November is NOT over Yet - It's CONTEST TIME!!!

Okay - Here's how it goes! Whomsoever is the very 1st person to post a comment on this blog about either one thing they've been thankful for this year or if they just want to straight up say they want to win the prize get's a free 4"x6" print of "Doe Eyes" matted and ready to be framed to a 5"x7" sized frame (frame not included). So, if you want it, the 1st person to comment HERE ON MY BLOG WINS! There's only one winner so you better respond quickly! Good luck! =0)

Print of "Doe Eyes"     4"x 6" matted to 5"x 7"     Lustre Finish

October's Contest - Only One Week Long and It's a Fun One!

I'm so excited to announce this month's contest, which will last only one week. It's gonna be a breeze! All I want from you is some cute ideas by October 23rd (it's not much time, so you'll have to think quick!) of what to paint on miniature canvases for a boutique I'm going to be working at (Lord willing of course, given this fibro) on the 2nd of November. They can be themed, seasonal, random, or abstract, but any ideas would help. The person with my favorite idea wins an abstract painting created just for you, with whichever colors or feel to it that you would like. Or rather than an abstract, you may choose the painting below instead. So game on my friends, game on! =0)

"Under the Starry Sky So Blue"     5" x 7"     Acrylic on Museum Quality Claybord

Busy, busy, busy... =P

My dear friends, I haven't forgotten about you! We have been a bit more busy these last few days than I anticipated and I need a little more time tallying up all the participants in last months contest and in deciding exactly which paintings to have available for that winner to chose from. So if you'll bear with me I will be posting our winner and our new contest for this month as soon as I possibly can - though honestly it may be a few days. I will try my hardest to get it done more quickly than that, but sometimes life is a bit busy and this week just happens to be one of the busier ones.

I hope you are doing well though and I can't wait to be talking to you after I get these next few posts up. Ooh, plus I have two new paintings I'm pretty excited about - sweet little ACEOs that are sure to bring a smile to your face. Or so I hope! Haha, well, have a great Saturday and I hope to be seeing you soon!

"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!

A Truly Inspirational Speach about Making Good Art, No Matter What Kind of Art You Make

This is the most AMAZING and inspirational video I've seen in a long time. It was posted originally on my friend and fellow artist Crystal Cook's blog, and I just can't help but re-post it here because of its sheer genius. For any artists, authors or thinkers of the imaginative realms anywhere, I strongly suggest you take a minute, or 20, to listen to this video. You won't regret it one bit - in fact, I think you will find yourself greatly inspired to take your art to new heights. And by art I mean all realms - writing, painting, printmaking, architecture, dance, music, seriously, whatever type of art you make. I hope you enjoy this as much as I did (by the way, sorry the screen size is so small, but if you click full screen it's perfectly large enough there, so I recommend viewing it that way):

 

So good, right?! Thank you Crystal for the amazing link! I am so inspired to start truly letting my own voice be heard, no matter how naked and vulnerable it makes me feel. I feel like I've been trying to play it safe, afraid to let people see all that is inside me, and even though I know it will take some time for me to truly let my voice be seen even more in my art, I want to start working towards that all the more right now. It's hard to break down all the walls and let people see what lies inside. Sometimes it's really hard to just let your true self be seen. But this girl wants to break down those walls, to hang posters that tell me I can at least pretend to be Wise AND Successful - that I already AM a Master Artist, even though I know I'm nowhere near that, just so I can start acting like it. Perhaps by thinking this way it will change the way I view my art as well as how I view myself, and I'll start making decisions and making art that I never would have made in this timid, shy and unsure state I'm in. How about you? Does this video make you feel inspired or make you want to try something different? I'd love to hear your thoughts on it. Plus, any comments on here count towards being entered in this months contest of a free painting, and free stuff is always good, dontcha think? Take care my friend, and have a wonderfully inspired day making GOOD ART!

"Henry and His Nectarine" and the Instructions for the New Contest for JUNE 2013

Hi there my friends! I'm sorry it's been so long since I've posted a brand new painting, I just knew this would happen when my new flare hit. But I'm hanging in here, trying to build up my strength every day, and trying to finish up some of the incredible projects and commissions I have going on right now. I have some wonderful new things in the works that I'd love to share with you, but I want to wait until they are a bit more seasoned until I unveil them. So many new paintings are on the way, so many commissions close to completion, and I can't wait to show each and every one of them to you!

