"Think and wonder, wonder and think." ~Dr. Seuss

I've done a lot of that over the years...haven't we all? Those moments of thinking and wondering about a dream that's rooted in our hearts.

What if?

How can I?

Oh, it would be wonderful if I could.....

When I was a little girl I'd dream of being a veterinarian or a teacher or (you guessed it) an artist. I'd tucked away the dream of being an artist in favor of pursuing more practical goals...y'know so I could make a living for myself. Girl's gotta eat...and buy pretty shoes! After Mom passed away last year, it really sank in how short life is. I kept thinking that I hadn't had enough time with her. There was so much more I wanted to talk with her about, laugh with her about, dream with her about.....

In my heart I think it was the Lord that led my Dad to suggest making a small studio for me when the Hubs and I were remodelling the kitchen. And so, the spark of my girlhood dream was rekindled. With my Hubby's encouragement, the flame began to burn brighter.

I began to allow myself the right to make that dream become reality. Tough thing for me to do.

However, I'm always inspired to reach further, create more and dream freely when I'm faced with the loving support of my family.

The art you see above this post is a glimpse of things to come and another step in my journey towards pursuing my dream of becoming an artist.

Anna K. Originals is getting a new look!

New Art~

No, I haven't lost my calendar. I'm just excited about some of the mini-paintings that I've done for Christmas and I couldn't wait to share one with y'all! Some will have their own mini-easel while others, with the addition of a ribbon hanger will become ornaments. I'm pretty sure that a couple of these might make their way onto our tree...or in a wreath...or-- Well, you get the idea!

The crown has been finding its way onto my doodle pads and paintings, lately. Every year I'm drawn to a particular object or symbol when I'm thinking about Christmas decorating. Snowflakes, the Moravian star, etc. Sometimes I'm in sync with the trends of the season but, more often than not, I'm on a different page dancin' to the beat of a different drummer.

Well, thank you for letting me interrupt your regularly scheduled Summer program for a Christmas special!

Studio Snapshots

Inspired by the photos some of you in the blogosphere have been taking of art supplies, I took my camera with me into my little studio. It was fun snapping shots of things that I use to create my pieces.

Sometimes I get so busy using my brushes and paints that I forget how cool looking they are by themselves. Especially when they're on a well-used pallette! I think I've had that one since I was a teenager...

This is one of my works in progress. I love to cut phrases and words out of my collection of old books. They often end up in one of my pieces. It's fun to play around and see what combinations strike my fancy.

There you have it...my studio snapshots. Have a wonderful day!

Sweet Shot Tuesday

We went to an art museum last week. Actually we went to several museums last week. The art museum was not a big deal for the Bubs...at first. Mumbles, moans, groans and sighs could be heard from him. After a few too many of these emanations I gave him "the look" and he calmed down. He lightened up even more when he saw me taking photos like a crazy lady and giggling in excitement over some of the pieces. (Yes, I giggled.)


I'd grab him in my excitement and point out some fascinating fact or artwork and he'd listen in bemused silence...for a moment and then he'd trot off to see what his Daddy was looking at. He perked up when the Hubs and I spotted this exhibit that was interactive. The Bubs got a kick out of looking through a little acrylic ball and seeing a right-side-up Mona Lisa...made of 5,184 spools of thread! Brilliant!


It was neat to see what we all gravitated towards in the museum. When I later asked the Bubs what his favorite exhibit was he mentioned this one and the African/Tribal Art display with its headresses, masks and colorful ceremonial garbs.

After the Mona Lisa 2

by Devorah Sperber
2005




Thanks for visiting!

Inspiration and Breathing

I once looked up the definition of inspiration and, interestingly, one of the definitions was "the drawing of air into the lungs". As soon as I read that I stopped. I drew in a deep, deep breath.... and slowly released it.

I felt reinvigorated and somehow, at the same time, more peaceful. It's amazing what a truly deep breath will do for you isn't it?

The last few weeks in the wake of the Hubby's shoulder surgery I've found it difficult to find, not only time, but energy and inspiration to dive back in to my painting and creating. This is a big prob for me, y'all! My art is my business and, more importantly, a vital part of who I am and a great way for me to unwind. I missed it greatly and was searching for that inner spark and inspiration for my next creative projects.

Then it hit me. I needed a deep breath.

So I paused and breathed deep of my favorite inspirations that I'm surrounded by~

• the smiles and laughs of my family
• spending time chatting with the Hubs...he is my best friend, after all!
• praying for those I love and even a few I don't! ;)
• reading
• music and singing
• grabbing my camera and trying new things
• books, mags, blogs, websites that make me wanna grab a paintbrush
• raising my head from the task at hand to notice the beauty in my world
• writing messages on my little chalkboard in the kitchen
• I tried to do something creative everyday...take a photo, blog, bake something special, doodle or draw, research a new technique...something!

