Seems like it's either
Feast or Famine.
Yin Yang.

I had Zero. None. Nada. No work and now, Happily I might add, I have so much to do that it's hard to complete each task, write up, class supply gathering, post, jewelry pieces, fabric pieces, art pieces in the time frame needed.

I just completed the write up and image gathering to be the February Featured Artist for St. Mary's County Arts Council. I have six pieces on the walls plus  journals- altered covers -for sale in their gallery store.
I have worked on, and completed, multiple jewelry pieces to replace the previously sold pieces at Marie and Nash.
I worked on and completed 2 pieces for the February 2023 Invitational Art Show at North End Gallery, and hope to finish a small one for the Little Works of Love show as well.
I am also traveling back for a visit to Salem, and will be giving two colored pencil classes, and have been preparing for this as well.

All while being assistant caretaker to my grandchildren.

Whew!
Good Stuff... but Exhausting.

An Artist never retires though.
And as an Artist, I am doing what I love.... 
​It may SOUND like complaining... but I am not.

So..... I wrote this whole thing about being Positive, but allowing for some Negativity.
Wearing Rose Colored Glasses, but taking them off sometimes to see Reality.

And I talked about Creative Thinking, Outside the Box, Blue Sky Thinking.
But allowing for Reality. 

Everything in Moderation.
Finding Balance.
Yin and Yang.  

I wrote a bunch.... this is the synopsis.
Know why?
Because the Reality of Life is that Sometimes Everything is NOT Perfect or Positive.
Sometimes you Accidentally Erase your Words, you did not click "save" while you were attending to other matters.
 Sometimes you  have to Start Over.




​

ACCEPT may need to be my new Word for the Year. Or at leas t a couple months....
SO much changed for me in 2022. 
I have been having quite the struggle accepting these changes.
Basically my life turned upside down, I was kicked out of every single comfort zone I had built for myself and was/am wwwaaayyyyyyy outside my  box. 
This , hopefully, will end up being a good thing and force me to walk down new paths, look for new boxes, find other zones in which to find comfort.
So..... walking down the path marked "Acceptance"

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