"Little Lovie's Toesies" - A Figure Painting of My 1st Little Baby's Toesies by Melissa Adams

"Little Lovie's Toesies"     Acrylic on Illustration Board     2" x 4"

 Not For Sale

And here's yet another tiny little painting from my small one week collection that I did back in June of 2010. I wanted to challenge myself to use rough brushstrokes in order to create the ultra smooth appearance of a baby's bum-bum and toesies, though I'm not quite sure if it worked. Either way, I still love this little painting and am thinking that someday I'll have to give it another go for my 2nd little guy, so I can put them together in my art room... How cute would that be?

When I think back, it seems crazy how much more motivated I became to create art and really begin my art career after having a baby. Part of it was due to FINALLY being finished getting my art degree and no longer creating art because I had to for an assignment which was a huge thing for me, but the rest of it was due to two other factors. One:  I realized I was getting nowhere fast with my goals in life, which when applied to work, were based around creating art and selling it. And two:  I think that when I lost all my free time by having a baby, I finally realized how precious our time here on earth is, and how little of it we really do have.

How many hours I spent wasted before having Levi hurts me down to my very core, and I still ache for that time back so badly so I could have used it for something more than just lying on the couch watching TV or reading. At the time, I felt like my schedule couldn't get any harder, but I was so, so wrong! I felt like I had no free time whatsoever, but in reality, I had so very much, even with a full-time job or education. But no matter how many people warn you or how many times that you're told not to waste your time being lazy before having babies, to go have fun on your own while you can because once you have them, that part of your life where you can just do whatever you want at just about any time will be almost completely gone. Well, at least for a season anyways. I suppose that changes back once your babies become more independent, but we haven't even come close to that stage yet. Oh man, no matter how much people tell you that having kids is tough, multiply it in your head by a thousand, do it again, and then you might get close to the reality of how hard it actually is.

Of course, there is another side to it. A beautiful, marvelous, miraculous side. You know that time you lost when you have your little one, well it gets replaced with some of the most beautiful, awe inspiring moments of your life. With cuddles and giggles and sweet moments that melt your heart completely. With soft baby bottoms and sweet little toes that just beg to be tickled, and tiny fingers that curl around yours, even if they're too tiny to make it all the way around them. With precious memories that will last forever and moments that you wouldn't give up for all the time in the world. Oh how I love my little guys!!!

But man oh man are they ever exhausting! Where does all that energy come from and why aren't we marketing it and selling it? But anyways, I think that once I realized how important each little minute in life really is and how hard and demanding the life of a mother is, it shook something up in me that made me so much more motivated than I ever had been before. I only wish it had happened years before, but at least it happened! =0)


MY TIP FOR THE DAY
So, if you're finding yourself wishing for more time or not following your dreams because you feel like they are just too lofty for you to accomplish, don't beat yourself down. Pick up a brush or a tool or a pencil and just get to work. Being successful takes a lot more work behind the scenes than I ever would have dreamed of, so if you really want it, you're gonna have to work for it, and work for it hard.

Now, to get yourself started down this road to success, first you need to define what that word means to you, because how you define that word changes everything, and you really need to know what you're working towards. So write down a few small goals that can be accomplished in a day, some bigger goals that may take a month or more, and a few really huge goals which may take years or even your entire life, and try to find little steps along the way that you can make to get from point A to point B. Because success just doesn't happen to you. Even those people who you think catch all the breaks have to work hard to keep their skills up (or at least most of them do...). But seriously, what could you do today that would take only 5 -15 minutes to get you started towards what you want for your life? For me, it was writing out what I really wanted from an art career, such as making my own hours, working from home, getting my art in a gallery some day and also, of course, making money from it eventually. All this helped me gain perspective on what I could do and what I had to do in order to get the ball rolling.

I prayed and prayed and after being told by my husband Tyler as well as my mom about a million times that I needed to just get painting or I'll never get anywhere with it, I picked up a paintbrush and tried to get to work. I've failed many times along the way, and I'm not even remotely close to where I want to be, but I am definitely farther than I was before and I love being able to look back at all my work and see that I actually did something with my time and the talents God gave me. I have a long journey ahead of me if God wills it, and so do you, but like I basically said before, you gotta start somewhere!

So I did what was suggested and I wrote down both big and little goals and just tried to make baby steps towards them. So if you can, why not go out and try to attain what you feel God has called to do, no excuses that there's not enough time or anything like that (well, unless you really don't have any time leftover in which case either your dreams shall wait or you'll just have to schedule some time in your calendar - I think most people call it an artist's date, and it's absolutely wonderful for making sure you make time for yourself and your art!)? There's always little steps you can take, whether it's researching, getting to work on a tiny piece or an abstract just to loosen up, or even just perusing other people's blogs for inspiration, and there's always reasons for not taking them, so it's really up to you how far you go, granted that God desires those goals for you as well.

Oh, and if you really just need that extra nudge, I highly suggest you go check out this amazing blog called Artists Helping Artists that deals with how to become more successful no matter what your goals may be (as you can imagine by the name it's really aimed at artists, so I'm not so sure how much it would help people in other fields, though you could give it a try if you want to). But seriously, it's an amazing site and it's changing the way I view the art world tremendously!

So go out there, make a list or whatever it is that motivates you and helps you keep track of your progress (making a blog or even just a mood board to help you visualize what you want are also great ways to motivate you to move towards your goals) and then get to work!

Happy Painting and God Bless!!! =0)