Wednesday, August 24, 2011

An Artist's Life (Part 2)

I am often tempted to separate my “Life” from my creative life, as if creativity was something I only practiced in front of a canvas or from behind a lens. The fact is that, even before I audaciously declared myself an “Artist” and devoted my time to artist type things, I have always behaved creatively. It was only after I began taking myself seriously as said “Artist” that I began judging seemingly more mundane activities as outside the artistic realm.

In truth, there is no activity in my life that does not involve or serve my creativity, if I allow it to. And the fact that my creative life informs and enhances my “Life” is something I have witnessed too many times to doubt.

I think that being an artist is as much about learning how to see possibilities instead of problems and make miracles out of mistakes as it is about producing pictures or paintings. In that way, I believe everyone could benefit from living “An Artist's Life”.

Still, I would rather paint than do the dishes (just saying).



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Thursday, July 21, 2011

An Artist's Life (The Beginning)

True Story!  T-shirt available HERE.

I would love to be able to say I was born an artist but according to my Mother, I have not always been a creative person. The story goes that, during parents night at my elementary school, my first grade teacher told both my mother and father that I was too serious of a child. She suggested that they buy me some art supplies and encourage me to be more creative. Needless to say, they followed her advice and thus began my creative life (as well as my art supply addiction!).

I don't have a clear memory of these events but I don't doubt this story is true. In fact, I still encounter that far too serious child at times within me. Every time I do I want to find that teacher and go give her a big hug. If it wasn't for her I quite honestly believe I would have sunk down into the depths of existential despair long ago.

Creativity is my therapy, my religion, my sustenance and my calling. Of course, living a creative life is not without it's challenges but more about those some other time.  For now let me just say, thank you Mrs. W., wherever you are, for introducing me to “An Artist's Life”.
http://www.ibelieveinartshop.com
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Friday, April 15, 2011

The Mermaid Tree

Framed Print of my Out Of Water Mermaid Painting

Here is a picture of my mermaid tree:


Can you see the mermaid in it or is it just me? Sometimes I see things a little differently than most people. Sometimes I feel that I am a lot different from a lot of people. Most of the time, I am okay with that. But one day a few years ago I was sitting on my porch feeling out of place. In that moment, It seemed that being an East Coast girl in a Midwest world was something akin to being a creature from another planet. That is when I saw the mermaid in the tree. At first it made me feel homesick to see her there. After all, when you see a mermaid, you immediately think of oceans and I was as far away from one of those as I was from friends, family and everything else that was in that place that I thought of as home. And yet the mermaid herself didn't seem to be missing the ocean. In fact she looked quite beautiful, and even seemed more special somehow, in the unlikely setting of the tree. I knew I had to paint her.
I painted the mermaid in the tree several times before I felt I had captured the essence of her in my “Out Of Water” painting. As I was doing this I got to know her very well and she taught me a lot of things. She taught me that being different can be beautiful and that beauty is often found in unexpected places. Perhaps most importantly, she taught me that it's up to me to make my place in this world and to make it a place I can carry with me, so that home is always wherever I happen to be.

This image is available on several products at my Zazzle shops. The original painting is not for sale.








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Saturday, February 19, 2011

Songs About Art

Although all musical compositions are works of art, here are a few of my favorite songs that reference art or artists in one way or another:

“Michelangelo” by EmmyLou Harris
From the album “Red Dirt Girl”

Last night I dreamed about you / I dreamed that you were older / You were looking like Picasso / With a scar across your shoulder / You were kneeling by the river / You were digging up the bodies /Buried long ago / Michelangelo

 A beautiful song that came to EmmyLou Harris in a dream. From the lyrics, I suspect it wasn't really Michelangelo she was dreaming about but her words certainly evoke a lot of imagery. I can easily imagine the scenes they describe as paintings hung on a gallery wall.



