sew like the wind old woman

I've gone from framing to sewing...and it's been a challenge as anyone with a kitten will know. I did mess up on one but is anyone really going to care that I have an unusually placed seam? Hopefully they'll be looking at my drawings and not inspecting the tableclothes! I purchased a Kenmore instead of my usual Singer...as I feel like I've been spending absorbent amounts of money lately on my show, I didn't want to go overboard on a sewing machine. I really like the feel of it...it's sooooo good to have a smooth working machine again.

This is the last weekend before my show so I still have much to do....finish putting together 3 collage drawings, finish that close up face drawing and finish my sign to put up on my tent to let people know that my work is actually drawings and not photographs. And guess what, a client I met last year at the art fair contacted me saying she wants another portrait done...I've already made a sale and I'm not even there yet!! Yahoo!

Have a happy relaxing weekend!!

up to my ears...

...in framing... all weekend long! The above drawing is how I felt by Monday evening!! I'm not kidding!

But I'm all done...well, er, except for one piece I started (another face close up) that I would really like to finish for my show. See how nicely it would go (see below) in that lower right hand corner!

Tonight I am on to sewing my table clothes...yes I didn't have enough to do, so thought I would heap more on my already full plate!! But, I just could not find exactly what I wanted around town or on the internet...I did really try tho...believe me!! And hopefully tonight I will not spend two hours yapping away on the phone like I did last night! The time just flew by and all of a sudden it was 10 pm...and with my brother no less. Life is kinda funny at times, how loses and grief can bring two people together that were never particularly close!! I love it...I guess we've both changed enough to find a lot of common ground...it's been a wonderful thing in the face of so much heartache.

Been up to a lot of things lately but none of them too exciting...kinda boring in fact! Trying to get all my artwork framed for my show, but it's been a lot of running around...some frames here, glass there, sales that don't start till the following week, certain matboards I want that can't be found anywhere around town so had to order it online....blah, blah, blah!!!Boooorrrring!! So a scant amount of art has actually been produced this week. My love graffiti piece is the only thing I've been working on.

And
another Singer bites the dust, and in the middle of working on this collage drawing. That's the second one in as many months! What is the Universe trying to tell me? Along with hitting up Aaron Brothers again for their sale this weekend I guess I'll be paying a visit to JoAnn Fabrics for a new machine!

Hopefully this weekend I'll be able to get a new machine and finish this puppy up, along with two other drawings waiting to be sewn. I'm not 100% on board tho with this piece...thought I was...I really worked the collage part of this piece in many different ways and thought I liked this the best but now looking at it here I'm not feeling it.

Happy Birthday Mom

Today would have been my mom's 83rd birthday had she not passed away in Dec. I have so many treasured and cherished memories of my mom growing up and even tho she is not here physically to celebrate I wanted to honor her today and all that she meant to me.

Love you mom!

Here's a photography tip: make sure your kitten is not around when photographing your artwork cuz they loooooove to play with the camera strap!

hummingbird encounters

(Flickr: The Nature Nook)

(Flickr: Dennis J2007)

Early Saturday morning I was working with the forgiveness CD I keep talking about. It has been one of the most powerful CD's I've worked with since I discovered Lazaris 15 years ago. On the CD are two meditations, one for self-forgiveness and the other for forgiving another. I did the second one weeks ago..it was so intense and after I came out I looked out my familyroom window and what did I see? A hummingbird!! Let me stress that I rarely see hummingbirds around my house or the neighborhood. Then this past Saturday morning I did the self-forgiveness meditation, and what did I see again? A hummingbird outside my bedroom window!! It just blew me away! For anyone who is as interested in animal totems and spirits as I am, a hummingbird is a messenger of joy!! " The hummingbird comes when it seems that what needs to be done is impossible. It teaches how to find joy in any circumstance!" WOW! It just lifted the resonance of my whole weekend. I'm so excited knowing that miracles are abound and they are endless!!



"Nothing has to be the same. Nothing. You can touch the joy that has no name; it can touch and change you. You can embrace the love that is beyond all names; it can embrace and heal you. With a pinch of magic, nothing has to be the same. It is so and so it is. Dare you let it be?"
Lazaris

Accomplished!!! But I may need to sit with it awhile. When I feel like a piece is finished I will "sit with it" for a few days, put it away and then pull it back out and look at it with fresh eyes, then I'll truly know if I am totally satisfied with it..

Progressing on this piece

I was reading Christine Millers wonderful article featured on Wishstudio when the ending of her article just totally grabbed my attention. "Sometimes getting lost is simply a hurdle I need to overcome, and sometimes it is the only way for me to discover a more meaningful path, a path that might be entirely different from the one on which I began....Getting lost doesn’t mean I’ve failed, or that I won’t find my way back home, it simply means I need to re-orient myself, and these journeys become chapters in the story of my life, the story that will go with me when I pass from this existence to the next. Maybe in that moment when I move from here to there, I will see more clearly than ever that I never was, in fact, lost, but exactly where I needed to be every step of the way." Trying to figure out why that is so meaningful to me. I guess it's because I felt like I was happily living life and then !BOOM!...my boyfriend left and took with him our life and our future together and I felt very lost. As I gain footing and make new goals and plans for my life without him, there's still this element of wondering if I'm on the right path. But really, it is just another fork in the road (another chapter)...there is no right or wrong way as long as I am true to myself and living life to it's fullest.

developing

As it was both my birthday (yeah...48!!) and Mother's Day last weekend, nothing was accomplished over the course of those two days...except for celebrating of course!! And...I have a "day job" so my only time for art is later on in the evenings. So, considering the small amount of time I have during the week to spend on my art, I guess I am progressing! My Venice beach scene is coming along...working on the sand right now. Not sure if I will be adding color or not to this piece...it's missing something but haven't put my finger on it yet.

