Robin the Felt Bird

Besides the really great, positive working environment, my new part time job comes with a serious perk: Industrial toilet paper rolls. I am a fan of the regular house hold type of toilet paper roll. And eventually, someday, when I get my act together, this blog may see some of the creations based on the mighty little roll. But what we also might start seeing here are the creations based on the mighty giant roll. It's the secret inside every public highway restroom ever. And I have a key!

Side note: My husband really likes this bird. Some day he's going to wake up and see a whole row of them below his side of the bed looking up at him. Werner Herzog would not be impressed.

Also, maybe we've just landed in our version of the urban chicken.

Latest Blog over at Creative Catalyst: Polly Hammett

Here's my most recent post over at Creative Catalyst Production's blog:  Thumbnail to Final Collage: Lessons from Polly Hammett's DVD.

I've spent the last few weeks working through Polly Hammett's DVD, Design with the Figure. I love figures but I don't really paint them. I also don't use watercolor. That said, I learn so much from Hammett's DVD workshop that I know I will refer to it again and again. Good artists have a lot to teach no matter if their style is different than ours. Surprising? OK so not really.

Small Victories

To me, this image represents a successful night. When it comes to art, I've had a game plan for months. Months that have been eaten live by new jobs, old jobs, and newborn babies. (Not mine :) And the truth of the matter is that art has to happen with life. We all wish we could hit the pause button, run off, paint for five hours, and then come back and hit play again. But we can't.

I just started a new part time job. It's fantastic. The people are great, the volunteers are great, the mission is great. I come home and fall into a pile on the floor. I fight off the urge to eat ALL THE COOKIES before crumbling into bed. On my to-do list I had, "Start new job. Refurbish etsy shop." I had these two back to back like in that reality I require no adjustment period, and I'm magically more productive than I've ever been.

Lesson learned...again...and again...and again.

But I'm not beating myself up. Instead I'm making new lists and creating new adjusted plans where I realize that my art progress will be a bit slower while I ease into new responsibilities and a new schedule. But that's why one of the reasons learning to paint is so great...we're forced to learn more than just pigment and paper. We're forced to learn to give ourselves a break and feel victory in our first night of hands covered in paint.

(Note: These papers are done in the Anne Bagby style I learned from her second Creative Catalyst Productions collage DVD workshop, Pattern & Form: Advanced Collage Techniques.)