This looks like a Goddess Mandala to me. Â It looks mythical and deep with layers of meaning. It looks like a scared symbol of an earth culture. For me it is a sacred symbol - I see a goddess created from ancient, significant symbols. There is a human aspect and also a nature deva facet. And of course, the colors have profound spiritual implications. Absolutely amazing the way the unconscious speaks in art!!
You may have heard of the Blue Dog series … you can see George Rodrigue’s work here. I came across him years ago and have always wanted to do a series about my kitty in a similar way. Â I love his work - I found him before I painted at all and this art inspired me greatly! So here is a green dog in sunglasses!! My own version of the Blue Dog. I was playing around and this image popped right out!!
This is a digital rework of Conundrum I. Â When I first used this program of Studio Artist several years ago, I worked with this piece to start with - since it is one of my very favorites. Â I am pleased that this one I created today, has so much more depth and meaning to me. Â Clearly I am mastering both the techniques and the substance much better of digital painting. I am pretty excited!! Â Here is a demo of Studio Artist if you are interested.
I hope you like this new digital art! And you are correct! There is a bubblescape involved in this image … those are transformed bubbles that are peeking around! It was confirmed today I do have an infection - so why I have felt so crummy for a week - so hopefully I will feel better by tomorrow and be able to write more!! What do you think of this title? I am not sure it looks like a crown, but the name keep pestering me and wouldn’t leave me alone until I agreed to it … now you know a little more about my creating. Â Not only do the creations themselves have life and boss me around, they often tell me what their names are and let me know if they don’t like what I choose. Welcome to Diane’s World. Â
Ruthie Hochman has a blog Ruthie’s Reason. Recently, she had a post on Simple Pleasures … I quote, “Simple pleasures are the “little” things that accentuate life and make the biggest difference. … Perhaps what I find most pleasurable about the simple things I delight in is their simplicity - the complete ease with which one is able to enjoy them.” I truly agree and I bet you do too. I loved her post! It’s worth reading the rest!
Ruthie asked me to consider painting about simple pleasures. I think at the beginning she really meant one painting about simple pleasures. Since Ruthie loves my bubbles, I assumed she meant with the bubblescape series. She liked that idea. I have been hard at creating, working with the bubbles to take my abilities to the next level of creating more conceptual art - at least that is how I see it.
I am taking a concept and representing it with these bubbles ~ that really and truly little meaning past what I endow them with. It is pretty exciting to me! In general I just create, exploring my materials, being guided by my soul and my feelings … and then look at it to see what it is. This is somewhat new territory for me.
So I have 2 questions for you … one are what are your simple pleasures? What simple pleasures would you like to see in bubblescapes? This might be a little similar to Debi Cates questions. She is a talented and fun photographer. I am going to point you to the post where she was very generous in her assessment of me. She has a fantastic experiment going on where she asks people to make choices … I encourage you to check out her other posts too!
Back to the questions … what are your simple pleasures and what simple pleasures would you like to see in bubblescapes? Question 2 … someone asked me if I have any paintings of “lovers.” I have struggled with this a lot with the bubbles … but nothing is gelling very well. I thought someone might have an idea for lovers they would like to see me try in bubbles. I would love your help!!
I am so thrilled that I have been featured on another blog!!! You have heard me speak of Chris O’Byrne who has a blog focused on online art marketing. Chris has decided to feature an artist every Friday on his blog. He decided to start with me!! I hope you will take the time to go over and check out his very interesting blog … thank you again, Chris!! You (my readers) are so so wonderful!!
One other thing I want to let you know about today … I have found out about a new resource for bloggers called rrsHugger.com. I think many of you know what rss feeds are … a way to be able to keep up with your favorite blogs by a feed reader instead of having to go visit the site to see if they have posted yet. The rss feed is the mechanism that gives you the info about their blog.
Each blogger chooses a blog name … mine is www.rssHugger.com/dianeclancy.com. They are providing this service free at the moment if you write a post about them. I am hoping you will go visit it.
This is great for bloggers because there is a lot of exposure. One exciting thing is that they have a random way of showing blogs so that everyone gets a chance to be seen. They also have the top 100 blogs and other ways of finding blogs.
