Busy Busy

I'm sorry I have not posted at all last week. Things have been kinda crazy on my end. I plan on picking things back up again this week, don't worry! There are a few things in my queue for this week plus one big piece of goodness that won't be ready to share until a little later next week. But, I'll be back again soon to share a new Post-it Portrait, some thoughts about self-portraits, a recap of episode 2 of Work of Art 2, and probably another thing or two this week.

Hope you didn't miss me too much!

Where it all started...

I've been really preoccupied with work and homework lately so I haven't had too much time to post like I want to. Sorry!! But I did want to push myself to make time for this particular post because it was around this time last year that I started up this blog. Soooo I guess that would make this my 1st Bloggiversary!! (is that even how you spell it?!)

Cue the confetti and triumphant horns.

Anyway, I thought that I would take things waaay back and talk about the first piece of artwork that truly inspired me. I was about 20 years old I think and I went to the National Gallery in DC for a field trip with my art history class. The main exhibit featured English artist Thomas Gainsborough and a vast collection of his portrait work and landscapes. In one of the rooms was this painting of a famous dancer in the 1700s:

Giovanna Baccelli, Thomas Gainsborough 1782. Oil on canvas.

Entranced, I was. It was the first time I felt a connection to a particular piece of artwork or artist. It also inspired me to make my first real decision about a career as an artist: to be a portrait painter. Though I had no idea how to make that happen, seeing that exhibit made the dream seem so possible. It literally changed my life!

Found Art: Downtown LA

Shakespeare?? Is it thou?

I went walking around downtown LA recently on a "food crawl" (delicious, by the way), and came across this intriguing piece of work on one of the buildings. Please forgive the image quality, I had to use my camera phone haha. In case you can't tell, those are birds coming out of the guy's arm and on his chest is a heart kind of combined with an engine.

As a typical introvert, I appreciated the introspective expression of the face and posture. Overall I think it's one of those "weird, in a good way" kind of paintings. It looks like Shakespeare to me, though obviously not an exact interpretation of the poet we're used to seeing throughout the years. I'm thinking it might be a portrait of the artist as Shakespeare + The Thinker? I don't know, I'm definitely taking wild guesses! But that's part of the fun when looking at some pieces - trying to pull some sort of meaning out of what you're seeing, be it your own or what the artist wants you to see. Either way, whoever did it is certainly a talented person and really had something to say. It wasn't necessarily part of our tour, but it made us all stop and talk about it at least for a few minutes. I thought it was worth sharing!

If anyone knows who did this, please let me know!!

Grinding

I really want to post that classic song up by the Clipse, but I decided that I'll keep it clean on here because the grinding that I mean isn't the "grinding" that they were rappin' about. haha...But, if you need a fix I'll direct you to the site that has no problem sharing it! Please be warned, it's not safe for work so keep the volume on low or use headphones...

Anyway, so I just got back from vacation (**sadness**) and I must say that I have come back with a new resolve. I have hit on 9 out of 10 goals that I've set for this year but I think that I need to take those goals to the next level. The first thing though: I have a ton of classwork that I need to catch up on! haha...Not always fun but it's necessary. So tonight I will definitely be grinding on that.

Coming back refreshed and refocused had me thinking about what it is that truly gets me in "grinding" mode. I've been able to get a lot done over time, but have had tremendous trouble with consistency. Isn't this a typical problem for some of us that call ourselves artists? I've just accepted that this will probably always be something that I struggle with, haha. However, I think it's just as important to know what that thing is that gets you back on track and motivated. For me it's a combination of an internal need to live up to my potential and having good people around that encourage me and hold me accountable. Sometimes it also helps me to see what other people are doing with their talents.

What's that thing that gets you motivated to work towards your goals? Is it as simple as a "Hang in there, baby?" poster?

Or are you someone that needs a more hands-on approach?

Which one are you??

Really think about it! It's good to know because then you can start to make conscious efforts to keep whatever "it" is around to help push yourself. The sooner you figure it out the better!

That was just something that was on my mind today as I am about to start getting caught up on my homework and get more stuff to show you on the blog. Don't be afraid to take that next step towards what you want to do!

Checking in!

Shout out to all my east coast people (if you have power and are able to read this)! I literally feel like I'm in another world right now because I was able to dodge the crazy tropical storm. Really hoping that there's something left for me to come back home to!

Today is my last full day out here on the west coast **tear**, but I can't wait to come back and share a couple of the things that I've seen and experienced out here. I think I've been able to gather at least a few blog posts already based on what's happened. :) So assuming I have power when I get back home, lol, I'll be able to share some pictures and thoughts very soon!

LA bound!

Ahh...vacation time has crept up on me so I will be out for a a little while. :(  But I hope to come back with lots of good stuff for ya! :) I'm off visit a very lovely, wonderful, AMAZING friend in California and I can't wait. She also has a blog about her lifestyle as a recently transitioned vegan, it's called Vegan, What?. Please check it out! You'd be surprised at the options that she's found so far. And if you're wondering, yes I will be eating all vegan options with her while I'm there. I know...I know. It's definitely not my normal thing (I made Wendys run that I made at 10:30 pm last night because I just HAD to have a spicy chicken sandwich), but hey, when in Rome right? I will be sure to Tweet it up though! As much as I can at least, haha. If I get a chance I might sneak in a blog post or two as well. :) And I shall return with pictures and a recap of the overall trip. Stay cool ya'll!

So Much for Some Kid Art...

I had my niece over recently, and I thought that we would be able to get in some artistic/creative time together...Hmm yeah, so much for that. I put this picture up of her because it pretty much says it all. She was not blocking the sun from her eyes either, although I know that it looks like she is! Didn't want to do take a picture for me and didn't want to make any artwork. The most that we made together was a batch of sugar cookies (which were delicious!). However, I did find out that she likes to draw hearts, stars and people. I might be rubbing off on her after all! You see the big hair she's rockin', right?! Baby steps.