So, pretty much every new year comes along and I try to start a new habit, a better healthier diet, a routine, something....
Sometimes I make it for a month or two and then I just fall into bad habits, junk food, can't stick to the new routine, something....
Sometimes I don't even make it a week!

I am breaking tradition.
I am starting Dec. 22nd -
 my hope is to post one Random Rambling a week... even though I know no one else is reading it but me. 
This is really for me.
And, along with that once a week post I will include a visual- a page in my Art of Change book- one of those promises of new life I made myself and abandoned many years ago....

So here is a page from that book that I started years ago... hopefully 52 more to come.
​

For years I have gathered bits and pieces of jewellery: orphan earrings, sparkly baubles, charms and beads from an independent bead store,  thrift store finds, estate and garage sales.
I made and sold many many pieces at our own Bizarre Bazaar, summer markets, commissioned at local shops.
I love finding and sorting and creating . It's quite Zen for me really.
Now I find myself in a new place : physically , emotionally, financially, mentally.
I moved, very quickly, across the country. West coast to east coast, state capital to small town, culturally active to .... not so much.
SO......
​

Since I have moved, and am now in an area where I know very few people, and I live in an area that is NOT dense population, we are approaching the Creation Station a bit differently. 
*More online outreach
*Commissions over Classes (for now)
**Newer style of PopArt with Posca Pens on Wood Canvas (no need for glass or framing)

So, a Client contacts Elsewise Art and we:
First  have a discussion of  size, price and colors that the client likes or dislikes.

Client sends photos and we discuss...  (my comments in green)

And the process begins...
*Outline
*Painting begins
*The color that looks like Black was actually Dark Turquoise.
​But when I added a second coat it looked black, NOT the turquoise the client requested.
​(further discussion not shown in the text)

I added popcorn around the edges because the client said the cat loved popcorn and these were his Crazy Eyes- his
​Popcorn Face! which became the title for this commission.

Yep. Been awhile.
I allowed everything and all the other things and stuff and such to take priority.
But, see, something REALLY BIG happened... and I was forced to Re-THINK and Re-Imagine what I choose to do with my Time, how I choose to go about  making an income.
I moved.
All the way across the USA. From Oregon to Maryland.
Crazy Times.
SO!
I have to get used to *New Weather *Paying taxes on everything *Finding new products and brands because they don't have the same ones here *Living in the COUNTRY far away from all things as opposed to CITY living with all things close by *Buy a Car and finally...... find ways to make an income via my ART.
​So bear with me as I move along to new and exciting adventures, and I PROMISE I will write more often.

Board Game:
And Now For Something
​Completely Different

Game Board: To Get Different You Need To DO Different

I was given a commission.
Only parameters: Bold Colors.
So, I thought and pondered and  worried. I came up with several ideas but none seemed to be right. 
I was visiting a friend, who had a lush mj plant put back. I inquired as to the strain... SpaceDog was the answer.
Inspiration Lightning struck! My friend is crazy for the weed, and has a wee dog he loves. 
Space Dog was painted, in bold colors of course,  completed in 3 days and sent off .
And I was so happy with the result that I am doing a series.

Watercolor pencils. Created by my 3 kids back in the 1990s...yikes.

Drawings my kids did wwaaayyyy back in the day.
I taught an after school art class at an elementary school. 
My own 3 had to attend.
​These are done in oil pastel.

WHAT IT TAKES....FOR ME. to get artwork framed and on the wall.
I have collected wooden frames for a couple decades. I have boxes of them!
*I have the art I want to frame, in this case SIX small pieces that I have saved for 25 years! Sheesh.
*I select the right size frames for the art.
*Remove the thrift store art.
*Wash the glass.
*Clean the frame, then spray it the color I want-wait for it to dry, inspect and re-spray if necessary.
*Cut mat board backing  to proper size.
I used to mat all my work but have eliminated that step. I just frame the art by itself now.
*Glass/Art/Backing
*Secure into frame- I use  cable staples.
*Measure for hanging wire- place two "Eye" screws- loop through wire.
*Hang.

I am SUCH a procrastinator (see the part about taking 25 years to get this done) so if I'm gonna do it,
I REALLY need to start and finish within a couple days.

I have posted some Creative Cartography before but I haven't described the process. One of the things I like so much about this art form is the process itself.
*Find the map... has to be a good paper, not slick.
*Find the picture within.
*Slowly develop the image.
​This one I call Snow Ape and it won second place ribbon in Keizer Arts Fin, Fur, Feathers show.