I took a big break from making art and teaching art, after having my third baby and dealing with post-partum depression which knocked me to my knees for about two years. And, finally, I got to a place where I had a wee little ounce of ambition and motivation again for making art again, and I jumped for it! And...by that I mean I took the tiniest baby step. Haha. But, I kept taking baby steps, but with my mental health and my art and I got some momentum!
Now, I am doing SO much better in life. I am totally moving forward, tackling goals!!
And it's been fantastic. :)
I also made some adjustments.
I decided that I felt to much stress around custom work--and it takes too much time, so I currently no longer take on custom projects. I realized that I wanted to focus on a curriculum project, though I have no idea how to do it, and it's crazy intimidating. (Check out my Art Curriculum tab in the menu bar!) I decided that my artistic endeavors would now consist of: working on the curriculum, teaching a small amount, making art of my own to sell as prints, and facepainting. So, please don't be offended if I can't do a custom project for you--I had to pick and choose what I could spend my mental/emotional energy and time doing and what works best for me and my fam! It feels good to make that decision, and I've so appreciated the understanding and support of those who asked me to do a custom project that I've had to tell no!
NOW, I'd like to show you what I've worked on in the past year or two! :)
This is my work desk in my beloved "Art Room", a bedroom I commandeered in our basement. :) It's soo awesome to have a place of my own to go and create, where I can leave my paints out and lock the door when I leave and not worry about little fingers getting into it and making a disastrous mess! Haha!
I love watercolor. :)
I love pencil too! :) I will ALWAYS love drawing people. Anne Frank is one of my heros, so I have fun sketching her one afternoon.
I FINALLY went and had some prints made from my watercolor art!! I have sold these at a few Craft/Art fairs, as well as to friends and family who saw them online and wanted to snag their own. ;) I am hoping to start selling on ETSY soon!
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| My original caption: "I AM FINALLY DOING IT. I am getting a batch of my artwork scanned for prints!! My emotions be like...🙌😁😬😫😊😕👊💪🙌 I’m trying to accept that nothing is ever perfect! DONE is better than perfect.So...This Saturday, I am taking a giant leap out of my comfort zone, and selling these prints at a Craft Fair. I’ve never done this before!!! *deep breath* I’m excited!!! 😁🙌😄 And...I’m nauseated. Haha!. |
Many of these are so perfect for children's rooms and nurseries. :) And, here is me at my first Craft/Art Fair! It was sooo fun. I just painted and talked to people and made some money! Win/win!
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| A little Easter Egg fun! |
My friend hired me to paint this sweet little watercolor painting for her daughter's nursery. I have been painting a lot of flowers lately, haha!
Though I am no longer making custom art, I still am so fond of my little cartoon family portraits. :)
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| Here's a friend and her adorable little fam! I'd never included a pet in a family portrait, so that was fun! :) |
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| This was for a friend who wanted a special way to remember the baby they lost through a miscarriage. |
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| My family!!! |
This in the only photo I have of this drawing, and it's blurry--sorry! I made this drawing for my cousin. She missisioned me to draw her friend's son who died in an ATV accident. I was intimidated and honored to draw Jesus with this sweet boy--I prayed a lot for help while drawing this so I could make something that would bring comfort to the family!
Every now and agian, I venture into the world of mural-making! It is a very fun, but time-filled commitment. :) Here I am painted the playroom walls for a family of 6 kiddos!!!
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| Original caption: "Here I was, getting ready to start Mural-ing the walls of my friend’s play room last night! I wear Patrick’s work overalls from high school as my paint overalls! 😆Check out all those brush pockets.👌 It definitely takes a lot of time to paint on such a huge scale, but it’s a fun challenge I take on every 5 years or so. haha!" |
This was me on the night I finished up this cute mural for a families’ play room! (I finally finished at 1:30 am! 😆) WOOHOO!!! It took 17ish hours...which is why I only paint a mural once every couple years. 😂 I went 5 different times to their house after kids were in bed. I enjoyed painting it and learned a lot and got to listen to Brandon Sanderson books into the wee hours of the night while earning money! 👊 Win-win!!