But until then, here is one sweet little painting I finished about a week ago. This painting actually has a rather funny story to it. It started out as a humble little nectarine on a plain greyish white background and somehow, I seriously don't quite know how, it morphed into this. Large buildings all aglow with lights (which seem to truly glow in person thanks to Golden's Interference Gold) popped up in the background, and a book-reading little caterpillar seems to have set up shop against a plump, fresh nectarine. I love how playful this turned out - it reminds me of "James and the Giant Peach" which has always been one of my favorite books.

"Henry and His Nectarine"    4" x 4"    Acrylic on Museum Quality Claybord

Oops, I almost forgot to put up this month's contest news!

CONTEST INFORMATION FOR JUNE 2013
So this month's contest is a simple one. I would like to hear from you what types of work you like to see from me the most or that you would like to see more of. Do you like a certain style in particular, or a certain subject for that matter, or do you want to see something made into a series? You could even let me know if you have a painting or a series in mind that you'd like to see from me. Anyone who comments on my blog from today through the 30th of June with an answer to any of these questions will be entered to win this sweet little painting above. So let me know what you think, okay? I hope to be hearing from you soon. Thanks!

And the 3 Winners Are....

"Entangled"     4" x 5"    Acrylic on Archival Canvas Board

Congratulations Jeanette Combs! You've won 1st place for May's Contest! How exciting! And Congratulations to our 2nd and 3rd Place winners, Rachelle Gosling and Sea Dean, as well! Why don't you all go ahead and look through the options below, according to what place you've won, and let me know what you would like for your prize.

My appologies for not getting this out sooner - I honestly didn't realize just how much info needed to be tabulated in order for me to give out the correct amount of tickets to each contestant. But now that it's done I just want to extend my heartfelt thanks to everyone who signed up for my newsletters - I'm so excited to get started on those soon! Thank you for your steady support both now and in the future!

Here are the options for our prize winners:

Jeanette, you may choose any one of these "1st Place Prize Options:"

1. Any available original painting that is 5" x 7" or smaller, unframed
2. A print of any of my original paintings or fine art photographs, in any of these sizes: 5" x 7",  8" x 10" or 11" x 14", unframed
3. A miniature painting, 2" x 2", complete with easel. You may choose from any of these subjects: natural landscape (no buildings), animal (fictional or not, as long as it's not copyrighted), abstract or still life. All the details, including color choices and lighting, will be up to you as well.
4.  An ACEO complete with frame card and frame. You may choose from any of these subjects: natural landscape (no buildings), animal (fictional or not, as long as it's not copyrighted), abstract or still life. All the details, including color choices and lighting, will be up to you as well. 
5. Two sets of 5 notecards, with the phrase (ie. Thank you!, I Miss You, In Deepest Sympathy, On Your Birthday..., Happy Birthday!) on the front as well as any image of my paintings (you can pick two different images or keep them all the same) chosen by you. The insides are blank.
6. A calendar for either 2013 or 2014 with all of your favorite paintings in it.
7. A mug with your favorite painting printed upon it. 
8. A hand painted round ornament with an optional phrase written upon it and either a natural landscape (no buildings) or an animal (fictional or not, as long as it's not copyrighted) for the subject. The ornament itself will be plastic, so that if you have pets or little ones, you won't have to worry about it breaking, though if you really prefer glass I can see what I can do. =)

Rachel and Sea, each of you may choose any one of these "2nd and 3rd Place Prize Options:"

1. A 5" x 7" print of any of my original paintings or fine art photographs, unframed.
2. Two notecards with any of the phrases above of any one or two paintings. The insides are blank
3. An ACEO with frame card, unframed. You may choose from any of these subjects: natural landscape (no buildings), animal, abstract or still life. All the details, including color choices and lighting, will be up to you as well.

Today's the Day!!!

Today is the day I get to post up all the winners from this months contest. I had a good amount of people sign up for my newsletter, and just so you know, if you still want to sign up and hear about fun events, what's going on, and great upcoming promotions, then you can still sign up by emailing me or "Facebooking" me.

Okay, so I'm working on all the things that go into tallying everyone up correctly, and God willing, I will have the totals either tonight or tomorrow. So excited to see who won this time! There are so many choices for prizes and I can't wait to see what they'll pick. AWESOMENESS!!!

