Rough Night, Worse Day, But Something Nice to Show in the End.

Last night, a little after midnight, I got a creative itch that wouldn't stop. I knew that this was a big one and that no sleep would come until I had satisfied this late night urge to create. So I sat down at my drafting table and went to work. The only problem is that after I was done, my brain was super stimulated and I spent the rest of my night desperately trying to sleep while visions of artwork not yet created danced on the insides of my eyelids. When I woke up, I received a nasty surprise as I discovered that an ex-friend of mine had decided to attack my artwork on a public portfolio page with over a dozen nasty comments. He also decided to post my address and phone number all over the comments as well. Pretty sure that this isn't legal. Also not sure how this man thinks that this is anything other than extreme loser behavior since I haven't spoken to him since last Thanksgiving. Definitely a bit more than pathetic.

Not the best way to start the day.

Overall, I've had a pretty rough night and day, but I'm excited to share the small ACEOs that I created last night during that feverish burst of creativity. I also worked on a small painting of some zinnias picked from my parent's garden, but it still needs about another hour or so of work before I'll be ready to show it.

" Sisters " ~ 2.5" x 3.5" Watercolor and ink

"The Blue Flower " ~ 2.5" x 3.5" Watercolor and ink



Has anyone else out there ever gotten a creative itch that just wouldn't stop? Have you discovered, as I have, that the internet is a lovely place to meet lovely people but also a terrifying playground for psychopaths? Just wondering...

Through the Looking Glass

 In the past I have been writing about artwork by deceased masters. Now I want to begin incorporating artists who are currently creating and producing amazing works of art. As some of you know, I took my first mosaics class earlier this year and loved it. It was such an exciting new way to create! I took one of my illustrations and simplified it for my first mosaic. It was extremely time consuming, but also very rewarding. It was a lot of fun to create an illustration using such a permanent and sturdy medium.

I would now like to share the work of an amazing mosaic artist that I have recently stumbled across. Her name is Doreen Adams and she is currently working on some AMAZING mosaics that she hopes to have completed for Lewis Carroll's 150th anniversary of 'Alice and Wonderland'.

Her work perfectly combines my love of children's book illustration with my love of mosaics. This is such a time consuming medium to use and is also quite difficult. The amount of detail incorporated in these pieces astounds me. She is a definite kindred spirit and shares my love of illustration, children's books and mosaics. So much so, that she has also written and illustrated a book entitled 'Skinny Malinky Long Legs, Big Banana Feet'. I have only shared two of my favorite Alice in Wonderland mosaics. For the rest, as well as more information about this artist, please visit her website. www.creativemosaics.com
Spread the word, share the love and put a smile on someone's face!

Grand Opening Sale!!

I'm afraid that I haven't been nearly as active on my blog as I would have liked. I have been super busy creating fall inspired jewelry and getting my new artfire shop up and running. I've posted a few images of items from my Fall 2010 collection. They will be available for sale very soon.

  I would also like to announce the grand opening of my artfire.com shop!
 To celebrate I'm offering 20% off of everything in my shop from now until Oct.1st!! Please help spread the word! This is a great time to pick up some gifts for yourself or a loved one.

http://www.artfire.com/users/phoenixartstudio

New Items and New Shop for September!

Here are some new items that will be going up in my etsy store this month. I'll also be opening up an artfire shop very soon. Once everything is posted and finalized I'll be posting the link as well as holding a fun giveaway contest! Stay tuned!

I usually dread having to take photos of my artwork. It's such a tedious and time consuming process. This time I was determined to change my attitude about it and even managed to have a little bit of fun. I'm actually pretty pleased with the way these photos turned out. Hoping that this starts a new trend for me. :)

The Only Thing We Have To Fear Is Fear Itself

Franklin Roosevelt’s inaugural address contains one of the most profound statements for me and one that I often quote to myself. In my life, I have personally discovered that I am my own worst enemy. I have been given a talent and a drive to create, but my fear of rejection and failure have been debilitating in my past. It caused me to have artist’s block for years!

After my husband left me I had to rediscover who I was. I had spent my married life basically living for my husband. I hadn’t been creating very much, nor had I been nurturing my friendships. When he left I realized that I had nothing but my family. At first I sought to create out of a need for expression. It was an outlet for the horrific pain that I was enduring.

