A Funny Thing Happened On Way To Rejection

Boots by Tanner Mark

 

I just got wait-listed for the third time for an art show that is on my bucket-list.  It's on my bucket-list because the competition to be accepted in to this show is fierce and my goal is to be invited to  participate BEFORE I DIE!!

I could have hung my head, cried a tear, secretly plotted to slash the tires of the jurors....but instead I thought to myself,  "YES!" and I threw in a few fist pumps for good measure.  The funny thing about rejection is that if you are tenacious enough, it brings you closer to your goals. Let me explain.

My husband has been in sales his entire professional life.  He is a natural, an ace, a don't quit until they have signed on the dotted line kind of guy.  He hears "NO" a lot, but what he taught me is that hearing "NO" brings him that much closer to a "YES".  He knows this because he has had experience playing the numbers.

Rejection is a numbers game.  In sales and in art, you will be rejected most of the time.  Let's say 24 times out of 25.  But what happens when you get to lucky number 25?  You get a "YES".  So, if you think about rejection in terms of numbers, you will realize that every no is bringing you that much closer to your yes. 

So celebrate the rejection!  Do a little happy dance.  You are getting closer.  Stay in the game and don't slash any tires - that's against the law.

8 X 10:00 - A Daily Practice To Reach Your Goals

45 years.  That's how long I had been on the planet when I decided I wanted to be an artist.  Better late than never - as the saying goes.  As a late bloomer, I have had a bit of a feeling that I needed to "hurry" to catch up to the talented souls who had  figured it out early in life.  How do you accomplish big dreams when you feel like you missed the starting gun?  Eight small steps at a time.

How do you reach the top of a mountain?  (That's code-speak for your goals)  You take one step at a time.  In my case though, I thought maybe I should take eight steps at a time - or eight small actions everyday to move me toward my goals.  I came up with a strategy.  I would complete eight actions every weekday by 10:00 a.m. to bring me closer to the top of the mountain.  That's 10:00 A.M. in the morning.  That lasted about two weeks.  A slight adjustment to the plan - a 12 hour adjustment, to be exact - worked much better for me.  The new strategy would be to complete eight actions every weekday by 10:00 P.M. in the evening.  MUCH better!

So began my 8 X 10:00 practice.  I kept a journal of entries to keep me accountable and it is working out pretty well.  I know every morning when I wake up that at least eight task need to be accomplished that have to do with art.  They don't have to be monumental task. They can be as easy as writing a thank you note to a buyer, or writing a blog post, or sending out images to a greeting card company. Let's do the math.  Eight actions X  five days a week = 40 small steps. That's 2,080 steps in a year.  Do you think that could change your life?

Now, when I feel myself wanting to watch another episode of Law and Order or I want to peruse Facebook for half an hour, I can look at my daily list and see how many things still need to be accomplished.  Sorry Olivia Benson, your crime solving will have to wait.  I'm busy climbing a mountain.

I think this 8 X 10:00 strategy could work for a lot of goals that don't have anything to do with art.  Maybe you could apply it to becoming more fit or to building a better marriage.  It might come in handy for your kids to use to get through a tough project.  Or you could use it to be a happier you.  There is greatness inside you!!  Even if you start late, you can find it. 

A Place To Start

I'm sure my artist friends can relate to the intimidation of a blank, white, canvas.  You might have a bundle of ideas in your head, but how do you START to get these ideas out of your head and onto the canvas?



I have taken several workshops where the answer to this question has been simply revealed.  You just BEGIN.  You don't need a bolt of inspiration or a sign from heaven above - you just begin.  Sometimes beginnings are completely covered up by the end product, but think of the beginning as a warm-up.  Some idle little something that tells your brain - "Oh, you want to be creative today.  Let me see what I can come up with for you."



How do you begin?  You can make an art journal page, collage paper onto your canvas, write your favorite quotes, make some marks, or draw a picture on your canvas, like I did here.

These are five 11" X 14" wood panels all lined up in a row.  One big doodle later and my brain went into action.   

 I worked on the background with the panels together at first and then laid out five hummingbirds on the same looooong branch.  I'm not sure the long branch really works but the birds are sweet when they are separated. Completed panels below.  Can you see the doodle peeking through here and there?  It gives your work depth and there is a little secret hiding in the background that you can share with others - or maybe you decide it will be a secret between only you and your work.

 Here is a close up - so many tiny little pieces of paper

Here is a quote from artist, Chuck Close about beginnings.  I have used it before because I think it rings true for everyone who is intimidated by a blank canvas.

 "The advise I like to give young artist, or really anybody who'll listen to me, is not to wait around for inspiration.  Inspiration is for amateurs; the rest of us show up and get to work.  If you wait around for the clouds to part and a bolt of lightning to strike you in the brain, you are not going to make an awful lot of work.  All the best ideas come out of the process; they come out of the work itself.  Things occur to you."

