Art and Depression Dammitttt

Well today is one of those shalajbksjasaBLAH posts.

I am busy and have lots to do, but I'm tired, broke, and desperately need a cup of coffee (even if just for a temporary rush). But I will settle for tea. I'm out of my favourite one (a yummy raspberry one made by lipton I think).

Anyway, I feel bleh, and I needed somewhere to say that. Even though things are looking up, I feel stagnated in my head. Like stuck in the mud (or soul sand, if you play minecraft).

I'm a little lonely too. And I want to go to Paris, today. I feel young, dumb, and immature, and yet like I'm aging too fast (I have way too many grey hairs... sad face). I just hope I make something out of this thing called life. I guess that's what we all hope for.

I want to take my camera and shoot the hell out of stuff. Go on adventures, take some chances, make some mistakes. Get a tattoo, or pierce something naughty.

Forget professionalism (at least for today).

Do you have any advice on how I can get out of this three year long funk? I'm getting tired of it, and bored out of my mind. One can only paint and make stuff so much until they go bonkers.

Here's some art I've been working on:

The Swan Girl, oil on wood, for an upcoming show
at Blackbird Studios in June. 

I hope you're all having a better day than I am. I think I'm going to make that tea now. :)

The Tattooed Lady - Painting Progress

The due date for the 'Greatest Show on Earth' (circus theme) show at Blackbird Studios is coming up, so I've been busily working on my two paintings for the show. 

The first one, is the Tattooed Lady, a historical character in the circus sideshow. These were real women who grew up in working class families and wanted to make a better life for themselves. Becoming a Tattooed Lady for a circus provided that opportunity. The women would get paid something like $200 a week, which was amazing for the time. I think working class men got $15-20 per week.

The downside (or upside?) is that they had to have their whole bodies tattooed. They had to forever sacrifice their appearance, and step out of society, becoming a 'freak' for their whole lives. Everyone would always look at them and wonder, laugh, and make jokes at her expense. I think you'd have to be a pretty strong person to do that... not to mention that tattooing your whole body probably hurts... a LOT.

Anyway, here's the Tattooed Lady so far:

Lots of arty things!

Wow! Has it been long since my last post or what!?

I've been very, very, verrrrry busy. But good busy. So here's a big update post. ^_^

Lindsay and I created the Femme Thou Art Collective - a group of highly skilled international artists, whose artwork revolves around the feminine. We've both put in a lot of time and effort to get this idea off the ground, and things are starting to heat up and get exciting. Our first group auction will be on May 20th, the theme being 'Tarot'. We've also got a show in Las Vegas at Blackbird Studios that some of us will be participating in. There's a few other exciting things planned and on the horizon for the collective, so you guys will just have to wait and see! :)
Make sure to follow us on our facebook page.

I recently finished this illustration 'Secret Diary'. I've decided to also pursue freelance illustration for children's and teens books, and am building up a fantasy portfolio just for that.

I also got some really fantastic commissions and sales in my shop, the Bohemian Faerie. I made two matching ear drops for a customer that's wearing them with a costume, a pair of forest elf ear cuffs for a mother who's giving them to her daughter, and I sold my first, biggish piece of artwork (I was and am still so so so excited about that).

The jewelry making tray, where I plan out my designs

Forest Elf Ear Cuffs

The original painting I sold, of a Steampunk Girl named Althea. I used real gold ;)

I'm just waiting for my camera battery to finish charging, and I'll add in some photos of the ear drops. :) I hope you're all having a lovely weekend!

*Just a shout out to all of the folks who might read my blog or admire my work:
If you're an aspiring artist, jewelry maker, or want to start a creative business, feel free to ask me questions. I love to help others in any way I can, so I'd love to hear from you. Just leave a comment on a post. ^_^

Artwork in progress update

It seems like lately I'm working on lots of paintings at once, at different stages. Before I start anything new, I'm going to finish up 'Secret Diary'. There's not much left to do on this one, other than to colour in the smaller details, add some more to the dik-diks (the cute animals), and darken the background more. 

This drawing below, of 'Téa' has been really popular since I posted it on my various online haunts. It's really encouraging, because it was just a doodle, and people seem to really like it. I'd love to do some larger graphite as well as pencil crayon pieces in the future. But the larger scale art seems to overwhelm me haha! I guess I just have to do some more of it so I can get used to it. 

I was really diggin' this piece below. Well, until my cat knocked over a glass of water on it... now it's all messed up at the bottom of the page. Not sure if I'm gonna finish it now. 

My experiments with oil paints continues! I have such a long way to go when it comes to learning how to paint with oils. Some of my smaller works have turned out well, but this larger one... well you can see for yourself that it needs some vast improvements. But that's part of the excitement of learning a new media. 

In general arty news, Lindsay Cheesewright and I are in the process of creating an art collective, which is really exciting and uber time consuming. We have high hopes for our group and can't wait to see what the future brings!

Hope you're all having a good Monday morning! :)

In case you hadn't heard. :P

(made this typographic thingy with some photos I took yesterday) 

Art Business - thoughts, plans, insecurities

Today feels like one of those 'what am I doing, where am I going?' days.

I feel a bit insecure about my art - am I painting what people want to see? Am I painting something that is worthy of a dollar sign? All I know is that when I put my paintings on the wall to dry, I smile when I wake up and see them. They make me feel happy, so hopefully there's some people out there that feel the same way.

My audience has grown quite a bit in the last month (now up to over 1500 fans on facebook, which feels pretty awesome if I do say so myself), but I'm not sure how to sell stuff to them. I don't want to come off pushy, or fake, or something, if that makes sense... I don't want to use some marketing trick to try and get sales. I want people to fall in love with my art, and let their hearts make the purchase... I know, it sounds cheesy, but it's how I feel.

I suppose the first step is to actually make some art available for sale. I'll have some of these originals ready very soon, so that will be a start. If they sell, I can fix my printer and then start to offer some prints, and see what happens.

I've also been meaning to look up publishing opportunities in books, magazines, and in art blogs and online zines. I also need to save to get an ipod touch so that I can join instagram and meet some new arty folks on there.

I've also been thinking of seperating my fine art and illustration business (which I've named after myself), and my Bohemian Faerie business (which is focused on wire jewelry and other items for other faes out there). So I'd have two different shops for them - for my art and prints, I'd sell it directly on my website, and for my Bohemian Faerie items, I'd sell that on etsy. I don't know though, there's a lot to think about. What do you guys think I should do?

I'll leave you with an update of my artwork in progress, and something that popped into my head just as I was dozing off last night...

"if I paint it, they will come."

Oil Paintings on wood, artwork in progress

Hey everybody!

I've been busy painting away, staying up really strange hours (went to bed at 10 am, got up at 4pm, lol I must be crazy haha), and just generally being productive.

One of my paintings, 'Secret Diary' is taking a damned long time to finish. I'm actually really loving this piece (which is a relief because I had to struggle through an awful ugly phase for a while there). The main reason why it's taking so long to finish is because I'm only working on it when I can record the process, so that I can make another video for guys on youtube. Buuuuut I don't always feel like painting at my desk where the tripod is set up, so I tend to avoid working on a piece for too long if I have to work there. I prefer to have my artwork in my lap.... maybe I'll try doing a video from that vantage point next time, haha!?

Anyway, here's a few progress shots of that one:

When I take breaks from paint 'Secret Diary', I've taken to dabbling with oils. :)

Annnd finally, a larger wip, that's just at the beginning stages. 

Thanks for stopping by! Wish me luck with these pieces (I'll need it, haha!) :)