Rain?

Rain?

Amazon Fiasco

Good morning everyone! (Barely morning). I found out something intriguing and infuriating about Amazon today. If you have an "Amazon.com" Store Card, it comes from a bank in the US named Synch**** Bank. For two orders, I thought my debit card was being drafted. In July of last year and now March of this year, I find out, three months after the "bill" was supposedly mailed (yes, being an artist who has to pay taxes, I do keep all forms), they had used my Amazon.com account instead of my Debit card. I'm wondering if these were One-Click billing.

After a horrifically difficult conversation with a young Eastern Indian woman who spoke abysmal English and who assured me they'd mailed statements to me for two months in a row and her supervisor could NOT waive the attached late fee, I asked to be transferred to the home office in the US. She did not have updated info on my Amazon account and I told her "on her recorded line" as she reminded me more than once when I raised my voice (no, I was very clean in my speech...I was angry) that I suspected that this could be fraud and that it had been paid with my debit and they were trying to collect a double payment. She was definitely upset that I refused to give or confirm any further info with her and she did transfer me to this bank's main office.

There I spoke with someone else who immediately removed the late fee, we together checked and saw that indeed, Amazon had randomly popped up their store card for a One-Click purchase in spite of the fact that my Debit is set for those purchases, and I happily paid the small balance. Ridiculous. DO NOT USE ONE-CLICK BILLING IF YOU WERE DUMB ENOUGH TO GET AN AMAZON.COM STORE CREDIT CARD AT ANY TIME.

Rant over.

More art to come. I intend to start posting here again and get busy being an artist who shares with everyone...as soon as I can figure out how to watermark on this Mac. LOL...

Tons of love to all! Thanks for following my very random blog. I have vids coming for product reviews and art.

Effy Wild's new giveaway!
https://effywild.com/2013/12/23/moonshine-book-of-days-2014-its-a-giveaway/

Hope I win!

Lifebook 2016 and 2017

Well, panic sets in as I want to download the vids I really enjoyed from 2016 and I have only 30 days to do so and I have to download this lovely Star Girl that Tam is going to be making for the first week of Lifebook 2017! Is this new? No. I am a huge procrastinator and sadly, that stresses me out. I may include some new art in this post just to let you see some of the silly things I'm sketching. Anyway, Happy New Year and enjoy the month of January...be safe from snow and such and loves to all.

Over three years old since I couldn't access my Photos for some reason. This is Anna. She was a lovely live model who had the most awesome model type-face and gorgeous body. Next will be some of my recent work. I'm currently working in one of D. Reavely's thick, awesome journals that takes layers and layers of paint, gesso, etc., with zero crinkling.

Janeuary is here! Go get your Jane Davenport supplies at Michaels.

Nini

M

Kelly Donovan

A great example of Kelly's awesome vids on YouTube and her generous spirit! She has a giveaway that is so neat and she does these all the time. She has vids for beginners and those with experience and she reviews products, gives helpful tips and even shows how art journalers can get started with simple products!  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RT02Hrm_VOI&feature=youtu.be

Imagine, Play, Emerge

Wanted to give everyone a head's up on Mindy Lacefield's upcoming class: Imagine, Play, Emerge! There's an early-bird discount through June 25th and it looks awesome! The illustrations of Mary Blair will be part of the inspiration for this class - "It's a Small World After All.." (bet that's stuck in your head now! Join and enjoy!

