Goodbye 2014/ Hello to an Amazing 2015!

Hello Everyone. Sorry it's been so quiet around here lately. But that's all about to change.

It's that time of the year to look back to all that happen and push forward into a brave new future!

My both at the SFEtsy Indie Holiday Emporium 2014

 2014 was a pretty whirlwind year for me. I made so many changes. I took some pretty scary steps this year, but looking back, I feel pretty good about them . Here's a bit of a look back in my year.

  1.  I managed to have two solo art shows.  One at a vintage clothing store, The Mysterious Rack, and at Farley's cafe. It was really amazing to create such a huge amount of new work. I've put some of the new portraits here in my Etsy shop if you would like to check them out. I will be adding more original work soon.
  2. I had my best art fair ever this November. Thanks so much SFEtsy! I'm still learning about the art fair world but am less scared of it now.
  3. As some of you know, I started working 3 days a week at New Bohemia Signs. It's been a pretty interesting adjustment from working for myself for 4 years. But man, it was something I really needed.   
  4. I was really excited to receive a mentioned on this blog post about my custom portraits. Thanks Cool Moms!

I suppose the last day of the year is the time for resolutions...here's my plans for 2015! I am so ready for a new year of challenges and successes!

  1. First off, redo my artist website!Well, I will confirm that I working on it! I'm building a brand new one from scratch and pretty excited about it. It is time to take myself much more serious as an professional artist and illustrator.
  2. Get back to writing more on the blog...ooops.
  3. Get involved with more artist groups. I love being one of the leaders in SFEtsy, and plan on getting more involved. I've also joined the Academy of Handmade.
  4. Getting published. Getting my work out there in the real world. Etsy has been great, but I have to keep reminding myself that it is a small world there, and I need to expand.
  5. Adding more work to my shop...weekly.
  6. Finally finish the book I've been working on the last couple of years. Get it published (we are self publishing)...printed...and make it real. 
  7. Get into more galleries and shops. Bonus: To get into larger art galleries beyond where I am now. 
  8. Learn how to hand lettering!
  9. Find some kind of healthy exercise that I enjoy. The last month or so my health has not been the best. (Mostly just a string of really bad colds). Being sick really reminded me that I need to find ways to take care of myself and stay strong.
  10. Read more books and turn off the internet more.  

Well that about wraps it up. I suppose I will call these plans not resolutions. They might have better luck being accomplished that way. But alas, here's to a awesome 2015 to all of you. May all your plans be successful, and this year be filled with new and exciting surprises for us all!

New Illustration...Getting a Bit Batty for Halloween!

There is something so great about the ending of summer and upcoming autumn months. The fall is my favorite time of year and I am ready to for the cooler days and the changing color of the leaves. The energy in the air changes, it is time to get back to work and get serious.

That being said I am also mentally getting myself ready for Halloween. I know it is a bit early but I LOVE this time of year and I am creating some new work in honor of the upcoming spooky holiday...and "Everyday is Halloween", right?

So I would like to introduce you all to Herman! He a sweet little brown bat that pays a bit of a homage to all the tiny bats I grew up with that lived around my families barn. I imagine little Herman zooming around the night skies looking for new friends to fill his heart and perhaps a bug or two to fill his tummy.

This cutie is now available in the

shop

!

I hope you all like him!

New Work - Abby the Moth Girl

I have always been a bit of a tomboy. I grew up on a farm in Massachusetts and one of my favorite things to do was take walks in the woods. I loved looking for bugs and salimanders, but I was really facinated by Butterflies and Moths.

Abby is a girl after my own heart. She loves Moths too. And man, do they love her. They give each other strength and energy. They even glow together.

So, I say, Welcome to Abby!










And as always...you can find Abby in my shop!

I hope you like her!

On Art and Depth.

Last Wednesday I had the pleasure of meeting the spiritual teacher Thomas Hubl in my Integral Awaking Group here in San Francisco. I learned so much and felt a strong connection to his teachings and wanted to share a bit with you all.  In the video below, I love what Thomas says about opening up to not knowing what comes next in life. Stop planning so much and let your self change and learn again, and go really deep into whatever you do in your life, including your art.

For the last year and a half I have been learning about finding my Soul Purpose and what I am supposed to be doing with my life. It has been a really interesting time in trying to figure out why I am here. I do have some clues, I know am supposed to be doing something with my art, but what? How deep can I go? How do I get there? I wonder how artists go really, really deep with their art. How do they make it substantial enough to provide meaning for others. How do you create connection beyond just making lovely drawings?

In order to go deep you need to access all the dark things in your life. This is really difficult in a society that we try to avoid facing pain and heaviness at all costs. You need to be open to everything. You can't allow yourself to be numb anymore. This is a very scary thought. Numbness is protection.





So I have a few questions for you... What does it mean to you to be an artist or creative person? Do you feel you connect to a higher source when you make your art? Would you allow yourself to make a positive change in the world if you could using your art? Are you afraid of making a difference? I know I am...what a responsibility that would be. Would I be strong and wise enough to handle this new sense of self? These are questions that keep rolling around in my head.

I always loved creating...so much at times throughout my life I couldn't relax enough and actually do the work(damn, you perfectionism). But now that is all changing and I am creating more work than I have ever done. I still wonder, on a spiritual level, if a person can possibly stop distractions, focus, and just do the work, would somehow the universe will find some way to take care of them?  (Of course, you would have to work very hard but the energy you create would make it all worth it.)

How do you make your creative purpose a priority in your life? I've asked this to many teachers and the simple yet not so simple answer is that you just have to do it. There is no easy way. You need to create new habits and stick to them.(Which is still something I struggle with daily). Next, I think you have to find communities to share your work with and create massive amounts of positive energy amongst yourselves.

 You know, we are so lucky, we are living in an incredible time where your community can truly be the world. We just need to open up our eyes to see it. Then we can say we are truly awake, and in that awakeness is where the "magic" seems to happen. This world would be a pretty amazing place to be, don't you think?

Pop Surrealist Portraits

If I lived in the L.A. area I would be at the Roq La Rue Gallery all the time. I love the bizarre artwork they hang. Here are a few pieces of my favorite artists they have exhibited. He seems like a nice homage to all of the old photographs I've been posting:

Mark Ryden was one of the first Pop Surrealists that I noticed. Discovering his work opened  up a whole new world for me as an artist. I was never that comfortable with abstraction or conceptual art. I wanted to paint and capture emotions through the eyes of the people I painted. I loved history and weird things...and really dark things. He became one of my favorite artists working to today...

Check out more of his work at his own site: markryden.com
"Drips" 2003

"Rose" by Mark Ryden 2003

"Awakening the Moon" by Mark Ryden 2010
A portrait of the artist as a young man by cutting.com




Travis Louie is someone I discovered when he donated some artwork for the Totoro Forest Project auction I went to a couple of years ago. I really regret not bidding on his artwork...maybe someday I'll have a piece of my own.  For now I can always look at these beautiful spooky portraits he has created. Aren't they wonderful.

For more...check out his website here.


"Ethel" by Travis Louie

"The Hypno Doll" By Travis Louie




"The Smiler" by Travis Louie



Beautiful aren't they? I wonder what would happen if they painted me...