Rant-y Garbage Post.

And I mean "Garbage Post" in the sense that this is going to cover little of everything. You know, like how a garbage pizza has every topping under the sun on it. I guess I just have a lot on my mind at this very moment, and it's all about to spill.

Firstly, road trips. I do not want to offend anyone here (not that I actually have readers... yet), but I do not understand people who have no desire to travel and see the world. I get the comforts of being at home and sleeping in your own bed and using your own shower. But there is just so much to see. How can you appreciate and understand other people if you have only met the people in your own town? For example, I spent last weekend in a teeny tiny town in Minnesota visiting a friend. I have never been to Minnesota. I also realized that I had never truly been to a small town. People waved at each other from cars. They knew the mail woman's name. And her daughter's name. They had those Minnesota accents. And they honestly were the nicest people I have ever met in my entire life; and they all were nice by default. Accepting and generous and kind... it was almost overwhelming. It really reignited that feeling of wanderlust in a huge way. I want to see places like that, talk to people like that, that are different. Beautiful.

There is a map on the United States on the wall in my studio. On that map is a highlighted route of my ultimate road trip, a circular route that covers I believe 43 states and would take about two months to complete ideally. When I created that route (back in October I believe), I had a departure date in mind. That date is not going to happen. But that trip will happen. Sooner than later.

Secondly, inspiration. Lately I have been obsessed with following other artist's blogs, especially the ones who make art for a living. Their message is all clear, "We all need to do more of what we love." Why settle for less? I've found that surrounding myself with the inspiration of others really helps me to stay focused on what I want to do.  A few of the artists and pieces and random beautiful things I have been inspired by lately...

Brooch bouquets. I cannot get enough of them lately. No I'm not getting married. I just think they are beautiful and artistic and all so different. Turning the old into the new is always a good thing. This one is designed by The Ritzy Rose.

Everything about Jessica Swift amazes me. I first discovered her at an art fair in Chicago and could not believe just how much work she has produced. Hundreds of prints, stationary, patterns, it's crazy. She just oozes creativity and vibrance. 

Mae Chevrette is really the artist who woke me and made me realize that it is possible to live your dreams when I read her "Quit Your Day Job" article on Etsy. I love trying to dissect other mixed media artists' processes and could look at her work for hours (and have). 

Cate Parr's use of color is stunning. And don't even get me started on the use of fine details. Swoon.

Bianca Green... love everything she does.

"Dear Earth" by Katie Daisy. Her use of paint and textures and little details fascinates me.

I love keeping up with Katie Rodgers' of PAPERFASHION and her exciting career. She is such a huge inspiration and such a natural talent. I definitely recommend following her on Instagram; it will brighten your day!!

Love Rachel Austin's use of maps underneath her paintings.

The list goes on forever... I need to surround myself with this stuff and these types of people. Inspired people who see beauty in such small things. People who see a flower on their walk to the mailbox and two days later have created a piece of art based on how lovely they thought it was. So many people don't notice things like that. I am very grateful to be a noticer. And yes I just invented that word. And I like it. 

On Hanging Out In Cemeteries... And Being Potentially Creepy.

Yesterday was one of  "those days" in a very bad way. I woke up in a terrible mood, which almost never happens to me. Don't get me wrong, I get in bad moods from time to time (almost always involving my job), but they are caused by something specific. Again, that something is almost always related to my job. Yesterday I just woke up grumpy. I tried blasting music on my way to work and singing. No luck. I drank extra coffee and piggybacked that with a 5 Hour Energy at lunch. No luck. I made it a point to leave on time for once. Even that did not have an effect. So I decided to bring out the big guns: get my camera and head to Greenlawn Cemetery. I even brought a mobile cocktail because the day just called for it. 

Cemeteries have always had a very profound effect on me. I swear I can feel the energy there in the air. The feeling of being overwhelmed by something that is so much larger than you or what you can grasp is very grounding. Although the magnolia trees have now lost all of their flowers, there are still plenty of other living, blooming things that add of the quiet peace and beauty. I'm pretty sure I was the only person in the entire place last night and had a good hour and a half to walk around with my camera. My mood change was almost instantaneous; as soon as I stepped out of my car and felt the air everything just shifted. 

I guess what gets me about being there (aside from the peace and beauty and calm) is just this astounding realization that this is where we all end up, regardless of what we accomplish or how much money we make or how many people love or hate us. It reiterates the fact that we have a pretty short window to be here and we are the only ones who decide how we want to spend it. I come across a lot of greedy and self-entitled people during my days, people who think they are better than everyone else for no real reason at all. I try not to let it get to me, but sometimes it's hard. And what is the point in acting that way? What gives them the right? It's so dumb to me because we all end up in the same place. Why not spend your time appreciating everything: people, nature, sunshine, a hot shower, a warm bed, animals... once you stand in a cemetery and start thinking about stuff like that, it make it pretty damn near impossible to be in a reasonless bad mood and kind of reminds you where you stand. 

Then to top it all off, I got Chipotle for dinner. Bad day = OVER.

I Want to be Like Flora Bowley.

So after a mysterious two month hiatus, I feel like my inspiration and drive has returned with a vengeance. I can't stop reading artist's blogs, Facebook pages, reading their stories on the Etsy blog, admiring their work. Maybe it's the return of the sunshine, warm weather, and life this spring that has brought my creative spirit back with it. Whatever it is, I'm grateful it happened.

