Totally Tangled Over Here and Loving It!

"Burnt To A Crisp" - Tangle #01     3.5" x 5"     Ink & Graphite on Acrylic Paper (ACEO)

The last two weeks have been nothing short of a nightmare. Thank God before that He gave me grace sufficient to get me through what was to come! Before these last two weeks I had the most wonderful, love-filled birthday party of my life (YA-HOOO - I'M OFFICIALLY 30 YEARS OLD!!! I'M SO EXCITED!)  =D  where I was overwhelmed by the sheer amount of people who not only just showed up to shower their affections and care on me, but who took time out of their own hectic schedules to spend time celebrating a very special day with me. My 30th birthday is something I've been happily awaiting for quite some time now, and it meant so much more to me to be able to spend it with so many people who I hold so dear and close to my heart. It was nothing short of miraculous and terribly humbling at the same time, to be quite honest! After having been literally holed up in my own home in what feels like an iron-clad cage for almost 2 years now, save for my hundreds of Drs. visits and an occassional visit to Costco, Target or the $ Store in my wheelchair,  it was actually a bit overwhelming. My senses aren't really quite used to being around so many people in such a small space anymore, which to be totally honest I was NOT expecting such a great turnout, though I was HUGELY BLESSED by it (I mean, come on, how amazing is that? I was so overcome by emotions that I had planned to thank everyone for coming and instead totally retreated inside myself instead out of sheer shock), and I kept getting asked if I was alright, so I'm fairly positive that the emotion showed loud and clear on my face, like a poor little deer caught in the headlights. But the LOVE I felt in our house shook the walls for me, and it was a birthday I will NEVER forget, at least, not until dementia sets in which is hopefully a ways away. Now, now, I am just 30, mind you!  =0)

What's been so interesting to me is that I've been looking forward to turning 30 for so long, and now that I have, apparently NOW'S the time that everything possible that I thought couldn't possibly get any worse has skyrocketed to new dimensions of horrible that I never even fathomed were possible. Family life has been treacherous for everyone over here, apparently because I've changed so much and I'm no longer who I used to be, and we aren't sure if it's the anti-seizure meds or not (which I'm so praying it's not because they are what's giving me the ability to play with my boys and interact with them and without those I'll go back to being in a virtual untouchable coma, my body wracked with pain, my heart wracked with sobs, it's just awful to think of having to go back there. It's like choosing paralysis over time to laugh and play and enjoy your children. Which would you pick?

If I could give my own two cents, personally I just think I'm different because I'M DIFFERENT. You don't go through as many trials and tribulations as I have and come out the other side unscathed unless you're a robot or not being honest with yourself. BUT, and this is a BIIIIIGGG BUT, it doesn't mean I can treat other's like garbage or hurt them just because I'm hurting. Right now I feel like an injured mother bear trying desperately to protect her cubs from being taken away from her by angry and yet proud huntsmen. I want to lash out in my anger, and then pull back and protect my injuries, hovering over my boys trying to protect them from any fallout that might negatively affect them later on in life, and especially anything that might hurt their precious little hearts now.

I'm learning the value of keeping my own anger reigned in - I found this AMAZING workbook on Amazon for helping with anger management, and even though I've only done one chapter I can SEE and FEEL the changes taking place inside me, as if God is gently taking out the badly woven strings and re-knitting them so that He can complete the work He started in me so many years ago, and so He can carry it on to completion until the day of His Son, Jesus Christ, returns to this earth to save us all who've been faithful to Him! I am so thankful every day that I serve a God like Him, one who truly knows the meaning of being and having:

PATIENCE, PEACE, HOPE, LONG-SUFFERING, ENDURANCE, TENDERNESS, COMPASSION, UNDERSTANDING, KINDNESS and above all, 

 LOVE!!!

