a CitraSolv page, gold paint and some lavender hand-made paper:


Next, some more paint:


Then I tried a photo transfer and it didn't work (at this point, I decided NOT to turn it in to the CitraSolv contest becuz I wouldn't finish in time & when I did, it wouldn't show any of the CitraSolv page):


More paint. Then I tried another image transfer - the bird and it worked. Next I added some spray paint (I did NOT get the look I was going for, probably becuz I'm too used to using spray paint on furniture, going for solid coverage):


I used colored pencil on the bird, added pattern tissue and wrote the first verse of the poem in pencil:


Then beeswax, pearl ex and melted crayon and here it is again completed:


It is so great to be creating again. Thank you for continuing to visit even tho I wasn't around much. I love blogland ~ Sherry

linked to the week 23 challenge at Lots To Do,
challenge #94 at Everybody Art-Challenge and
the June challenge at Alter It Monthly

Patience

Patience.
If you know me, you know that I don't really have lots of this.
But, hey, that's an improvement - when I was younger I had none!

But that's not the real point of this post. (Well, after reading the end of what I wrote, maybe it is.) It really has to do with this particular piece of art and selling art in general.

I'll start with the selling art part first: I make art because I NEED to - I've written about that before. But I also intend to sell most of my art. Some pieces sell right away like the two I just sold. But others end up hanging on the walls of my house for quite awhile waiting for a new home. I don't mind looking at them one bit - well, if I do, I pull them down and add them to the pile of substrates in my garage - but I want to be able to spend all my time "arting" and selling is what's gonna get me to that point. Lots of selling.

So this piece that I call PICKET FENCE is hanging in our bedroom. And I've been looking at it. Look how patiently that cat is waiting for that bird. Cats are like that - they take their time, wait patiently and then quickly seize an opportunity. Of course, they don't have to go to work every day - I mean NOBODY could consider napping and preening WORK!!

Anyway, I realized this morning that I have given this piece the wrong name. It should be called PATIENCE - not just cuz of the subject matter but because it hasn't sold for 4 years.

But not just that. Because it hasn't sold so that it can hang in our bedroom and remind me:

WAIT.
WAIT PATIENTLY.
WATCH CAREFULLY.
BE READY TO SEIZE THE OPPORTUNITIES.

"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare, and not for calamity, to give you a future and a hope" Jeremiah 29:11

I already know His ultimate plan, my final destination. Until then, the journey really is the important part. So I'm waiting. And while I wait, I create. While I wait and create, I learn.

And hopefully, while I wait, create and learn, I'll also be growing. As an artist. But more importantly, as the person He wants me to be. I hope. Guess I'll have to wait & see (hehe)~ Sherry

Needing Spring

This has been the worst winter I can remember. Now that's not saying a lot cuz I've got that middle-aged-memory problem going on. But really, there has been way too much snow and ice. Not to mention the ugly gray skies. We humans require SUNLIGHT and it has been in short supply lately.

As a matter of fact, Tuesday when I got up and stumbled to the kitchen for a Diet Coke, I saw this purpley-pink line across the window and it actually took me awhile to realize it was the SUNRISE.

I hope it does a repeat performance today!

This is a piece I finished (?) late last month. I started this last summer (when there was LOTS of sunshine) with several different floral photos cut and adhered to a piece of MDF along with some tissue paper. I did a little bit of painting then packed it away looking like this: When I pulled it out last month it seemed just too flat and bright. The flowers were all so in focus that it didn't have any depth. So I added a wash of gray-blue paint over the background images. Next came some gold dots applied with tiny bubble wrap. Then some color on the edges and a great quote.Next came a print of a photo I took of gerber daisies and some pattern tissue that I applied with beeswax. OOPS!! That made the quote disappear and that just wouldn't do. So I incised it in the wax with the intention of rubbing color into the incisions. Well, I tried two different ways of trying that but it didn't work very well (I think my wax may not have been thick enough). And when I tried to remove the color, the piece got quite a bit darker. Guess I got rid of that "too bright" problem, huh? I'm looking for new ideas to get the quote to show up because it's a great one:

"and the day came when the risk it took to remain tight in the bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom." - Anais Nin

Oh, I'm also looking for ideas on the title. Right now I'm calling it RISK BLOSSOMING from the quote but...

Thanks for stopping by - feel free to give me some ideas to make that quote more prominent ~ Sherry

linked to the beeswax challenge at LOTS TO DO

Peace

When peace, like a river,
attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot,
Thou has taught me to say,
It is well,
it is well,
with my soul.

- Horatio G. Spafford

A friend of mine is going thru something right now that is incredibly emotionally draining. I want her to experience the "peace that passes all understanding" and I really don't feel like I have the words to inspire that. So instead, I'm hoping this canvas will remind her that she's loved - not just by her family and friends, but by her savior.


I started by covering the canvas board in a dictionary page (the old dictionary was given to me by her). I removed part of the page with masking tape, a technique I learned from Beverly Seymour several years ago. Then I glued down a print of the heart from the piece I posted a few days ago. Other ingredients include

pattern tissue,

white gesso & clear gesso,

swirl stamps w/ brilliance ink,

portfolio oil pastel (water soluable),

pan pastel,

graphite pencil & prismacolor,

glass bead gel,

my favorite part (haha) -

an image transfer of the word peace BACKWARDS

(see the note on yesterday's page about checking the print BEFORE using it)

and of course, a polished coat of beeswax on top of it all.

More Fun Playing with Wax

About six weeks ago, I went to a local school and we played with wax and I told you how much fun it was in a couple of posts. Not long after that I made the pieces WHITE HOT RED which I've talked about here a lot.

Well, I just can't get enough of playing with beeswax. So for my art group projects that I turned over last night, I used beeswax.

Lisa is having us each do a small canvas in similar colors. After seeing the triptych, she asked if I could do her canvas with beeswax. Using my inkjet, I printed four sayings about home on painted paper then attached it to the canvas. I used modeling paste to add texture and glued on a faux door handle by 7 gypsies. Then came the beeswax and colored wax. That's it at the top of the page.

Ellen gave everyone the same premade birdhouse to alter using blues. I removed a few parts and glued on some feet and a new perch. Then I gessoed the entire birdhouse. Next came some papers and stickers. And then came the beeswax and colored wax. I also used the wax on my next art group project but as I haven't handed it over yet, I can't show you!! As I've also mentioned, we're trying to get the house ready to sell. So I very reluctantly put all the wax goodies away and scraped off my desk. But I can pull it back down in no time if someone ever wants to come have fun with beeswax, colored wax, heat guns and irons ~ Sherry