Crushing the Inner Critic - UNEDITED

Initially, I had many, MANY problems with my inner critic. When I started with mixed media art around 2000, I hid my creations away. Having been involved with outsider art and the zine scene prior to this and even earlier, after taking rigid, structured oil painting study, my inner critic (no, I won't capitalize the words "inner critic" since I will not give it power) told me that all of my work that wasn't done in oils, on massive canvasses were little more than offal. Truth, I loved it. The swirls of watercolors, gluing down the detritus of the day, acrylics, stamps, sketches that grew into so much, etc., more gave me insane pleasure. Still my inner critic growled, huffed and screeched at me to stop making messes and to get down to real work. I started researching. After keeping morgues of items and sketches to later use in 'art' I began to see the new "art journal" movement as a way to express myself and to at least please me, even if I never produced another 'work' of art. I was actually blocked at creating 'art' because of the critic. Two things transpired to overcome the critic: the joy I found in the work I was doing and an exhibit given by my state museum on "Art Journals". Between these two things, I felt validated and could tell my critic to go hang itself...I was making art. Since I worked in both my journal and on canvas (rarely seen at that time) I was relatively unknown except to a few friends and even then, I didn't share most of my work with my best friend. Still shamed. BUT...I encouraged friends to get into this exciting art field of mixed media since it didn't require you to be conservatively trained and it was self-expression and self-love all rolled into one. I've seen fads and trends come and go, but the BHGs I drew (big headed girls), the sketchily scratched out landscapes, the lists, and the marvelous plethora of art supplies all inspired me to keep going, keep trudging, keep making good, deliciously rich STUFF. Finally, after years of struggling with "it's not good enough, you know" I revealed my work to others and the response has been amazing. I started taking life drawing classes and researching out-of-copyright books on art techniques - all crushing the inner critic more and more. Keep growing, take classes, study, PLAY...all will smash the inner critic. Do what I did, search for the smallest joy in your work and take notice of how tremendous the field has become! Crush your critic with YouTube vids and working with awesome teachers like Tam. Practice, practice, practice what you love and want to do and most of all, be kind to yourself and your art. It IS art. Art is the ultimate self-expression and take great joy in sharing what you do. Connect with others and never stop learning! Study all you can, research, dream and grow. No inner critic can survive in such well-cared for fields of growing, glorious ART!

Tam's Super Tremendous Giveaway!

http://bit.ly/BigSpringGiveAway

This is the link and you should SEE the amazing things she's giving away! Omg...classes, prints, amazing things. I soooo want to win one of the class packages and would go slightly insane if I did, I think. I love her as a teacher and the ONLY reason I'm not in Lifebook 2014 is $$$. Here's hoping!

Wee Hours

Sometimes it's easier for my back to be in a semi-reclining position than fully lying back. I hate this since I love my bed. :) It's 0449 and I need to go lie down but I thought I'd drop a pic or two here for an update. I hadn't realized so much time had passed since my last post.

I have some commission work to do - some shells, a palm tree in bold Bohemian colors (mostly teals) and a sketch of a young woman. No financial compensation coming since it's for friends, but that was my choice. I want to share what I can do and it keeps my hands moving...something my Rheumatologist said was a good thing. Plus, art is therapy for me. It's calming and soothes the soul, easing anxiety and the colors always make me happy.

These are from my quickie sketch book where I scrape paint with a credit card, slap down some tissue paper or add watercolor splotches to work within. Note that these are rough and definitely unfinished. I wanted to show the practice that goes into a finished piece. Blabbering on isn't what I need to do so enjoy:

Some Quickie Starts

Hi to everyone! Pam Carriker says keep blog posts very short...just a tease and a snapshot or two. So, here goes!

Super fast sketches on gessoed pages. The gesso was mixed with the paint itself. The first one was just scraped left-over paint from a credit card. The second is on handmade paper and the surface wasn't prepped (but I wanted to include her). The last is exactly as described. :)

Ready, Set, Go!

Working on some projects even thought I'm pressed for time. I've not felt my best, but I'm enjoying adding layers to other layers. Still learning with each quick sketch, each rapid slathering of paint. I'm keeping notes and enjoying the journey.

Returning to Blog Land

The art continues to keep my hands moving and less stiff! I'm drawing and shading with pencils a lot lately in various sketchbooks and journals. Here's an example or two...

The photos are certainly not the best but I'm liking the quickness of pencils and shading.

