{Under Construction}

Well, well, well. Looks like I’m finally getting shit done…sort of.

I’ll be real, I didn’t feel like doing ANYTHING this past weekend, but…I’ve already had too many of those lately. I wanted to avoid that sinking feeling I get on Mondays after a lazy couple of days off. I finally managed to drag myself into the basement Saturday morning to get to work. I cleaned up the work space, did a bit of de-cluttering and I finished up a painting I had started a few weeks ago.

Looking back at last week’s post, I had a To-Do list that I didn’t even touch. I’m happy to report that I finally managed to do everything I had planned…Sure, a week late, but…SMALL VICTORIES!

About the painting I was talking about earlier:

I wanted something pretty in the background of my videos or photo shoots. I looked at a ton of references and I pieced together a few ideas. My source of inspiration: Laura Horn. I love her sense of movement, expression and her creativity with color palettes. She also combines abstract with illustrative motifs. I didn’t want to full-on copy, obviously, but I certainly used several of her paintings as a way to study. Here’s the finished piece:

While this piece isn’t exact to the original, I still had no intention of claiming this 100% as my own. Therefore, I decided to scrap it as a background for my social media. It is currently hanging in our bedroom now, and I’m quite happy with it! I feel inspired by it the more I see it, and I will use this as a tool for further study and experimentation until I have arrived at my own style in the end. I have plenty of large canvases lurking about as well as a head full of new ideas, so I’m hoping that keeps my feet in the studio this week. I don’t want to lose momentum.

Another way I keep going is looming deadlines…again, sort of. I had a few commissions that I FINALLY wrapped up and shipped out. I have a bit of a weird hang up with the post office for some reason. Absolutely something I need to get over if I want to set up my own online shop, wouldn’t you say? I feel relieved to have those items out the door…But I still have another commission, that I’m sad to say, I have not really been motivated to complete. The project is a good one, but ever since I messed up one of the paintings for it, I’ve been weary about jumping back in. I know all it will take is one helluva good cup of coffee and a good song to push me into the zone, but I just find myself…distracted.

One of those distractions? Updating my website. I have needed to do this for AGES. Two things finally pushed me into getting it started: My friend Shawn, a really cool artist, just relaunched his website last week. The second thing–I have to send out a sketchbook to New York in a couple of weeks (more on this in another blog soon) and it lists my website on the book. Who knows if anyone will actually ever see this sketchbook, but just in case, I thought it would be best to appear a little bit more professional. Yesterday I jumped online in the morning and worked for hours. I still have a ways to go, but I just looked it over again this morning and I’m quite proud of how it’s looking. To make sure I actually finish the damn thing, I set yet another deadline for THIS FRIDAY. I even posted it on instagram, so…guess it’s true, eh?

If it were up to me, I would be working on art 24/7. But that’s just not the name of the game. At least not right now, anyway. But until the day comes when I can spend more time on it, I’ll just have to take advantage of the limited time that I DO have. I need to stay organized, keep my space work-ready after each studio session, and keep my eyes on the prize. If you asked me last week how I felt about being an artist, I’d beat myself up and say it could never happen. But after a successfully busy and productive weekend…well…I feel like it could one day happen for me.

Work, work, work. That’s the secret.