Books I am reading and loving right now.

Here are a few books I wanted to share that I am reading at the moment.  


THE COMPLETE ARTIST'S WAY by Julia Cameron; Creativity as a Spiritual Practice.  3 in 1 volume; The Artist's Way, Walking in This World, and Finding Water.  
-What a wonderful book, I can not say enough about the truths I completely relate to and agree with in this book; a great tool for anyone looking for a fulfilling creative career, and life.  Reaffirms many of my beliefs and thoughts.  There are step by step instructions and great techniques to further our inner artist and self.  Encouraging and very helpful.
THE ARTIST'S GUIDE by Jackie Battenfield; How To Make A Living Doing What You Love.
WHEREVER YOU GO THERE YOU ARE by Jon Kabat-Zinn
HOW TO MAKE MONEY AS AN ARTIST by Sean Moore
BUSINESS LETTERS FOR ARTISTS by M. Stephen Doherty
INTENTIONS + GOALS 
THE ART OF ENCAUSTICS by Joanne Mattera
-I love everything about encaustics, and I feel it would be the best medium for me to express myself.  With the kind of work I do it would be so right... but (I hate the 'but'), I just do not have the space, or money to really delve into it right now.  


And a huge stack of magazines for color, idea and inspiration porn!  


So looking at the list its quite obvious I am trying to get as much info as I can about the business aspect of being an artist; when I am truly interested and determined about something I study the heck out of it, research and keep my mind open.  Usually this is all of the time for me as my brain seems to never let up and is constantly curious and fascinated about anything.  Yes, I find it hard to sleep at night; but I'm down to 1 Ativan and half an Imovane!!!  and sleepy teas, although be careful as some will make your tummy upset... gurgle... not fun.


I want to start writing in my journal again; I used to be obsessed and have stacks of them stored away but now I hardly visit lined paper.


I will post my process, practice, ups and downs, trial and error progress in regards to being a self sustaining artist; although I'm not really there yet, I still come up losing (only money as I've gained more than I can say in terms of life experience and the self as an artist).  BUT, maybe sharing my experiences could help someone else out or make them feel less alone, etc.  It is a lot of hard work, but worth it.  


Will write again soon.  


SmiLe
-M

Recent Art Progress

Here is a wall of my 10 ft. x 14 ft. studio space; it can get quite cramped in here and the size of my work is limited; very frustrating to say the least as it would be wonderful to just let loose and do huge pieces.  But I do with and work with what I've got, I feel grateful and fortunate.  I am a major multi-tasker so I get a little ruffled when I can only have three pieces going at once; similarly with books, I think I am usually reading at least 5 books at a given time, except when I am traveling (I can imagine myself carrying all those books with me... back breaking).  

This is how my brain is organized, I guess it is all compartmentalized into specific sections, images and ideas that are created and slotted into its own little space.  I realize it is impossible explaining how my brain works or thinks; forget it, I don't even understand it at times.  Complicated.  

Recently I have been depressed; okay, that sounds a bit daft in that I am diagnosed with chronic depression... I have been managing it okay until recently when I discovered I am not as I would like to be.  I feel a huge imbalance in everything these days and that drives me nuts.  Life is unpredictable but this is more of a powerless-ness feeling I do not appreciate.  I will none the less persevere and this too shall pass.   

  

So I am feeling a bit down although this piece has to do more with the economy; and it is not close to finished.  We'll see where this goes.  

Fried Brains!

I can finally say my brain has been fried by computer use...  yes, lo tech me, on a computer!?  What the !@#$?  


First of all things to spill:


-I have been doing more art and I expected myself to be doing.  This is great!  
-Note to self; when working with pastels and/or pigments look in the mirror before leaving the front door!!!  Walking the dog, I literally looked like a chimney sweep!!!  Shock horror!!!  OMG!!!
-Paper design cut outs easily get tangled in dog fur; his nose is also very wet; not good (for the paper and my art)!
-Open window when drawing madly with pastels; sniffing the residue will make you high, re, not a good high but a toxic one... gag gag cough choke, oh great, more psychedelic war paint on face!!!
-The layer I am doing on one of my pieces looks like country, old lady house, quilt, deco... yuck, but this is the process and these layers, despite being harsh on eyes, are essential to get to end EXTRAVAGANT and BEAUTIFUL results:)
-I need to really wash my paint brushes... poor things they are drowning in colored stale mucky water.  
-The other day I was shredding credit cards and other sort of cards for another piece I am working on and without noticing I started smelling this burning plastic smell, they congealed together, MELTED!, uggh, great for security reasons I guess, but not for my art piece which needs shredded plastic strips!  
-My boyfriend often things I am completely nuts as I get excited about strange things... like the way in which the plastic pieces melted together from my shredding mess, and the likes.  
-I will be visiting L.A. for a week and then flying to Tokyo for a few weeks from there.  I have been looking for sturdy, will not rip or break luggage for the next ten years (or more); Briggs and Riley, life time warranty, I look to you.  Lol.  Yes, it is a bit expensive but I am a heavy traveller (in both weight and frequency).  
-There for I am researching art galleries like mad in the L.A. area and I haven't gotten to Tokyo yet...  I like to be thorough.  Right now I have 23 galleries on my list... in a week, hmmm, I should start cutting down; until next time, L.A.  
-I have not worn nail polish on my fingers in a while as I realized beautiful colors make me not want to get my hands dirty; impossible for me to do, making the whole process of applying polish and prettying them completely useless and exhausting.  


Yes, thats in a nut shell.  Oh, my website still is being updated (always;), the Japanese language section will be coming soon as well as maybe some flash movement (if I have money left, if at all)...


I need to go make some dinner now so I will post again soon:)  Photos will be coming soon too, I haven't forgotten, and also the illustrations on paper have been cleaned up so I will post those all in one.  


SMILE!!!


-M