The Weather Outside is Frightful...

But maybe not as bad as predicted!  And since we had enough advance warning of the storm, I was able to prepare yesterday by picking up extra supplies like milk and drinking water and cleaning the house (just in case...).  But we still have electricity, heat, and running water (hooray!), so now there's nothing to do but wait for the storm to blow itself away, while reading and catching up on homey tasks and naps!

Speaking of catching up, in the past couple of weeks, I have continued to do pages in the art journal I started last January and have now finished the first chapter!  (Woo hoo!  It only took me a year!)  The page below is a collage of paint, paper, fabric, and stamps in my favorite color.  I didn't realize it while I was doing it, but it ended up looking like a very abstract seascape, which reminded me of one of my favorite songs by John Denver, Singing Skies and Dancing Waters, so I wrote those words on the page with a gel pen.

The next assignment was to begin with the complement of your favorite color, the one opposite on the color wheel, which is sort of an orange-red.  I intended this to be more of a pale peach, but it came out a true orange red, which does contrast nicely with the aqua.  The whole point of using complimentary colors is the contrast, which really shows up on the page below.  It brought to mind the Dr. Seuss quote so I added it in.

 I haven't selected artistic goals for this year;  last year I kind of scaled back on both goals and blog posts, and I have a feeling this year is going to be the same (just too much going on with the family that requires more of my time and energy).  But looking back on last year's goals, I did manage to achieve most of them.  I created the 3 pieces I intended to create, although I did not use any fabric printed with my new Epson printer, which was one of the goals.  But one of the pieces I made this year (the "Tuscan Window") has become one of my all-time favorites (it now hangs in our dining area) and I had another piece ("Mother Nature's Summer Tunic")  juried into the Summer ARTiculated show at Concordia College last July.  I didn't spend 5 minutes a day journaling or sketching - just can't seem to get in the habit.  But I still resolve to be more playful with materials and more process-oriented, to search for my personal artistic voice using both words and images, and to accentuate the positive in all areas of my life.  I have two more pieces to create for my FANE shows this year, and intend to get through the exercises in Pam Carricker's book!

Making a Fresh Start

It's so easy to get bogged down in the drivel of everyday life, especially in January.  The temperatures have been hovering around zero and that alone is enough to make everything hard!  But the sun is shining, the heat is cranking, and I just had a bowl of hot oatmeal with cinnamon, apples, raisins, and walnuts, so it's time to take a positive step forward.

So what exactly would I like to accomplish this year, as far as art goes?  Here's the list I've been mulling over for the last 3 weeks:

1. I resolve to complete at least 2 pieces for the FANE group; one with the theme "architectural inspirations" (due in early March) and the other with the theme "opposites" (due in early April).
2. I resolve to complete at least one other (self-inspired) fiberart piece to share with the group. 
3. I resolve to begin printing on fabric with my new Epson printer and use the fabric in at least one piece of art.
4. I resolve to spend a minimum of 5 minutes on art each day.  If I'm not using that time for a specific project, I will doodle, draw, paint, or collage in a journal for a minimum of 5 minutes.  In doing this, I will continue to search for my own artistic voice and experiment with a combination of words and pictures.
5. I resolve to approach art in a more "process oriented" (and less "product oriented") way, in order to encourage free experimentation with materials and techniques.
6. I resolve to create some more unique silver charms with what is left of my silver artclay from last year and to include those charms in bracelets to be listed on Etsy or sold at the PAC sale.
7. I resolve to continue my goal to "accentuate the positve and eliminate the negative" in all areas of my life!

Sometimes I actually think I am a little too goal oriented, which can contribute to stress for myself and my family, so I'm trying to keep things doable and in perspective this year as I did last year.  I'm starting to think if I can master #7, the rest of my entire life will fall into place!  I'm always searching for ways to make things better, and to do that, first you have to see what needs work or what's lacking.  So you start looking for what's lacking, and you're focused on the negative.  Let's see if I can turn that around and make every day a fresh start.

What are your goals and aspirations for the new year?  

Entropy, Bunnies, and Life

It's already mid-January, the new year is already more than 2 weeks old, and I've yet to post anything about goals.  I'd love to say I've been so busy happily creating that I just haven't taken the time to post, but instead, life is getting in the way, as usual.

