Three Habits that Build an Art Career

Art, like any self-motivated job, takes discipline. Even a driven artist can be sidelined by family obligations, a day job, other creative endeavors, and life. Coming home from the day job with your brain fried from work demands, family clamoring for your attention, and a house that might need attention (dishes, laundry, etc,) can push your art to the back seat. It's life, it happens.

How to break free from this cycle of un-productivity?

• First show up. Go to the place where you do your art. Walking into your studio or even just up to the table where your brushes, paints, and artistic equipment lives will help to inspire you to start. 
• Carve out time. Let your art be your job. Go to it religiously. Set the time. Label an hour or two of your day for art and make it a priority. If you go over that time, great! 
• Alert the masses. Let the people in your life know that this time is scheduled for building your art career. Explain how important it is to you and ask for their cooperation in giving you this time to work uninterrupted.

Finally, accept the importance of Art in your life. Too many times we push creativity aside out of guilt, obligation, or just plain laziness. More Art to the top of your priority list and take the first step in creating a career as an Artist.

Go forth and create beauty in the world.

Sign Making Time - In Pictures

Creating signs with the Silhouette Cameo - my favorite new toy!

 Vinyl Removed

Sanded to distress

Everyone Needs Art ~How to Find Them

Art is everywhere and everything is some kind of Art.

Businesses need artists to design their logos, websites, car wraps, and advertising.
Stores need art to sell.
Movie Producers need posters and ads and set designers.
Broadway needs set designers, painters, and costume creators.
Everyone who works in these industries creating these necessities is an artist, because everything is art.
Andy Warhol knew it when he created his Campbell Soup can work.

As we've watched mix media artist on the rise, the art world is expanding.
Painting furniture to pop with color and design is one of my favorite forms of art. Visit my Pinterest board to see some amazing and crazy furniture art. (Confession; Addicted to Pinterest Art)

The trick to finding a paying gig in business is to get your art in the face of those who need it. I've volunteered to paint theater sets when my daughter was doing community theater, now I get calls to paint sets. Volunteering can lead to jobs.

If you want to paint store front windows, paint your own, take photos and show them to businesses in your area.

Small gift shops will often let an artist put their work in the store either on commission or even buy it out right. If you lug your art to a shop, have your prices ready. I once painted pictures on a bunch of feathers, framed them and walked them into a shop. When I laid them on the table the owner said, "How much do you want for them?" I stuttered and just threw out a price. Probably too low, but I was unprepared.  Be professional. Not everyone will want your stuff or give you the price you want. Thank them and move on.

Check out local art/craft shows/street fairs. Not the flea market kind, but ones that do juried shows usually have better crafts and art. Tip; bring enough to fill your table and then some. You want your table to look full and attractive.

Don't forget local Galleries! Bring your art in and ask the owner if he'd consider displaying your work.

Then we have the online venues; Etsy, Fine Art America and others. Google it. You can even sell on Ebay, but I haven't tried that yet. Make your own website and Facebook page. Share and tweet on a regular basis!

Don't be afraid to strut your stuff. It's your art & heart and it's beautiful.

Scary Part of Being an Artist

Lots of people love to create great works of art that they hide in the closet.  They take the time and passion that they put in each piece then surrender to fear. I believe this happens to every creative person. So many wonder if their art is good enough, or amateurish or just plain stupid.                                                                                                       I did. For a long time stuff just got shoved in the closet. Am I a great artist? Eh. 

But something happened at one point where I just decided not to care who would like it. I thought about Thomas Edison and Alexander Graham Bell. When they were toiling away making their crazy inventions, did they care that some people were looking down their noses thinking they were freaks? Or did they just keep going? Were they not artists of their own crafts?                                                                                                                                               Vincent Van Gogh didn't have such an easy time with his art. He was thought of as weird, maybe deranged, and died way too young. He never got to see how his art would be appreciated, yet still he painted. If I could time travel I'd go back and bring him here, to the MOMA in NYC, and show him all the people who stand in front of Starry Night taking photos and admiring the genius of his art. It would be wonderful to let him know he is loved today. That his art is loved.                     

