This is a preliminary pencil study for a commission i’m working on. It will be very large, 48″ x 48″ when complete. There is a lot of nature going on in the full panel, this is just a crop i did for the client so they could see the style of drawing i was proposing. The part shown above is only about 1/6th of the whole piece. This will be done on a large sheet of watercolor paper that i have to buy on an enormous roll because the dimensions are above average. It will have a deckle/torn edge all around and be mounted on top of a darker mat board then framed.The framed piece will be LARGE and in charge.

See? i told you guys i was busy making art even thought i’ve had no new shop listings in a while!

i have 4 other commissions that i’ll be able to post progress on in the next week or so, so stay tuned. And i have 2 completed commissions i can’t post yet “just in case”, because they were ordered as father’s day gifts and haven’t been given yet. After dad’s day, i’ll share.

The new projects are all VERY different from one another and will be keeping me on my toes! Hope i can keep up!

i started telling you about this sweet project in a previous post. And i was a really good little artist because i documented my progress! i did this, in part, because if i were the recipient of this unique gift, i would find it extremely interesting and touching to be able to see its creation. So thank you to Mr. Awesome for conceiving such a heartfelt gift for his bride. And good luck to the happy couple in their super sweet new home!

i will explain.

i received an email from Mr. Awesome (name changed to keep him safe from throngs of women). Mr. Awesome had just finalized purchase of his first home with his beloved, and wanted to have me create a piece of artwork to hang in a special place and commemorate their milestone.

“Can you create an artwork showing the house as a creampuff, he asked?”

Hmmmm………Now there’s a sentence you don’t read everyday!

Mr. Awesome went on to explain that somehow or other (possibly because of it’s sweetness or size?) their house had been nicknamed “The Creampuff.” Ahh, now i was getting it. His idea was to embrace the name and the adorableness, & preserve it for posterity. So i am happily obliging, and quite hurriedly put together a crude pencil sketch. i explained that i’d love to make the art with sketchy pencil & watercolor, with touches of colored pencil shading and such. My goal was to evoke a storybook-look, akin to illustrations of the woman who lived in a shoe. Remember her? i’m sure she’d have chosen a creampuff if there was one available on the market when she was buying!

Anyway, the sketch was a hit!

So that makes my …um…..7th? commission this month. gulp!

Now, as the title to this post aptly states, i am buried (and drowning just a little) in literal creampuff sweetness as well as the sugary loveliness of abundance. i blame it all on scoutiegirl tara. i read her post on embracing abundance a few weeks back and it has stuck with me BIG TIME!

In the past, i’ve always taken a fair amount of commission work. That’s nothing new. But i’ll admit i’ve also often shied away from certain projects. If someone approaches me, who i find intimidating, or who wants something that i think is too lofty for my skill set, i balk. i can’t help it. i have a fear of failing. Don’t we all? But i’ve put those feelings of inadequacy aside lately. i’ve grown a lot more confident in my individuality, my unique talents, and what i have to offer. i attribute these changes in attitude to tara and the community of indie artists and crafters who’ve told their story in response to her prompting in posts like “embracing abundance” and “kick the damn door down.” Just yesterday, i wrote a would-be client, that my experience doing commissioned works as well as my 13 years experience as a graphic designer working with clients of all different tastes has made me “quite adept at flexing my art muscle and adapting to suit the client.”

i surprised even myself with that! Because, while i believe that statement to be 100% true, i’ve never had the guts to put it out there before. (and i think the guts are making my art better too)

Reading so many stories of inspiration from other artists, and hearing encouragement from people i respect was definitely timely medicine for me. Look what the universe dropped on my doorstep! Three LARGE canvas painting commissions, 2 pencil portraits, a piece of nursery art and “The Creampuff.”

i will be a crazy person working my day job, trying to get goods ready for upcoming art markets and trying to complete all this work. But that’s hardly something to complain about!

So, thank you to tara. Thank you to all my fellow artists whose stories have inspired. Thank you to my customers who drive me to create…and thank you to myself, for finally getting it into my skull that i don’t need to try to be an artist. i’ve been one all along.