A long time ago, I read a definition of life in a physics journal (I was a copyeditor) that took me years to understand, but once I got it, it stuck with me.  In scientific terms, life is defined as "the temporary reversal of the universal tendency towards disorder."  In other words, when left to themselves, things tend towards chaos and disorder.  All living things are organized systems, making them temporary exceptions to entropy, the universal tendency towards disorder.  As my children grew into toddlerhood, this really became apparent, as I would work as hard as I could all day, but the house was never any neater nor the laundry pile any smaller.  If I skipped a day, things fell into complete disarray rather quickly.  And so sometimes it seems you spend your life fighting against entropy, trying to maintain some organization and order, and if you stop for even a short respite, things just tend to go kaput all by themselves.

Take this morning, for instance.  I bought the Epson printer below last September (yes, you read that right - I've had it more than 4 months) and I just took it out of the box today.  I bought it because it was a great price (only $35) and it uses pigment inks, which are permanent when printed on fabric.  I finally had the day free to set it up and get it running.  But life had other plans...

First, when I went down to my creative space this morning, I noticed sand was strewn all around the floor (yes, sand).  I bought the sand a few years ago when my daughter had to make a model of a pyramid and we glued it to the outside to make it look more realistic.  I've kept it around and have used it for various things, including using it as a prop when photographing beachy jewelry.  I had it in a plastic bag tucked inside a box on a shelf under my sewing table.  But the bag had been chewed open and the sand strewn all over the floor.

I swept up the sand, as well as the chewed papers and fluffy pet hair all around the floor.  The same varmint who got into the sand is attacking my paper stash, and the cardboard box I keep it in!  I had to take some extra time to vacuum and Swiffer everything.

 As I cleaned and straightened, I got a good look at some of the many power cords near my work table. One is for the sewing machine, one for the iron, two for lights.  Nibble marks!

Who is wreaking havoc in my studio?  I managed to catch one of the culprits on film:

I wouldn't let her get away with all this, but she is one of my daughter's beloved pets (and very sweet and cute when she isn't wrecking the place!).   We actually now have two of these pests pets living with us and we are still working out the kinks.  I tied up all the power cords and moved them up onto the shelf below the window.  Luckily, because the cement from the foundation goes up about 3 feet from the floor, there is actually an outlet that high off the ground, so my power cords are now safe.  But I think I will have to replace the one to my sewing machine.  Swine rabbits!

I did finally manage to get the printer out and turned on, but when I tried to install the software onto my laptop, there didn't seem to be any more storage space.  I'll have to wait until my DH, the IT expert, comes home.

I'll only list one of my goals for 2014 here:  To get my new Epson printer up and running and to make at least one piece of fiber art using it!

How is your new year shaping up?

Year-End Wrap Up

Right before Christmas, I received my "round robin" bracelet back from the journey it's been on for the past year.  My theme was "mother nature, earth goddess," and I asked everyone to stick with blues and greens, with copper findings.  Above is the beautiful finished work of collaborative art!  If you remember from the original post, a journal went along with the bracelet.  The person right before me in the sequence still has it, along with her final charm, so I haven't yet read the thoughts and purpose behind each artist's contribution, but I'm looking forward to reading that and wearing this!

As that year-long project finished up, I looked back on my goals for 2013.  Luckily, I kept them within reason - nothing too ambitious!  I completed most of them (see them here), thanks to my FANE group.  I completed the two pieces for our group shows, experimented with adding text to my art, and played with my silver Artclay kit.  I haven't yet added a bio or gallery pages to my blog - that can be recycled for this year.  Although I didn't create a huge quantity of art, I was happy with the quality of each piece.

One of the year's highlights was having our kimono-inspired pieces on display in Manhattan (see this post here).   It's so great to be part of this group, which pushes me to challenge myself, and takes me places I never thought I'd go!  I'm looking forward to new challenges and successes as I step into the New Year.  (I'll save my new goals for the next post...)

Goals? Who needs goals?

