Happy Holidays!!

I hope that everyone has had a wonderful holiday season with friends, family and loved ones!
I have been having yet another series of unfortunate events (when will they end?!)  but am overall hanging in there pretty well. I just wanted to take a moment to wish everyone a very Happy New Year! I hope that this year brings many good things to come for everyone!


All my best and much love! Rebecca

Burlesketch Drawings

Hope that everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!
Here are some paintings and sketches that were done during my burlesketch sessions.
Enjoy!!

            This particular night we had an artist participating who wanted to do a painting of the pose.
Typically the poses are only 15 to 20 min long so we all had to sort of improvise and figure out ways to make the most of having only one 2 hour pose instead. I first did a quick sketch of the model so that I could get a feel for the pose.

                        After the initial sketch I then did a mixed media painting using whatever I had in my backpack. ( I didn't really have many painting tools in my backpack since I wasn't anticipating having to do a longer pose) This piece was done using pencil, ink, watercolor pencils, watercolors and colored pencils.

    The next week we were back to our 15-20 minute poses . I like working quickly though, it gives the piece a bit of urgency and also keeps the lines fluid.

Busy November!

Good morning everyone! Yet again, I have been remiss in my blogging duties. No matter how much work I do, I never seem to get finished with my to-do list!

Here are some things that have been happening as well as things that are coming up in the future...
The cold that I had when I was writing my last blog post ended up being a super bug from hell. I had the most horrific coughing fits and ended up pulling a muscle in my side and pinched a nerve in my neck because of them! My doctor prescribed an antibiotic, steroid, antihistamine and decongestant all in one fell swoop. I've never been on so many drugs in all my life! Needless to say, each one seemed to have it's own special brand of side effects that ended up making me feel much worse until I finally started to feel like myself again.

ook about 2 weeks out of my life where I barely had the energy to get out of bed let alone go to the day job and get artwork done. However, I still managed to get to my burlesketch sessions. Here are a few drawings from the first one that we had. All of the poses were no more than 20 minutes so you really had to work quickly!

Because of Halloween, the theme was a naughty witch. Very fun to draw!

Some other projects that I have going on right now are about three portrait drawings, one painting and one pair of custom earrings. I am also working as the costume designer for a photo shoot in L.A. that my talented friend, Drew Bates, hired me for. I'll be working long distance helping him with a fun 1950s look.

< If you are going to be in the South Florida area Dec. 2nd and 3rd, I will also be at the Palm Beach Gardens Holiday Art Show. There is always a nice turn out and it should be lots of fun!

I hope to be better about blogging more regularly, but we know how well this usually turns out... Anyway, I hope that you have a fantastic week and I will be sharing some new artwork soon!

Your creatively overwhelmed artsy friend, Rebecca.

When Frying Catfish Goes Horribly Wrong

I mentioned in my past blog post that my dad was severely burned. This occurred when my dad was preparing to fry up some catfish in an iron skillet. He accidentally placed the pan of boiling oil down on an unstable surface and the pan tipped over, spilling the oil all over the place. To add insult to injury, my dad then slipped on the now oily floor and landed in the scalding oil as well. He had horrible burns all over his body. It was one of the most horrific things I've ever experienced to see my dad suffering so terribly. I'm not sure how he managed it, but he didn't cry out once. I think that I would have been screaming.

We took him to the closest urgent care center who, upon surveying the damage, sent us to the emergency room. Upon walking into the hospital emergency room, the doctor then declared that my dad needed to be transferred to a hospital with a burn care center. The main concern was his left hand. There were second degree burns all the way around all of his fingers. Apparently with that type of burn they worry that the swelling will cut off circulation to the fingers and also that as the skin regrows, it will tighten and cause him to lose mobility in his hand. My poor dad didn't get true relief until we reached that final hospital, almost 5 hrs. later.

While I understand that hospitals can't be equipped to handle all situations, I was very upset with their inability to even tend to a patient with burns. They may not have the all of the burn cremes or specialty doctors and equipment needed to care for a burn patient, but surely they should know to have towels with ice water handy. They were completely incompetent, giving my dad a narcotic instead of percocet like the burn center did. I had to ask again and again for ice packs and ice to help ease the burning pain my dad was experiencing. While he was writhing in pain, some young lab tech came to take blood and decided to take it from the arm that had the severely burned hand. She then scolded my dad for not keeping his arm still and my poor dad ended up with a huge hematoma because of her incompetence. She refused to listen to me and my mother when we tried to explain the situation and it wasn't until the emergency doctor came in and told her to stop, that she finally left my poor father alone. So we left the first hospital with my dad still in pain and now with a huge hematoma on his arm.

