I'm running to catch a fairy!!

Oops, make that ferry...the fairies will have to wait to catch up with me!

Signing out for the weekend--the fairies will miss me! (they almost made me type "mess" me!)

Just a short post today as I'm crazily getting all my printing orders (thank the heavens for my new printer who is amazing & if you want to find out who he is & give him more business let me know) & graphics finalized (& thank heaven for Lauren & NO YOU CAN'T HAVE HER DO ANYTHING FOR YOU BECAUSE SHE'S BUSY WORKING ON MY STUFF!) for the August 8/9 show before I head to Vancouver Island tomorrow. I'm going to paint on some pottery, a first for me, in my potter cousin's studio. Should be interesting for a visual artist as the glazes don't go on the same colour that they are when they come out of the kiln after firing! I hope Lynds has some colour chips for me!! And working on 3-D objects is another new creative area for me to work into.

I'm also busy creating personalized journal books and bookmarks and calendars for 2010 for the launch of my new line of magically inspired products--do you know what fairy footprints look like? I do--& the fairies have already been tromping around (well, very delicately, you can hardly call it tromping--maybe tiptoe-ing is more accurate) my books & left their marks! So they're adding their magic, I'm adding mine, & we'll see what happens when they hit the public! I've got a new email address set up to take orders, and we're working away to get all the signage & bits & pieces ready to go in 10 days.

I was inspired today when visiting an artist friend who has been painting for a long time. She feels she is getting to the end of her career (I'm not so sure about that!) & she has been so generous with her assistance to me in preparation for the next 2 shows--with time, ideas, suggestions for hanging & presenting as much of my original art as I can get out there. A lovely woman who is well loved by many & has so many contacts in the artist community it's stunning. I'm very pleased to be the recipient of her knowledge.

So, off to the Island, after the pottery painting it's a family reunion & then a halibut fishing trip on Monday with my husband to celebrate our 5th wedding anniversary (that's if you don't count that we were married 3 times in one year, then we're actually celebrating our 15th anniversary!) I'm so lucky to have been with him for 30 years & the last five have been the best ever--hopefully he'd say that too but I'm not sure he'll ever be a blogger. He's more of a woodsy- type guy, few words & lots of presence.

So, see you next week. Enjoy our holiday weekend & the Aussie-type weather--I sure do! The magic will return next week--& keep looking out for the fairies in your garden!

This morning's conversation with the fairies

Hello everyone!
The days pass so fast in my magic garden that I'm just going to have to forget about day before yesterday's events & yesterday's events & report on this morning's musings...& I think I've found a better way to report the fairies' words that is more legible, both to you and to me as I'm recording it in my journal. It was getting hard to read the writing I'd done in the highlighter alone, let me tell you! So I'll try a different colour for them, just not yellow! You'd think as an artist & watercolourist I'd realize that yellow is one of the most fragile & delicate of colours that you have to preserve early in the piece, & be careful not to put much of any other colour overtop unless you're happy to lose it. So, I think I'll try the fairies' words in a variety of colours & you tell me which one you like best.

Today's entry--July 27, 2009

The fairies were calling me when I woke up this morning, but I resisted coming out back until I had a least had my smoothie & put on a load of washing (laundry for those of you who follow this in Canada as opposed to Australia or England). They whispered an invitation to come out & play with them as soon as I woke. Very seductive to come out & sit here all day & never get any work done in the real world.
Pshaw--what real world? This is the real world! You created it & it's here for your pleasure & time. And we love it here too! (That's the fairies talking by the way)
So, what did you think of my friends yesterday? (oh yes, I think I forgot to report from the previous journals that I was wondering if the fairies would be interested in visiting the corporate world & bringing some magic there. They were somewhat horrified by the idea, something about "don't like suits" but they were interested in checking people out who I brought over, into the back yard. And they certainly liked my little nieces (see previous post).
They were very magical beings--we loved the champagne the beautiful dark-haired one brought. And her--what's that word you humans use? "Familiar", that's it. Cedar, he told us his name was.
Oh, so you like dogs, do you?
Well, not all of them. Some of them are horrid and nasty & very snarly. But Cedar (we'd name him Cedric ourselves) was gorgeous. Did you notice how he led you to us?
Yes I did. And I really liked the gum-tree fairy (a present and model for me) that appeared in the fairy cave, on the fairy bed under the bird bath!
We like her too. I think she'll stay around a while so your nieces can visit with her.
I was thinking if she'd like to go back to Australia she could come with me in November. I'm pretty sure she'd slip through the customs easily enough. It looks like she came from there anyway.
They won't see her--don't you worry. Even the US Border Protection or whatever they're calling themselves can't stop us doing our magic work & playing globally.
And so, what about Nikki, my other friend--what did you think of her?
We don't know her as well as the dark-haired one, who we've danced with many times before, in this life and others. Nikki seemed more aware of you than of us. We'd like it if they both came back again & brought some more bubbles for us to play with!
Oh, so you did know about the bubble bath Nikki brought eh?
Yes, she's a very generous person and we could see what a big heart she has. And weren't you going to bring someone else for us to see? The more the merrier is our motto!
Oh, my other friend Brenda. You'll find her very elfin-like & I suspect you may be danced with her before too. I'll invite her out next time we get together to paint--I think it will be soon.
Yes, we could hear you all laughing and playing away while you painted in your studio. And we want you to come out & play with us & paint out here so we can put more of our magic into your brushes while you work! Please Please Please???
Well, I'm a little afraid well fall under your spells & not get anything done if we're that close to you. We almost got lost in time yesterday in the house, we were so enchanted. But, we'll see what we can do when they come again.