I'll try to be back here asap, but until then, take care!  =D 

Announcing The Contest for May 2013 : My Funnest Contest Yet!!!

So I'm doing Leslie Saeta's "30 Marketing Ideas in 30 Days" and one of the things she wanted us to do was to post a link to one of our favorite available paintings. I immediately knew which one to choose - "Montana Sunset." This is one of my favorites of all time, and it's only $90 with a double matted frame. It's quite exquisite as a whole, and since it's an original work of art, it's truly a fantastic deal. So if you are interested in purchasing this one of a kind work of art, follow the link below. Trust me, you won't regret it!

"Montana Sunset"     5" x 7"     Acrylic on Museum Quality Claybord

Here is another one of my favorite smaller works. It's an ACEO called "Mint, Anyone?" Oh how I loved painting the packaging - trying to capture the glint and the glimmer of the wrapper as it shone in the light. Such a delightful experience. If you're interested in purchasing this original piece for only $25, you can follow the link below as well. It's sweet and delicate, and sure to charm your guests. =)

"Mint, Anyone?"     2.5" x 3.5"    Acrylic on Canvas Paper (ACEO)

Yesterday's challenge was to add 20 people to your mailing list. Haha, ummm... hmmm... I don't HAVE a mailing list. "So," I thought to myself, "perhaps I should start there..." =P   Considering the fact that it's already a new month again, that means we're due for another contest right about now. I'm pretty sure you can see where I going with this. Well, here goes nothing...


INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE CONTEST FOR MAY 2013

I'm not gonna lie. I don't like signing up for mailing lists. In fact, I rather hate it. Most of them are super annoying and hound my email with something nearly EVERY DAY of the week, which makes me feel like half my time is taken up deleting email's that I neither want nor need. I don't want that - it drives me nuts. Who want's that!?! HOWEVER, I do like keeping in touch with people, and I like places that send out only the good stuff - great coupons, great ideas, great incentives and fun news - and that don't send it out too often. You know, like telling me about fun events they have planned or explaining how certain things went, or warning me of amazing deals so I don't miss out. I like that. I like that when I sign up for something, and I like that as a rule for myself.

So that's how I'm gonna do this. No worries - I'm not going to hound anyone. I don't have the time to - remember? I have two boys. TWO. BOYS!!! Two boys who are 3 and 1. Both in diapers. Both very social and energetic and fun and cuddly and needy. And even though they both walk, one of them still likes to be carried ALL THE TIME! Cough, cough.... Owen... Yeah, I'm a busy girl. And I know you are busy too. Plus, when you throw in all that I still have to deal with because of my fibro, such as weekly appointments, exhaustion and ridiculous amounts of pain and forgetfullness, well, frankly I don't have much time to waste. I can promise you that! =)

I will only be sending out updates every couple months, and at the very most, monthly, though it will be a while before I do them monthly, if I ever do. I imagine some months will be busier and easier to fill up than others. BUT no matter what, I will make them worth your while. They will be fun, and interesting and sometimes there will be AMAZING deals in them that only people who sign up for them will be eligible for. I hope to include things like blasts from the past - looking back at my older works of art, interviews, poems, photos, and upcoming events, as well as news about my business, upcoming workshops, classes and more. These newsletters will go out via email, though I will occasionally want to send out an actual physical mailer every once in a while with either a coupon, a flier, a business card or even a postcard that you can put up on display. And to top it off, every once and a while I will pick someone from my contact list to send a gift to in the mail, as a way of expressing my gratitude for following my are. But I sure won't be filling up your mailboxes with a ton of wasted paper or wasted time, so don't worry about that! I know how busy everyone is these days, and I don't want to waste your time any more than I want to waste mine.

So if you are interested in hearing fun and exciting updates on the weird and creative life of Melissa Adams, then join along with me and show your support: EMAIL ME HERE or send me a PRIVATE MESSAGE ON FACEBOOK HERE, my friends! What I would love at the very least is for you to include a link to your email address so I can put it down in my contact log, which will grant you two tickets towards winning this months prize. And like I said before, if you're interested in occasionally receiving additional coupons or even possibly a free, unexpected gift through the mail, not to mention frameable postcards of my work, then you can include your mailing address as well, which will buy you two extra tickets as well. Any other forms of communication would be great, like your blogs and phone number, personal FACEBOOK page or fanpage, even letting me know whether you are an artist or not, and if so, what you do - well,  each one of these will earn you one more chance to win! HOWEVER, in order for you to earn any points you have to send me your email, and in order for you to win more than 2 points, you have to include BOTH your email and your mailing address, as those are the two most important means (and perhaps the only means) of communication I will use. PLUS... If you publicly follow my blog (whether you've been doing it all along or just signed up today by filling out the form when you click the term "Join this Site" on the righthand sidebar of this page), and if you've "Liked" my Facebook Fan Page (again, no matter when you do or have), then you will earn 2 more points for each one. So the more contact info you give, the more ticket's you'll earn towards winning a prize!