I'm not meaning to bash hospitals, doctors or nurses. They spend their lives trying to help others and deserve our respect. However, I do feel that something needs to change. If emergency nurses and doctors aren't going to be trained on how to deal with ALL circumstances. Then they need to more publicly announce what cases they ARE equipped to handle. They should at least know the basics on how to treat certain types of patients to get them into a stable condition until they are able to get to the appropriate facility. The second hospital was farther away, but we could have driven there ourselves and gotten proper care for my dad much more quickly if we had known.

 Thankfully, about 1 1/2 days after my dad's accident, he went to a plastic hand surgeon who gave us the thumbs up for continuing with our plans to travel to North Carolina. A week and a half later my dad was declared (by a stunned surgeon) to be healed. He didn't need to have any surgery at all! I'm just so relieved that my prayers were answered. While my dad still has a long way to go before he'll be fully healed, the danger is out of the way. Such a blessing!


He accidentally placed a pan of boiling oil down on an unstable surface and the pan tipped over, spilling the oil all over the place. To add insult to injury, my dad then slipped on the now oily floor and landed in the scalding oil as well. He had horrible burns all over his body. It was one of the most horrific things I've ever experienced to see my dad suffering so terribly. We took him to the closest urgent care center who, upon surveying the damage, sent us to the emergency room. Upon walking into the hospital emergency room, the doctor then declared that my dad needed to be transferred to a hospital with a burn care center. The main concern was his left hand. There were second degree burns all the way around all of his fingers. Apparently with that type of burn they worry that the swelling will cut off circulation to the fingers and also that as the skin regrows, it will tighten and cause him to lose mobility in his hand. My poor dad didn't get true relief until we reached that final hospital, almost 5 hrs. later. While I understand that hospitals can't be equipped to handle all situations, I was very upset with their inability to even tend to a patient with burns. They may not have the all of the burn cremes or specialty doctors needed to care for a burn patient, but surely they should know to have towels with ice water handy. They were completely incompetent, giving my dad a narcotic instead of percocet like the burn center did. I had to ask again and again for ice packs and ice to help ease the burning pain my dad was experiencing. While he was writhing in pain, some young lab tech came to take blood and decided to take it from the arm that had the severely burned hand. She scolded my dad for not keeping his arm still and my poor dad ended up with a huge hematoma because of her incompetence. She refused to listen to me and my mother when we tried to explain the situation and it wasn't until the emergency doctor came in and told her to stop, that she finally left my poor father alone. So we left the first hospital with my dad still in pain and now with a huge hematoma on his arm. I'm not meaning to bash hospitals, doctors or nurses. They spend their lives trying to help others. However, I do feel that something needs to change. If nurses and doctors aren't going to be trained on how to deal with ALL circumstances. Then they need to more publicly announce what cases they ARE equipped to handle. The second hospital is a farther drive away, but we could have driven there ourselves and gotten proper care for my dad much more quickly if we had known.

Luckily, a day and a half after his accident the plastic hand surgeon gave us the thumbs up to still go on our trip to North Carolina. (we'd been planning this for months) About a week and a half after the accident, a stunned plastic surgeon declared my dad to be healed. No surgery was even necessary! I'd love to say that this was because of our constant care but I feel pretty sure that a higher power had a hand in this miracle. We all feel so blessed! My dad still has awhile before all of his burns will be completely healed, but the danger is gone now. Our prayers have been answered.

Next on the blog post list? Some photos/ paintings from my trip to North Carolina.  Oh, and I promise that the photos will be better than the ones in this post. These were all taken with my phone. (obviously I didn't have time to grab a camera when all of this was happening)

I'm Finally Back with Excuses to Share

It has been a inexcusably long time since I have written a blog post. However, I am going to try to make excuses anyway. The number 1 reason is that my internet has been out for over two weeks. My first problem was that I needed a new wireless router. As I was installing the new router, my modem suddenly died. So then I needed to purchase a new modem. Once I finally purchased and installed the new modem, it took me forever to get ahold of someone at my internet provider to activate it. It has been an extreme exercise in patience to say the least.
My number 2 reason is that I was out of town for a week visiting my little sister and her family, including my adorable newly-turned-two-year-old-niece, Coralie. (pictures will follow in another blog post)
My number 3 reason is that right before our trip, my dad had a horrible accident involving some boiling peanut oil. (blog post to follow)
My last excuse is that I am sick. I'm pretty sure that it's just a cold, but it's still making me feel like I'm getting punched from the inside. I only felt up to getting on the computer today.