This is a new piece just started on Monday. As I said in one of my earlier posts I want to put my own messages in my graffiti pieces and since I've been working on self-love and forgiveness lately, thought this piece was appropriate to start working on. Louise Hays says that all problems can be traced back to a lack of self love and acceptance. That all our experiences (good or constricting) are just outer effects of our inner thoughts...and I highly agree. I've been so stuck in my pain and the past lately, but am making a conscious choice to release, think different thoughts, and making a commitment to loving myself more and to being happy again. And that feels really good!

A Plea for Bea

I just heard of Beas plight...she has been in a no kill facility for 8 years! Can you believe that? The Vegan Etsy group that I am apart of is calling out to everyone to help raise funds ($3565) so she she can go frollic and play at Spirit Animal Sanctuary in upstate New York. I already gave but they only have a little over half of what they need to get her there. Please find it in your heart to help her out or pass this message along to as many people you know and lets see if we can make a difference in Beas life!

chop chop

Well...I did it! I took a scissors to my drawing and ta dah....a whole new drawing! After studying it cropped on Picasa yesterday afternoon, I knew this was the best solution. And I am very happy that I did it...and did it fearlessly! Now I just have about an hour or so of work left, finishing up the sand and reworking some areas I'm not thrilled with. Won't get to it tonight though cuz Concept Synergy is in town and I'm heading off to an evening with Lazaris! I'm so very excited!! The title of tonights workshop is: Unlocking the Secrets of the Sacrid Self...ohhhhh!!

Please excuse the horrible photo of this drawing...never take photographs in the middle of the day, the sun is too harsh. Mornings or late afternoons are the best times for shooting.

Anyway, I started this drawing a while ago and wanted to finish it for my show in June. After having it safely stowed away and now seeing it again with fresh eyes, I see lots of issues I'll have to work on. First of all I will have to finish drawing the sand, but most importantly there are just too many things going on all competing for my attention. My eye doesn't know what to look at first. Somehow I have to integrate all these separate elements. I was thinking a nice S curve should do the trick, starting with the dog, going to the graffiti artist and then up with some color and out the top. I'll mute the palm trees on the right side so they are not at odds with the ones on the left. Yikes..the more I look at this drawing the more things I see that need fixing!! I'm thinking I may just chop off the right side of this drawing and solve a lot of my issues with it...besides I never did like the dog I drew in there to begin with (and less sand to draw!)! I'll decide tonight which way this goes and share it with you tomorrow.

Accomplished very little for art work this weekend. So busy with other activities around the house (cleaning and yard work) and had terrible allergies on Sunday (could bearly see out of my left eye). Along with that I also had a touch of the blahs or blues, maybe it was even a bit of depression. But I did manage to get this piece done on Saturday and I'm very happy with it. Have a few more ideas for these cropped face/eye pieces in the works. They are really appealing to me right now, speaking volumes in regards to my mood and feelings. I still feel like an emotional rollercoaster inside and look forward to finding some even ground to stand on soon. I know it is all a choice and I am allowing myself to feel down, I guess it's just a sad period in my life and I have to give myself the space and permission to feel what I'm feeling without berating myself for it. Letting go of someone you loved so deeply and unconditionally is not the easiest thing in the world to do. And I terribly miss my mom as well... I know she would never have minded me rehashing this same issue over and over (and over!) to her on the phone. She was always great like that!

soaring

(photo from Almost Evil, liquid silver)

I woke up very early this morning...5am (ugh!), so I put on my forgiveness CD from Lazaris ...fell back asleep during the meditation but had this amazing dream. This brown carpet was alive and trying to convince me to fly on it...finally I got on and we flew out the window and soared through the sky...even along side a train! WOW...I've never had a flying dream before. I tell you, working with the energy of forgiveness is shifting me in ways I never expected. I am feeling excited, hopeful and fully at peace in this moment...how incredible is that!

another one done...

Finished this piece last night along with my commissioned piece...it's exciting to get so much done lately! This is one of my favorites...design wise, I like how the white catches your eye at the bottom and carries it up and out the top. The saying really stands out in red. And I love the drippy F... my brain always reads it as "if" with that white band to the left of it.

Got more done on this piece the other day...coming along nicely...I may put a vertical saying to the right of his hair...not sure about that tho.

While drawing, been listening to an awesome CD by Lazaris~ Forgiveness: The Miracle of Magic. And...WOW...it's extraordinary! I have felt so much lighter these past few days because of it. It does no good (for me) to hold onto anger, unhappiness and resentment...it feels so much better to forgive and release the past. I've even gotten back to the gratitude and love, which is a wonderful place to be. I don't have to ever forget what my ex-boyfriend has done but I can definitely forgive why he did what he did. And as a bonus to forgiving myself as well, it allows in more self acceptance ..." Self-acceptance is so vital. And you see, the beauty and power of accepting yourself, we suggest, is that it allows you to receive." Which to me means allowing in more love, more goodness, more healing...more of everything, so I can really start getting excited about what lies ahead.