For readers, it is an advantage because you can find lots of new (to you) exciting blogs to be able to read and follow very easily. I think this is a win/win all around!
I just read a very powerful post by Staci Rose on the Holocaust and powerful responses. There is a moving remembrance in London happening … this month. Harry Potter’s glasses are involved. Staci wrote an incredible post about the Holocaust, survivors, and several fantastic resources. I strongly recommend you check out this post!!! Thank you, Staci!
We will get back to marketing .. there are just so many exciting things to write about!
I have not thought out my goals for 2008 so I will be thinking as I am writing. This will also be a mix of my personal goals, art goals and business goals. These parts of my life are not very separate for better or for worse. Thank you for visiting and reading!
Live at a more restful pace that is more in harmony with my health
Eat better and gently exercise and move my body more
Create more and more harmony, love, acceptance, kindness and peace in all my relationships
Really assess how I am spending my time to more realistically make priorities
Continue my work with the Creative Economy
Continue chairing and doing minutes for the Artists of Franklin County
Continue the AWE (Artist Window Exhibit) project for 3 different times this coming year
Continue on the Board of Create Franklin County
Create LOTS of art!!!
Continue with my digital art, honing my skills, style and filling requests - I am so filled with joy looking at images like this one!
Get back in the physical studio more!! Make that a top priority
Get my life force charged by painting
Takes lots of risks and play
Develop a way to make resources for artists available and to coach other artists
Pursue licensing seriously and in a more focused way to give myself a real shot at licensing
Pursue design work, as work for hire or licensing
Build on my online sales
Continue to build my CafePress Shop by adding images and items
Continue to build my Etsy Shop with changes and refinements I plan to make. And as a moderator of Visual Arts Street Team, we are going to be increasing our marketing and visibility campaign
Network more with WWAO, Worldwide Women Artists Online
Make decisions about other shops and selling opportunities
Work on my web site …
make a decision about how to make new galleries
make several bubblescape galleries
Continue with social networking … making decisions about how to use and how much time I can spend on it
Increasing marketing efforts
Keep up with my graphic design and web design clients
Happy New Year!! Let’s all have the best year we have ever had! It would be wonderful for each of us to move ahead with our goals, health and relationships and to have peace and justice everywhere on earth. This includes environmental justice - caring for the earth! Sounds good to me!! Marketing is going to wait a few days as I am inspired to write a few other posts first. Lisa Call inspired me to review the year in this post. Today I am going to look at 2007 and see what I have done and tomorrow focus on what I want to accomplish.
Actually I have accomplished quite a bit in 2007 and perhaps it will be useful to document some of it. Some of these were goals and some weren’t.
Opened my CafePress Shop which allowed people to buy my paintings on mugs, tiles, totes, journals and more. This has been a goal of mine since 1988 (to offer my paintings on merchandise) and CafePress has allowed me to!
Opened my Etsy Shop where I have been selling reproductions of my artwork from cards to larger matted prints. Opening this shop allowed me to reach more people who wanted to buy my artwork. I have been wanting to market more effectively for a long time.
Learned about Art Trading Cards (ATC or ACEO) this fall and started offering them for sale. These were my best sellers at Etsy.
Learned about blogs this spring and have posted a post every day since the end of March on this blog.
Had several clients for whom I created web sites and blogs. If you go to my site and look under links to clients links, you can see some of them.
Several clients wanted substantial graphic design work which I was delighted to do!
I exceeded my financial goals for the year.
Thanks to one of my readers on this blogs, I am doing better at keeping on top of my financial records … trying for every day to keep the details fresh in my mind as I put them into my databases.
I have maintained some local card sales.
Made fantastic connections with online friends!! Thank you!!!
This fall is when I think I first heard about social networking … I have been very hard at work doing this!! Sometime I will do a post with my connections so you can connect with me in these various ways.
Found out about and joined WWAO, Worldwide Women Artists Online, a great group of women artists who sell our work online. I have made lots of great connections there.
