Happy Day Challenge Day 44

Tell a New Story Happy Day 44

Working on my Law of Attraction Art Journal makes me happy. I decided to also do it on Give it 100.com. If you join that site, just remember each video clip is only 10 seconds long. I'm finding it hard to make something so short!

Medieval Marketplace

Today I went to an SCA event called the Medieval Marketplace in LaVerne, CA where we set up our archery booth. I did my best to paint my boyfriend, though he didn't sit still much. I'm so tired right now. And he already fell asleep though it's barely 7 PM. The weather was beautiful.
Someone was selling his wife's books and fabric since she passed away recently. It was a shock to all of us.  I hope she will be happy to know her friends bought her books and fabrics and will put them to good use. I got a bunch of books on crafts and cooking, and a lovely piece of stretch velvet in a rich purple with gold designs.

At another booth I also got some used knitting needles because I like to teach people to knit and send them home with the needles. So when I can get them for $1 a pair I stock up.
There was also a hat crochet artist there.  When I've sold crafts at that event that is what I've tried to sell, so I'm glad I didn't bring stuff to sell to create even more competition. I wanted to take her photo and give her some publicity but she said she doesn't have an online presence, and she seemed camera shy.  So I passed her by.

I did take photos of some other interesting things.

Oh My It's Getting Busy

As the weekend approaches things are getting more hectic.  We have a craft show on Sat. and I just realized it's going to be hard to work on my novel when I'm not near my computer and I have other distractions. We are not doing a traditional Thanksgiving, so I at least have plenty of time to write today, Friday and Sunday.
I just passed the 5000 word mark.

I did my daily doodle in oil pastels today.  I need to work on a painting as well.  And I have so much sewing that I've shelved to do these other projects like NaNoWriMo and NaBloPoMo. I'm busy, I'm happy, but I'm starting to feel a little frayed around the edges.

And if I decide to go to my grandson's 1st birthday party 300 miles away it's going to get even more hectic.

Finding Inspiration

Every artist I read about says people always went to know where they get their inspirations. The short answer is 'anywhere and everywhere'. This morning I was watching a random TV show about remodeling a bedroom. A real estate agent was tired of the slow trend in housing sales and decided to go to Southwest Asia to get away from it all.  Once she got home she wanted to transform her boring bedroom into one with an Asian feel. In Asia she had met a street artist and commissioned him to paint her a series of four paintings to hang as a set on her wall.  She liked his work but she wanted something in purples. I took one look and thought I'd love to do a series of four square foot paintings in purple and gold.

We all grow up with color prejudices we get from well meaning parents and teachers and friends.  I remember once I went to work in my favorite red and purple skirt.  A friend took me aside and said, 'My mother would never let me out of the house in that." I said, "You mom doesn't let you wear long skirts."  She said, "No, we weren't allowed to wear red and purple together because they clash."  I was an adult at the time and had a good laugh over that.  Sometime in my childhood someone told me the same thing about gold (yellow) and purple.  So I've avoided that color combination because it clashes.  Yet here were these four paintings on this show that I fell in love with.  I couldn't wait to try something similar.

First I put gesso mixed with purple and gold all over four Bristol Vellum squares. I let those dry. I kept out the one I wanted to do for my daily painting and put the rest away.

I love dancing and dancers, so I wanted a dancer on at least one panel. So that's what I did today and I'm loving it.  And surprisingly I'm loving gold and purple together.  Now I'm thinking we all get stuck in artistic ruts of using the same colors we are most drawn to.  I'm thinking of making a bunch of color squares, tossing them in a hat and randomly drawing 2 or 3 for future paintings, to get away from my own color prejudices.

Ballet Toe Shoe Painting

I like to paint on my front porch where the light is good and there are no cats to jump on the table. Since the Anaheim Ballet does the Nutcracker every year, and they were nice enough to give me free tickets to the ballet in exchange for being in their craft show fund raiser, I have a soft spot in my heart for them.  So this time of year always reminds me of ballet.  So for my square foot painting today I painted a pair of point shoes from a photograph. It's my favorite painting so far (out of the three I've done).

I'm glad I'm done though because it's getting pretty chilly outside, even if it's not even 4 PM yet.

I made a special Etsy shop for my square foot paintings. My grand opening is going to be Dec. 1, 2011 at five P.M. Pacific time.