 It's only one week into the new year and I'm already stalling on my goals!  The living room is still topsy-turvy from the holidays (see below)

 and from the home-improvement project my DH started back in November, which is not quite finished yet.  He's enlarging his former home office so The Middle Child can have her own bedroom and one of a decent size, with a closet.  He's doing a great job - it's coming along nicely and we're nearing the end:  the carpet is scheduled to be installed on Thursday.

But meanwhile the family room/TV area looks like this:

My studio/play area is adjacent to this, so it's gotten quite crowded again and difficult to work in, even when cats aren't sleeping on the fabrics I've pulled!  So it's been hard to even consider coming up with new year goals!

And actually, I'm beginning to think I'm way too goal oriented as it is;  it makes me feel like time's a-wastin' if I'm not doing something constructive every minute.  After a busy fall and Christmas season, I feel a bit like I need some R&R, some lazy down time, some of "la dolce fa niente," as they say in Italy (from the movie Eat, Pray, Love , it means "the sweetness of doing nothing").

But last week, I did manage to review my goals from 2012 and I did pretty well.  I updated the look of my blog, made my 18"x 8' totem piece, persisted with Etsy and finally made my first few sales!  Those were good steps forward.  My website, however, is now defunct due to Apple changing their iWeb functions, so I need to add more pages to my blog to take the place of the website.  I think that will more than adequately serve my purposes for now.

I also approached two local shops in hopes that they might carry some of my charm bracelets, but neither of them took me up on it.  One was somewhat encouraging, but I'm not sure where I want to go from here.  When we were on vacation on the Jersey Shore this summer, I thought I might spend some time this winter making up some beach-themed jewelry and fiber art that I could photograph and print on postcards to mail to appropriate beachy boutiques.  Now that I've sold a few things on Etsy and I don't need to share my profits with a boutique, I'm not sure I want to go that route anymore.  I'll have to wait on that one.

I did revisit and resubmit my seahorse manuscript to another publisher this fall, with another rejection to my credit.  I know many authors who are being proactive by self-publishing.  That has always been in the back of my mind, but it means completing all the artwork for this book on my own, without the benefit of any professional guidance.  Could I complete several illustrations this year?  Could I find a way to simplify and speed up the process so I'm not a grandmother by the time they're all completed?  I don't know... another goal I have to mull over.

Some things that I'm still working on from last year are at the top of this year's list:

• Continue to search for my authentic artistic voice in all my creations
• Continue to experiment with adding words and text to my fiber art
• Continue to replace all negative thoughts with positive ones

In addition, I want to

• add two pages to my blog, one "about me" and one or two gallery pages
• complete a piece for the annual FANE show at the Mahopac Library in May (due in March)
• complete a "kimono" style piece of fiber art for our special exhibit of the Northern Star Quilter's Guild show, also in May (due in April)
• experiment with my big Christmas present: a Silver Artclay kit!

But for now, I just want to:

• Get the living room, family room, and new bedroom finished, clean, and organized
• Be loving and patient towards my family, coworkers, and neighbors I encounter
• Spend a few minutes every day in prayer or quiet meditation
• Do less laundry; eat more chocolate!
• Figure out what we're having for dinner and go cook it!

More Charms, More Goals

As you can see, I've been at it again with the charms! The yahoo artcharms group that I'm in is holding a "red-pink-white" swap this month. Even though I plan to send the hearts that I made earlier this month, I decided it would be fun to make a whole variety of charms with these colors. I'll let you know more about my motivation for this later in the post, but first, GOALS.

First let's see how I did on last year's goals. I had a long list last year and some I did very well on, others kind of mezza-mezza, and some I didn't complete at all. I did join SAQA, I did submit pieces to 3 different shows (and got something accepted in one - Sacred Threads), I did finish the large piece for my friend's office, I did narrow down my "brand" and signature colors and order business cards, and I did open an Etsy shop! Hooray for me!

I did not do 52 weekly journal pieces. I think I only did 12. If I had kept that up, I wouldn't have been able to complete anything else! I'm not sure regular journaling is for me. I also did not follow through on "The Creativity Book." Maybe I'll revisit that at a later time. I also did not update my blog or website. That is still on the list for this year. I also did not really develop a calendar system to keep track of show entry deadlines etc. I seem to do okay in my own haphazard way, but I'm not sure entering shows is so important to me at this point, so I think I'm going to let that one go.

