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Another year- another chance to create and to re-create! As I am sitting here thinking about my first theme for 2019 (I'll get to it, don't worry!) I had someone ask me on my FB page ask how/where I get my ideas, and I think that is a great place to begin this post. In many ways my first year and a half creating art was the easiest because I was working with themes from the Creative Every Day site, but it didn't take long for me to start to interpret and revise those themes to fit things that I was interested in, or events and experiences in my own life. If you are just starting out on your own 'art every day' journey and don't know where to start the CED site is still up and she Leah has already started to post for the new year. I would highly recommend that as a starting point, it is super laid back and there is a bit of a community aspect if you choose to participate via tagging and posting your work. But the main thing is if you choose to do a challenge find the right one for YOU. Ever heard someone say, 'you do you, boo'? Well, that is what I am telling you- it has to be based on YOU. If you want to get better at drawing hands- draw hands for a year. If you love the color blue- use every shade of blue in ever material you can get your hands on- your theme can be prompt/subject focused, based on improving a skill, researching an artist or movement in art history, trying new media/techniques...but it has to be based on your own interests. I didn't mention time or resources because once you become really passionate about your work (again) all of that will fall into place. I have been posting several the past few days to the Art Hive 'Resources for Artists' and I there are some challenges listed as well as links to dealing with artist block- just all kinds of goodies. Check it out if you have time! (just click on the picture below)  As for me...I'm not gonna lie, sometimes I get a little overwhelmed. I am pretty rigid with my organization, so I am already thinking about storage and other day to day things...and materials 'cause Lortt knows I'm not rich. So there's that. Sometimes it is hard for me to start because I am already thinking about how the new work will fit into what I have previously created. I worry that someone will come across my work and say, 'she's is random.' But then...I am. I am random, but I am also super rigid and orderly- so I am already constantly battling that in my own mind.  When I start to get that 'dis too much' feeling (if you know then YOU KNOW)...I organize. When I start organizing I will have bouts of feeling overwhelmed and then I push through it, accomplish the task and feel a sense of calm. Today the task I gave myself to obsess over was to go through each each and make a short summary of each month within that year. I will be printing these out and taping them inside my art storage boxes so I can quickly view that 'year at a glance' in case I need to quickly remember when I did a certain piece for myself of for a collector. I actually have a pretty thorough inventory from 2012-2016 but it isn't as accurate anymore due to pieces that have been sold, gifted, traded etc. and I didn't do any inventory for 2017-2018...and knowing that stresses me out so I try not to think about it. Back to that task- my yearly summaries. I started labeling the works BE (Big Eyes), PWT (Portrait with Text) and FI (Fashion Illustration). Out of the past eighty-four months over these seven years, fifty of those months were focused on some kind of theme applied to my 'big eyed' girls and nine themes were applied to my fashion illustrations. However, I should note that I love the fashion illustrations so much I have done work separate from my daily work dedication to fashion- a couple of hundred pieces since 2012, not including the daily pieces. AS for the PWTs, I have five that I think fit into that category. I don't have as many of those I think because they take longer but did really enjoy creating those pieces. This is all just me thinking aloud of course, but all of this was in my brain when I was thinking about my theme for this month. Over the past few years rather than reinvent a new theme every month I have returned to themes that I liked creating in previous years, sometimes approaching it in a new way, adding new materials or just keeping it kinda the same. Is this making any sense? Here are some examples;  Man, I love butterflies!! I keep revisiting them within my work, not only for their beauty but also as I see them tied to the idea of transformation, especially thinking about loved ones that have moved on. The works above are from (left to right) August 2012, July 2016, June 2017 and July 2018.  I am also a sucker for holidays. I always seem to do something for Halloween, Christmas and sometimes Valentine's Day, like these pieces. From left to right, these pieces are from February 2014, 2015 and 2017. I also made V-day inspired angles in 2016 but it was hard to find a good picture, that month I made small mixed media wooden blocks.  This is how I do portraits...so if you were thinking, 'I wonder if she does portraits?' I do- like this. (Contact me if you are interested for pricing) I looooooove working with just regular ol' drawing pencils and also water soluable graphite...and making the image stand out by creating a contrasting background. I like the idea of the tight rendering and then splatters and drips in the background (as you can see in the first piece from from January 2016), and of course TEXT, especially quotes and lyrics. These pieces are all considered part of my #GirlTalkJLG series because the focus on women and their words. The middle one is really special to me because set (Feb 2018) I actually switched to portraits of some of my senior girls and past girls that I have coached. I also had fun taking the same series and working with spray paint and stenciled backgrounds, inspired by a trip to Wynwood Walls in Miami. The last piece is also from this year, in September.
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AuthorArtist and Art Teacher 
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