I would love to see and hear more about your life as well, so including your own blogs, Facebook pages, and more will be icing on the cake. With so many chances. I hope all my friends will do this with me so I can keep in better touch with you and can let you in to see a little more about what's going on in my life and my career, and the places I hope to go with it. And don't forget, you CAN win more than once! So go ahead, what are you waiting for? Sign up to get great deals, fun news and a deeper look into what's going on over here in a more comprehensive and exciting way than ever before! This is going to be GREAT!!!  =D

"Ahhhh, wait a second..." you may be asking. "We've only talked about what we have to do and what we can expect from you in regards to your newsletters and mailers. What about the contest? What do we GET if we win this month's contest?"  Hmmm.... Well, I think this time I'll make it a little more interesting. With all these points to earn, why not have a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winner? And to mix it up a bit more, I'm going to let the winners choose their gift from the options. There are two categories:  "1st Place Options," and "2nd and 3rd Place Options." As the winners, you will have the wonderful opportunity to be able to choose whichever prize you wish from your category. It's YOU who gets the choice. This is going to be a VERY Fun Contest!!! =)

If you win FIRST place, YOU may choose ANY single ONE of these "1st Place Options:"

1. Any available original painting that is 5" x 7" or smaller, unframed
2. A print of any of my original paintings or fine art photographs, in any of these sizes: 5" x 7",  8" x 10" or 11" x 14", unframed
3. A miniature painting, 2" x 2", complete with easel. You may choose from any of these subjects: natural landscape (no buildings), animal (fictional or not, as long as it's not copyrighted), abstract or still life. All the details, including color choices and lighting, will be up to you as well.
4.  An ACEO complete with frame card and frame. You may choose from any of these subjects: natural landscape (no buildings), animal (fictional or not, as long as it's not copyrighted), abstract or still life. All the details, including color choices and lighting, will be up to you as well. 
5. Two sets of 5 notecards, with the phrase (ie. Thank you!, I Miss You, In Deepest Sympathy, On Your Birthday..., Happy Birthday!) on the front as well as any image of my paintings (you can pick two different images or keep them all the same) chosen by you. The insides are blank.
6. A calendar for either 2013 or 2014 with all of your favorite paintings in it.
7. A mug with your favorite painting printed upon it. 
8. A hand painted round ornament with an optional phrase written upon it and either a natural landscape (no buildings) or an animal (fictional or not, as long as it's not copyrighted) for the subject. The ornament itself will be plastic, so that if you have pets or little ones, you won't have to worry about it breaking, though if you really prefer glass I can see what I can do. =)

If you've won 2nd or 3rd place, you may choose any ONE of these "2nd and 3rd Place Options:"

1. A 5" x 7" print of any of my original paintings or fine art photographs, unframed.
2. Two notecards with any of the phrases above of any one or two paintings. The insides are blank
3. An ACEO with frame card, unframed. You may choose from any of these subjects: natural landscape (no buildings), animal, abstract or still life. All the details, including color choices and lighting, will be up to you as well. 

So good luck my friends! I hope to hear from you soon! =D

"Lingering Snow" and the Results for April's Contest

"Lingering Snow"     Acrylic on Claybord     8" x 10"

Oh man, I meant to post this much earlier but I got caught up in a few things I'm working on right now. But now...

DRUM ROLL please....... And the winner for our Contest for April of 2013 IS.....

RENE MICHAELS!!! 