I had wanted to complete 5 pieces in addition to the weekly journal pieces and the large one for my friend, but I think I only completed two or three. I spent more time on making coasters and jewelry to put in my Etsy shop, so that's the trade off. There are only so many hours in a day. I bought a new light to improve the quality of my photos and also researched how to make a simple and inexpensive light box, but I have not made it yet. I seem to be getting by with the set up I have, so I'm not sure I need that after all.

In addition to the goals I completed, I also made several artcharm bracelets, earrings, and necklaces, and joined the yahoo group. I also revised my manuscript "The Timid Seahorse" and sent it out to two new publishers. One of them still has it, but even if they reject it, I'm still not ready to give up on it.

SO, what's on the plate for 2012? First, I think I'm going to choose the word "open" as a theme for the year. Last fall I read a book called "Open the Door" by Joyce Rupp which was a six-week meditation series on opening your heart to God. I want to keep focused on the idea of openness - being open minded, doing open-ended activities, remaining open to any possibilities. That being said, my goals this year will be to

• Continue to look for my authentic artistic voice in all my creations
• Update my blog and website to reflect my brand colors and style
• Continue to list items in my Etsy shop (and hopefully sell something!)
• Possibly approach one or more local gift shops to see if they'll carry some of my jewelry (which is why I want to create some Valentine's Day charms - maybe I'll use the red-pink-white theme as my product debut!)
• Revisit my seahorse manuscript again and possibly remake some sample art
• Work on a retelling of a folk tale (possibly with illustrations) for submission
• Complete an 18"x 8' "totem" fiber piece for a special FANE exhibit (due in April)
• Spend at least 5 minutes daily in quiet meditation
• Think positively (ban all negative thoughts and words!)
• Experiment with adding more text to artwork

There it is! It's ambitious once again, but as they say, if you shoot for the moon, even if you miss, you'll land among the stars!

Mid-Year Check-in

It's hard to believe it's June 30th and half the year is already gone! I've come to believe that time is the most valuable thing we have and I attempt to spend my time only on things I value. That's easier said than done, as there are some necessities in life that require my time, like grocery shopping, house cleaning, laundry, and cooking, but I try to get them done as quickly as possible so I can get on to something more enjoyable and more valuable.

The middle of the year is a good time to look back at my goals from January (listed in this post) and see what progress I've made and what I still want to accomplish. So far I've checked off a few (joined SAQA, submitted pieces to three shows and had one acceptance, finished the large piece I promised my friend) but I still have lots to work on. I only finished one other piece besides the "Caribbean Underwater Ballet" (C.U.B) and that has been donated to the SAQA fundraising auction (more on that at a later date). I'd like to make at least 4 more, one of which is in the works. The look I've been achieving with the sheer aqua fabrics is much closer to what I want my signiture color and "brand" to be, so I hope to focus on that with my next four pieces. That should help me select photos to use for business cards and redoing my website, maybe even with my ETSY shop... Maybe I'll pick up on my weekly art again too- I only made it through about March on that goal and then I got so busy working on C.U.B. with its June 15th deadline, that I devoted all my time to that. I find it very hard to finish something in an hour or so, so when I start something new on a weekly basis I end up with a lot of UFOs and a very messy workspace, as well as divided interests. Maybe my weekly things should just be experiments with new techniques on white fabric, like shaving cream marbleing and sun printing. I'd like to make time for those this summer. I've gotten better at keeping a calendar of shows I'd like to enter and have made 3 deadlines so far. I realized only recently that a great place to keep this calendar is right here on my laptop, on the iCalendar app. I usually only use it so I can visually see how the summer or holiday weekends are shaking out, but I might as well use it for my art deadlines too. I'll try that in the next six months. I think I've also decided I need another good light to help get more professional and evenly lit photos of my work. The one I have is good, but I always end up with a dark corner. I think another light will help immensly and I'm ready to make the investment!