So anyway, I'm really sorry that it's been so long. Hope that everyone has been doing well in my absence!

Much love from your kleenex-hogging blogger, Rebecca.

A Riddle and an Answer

Where's Hercule Poirot? Sherlock Holmes?Miss Marple? There is a mystery to be solved and we need them!
 
Here is the riddle...
What do you get when you walk into a room and see blood, sweat, dog poop, wood shavings and a broken window?

I think that some creative individuals could come up with many entertaining scenarios but the truth is that you would find me and my dad putting in a window A/C unit. Sad, but true. How does this all add up you might ask...

Blood- my dad cut himself ( yet again) on the sharp edges of the A/C unit.
Sweat- my house still doesn't have A/C (hence the window A/C unit) and putting in a window unit is hard work!
Dog Poop- I stepped in this before walking into my house and didn't realize it until after I had apparently taken a walk through my house that would have made Billy (The Family Circus) proud. You put dog poop and me anywhere within 5 miles of each other and we'll find a way to collide. I have a dog poop magnet somewhere in me and medical scientists haven't been able to find a way to remove it yet.
Wood Shavings- Because we are putting a window unit into a window that has a sliding door, my dad had to jerry rig a window piece to fit in the space above the A/C unit. Well it wasn't fitting right so my dad decided to whip out his pocket knife and whittle the piece to the right shape. My living room looked like wood shop.
Broken Window- My dad didn't undo the latch right when he unlocked the window and when he shoved the window open the latch scratched, and subsequently broke, my window.

None of this is the worst part though. After all of this, we couldn't get the window unit and the jerry rigged window piece to fit right. So all of this was for nothing.

I suppose that I should have mentioned tears somewhere in that riddle because there were plenty of those while I was cleaning everything up.

                                 'The Family Circus' ~ Bil Keane

New Facebook Giveaway

Just wanted to share some exciting news. My facebook fan page has been growing and is now at nearly 200 followers! Once I reach 200 followers, I am celebrating by having a giveaway! You must be a fan of my page to participate, so if you aren't already, please go here and "like" my page. If you are an artist and have a FB fan page of your own, feel free to post a link to it on my page. My page isn't just about my work, it's about sharing the work of others. It's essentially an arm of this blog. I always strive to share exciting artistic finds that I stumble across. Whether it's the artwork of masters come and gone, or the work of artists and artisans who are up and coming. My main goal is to inspire others.

I have recently signed up to take an open drawing session entitled Burlesketch. I am SOOO excited! I am assuming that they were inspired by Dr. Sketchy's Anti-Art School, where they often draw burlesque models and such. I have always loved figure drawing and am excited to try something different while still honing my skills. The classes begin in mid-October, but I will be sure to post some of my drawings/paintings here for you to see.
If you research Dr. Sketchy you will come across all sorts of lovely work. One of my favorite drawings is by Audrey Kawasaki.

Whether it's corsets, bras or pasties, I'm sure that it's going to be lots of fun! 

Using the Body as a Canvas

As an artist, I suppose it's only natural that I should love makeup. I'm like a kid in a candy store whenever I encounter a Sephora store. It feels as if I'm walking into an art supply megastore. Waking up in the morning, my favorite thing to do is to choose what my palette is going to be for the day and then paint my face with it. Just as I use a plethora of colors and brushes to create my paintings, so do I use a plethora of brushes and colors to apply makeup to my face. (it doesn't look as bad as it sounds, I promise! ) I pay attention to values, tones, etc. I'm not sure if all women enjoy this, or if it's just me being a bit of a weirdo.

I think that many women view applying makeup as a necessary evil and fail to see it as a fun thing to do. We also often fail to view this as a creative exercise and an artistic one as well. However, makeup is a pretty amazing medium to work with. With it, we can completely alter the look of our face, body, etc. Our noses can look narrower, wider, smaller. Our eyes can look sultry or large and doe-like. Our mouths can appear to be full and pouty, bow shaped, tight-lipped, etc. It's amazing what some carefully placed highlights can do! I haven't even gone into the amazing creations that FX makeup artists are able to do!

