Well I am back at this blogging once again. I needed time to take a long look at my Artwork and Art Life.

I will admit to one or more huge faults that I have, time management and easily distracted. Now I need to fix both of these faults and get back to focusing on my Art.

After reading a very compelling article by Renee Phillips, Activate the Power of Being Focused as an Artist I figured out what I have been doing not so right and how I needed to fix these problems to get the best results as an Artist.

I need to focus on my Art, make much more time to paint without distractions and to plan goals a little at a time to make them more attainable. By not doing these things my quality of Artwork suffers greatly.

With any business you need a business plan and mine has surly suffered.

Being an artist there are many pitfall that we, the artist, fall into. One is doubt and failure.

For me it is always there in the back of my mind. Am I good enough to compete against those that are well schooled in Art. This is not the place for an Artists mind to play in.

Life, like Art, has become a competition. We all strive to be the best that we can be and hope that our works are interpreted by those as we see or feel what we have accomplished.

Art, that is put out there, means many things to many people. We all see different emotions in a piece of Artwork. The artist is hoping that the viewer will feel something of the same emotion that give the artist inspiration to put brush to canvas and paint. Sometimes it works, but most of the time it doesn’t. Our human emotions run the gamete of happiness to deep, troubled despair.

The lesson in all of this, as for me the Artist, is I have to paint for me first. Trying to translate the emotions I feel during the painting process and hope to spark that emotion in the viewer.

I have been working on Style. It is hard to figure out, with art, what your style really is. I have experimented with many different mediums in the last 6 yrs and some work for me and some just frustrate me.

Oil is probably the most forgiving because of the extended drying time. You can walk away from it for a few hours and return to fix what you are not happy with. The only draw back for me is the smell. I perks up my allergies so sneezing and watery eyes makes it very hard to use. I have found out that there is a water based oil so at some point I am going to give it a try.

Acrylic is one of my favorite. The only drawback is it dries very quickly unless you use an extender and at that drying time is still short. I can make it look very textured or very smooth. I usually gives me what I am looking for when painting with it.

Watercolor is another one of my favorites. A little harder to control, but with practice it can be handled or just let it do what it wants to. I love the softness of the paintings I do with watercolor.

Pastel Chalk. I have tried this, but truly don’t understand it. I have watched Pastel artists us it and love their work. I have a bunch of it and at some point I will figure it out.

Finding my style is an adventure in its self and I am working hard to discover it. Hours of painting has given me clues and now it is just me using what I love to see in my paintings and truly making it my own.

How often, as an adult, do we just play. Letting go of all the pent up stress that has built up all week long?

I ready a very interesting article about how to improve my skill with my painting and one of the steps was to Just Play.

To many times, while painting a large piece, I am so focused on doing certain things right to get the effect I am looking for that my hand begins to cramp, my shoulder starts hurting and my poor back starts aching. I just have to step away and think about WHY I was causing all this stress. It is crazy, but trying to be perfect just doesn’t work.

WALK AWAY, breath and learn that playing at something usually gives you time to be you and will probably give you what you wanted in the first place or something better than you wanted.

No matter what you do, learn to PLAY.

The change in my mood has pulled me back to some large pieces of art and water.

Summer is on the way and for some reason I am missing the beach. I have been away from the beach cities of California for many years, but this year I feel that pull of the sand and the crashing of the waves. It is like a gentle tug at my heart and the memories it holds.

What a question. I question myself daily as to Why do I get up daily and think of nothing but my painting or my next painting. Why do I choose to paint?

I just read a very interesting article about Artist and Pain. It implied that an artist, writers, painters etc. , produce their craft because of the pain in their life. I can agree and disagree with the statement because I started painting before the pain of death smacked me in the face and I painted through the pain of loss.

My whole reason to create was not because of the pain, but more like finding some healing. I had lost my greatest cheerleader, art critic and the one person I could share my ideas with. The pain of that loss could have taken me down to some very dark places, but instead it gave me motivation to find the beauty in what was around me. I continue to paint for me, my happiness and for my husband memory.

So the question is “Why do we do what we do daily?”

For some reason this is a statement that I have a problem with. How about you?

All my working life I had to manage time to get all things taken care of both at work and at home. Why am I still having to manage time? Well this is why. I chose to start a small business that need to be attended to. There are times to painting or craft, working in time for Live broadcasts, making sure I visit those other small businesses that I help and that help me, posting a blog post to keep me out there and how others will come and read the articles I post or look at the painting I have done with hopes someone will love one and can’t live without it, doing my housework and making time for me and my pup Todd.

The Me time is the hardest, but probably the most important time that needs to be taken. We all need time to relax, refresh and reflect. We can’t take care of business in our homes or with a small business if we are exhausted physically and mentally..

In this day and age life moves far faster than it ever has in my opinion. Or is could be age is wanting me to slow down some, I am not sure, but I need to realized that to keep up with this world as it is I have to physically take a calendar and block out times for just about everything I do. My life and my business doesn’t run its self. Success now depends on when I do things and how I do them.

The 21st Century is not going to leave me behind because realistically I have the time. I am retired and now, sadly to say, a widow. I just need to Manage my time more wisely and get things done, even the ME time that I require.

How do you manage your time?

All of my older paintings will go ON SALE APRIL 24TH ON MY FACEBOOK BUSINESS PAGE. The link for that page is https://www.facebook.com/chalkrepurporsed/

All my 2019 Watercolors are On Sale as well at a 50% discount this includes shipping. Click on the tab at the top to view the paintings.

I will be back tomorrow with some new insight.

Blessing all.

Did you notice the moon tonight? It was huge and lite everything up.

Part of being an Artist is also being able to handle a camera. I don’t mean a cellphone camera, I mean and this is my opinion, a real 35mm camera. I know the new cellphones have some awesome camera in them, but my doesn’t. I invested a few year back into a used 35mm and hadn’t the slightest idea how to use it. So back to school, youtube, I went. I felt like a failure after hundreds of photos I took looked like garbage. I put the camera away and just plain refused to get frustrated any longer..fast forward to a couple of years ago and I decided that my paintings needed to be photographed and I couldn’t afford a pro to do them. It was up to me to learn how to use this thing. Believe me I wanted to throw it out the window.

Well today I am still no pro, but if I just take my time I can get some pretty good shots and some will and have turned into paints. It is all part of the craft and I love what I do and I want them to look and feel original.