Meanwhile, we're heading to the Poconos this weekend for a little family holiday, a good way to spend time. Each of my daughters has invited a friend, so it won't be complete isolated family time, but at least the focus will be on fun and togetherness! (With 13 people staying in our little 3-bedroom house, there will probably be lots of togetherness!)
God Bless America!

It's done!

Here are the images I'm sending off to the Brush Gallery in Lowell, Mass for their 2011 ArtQuilts Lowell show!

I finally finished and photographed it today (a day later than I planned) after a few setbacks. First, we had tremendous thunderstorms blow through Thursday evening, complete with hail and everything, and we lost power overnight, so I was unable to finish the machine stitching I needed to do. By Friday morning I was intent on getting it done as quickly as I could, knowing that I needed to attend two school functions later that day. In my rush to finish, I wasn't as careful and precise as I should've been and in the first set of pictures I took, it looked very sloppy. I ended up spending the afternoon ripping out all the stitching I did that morning and spending the better part of today redoing it and photographing it. I'm satisfied with the results. I'm calling it "Caribbean Underwater Ballet."

Since there's a $30 entry fee for up to three pieces, I thought I might as well add one more. Here is a shot of "Great Blue Whale" which I did years ago. I still like the color scheme and fabric choices, but it seems almost simple to me in comparison with the other one. It's also much smaller - 15" x 19" compared to 27" x 41"!

But I'm thrilled that I completed everything in time to enter. As long as I can get to the post office first thing Monday morning and send the CD two-day express, it should be there on time! Hooray!

Playing Around

I haven't been very conscientious about my goal to do some kind of 8x10 art on a weekly basis. Last night one of our cats woke me up around 3 am (she has not been going outside due to the nasty winter weather - she doesn't like ice between her toes and she has major Cabin Fever!) and I wasn't able to get back to sleep. I figured I might as well get up and do something, rather than lying there wide awake, so I cut up the rest of the canvas I bought for the sketchbook and played with some acrylic paints. Here are the two designs I came up with. Obviously, they're not really finished pieces in themselves, more like background designs or elements I could cut up and use in another finished piece. I think I'm going to have to treat these weekly pieces more this way, or I'll never do them. I'm going to leave the rules Wide Open - the only requirement will be the size. They might be on fabric, paper, or a combination of the two, so long as it's weekly and art. I'm not going to go crazy trying to make a "finished" piece, just play and experiment with some materials and techniques.

These were done with watered down acrylic paints on canvas, with copper acrylic paint stamped over it. In some places, I went back over the copper acrylic paint with the watered down pinks and greens to soften the look a little. I'm not sure what they'll end up as!

Another thing I did this week was revisit some of my children's book manuscripts (I came across them while reorganizing and straightening up). Now that I've put them away for a while, I can look at them with better perspective and a fresh eye. One of them (The Timid Seahorse) I completely rewrote in the middle of the night (it wasn't the cat's fault that time - I don't know what woke me up) but when I was done, I thought it was so much better and I couldn't wait to find a prospective publisher. Unfortunately, in the light of day, the manuscript didn't seem as magically perfect, and I began to have doubts again. Maybe I should run the whole thing by some other writers to get some feedback. In any case, I think it is good enough to be read by a wider audience and deserves some greater effort on my part. I also reread my board book proposal, a Halloween poem called "Halloween Countdown" and I definitely think that also qualifies for publication. I need to figure out what my next step is... Anyone out there know an agent or editor? I could use a miracle...

Celebrating small steps

Well, I did it! I managed to get these two pieces finished and photographed in time to put them on a disc and get them in the mail.

These are the four shots I included in my submission: above, the complete shot of "Rhythm of the Earth" with a detail shot, right.

And below, a complete shot of "Portrait of the Viewer in Mixed Media with Found Objects," with a detail shot, below and right.

It actually took longer than I thought to get the digital images to the specs they wanted. We tend to keep our camera set on a very high resolution which makes for large files. They wanted the files no larger than 3MB and I was able to do that with a combination of cropping and reshooting at a lower resolution. I also redid the discs a few times to get everything exactly the way I wanted it. I'm not sure what my chances will be of actually getting juried into the show (last year they took about one in three submissions), but at least I gave it my best shot (I think it was Wayne Gretsky who said "You always miss 100% of the shots you don't take")! After mailing the entry form and disc, I felt like celebrating, but without spending a lot or taking in a lot of calories! I settled for photographing the icicles hanging off the post office:

And then I went home and baked double chocolate cookies! Happy weekend, everyone!