And so you see, with the walls of my life continually crashing in around my shoulders, when I started noticing more and more of my artist friends coming out with these lovely, vibrantly patterned works of art called Zentangle (R), I started to become intrigued. They were simple and yet so complex. I loved how they looked and especially how they feeled and most of all how they MADE me feel. But what finally got me hooked was when the walls collapsed in around us and we were forced to get a nanny (one of THE best decisions we have EVER made!!!). We finally got the boys back at home where they belonged all along - not at anyone else's house, no matter who it was, the best place for my boys is to be with their momma! Especially now that we have a new nanny to help out, (she's the one who got me into Zentangles® without even knowing what it was, quite to her surprise) but she has been a major help to me already. And like I said, as soon as she showed me her own work I just knew I had to give it a shot. After all, it's basically a mix between Henna, doodling, meditation, shading, pattern-working, and whatever else you want to do to make it your own, so it was a dead-ringer for me!!!

I looked it up too, and apparently they've done studies on it and it's been proven to help with anger management, anxiety, stress reduction, creativity, improved memory retention, pain reduction and so much more like even just the simple fact of helping to improve your mood. Gee, I think I could handle that, couldn't you? So not only is this an art form that is done on a miniature scale (ahem... sound like something I might like, right? Lol!), but it's something I can do in a hospital bed or on major bedrest when the real heavy full-bodied or just partial yet temporary paralysis sets in, which is HUGE to me, since it's times like those that I struggle with wanting to do art the most but I can't do anything feasible because it's WAY too involved. So with how small this is coupled with the fact that you also only need to use tiny strokes means I can do this just about anywhere in just about any situation. PRAISE THE LORD!!! I finally found something I can take with me that doesn't take up huge amounts of space and that I can pack on the fly. I'm such a happy camper right now!!!

Unfortunately, with the artistic passion comes the STRONG, rather overbearing and for me quite tormenting emotions, which at times seem like they could just swallow me whole. At least I'm not the only artist to have ever felt this way - I'm pretty sure it's like a right of passage if you want to be a fine artist for some odd reason. It must just be like I said - with great passion comes great torment as well - and either one of them, if left untamed, can swallow you up. My prayer is that God continues to enrich my passions rather than continue my torment, for it surely does get exhausting after a long time,  as many of my overwhelmed friends would agree with. Thank God He's a God who cares! Well, I really should try to at least clean up a little before the boys wake up - and turn up the heater or restart a fire because it's freezing in here today! I hope you have a wonderful vacation day filled with rest and laughter and much joy, and that God blesses you day immeasurably! So long for now!

"Straight Up Falling" - An Expressionist Painting of the Falls in Yosemite

"Straight Up Falling"     2.5" x 3.5"     Acrylic on Canvas Paper (ACEO)

Here's another one of my expressionistic paintings of the falls in Yosemite. I think I could paint hundreds upon thousands of works based on that amazing place, that is if I ever had that much time... And if there were any way at all that our family could swing living there and that I could land a job being their Artist in Residence, oh man, would I ever be all over that!!! Man, how amazing would that be?! To live in that gorgeous park, or almost ANY State Park for that matter, and to get paid to paint on location, do demos, and sit in the lobby and paint in front of visitors - WOW! What a dream come true that would be! Shoot, I would love even just living CLOSE to a place like that! There's something just so special and inspiring about the fresh alpine air, full of pine and dew and wildflowers, that makes an artist's blood boil with excitement. I'm getting excited just thinking about it! =0)

"Purple Falls" - An Expressionistic Painting of the Falls in Yosemite

"Purple Falls"     2.5" x 3.5"     Acrylic on Canvas Paper (ACEO)

SOLD

Well hello there! Today's painting has an interesting little story to it. It is the second attempt at an expressionistic painting that was commissioned by my winner of one of my contests, Sea. I don't know if you remember it, but the first one ended up rather pink, and it wasn't until it had sat on my shelf for awhile that I realized what I created, while lovely in my own opinion, wasn't exactly what she had asked for. The color pallette ended up more along the green and pink scale rather than purple, blue and green.

