In my last post, I talked about why art is not a priority for me right now. It was a hard post to write - I'd like to consider myself a serious artist and not painting doesn't really perpetuate that image.

But I think that it is important for me as an artist who blogs (at least in the direction my art blog has taken) to be open about this - and I've seen by the comments on my posts on the topic that juggling priorities is an issue that resonates with other artists - especially moms (sorry, guys, but you didn't comment).

I think it's important to reach a level of peace with fluctuating productivity. I've not quit painting, and I'm creative every day. I can feel good about that. And I'm learning about holding my desires with an open hand. Paul David Tripp says something in his book, Instruments in the Redeemer's Hands about how it is not our desires that are bad, but how tightly we cling to them. As a parent, I do not want my desire to paint to cause me to snap at my children when they abbreviate their naps and interrupt my creative time, or to walk around in a cloud because I feel thwarted. Wanting to paint is good; accepting graciously not being able to is better.

Last week the kids and I had a delightful time using our creativity making cookies and planning a cookie decorating party. Hard to feel like I'm missing out on anything!

Just realized I haven't posted in ten days. I've been too busy - not with painting. My husband has taken a job that requires a lot more hours away from home and the adjustment for me, home with three small children, has been difficult. Still working on it.

I'm hoping I haven't entered another phase of life where my watercolour is shelved - though this has happened before and doesn't mean the death of creativity - it always finds other outlets. But in my list of priorities, art can't come first - not at this busy stage of parenting and life-building.

I envy those for whom art can come first - or at any rate, take equal footing alongside family or other commitments. For those of us that must place it lower, the goal must be to live creatively, to approach each day with purpose and passion; to really see the beauty in the little moments, even when it cannot be captured with brush or pen.

It's a staggering challenge in the midst of the mundane - potty training, meal providing, laundry folding.

After six years online, today I cancelled my web hosting subscription.

Are you shocked? I am, a little. It's not something I thought I would ever do. I've put a lot of effort into building a web presence, and I've seen my site meter rise, then fall when I put art aside to have babies, and then rise again. But while my hits have increased, my sales have not, and, as I considered what my site does for me, I realized that most of it, I can do on my blog and forget paying for web hosting.

What my site has done for me:

1. served as a teaching platform
2. provided contact information
3. become an exhibition venue
4. connected me with artists

What my site has not done is sold my art. I think it unlikely that it will ever become a direct sales venue for me because of the limitations of the internet. There is no way that even a full screen image can compare with seeing the original art at actual size - and when art is priced in the market of several hundred dollars and up, would you buy without seeing the original? I wouldn't.

Those four services that my web site performs can be done just as well on my blog. And I will continue to post images of watercolor paintings for sale on my blog. But the energy I have put into promoting and maintaining both a blog and a web site can be channelled into the blog, with time left over for painting and promoting in the "real world".

Might not be the way you'd do it - but it feels right for me for now. Have you ever "cut back" in a similar way - why? And how? I'd like to hear your thoughts.

I should have done this a month ago but better late than not at all, right? (Adding note to marketing plan: create ornament in October) You are looking at my 2008 Limited Edition Holiday Ornament, featuring my watercolor painting Out to Pasture.

I had hoped to have limited edition prints of this painting ready for sale for this Christmas, but it is still at the printers. But with the help of CafePress, I created this lovely ceramic oval ornament, which you can purchase here. I was delighted with last year's ornament - the quality was very nice and I enjoyed giving it as a gift embellishment. I love to give gifts that have a special treat tied to the wrapping, and a little Christmas ornament is ideal for that purpose.

This ornament is limited edition - not in quantity but in time - it will be available in my store until the end of 2008, so order now!

Other gift items in my CafePress shop that are especially lovely are:

I learned just a month or two ago that there are a couple of local art competitions coming up that could be very good exposure. I'd love to have something spectacular to enter in each of them - one's in April and the other in June, so I have some time.
I started this painting with those competitions in mind but I'm not happy with it. The shrub to the right is poorly defined, and even worse in placement. I committed the foolish mistake of painting it in because it was in the reference photo. I need to remember - everything in my painting needs to have a reason for being there. "It was there in the original scene" doesn't cut it. While there are good moments - like the sky and bits of trees and foliage here and there, for the most part, it's 660 square inches' worth of mess.

So I'm going to try what I should have done in the first place - what a smart artist does when facing an opportunity to stink or shine - I'm going to fool around and paint for fun for a while. In fact, right now, I'm working on something that started from my imagination - no reference photo or even specific subject. The first brush stroke turned into a flower, of course (that's just me) but what kind it is will have to depend on the opinion of the observer.Playing with paint means I get to forget trying to strive for semblance and enjoy the process. I love the way the colours mingle in a wet-in-wet watercolor wash, and the way the edges are lost, and then found again. The first wash always gives this glimpse of emerging beauty, and a rich potential, though there's also this risk that I will cover that promise with layers of stilted "should's." Far better to forget the rules and explore the "what if's" and if a painting turns out, then I can consider exhibition.

