Reaching For The Star

"Reaching For The Star"

Today I finished my latest piece, "Reaching For The Star." This is actually a photo of one of the cats my mother-in-law use to have, an Abyssinian cat by the name of Cinnamon. I used colored pencil & turpenoid and pasted a special hand-made paper in the foreground and background. This is the same paper I used in my other animal piece, "Mighty Mouse." I thought it might be a nice idea to mix things up a bit by using some decorative paper instead of finishing it off with more colored pencil or watercolor and this fit perfectly with the color and composition without taking away from the main subject, the cat reaching into the trash.

Today was also the day of the Michael Jackson Memorial service which the news has been covering all day today. I watched most of it and was extremely moved. The music was excellent. I guess you could call it a "reaching out" to a star that touched the hearts of many of us, including me.

These are strange times for many of us. I know it is for me. Many of us, including me, are have difficulty surviving the economic meltdown that is occurring right now. We are trying to hold on to our dreams and tough times like these can bring huge obstacles that we weren't planning on facing. I am going to have to make some changes in the future in order to get through this economic downturn, but one thing I know for sure is I will NOT give up my dream to be an artist and to be an art teacher. I will continue to go to school to get my degree and I will use my art to help and enrich the lives of other people.

Getting Past The Creative Block

It has been nice having more time for my art work. I realize now how much my job, before it ended for the summer, and stress, were draining my creativity this past year. Except for what I created in my art methods class in school, I really didn't make any really great art pieces. I think I was suffering from a kind of creative block. Art Methods class was really good for me because it helped me to think outside the box and get past that creative block.

I have been working on a piece I call, "Reaching for the Stars." It is almost done but I don't want to post a photo of it until it is 100% done. I am pleased with how it has turned out so far.

My "Otter Odyssey" piece is up for exhibit this week on the Web Digest Weekly website under the gallery page. To see it, go to www.webdigestweekly.com.

I am still looking around for more art shows to book and am keeping my eyes open for other part-time jobs in case I don't go back to my custodial job.

College Classes vs. Part-Time Job

Although it is very nice not to have to do any custodial work this summer, I find myself occasionally getting stressed about the fact that I don't know if I'm going to have a job in the fall. Then I think about taking just any job, just to have a paycheck. But I find that I really don't want just "any" job. I want to be a teacher's aide. That way I can have the opportunity to do some art and crafts with kids. It would also utilize my office experience and computer skills. I would even consider another office job if it was part-time and fit around my class schedule. My challenge is that I can only work Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays because I have classes Tuesdays and Thursdays. I arranged my class schedule that way thinking that I would be going back to my night time custodial job. Once you arrange your college schedule, it is really hard (sometimes impossible) to change it later. There have been numerous cut-backs in the school district and I don't know if I will be going back to my night time job. Besides, what I really want to do...where my heart is really at is teaching and working with kids.

It seems that during my lifetime I have always had two jobs/careers--the job that I have to have because it pays the bills and the job that I consider my career choice, where my heart is really at. This has to change! The job that pays the bills needs to be the job where my heart is really at. I am just tired of settling for less.

Anyway, as a stress-buster I went to the Boise Zoo this week and visited the new African exhibit. I loved it and it definitely helped clear my head!

Rock Animal Orders and Happy Fish

I just completed painting the above two rock animal "Stone Critters." These are for an order I received this week via email. Someone saw my rock animals on my website and placed an order. Special orders like this and portrait orders are down from what they were last year at this time, probably due to the slow economy.

I have also been preparing for my art show at Happy Fish Sushi and Martini Bar in downtown Boise during the month of July. I have almost everything ready expect for a small advertising display. It will hang in two weeks, probably on Tuesday or Wednesday.

Now that I don't have to do custodial work anymore, I plan to spend more of my time booking future art shows and exhibits, at least until I can find another part-time job in the fall. Finding a job during this slow economy is always such fun. LOL.

Emerging Artists Show at Capital City Market

"Salmon River in Stanley"

(My biggest seller today!)

I had another art show today at the Emerging Artists Exhibit at the downtown Boise public market. I am very encouraged (even amazed) at how well I did! Could this actually be a sign that the recession is letting up? I certainly hope so. I think I made a little over $250. This market is open from 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. So $250 is not bad for only four hours! I sold a lot of little things but I also sold some big-ticket items like a framed giclee print of the Salmon River in Stanley. (See photo above.) This seemed to be a popular seller today. I brought three prints of this piece and sold them all!

The weather was a bit threatening with black clouds hovering over us, but it actually didn't start to rain until after the show closed at 1:30 p.m. How often does that happen?

There seemed to be a lot of people today on tour from out of state. Out-of-staters are really good for business because the seem to come just for buying souvenirs. Everything looks unique to them because they haven't seen it before.

I had to leave my exhibit today at 12:15 and let my husband, Jon, take over and then pack up for me because I had to go to an volunteer orientation at Simply Cats at 1:00 p.m. Simply Cats is a no-kill cat shelter for homeless cats. Since I am crazy about cats, I decided to do some volunteer work this month and next month. I get to play with the cats and kittens and get lots of purrs and kisses from the puddy-cats! I also will be doing things like cleaning their shelters and anything else they might need me for. This animal shelter is very top quality. No cats are put in cages. They all have lots of space and their own little rooms to play in--rent free too.

Art & Roses

Sunday was Art & Roses art show day and the weather was perfect. It had been raining the day before, so it was a real blessing to have perfect weather for the show. It started raining just a little as everyone packed up at the end of the show. It is rare for Mother Nature to actually cooperate with outdoor shows like this!

Anyway, I did very well in sales. I actually did better than I did last time I did this show, which was two years ago. I sold note cards and small 5 X 8 size original watercolors, but no large expensive originals. Being that we are still in the midst of the recession, I didn't know what to expect in terms of sales, but I was pleased with the results. I made about $115.00. Not bad considering that I can't sell my prints or rock animals at this show. My most popular sellers were the otter note cards and the little mouse holding the miniature gun. (See photos posted above.)

My husband helped me and was at my booth in the morning for about an hour, then came back at about 3:00 p.m. and stayed until the end of the day. Several people we knew came to this show and stopped by to say hello.

A lot of people were walking their dogs and I always find it fun and interesting to see all the different types of animals people have. One lady had a little tiny baby pug dog puppy--so cute! There was also a very cute multi-colored Pomeranian dog and a husky puppy with one blue eye and one brown eye.

I have another show at the downtown market this Saturday (June 13) and I have to get busy and make more note cards and a few more rock animals.

Preparing For Art & Roses

This Sunday, June 7th, I have an outdoor art show at Julia Davis Park in Boise. This is the annual Art & Roses Show. I have been preparing for it all week and I am almost finished packing everything. My husband helps me to set up this show as it requires two people to set up the canopy and the racks for hanging the artwork. This show only allows original art and notecards to be displayed and sold, so I can't sell my prints or rock animals (unfortunately). I sell mostly note cards and sometimes I actually do sell an original piece of art. The fee for this show is only $25.00 and I always make enough in sales to make it worth doing.

I have posted above two little mini-original watercolors about 5" X 5" that I just finished this week that will be for sale at the Art & Roses show.