What do you take a deep breath of when you need to refresh and recharge?

Paint with Me Thursday ~ Buttons

My cousin Lisa from Boondock Ramblings joined a weekly link up challenge that involves ART! I'm in love, y'all! Heather from Simply Feather is the genius behind the Paint with Me challenge and she graciously invites all artists to join in the creative fun...no matter their preferred medium or skill level. I love that. Thanks Heather!



This week's challenge was about buttons. I heart buttons. I have a stash of vintage buttons left over from my great-grandmother's sewing business years ago. I had visions of doing something more elaborate than what I came up with, but sometimes you gotta do whatcha gotta do when you're a mom...and your Hubby just had shoulder surgery! Besides, I kinda dig the results...



















This piece is made up of odds-n-ends from around my little studio....

• old hard back book cover - painted


• painted vintage sheet music heart - fixed on the cover with heavy matte medium


• faux pearl beads from a local thrift store sewn on the heart


• "imagine" embellishment from my leftover scrapbook stash


• vintage button also sewn on the heart


• scrap of ribbon


• straw (yes, a straw!) taped to the back to string the ribbon through for a hanger

Now I just have to find it a home in the house...maybe the mantle in our kitchen?

Wednesday Randomness

Well, we just took the Hub's mom to the airport for her flight home. She cried and my heart broke a little. She wanted to be here for the Hub's surgery this Friday, but there was a mix-up with the dates and she couldn't change her flight. I'm sure I'll be in near-constant contact with her Friday to keep her in the loop with the procedure(s). The boys are already missin' their Gammy!

***

I'm totally putting off dealing with the endless abyss of our bedroom. It's the one room in the house that gets the least attention these days and, Honey, you can tell! However, I want the Hubs to feel relaxed in there as he recovers so I'm going to at least try and make a dent in it before Friday.

Is it wrong to ask for prayers for bedroom cleaning?

*sigh*

***

I know I haven't been showing y'all many of my art creations lately and there's a reason for that...

I haven't been able to create very many things, lately.

I did manage to work on a couple of canvas ornaments yesterday (I'm so excited about them!) and I'm lovin' how they look and how versatile they can be. I will be posting more about them later....

***

I hope that your Wednesday is (or has been) lovely...

Whether it's been a bit on the random side or orderly and full of purpose!

Craft Show Photo~

As promised, I did get my hands (laptop?) on a photo of my tent display. Well, part of it, anyway!

I'd already sold a few things when this was taken so some things are missing, but you get the idea.

Big props to the Hubs who was a whiz at getting the tent, etc. in working order and to Dad who was a huge help in so very many ways...including coming up with the wonderful idea of using my folding display easels and "s"-hooks to hang my art from my shutter screen. Brilliant!

This wasn't the whole tent display, but I did want to give y'all an idea of what it was like.

Fearfully and Wonderfully Made...The Remix

This piece was a commissioned work for a lady I met at my recent arts and crafts show. She told me that she's known for giving "great, unique gifts" to her family and friends and that I was her new gift-giving muse (well paint me flattered!). She wanted my original, "Fearfully and Wonderfully" but was unsure about it because the skin tone is quite light and the friend that she was purchasing it for isn't. She expressed her desire to have a similar work made but with a skin tone closer to her friend's.

Thankfully, I'd been wanting to paint some ladies of different ethnicities and this was the perfect chance! I'd already been experimenting with different looks....

She sent me a photo of her friend so that I could get an idea of face shape, skin tone, etc. Her friend was lovely with this cute, short haircut. I got busy creating and what you see above is the finished product...or different views of it, anyway.

This was my first commissioned piece for a client -I've done things for family before- and I was nervous about how she'd react. She loved it! Then started making plans for more...I was sooo relieved!


I'm not sure how long I'll keep doing commissions but, for now, it's doable. And fun!

My first Arts and Crafts Show

Forgive me for the bloggy silence this past week. We had house things to get done, a short visit from the In-Laws and, oh yeah, my first arts/crafts show to get ready for!

It was a doozy of a week, but it was a memorable one. We had some fun afternoons out in the front yard setting up the tent and figuring out the display...the boys ran around laughing and playing and my Dad hung out with us and kept them out of trouble.

As for the show itself, it was a great experience! We (the Hubs was there with me) chatted with some helpful and fun vendors and met some wonderful customers. Everyone, except for the odd duck here and there, was positive and had very nice things to say about our display and the art. -I had some original pieces, prints and notecards for people to buy. - I loved hearing how they connected with the pieces and the stories about the person they were buying them for. I was both humbled and energized by their comments.

I even had a few people that offered ideas that I'd never thought of! One young man wanted to know if I sold digital downloads of my pieces because he wanted them for his iPhone/computer wallpaper (Hubs isn't too sure about this idea). Another young lady, who was shopping for a quick gift for the wedding she was going to that afternoon, mentioned that she would like to see some pieces that included women with different skin tones. I'd already been trying my hand (brush?) at that but the pieces weren't ready for this show.