Here is an example where an artist has blurred the line between art and fashion. Makeup, painting, photography, you name it.

Her name is Ragen Mendenhall and her work is truly inspiring

After she has created these beautiful works of art on the human body, she creates elaborate backgrounds and photographs them. Here are a few of my favorites.

 The photographs are so beautifully composed that you can forget that they are a photograph and mistake them for a painting. I also love the way she has incorporated her background and headpieces into her body paintings. They remind me of my years as a costume designer. When working on a production, you are essentially working to bring the director's vision to the stage/ screen. It's as if you are the hands of the artist and the artist is the director. I miss this collaboration. In the end, you would often end up with something like this. Where the lighting, set and costumes move seamlessly in and out of each other.

If you would like to view more of Ragen's work, you can go to her website
If you would like to see more of Ragen's artwork and photographs that are for sale, you can go to her etsy shop.

Hope that you have been inspired and that you have a wonderful night!!

Transferring Images onto Polymer

I'm sorry that it's taken me so long to write this post. I've been keeping pretty busy these days with my day job and my more artistic "night job". I went to the rheumatologist to get the results from my blood work. I do not have an auto immune disease. An auto immune disease would be something like arthritis, lupis, scleroderma, etc. Actually, Venus Williams was recently diagnosed with an auto immune disease. I do have the genetic makeup to develop something in the future, but I am relieved that I haven't developed anything at this time. The aches in my hands have improved since the doctor told me to get a bit more sleep so that's no longer a worry. Instead I have been diagnosed with flat feet and wonky knees due to the muscles keeping my kneecaps in place being weak. Anyone know of shoes with good arch support? Hahaha!

Anyway, to celebrate this good news I have completed a new video. In it I show you how you can transfer an image onto polymer clay. Once you have transferred the image you can create a pendant, brooch,etc.
Here are a few examples:

   This brooch was made using an original drawing that I xeroxed, colored with colored pencils, transferred and then painted with acrylics and mica powders before varnishing and adding the decorative frame.

         The wings on this fairy brooch are actually created using an original colored pencil drawing that has been transferred onto polymer and then painted with mica powders and varnished. The rest of the sculptural pieces were then added afterwards.

To see how you can create your own wearable art, watch my video.





If you enjoy this, please subscribe to my channel! Have a splendiferous evening! ♥

Remember Remember the 11th of September

Today marks the 10 year anniversary of the September 11th bombings. There were many loved ones lost on that day and many more have been lost since then during the subsequent wars. For Americans, it's a day of reflection. I spent today praying and spending time with my family, while a friend of mine spent the morning honoring the firemen at their local fire station by bringing them donuts, apples and coffee. A small offering to put a smile on the faces of men who risk their lives so many times as they help others. Wasn't that a wonderful gesture?

What I have taken from this tragedy is that we never know when the end will come. Whether it's in a horrific tragedy like this one, or a car accident. We don't know how much time we have with our loved ones and should therefore live each day to the fullest. Life is short. Sometimes too short and we need to spend our time wisely while we are here.

No matter the grief that our country has suffered, our country's citizens are still filled with an amazing capacity for love and compassion. This act of hatred has not managed to take that away. Many countries have suffered similar acts of anger and hatred and I continue to see them rise above it. The world is filled with such suffering, but people's hearts continue to love. This is, in my opinion, the true miracle of humanity.

" The world is indeed full of peril, and in it there are many dark places. But still there is much that is fair, and though in all lands love is now mingled with grief, it grows perhaps the greater." - J.R.R. Tolkien

Exciting News and New Art!

For those of you who follow my blog, you may recall my blog post about the Handmade Artists' Shop and their giveaway for a free shop for life. Well, I'm amazed to say that I won!! I am still sort of in shock because I never win anything (seriously), but I am just thrilled as can be! I have already set up my shop page and am slowly but surely adding items to it. Right now I am focusing on getting my jewelry up first, but soon it will also have prints of my original art as well as some original items. I am just so excited! I had been wanting to start a shop there, but just couldn't see adding another art-related expense at this moment. What a blessing!
Anyway, in other news, my painting of Spring is finally finished.

