Growth.

Change is in the air for me. How little did I know, this adventure would cause me to take a deeper look at myself. Many questions fill my head these days:

Who am I?
What do I represent?
Do others see the real me?
Am I allowing myself to shine through my desire to be known?
Am I staying true to myself?

Some days, the glimpses I catch of the artisan within me, are comforting and expected. Other times though, I am caught unaware, maybe being a bit shocked at first to see what surfaces in good and bad ways, allowing me to reach outside of my comfort zone, albeit slowly at first, to delve deeper into the artisan and person I crave to be.

I have come to one conclusion though...finding oneself can often feel like scraping years of habit and routine off with coarse sandpaper but what I find underneath is so shiny and new.

Why I Look Forward to Thursdays!

This amazing blog is chalk full of inspiration, genius, and delightful artistic fun, whatever medium you choose to express yourself in! Every Thursday Natasha, (also known as DoodleStar on Etsy) posts all of the artists' work that fit the theme she gave the prior Friday. I am telling you this is the best grown up version of show and tell, that will inspire your creative genius to come play!

Besides having a fabulous Thursday post, she also does completely thought compelling posts the other days of the weeks! Please go over and take a peek and support what art really is all about!

This week's theme is "Dreaming in Color". Our inspiration pictures that Natasha found are of the Aurora Borialis, Notherns lights shimmering along a night time sky.

I loved that flowing idea of color and also wanted something to represent myself as an artist. This is my entry:

"Imagination's Slumber"-16x20 Acrylic Original Painting

The mind is an amazing and intricate place, where imagination and dreams roam free; where color takes to life with great sweeping motions to reach the deepest secrets and the brightest memories and pour them out one dream at a time.

I imagined a face in the night sky, but stars didn't seem right, so I used her features in sparkling white detail to imitate stars. Her hair starts out normal and spreads and becomes vibrant as she dreams, sometimes wild, sometimes calmly, rolling like the waves of an ocean.

The first shot is the full painting, and the second is the up close of the face at night.

The third and fourth picture are photographs taken of the original painting during the day. Help to see how the painting would be viewed through out the day. I hope you all enjoy!

Not all about the Business

I have to say, promotion is my least favorite aspect of running a business. Don't get me wrong, I love chatting it up with the best of them...just not so much about my store. I make a bad craft pimp. ;)

I need a space where I can think out loud, discover the process of my art and craft, display my mistakes, my achievements, those things that I love, and more about the life that inspires me. More of what intrigues me as an artist and all that makes me an artist will be surfacing.

So feel free to pull up a chair, and muse with me for a while about the life of this artist.
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I've always been a people pleaser, for better or for worse. This aspect of me comes out a lot in my work. I want the image or item to be something that someone loves as much as I do. So much in fact that they can't live with out it. I find myself thinking to much of what a buyer would want versus what I am trying to express. Finding that happy medium is tricky. To love what you do, but also have others love it too. I think this is why I like custom work so much.

Custom work is the art of merging two imaginations together. I love working with an idea sparked by an other's imagination and working it until it meets me with a grand hello. My vision and the original idea combining into something unique, singular, and individualistic is an amazing process. Albeit challenging and even difficult at times, the payoff of making an other's dream come true is my artist's high. Plus the joy that the individual will feel over the creation made is just an added bonus, to say the least.

I look forward to this week, because of just such a task. I received back some tracings to do my first non family Garden Keepsake painting. I already feel connected to this painting just by handling the little hand and feet tracings put into my care. Such a privilege.

Drumroll Please....The Winners Are.....

Thanks to everyone who participated in the Soapdeli Soap Giveaway this last week! And the winners are as follows:

Yuzu Goat's Milk Soap: purango

Falling For You Soap: windycindy

Coconut Cream Pie Soap: carolasar

Each of you should have received an email to contact Soapdeli with your shipping information!

Stay tuned for more giveaways in the near future Fridays!!!

Last Chances and Good Cents

Just a quick pop in today.

But I had to share some fabulous sites with my crafting community. This past week I have been Indiana Jones of the lost Craft seeking out sites that are all about handmade goodness. So with out further ado get your bookmarking fingers ready:

1. TryHandmade's add your link page: uploads your RSS feed with your shop ID's into their random shop generator for Etsy and Artfire shops. Cool, huh! Also make sure you check out the home page to see just how great your blogsite is!!! It will blow your mind.
2. Mady By Hand. By Me. (https://www.byhand.me): is a fresh very new, but promising site for handmade artisans and membership is free!
   
3. Handmadeology: is a blog type site run by Timothy Adams whose knowledge of online venues is quite extensive. Go padawan, you will learn much.
4. Plaincraft: quite free and entertaining. You submit items you would like voted on. If it is popular enough it stays at the top of the list. Free advertising was never so much fun.
5. Do a giveaway for a seller on your blog, or offer a giveaway on someone else's blog that is close to your target market. For the price of what you give away you will be astounded by the traffic! And speaking of giveaways...

Last chance to get free soap from soapdeli! The winner will be picked tomorrow.

Follow this link to take you to pamper heaven!