Tenacity is a Virtue

I have wanted a webpage for several years now, and it has been put off countless times. I finally decided I wasn't waiting around anymore and I was going to do it myself. It has been a LOT of work, but with my brother, and sister in laws advice and guidance I am so glad to finally have this site up and running! Finally, I have a place for anyone who is interested to view my past and present work. I don't have to send them to my Instagram or Facebook page which can be hard to navigate. I did not realize how much work I have created through the years until having to sift through, organize, and label everything, and there are still pieces I don't even have photos of. 

With two young kids finding the time to work on this site has been tough, but my creative spirit can't be stopped! My father always says how tenacious I am, and when I want something bad enough I will not give up until it's done. I feel a little guilty that I've had to make my children play alone, and I have been turning down Evie's constant requests to make crafts or play outside. I suppose there is always some sacrifice being made, and several weeks with less attention won't kill them. I still feel guilty but the feeling of accomplishment far outweighs it.

I have so many new ideas and I can't wait for them to come to life. I will be moving away from some things and starting new with others. One of my new explorations will be using scratchboard inks and adding color to my scratchboard portraits. I am going to venture out from only making commissioned scratchboard and see what I can come up with. 

For a while I feel like I started creating what I thought I could sell and I lost a bit of myself. I have not painted as much abstract work lately and I miss the freedom of expression and not having a specific plan before I get to work. When I paint landscapes, or any subject matter I get extremely hung up on the details and the process can almost become stressful. For me, creating art has always been because I love it, it makes me happy, and energized, the fact that other people like my work and want it in their homes is an added bonus. Going forward this year I will be creating things that I enjoy, I am going to work for myself and less for everyone else. Hopefully I will create some awesome new things to share.  I plan to experiment more rather than sticking to my comfort zone and it will be interesting to see where this takes me.

On a side note, I am currently Vice President of the Chesapeake Bay Art Association, and one of my responsibilities is to come up with guest speakers and demonstrations for our organizations monthly meeting. In May I will be hosting our first ever workshop in which I will demonstrate my scratchboard process and everyone who attends will get the chance to make their own 5" x 5" scratchboard. Our meetings are open to the public, so if you're interested I hope to see you there! It will be May 16th at 6:30 pm at the Mary Pretlow Library in Oceanview. More info to come!