My parents sought to push my artistic career forward and began peddling my art to various galleries. This led to a showcase exhibit in which I was required to create about 8-10 landscape paintings in approximately 3 months. While frantically working to meet the deadline I discovered that my skills, while rusty, hadn’t left me. I had abandoned them, but they certainly hadn’t abandoned me. I also rediscovered my need to create. Thank God for my parents! Because of their faith in me, I pulled myself through that hard time and have been creating ever since.

It has been nearly three years since then but I STILL have to struggle with myself each and every day. Fear still lives within me. I would easily give up before I even began a piece of artwork if I allowed myself. I hope that with perseverance I will eventually become free of my fears, but at the moment I’m still struggling. It seems silly to be at war with oneself. Perhaps it is something that is unique to me, but I take comfort in knowing that a president seems to have understood my condition. As he was speaking to a large audience, I hope that there are others out there who can relate.

This being said, I have avoided putting too many of my current projects on this blog. I have unwittingly allowed my fears to get in my way yet again! I promise to stop with this nonsense and share what I am working on with whoever is interested. I somehow feel that making this declaration to the internet void will force me to keep my promise a bit better.
Keep your fingers crossed!

One sleepless, agitated night I woke up and created this rather crude sketch. It's not a masterpiece by any means, but I do feel that it conveys the immense pain I was feeling at the time.
I lovingly refer to this as "The Scream", in homage to Edvard Munch.

Portrait of a Young Man

My online museum travels led me to another old-time favorite. "Portrait of a Young Man" by Bronzino. ( also known as Agnolo di Cosimo di Mariano) Painted in the 1530s I find this an arresting portrait. It has always stopped me in my tracks and forced me to take a second, third and fourth look.

Branzino's portrait figures are often read as static, elegant, and stylish exemplars of unemotional haughtiness and assurance. I can think of no greater example of his work than this portrait. The way this man carries himself, his intense and yet disinterested gaze... they entice me to look further. There is also the interesting fact that no one seems to know who this young man is. There is much speculation, but no definitive proof. He has been painted with a book in his hand. Was he a scholar? Perhaps a poet? (Bronzino himself was a poet so it would make sense that he would be around other poets) I love making up a story for this unknown man. Why is he looking at me in that way? What makes him feel as if I am beneath him? Or not worthy of his interest?

Even more interesting are the odd faces within the furniture in this piece. They are described by the Metropolitan Museum as being rather grotesque in nature. They also state (though it's difficult to see this online) that there is a  third "mask"  suggested in an insistent pattern resembling a face within the drapery of the lower part of the costume.Why had he taken such care to include these faces within this painting? They are painted with almost as much care as the sitter himself. I could go on and on about this painting. It fascinates me so much. There is also extensive discussion on the Met's website about the discoveries made from some X-radiographs that were taken of this painting. The various changes that this painting went through and the fact that they believe this painting to have been started perhaps many years before it was actually finished. 

I love amusing myself by pretending someone, years in the future, has done some x-radiographs of MY artwork. Some of my pieces were painted over entirely different paintings. Some of my pieces were started and not finished until years later or were changed drastically over the course of their creation. What theories would they devise from their findings?

Metropolitan Art Museum

An Unearthed Treasure

I recently stumbled across this and just had to share. It's so very true! Lately I have been pondering this very idea. I work at a very ritzy restaurant where I see some of the wealthiest people in the world. Hardly any of these people seem genuinely happy. Quite often their health has suffered from the stress and unhealthy lifestyles that their jobs have required of them. They suffered this way so that they could make money but now that they have all of this money they end up spending so much of it on their health. What a waste! 

I have so many friends who keep looking to the future and forget to pay attention to the present. I myself have spent the past two years looking forward to a future that I have deemed to be better than my present. What if I never make it? What if right now is all that I have? Am I really going to waste what could possibly be the last few minutes, hours, days, weeks, months of my life looking to a future that I never even get to reach? I am trying very hard to make the most of the here and now. It's not easy, but I think that it makes life A LOT more enjoyable when you take the time to make an effort.