Oh man, it has been a while since I have blogged and I have missed it a lot. I hope to blog more regularly in the future. For me, it is a great way to keep focused and to process life.
Let's play a little catch-up. :)
Solo Art Show 2013
So, the last time I shared was in August before I finished work at the cake shop. My last day there was November 8, 3013 and then I had my very first solo art show that weekend at Bright Red Studios in Madison, WI. The show was a huge success! I sold many prints of my work, had a ton of amazing people come to see my art, got to show off a little body art on some beautiful friends, thank you Erin (the raven) and Lindy (Sparrows) - hair done by hair-extraordinaire Kristin Lillig, and got to explain a lot of my work by placing little meaning cards under each title card. Thank you to all of you that supported me! It made me so happy and enforced the fact that though my new path is unpredictable, this is what I am supposed to be doing.
A few shots from the solo art show, aptly titled 'New Chapter':
RAWARDS 2103
I had the honor of being chosen as one of three Semi-Finalists for RAW Madison's Artist of the Year! I won this title in 2012 and talented fellow artist, Miranda Morrissey, won it for 2013.
To promote the awards show, a few other RAW artists and I were invited to talk on a local morning show. I brought along the lovely Brittany as a model for some of my body art. (Thank you for getting up at 3am with me so we could get ready!)
During the awards show, I displayed some of my visual art along with my body art as I painted four different models as attendees watched. My special trick for the night was that I used UV body paint that glowed in blacklight. Thank you to my models: Amanda, Erin, Katie, and Lindy!
To promote the awards show, a few other RAW artists and I were invited to talk on a local morning show. I brought along the lovely Brittany as a model for some of my body art. (Thank you for getting up at 3am with me so we could get ready!)
Project Famous
It's funny what starting a blog can become. I ended up selling one of the first pieces I blogged about AND I caught the eye of an online local arts magazine, Project Famous, run by the wonderful Kelly Lajter and Joey Broyles. After writing a piece about an art show that I attended, they asked if I would join their team as Arts Editor. I told them that I would join the team once I got past the craziness of my solo art show. Since then, I have been writing for the magazine every month, working with some talented writers and artists, and connecting with the Madison art scene more than I had ever hoped!
Check out the magazine and download issues: www.projectfamous.com
Finding My New Schedule
After all the hubbub of finishing my last weeks of work, the solo art show, the awards show, some various face painting and caricature gigs, dealing with a progressively worsening illness (see next blog), and the holidays, it was suddenly the new year and time to create some kind of guidelines for my newly found state of self-employment. This was not easy and I am still working on it but I have started to find a rhythm.
After breakfast, I find that mornings are best spent on the computer, cats on lap, with a cup of tea. My body takes a while to wake up and my creativity is still snoozing. This morning time is spent answering emails, updating my website and social media sites, editing photos, writing, making to-do lists, researching for projects, etc. Sometimes my computer time switches to early afternoon if a workout is scheduled in the morning and that seems to work well.
By late afternoon/early evening I am itching to create! This is when I hop down to my art cave where I usually have multiple projects in progress. When I am on a roll, sometimes Mark has to remind me when it is time for dinner or time for bed. I can get caught up when it comes to making art.
This is the ideal schedule for my week days. Weekends are mainly filled with art shows, gigs plus social events, church, and some quality time with my husband. This whole setup is peppered with day to day responsibilities, too - meetings, groceries, cleaning, cooking, pet care, etc. Days rarely turn out as expected but I am learning to be kinder to myself, taking each day as it happens and enjoying the small successes.
Here is some of the art I have made recently (late 2013, early 2014):
Yay art! Hi, are you still with me? This is turning out to be a pretty long post, further proving the point that I have to blog more often! Anyhow, thank you for sticking with it if you have gotten this far. Just a little more to go...
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Zombillies - The Greater Midwest Body Art Convention and Competition 2014The ladies of Glitter to Gore outdid themselves! They worked really hard to bring some fantastic body art and sfx instructors to Madison and I looooved the classes! If you are curious about the classes I took, I wrote a whole article that will be in the May issue of Project Famous.
The competition was based on the Zombillies theme, a mix of Rockabilly culture plus zombie style. I created a character named Hot-Rod Rita, a freshly zombified hot-rod pinup model. Before the competition, I sketched, made a headpiece, painted flames on the fake nails, re-worked a bustle (with the help of my mom's seamstress skills), met with my friend/model, Amy-Jo, and practiced wound work and paint techniques. I also worked in some of the new knowledge from the convention classes.
The competition was 6 hours long and the time passed very quickly! Amy-Jo was, as always, an excellent model; she kept still when I was doing detail work, took direction easily, and was just all around fun to work with because of her positive/silly attitude. I ended up placing third for body painting!
After doing so much with body art during March, the next few months are packed with visual art shows! I was just in a gallery show at Yellow Rose Gallery, I have will be showing art in two places for Madison's Gallery Night in May, I am making art for the new gallery in Mt. Horeb, Opera House Gallery, I am an artist for the Madison Art Hunt in June, and then I will be the featured artist at Art and Soul Tattoo in New Glarus in August. Also, scheduled are face painting gigs, caricature gigs, and some quality time with my friends and family. Busy times! Adding these events to my website is going on my to-do list now!
This will be my first summer in eleven years that is not pre-structured by the wedding and graduation season. Strange but true. I miss making cakes and my friends from the cake shop (hi guys, I love you!), but I am excited to experience what is ahead.
Thank you so much for reading!
Super fun! Glad to see so much progress and creativity.
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