On Etsy found out about VAST, Visual Artists Street Team. I was in the group for about a month before I became a moderator … so this is a great opportunity to again connect with other visual artists who sell our artwork.
Had a very small amount of licensing of my artwork. This was something I wanted to pursue a lot … next year.
Several clients hired me to put their animal companions into fields of flowers or butterflies. This was a big success.
I sent out one email newsletter this year - and I didn’t get any “take me offs.” Several people wrote back thanking me for this holiday newsletter.
Finished “Reflections in Blue IV,” a pastel series I have been working on.
Been creating digital art like wild, supported greatly by your support and enjoyment of my bubblescapes.
I have cut a whole pile of blank ATCs that are all ready for me to fill up .. it should be a great way to get back into my traditional painting …. next year.
Our local Artists of Franklin County became much clearer about our goals, under my leadership. We put on 3 AWE (Artists Window Exhibits) since mid-summer.
I was invited (and accepted) to be on the Board of Directors of the Create Franklin County, the regional group working to build the Creative Economy.
I am sure there are more .. but this is exciting to see all the things I have done to move my business ahead as I wanted.
Here is an alternative entry for the zoo. This is one of a series of images I created using vector clip art that I purchased the usage of. I am very taken with this kind of animal image that has an African feel. If you like, I will tell you more about this tomorrow.
Today I have spent the day burning DVDs to backup clients’ work from the last few years. It meant I couldn’t use my computer for anything else. One time I tried and the DVD tanked (was defective). It could have been a coincidence, but I didn’t want to take the chance again.
So I had no access to the computer until now. The rest of the time Susan and I read her screenplay out loud - and that took several hours. I am eager to finish the backing up because then I can delete a bunch of files and I hope that will speed things up some … they have been crawling lately and that makes it a lot less fun!! I will catch up with you tomorrow … and I would love to hear about you!!
I am having so much fun making and looking at these ACEOs that I am making. Art Cards Editions and Originals are a 2.5 x 3.5 ” piece of art. Artists originally developed then as ATCs (Art Trading Cards) to share with each other. Then someone realized that is it a way for anyone to be able to own a piece of work by an artist - and collect them - in an affordable way.
For years I have bought greeting cards by various artists and have saved them - to be able to look at and admire them …. and be inspired. I don’t know many other people who do that - but I love to look at art - in a manageable way. So, I am pretty psyched to have discovered this new (to me) genre.
At first I was hesitant, but tried them anyway … and now I am hooked! Other artists at Etsy were very generous with helping know how they made their ACEOs. So that helped me decide exactly how I want mine to look. I put the painting (or print) in an archival sleeve and then put that into a hard sleeve to protect them.
I have been making them for the fair this weekend (by the way we are now ready) and I want one of each. It is fun to be enjoying them so much!! And I have gotten excellent feedback from the people who have gotten them.
Any of my images on this blog or my site I am glad to make into an ACEO edition (print) for $6 plus shipping and handling. (Shipping and handling is $.50 for the US, $1 for Canada and Australia and $1.50 for other places.) If you want 3, you can get them for $15 plus shipping and handling. I can accept PayPal.
If you want to check them out in my Etsy Shop, please do. There are also lots and lots of fantastic artists who sell there. Thank you for indulging my sharing this new passion!!
Sue O’Kieffe on he Sacred Circle Mandalas wrote a post about creating every day in November with a link to another blog. Each November there is an encouragement to Create Every Day. It must be a companion to November being Writers’ Month where writers write every day. Leah Piken of Blue Tree Art Gallery has a blog where you can register to join in. I would think many of you would like to join in!! It can be any medium at all - what you usually do or a new one. I look forward to what you create!
This is the Scales image at a different time of day - or should I say night. And it seems to me that instead Scales that other painting has a “real name” of Poetic Mountain. Unless you have other suggestions … but I think it fits.
I am pretty excited that you are enjoying the bubbles so much! I love creating them! And having an audience for something like this enhances the process so much!! I would love to hear more about you.
Thank you for all your help and feedback. I am thinking about what to do .. as I absorb your feedback. I am so grateful for your taking time to talk with me about your opinions. More tomorrow.
