That’s a very frequent thing to have to do, during the painting process and after as well. It’s one of the reasons why I ended up having many unfinished paintings. That and my overactive-imagination driven shortened attention span. So, the good news is that “Moonlit Magic” is complete. I’m giving it about a week before adding a layer of varnish. Since next week is a national holiday, I intend to take some of the extra time off in order to do a photograph session and update the site more.

Meanwhile, I keep having the urge to do a little sewing project. At first, I thought “Hey, I have some extra black velvet and purple crushed velvet, I can make myself a dress!” but I’d never have the occasion to wear it so then I thought “A black and purple bunny would be cute.” but the more I considered it the more I thought “Actually, a black a purple dragon plush would be amazing!”

I have a sewing machine that I bought years ago and used all of twice. It’s just been sitting on a shelf in the back of my closet, in its box, just gathering dust. The problem is I don’t have a pattern to use; I’d be making this completely from scratch and I’m not sure how to start. Certainly, don’t want to waste the good fabric I have, and I wouldn’t want it to be lopsided. Do I use thread or buttons to make the eyes? Too many questions but I know I wont be able to let this go so I’ll figure it out and maybe one day there will be a picture of it randomly on the website. Just “BOOM!”, velvet dragon.

Not much really to say beyond that. Life continues to move along at its own pace.

Of course, being only 5′, I’m always short. That’s right, I’m tiny.

This past week has been both eventful and not. Having two days off in the middle of the week is nice and yet also weird since I’m not used to having consecutive days off. Great opportunity to catch up on things had I the motivation to actually do something. Unfortunately, the summer heat hit peak highs on those days so the idea of doing anything at all sounded most unpleasant. Don’t get me wrong; I wasn’t a complete slug. I got some paintings varnished and worked on the corrections.

I also came to grips with the fact that some paintings are simply too far off to correct on their current canvas and would need to be completely repainted in order for me to be satisfied with the final result. That does allow me to start off right with the sketch done before hand. When I say sketch, I do of course mean digitally. My sketching skills on paper always leave something to be desired. I think it’s because I’ve gotten so used to the corrective tools available on the computer and didn’t really push myself to learn how to draw properly with pencil and paper. Even on computer the sketches are all simply a loose layout of “I want this pose-ish”.

As you can see, I start off with a very rough sketch and then blend and shade to correct from there. The liquify tool is fantastic for this stage. After I’m satisfied with the form is when I start thinking about color. I have a general color scheme in mind most of the time.

It’s always been a bit easier for me to work on something on the computer and get it where I want it to be, but nothing beats the joy of putting paint on canvas. For the longest time I tried to make the transfer visually since I didn’t have a printer to try to help with moving the outlines over. As I mentioned in my previous post, sometimes my eyes lie to my hands in making sure paint went where it needed to go. Especially if it needed to be somewhat symmetrical. So, there was always something just a bit off.

Now that I have a decent printer and ink isn’t an arm and a leg to purchase only to run out after 10 prints (I’m looking at you, HP), I can really “loosen my belt” when it comes to using the tools at my disposal to affect the results I want. The best thing is that the printer I got to replace the ink-guzzling HP wasn’t much more expensive, but the quality is worlds apart. Bonus, it can print on 11″x17″ paper, so larger prints are an option!

I haven’t really had much cause to use it yet, but I’m still super excited to have it.

Anyway. That’s all I have to say.

This past week has been unfortunately exciting for me. I was involved in a minor car accident on Tuesday that was not very good for reducing my stress and anxiety levels. Thankfully, there were no injuries, and my car still runs fine but it still makes me a little anxious when I drive now. Happened at a stop light, too. One of the cars behind suddenly accelerated from a complete stop and rammed into the car behind me. Nothing that could have been prevented, but it still makes me nervous whenever a car pulls up behind me at a stop light now. I’ll get over it.

As for painting, I started reworking “Moonlit Magic” and had a great plan that immediately ended up getting tossed aside. Basically, then plan was to print out the new rework at scale and then transfer the proposed corrections via white pastel but because the canvas was already layered in paint there was nothing for the marks to cling to and they just fell away. So now I’m free handing it with the scaled print out taped up next to my easel to quick reference. Not ideal but doable.