That's my way of doing things - sometimes a deadline can cause us to get in gear and realize that inner masterpiece, but more often I find success comes when I'm painting for me and me alone.

I'm always encouraged by a little free publicity and today I checked my morning emails to see a notification from Google Alerts.

Lately the majority of Google Alerts I get are something like:

Google Web Alert for: angelafehr.blogspot.com

chi web proxy - proxy server set up - proxy bypasser fast new list ... Post N29026: jack osbourne974, 22:31 My Projects: "angelafehr.blogspot.com", " sexstrap.com", "howtocowboy.com", "vedic-yagya.com", ...

or...

This Week's November Sweeps Schedule
By Angela Henderson(Angela Henderson)
*Brendan Fehr guest stars as Booth’s brother. Thursday, November 13th My Name Is Earl—8 PM—NBC *Jason Priestley guests. Grey’s Anatomy—9 PM—ABC *Melissa George and Mary McDonnell join the cast. 30 Rock—9:30 PM—NBC ...
Stay Tuned - http://media.herald-dispatch.com/blog/tuned/index.asp


Not exactly about me. But today's Alert directed me to the Empty Easel web site, Dan's second anniversary post, where he listed my "No Brainer Art Marketing Tips" article first in his list of favorite articles! I kind of feel like that legitimizes me as a writer - and I want to write another article!

Empty Easel continues to be my favorite art business web site - however I must qualify that by saying that I really don't read any other sites. It is far too easy to get caught up in keeping up with blogs (I do read a few artist's blogs), forums, art educators, etc. and never make time to actually DO. And I don't do nearly enough painting as it is.

Something that encouraged me to paint this week:

"Why is it so hard for us to realize that getting a great deal done boils down to getting a little done over and over again?"
Julia Cameron, Letters to a Young Artist

There are painting a day painters, one hour painting painters, early morning warmup painters, one hour a day painters. Sometimes it seems silly to mark my achievements in art in fifteen minute increments. But Julia is right - it all adds up. I have gotten more paintings done since I have started measuring my time in minutes than I did when I felt like I needed a block of several hours before I was free to paint.

Today I read a blog post by author Karen E. Olsen, titled Who Has Time to Write?
Considering that between my two blogs I have written enough to fill a book (though a very rambly and disjointed one), maybe that should be my next goal. Or I could apply her insight to painting - probably the better idea.

I'm working on a local landscape using a (gasp!) full sheet of watercolour paper. It's very, very rough, and I have the feeling that this one will not be a keeper. Though there are a couple of areas where the paint has done some really pretty things and I'm quite fond of those. I'm experimenting with approaching landscapes in the same way I do florals but it's hard to translate across the subjects - I think it's more of a mental block than a problem of technique.

My most recent library checkout included Julia Cameron's Letters to a Young Artist. You may recognize Cameron's name as the author of The Artist's Way. (Confession: never read The Artist's Way. I think I tried once, early in my artistic career but got bogged down. It's really only in the past couple of years that I've matured enough as an artist to knowingly tap into my artistic consciousness. Does that make sense? I'm just saying that early on, I was putting all my focus on mastering technique and it was more than I could do to look beyond and paint intuitively.)

Anyhow...I love Letters. Cameron's position as the sage elder artist, stripping away the "mystique" of creating art, poking and prodding the younger artist "X" into confronting the stereotypes of the creative life - it is so relevant to what I am learning and have learned. As a Christian, I was a little uncertain when Cameron started referring to God (authors on creativity so often impose their idea of spirituality on the reader), but while I may not agree that we are free to define God however we wish, I think she see some aspects of God's character truly. As someone who has always wondered what spiritual purpose was intended in my receiving this artistic gift, and her definition of God as the "Great Artist" was something I had never thought about.

I think of God as the Great Artist and I believe I will be sent what I need to make my art.
Letters to a Young Artist, page 62

I could quote a sentence or two from nearly every chapter in the book, and my library copy is sadly overdue. I'm adding it to my shopping cart on Amazon.ca, and I look forward to paging through when I start to lose faith, or get caught up in "seems" - you'll understand the term when you read the book yourself!

I think my favorite part of the recent Art of the Peace Symposium was the session with Australian potter Greg Crowe. I know nothing about pottery and found his description of the salt-glaze technique, explanation of kiln processes and his journey of discovery in his art to be absolutely fascinating.

It was funny because pottery, aside from being an artistic discipline, would seem to otherwise have no connection with watercolor. But despite the differences, I was inspired and motivated by this glimpse into another artist's life and work, and just wanted to rush home and paint already!

I also gained an appreciation for salt-glazed pottery that I didn't have before the technique was explained to me - I have always gravitated toward a more polished, finished style. But the texture of salt-glazed pottery is incredible. Crowe had some macro photographs showing detail of the crackled glaze on some pieces, and the photographs were art in themselves! Salt-glazing also shares with watercolor the idea of the "happy accident" - allowing the medium to control the outcome to some extent.

I love texture in art, which is odd because in watercolor the texture is an illusion - created through brushwork and the way the paint is treated.