A Few Tiny Things

In The Creativity Book (goal #7), the author suggests you do one tiny creative thing each day in pursuit of your goal. I managed to do several tiny things each day over the last few days. I do think it really helps to break things down into very small steps and do them one by one. On Monday afternoon, I bought a 16x20" canvas and painted it with neutral gray gesso. When it was dry, I stitched my piece, "Portrait of the Viewer," to the canvas with a metallic gray thread, to resemble staples. This is one of the pieces I'm considering entering in the "Made in NY" show (goal #3 ). I photographed it under the best circumstances I could devise with my current lighting situation, and it's okay, but still not as good as I'd like it (goal #5). You can probably see how the left side of the photo is darker than the right. I'm still trying to remedy that.

Here are some detail shots. I like this piece, although I still think it is kind of out of character for me, with the monotone gray, distressed metal, and raw edges. My husband asked me what I'm trying to say. I think I'm trying to say that it's possible to make interesting art out of discarded objects, and that by inserting yourself into the art (the reflections of the viewer), you make it more colorful and more personal. How's that for a statement?

A few more of the tiny things I accomplished:

Here are three more detail shots of embellishing and stitching I've done on the "conceptual art" piece I did for the FANE challenge back in the fall. I think I'm going to call it "Rhythm of the Earth" because it has a lot of natural rhythmic symbols in it, like waves, seasons, and rain. I'm working on how it will be hung, and then I hope to get the entire thing photographed well by the end of the week.

I'd love to enter the two pieces in that show, since you can enter up to two for the fee (and I love to get my money's worth!). These pieces are similar, both being abstract and mostly composed of squares and rectangles with embellishments. But one is so monotone and the other so colorful and varied. I wonder what the juror's first impressions of me will be, after looking only at these two pieces.

I also joined SAQA online (goal #1 completed!) and mailed out the sketchbook (insert audible gasp here). I tried to do it quickly, like removing a bandaid, without thinking too much about the possibility of never seeing it again - just shoved it in the envelope and sealed it up. So it's going out into the world, a little ambassador for me and my art!

If you're wondering if I really did post this at 4:30 am, yes I did! Sometimes the only uninterrupted time I have is in the wee hours of the morning. It is snowing heavily right now and we already know there will be no school today, so when I woke up for no particular reason around 2, I decided to get up and do a few more tiny things. Now I think I'll go back to bed and enjoy sleeping in, and the excitement and leisure a snow day brings (as long as we don't lose power!). But first I'm going to have a slice of banana bread with cream cheese and maybe some hot chocolate...

It's Finished!

Ta-dah!
This is the last page I did, for the month of February. It's probably the simplest piece in the book (I think I was getting tired!) and uses only 2 pieces of fabric and black thread. I just wrote the words on by hand with a fabric marker. The haiku reads "In bleak midwinter, dreams of spring make hearts flutter; wafting breeze beckons."

Below are the two rings I created out of brass wire to keep it all together. Each one goes through all 12 pages with their grommets and the cover. I tried various other rings, like 10 mm jewelry jump rings and loose leaf binder rings, but there were problems with them. Creating my own out of wire seemed like the best solution.

This is how it looks from the back:

We were directed to leave the bar code on the back visible, so I didn't wrap the fabric all the way around the cover. They also suggested to avoid using any kind of closure, even if your book seemed very thick. I felt the fabric pages made my book an exception to that rule, so I stitched a piece of 1/2 inch elastic to the top and bottom edges of the front cover. It stretches all the way around the back of the book to keep it together neatly when it's closed. You can see the elastic from the top in the previous photo.

It looks neat and secure, and lays pretty flat when open to the center. I'm happy with the finished book and glad it's done in time!

I shared it with my FANE group tonight and got many positive comments. One person said it will be hard to part with - yes, it will! It was kind of a risk on my part investing so much into the book, but I'm hoping I will reap some kind of benefits down the line from people viewing it, maybe a few more readers for my blog, at the least! So that's something! I've updated my profile on the Sketchbook Project website and you can read it and see the entire portfolio by clicking here.

