I've decided to create this new blog for my artwork. What this means is that I've also decided to start doing more art pieces. I don't know how I'll find the time but I will. I need a creative outlet and I've also considered that perhaps this will be a way to make some extra money. And if not, I'll have a house full of paintings and a blog to prove it.
I've always enjoyed painting but I've never considered it to be a reliable income. Okay, truth be told, I've never pushed myself to make and sell art. I've entered one art show where I made a little bit of money on a small painting. The other fees have been through word of mouth--friends or family members who need some art for their homes. People love paintings of their pets and I've found I'm actually quite good at animals.
My plans are to work on my skills. Become a better artist. Fix the things I don't like about my art. Just get painting.
From there, I figure my art can only get better.
Recently I painted a Dr. Seuss painting for our son's room.
It felt good to get out the paints. I whipped it up in a matter of an afternoon. I found that I missed creating a picture on a blank canvas.
Truth be told, I had fun creating a collage of
The Paperbag Princess (we had an extra copy) with my daughter. It was fun to experiment with paper and acrylic mediums. I found myself looking for an opportunity to paint again. But when is the perfect opportunity? Sometimes you have to push yourself to grab onto some time and just do it.
Before that, I rarely produced art. The last art I had done was for Riley's bedroom to match her Pottery Barn Kids bedding.
I just didn't set aside time once I became a mother.
People often visit and love the huge African Safari painting that is framed in our dining room. They will say, "You should do that for a living!" I've even had people try to offer us money for it. I love it too and when I look at the art I've created, it is one of the pieces that makes me believe in my abilities. It is one that I really worked hard on and it shows. The ones I've whipped up for fun are obvious. This one was a labour of love and took months to complete.
When people have told me to sell art for a living, I've brushed away their comments and thought, art doesn't pay. I'm not saying that because I want to be wealthy but I do want a nice roof over our heads and for our kids to have some luxuries in life like after school activities. So I programmed, mothered and collapsed. Then one day I experimented with art and my love for painting returned and I found myself figuring out what art project I could do next. I could be a programmer, mother
and an artist. Why not? There aren't enough hours in the day but I'd rather make the most of those hours than putting it off until I'm too old to see the fine lines made by my paint brush.
I've created this blog as a space to work on my art. To let the creative side of me have a life too. As our kids are growing older and enjoying art themselves, I think I will have the ability to not only foster my own artistic endeavours but to help them to explore their own talents. Art is so important. It really is. Art has saved me from boring situations and given me balance when I thought I'd go crazy. And our kids LOVE art. One night I gave them canvases and let them use my acrylic paints and they spent at least an hour working on their paintings. They were so proud when we hung them in their rooms. That is what art is about.
Cracks in the Crystal Ball (Acrylic 2011) by Riley (4.5 years old)
So let's get creating and remember there is more to life than making sure your laundry is clean.
