Getting antsy

As the year begins to wind down, my plans and ideas begin to wind up. I start to look back over the year and see what have been successes and what have been failures and how I can change things for next year because next year is a clean slate. It is especially "bad" (and I put that in quotes because it's not necessarily a bad thing, but bad meaning the ability to ignore has been significantly reduced) recently because I've gotten it into my head that I need to take off the training wheels that is my part time job and start to kick my business into high gear. Not exactly the smartest of decisions since the country seems to be heading into some major financial downturns, but I've never been one for completely rational thought. All I see are the possibilities and they are encouraging. 

I have been obsessed with viewing my lack of being an independent (read: free from part time job) artist as being because I haven't put all the pieces of the puzzle together, or I'm missing a key piece, like one of those jaggedy edged pieces that you really can't put it in place until pretty much the entire puzzle is put together.

However, while being rational may not be my strong point, I am still sane, and sanity tells me I need to not walk away from a sure thing until the other thing is a sure thing. (Ya got all that?) Meaning that the part time job stays because it has to. This is not the kind of situation where it's a sink or swim thing. I wouldn't work any harder if I didn't have the other job (because I already work hard enough) and casting off the regular paycheck isn't going to guarantee that the other ones will start flying in. 

I had more to go with that but I'm starting to fall asleep. Obsessing is exhausting!

Saint Paul Art Crawl and new work

Once again it's time for the Saint Paul Art Crawl, fall edition. :)

The best type of art fair, one where I don't have to leave my home, but I do have to clean and prepare. As always, all of my artwork will be available for sale, and I will have some snacks and refreshments as well!

The hours of the Art Crawl are:

Friday October 10, 6-10pm

Saturday October 11, 2-10pm

Sunday October 12, 12-5

Also, I have some new artwork that I just completed but have yet to print. It's my largest piece of art in dimension at approximately 18 x 24. It combines hand drawn elements, found items as well as some of my own photography. I'm really enjoying the new direction I am going with my fine art collages by painting a background and then converting it into a digital format and layering over it with digital elements. I am also adding more original work to my portfolio of collages as well, as I find the more that I mix traditional collage with digital collage the harder it is to reproduce the outcome, especially if I add traditional elements such as stenciling, painting, stamping, etc. after the collage is printed.

This collage is currently untitled. It is based on a quote that I saw on a t-shirt, "Sometimes what the heart sees is invisible to the eye."