I had a few revelations from creating this book:

• I thought I didn't like starting with plain white fabric and painting, stamping, stitching - whatever. But after working on the plain white canvas for most of these, I found my work was more individual and unique.
• Because the pages were not layered and quilted, I was able to complete them more quickly and easily. I don't think the lack of layering and quilting detracted from the surface design very much.
• I had an unofficial goal last year of creating a page a month with poetry and art for a potential book proposal. Although I won't use this as a proposal as is, I did create a piece of art for each calendar month, and seven of them contain poems. I can see two of these pieces being good enough to send to publishers for consideration (January and December). I may have to recreate them to send out.
• Doing something like this on a regular basis, quickly without over-thinking it, has many benefits. Because there is no pressure about the outcome and you are just doing this for yourself, you are more willing to experiment with new techniques or just explore a color, shape, combination of materials or whatever.

Which brings me to my next revelation: I think I have actually formulated a list of more concrete and measurable goals for 2011! Here they are.

1. Join SAQA. I've been avoiding this because it's on the pricey side and I'm not sure if the benefits will outweigh the cost. But I'll give it a try.
2. Create a weekly 8x10 as I did with the sketch book. Count 'em - 52! Possibly limit the time spent on each one to under 2 hours.
3. Submit one or more pieces to be considered for at least one show.
4. Keep a calendar with submission dates posted so I know what my time line is and can plan accordingly.
5. Invest in lights or other equipment to upgrade my photograph quality, to improve my chance of getting work accepted into a show.
6. Create a large piece for a good friend who is a doctor in a busy new office with lots of empty walls!
7. Work through The Creativity Book with many of the exercises.
8. Hone in on my "style" and "brand." Begin to select colors, fonts, representational pieces, maybe a mascot.
9. Get business cards printed using new style and brand decisions.
10. Complete at least 5 additional pieces besides the weekly sketches and large office piece.
11. Update website (and blog?) to reflect new style and brand decisions.
12. Open an ETSY shop!

It's ambitious, I know. The last two will definitely be stretches for me, but I think the other ones are doable. And tomorrow I am not working at the library, and weather permitting, the girls will be off at school. I'll have the whole day to get started!

Stepping Forward

...in my new boots! How do you like them? Aren't they great? They're quite colorful for me (I usually opt for practical brown) and were a bit of a Christmas splurge, but they're warm and sturdy, pull on easily, and keep my feet dry in wet weather (all the snow we had last week has been melting into slushy puddles and mud). They're perfect for outdoor time with the dog.

But I also have to take an artistic step forward and formulate a goal or theme for the year. My 2009 theme was "Balance" and last year I tried "Play." I still intend to keep those in mind this year. I have so many things I want to accomplish and directions I could go in, but they all really hinge on one thing: creating more art. I want to open an ETSY shop, but I need more inventory. I want to gather a portfolio to present to some galleries, but I need more samples. I want to submit to some shows, but... well, I think you get the idea. What I really need is to buckle down and create! I feel I squeeze as much into each day as I possibly can. I've examined my schedule and streamlined household chores and errands, delegated as much as possible, and made efficiency my mantra. I'll continue to do the best I can with the time and resources I have, keeping in mind the balance I need to strike between my family, my job, and creating art.

But two things I would like to keep in mind as I create and balance and play are courage and confidence. Rather than immediately dismissing the idea of entering a show because I don't think I have anything appropriate to submit, I will try to summon the confidence and courage I need to look over my portfolio and consider the possibilities. If I do find something that might qualify for a show, I'll again summon the confidence and courage to maybe submit it. I don't want to promise that I'll commit to entering two or three shows this year, but I'll begin to think of it more seriously, with more confidence and courage. On that note, I'm going to end this post to go check out the details for a show titled "Made in NY" (at the Schweinfurth Art Center in Auburn NY) that someone forwarded to the FANE group. Maybe I do have something I can submit, and since the deadline is the 15th (same as the Sketchbook Project!) I'd better get a move on!