Gifting my art helped suppress the fear. Some of the things on this blog were done as gifts. People seemed to like it and would tell me others were asking about it. I don't know if that's what made me feel braver or if, as i got older, I sort of came to a mind set that it is what it is. Some of it I love, some of it's goofy, some of it's fun. Overall, I just want to keep creating, painting, woodworking, stain,  and exploring new mediums.

I always tell my fellow artists and writers to "Let it Fly!" Send that art out into the world and stop worrying. Let those who love us love us and those who don't, don't really matter.                                                              

                                                                                      Go out and create and remember those who laughed at Van Gogh and Edison eventually came around to love them. Perhaps their souls grew a little and they learned something.                                                                                                                                                   Bottom line? All art is beautiful to someone, but you'll never find that someone in your closet. Set your art free and let it fly out into the universe. You'll be happier for it. Freedom is a wonderful thing.

Staining Flower Art - 1st Try!

I saw this on You Tube (you can learn anything there) and had to give it a try. Although my project didn't turn out as good as I would have liked, I found something to do with the finished piece.

First I found this pre-cut piece of wood at Lowe's.  I thought I picked a pretty good piece of wood, but after watching the way the stain sucked in and didn't give me clear lines, I'm not so sure. I'll try a different kind of wood next time.



After sanding, I put on  rubber gloves and used an old t-shirt to dip in the stain and color. I used Minwax stain in Mahogany. I wanted a dark stain for contrast. It went on really easy. The hardest part was thinking in shadows. The darkest part would be the shadows within the petals of the flowers.

Starting at the center I worked outward. The dark stain of the next petal would outline the top of the previous.

 Once I had the stain on I realized there was one point across the center that took the stain a little weird. This is common when working with wood as the grain has a mind of its own. You can see a couple of spots that are actually knots in the wood. I was really tempted to paint ladybugs on the knots. :)

I think getting this stain-flower technique down will take practice. I'm also going to check on another type of wood.
I put three coats of Polycrylic on the top to make it weather-proof.

Not wanting anything to go to waste, I took a plastic flower pot and flipped it upside down to use as a base and screwed the stained-flower wood disc on top. Now I'll use it on the deck for a little table. My daughter thinks I should paint the base brown. What do you think?
Brown? Blue?or leave it green?

Diva Dawn's Metal di Muse at Steampunk Worlds Fair

This awesome artist was found with her rocked out van selling her handmade metal art. She lays out the red carpet for those who come to check out her fine work.                                                                            Diva Dawn uses a variety of metals to create wearable art in the spirit of Steampunk, Victorian, Goth, and Vintage. You can find her art on Etsy here. 

 This piece is one of my favorites and can be found on her Etsy site under Victorian Steampunk Game of Thrones.  Click the link for a better view of this beautiful piece.

Staying with this old world Steampunk theme is the Tatsu Dragon Cuff. The amount of fine workmanship shows through in the detail and imagination Diva Dawn puts into her art. I think the Tatsu Dragon Cuff is my favorite!

What struck me most about her metal art was the intricate  detail in each piece. To breathe this much beauty and emotion into metal shows me Diva Dawn is very passionate about her art. A skilled artisan with a variety of metals, I hope to see Metal di Muse at the next Steampunk fest or maybe Voltaire's Wicked Necrocomicon in September.

Artist Abigail Larson at Steampunk World's Fair

Spent the weekend discovering new artists at the Steampunk World's Fair. These artists ranged from pen & ink, to leather artists, creators of costumes, and creatures of all mediums.

One of my favorite finds of the day was pen & ink watercolor artist, Abigail Larson. These hauntingly beautiful pieces depicted ghouls, ghosts, and things that go bump in the night. Her use of color, both dark and light, brings a spooky yet soulful feel to her art. It's the kind of art you keep coming back to stare at to find out where the emotion of the piece will take you. Innocent, expressive, and melancholy at the same time, the passion of the artist shows in each beautifully poignant piece.

We purchased two unframed prints on Saturday and when we went back Sunday we found this Edgar Allen Poe piece. (Please forgive the flash bounce. This photo does not do justice to the haunting beauty of the piece. ) It now sits on my writing desk to inspire. Thank you Abigail!

Check out Abigail's online Gallery here. Prepare to be awed and surprised with the dark beauty of this work.