I have really been loving researching and painting flowers for these past two paintings. ( to see my finished painting of Summer, click here )

My original painting is available at my etsy shop. 10% of the proceeds will go to UNICEF.
I am always dedicated to helping those less fortunate than myself and feel blessed to be able to use my God given gifts for the benefit of others whenever possible.
Some VERY nice fine art prints are also available on society6

Now that Spring is finally done, it's time to work on Autumn. All of the research I've done on leaves, mums, etc has really put me in the mood for some cooler weather! Sadly it's still pretty hot here...

 I have completed my Autumn color study and am just now starting to begin work on the final painting. Looking forward to sharing her with you!


I have recently discovered some really terrific artists and am looking forward to sharing their work with you in the near future. Until then, have a fantastic day!

Changing One's Perspective

Today was a horrible, rotten day. We were incredibly busy at my job and I spent a decent portion of it running around like a chicken with it's head cut off. However,  I am quite proud of myself. I handled every single customer with the utmost care and was still able to smile and laugh with many of our guests. It would have been a very nice day, until Mr. Impossible walked in. Mr. Impossible is the name I give anyone who is impossible to please.

This particular man has the unsmiling face of a bulldog and the unpleasant attitude to match. I have never once, in the many unfortunate years since I’ve known him, EVER seen him smile. Not ONCE. I have also NEVER had him dine with us without complaining about something. The wine, the food, the service, etc. The man seems to take some sort of perverse pleasure in finding reasons to complain and be unhappy. Today, I had the unfortunate experience of being his object of complaint. I was declared to be decidedly unpleasant and unfriendly by Mr. Bulldog because of something that had nothing to do with me. He had decided that I was going to be the scapegoat for someone else's error. If I HAD been unpleasant, then I would feel some sort of guilt. The sad thing is that I had made extra efforts to be nice to him. I always do because I hope that this will be the day when I see some semblance of humanity in his face. Some sort of smirk... the faintest impression of a smile... So this accusal came after my sickeningly sweet attempt at being pleasant and welcoming. Perhaps it's forever opposite day in Mr. Impossible's world? I might have fared better if I HAD actually been unpleasant and unfriendly.

I suppose that I should wish ill on this man (and in the past I may have), but I can’t do anything but pity him. He is doing quite well financially, but it has clearly brought him no happiness whatsoever. He has the most sour face of practically anyone I have ever seen. He delights in creating drama where there is none. How sad! What a pathetic life! 

Perhaps you have encountered someone who has sought to do you ill or who seeks to make others unhappy. I ask you to look at them in a new light. Don’t hate them. Don’t bother wasting time even being angry. Just pity these people. Someone who seeks to hurt others is a person who must be suffering a great deal within themselves. Whether it’s with a low self-esteem, depression or any other manner of demons. Take a deep breath and let the poison of anger and hate pass through you and not take up residence. Then be grateful for the many blessings that you have and your infinite ability to love and laugh and ENJOY LIFE.

A Day in Pictures

I wanted to write this blog post last night but I was just too tired. Yesterday I decided to take advantage of my phone's camera and take pictures of things throughout my day. Sometimes it's a
nice to do thing because it makes even the smallest things have more importance.
My day started off sort of late as a result of me trying to get more sleep, per my doctor's orders. I actually haven't had as much joint pain in my hands, so he may have something there... (here's hoping!)
When I have a day off, I love taking the time to make myself a cup of tea.
There is something so comforting about it that I can't imagine a bad day ever following something so nice.

                                             Earl Grey with cream and sugar. Yum!

After doing some housework, I did some work in my garden. My orchids are in bloom right now and looking so pretty! I love when I see buds on them because most of the time I can't remember which orchids are which. It's always a nice surprise to see what color or shape they are when they bloom. :)
People think that I have a green thumb because of my orchids, but really it's just because they don't need much work. If I forget about them (which I frequently do) they don't try to punish me by being wilting drama queens.

My jasmine, on the other hand, needs constant attention as it is continually trying to strangle the other plants. No matter how often I trim it back, within a week it's back to not playing nicely with the other plants. Oh well. It's once a year bloom-fest makes it worth the work. LOVE the way it looks and smells!

Even though it's not blooming right now, I always take pictures of it when it IS blooming so that I can remind myself of why it's worth the work. Now if only I could figure out a way to bottle up it's aroma!

