2013....Ready or not, here I come!

I had a lot of lofty goals for this past year with my art, and they all came to be! Not only did I set out to paint 52 watercolor portraits, I ACTUALLY FINISHED THEM! My ArtPrize piece turned out better than I could've hoped for, and the entire experience was indescribable!
As a first time artist, not only did I get a venue, but it was actually one of my top three choices! At least 200,000 people came through the venue where I was showing and saw my art! Like I said, AMAZING! The best part of it all was when Walter, one of the homeless people from my piece, came in and saw himself! Not once, not twice, but on three separate occasions, and each time, he brought someone else with him! His pride at seeing himself up there was awesome! He said to me that he has lived in Grand Rapids for years, and had never been comfortable enough to go into that building, but I made him feel like he belonged there!!!
After ArtPrize finished, I displayed the piece locally in another competition, and took First Place in the public vote and also won the Most Reflective Juried award! That was the first time I have won a competition with my art!
As amazing as this year was, I have some great intentions for the coming year as well! I have joined a creativity challenge for January, and intend to get focused back on art. I also am not finished yet with the portraits! They have more of a story to tell, and I am going to do just that by turning them into a book! I have interviewed two of the subjects so far, and will continue to do more until I have enough for my book! I did get some press in the local paper for my project, and hopefully that will stir up some interest in thing as well!
http://www.mlive.com/jenison/index.ssf/2012/12/holiday_includes_a_wider_look.html
I hope to begin work on a series of mixed media paintings in the new year. I am also using some of my prize winnings to join a local artists guild, in an effort to grow as an artist and get some more opportunities to show my work! As I said, 2013.....READY OR NOT, HERE I COME!

Watercolor Portraits

These have been done for awhile now, but I realized I never posted them here...I am ever so proud of them

The last one is my absolute favorite!  They are all done in watercolor and I chose to do a different color for each person....LOVE LOVE LOVE how they turned out!

Day five

So here is the latest....and boy do I like her MUCH better!  It pays to push through the block :)

I am really excited about the way that the drawings are progressing...I just have to remember that it will only continue to get better.....and doing art makes me happy :)  I have been much happier this week since I have been committed to doing this every day!!!  Oh, and I got my first commission of the New Year today as well!!!!  INTENTIONAL....that is what I am choosing this year!

The good, the bad and the ugly...

Ok, so I must confess that my art is not always successful :{  But surely I cannot be the only one who has this problem......can I?  Today's submission for Creative Everyday is less than successful.  But, being true to the nature of what I am trying to do, I will nonetheless share it.

So, I think that the right eye is a little wonky.  On a plus, the mouth is pretty good for being an open, smiling mouth.  The hair is a little off as well.  I don't want to scrap it, so I will date it and continue on tomorrow...who knows, I might be able to use part of it in another project :)  Day Four .... CHECK!  I think that I am well on my way to creating a habit!

Creative Everyday - Day 3 :)

Here is the before:

And here it is done:

This was such a fun painting to do :)
Lesson learned....paint the background first!  I struggled a little trying to put it in after I had the girl done, but luckily the texture on the hair worked as a dam to hold back the paint.  Next time I will do all of the background first, and then add the girl.  I also think that it will add a little dimension as well.  Please leave a comment and tell me what you think :)

Happy New Year!

 So I have decided to go for it this year and state my artistic goals publicly in order to try and be held accountable to them!  So, here goes:

     1.  I am an artist and I need to start living it!  I have decided to join the Creative Everyday Movement and do something creative each and every day!!!!  Yes, time is of a premium...Yes, I am still working full time and helping to run a consignment shop...Yes, I am a mom and wife....but YES I AM AN ARTIST!
     2.  I was ever so graciously given the gift of an online class over the Holidays.  I will be participating in Soul Restoration http://bravegirlsclub.com/onlineclasses.html starting January 11...the day after my Birthday...HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME :)  There is still time to sign up...take a look at it, it sounds really amazing!!!!!
     3.  By the end of this year I hope to have a little stockpile of artsy goodness on hand that I can show somewhere....no, I will have a portfolio of items that I can use to represent my work :)
These are my resolutions...or "projects" as Suzi Blu calls them.  They are intentional and will happen!
     A lot of the artists that I most admire lately have chosen words to represent them this year...mine is INTENTION!

Red :)

So here is my latest painting....I am not sure about the nose, but I will continue working through it :)

After showing my hubby, he wasn't impressed with the background...he thought it looked too violent.  I think his exact words were : "It looks like something that should be hanging in an abused woman's shelter"...ah well, to each their own.  It is also going to have some words...I am thinking "Listen to your heart's whispers".  If you look closely you will see vintage sheet music in the background...I LOVE IT!

I have been addicted to doing faces since I took a couple of  Suzi Blu's classes.  http://suziblu.ning.com/ They are awesome!  She is so quirky, it is a blast to watch the videos!  I have actually been caught giggling, no, flat out guffawing while watching :)

I have also been working through the book "Taking Flight" by Kelly Rae Roberts with a friend, and have made the journal from chapter one.  I love the way the pages turned out, and have been digging pretty deep for the content.  My creative wings include selling my work and using it to fund Mission Trips.  Today, I met with a woman who is interested in opening a consignment shop with me and using some of the proceeds for Mission work!!!!!  Is that not God speaking or what!?  Although we are in talking stages, September is when she wants to open.  There is A LOT of work to be done, but I have told her I have nothing financial to bring to the table, only my time and talent and she seemed VERY interested still!  Please say a few prayers that God will make His plan known to me....this might be the FIRST STEP that I have been waiting for.