Excuses, Excuses (or why I haven't painted lately)

This wasn't going to be its own post, but instead a short list of excuses within another post of WHY I HAVEN'T POSTED ANY NEW WORK! 

Well, I had a little too much fun with my list. It's a pretty accurate portrayal of our life right now with two kids, 7 and 5 years old. (OK, soon to be 7 and 6 years old on Wednesday!)

Here are my excuses...in no particular order of priority. 

Excuse #1: FAMILY

I have to talk to them and help my kids do stuff. Take the simple act of bathing.

"Yes, you have to take a bath."

 And for those of you who have more than one child...

"Whoever guesses the closest number from 1-10 has to go first."

"I don't care who goes first...just take a bath!"

"Did you wash your hair/brush your teeth?"

"It doesn't smell like you washed your hair/brushed your teeth."

"Why is the shampoo almost gone? I just bought it yesterday!"

"Please hang up the towel."

My kids...making mud with our clay dirt and water.

AND I have to make sure they eat...and healthily.

"No chips, candy, dessert until you finish all your food!"

"OK, fine. At least two more bites?"

"Since the cat got on the counter to eat your food, you can be done."

Not to mention they have to get to school somedays.

"Wake up..."

"Wake up or you're going to be late!"

"Brush your teeth./Brush them again!"

"I don't know where your other shoe/bookbag/sock/shirt, is..."

"What permission slip?"

"Hurry or your going to be late!"

And sports...

"Is it our turn to bring snack?"

"How much are the trophies/party this year?"

"Yay (or Awww), the game is canceled due to weather."

"Do you have your football/soccer ball/jersey?

"Hurry up or you're going to be late!"

Our son as goalie during a soccer game

Excuse #2: WORK

Sometimes I have to travel for work, and prepare presentations in front of people. If you read my previous post (here), then you already know that I'm presenting to people about stuff that's not art related. While it's a nice distraction away from my creative side, it's still a distraction and consequently, hard to switch on and off on a whim. My job is somewhat flexible since I work from home, but I also have 24/7 access to the emails (=stress).

However, sometimes I travel to great places! I've taken a public bus in Beijing, toured the terra-cotta soldiers in Xi'an, walked from Moulin Rouge to our hotel room in central Paris (District 9 to District 1) at 2am since the metro had already stopped running for the night. I've visited the western-most point in Europe in Portugal and took pictures of a Roman gladiator talking to a guy on a segway. My favorite memories are from my first trip for work since I had to stay there for 2 weeks (2 separate meetings) and my husband came with me. We had a great time in Prague and loved every minute of it.

Too bad I don't paint architecture/cityscapes/landscapes)

Prague-Atlantic Ocean

Pena Castle in Sintra, Portugal (near Lisbon)

My hubby and I near the Roman Coliseum

Excuse #3: HOME LIFE

Do you remember the Dunkin' Donuts commercial with the guy waking up really early EVERY MORNING and saying "it's time to make the donuts..." Well, keeping up a house feels sorta like that. OK, EXACTLY like that. (At least to me it does...see the last bullet)

It's time to...

• Cut the grass
• Weed
• Pick up toys (oops...this should come first)
• Buy new or fix yard equipment (lawn mower, clippers, etc)
• fix breakfast/lunch/dinner
• I know my astrological sign is cancer and I'm supposed to be a home maker type, loving to cook and stuff, but...uh...no.
• take-out?
• Ask hubby to cook
• Find a quick microwaveable meal or something easy to put together
• Do the laundry
• yes, that means putting the clothes away!
• CLEAN...
•  Why didn't we get a shed-free dog?
• Really? Didn't you read that I'm an ARTIST?

Our dog...taking over. Did you really think I would add a picture of anything else related to excuse #3?

Excuse #4: ART

Oh yeah, that. After work, and kid stuff and home stuff...Where did my energy go? I'm too stressed and the kids are in bed. I need a glass of wine. 

 

What did I want to work on? (Cue the crickets...)

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I'd love to hear your excuses for not getting something done that you otherwise would LOVE to do!

What I Did on My Vacation

Some of you are aware that I have a full time job that is NOT related to my art. AT. ALL.

So in February, I decided to take a week off and not go anywhere or do anything but work on my art and art related marketing. This was a big step for me, because while I've been involved in the art community for a few years now and see myself as an artist, I see myself as a part-time artist who can't spend a lot of time doing art things. I have excuses galore!

My productivity isn't anywhere near what it would be as a full time artist, but I think I did pretty well on my week "off".
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I started off by going to several galleries in Chapel Hill, Carrboro, and Pittsboro with my sister (check out her blog here).

We visited Fearrington Village and took pictures of the Belted Galloways (rare breed of Scottish beef cows), Of course I only had my iPhone with me. I need to learn to keep my camera with me at all times. I always see things that are be "picture worthy" when I don't have my camera.

We then went to a gallery in Pittsboro, Liquidambar Gallery, where many pieces of art were being auctioned for "Art for the Animals" - a benefit for the Carolina Tiger Rescue. (A place I need to go to WITH my camera!)

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Agh! My first official day off, and it's a snow day. Snow isn't unheard of in the piedmont NC area, but it was the only day this winter it snowed. The kids had the day off and spent the morning making a snowman that would quickly melt by early afternoon.

I had an appointment at the NC Crafts Gallery, and ended up leaving behind some magnets for the gallery to sell. The gallery is exactly what the name says-- a great collection of art and crafts spread throughout.

I loved these watercolor paintings attached to panels here.

During my vacation week, I went to a few artist meetings, one that I've participated in for a while, the other I was recently juried into.

I also went into Raleigh which isn't TOO far, but far enough to wait until I had a few other errands. I picked up my violet painting from the Visual Art Exchange where it was hanging for a month. I then went to Jerry's Artarama...anytime I am in a 30 mile radius of this place, I JUST HAVE TO GO! Plus, if you check in on Facebook, you receive a 10% discount on any item. Not bad. After stocking up on a few things, I then went to "A and B Store Fixtures". I talk about the place in this post.

On Saturday, I went to a pastel workshop that I was looking forward to for a long time (I talk about it here). It was great that I was able to bring home three small pieces. I promptly re-framed one of them once I got home.

OK, so it doesn't look like I was THAT productive, but at the end of the week, I finished a malamute, a goat, a donkey, started an elk and a lesser kudu. AND I received quite a few interested emails from my revamped blog, facebook, and twitter accounts.

I'm fascinated by the daily activities of those who create art full-time and would love to hear how you go through your day!

"Painting" a Himalayan Cat

I recently painted a Himilayan cat who passed away unexpectedly. He was definitely the king of the house as can be seen by the photograph below.

The owner is a dear friend of mine and a photographer. I chose this photograph, even though it looks a little dark and doesn't show his eyes as well as another photograph I had. Sometimes, I just go by feel what I think would work better as a painting, but having several photos is always a plus when doing a portrait.

I used Mi Tientes pastel paper cropped at 16" x 20". Of course I have to provide you with the work in progress photos!

You can see the color of the paper in the first step. I cropped the background to concentrate on his face and body. How could I crop out his paws? This was part of his personality and was told he loved to hang out "at the bar".

Obviously, I added more cream color in the fur, blue in the background and darkened the chair.

I decided not to show a clear distinction between the floor and wall and instead started to work on the transition.

I played with the colors for a while, trying to pull out the highlights and push the darker colors, while keeping a believable shape to his face and paws. I'll save you the hundreds of photos I took in this process. For some reason, taking a photo with my phone as I go helps me to see the mistakes.

Here it is finished before I framed it.

And one more framed and in its new spot...