You Can Do Hard Things

Two of my dearest friends have been facing some really tough challenges recently - and really, aren't we all at one time or another?  Sometimes, the life-altering grenades that life chucks at us can make us doubt ourselves and our ability to carry on and make a wonderful life for ourselves.  Fo shizzle.  (Lame attempt at hipness, please excuse...)

One of the most inspirational blogs on the web for me this year has been http://momastery.com/blog/, written by Glennon Melton.  She keeps it real in a way that is just mind-blowing (especially for me, as a parent), and my favorite tag line of hers is "you can do hard things".  I cannot begin to count the number of times in my life I wish I'd had someone standing over my shoulder whispering that in my ear - that, and perhaps a whole lot of other bits of timely wisdom to keep me on the right path.  Maybe that accounts for my current obsession with guardian angels... LOL

Of course, everything that rattles around in my brain long enough eventually comes out as a piece of art.  I am totally loving this simple little message, and I'm actually going to remember to keep one of these for myself, tucked in a prominent place where I can be reminded, daily, that *I* can do hard things.

When Dreams Come True

What do you do when a dream comes true?

When I first heard the news that Patti Digh Designs For Life was going to carry a few of my pieces as part of their inaugural inventory of inspirational art, I bounced around like a baby goat on crack, bleating and whooping it up and head-butting everyone I knew with the news that I was WOW WOW WOW, OFFICIALLY AN ARTISAN because Someone with a capital S said so!!!  Now, Patti *is* one of my heroes - a truth-teller of extraordinary caliber and a standard-bearer for anyone who wishes to live a more examined and intentional life.  Her blog, http://www.37days.com, has been a daily read for me for several years now, and I give her full credit for inspiring my artistic leap of faith back on 2010 when I officially started selling my little altars on Etsy.  But once the euphoria of The News wore off a smidgen, I started wondering why I hadn't considered myself an artisan all along, and what made this particular event so pivotal...

Literally as far back as I can remember, I have been passionate about making art. My mother was "craftsy" (as she liked to say) and always let me join her in making whatever the project du jour was, and as a teen I had a fabulous Fairy Godmother who introduced me to just about every craft form imaginable (from calligraphy to shrinky dinks and just about everything in between).  In high school and college I painted; at some point later I was seriously into "picture" quilts.  My collection of art materials has grown from a shoebox to an entire studio full of treasure chests, and I still love playing with all of them.  But in spite of all of that, I never once considered myself an "artist".  Really.

When I moved to North Carolina, all of a sudden I had the luxury (for the first time in my grown-up life) of not having to go sit in an office to "make a living".  My husband graciously allowed me to set up the sunniest room in our new house as a dedicated studio, and I started playing.  I had been making my own mosaic tiles out of polymer clay for a couple of years and putting together "little altars" for friends and family who needed a place of spiritual focus, and I wondered if maybe others might be interested in something similar.  I listed my first altar on Etsy on April Fools Day of 2010 (!!) and it sold a day later, much to my amazement.  Since then I have made close to 100 pieces that have gone out into the world - but not once, when someone asked me "what I did", did I ever reply that I was an "artist".  Wow.

This past November, the local Arts Council put out a call for artists to submit work for their annual holiday art show and sale.  I was so unsure about whether or not what I do would be considered "art" that I set up a meeting ahead of time with the visual arts director - who assured me that yes, it was art and yes, they would be delighted to include it in their show.  About the same time, I was invited to sell some of my work at a local studio gallery. A few days after all of this happened, I met someone new for the first time - and when they inevitably asked me what I do, I told them I was a "stay-at-home mom".  Yeah.

In my heart, I know that I have a calling which expresses itself through art.  I understand that I need to shine this light, and would do this work even if no one ever paid me a cent for it.  That being said... why is it so hard to feel "worthy" of the title of Artist with a CAPITAL A?

Selling my little altars on http://store.pattidighdesigns.com/ is a dream come true for me.  And from now on, when someone asks me what I do, I know what I'm going to say.  :-)

Yes, it's ART!

(shuffling feet with embarrassment at the amount of time that has elapsed since the last post...)  Let's just say it was a busy summer and leave it at that, shall we?  :-)

Well, I finally have something exciting to report, and my tail is wagging so hard I can hardly sit still to type this.  Last month I was encouraged by a dear friend to submit some of my artwork to the Wilson Arts Council for inclusion in their annual holiday Invitational Show and Sale.  I have to be honest, I dragged my feet on this - still trying to make the transition in my head from "hobbiest" to "artist", and the mean-spirited part of me that lurks about pooping in my artistic Wheaties was just sure that I'd get laughed out the door if I had the audacity to try to pass off my crafty little bits as Art with a capital A.  Luckily for me, the Visual Arts Director at the Arts Council is a kind and generous soul who not only did not laugh, but welcomed me and my crafty bits with open arms.  My ART is currently on display and for sale in the Boykin Gallery, right next to a bunch of amazing paintings and sculptures, and I could not possibly be prouder of myself for taking that leap of faith.  I was also encouraged to sell some of my holiday ornaments at Studio One here in town (a local artists' cooperative that features the work of some of Wilson's most accomplished artisans), so... yeah. It's been an amazing few weeks.  :-)

