
“Each Day a Gift!”

“Each Day a Gift!”
I have been working on using the palate knife for a long time. Some things come out better than others, but to get better this is a road I need to follow.
I ran into this video over the weekend and thought it was good enough to share. The artist is Mike Pintar and he is a Wisconsin artist who as far as I can see uses a viriety of styles, & paints. I really love his style, he is easy to follow, and understand.
Lately I’ve been working on a couple of things, but I’m in my studio for about 4 – 6 hours a day painting and creating. For me it’s a miracle, and when the muse is here, I certainly don’t want to push it away. So while you are watching this video, and hopefully getting some new ideas, I’m going to be working on some things that are in the process of being finished.
I think the video is perfect for a gloomy rainy day. So get some popcorn, and enjoy the show, I know I did!

Last Tuesday I talked about creativity, and where and how to get it. Today I want to show you this painting and explain a little about it.
We all get inspiration in different ways, we work in different ways, and on different schedules. One of the things I do is to put medium weight clear plastic over the tables in my studio. This is in part to protect the tables from paint and anything else I’m working with. My son Chris, has a different set up. In his studio he uses saw horses to hold a large piece of wood something like masonite. It stands higher than regular saw horses so he doesn’t have to bend and lean over his work.
One day when I changed out the plastic on my tables I realized that the other side is a work of art. It looked like the best abstract I had ever created, and it won’t be a surprise to anyone that I save them all. Chris of course, just paints on his wood and doesn’t care if it gets paint on it. One day recently he cleaned up his studio, looked at the paint board, and had to show me. This painting is part of that board, and I like it! You couldn’t do that if you tried, and that brought me to thinking about putting canvas down instead of plastic. So that’s my next experiment, and I’m pretty sure Chris won’t be far behind.
Has anyone else thought of that, and if so, I’d love to see what ever that creativity has brought to you.
Much of my inspiration has been brought to me by Zebra Design & Destination, check them out when you get a chance.

Today is a beautiful day for art! Even if it’s raining, or cold and icy, it is always a beautiful day to paint!
I ‘ve been dabbling a little in art, and I’m starting to get re-inspired once again. Unfortunately, I have dry spells. As I’ve been trying to figure out why I’m having a dry spell, this is the obvious, and what I’ve come to realize is the demise of my creativity.
It has been a while since I’ve taken any trips or visited a museum. With winter, and cold wet weather, come hibernation. I guess I’m not only a Goldie Locks Girl, but I tend to hibernate like a bear the minute we have a time change, it starts getting dark early, and winter sets in for real. This is not beneficial to any artist, but particularly not to me.
We all need creative energy, and although it has been the topic of many conversations, where do we get that creativity? I tend to hunker down at home the minute it gets dark, and in all fairness by the afternoon I get tired and run out of energy. At that point, vegging out seems the best option. If I cook, it needs to be started early so I haven’t any choice but to finish for dinner. If I paint, that too needs to stop by around three in the afternoon. Three seems to be the vegging hour for me. I can get quit a lot finished between the hours of nine in the morning and three in the afternoon.
My husband Les and I have been talking about vacations this year, and one of the places I love going to is Yosemite National Park. There is something about connecting with nature in a forest of huge ancient trees that washes away all the stress and dirt from the big city. Walking amongst the trees, listening to wildlife, finding little treasures like leaves that inspire, or a branch that has fallen, walking in the streams, and visiting a meadow with deer grazing is what I need to replenish my creative energy. There are other things also that help with creativity, like a gallery or museum, heck it all helps. But, hunkering down in a heated hark house away from people, and places doesn’t do it!

My blogging has been sporadic lately, and not what I had anticipated, but I’ve been blogging now for three plus years, and even if I’m on vacation, my blog has gone out five days a week. I don’t want to give up my blog, nor do I want to give up creating. Not surprisingly, I want to paint, and cut back on my blog for now.
I’m still here, I’m just busy creating a masterpiece! As a friend once told me, it’s never going to hang in La Louvre! I laugh because years ago I was in sales, traveling sales one might say. Each day of the week I had a large handful of clients to visit, and supply them with product for their hair salons. What I haven’t told you is that I was driving a truck stocked with all kinds of products that the clients used on a daily basis. Isn’t life a journey?
I loved being able to be on the side lines of the beauty business, and will always miss the people, the smell of the products, and the exhaustion of the tight schedule that took me all over San Diego, and into Temecula in Riverside County. This story I tell you because creativity comes from everywhere, and manifests in many ways. I didn’t have time or energy in those days to paint, but I was creative in the way I helped the cosmetologists, and store owners.

I leave you today with the idea that we all need to go places, and do things that will inspire us, and fill us up with creativity. Even a walk maybe on the beach to breathe in clean fresh air is a big part of energizing. A hike in the mountains, down a path, or in a meadow. Where ever it is, I wish you much happiness, and creativity on your own journeys.
Over the holidays, I got so hungry for art, and not having much time to myself, I decided to start some Art People. I know you’ve seen my brushes I had created from old used and worn out brushes, and these are an extension of those. Simple at this stage, but gaining personality by the minute, for sure you’ll see the next step as they morph into real people with a personality, and style!

Aren’t they fun? All of the finished brushes are now living with another artist, and the newly created brushes will be available soon.

Retirees Paintbrushes
Have a great weekend, and I want to thank all of you for following my blog.

“Each Day a Gift!”
Over the last month of 2015, This little collage was created for a Birthday Gift for a friend. It was fun to do, and I sincerely hope she liked it. Since her birthday, it has been chaos, and I really haven’t seen her. But I know she appreciates the things that remain important……waking up each morning, having her Family and the Friendships that we all share!
Inspiration comes in part from Zebra Designs & Inspiration
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