Showing posts with label Art. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Art. Show all posts

Monday, April 21, 2014

Trust The Process


I love it when I get something right on the first try but that only happens when I have no idea what I'm doing. Lucky mistakes, happy accidents – these are my saving graces, my spirit guides, my breakthroughs. Without them everything is too predictable. With them there are doors that open and clouds that part until my way becomes clear.

Practicing hand lettering

In the meantime, I practice, I play and I struggle. The struggle used to annoy me but now I choose to be comforted by it. I choose to remember that on the other side of every struggle I have ever had, there has been a breakthrough.

Playing with markers and glitter pens

It could happen at any time, in a moment of inspiration or a flash of frustration, and then everything will click into place.

Until then, I just need to keep going and trust the process.







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Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Back To The Drawing Board


The current chalkboard mural in my living room allows me to enjoy some autumn foliage when I'm inside.

 The only formal art training I can claim is a drawing class I took for part of a semester when I was around twelve years old.  I remember being very excited about my first assignment.  I worked really hard on my drawing and was really proud to turn it into the teacher.  Imagine my shock and disappointment when I learned the grade I received on it was a D.

 I wish I had that drawing now but I threw it away and didn't tell a soul about it. Instead I silently observed everything that happened in class and figured out that the teacher only gave the As out to the meticulous students who could draw straight lines without a ruler (and no extra credit for creativity).  I was able to conform to these standards enough to get a passing grade but I no longer enjoyed the class and by the end of it I had decided that drawing just wasn't for me.

 Of course I eventually grew up and realized that I don't need anyone's grade of approval to do the things I enjoy.   I learned to create art my way and not to worry about conforming to someone else's standards or expectations.  Still, I have always been just a little more comfortable holding a painting utensil than I am holding a drawing utensil.

 This fact made facing a chalkboard the size of a small billboard a little daunting at first but it has proved to be a really good challenge for me.  It has made me, both literally and figuratively, reach a little higher and dream a little bigger than I may have otherwise.  

 So here's a look back at my first year of chalkboard murals.  I'm giving every one of them an A+ for being some of the best art teachers I have ever had.


My first chalkboard mural was a celebration of Classic Rock.  

My second chalkboard mural was for Thanksgiving

A Birthday Mural For Hippie

I managed to find a little time each day to draw a snowflake or two for this winter holiday chalkboard mural.


So far the prediction of this New Year's Eve chalkboard mural is holding true.

I'm convinced this Baltimore Ravens chalkboard mural somehow contributed to their Super Bowl win.


This spring flower themed chalkboard mural lasted through the spring and summer gardening seasons.

And then I took a little break before getting to the autumn chalkboard mural at the top of this post.

Click here to see more of my chalkboard murals.


http://www.ibelieveinartshop.com
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Tuesday, September 17, 2013

My Gypsy

Gypsy Digital Art Print available at my Etsy Shop

My "Gypsy" digital art painting was inspired by a very wise woman who advises me, or at least attempts to, from time to time.  She has made many accurate predictions about my future.  For example, she once warned me that if I kept making the same stupid choices, I was going to keep getting the same stupid results and she was totally right about that.  

 Also, she told me I was an artist a long time ago but for years I stubbornly refused to believe her.  Obviously she was correct about that too.

 Then there was this time she and I met this weird Hippie guy at a rock concert. She took one look into his eyes and told me he was the one for me but I thought she was crazy.  A few years later I was married to the guy and I still am.  I guess she knew what she was talking about.

With this stellar track record, it's a wonder that I have doubted and second guessed my gypsy as much as I have but I am slowly learning that I am much better off when I trust her wisdom.

Of course, almost all of my portraits are really self portraits and this one is no exception.  Therefore, this gypsy's wisdom is only available and applicable to me.  However, I think anyone who pays close and honest attention to what they are doing in each moment will find that they can predict their own future too.