Thank you for all your thoughtful responses yesterday!! I have new things to try out now! I need to play catch-up today - including on your blogs! I just made an addition to this post … I have put a version with my signature, so you can see the difference. I am interested in your input now.
Some of you have bought work of mine and others have said you plan to. So, as my customers, I have a question for you. Last night I brought some of my cups tiles, postcards and more from my CafePress Shop to my art business class. They loved the merchandise and thought it looked great! But they has one problem with it - my name is not on the mugs and all at all.
When I ship from my Etsy Shop, I send a business card and they know it is from me. I can also sign the print or card if they would like me to.
I explained to the class that with the merchandise from CafePress there was no way to put my name with the products. They get shipped directly to the customer. They then wanted me to put my name on the image itself that I upload for CafePress to print from.
That is the only way to have my name associated with the image. I want to know what you think. I am of mixed minds. In one way I can understand their concerns - sure it would be great for people to know the work was mine
and come looking for more!
But in another way, I am concerned with anything that could take away from the painting itself. I am not sure my name as it would be on a picture in a way that didn’t take away from the painting would be clear enough to come looking for me and then find me.
So, I just don’t know! I am turning to you to ask your opinion. Which way would you prefer? I hope you will really take the time and be truthful. Thank you in advance for all your help!!
I am very moved by the outpouring of kindness and understanding that you have given me in your comments! You have touched me in a deep place in my soul with your connecting to me … and letting me know about it! This is an added bonus I did not expect when I started blogging!
I promised I would give you the link to the World Card Making Day (WCMD)- which was yesterday, October 6, 2007. If I had known earlier, I would have shared this so all of you could have the chance to play too. It is a little like Rima’s challenges … different blogs set up a kind of card to make and then details were posted during different times of the day and then people went to town creating cards!
ACEO (Art Card Editions and Originals) and ATC ( Art Trading Cards) are 2.5 x 3.5″ cards (made of many different materials) that people trade and collect. They are the same size as a baseball card (at least baseball cards in the US - I don’t know about other countries) and people often keep them in plastic sleeves that people use for baseball cards.
I have had a request to make some of these ACEOs and so I saw an opportunity that would force me to push myself fast and furious without worrying about quality .. sort of like it was for me when I took art classes. I produced tons of work because there was a deadline without the pressure of having to be perfect … I am sure many of you understand what I mean.
If you want to see the ACEOs I made yesterday they are posted at my other blogs here and here. I posted until 2 am my time last night so there may be some you didn’t catch. There are no duplicate ACEO images between the 2 blogs. And I hadn’t posted on either since I posted about the Blog Action Day - so that is when you will know you have seen all the ACEOs.
For me it was a great chance to get the brush going again without worrying about meaning or what it looked like. I need to do my environmental challenge so hopefully the brush got loosened up so now there is just the brain (or heart and soul) that need loosening.
The other thing I wanted to share is about this painting. I just was putting paint down and I thought it looked terrible - so I almost threw it aside. But I am very conscious of the earth and thriftiness. So I put a little more on it. Then I wiped a brush on it. Then put a bunch of marks in the back. Then, magically, at one moment, it showed itself as a dog. A pretty cool dog too I think. So I went back and reworked it a bunch more times … I thought you would be interested to know about its history. I think it is one of the strongest images from yesterday .. and it almost got thrown out!
I want you to remember that persevering is important. Things may not go quite right at the moment, in life and in painting, but keep stick with your process. You helped me persevere yesterday with painting and painting when it all looked like total junk to me .. then it gelled. So I want to pass this along to you!
Diane Clancy creates vibrant paintings that feature color and vision to inspire and uplift people. Says Diane, "I feel very blessed to have this opportunity to express myself through painting. I love that people say my artwork enhances their lives."
Diane belongs to Worldwide Women Artists Online, an international collective of women artists showing and selling our work online. For more original art direct from the women who create it, search WWAO.
Diane Clancy creates vibrant paintings that feature color and vision to inspire and uplift people. Says Diane, "I feel very blessed to have this opportunity to express myself through painting. I love that people say my artwork enhances their lives."