I'm sitting at my desk right now, just taking a quick little break before I dive into a sizable, boring-ass project, and I came across the art of Flora Bowley via Katie Daisy's Facebook page. I am mesmerized by the pictures of her working, hands covered in paint, using her hands as tools, using all sorts of other tools, to make these rich and beautiful paintings. Her work is so free and natural and personal... I am in love. The dreaminess of it reminds me of Marc Chagall, one of my all-time favs. Looking at the picture of her with the paintbrush (in the middle), my hands are pretty much tingling and I suddenly have this overwhelming sense of feeling like "I am meant to do that. That is what I am supposed to be doing, right now and always." I'd give anything to have a canvas in front of me right now. Flora's Facebook page has all sorts of amazing photos on it (that are a lovely distraction from my aforementioned boring-ass project)... and her studio? Amazing. Stuff all over the walls. Paint everywhere. Just oozing with inspiration. 

So now I am off to work with numbers and spreadsheets and formulas and inventory... when all I can think about is someday spending my days with paint-covered hands and classic rock blasting while doing what I love and creating.

Adobe Lightroom: My New Best Friend.

Nowadays everyone seems to have an opinion on digital photography, digital cameras, and software programs like PhotoShop and LightRoom... and the consensus from a lot of people is, "Nowadays anyone can be a great photographer." They say it like it's this lost art and almost like it's a sad thing that just about anyone can take a great picture. I kind of tend to disagree with this. Why isn't it an amazing thing that people are wanting to capture beautiful moments and memories? Photography is an art form and art is a way to appreciate the beauty that is around us (that a lot of people take for granted), so in my opinion, the more photographers the merrier. 

That being said, I have been a lover of PhotoShop ever since one fateful class in art school. I have gotten pretty good at it over the years, but when it came to tweaking digital photos I was never too happy with my skills. Then last week I discovered LightRoom. Maybe I live under a rock. Maybe it's because I am still pretty amateur when it comes to digital photography and the fun toys surrounding it. I dunno. But for the past week, I have been Lightrooming my ass off. Into the wee hours of the night, I tell myself, "Just one more photo." Then when I thought that was great, I discovered that you can download presets online... for free. Definitely still getting the hang of it, but I foresee a fabulous relationship between us in the future. I can't wait to print some of this stuff out and collage the hell out of it. Happy Tuesday!

Little Yellow Flowers

The first few pictures from spring this year! I have a tradition going... it's a day that I look forward to every year. There is a place in the woods I used to visit some years back that has quite a bit of meaning to me. Last year on the first warm day of spring, I decided to go back there and brought a camera. Much to my delight, the entire forest was covered in these tiny yellow flowers. They have become somewhat of an obsession of mine; I thought about them all winter this year and couldn't wait for the day I could go back. This year was even better because I actually own a halfway decent camera now (rest in peace, old crappy yet faithful digital that succumbed to a recent night of partying). These are the first four of about 250 pictures I have taken this spring. Lots of Photoshopping in my future!!

Sidenote: creative ruts suck. I think I am finally slowly emerging from mine.

Some New Work

I have had the idea for these in my head for quite some time, but didn't quite know how to get them into a solid piece of art. After a trip to Half Price Books a few weeks ago for inspiration, I finally decided on a direction. Find a happy medium between going with the flow and deliberate creation has been surprisingly easy lately and I have been creating with ease. Maybe all of the art journaling and playing with different techniques has paid off! I can't wait to get started on my next piece, which will be called simply, "Bohemian."

Gratitude.

Good lord. I am possibly the worst blogger ever. Has it really been since December 4 that I have written anything about what is going on in my corner of this crazy world we live in? It's funny how the winter months seem to fly by quickly yet drag on slowly at the same time. Here we are in mid-January. I am behind the game in this whole "get my art out into the world" process, as my website is not up and my Etsy shop is still not open. It's an intimidating process, and as much as I don't want to be afraid of failure, I kind of am.

I have read two books lately that have been both praised as genius and blown off as bogus and controversial. They are The Secret and The Power. While I have to admit I am not a 100% believer in this Law of Attraction that the books explain, there is one thing that I have taken away from them that has honestly changed the way that my days are shaped. That thing is gratitude.

It's practically a cliche that reminds most people of that Counting Crows song... "Don't it always seem to go, that you don't know what you got til it's gone." But it's true. If you broke your dominant arm today, there would be dozens of things that you suddenly cannot do like you did before: writing, driving, typing, drying your hair, putting on makeup, whatever. Yet do we ever stop to feel gratitude for the ability to do these things on a daily basis? I know that I never did. Or what about heat, air conditioning, running water, a hot shower, a warm bed. Groupons, Target, champagne, Pinterest... I could make a list literally a mile long of things I am thankful for. When you realize how many good things you have in your life and are thankful for them all day every day, it is really hard to be in a bad mood, or have anything but a great day.

If you are a musician, a writer, a dancer, an artist. If you have a photographic memory, a beautiful singing voice, an amazing sense of humor... these are the things to be insanely thankful for. Not everyone can sing. Not everyone can draw. Not everyone can play the guitar. If you have abilities like this, be grateful for them! So many people wish they could play the piano or crank out a gorgeous painting as easily as breathing. I honestly don't know what I would do if I was not artistic. I can't imagine a life without an appreciation for art. Art is a part of my every single day, without exception. And I am so, so grateful for that. And Red Bull. And Spotify. And Campbell's vegetable soup. And about a million other things. Don't forget to be grateful. It will change your life. Promise.