Gypsy Prediction Business Card Templates
Gypsy Prediction Business Card Templates by Victoreeah
View Fortune teller Business Cards online at zazzle


Gypsy
Gypsy by Victoreeah
Check out other wallets at zazzle.com
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Tuesday, September 10, 2013

My Art: Rooted

"Rooted" Tree Goddess Painting and some of my other Autumn inspired art

I moved to the Midwest in the mid nineties and for more than ten years I did not feel at home here.  Hippie and I did a lot of traveling then and I believed that we would eventually wind up moving back to my beloved East Coast or perhaps somewhere out West.  I was the anywhere but here girl, always in limbo, always waiting for the day my life would really begin in some other place.

 Meanwhile, we were growing out of the small house we lived in and the crime rate in our neighborhood was increasing.  One day it suddenly became clear to me that we needed to move somewhere fast and that meant somewhere near.  We went looking for a home in a better neighborhood.  I hoped we would find something a little larger with a basement and a second bathroom.  Something we could be comfortable in until we moved somewhere else.  

 What we found was a dream come true.  What we found was The Cabbage.

 I painted my "Rooted" Tree Goddess in the Autumn of 2006, just a few months after we moved in here.  It was the perfect symbol and reflection of how I was feeling at the time.  The transplant had finally taken, I was rooted, I was home.

An image of this painting is featured on many products in my Zazzle art shop.  The original is currently hanging in my kitchen and is not for sale.
"Rooted" Tree Goddess Art Canvas Prints
"Rooted" Tree Goddess Art Canvas Prints by Victoriart
Find other Rooted Canvas Prints at zazzle.com




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Friday, August 2, 2013

The Cabbage Gallery

The Cabbage Gallery

 I've heard experts say that you should live in a house for awhile and get a feel for how you live in it before you start decorating. This is good advice that I completely ignored when Hippie and I moved in to The Cabbage more than 7 years ago. I had a vision for this home the minute I laid eyes on it and started painting the walls minutes after we got the keys.

I was especially excited to tackle the two rooms at the front of the house that were original to my 1920 Bungalow. One was the dining room and adjacent to that was what probably would have been known as the front parlor. That, I decided, was going to be my dream library. And, after some work, it was, for awhile.

Before: The Cabbage Library

 It was kind of a shame really but over time The Library just proved to be an impractical room. I think it took about two years for me to admit to myself that it didn't work and move the library to the guest room. Then for the next five years I took the experts' advice and just lived in my not-a-library-anymore room, mostly using it as an office as I waited for inspiration.

Slowly, as my life and business evolved, it became clear that I needed more than an office. I needed a place where I could store and display my art, products and the collections that inspire me. Finally, the idea of turning the room into a home gallery started to form until it became impossible to resist. It took awhile for it all to come together and I will probably be tweaking it for awhile but overall I'm super happy with it and I hope you like it too.

And now on with the tour...

Here's an expanded view where you can see my funky hanging pendant light, a thrift store find.

The Cabbage Gallery, daytime

 Hippie built and installed all of the shelves and I have been arranging and rearranging stuff on them ever since.

Hippie's shelves, my art
More Shelves and Art

 I'm excited to finally have a place to display my vintage photo collection.  I call it my wall of adopted ancestors.

Vintage Photo Collection

 I've also been working on the adjacent dining room but it's still a work in progress.

Dining Room Entrance

 The built in bookcases on this wall are a perfect place for me to store and display my Zazzle products.  Though after looking at these pictures I think I need to paint the inside of them a nice, bright color.

Product Display

 Update: Painted the shelves, looks so much better now, don't ya think?



I am really bad at hanging wallpaper so I hand painted this butterfly and branches pattern on the wall instead.

Wall Pattern Detail

 I made the window treatments by embellishing some inexpensive lace panels with some great scarves I found at Pier1.
The Cabbage Gallery Window Treatment

Cabbage Gallery Sitting Area

 I got the fab pouf from Modcloth and Hippie helped me make a little stand for it to get it off the floor and make it more like an ottoman.  We also made a little pedestal for my card rack.

Pouf on a pedestal
Elevated card rack

 So there you have it.  Thanks so much for reading. Now on to finishing the dining room!

"Potential" Frog Prince Art Card
"Potential" Frog Prince Art Card by Victoriart
Look at more Fairy tale Cards at zazzle

"Out Of Water" Mermaid Art Ceramic Tiles
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