Luckily I realized all that before sending it out, and even though it was a bit embarrassing, I had to make sure she truly liked it first before I sent it overseas. I was right - the painting wasn't quite what she was hoping for, so I gladly offered to try my hand at it again, wanting to make sure that what she ended up with would be something she would truly treasure. So here it is, my second and very joyous attempt to get things right.  =0)

And you know, even though it was humbling to admit my own error, I'm glad I brought it up to her and not the other way around. It's never fun finding out you didn't please your clients, so if you have the opportunity to make sure they like it beforehand, I strongly recommend it. And now because of all this I  have an extra little painting to sell. If you're interested, here it is:

"Path to Power"     2.5" x 3.5"     Acrylic on Canvas Paper (ACEO)

As for the pretty little purple one at the top of this post, well it will shortly make it's way across the ocean and to her door. How cool is that?! I'm super excited, more than you can imagine, at knowing that my work will be owned internationally. That's AMAZING!!! It's just about one of the coolest things you can hope for with your art, or at least that's how I feel about it. =D

And as for the process behind this work, well, I challenged myself to be more free and loose with both my strokes and my use of color than I was in the first one, and honestly I was really surprised at how difficult that was. I guess working small does come with some restraints after all! No using big brushes here... Hahaha! No, no, no... And the teeny-tiny ones didn't work either, which was even more shocking. What ended up working best was a size 3 round. It allowed me to make small yet overstated brushstrokes and to create a feeling that was more expressionistic in nature than my first attempt.

And now I'm off to work on one of my other commissioned pieces by one of my first winners. Thank God she's a good friend of mine and is being rather patient, because I would be in a mess of trouble if not. It's just taking a bit longer than normal. But luckily I found my sweet spot with it and am on a roll. I can't wait to post it when it's done - her idea was awesome and while it's a difficult painting for me, it's turning out beautifully. Well, I suppose I should let you be the judge of that, but hey, a girl can like her own work, right? Oh I sure hope so...! =0)  Well, take care my friends. As for me, I'm off to paint! =D

"Night Lights" - A Whimsical Garden Painting

"Night Lights"     2.5" x 3.5"     Acrylic on Canvas Paper (ACEO) 

This sweet little painting was actually started en plein air, as funny as that might seem, back at the cabin in Montana this summer. They have some beautiful rows of lavender blossoms that were absolutely breathtaking lining the outer walls, and I just couldn't resist them. Who can?

I never got the chance to finish the painting while we were there, but I'm actually glad for that, as when I got home with it I just started to play around and ended up coming up with this delightful little scene to go with it. I've always had a fascination with Snails, Inch Worms and Fireflies (who doesn't, right?) and I thought it would be fun to make a scene lit by them, similar in a way to how the Baroque painters, whom I absolutely adore, used to light their scenes with a single candle or oil lamp in order to create intensity in their works. I've always wanted to paint like them, and even though this isn't exactly even remotely like their work, I love the fun little flair it added to this piece. I hope you like it too!

It looks absolutely AMAZING in it's black frame, with the white matting adding an extra pop to the colors of the piece. It's sure to delight young and young of heart alike, so if you're interested in buying this adorable and original work of art, email me and let me know! Or you can buy it from my Daily Paintworks Gallery as well.  Well, I hope you have a great one today. Take care!  =D

"Path to Power" - A Landscape Painting of Yosemite

"Path to Power"     2.5" x 3.5"     Acrylic on Canvas Paper

SOLD/Not For Sale

Today's painting was made for Sea Dean, one of my three winners from last month's contest. She chose as her prize for me to create an ACEO painting made in the colors and style of my painting "El Capitan." I figured if she liked that particular painting so much then I ought to try creating a painting from a different part of Yosemite for her, to give her almost a painted tour of the park. That probably sounds silly, but she lives overseas as it is, and I don't know if she's ever had the chance to come visit the states. That's why I thought it'd be fun to give her another glimpse of one of the most beautiful parks in the world over. Sea's a painter too, and hosts a rather entertaining page on Facebook for both artists and art lovers alike called "Get Your Art Out There." I would have provided the link to it but it's a closed group so I don't think I can. But if you look it up and want to join, all you have to do is type the name into the search bar on Facebook and let Sea know you want it. It's that easy!  =)

I wanted to shout out a quick reminder that today is the last day to enter to win a painting for this month. All you have to do is comment on this or any other post from the month of July, 2013. I have to say it's my easiest contest yet! So go ahead, you never do know if you might be one of the lucky ones! And congratulations again Sea. This pretty little piece will be on it's way over the oceans and to your door as soon as possible. I so love giving my works a new home - and to send one over-seas is absolutely thrilling!

