Nothing like the sun streaming through the studio window on a sunday afternoon. Endless possibilities. This is such a beautiful sight to me.

Every weekend i swear i will catch up on overdue work and get some fresh new artwork done.

Every weekend flashes by in the blink of an eye and i come up short.

But this weekend, for some reason….i got it ALL done??? …and then some. So that meant that i could spend some time this lovely sunday afternoon being creative.

i’ve been keeping a little secret. i was contacted by an artist/author whom i consider to be pretty. darn. great. and she asked if i wanted to be part of her upcoming Blog Book Tour! Wow! Yay! (Once my very wet-behind-the-ears-in-the-world-of-publishing self came to understand what that was, i was stoked!) Essentially, she’ll be guest posting on popular creative blogs all over the web in the coming weeks talking about the launch of her new book, offering tips and tricks. interviews, videos and the like. Its a press junket that doesn’t require leaving your couch.

Turns out that this artist is about to roll out her own doodle book this month and thought we could partner on some fun press opportunities!!

Now, this is the part where i get all soft and squishy thinking of how many beautiful people i’ve met since embarking down this road toward my dream of being a full-time artist. i have found this community to be so giving, so willing to help. Nobody is looking to hog all the limelight and i have yet to meet a fellow artist who has been anything but amazingly generous.

Anyway, i’m still going to keep the full details under wraps a tad longer, but i thought i’d post some little tidbits from this first collaborative project we are working on together. i got to do Phase 1, then pass my work off to her for Phase 2, then i get it back for round 3 and …you get the idea. i can’t wait to see what develops! Happy Sunday!

There was no doubt or indecision. He saw himself clearly….through his own pretty little (wide-set?) eyes. Haha! It was so pure. He was proud.

i had a sorta different moment of clarity and self-awareness last night as i cleaned and organized my office. As i tidied and sorted, i realized just how efficient and professional a space it has become over the last few years. i’ve come so far from the girl who couldn’t admit out loud that she was an artist. Now i give myself permission to buy the tools of the trade, the proper packaging materials, quality art supplies and, occasionally, new-fangled gadgets that wildly improve my work flow.

It feels very real.  i feel confident enough to say that i am an artist…always a work in progress, but still.

Moments of clarity are good. i think i should try to experience them more often.

Artsy kids might seem shy at times. They might retreat into their sketchbook, or coloring book or picture book. Their christmas list might be filled with items like colored pencil sets, air dry clay, and anything with “Crayola” in front of it. And if an artsy kid grows and matures into an artist as an adult, the wish lists hardly change.

i was a super shy kid, always had my nose in a schoolbook or sketchbook. My family consisted of 4 kids, plus mom and dad, and we were all scholar athletes as was demanded by our parents. Not demanded in a bad, restrictive, “you’ll do what i say” kinda way, but in a “we want you to be all you can be and we think developing your body AND your mind is a good route to take” kinda way. The only problem was, that as much as i excelled in school, i never really got past “so-so” in sports. My siblings could all kick my butt up and down the court, or field, or driveway blacktop. i was a little jealous, but i was also super supportive of them. i’d cheer the loudest from the stands and be fiercely protective if someone knocked them down. Those 3 had a drive for sports and an affinity for competition. i loved watching them dominate their competitors. i was so proud of them.

But i just wanted to draw.

i guess you could say my childhood artistic inspiration sorta came from feeling like the odd man out. i needed something that was just mine and that i was passionate about, good at…something that spoke to ME. Art fit the bill. It should be no surprise to anyone who has seen my work that COLOR, and the possibilities contained within a box of vibrant new pencils were my muses. i drew clothes. i drew houses. i drew people. i once drew a picture of a hamburger ~ or was it a cheeseburger?  And my Mona (mah-nah), my paternal grandmother, put it on the cover of the menus at her old-fashioned soda-shoppe type luncheonette. She was so proud. i was so proud. She bragged about me to the older gentlemen sitting at the counter an they’d nod their heads to appease her.

When i think back on my childhood, i remember more broad feelings and snapshots than i do specific events. But i surely remember getting a Crayola interior design kit one year for christmas. i remember getting my first sewing machine when i was probably too puny to even pick it up. i remember paint sets and big, blank drawing tablets. i even remember sitting on the beach during one family vacation, sculpting figures in the sand with all my concentration while my siblings dunked each other in the surf. It was totally ok. Being the odd man out provided me with a quiet space in which to create and dream. It gave me my own unique voice. It lead me to enter and occasionally win little art contests for kids. It made me feel like i had something special to offer.

…and every once in a while i’m pretty sure those lovable, knucklehead siblings of mine were pretty proud of me.