If you have a way you like to begin a project, I would love to hear about it.

Grocery Bag Backgrounds

 In my never ending quest to come up with interesting backgrounds, I came across this technique and thought you might like it too.  It's super easy and I love the look. 

I started with birch wood panels but this technique works on paper as well.  Spray your surface with water and apply ink.  This could be a work of art in itself.  Love these colors!  Allow the ink to dry completely. I spray a sealer over the top just to make sure the ink does not reactivate when I add paint to the top.

Next, spray your dried ink with water and add any color fluid acrylic paint to cover the entire board.  Then take your shopping bags and lay them on top of the acrylic paint.  The more you crumple up the bags, the better.  Allow to dry completely.  Remove the bags and voila!

Beautiful backgrounds for your art.  I wish I had come up with this technique on my own but I learned it in an online class from Catherine Scanlon who uses this technique on mixed media paper.  She uses this technique and makes it the focal point.  I like it as a background that I can collage on top of.

Thanks for reading and if you use this technique I would love to see what you come up with.

Color Schemes From Home Decor

I was a little surprised the other day when I posted this picture of art I had sold at an art market.

What was surprising was that most of my backgrounds were yellow, blue, or green.  What?  I thought I was doing a pretty good job of mixing it up, but there it was in full-on color - yellow, blue and green.  At about the same time I was having background insecurities, I was cleaning out my bookshelf and came across this little gem.

A home decor magazine featuring color schemes.  I little light bulb flickered.  Maybe I could use some of these color schemes as inspiration for my backgrounds.  This is what I came up with.  Not perfect matches, but a nice change of pace.

And one wild and crazy background just for fun.

Stay tuned.  More colorful backgrounds coming soon.

Inspiration - Straight From The Jar

What I truly love about my life is that I get to create on almost a daily basis.  I have a studio table with all my supplies and the recent addition of a little jar of inspiration that was given to me as a gift from my arty sister from another mister, Kathy Ericksen.  Everyday when I step up to my table I see her heart-felt gift and I pull out a little inspiration bomb.

Kathy had the brilliant idea of collecting creativity quotes throughout the year, and when it came time for holiday gifts, she filled mason jars with her collected quotes and voila - inspiration in a jar!

When you think about it you could make these little jars of happiness for your Valentine with love quotes, for your school age children with quotes about hard work and determination (I know what I'm doing today), your comic friend with a jar full of jokes, as a wedding gift with quotes about relationships, etc.

I picked out the three quotes that were speaking the loudest to me this weekend.  Here they are - in no particular order.  Enjoy and have a great week!

*Are you willing to give up who you are today for what you can become?  ~Gwen Fox

* The advise I like to give to young artist, or really anybody who'll listen to me, is not to wait around for inspiration.  Inspiration is for amateurs; the rest of us just show up & get to work.  If you wait around for the clouds to part & a bolt of lightning to strike you in the brain, you are not going to make an awful lot of work,  All the best ideas come out of the process; they come out of the work itself. ~Chuck Close

*As you start this week, may you find a nugget of courage to do the hard thing your heart is aching to do.  May you find enough freedom to do something brave and risky, something that taps the gift you were given but haven't yet fully and outwardly exercised.
We are all artists in some way, whether our media is watercolor, keyboard, food, camera, numbers, or diapers.... ~Tsh Oxenreider

 Artwork by Kathy Ericksen - https://www.facebook.com/kathy.ericksen.beautitreasures?ref=br_tf

Paper Painters - Don't Throw Your Paint (Money) Down The Drain

If any of you ever use paint for your art projects I'm sure you can relate to the feeling you get when you go to clean out your brushes and you see all of your beautiful, expensive, paint pigment, come gushing off your brush into your water that you later pour down your drain.  Especially that first wash, when your water is nice and clean and you see it turn Manganese Blue or Phthalo Green.  I hate that!! 

I use painted paper in my artwork; so, I decided to put the paint that was still in my brush/sponge to good use. I made up this little box that sits on my studio table.

In the box is all the papers I normally paint for the collages I make - deli paper, a cookbook, an old dictionary, sheet music, an atlas, a ledger, and art papers/scrapbook papers.  

Now, when I am working on the background for a piece and I have paint in my brush, I don't wash my brush right away.  I reach over and pull a piece of paper out of my paper box and lay down a base coat with the left over paint in my brush.  If I am using a sponge, I can grab a stamp or a stencil and put down some texture onto another piece of paper. If I am using markers or oil pastels or ink, I can take a few minutes and add to my papers that already have some paint and texture on them. 

Not only am I saving money, I am saving the time I used to use to paint paper.  Win - Win!