In case you were wondering, I am alive and well and figured it was about time I gave you an actual life and art update over here. I feel like I'm finally starting to get in a groove with this city, understand it's pace, and see where I fit in. Personally, I've been busy. I know, everyone is busy, but for me this is the busiest I've been in a while, but it's not a bad thing! I'm welcoming the busyness. Part of it is coming from quitting one of my jobs to join the other full time. It wasn't the easiest decision to make but it was the right one and I'm super happy with it so far. I think I've mentioned it before but while I will always consider artist as a part of my job title, my job that consistently pays the bills is working as a framer. As a frame designer I help customers choose the best ways to display their art, photographs, prints, diplomas, etc. and honestly, I love it. Its one of the first jobs that I consistently get to use my creativity, work with art, see new and sometimes inspiring pieces, and as an added bonus, all of my coworkers are awesome. It's allowing me to learn a lot about the elements of design, improve my knowledge of colors and textures that compliment each other and I also get to do some of the actual framing as well, which is a skill that definitely doesn't hurt to have. Its an interesting feeling, for the first time I have a job that I truly enjoy going to and that challenges me. All of my previous jobs had pros to them, but in the end I viewed them as what I did to make money. Kind of a sad thought, but I'm definitely thankful that the situation is different now. All in all, its a good job to have, especially as an artist.
Now that you are more updated then you probably cared to be about my job, other life details include: I bought a bike! I love it. It's pink and I put it together myself with the help of a couple friends through skype. Check out my instagram if you want some visual details. Besides not loving the hills in this city, the free commute has been great, I don't feel quite as bad about trying out the million and one coffee shops near my work, and to all of my biker friends that talk about their bikes as if they are your babies, I now get it. Not bike related, I have to mention all of the free stuff you can find in this city. I'm not kidding, everyday there are new items left on the sidewalk for the taking and honestly it isn't always junk. I've found a nice mini dresser and coffee table, my roommate has countless awesome finds, and just today I hit a free book jack pot. See photo above. And a couple more things you should know: I've finally found some good pandora stations (I'll share sometime) and I now know that I definitely enjoy gin gimlets.
So the city is still treating me well. We are still in our honeymoon phase together, but I'm kind of hoping that lasts forever. Or at least a long time.
Onto the art side of my life. It is my forever changing constant. Constant because I am always painting, I try for everyday if time allows, and the love I have for it is always there. Forever changing because it seems that it always is, in more ways then one. My working process has been different lately. I've been trying to be more open to having multiple pieces working at once, rather then sticking to one all the way through. I'm testing it out to see if I can avoid feeling like I've hit a wall with a painting, which seems to happen with every piece. I'm also using my sketchbook more. I seem to have a flood of ideas or thoughts about future pieces so it has been nice to keep them all in one space so I can sort through them at a later time. Believe it or not, I've actually been using my sketchbook for sketching as well. I've never really been one to have a detailed plan before beginning to paint, but once again to avoid hitting walls, I think having loose guidelines might be beneficial. Like I said, these are things I'm testing out and will always be evolving as I learn more about what works for me personally. I'm interested to see if someday I find a more concrete way of working or if it will always be a changing experiment, only time will tell. Oh, and lastly I ordered business cards...or artist cards? Whichever it is, I'll probably show you a picture once they arrive in the mail.
If you haven't noticed, I tend to talk a lot. This is true in real life as well, not just internet talk. So to catch myself before this gets too long winded I'm going to wrap up this little update. You'll be hearing from me again soon (and more often, I swear!) with a little more serious talk about art and where I'd like mine to go. I've got a lot of goals and daydreams that are swirling in my head and would love your support. The photos are of my most recent paintings which are all in progress. I'll post them again as I finish each one, hopefully these sneak previews will make a few of you want to stop by again in the future. Until next time!