Well, take care of yourselves my friends! And stay tuned - there are still more new paintings to come this week. I'm finally back in my groove, trying to get all the works out that were promised before my rather unexpected surgery. But it's starting to come together, thank the LORD, and with each new work I finish the more excited I get over being able to eventually jump into one of my own art projects that's been brewing in my mind for some weeks now! I can't wait to begin! Lucky for me though, I've loved all the commissions too and sadly I think I'll miss them once I get over this wave of them. But still, it's a win-win for me, no matter how you look at it.

I hope you are having a great day out there and I hope that in some way you might be able to carve out some time for yourself to spend creating something yourself - that it would be a time of refreshing both your body and your soul, and that in the end whatever you create is absolutely beautiful, even if only to you. Hey, I have plenty of those! Haha. But yeah, it just feels so wonderful to pour your heart into something real and at the end be able to hold something you've made in your hands. There are few things better than that! Well, have a wonderful day and God bless!

"Siesta" - An Animal Painting of Mallard Ducks

"Siesta"     2.5" x 3.5"     Acrylic on Paper (ACEO)

 Not For Sale

Today's painting is actually one of the prizes for February's contest, where the winner could pick or commission any ACEO by me. One of my winners, Rene, chose to commission a work, and to make it even more fun, she sent me some ideas along with photos for me to choose from. I had a blast picking! And as you can see, I chose her beautiful picture of mallards resting on a bank to recreate in my own words... Well, brushstrokes really, I suppose. Haha. Anyways, thank you so much, Rene, for supplying the perfect photo for me - it was a delight getting to paint this one! And I sure hope you like how it turned out! =)

I loved painting the water in particular, as well as the feathers and heads of the mallards. It's crazy how different colors look in our mind than they do in reality. I started this piece too blue, and then realized after much studying of the picture, that the water was in fact was more of a soft greyish, pinkish, brownish blue color than it was a baby blue, if that makes any sense. I struggle so much with seeing the true color of things, though I think I might be starting to develop better sight for them as I keep painting more and more, and I'm eager to see this skill develop more and more over the coming years. =)

Oh, before I forget, I wanted to remind you about this month's contest - where the prize is a print of your favorite painting of mine - and where all you have to do is use the Facebook "Share" button to show me you want to play. That's right. =) So, go ahead and "Share" your favorite work if you want to be entered to win a completely free print of it.  There's been 2 or 3 people that my husband has seen on his wall but not on mine, so you might want to comment on my Facebook wall or on here if you've shared something just in case, since I'm still having difficulty seeing some of the shares for some reason, and I don't want to miss putting your name down for a chance to win.

Have a great day out there my friends! =)

"Early Morning Wake-Up Call" - An Abstract Painting (ACEO)

"Early Morning Wake-Up Call"     2.5" x 3.5"     Acrylic on Bristol Board (ACEO)

SOLD

I am SO not a morning person, so any of you who know me will know just how crazy it is that last night I went to bed at 9:30 and woke up at 3:30am. And I mean, wide-awake! So, might as well get out the paintbrushes, right?

I had a rough night's sleep last night - woke up with the most painful stiff armed cramp I've ever had. I cried out as I was waking up, scaring the living daylights out of Ty, who had to get up and help me straighten out my arm because I couldn't do it on my own. It hurt like the dickens. Definitely a result of over-doing it yesterday. But I can't complain, you know why? Because it was sooo totally worth it! Ty and I got to go on the sweetest little date yesterday curtesy of Joleen, who watched our kids from 9:30 to 4. It was A-MAZE-ING!!! Thank you so much Joleen!