This is a small mural I painted to help out with my local church's children's activity where they learned about the temples! This is the Idaho Falls Temple. The temple means so much for me! They existed all through the Old Testament and New Testament, (remember Solomon's temple and when Jesus taught in the temple in Jerusalem?) ...and now we have them again today! It is a place where active members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints go to learn, pray, and participate in simple, symbolic ceremonies that remind us of our commitment to follow the Savior. I feel so close to my Heavenly Father when I'm there. And it is BEAUTIFUL inside with gorgeous murals, so of course, I'm all about that!! :)
Here I am, practicing painting on fabric. I LOVE stars and galaxies...The rich colors just speak to me!!!
A big part of my journey as an artist, is teaching my passion for art to others!! And, as a mom, I get to do that with my own kiddos! I am lucky to have my own little boy who ADORES art and begs to do it all the time! (like, alllll the time...*sigh* haha)
We drew a picture of a ground squirrel together, each with our own drawing. He watched every line I drew, then tried to do the same on his paper. We talked the whole timea bout each shape and line, about the sizes of everything, about shading, etc. He did a faboulous job!! I mean, come one, I was NOT drawing like that when I was 5!!!! I'm excited to see where this little guy goes with art!
This is my little fella at the art contest where he entered his ground squirel! He didn't win the main prize for his age, but everybody got a participation blue ribbon, and cookies with juice, sooo...he was pretty pleased with the whole evening! haha! And, this is also one of my other little boys, who prefers dumptrucks and backhoes to drawing, and that's totally ok!! 😆
Hmmmm....here's an art project by my youngest boy, which I did NOT encourage. I guess even one-year-olds have the innate need to make art! And, heck if mom leaves out a sharpie, (where she THOUGHT he couldn't reach) then you better make a work of art!! (Thank goodness for magic erasor, haha!)
I've also started teaching Kids' Art Classes again! My secret is that I teach in workshop form, only a couple classes or a couple weeks at a time, and then I'm not locked in to MONTHS AND MONTHS on end, which is when I tend to get burnt out. So, with the shorter format, I'm totally loving it again! It's sooo fun to see a kid improve and get excited about what they're learning and creating!! :)
Here's a project where we learn about one-point perspective, then use sharpies and oil pastels to draw a Dutch feild of tulips! :)
Art classes in my backyard!! Summer is the best for that. :)
Here I am teaching a free watercolor workshop at a community center opening. Some fun kiddos!
And...of course, one of the biggest reasons I have spend most of my life studying art and getting an art degree, is so that I can make SWEET Halloween costumes for my family and I! Haha! I spent HOURS drawing with a brown sharpie on pieces of tan felt, then hot-gluing the pieces to brown sweats, to make this baby Groot costume for my toddler (which he HATED wearing.) But, oh was he adorable!!!! One of my proudest moments as an artist. haha!
And, I always do a little Face Painting here and there! I LOVE doing it!
This little cutie has alopecia… And she let me just go crazy on her head! 😁If there hadn’t been other people in line I would’ve just kept painting her head for an hour! She was so thrilled when I was done, and kept looking in my mirror and saying “oh I love it, I love it!” What a cool experience to make this sweet girl feel beautiful and proud of her head!! All of her friends were oohing and ahhing over her head, and she was beaming! 😊 One of the best reactions I’ve ever gotten. ❤️
Those have been a few of my Artsy happenings as of late. Thank you for caring to check them out, and for supporting me!! It's not easy to balance the life of raising kiddos AND pursue your professional and personal dreams, but I figure that I am doing important work in all of my roles in life--as a momma, an an artist, as a teacher, and as a person! I want to find joy in creating, whether it's creating a life and home filled with love for my family, making art for the world, bring joy to others when I transform them with face paint, or seeing someone light up when I help them master a new art skill! Art brings so much goodness to my life, and in turn, helps me to bring goodness to other's lives!!
I'm trying to HUSTLE every week (gently hustle--cause I want to take care of my mental/emotional health, so I avoid becoming too overwhelmed and stressed) and I just whittle away at my ambitious goals a little at a time. We all have gifts to offer the world, so we just gotta keep offering them the best we can! Love you friends!
-Amy
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