The biggest news, though, is still in the works and not quite ready for prime time - but I can say this about that.  Patti Digh, an absolutely incredible author and "intentional living" maven extraordinaire, has decided to expand her positive influence in the world by putting together an on-line store (Patti Digh Designs for Life) that will feature works of heart/art from all around the world.  I have not actually signed the papers yet, but one of my pieces has been accepted and will be featured for sale in the initial roll-out.  *BOGGLE*  I am crazy over-the-moon excited about this opportunity - Patti's books and the wisdom she offers on her website have been life-changing for MILLIONS of people, and I can't think of anyone I'd rather be associated with in any sort of commercial way.  If you have somehow missed knowing about Patti Digh and her work in the world, I encourage you to visit her website - www.37days.com.  Pretty sure you will come away a more enlightened person, just sayin'...

Just because I love to have a visual, here are a couple of pictures of things I've been working on lately.  Life is good!!!

Little Buddha altar #1

Which I had thought I'd posted, but apparently had not!   (doh!)

The colors are really rich in this - have not yet decided if I want to mount it on a larger clayboard or just leave it this size (12"x12"). 

Little Buddha altar #2

Loved making the first one of these, and wanted to do one in more soothing colors.  I'm feeling a little "stuck in a rut" with these, but on the other hand, they are one of the few things that sell rapidly in my on-line Etsy shop.  So hard some days, to have to teeter-totter on that line of wanting to be creative, but also wanting to make a little money on the side to pay for my craft habit... LOL

Li'l ATCs everywhere

I belong to on on-line arts community (http://milliande.ning.com/) and someone hosted an Artist Trading Card (ATC) swap for St. Patrick's Day.  I've never made an ATC or ACEO card and had been thinking about trying it out, so this was the perfect opportunity - plus, I got a couple of cards in trade, which was fun!  Here's what I came up with:

I used polymer clay for the little figures (with bottle cap heads), and collage and encaustic for the cards.  Since they are tiny (2-1/2" wide x 3-1/2" tall), they didn't take much time at all - it was really fun to actually sit down and finish a project in one sitting!  LOL   Pretty sure this is something I'll do again, since the scale is so un-intimidating.  Maybe I'll tackle some tiny ATC paintings next!   :-)

Little valentines everywhere

I made several "tootsie pop flowers" for my son's teachers for Valentine's day - super easy, and they really made a lovely bouquet when grouped together.  Plus, got to use up some old scrapbook paper bits that were too small for anything else, yeah!   All you need is:

1 tootsie pop
5 3" hearts (3" tall x 3" at the widest point)
1 3" circle, fringed toward the center
2 leaves (cut from different paper for contrast)

Punch holes in the center of the circle, the pointy end of the hearts and the pointy end of the leaves.  Push the tootsie pop stick through the holes (starting with the circle, then the hearts, then the leaves) and wrap a little tape around the bottom to keep them from sliding off.  You can also tape the whole thing to a skewer and wrap the skewer with green tissue paper to make a stem (which makes it easier to gather these into a bouquet).

I'm thinking these would be awesome for just about *any* occasion, not just V-day.  :-)

Squadron of angels

I've been busy crafting a whole fleet of guardian angels to send out into the world.  :-)

What's new in the studio

Little bitty (2-3/4" x 7") inspiration altars using hand-stamped mosaics and encaustic-covered collage backgrounds.  I *love* mixed media!  :-)

Everyone needs a guardian angel

Tried something new this week - an "art doll" that can be personalized.  It took me some fiddling to figure out how to do the face tile, but now that I've worked out the kinks I've listed it on Etsy as a customize-able art piece.  Not sure if there is a market out there for guardian angel art dolls - guess I'll find out!

The important thing is that I had fun with it, and churned up some ideas for my family for the holidays...  :-)

Punning around

A teeny little commission from a friend - collage on card stock, coated with encaustic medium.  It was fun to play with (and will absolutely crack up the intended recipient, who currently has 4 shelties under her roof).  Sometimes it's hard to get going on big "art with a capital A" projects - often, a little "goofing around" is all it takes to get the creative juices flowing again.  :-)

Look within

This year, my goal with my art is to elevate it in my OWN mind to the level of art.  Sounds stupid, but there you go - in my head, I'm still a "crafter" and a scribbler and a dabbler, not really an artist.  Yes, I'm my own worst enemy - thanks for noticing!

I've been tossing around the idea of doing something a little more intricate with my little altars, and my first attempt at translating what's in my head to an actual thing came out pretty fun.  It's an interactive piece, with little doors that open to reveal mirrors and messages - sort of a punny little play on the "look within" theme.  I wish I had made the backer board larger (or mounted the whole thing on a separate background to give it more presence), but overall I'm fairly pleased with it.

I surprised myself when I listed this in my shop at considerably more than I have historically sold my work for in the past.  Given the amount of time and effort that went into it, I should have charged about double the amount I eventually listed it for - but I'm still on that journey to believing that my unique "artist's voice" has value to anyone but me.  I doubt that I am alone in this struggle between wanting my work to actually be affordable enough to *sell*, and wanting to place a reasonable value on my time and talent.   :-)

So, there we are.  Thinking about trying something else new and different with polymer clay next - stay tuned!