How I’m working it now is I chose a starting point and am correcting in relation to that spot. Since the (viewer) left shoulder was the least altered that was the starting point for repaint. I tried to maintain the overall pose, much as I see changes that could be made, in order to not cause after-shadows on the canvas that I’ve previously run into. I have a painting that I’d started years ago when I was still learning, when I went back and finished it, I completely changed the pose on one arm and when viewed from an angle you can still see the original pose. Much as I love how the painting looks now, I’ll always be a little disappointed by what my own inexperience caused. So, I leave it hanging as a reminder of what I learned not to do.

Since I started that painting, my style has shifted more to flat layers rather than highly textured strokes which helps when I feel the need to make drastic changes, but oil paint has a habit of piling up when I’m trying to make clear edges that end up outlining things quite obviously.

Well, that’s the update for this week. I’ve made decent progress on the repaint but as far as battling my demons (imps, really), there have been some setbacks.

So, it’s been a week since the start of my new job and so far, it has been a great experience. It’s very gratifying to work with a team that all likes and appreciates having me there. So far. My health also seems to be improving bit by bit. It was a long road down so it’s not going to be a short ride back up.

But enough about me! Anyone here is really just here for the art. This past week I have touched up no less than 4 paintings to my satisfaction and have 4 paintings planned for when I start new projects. Of course, they’re going to be small paintings on the wooden hexagons so not much planning is really needed for them. I figured by the time I get to start them I’ll be a little burnt out on larger canvases, so it’ll be nice to work on something smaller and see how much detail can be added. It’s a theme I keep going back to; seasons personified as people.

This time I have a good plan that I had tried out previously and other people use often. I have created the sketches on the computer where I can make corrections to proportions and color scheme before I paint, which I have done many times before, only I will actually be printing the sketches out and using them transfer the outlines to the canvas. It ensures I’m not allowing for things to get wonky because I tried to eyeball it.

In the meantime, I have been going through what pictures I still have of the last photo session and re-processing them for upload and printing. Which has also helped in building the list of paintings that still need attention. Of course, I’m also finding that some of them may need more than a little work and I’m not quite ready for that. I’ve tried many times to make corrections to the pumpkin witch painting and still am unsatisfied with the results that I think I may need to scrap her. The moonlight magic also needs a serious face lift but I’m not sure how much more the canvas can take, haha.

Well… that’s all I have to say. Goodbye for now!

First up! For the time being, I have moved the store front over to Square. This provides better peace of mind for people looking to buy something, less of a headache for me in trying to maintain a full-time job and keep up with all the things that are required to make sure it works properly, and faster loading. The downside is the drop-shipping service I prefer to use isn’t integrated with Square so back to that drawing board I go. I’d love to be able to keep product on hand and ship in house but we’re not at that point yet.

As for me, yesterday was the first day of a new job which was exciting and awesome. What makes it more special is that the location is the same as my first job when I moved to this city. It’s where I met my partner as well. So far it has been an amazing experience, certainly tugging at the nostalgia feels, while also providing a refreshing experience of working with a team that is happy to have me there.

For paintings, nothing new has been started. I’d really like to focus my energy on finishing and polishing the paintings that have been yearning for my attention first. This will give me some time to settle into my new schedule since it’s a little different from what I’d gotten used to. The downside of this new job is that all of my weekend free time is gone and that is typically when vendor markets are done. But summertime in Texas is the absolute worst when it comes to open air markets so it’s not too much of a loss and weekends may open back up later on.

It’s also now been a week since I started taking regular supplements and, while I’m still tired all the time, I have been smiling a little more. So that’s good. Clearly, I’ve been feeling a little more motivated when it comes to the things I used to be passionate about. Progress is progress.

A full 2 years since my last post. I really am terrible at keeping up with this site. So much has happened since then. After I quit my job, I spent about 6 months being highly productive with painting. Mainly finishing up paintings that had been waiting for a long time. It felt really good. However, during that time I suffered a major hard drive failure and lost all the photos I’d taken and processed to be added on here. Of course, I didn’t believe in back-ups, so everything was just gone. Very disheartening. I also let one bad show demotivate me more than it should have. With dwindling funds, I ended up going back to work about a year ago and, since I had been in a tight spot financially, I wasn’t able to be very discerning with my choice of employment. The stress I had left my old job to recover from still hadn’t abated and this new company was actually worse. So, I just shut down. Work, home, eat, sleep, work, home, eat, sleep. Rinse and repeat. No desire to do anything more, no motivation to live beyond what was necessary. For another year. I just quit about a week ago.

