Art 101 Blog Hop

This blog post is part of a series of posts called an artist blog hop. Think of a blog hop as blogging “chain mail.” Someone links to me and I have to link to three more, and each of them must find three art bloggers. All of us must answer the same questions about our creative process.

Thanks to Kim Puckett for asking me to participate.  You can visit her blog to see her responses to these same questions, along with some beautiful, fun and inspiring artwork.

Here are the questions we are answering in the Art Blog Hop:

 

1.  How does my creating process work?

Each day during the week I follow a similar structure. I start with a large mug of coffee, a good breakfast of either eggs or oatmeal, and conversation with my family. After everyone leaves for the day, I go exercise. When I return to my studio I take care of my marketing for the day which to me never feels complete unless I have written and promoted a post on this blog. So really the creative process doesn’t start for me until these tasks are over. However, I find writing and crafting a blog post very creative, and hence a perfect warm up to painting.

After lunch I can get into the swing of creating wall art. This varies from either a project of my own choosing that I may offer for sale, or a commission for a customer. Music motivates me and sometimes I will play an online class on my studio’s computer just so I can pretend someone is working alongside me.

The magic of watercolor with mixed media whimsy

2. How does my work differ from others of its genre?

My art, whether I am creating a piece in watercolor or mixed media stands apart because of my use of color. The color palette across mediums stays fairly consistent and I am drawn to painting “things with eyes” whether they are people or animals. In addition, my best watercolor landscapes will also include a figure and I am the master of the watercolor portrait. I consider my work to be at its finest when I combine my love of watercolor “realism” with mixed media elements.

working on a supersized Peacock Painting

 

3. What am I working on?

Right now I am working on a commission of a huge 4×6′ peacock. You can see all my peacock art and accessories for sale on etsy. So I don’t burn out on the large piece I also rotate between a few projects.

Inspirational Print: What would you do if you knew you could not fail?

Right now I am fascinated with the idea that I can create art that helps people emotionally, so I have been working on creating mixed media mantra paintings and also “empowerment bracelets” {The bracelets are not available online yet…but stay tuned…they will be listed as leather cuff bracelets}

 

Inspirational Print, Believe in the Beauty of your Dreams.

4. Why do I create what I do?

I think it is important to surround yourself with beauty. I find my art to be meaningful work not only because it fills my need to create but it helps make the world a more beautiful place. Paintings and art are good for your health and the inspirational prints also contain an uplifting message to put out into the world. I know my art makes people happy not only when they collect it but also when I share my art on social media. Art is unique in the way that it can be enjoyed by all who see it, not just by those who own it.

Let’s keep hopping!

For my part, I chose three artists that I have come to know very well online whose art I truly admire. They will be posting their answers on July 21st.

1. This first is mixed media nature artist Blenda Tyvoll whom I have featured on this blog in an artist interview and also teaches a class on tree art with me at the Inspiration Place. You can find her blog HERE.
2. Next is abstract artist Sally Trace whom I have also featured on the blog (read her full interview, it’s great) Sally’s art is full of life, bold color and movement. She also has a lively blog too.
3. Finally, I asked Hillary Doggart-Greer Her work is very contemporary and features birds, trees, nature, farm life, and abstract geometric shapes. Find out more on her blog.

Do you love blogs with an artistic focus? Each week I post articles on color, decorating with art, art journal ideas, museum outings and more. I don;t want you to miss a single inspiring post… you can subscribe to a daily or weekly digest: by Email / RSS / BlogLovin / NetworkedBlogs