After trimming the plants outside, it was time to work on my bonsai trees inside. My one ficus tree is doing so nicely! I love bonsai because it's so much fun to imagine being a small little person playing in their boughs or enjoying some shade underneath them. They can be such perfect little miniatures.  It's like a forest in your house!

Yes those are Nightmare before Christmas figurines that you are seeing under my bonsai tree. :)

I really want to add some moss underneath this one, but I'm not sure how to go about cultivating it. Does anyone know how to go about doing this?

After my indoor and outdoor gardening was done, I spent some time with a dear friend of mine where we enjoyed some red wine and played with her cat, Lilly. Her cat cracks me up. I've rarely seen a cat with so much personality. If she's unhappy with you, ooooo can she give some looks!

                                                                           Salut!

                               I love her stripes and cute little pink nose!

On my way home I saw the most beautiful sunset. I just HAD to take a picture of it so that you could see (despite being in the middle of driving. HAHAHAHA) Sunsets are so inspiring. I hope to get a painting done of it one day when I have a bit of a break in-between paintings.

Anyway, that was pretty much my day in a photo album. What would your day look like if you took pictures throughout it? Even if it's just sitting at a computer most of the day, take the time to get creative and find beauty in the mundane. I'll do another one of these someday soon of a less interesting day and see how creative I can be. :)

Until my next blog post, enjoy yourself and the world around you! ♥

A Portrait Drawing and a Painting of Spring

Well I had yet another unexpected day off today. (a result of our tourist season being over with here) I'm sad to not be earning as much money, but grateful for the time to work on my artwork.
Today I worked on a portrait that I have been commissioned to do of a woman's grandson. She just wanted a simple drawing.
I must confess, I haven't done a portrait like this in a very long time. ( or a basic pencil drawing for that matter! )  It felt sort of weird at first, but then ( just as with all of my art) I felt the momentum growing and the interest in the piece as well. I still have a little bit more defining to do, but I'm pretty happy with him at this point.

                                     Something about his eyes hints at the mischievous don't they?

Once I got this far with him, I took the time to work on my painting of Spring for my four seasons series. ( to see Summer, go here) I still have about 2 hours worth of work to do on her, but she's also at a point that I'm pretty happy with. I've been enjoying the challenge of painting flowers like this. Next will be Autumn, where the challenge will be painting leaves. Fun!

      This particular photo was taken with my phone, so I apologize for the crappy photo quality! 
Hoping to have time to write another blog post tomorrow. Until then, have a wonderful night!

Tips for a More Balanced Life

I wonder if any of you experience the same problem as me?

My life consists of me constantly struggling to keep the balance in my life. If I am keeping up with my art, then my house is a mess or I'm not exercising. If my house is spotless then my artwork hasn't been touched. However, I have FINALLY figured out a way to keep myself on top of everything. It mainly came down to my housework. If my house is a mess, it affects everything else for me. Even if my artwork is going well, I will be depressed and feel out of control with my house being in chaos. So I recently broke up all of my housework into specific chores and assigned them to specific days. I had tried to do this before, but I would spend too much time doing each task and end up getting overwhelmed again.

Before it would have been Monday- wash laundry. Now it's Monday-wash whites. You'll notice that I have specifically broken it down to JUST the whites. This is because 'wash laundry' would often involve me washing and folding 3 loads of laundry! By the time I finished doing all of that I wouldn't have done any artwork again. Now I only give myself tasks that will take no more than 1 hour. Once I have completed this chore I am free to work on art, exercise, or whatever. While there are definitely days when I want to be lazy, I find it easier to force myself to do the tasks at hand because I know that they will only take 1 hour at the very most. It's not such a daunting task anymore. If I know that Fridays are my day to watch the Frasier marathon on We TV, then I schedule tasks that allow me to be in the living room. (ex. iron clothes)

So far it has worked out really well. It's amazing how free I feel just by having less clutter and chaos!

What tricks do you have to help keep the balance in your life?