Keeping Up With 29 Faces

Okay guys...here goes more faces! Terrible lighting, so I'm asking forgiveness in advance.

Moonshine Day One!

In this session of Moonshine, I intend to...create faces, explore the waning ovaries in my body and enjoy the last rays of mothering sunshine that my body offers but at the same time, I intend to enjoy my lovely daughter at the peak of her motherhood. She’s the most amazing woman ever...mother to a lovely son and devoted wife. I look upon her as my hero and I idealize her choices and her strength. She is the complete embodiment of the Mother Herself. 

As a woman who respects the Sacred Feminine in my concept of God/dess, the Mother-time was the most ideal time of my life. I used to think that Croning would be all I ever wanted. I craved being 45, free of my monthly flow, and having grandchildren. Oddly, the truth is that I miss the monthly waxing and waning of hormones and the feeling of being able to get pregnant. I believe that the Mother aspect of the Goddess is in many ways, the strongest. Creation. Birth. Life...

My intentions are to explore the faces of the Mother in this session, especially the Elven ones that have recently been showing up in my art. I want to enjoy another class with Effy Wild and to travel deeply into the spiritual road of the Mother Goddesses. Entering autumn, my favorite season, this is a perfect moment to grow and expand my knowledge of the Mother in all her forms. I’m looking forward to exploring the Inner Realms and seeking out the Mother. 

For fun, I’m engaging in 29 Faces! I can’t wait to do a face a day. Most will be quick sketches, but I’m going to love the challenge!

29 Faces in September!

I'm participating in 29 Faces in September! I can't wait to start. Along with Moonshine with Effy Wild, I'm excited to sketch out 29 Faces. What's cool about it is that it's any form, any face, any medium...and you connect with others taking on the challenge! Time to start...See the button on my sidebar for the link.

Folk Art Faces

I'm going to be taking Effy Wild's "Moonshine" starting September 1st and am pretty excited about the entire process. She has a cool portrait style. I'm also considering Tam's Gypsy girl portraits, but the finances say..."Nope" at this time.

Enjoying befriending folks OL and doing a little art journaling. I'm developing some techniques of my own and the folk art portraits I do are so much fun. I wish I was motivated enough to hit the Etsy store hard w/prints and such. I'd also like to get into CafePress and the like. I'm thinking on it. Might not make any $$ but I could enjoy finding out if anyone else likes them. I'd love to share them w/people beyond an occasional blog post.

So, here's the latest. She was a super quick, no-graphite sort of girl...you can easily see the corrections and yes, the fun! Loving the set of Prismas. It's awesome having such a wide range of colors.

She's progressed way beyond this...her face hasn't been finalized though and she has pink/purple hair thanks to Jen Gott who suggested taking her into the realm of fantasy.

Blogging and Books...

So, time to blog...Inspired by Effy Wild and her month of blogging. I can't imagine blogging daily, but I can try. Today was a great day w/the daughter and the grand boy. We went to Mr. K's and I grabbed some books last minute...got an amazing amount of credit. Won $24 on lottery tickets and bought a couple more for the $300 million Powerball. If I win, life will be sublime. Grin. Tough, but sublime.

Rough last 15 for my dear friend Jen. Life sucks and yet is awesome for her. May the Gods bless her this Lammas.

Time for some art...

Pam Carriker

http://networkedblogs.com/MVUE3
I'd love to win a spot in this class! Can't afford it, but it looks quite good!

Jen and Art

My art partner and I have danced around sending art back and forth and I received a lovely sketchy portrait from her and I have a little growing stack of stuff to send her. She wants what was a super quick sketch on an envelope which I'll post below. I also have a great article she sent me about herself and a lovely child she cared for at the time I first met her. I have the envelopes. I will pack them! Hugs to her and her new relationship! I wish her the very best!

She's basic, quick, done in Sharpie in about a minute. Hope she really loves her...