Almost everyone wanted to know if I had an online shop. I'm going to look into doing that. Details, details, details.....

Anyway, it was a good show and I actually made some money. Woohoo!

No, there are no pictures...I left my big Canon at home to keep it safe, but I might be able to get my hands on one from someone who snapped a few. We'll see!

A soul that sings...

"It's in quiet moments

that her heart

sings the loudest."

In quiet moments, my heart sings of love and faith. Melodies lift and soar while harmonies intertwine, singing of a soul that's loved and forgiven...even if it's riddled with imperfections.

Fearfully and Wonderfully Made

From my brush...and my heart.

"Something Beautiful"

Yes, you are.

Peace~

In dreams,

her heart & her mind

kiss

and make up.

Who knows the depth of her heart?

My heart sings...of what is up to me!

I often wonder what my heart is singing out to those around me.
Am I singing out about love? Wisdom? Hope?
Or has my heart's song become one of anger, hurt or discord?
I'm hoping that the melody my heart is singing along with is one that is finely orchestrated by a loving and compassionate Heavenly Father...who is always patiently waiting for me to hand back His conductor's baton when, out of fear or a need to feel in control, I've snatched it out of His hands.

I'm on Kelly Rae Roberts' Blog!

The delightful Kelly Rae recently posted on her blog that she wanted to share some of the stories and artwork that people, inspired by her Taking Flight book, frequently sent her. She generously went on to invite her readers to join in....and I did.

To be honest, I wasn't expecting to be featured. I thought I'd get lost in the shuffle of the masses of submissions she'd most likely recieve after her open call. I checked in with her blog this evening and her feature post was up. I was enjoying the truly wonderful submissions and stories when -WHOA! Hey that's ME!

So, if you've got a moment go take a peek! Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go pinch myself....OUCH!

In the company of artists and crafters~

I attended my first artist's and crafter's guild meeting recently. I didn't even know that we had such a thing in our local area and was delighted when I stumbled across an ad on our newspaper's website.

The meeting was informative and the members were supportive and very open in giving advice and support. The president herself was like an excited little fairy with glasses....I loved it! I did notice, however, that there was a streak of no-nonsense steel underneath her fairy-like demeanor...loved that, too.

It was invigorating to be in the company of such creative ladies and gentleman. Some of them have been running their own creative businesses since the 70's and others, like me, were complete newbies. There were photographers, farmers who make their own natural beauty/health products, crafters, jewelry makers and even artists who use found objects to make signs or home decor, knitters and the list goes on.

About 15 minutes into the meeting I made up my mind to join...y'know, when payday rolls around! They were organized, supportive and had access to a lot of different resources.

I did get pretty nervous when we went around the room and introduced ourselves and our artistic/crafty pursuits. Eek! Some people had brought samples of their art to pass around and were eager to explain their pursuits...they were quite eloquent, dang it. I felt a bit like an idiot after I gave my rather vague introduction, but I'll just have to gird my loins and get better at talking about what I do. I'm going to be doing plenty of that when I start showing my work at shows/festivals, right?

What did I learn? Having a good product is paramount, advertise whenever possible (websites were mentioned a lot) and be passionate about your creations.

By the way, my sincere apologies for not posting a lot lately (baby, house business, chores -yuck). You were all in my thoughts...even on those days that I wasn't able to hop on the computer!

Chasin' the baby and paintin' flowers....

Now that the Bubs is back at school that's mostly what I've been doing. E-man is 9 mos. and mobile. Whew, that kid can move! He landed his gorgeous brown eyes on an electrical outlet yesterday and made a bee-line for it. I thought I had them all covered, but I must've missed one...thankfully, I was right there to ruin his fun! Crisis averted.

We're heading to the doc later today to get him checked out. He's got some skin irritation on his face that we can't figure out. Hoping we can get some light -or cream- on the situation.

We've been introducing E-man to the wonderful world of solids, lately. And, yes, we all make the ridiculously goofy faces when he's being fed! Hilarious....I really should get a pic of that, come to think of it.

Anyway, if you're part of the masses being hit with this Winter weather, stay warm and safe! (The Hubs is holding out hope that we'll get snow...)

Lady with no name...

I love looking at this. I saw it in my head a while before I was able to put her on canvas (or hardback book cover in this case...I think). I'm usually quite hesitant about painting people, but she was so clear in my head that I knew I had to give it a try.

Her outfit and the background are made of tissue paper that I painted over. This may have been one of my first tries with that technique and I like the texture that it created.

I painted this a little over a month ago and I still don't have a name for it. Silly, I know, but I have so many words and ideas that pop into my head when I see this that I can't make up my mind.

Any ideas?

**Update~ I was so inspired by Robin's comment that I decided to go with the title "Bird Charmer". Thanks, Robin!**