Doctors, Tests and Artwork

Don't worry, I haven't forgotten to tell you about my latest doctor's appointment. The truth is, that there isn't much to tell yet. My rather overbearing and gruff Jewish rheumatologist has sent me onward to get more bloodwork done. ( I don't mind really, I'd rather a doctor be thorough than not.) Auto-immune diseases are prevalent on my mother's side so he says that I have a predilection for the genes that cause arthritis and such. However, just having the gene doesn't mean that you will ever develop the disease itself. So the tests are apparently to determine whether I have a disease or simply the genetic makeup to develop the disease. I'm learning all kinds of scientific and medical gargon! Don't I sound smart? Ha ha!
My doctor actually seems to think that I'm pretty healthy. He insists that a large part of my problem is my sleep patterns. I tend to go to bed at around midnight or 1am and then wake up at 7am or so. He has ordered me to go to bed  at 11am and to take melatonin about 20 min beforehand. Well it's night 3 of doing this and I feel that the doctor's "treatment" is making my sleep pattern worse! Night 1 was me tossing and turning all night long. Night 2 I completely woke up at 3am and couldn't get back to sleep until around 5am! Well here it is Night 3 and I'm writing a blog post at 3am. I am sort of fed up with this! I might have only gotten 6 hours of sleep before, but I got 6 HOURS OF SLEEP. Nowadays I might be laying in bed 8 hrs but I seem to be getting less sleep than ever!

Ok, that's enough of my ranting. I apologize. Hee hee hee. Anyway, on to my current artwork. I am finally working on Spring for my Four Seasons series. I have been doing color studies for these since they contain so many various plants and colors and I want to make sure that the composition is right.

I have also done a quick underpainting in browns and am now working on layering in some color.

Lately I have been getting a lot of commissions for portraits! I have about 3 going on right now with the possibility of a fourth! I have to be honest, it's been awhile since I've done an honest-to-goodness portrait of someone and I am worried about it. What if the client doesn't like it? Or think that I've captured "little Johnny" quite right or something? This is why I have avoided them in the past, but lately it's become unavoidable. Oh well. It's a challenge, and I LOVE challenges. :) I'll be sure to share the end results with you.

Until then, have a wonderful weekend and hopefully many pleasant nights and sweet dreams. ♥
Your sleepy, yet awake Rebecca

Handmade Artists Shop and More

For those of you who have been following my blog, you know that I am a huge supporter of handmade artisans and their products. I think that it is imperative for us to support the individual rather than the big conglomerates whenever possible. That being said, I have been a proud member of the Handmade Artist's Group for over a year and have loved meeting other artists and seeing their lovely work. A new shop has been formed specifically for handmade pieces and contains some amazing gems, a few of which I would like to share with you. One of my favorite etsians, Swipxa, has recently opened  a shop there. His handmade Chinese paper-cutting is simply astounding. I own his piece entitled "Life Circle" and find it even more amazing in real life!

One of my favorite jewelry artists is Haffina who creates some amazing beaded necklaces. I have always loved the beaded arts but lack the necessary patience to work with all of those tiny seed beads.It doesn't stop me from collecting books and magazines on it though. ;)

 Haffina also makes some amazing chainmaille creations like this beautiful autumnal choker.

When you start thinking about Christmas presents this year, I suggest heading over to the Handmade Artist's Shop and taking a look around. If not for presents, then just head over to get inspired. There is plenty there to inspire you!

To help jump start their new shop, they are hosting a giveaway for a free shop for LIFE. To participate and be given a chance to win this amazing gift, go to here.

My Summer Painting is Finished!

                                                                Acrylic on Panel
Just like the title says, my newest painting, Summer, is complete! She's the first in my Four Seasons series. I'm really looking forward to working on Autumn, Winter and Spring! The orchids in my painting are all ones from my garden and the poppies are some that I saw in Monet's garden when I was in France this summer. I love incorporating things that I've seen in real life with the things that I see in my head.

                                                                       detail

Often when I paint, I'm either painting the things in the world around me, or I'm painting the things in the world inside my head. Typically I don't want the two worlds to meet too much, but it IS nice to be able to use things from the outside world to enhance my imaginary worlds.

                                                                     detail

I love how the colors pop in this piece! She will especially make a nice statement when hung next to the other three. I think that I'll begin work on Spring next. I really enjoyed painting the flowers and don't want to stop. :)

                                                                            detail

In other news, my appointment with the rheumatologist is this Tuesday. I've been killing myself with "what ifs" despite my best efforts to avoid doing that. Oh well. It will be nice to get it over with. I'll be sure to let everyone know what's going on as soon as I know.

Until then, have a blessed and creative day!!