So what, pray tell, did we do? Well... First off we went to Carl's Jr, because for months now, actually years if I remember correctly, we have both been dying to try out their breakfast menu, but have never been up and out with nothing to do early enough to try them. Oh man, so good! I got the Country Style Burrito, or whatever it's called. Yummy! Then we went shopping at World Market, one of our favorite date stores, because the stuff in there is just so random. And I found quite the find of this little potpourri collection of seashells and oddly large nutshells and other various accompaniments in the colors of tan and teal blue - oh so pretty! It's supposed to be for our house but I honestly bought it because I saw so much potential within it for painting subjects. I'm so excited! And then, as usual on our dates, we went to Barnes and Noble and browsed for a bit, got a Starbucks, and then headed home to relax, and of course cuddle. "Great date,"you're  probably thinking sarcastically to yourself I'm sure, but it actually really was. It was so refreshing and beautiful for our relationship, and I loved it and I love him so very much. Okay, enough of the mushy stuff now.

I hope you're all having a great day out there and that hopefully you're nice and rested, even if you did end up getting an early morning wake-up call like I did. (Do you like how I did that?! =D Like how they do it in the movies where they drop the title in there somewhere amongst the dialogue... I'm such a rock-star! Oh yeah! Lol.) Oh man, I'm sorry, I'm such a nerd, but you know you love me. Or at least I'm gonna pretend you do... Once again, ANYWAYS... Well, have a great day all! =D

MY TIP FOR THE DAY:
Oh, wait, before I leave, I actually have a painting tip today for any of you out there wanting to try to paint on Bristol Board, which is actually quite fun and economical as well. To keep the paper from warping and curling up on you, paint an X on the back to stabilize it. You can even add an extra T over that, to give it extra support like I do. I do this before I ever even start painting on it, and then if I notice it starting to try to warp at the end when I'm all done, I repaint the X & T all over again, which will get it to stop warping all over again. Oh, and make sure you do this in a light color like white or cream if your painting is going to end up on a light ground, or really even if it's not, so it doesn't end up showing through on your final work. It should look something like this:

How to Keep Bristol Board from Warping & Curling

Umm... Except maybe a touch cleaner. Hmm... I never have been know to keep my workspace free from splatter, so I guess that's true of the back of my paintings too. Oops. Let's just say it gives it extra character. Lol!

Good luck! =)

"Mint, Anyone?" - A Still Life Painting of a Peppermint Candy (ACEO)

"Mint, Anyone?"     2.5" x 3.5"     Acrylic on Bristol Board

I'm not really sure why after Christmas has come and gone I'm suddenly in the mood to do all these Christmas-y related paintings, but for some reason I am and this is what came of it tonight. I suppose it doesn't really have to be holiday related, but it is part of my leftover Ginger-bread house stash, so for me it is... =)

This one's a little late - it was the one I was supposed to post yesterday for the challenge but never got around to so I'm posting it retrospectively so it matches up with the days of the challenge as they appear on Leslie's blog. I've realized with how many doctors appointments I have each day perhaps a goal of 365 paintings a year is a bit too ambitious, but I am still going to aim super high, so I've finally decided that my official goal for number of paintings in a year for 2013 is going to be 300, which is such an exciting and yet daunting number! Even if I don't quite make it, it at least gives me some lee-way so I can take a few days off for vacations or sick days or "I'm just feeling so stinkin' horrible from my fibro" days, so that I'm not feeling so behind all the time. I never really got ahead like Leslie suggested except for during the first week, so I am looking forward to being able to be all caught up and to try to get an extra painting in over the weekend so that if I have a rough day I can take the day off and just relax. It's a great goal, but we'll see what happens! Lol!

Oh man, I should go, but before I do I just wanted to add one more little tidbit - I've been wanting to try to paint candy wrapped in plastic for some time now. It's always seemed absolutely impossible to me, and I know I have many more attempts at this before I come up with something I really like, but I really learned a ton about coloring and highlights while doing this. It probably looks easier to do than it really is when you look at all those phenomenal artists who have mastered this technique, but oh man, don't let them fool you. Boy is it ever difficult! This is not the last time you will be seeing a little sweet delicacy wrapped in cellophane or whatever it is candy is wrapped in, and I am hoping that in the next year or two I will really improve in this area. So many goals to reach, so little time! Have a great night, y'all!