learning as i go

baxter! oil on canvas panel

i am thinking about joining the daily paintworks group. i entered the pink baxter in their monthly contest. so exciting :)  there is some awesome competition. yeah, reality check, i have a long way to go. but i'm working on it now!

well, what had happen was.....

obviously painting daily is great practice. and i need all the practice i can get! 

lessons learned with today's painting session:

     1.  i don't think i can handle painting small

     2.  i don't have enough small brushes

     3.  i also don't like the super smooth panel

     4.  maybe hamsters are just not my thing

i almost gave up on this one. i struggled so much. i cleaned everything up. and as i stepped away from it, i saw where many improvements were needed. 

     5.  step back and look at it before you clean up

     6.  take pictures before you start making "improvements" 

at first i hated this one but at least it is recognizable as a hamster.  i'm just happy i actually spent some time painting today. it's just like anything else. the more prepared i am, the more confident i get. and i really love doing it so why not do something i love on a daily basis? 

i love to paint!

1st painting is oil on wood panel. 2nd one was done in oil on canvas.

my weekend was absolutely wonderful. i took a workshop i'd been wanting to do for over a year now. it's a dog portrait workshop offered by the vmfa. the instructor was matt lively and he is awesome.

i didn't know what to expect when we started. i showed up with only drawing materials. but you know what? i love to paint! i was reluctant to paint because it had been so long since i picked up my paint brushes. i don't understand why i have no confidence in my painting abilities. i received a lot of compliments on these but there are so many areas i want to "fix". i am afraid i will mess them up completely if i touch them again. they look really good from far away. when i look at them i am actually amazed at myself and say in steve urkel's voice "did i do that?" :)

so now i am starting to think that maybe i can start a business. i need a job. i love to paint. what's stopping me? i'm kind of excited just thinking about it! well, let's see what happens :)

too much time on my hands

it has been on my list of things to do for 2 months now. there are people i need to thank and a baby shower i missed. i don't usually hand write on the front of my cards but i felt frisky tonight. tee hee   

i used paper and scissors to cut out the elephant shape and put together a portrait of baxter, he really does have googly eyes sometimes :)  then i pulled out the scrapbooking paper and tried to put some things together. 

it's funny, tonight i was watching a movie, i thought about getting these cards made but instead i started cleaning. as i sprayed some windex i wondered why i was procrastinating. i don't understand why i do that to myself. i needed to spend time in my studio. it's fun. it makes me feel good. i love it! 

i have a lot on my mind these days. i have this opportunity now to really think about what is it i want to do with myself & my life. one of the reasons i moved 100 miles away was to jump start a change. i signed up to go back to school in the fall. i'm thinking of art classes again as well as one of those career switcher programs to become a school teacher. i would love to add "art teacher" to my resume :)