AGAIN! You are quite the lucky one, my dear!  I was super shocked when I saw your name come up as the winner, thinking "Wow, what are the chances!?!" And then I realized that you've pretty much played along with me every month so far so you're bound to win something at least once, and now twice. Congratulations! A beautiful print of Lavendar Fields, your favorite painting of mine, will be on it's way soon. And I already have your address from when you were one of the winners back in February, so no need to email me. =D

"Lavender Fields"     Acrylic on Archival Canvas Board     5" x 7"

As for my new painting at the top of this post, well, it's my April submission for The Virtual Paintout, though I didn't quite get it in on time so I can't formally post it to the blog. Aghh - I missed it by only two hours. Gahh! Hahaa, oh well. =P I know I did it so that's all I really care about, well, that and the fact that I like how it turned out. =) You should have seen it before - it was a salvage piece, that's for sure. But I stuck with it, and it sure was worth it. Here's how it looked before the major overhaul where I stopped looking at the photo and just decided to go with my instincts and look to other artist's work and see how they do it:

 I really enjoyed our location this month, which was Bulgaria. It was absolutely beautiful, with lovely forests and so many beautiful places to stroll around and paint from. But I fell in love with this little creek full of rocks all mounded over with snow, lined with beautiful pines up and down it's shores. It was such a sweet and serene scene, and I found myself feeling as if I had stumbled upon something no one had ever seen before, like it was some untouched beauty made by God that was being discovered for the first time. Perhaps it was the crisp whiteness of the snow, or the way the trees are all huddled around the stones, protecting them and guarding them from any unkind visitors. It was just... Serene. And I loved it.

And the Winner for March is...

Lindsey Stillman! Congratulations Lindsey, for winning a free commissioned painting! Go ahead and email me and let me know what you want me to paint for you. It could be an abstract, a portrait of your family or pet, or just about whatever you'd like, even a mouse flying on a dragon if that's what suits you. =D   If you have any photos that you want me to use, go ahead and send some copies of those to me as well, with your specifications on how you want me to use them. And please remember I can't do copyrighted images or nudity. =P

Thank you so much for supporting me in my endeavors here. It means so much to me. I hope and pray that your own family's multiple endeavors work out as well, such as StudioMuv and your new Beeswax Candles, which are adorable! We're rootin' for you guys. I've included the links above if any of you out there would like to check them out. =)

So now on to the next contest, where all you have to do this month is "Share" your favorite painting of mine onto your own Facebook wall from my Facebook page by the end of the month to enter to win a free print of it! This one actually is easy! If you don't see your favorite on my wall, feel free to share it off of here, but let me know you did so you get your name entered to win, and so I know which painting you want to win. Also, if you don't have Facebook, you can email me what your favorite painting is instead (the link is above) with the subject line titled "April Contest." There are two reasons for doing this particular contest for. For one, the rather obvious one, is that it increases my audience and scope. The second reason, though, is to see which paintings are your favorites, so that I can focus more of my efforts on making more paintings like them, which would mean more of what you like on here. =) If you have any questions about this contest, feel free to contact me or write a comment below. Have a fantastic weekend my friends!

Oh yeah, before you go, I wanted to try something out. I'm thinking of trying something new for the next one, and depending how this goes, I'll decide whether or not to go through with it. So, lets try this out just for fun this time (meaning, no prize involved other than your own personal enjoyment and pride). =0) This might be super easy or super hard, I'm not too sure, but I can't help but ask anyways:

Can you guess what this is?

Let me know in the comment section below. Thanks all!

My Best Contest Yet!!! - And "The Evil King and the Grasshopper" - Abstract Photography by Melissa Adams

CONTEST RULES FOR MARCH 2013

So I know this is up kinda late, but it's finally time to announce what the contest for March 2013 is going to be. Now I told you before that it's going to be the best one yet, and I hope with all my heart that you actually think that it's so, SOOOOO.... Here goes:  The winner for this month will receive as their prize A COMPLETELY FREE 9" x 12" COMMISSIONED PAINTING done by yours truly, on a gallery wrapped canvas with paint wrapped edges!!!!! You may choose just about anything for me to paint, and be as specific or unspecific as you would like, though I reserve the right to say no to certain subjects, such as but not limited to nudity or other things that I feel that I would rather not paint.

So what do you have to do to win this time?! All you have to do is get as many of your friends, family or even distant acquaintances to "Like" my Facebook Fan Page by April 13th. I'm overlapping this one a bit with April's contest because I accidentally started it so late due to vacation and my many Drs. Appointment, and with Easter right around the corner as well I want you all to get the best shot at this contest as you possibly can. Plus, to be perfectly honest, I just want to get as many likes for my page as I possibly can get... Oh man! Lol!