“The Painter” by Neil Young
From the album “Prairie Wind”

The painter stood / Before her work / She looked around everywhere / She saw the pictures and she painted them / She picked the colors from the air

While the opening lyrics above seem rather basic, it gets a lot deeper from there. To me this is a song about the triumphs and pitfalls of the creative process, of which I'm sure Neil Young knows much about. “If you follow every dream / You might get lost”...I think that's something every artist needs to hear at some time or another.


“There Goes My Inspiration” by Utopia
From the album “Utopia”

Me and Gaugin used to party down / I was hung in The Louvre, I was Renoir's pal / Vincent Van Gogh used to joke with me / Now they don't come 'round

This name dropping little ditty by Todd Rundgren's Utopia is about an artist who has lost his muse. Who hasn't been there before?!




“Masterpiece of Loneliness” by John Waite
From the album "Figure in a Landscape"

But I bought a paint box and some brushes/ to pass the time since you've been gone/ It's a portrait of a broken man / And the colors always run

 To me, John Waite's voice is a work of art in itself. Here he sings hauntingly and beautifully of an artist attempting to pass the time with “a paintbox and some brushes” only to find himself confronted by his own inner state. 




“A Case of You” by Joni Mitchell
From the album “Blue”

 On the back of a carton coaster / In the blue TV screen light / I drew a map of Canada / Oh Canada /With your face sketched on it twice

 I have read in various sources that this song is partly about Leonard Cohen and partly about James Taylor. I guess it is more of a love song than a song about art but there are those lines, “I am a lonely painter/ I live in a box of paints” and she is indeed a painter. She also wrote a song about Van Gogh: “Turbulent Indigo”.


These are just the first few songs about art that sprang to my mind, I'm sure there are plenty more great ones that just haven't occurred to me. Do you have a favorite “art song”? I'd love to hear from you.










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Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Snuggle Cat Vs. Sarcastic Cat Update

The results are in, and while I don't plan to tell my cat Bart this, the winner by a landslide is Sarcastic Cat. Snuggle Cat gave a valiant effort and was even ahead for a very short time but in the end was no match for the power of snarkiness and sarcasm.

Fortunately for me, Sarcastic Cat And Snuggle Cat are not just for Valentine's Day but are here to tolerate me and snuggle with me every day of the year in the form of Bart. And you can still enjoy them both through their all occasion cards and other products.

You can also learn more about Bart on his Squidoo Page: His Majesty the Cat

Hope everybody had a great Valentine's Day.


Sarcastic Cat All Occasion Card card
Sarcastic Cat All Occasion Card by time2see
Shop for a different greeting card template online at zazzle


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Sunday, January 30, 2011

Snuggle Cat Vs. Sarcastic Cat

A war is being waged in my Zazzle stores. Two sides of my multi-faceted feline child, Bart, are battling for supremacy in the form of two different Valentine's Day cards. The first card represents Bart's sweet and cuddly aspect - also known as Snuggle Cat. While the second card is more aligned to Bart's attitude when he is not among blankets or people who worship him - we call him Sarcastic Cat.

So far, the popularity of these cards has been relatively even but if I had to give an edge to one, it would be to Sarcastic Cat. While The Snuggle Cat Card has more votes, The Sarcastic Cat Card has had more sales recently. I'm not sure if I should be disturbed by this trend or not. I love all of Barty's personalities (with the possible exception of the one that scratches woodwork) but I have to admit that Snuggle Cat is my favorite.

So what do you think? Snuggle Cat or Sarcastic Cat? Leave me a comment or click on the cards below and cast a vote for your favorite just beneath the picture on the product page. I'll let you know which one emerges victorious after Valentine's Day.



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Wednesday, August 18, 2010

A letter to my muse



Dear Muse,

I'm on to you. I know that you are somehow responsible for the untimely demise of the television opposite the comfy couch in my living room. Call me paranoid but my intermittent computer, internet and cell phone problems seem to have your name written all over them too. I am becoming convinced that you are not merely a muse, but a tireless, trickster spirit who will stop at nothing until I spend my every waking hour making some kind of art.

So I just wanted to say thank you and keep up the good work.

Love,
Victoria

 
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