Well, I'm sorry this is just a little tidbit today but I've got my midterm tonight-must study and not goof off (well, this is fun and could be considered a goof off).
Anyway, this is important. Why do you do this? Is it because you feel pressured to fulfill a talent? Is it because you love the way it makes you feel free? Is it because you need to earn money and think this will do it? What is the reason? Knowing the reason will help to guide you. If it's a negative one then you can try to figure out if there is a better reason for it behind that. When I did this quite a few years ago I had a list of about 10 things that made me realize how much it added to my life. At the same time you could be thinking about if this is a healthy thing. Am I obsessed with this and ignore my family? When I quit doing this full time in 1999 I was getting to the point that I was thinking about it constantly. It became an obsession and ceased to have joy involved in it. I was really trying to make money and figure out what people would buy (I can tell you why Van Gogh cut off his ear-FRUSTRATION). Not a good mind set, let me tell you. That's when I went to work at a dental lab for 8 years and did a little art here and there. I have to say that that long break was good for me. You get into a style rut and this freed me from that. Now I'm comfortable to do things that I like and I hope that will show in my creations these days. Doing the mosaic hearts last year brought me so much satisfaction. If you look at my horse and cat painting that I'm working on (back a few post pages) you can see that, indeed, this painting brings me joy. My 2 favorite animals in a great setting with lovely flowers. Do I care that someone might ask why I'm doing something so trite as horses, cats and flowers? Not a whit. I'm thinking of naming this "Julie's Paradise" (I would need to add my family but too late now). Maybe I could call it that and add "and behind the bush is her family".
Study time.
I'm so glad you came by my blog. I love yours, your art is wonderful. Cats & horses are two of my favorite beasties too. If they give us joy, they can't be trite! I also like the part about putting the family in there behind the bush, that's funny. Us Julies have our own little worlds I'm afraid. But as Martha says, "It's A Good Thing."
ReplyDeleteGood luck on that mid-term..
Thank you for visiting my blog. You are a wonderful artist. Those mosaic hearts are great. I love the painting of the lady in the gazebo, I forget the name of it.
ReplyDeleteI am a needle worker, and have laterly gotten into doing beading and embroidering together. I love it. I've crocheted and knitted for years, and want to open an Etsy shop, have it just haven't put anything in it yet. I am a procrastinator and a bit intimidated by the whole process. I hope that the love of working with thread that I have shows in my pieces. I do not want to feel pressured over this, but to create with love and joy in my heart.
I look forward to reading more of your tips.
FlowerLady
Thanks so much Flower Lady for visiting. I have some advice about Etsy. You really have to keep it updated all the time or else you get buried in all the other people's stuff. I have not had any success there but leave it on. I think it probably is better to just renew it every once in a while so you can keep your shop showing on your blog like I do. Etsy is very fun but high competition. You should try it. It's quite fun really.
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