Now, the easiest way to do this so that both you and I can track who is winning at any given time is for you to first write a sentence on my wall that says something like "Please 'Like' my friends Facebook fan page called Melissa Adams Art and then like my post on her page so I can win a free painting!" And then you just have to try to get as many of your friends to "Like" my page and your comment on my wall as possible, because the person who gets the most "Likes" wins! =) People cannot double dip on this, meaning if you were recommended by one friend to like my page, you can't like it and then like more than one person's post on my wall. It's just not cool and only your first vote will count. You can share my page however you want:  on your wall, in you blog, whatever, just make sure that #1, your friends click the "Like" button for my fan page, and #2, that they also "Like" whatever sentence you write on my fan page wall to show that you were the one who recommended them to do so. Make sense? I sure hope so! Somehow I seem to make even the easiest things seem difficult when I explain them. Yikes!  =0)

Oh, and just in case you want it, here's the name of the link to my page:
https://www.facebook.com/melissaadamsart

I'm pretty sure that might help you a bit... =0)

Well, good luck to all of you, and may the best man, or woman, win!!! =D

Oh, and I know this is also random, but I was just working on some abstract photography today as I was resting on the couch (haven't been doing much lately since getting back from the snow), and here is what I came up with. I'd love to know what you think, whether good, bad, or ugly. Lol! Have a good day my friends!

"The Evil King and the Grasshopper"     Abstract Photography by Melissa Adams

AND THE WINNER IS... =D

So I used the random number generator today and guess what?! It chose number 13. So that means that our winner for my very first contest ever is bennett334!! I am so excited to finally be revealing the winner, (sorry that took so long today - we had a lot going on today, including acupuncture) and just so you all know I counted from the 1st person to sign up to follow my blog up to the 13th person. So, CONGRATULATIONS bennett334 and I hope you really enjoy the work that you pick for years to come!!! Go ahead and please email me  or contact me through Facebook with your contact information and which painting you would like. Thank you and congratulations again!

I just want to thank you ALL so, so much for following me and showing me so much love and support over the last month - you really have inspired me greatly and reaffirmed in me peace over choosing fine art as my career path. I struggled so much with feelings that I'm just not good enough, I have no future, no one will like my art, and this last month has really helped change that! I'm not sure that I will ever feel good enough, but I do feel I finally have a future in art, which is wonderful in and of itself.

So I ask that if you are willing, you will join with me and help me make this year amazing! I have so many fun and wonderful plans for me and you as well, with things as simple as starting to sell prints in the next few weeks so that I have options that allow just about anyone to purchase my art, to amazing giveaways and contests, one of which I am especially excited about over the next 11 months! So, invite a friend and let's embark upon this journey together! In the very least, you will be able to see some art that perhaps you like and that I hope and pray will bring joy to you as well as a smile to your face. And perhaps you will be one of the winners this year!

RULES FOR FEBRUARY 2013's CONTEST:
I will be announcing new contests for each month as they come out, and as I've said before, the one for February is simple. All you have to do is like my Facebook fan page and let me know you want to join this contest by writing so on my wall. There will be 3 winners, each of which will be gifted with an original ACEO (Art Cards Editions and Originals - a 2.5" x 3.5" painting, complete with Frame Card so it is easy to frame if you choose to). So good luck to you all and seriously, thank you for loving on me and for your continued encouragement throughout this process - I am far more grateful than I could ever possibly express to you! I love you guys!


Okay, so bennett334, here are your options:

1. "Sunset on the Isle"
2. "All That Glimmers..."
3. "Trouble Counting Sheep"
4. "The Scenic Route"
5. "High of the Treetops"
6. "Mint, Anyone?"
7. "Patchwork"
8. "Glimpses"
9. "Frosted"
10. "Marshmallow Frenzy"
11. "Montana Sunset"
12. "Under the Starry Sky So Blue"
13. "The Strong Silent Typer"
14. "Entangled"
15. "Streams of Sunlight"
16. "Don't Mind if I Do"
17. "Calla Lily"
18. "Around the Edges"
19. "Beads of Dew"
20. "Thermal Imaging"
21. "Swirls of Copper"
22. "Misty Mountains Majesty"
23. "Rock Garden"
24. "Strictly Ornamental"
25. "Whisked Away"
26. "Early Morning Wake-Up Call"