Don’t get my wrong, some good did come of it. Thanks to some of the incentive programs, I was able to upgrade my printer and can now produce high-quality prints of my artwork. Not limited to 8″ by 10″ and smaller, as well. The last month with that company was better as well at the beginning and revitalized my will to enjoy life. That is to say, I had a new painting just completed and have drastically improved another one. I’m also in a better situation financially. Not completely out of the woods but certainly on better legs.

Not everything is related to work, however. I recently discovered that there is a high likelihood that I may be suffering from a hereditary deficiency in potassium. Which explains a lot that doctors have always failed to.

I’ve always been very reserved on what I post on here so let me explain a little backstory:

A couple years ago I started experiencing episodes of unexplained tachycardia. These episodes can last anywhere from 10 minutes to over an hour. I had an appointment with a cardiologist that I had to cancel when I lost my medical insurance but even before then my GP hadn’t done a great job of trying to resolve any issues that I brought up that wasn’t immediately fixable. Blood tests were conducted but results were never discussed unless I asked. “Your levels are a little off but they’re within normal ranges so nothing is actually wrong.” Then why don’t I feel like myself anymore? “Try these pills that make you feel like crap if you miss your dose by more than 10 minutes.” Why am I always so tired? I sleep 8 hours a night and if I have no reason to stay awake then I end up napping for another 3 hours in the middle of the day. No explanation.

My mother was hospitalized last month and during that time some underlying health issues that had been attributed to other diagnoses were brought to light. Chief among them were low potassium levels. Which her father died from. Sounds like such a small and simple to correct thing, too. If left unchecked, though, it can have serious health issues. Such as heart attacks. Which is actually how my grandfather died. A heart attack caused by a severe lack of potassium. It can also cause fatigue, low motivation, depression-like symptoms, intestinal problems. Guess which of those I don’t have. I’ll give you a hint. It’s less than 1.

Couple low potassium with chronically high stress levels and you’ve got a recipe for one messed up artist.

So, I have a plan to get my life back. Daily supplements, yoga, and painting. I also what to be a little more open on here about what is going on with me. Not just the painting. I can’t pretend my life is sunshine and rainbows. To be fair, not a person alive can truly make that claim. My life isn’t bad; I have a place I call my own, a supportive partner that has been with me for almost 16 years now, a small group of friends, a loving family that has always been there for me, and a passion that some people seem the enjoy. My life is actually pretty good; I just need to be able to enjoy it again. So, expect a life-centered rant from time to time.

I don’t actually expect anyone to read this but if you did thank you for taking the time.

So, it’s been a little over 6 months since I moved into the new place and a couple of things have changed since then. I am now completely in-house for the production of prints and some small products thanks to having a printer and Cricut. Also, about a month ago, I quit my job for a couple reasons. Mainly due to some health issues that were a result of stress. I’ve been staying home since then, getting some much-needed rest, catching up on a ton of unfinished paintings and in general living quietly. I have a couple of local events coming up that I’m both excited for and terrified of.

It’s funny, I started this post expecting to go on a rant about what the stress was doing to my body or to wax poetic about the various projects I’m working on or even to go on and on about the events I’m going to attend but I find myself short on words.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and if you would like to support my recovery, please head on over the shop and buy something.

In less than a week I will be moving to a new home. I’m hoping that a new environment will help me focus better on keeping my website and other things up to date. Fresh start and all that jazz.

I have some things that need to be updated on here, plenty of new paintings to add to the gallery. There is also a plan to add new prints to the store. I’ve started making 8″x10″ prints in-house so that I can have better control of the quality of the print. This also gives me the opportunity to start offering special edition prints so I’m very excited about that. Additionally, I’ve been looking into making stickers at home as well since this will enable me to keep the cost and price down.

As crazy as it may sounds, one of the things I’m most excited about in my new home will be the wall color. Currently my walls are beige and that has been having an effect on taking photos of the artwork. It’s also a very depressing color, I’ve concluded. The new walls will be a nice neutral white, which helps light reflect better and without the color shift in photos.

Another thing I am looking forward to is the dining area, which has traditionally been my studio space, is it’s own space rather than an extension of the living area and is a bit larger as well. Not quite to the point of it being it’s own room but getting closer.

All in all I am really looking forward to this new chapter of my life. After 7 years where I’m currently at, it was most certainly time.

Well, that’s all I’ve got to say now…. bye!

So, my print on demand service recently made some changes that make it difficult to add new items. Because of this I will be switching services which means that current items will be removed. Hopefully the switch will not take too long but this change should be for the best. Thank you, always, for your support.