I've got to finish up now but maybe tomorrow you can tell me some more fairy stories--like, is there really a cherry fairy? & if so is there an apricot fairy? I'd like to start writing some of your fairy legends and stories for the human world if you're interested. You know, you can't be too rich or too famous, right?
Well, not too sure about the rich part but we like to be legends.
Ok, tomorrow then. And I'll be back at dusk with my candle again & call with with the new fairy bell that Sharon brought over.

And to you, my blog readers, have a great day & maybe you have some children or grandchildren, or nieces & nephews that you'd like to share this with--go ahead!!
See you soon!
e (I'm now away without the fairies at the pool)

Yesterday's magic garden story--see photos

This might be very quick as I have some more fun friends coming to show to my garden fairies, as well as to paint some magical stuff. Yesterday was great fun & my two nieces came over dressed like fairies to be painted, to paint, & to hunt for fairies in my garden. No, not like trophy hunt, (like my husband who is MIA since yesterday morning when he called), but more like hide & seek I think.

There were some signs that were found about fairy visitations, proof of a kind, & when I was writing this morning the fairies were very interested & interesting. I'll share more from my journal later when the fairy dust from today settles down.

Meanwhile enjoy the photos & look in your own backyard to see if you have some resident fairies there!

Away with the fairies

No, I don't mean, "away with them", like, they should all be exterminated, or anything like that...I meant, today I'm "away with the fairies" on some magical journey...a further iteration of the Magical Mystery Tour, I think.
After my coaching session yesterday, with my Irish-blooded coach in my garden which she called "magic", she suggested I watch for fairies in the garden. And, this morning, when I was out there writing in my journal, the most miraculous thing happened.

I'm going to quote from my journal, I must warn you, THIS REALLY HAPPENED!!
So, here goes:

(I'm generating ideas for my magical business here--give me feedback if you like!)

Maybe I could magically send my fairies to give some corporate messages..Or send myself "Representing magic & fairies in the world" through my art & other magical ways...promoting magic & art in the world...working magic with art & Ink.

(Looking out into my garden now where a hummingbird just swooped down for about 3 seconds)

The fairies even get rides on the hummingbirds. I didn't have my glasses on but I swear I heard one laughing on the back of the hummingbird that hovered to say good morning & then flew back to the shade of the big fir to deposit her. Something like a helicopter ride but even better--more natural!

(& looking downwards, towards my journal)

In the corner of my eye, I just saw some little shimmers of fairy wings approaching across the patio. And now one's sitting reading what I've written about them. Aren't they gorgeous little creatures!

(And then I heard clearly & started writing)

"I'm not a c r e a t u ! !

(you have to imagine this in ink writing, the fading type was the best I could do on this blog program.) Just to prove her power she ran me out of ink!!! So, luckily I had my favourite PHN pen with a wedge-shaped yellow highlighter on the end so I just turned it over & started using the point to write, very finely,)

Fooled you~ (ok, originally I typed this in the yellow colour that I wrote " fooled you" in, which was a lovely clear lemon yellow, but it's way too hard to read on the computer so I'll darken it a little for your reading pleasure. Say, maybe that's why we don't notice fairies writing on the internet--we can't read the colour they write in, we only notice that things don't work for mysterious reasons, sometimes? Anyway, I digress)

Fooled you--I have a magic highlighter *#$(@( (I can't read this bit because the gold is too faint & I must have scribbled so I can't tell that word) pens to continue. And this is much more lovely & vibrant & fairy-like writing anyway. I guess you were just showing me a better way, eh? Well, Thanks! (because at this point I didn't want to write anything else that could be construed as nasty & have her jinx me again, or take off)

So, should I write about you to Terry? Tell him how gorgeous you are & see if he'll have you come to stay & inspire his muse both at home & at work? (Terry's my wonderful cousin who writes music & plays it as well as doing a huge corporate job in Calgary, & who's said he'll coach me in 2 1/2 years when he retires) Oh, you have to get to know him first, eh? Ok, well, let's start writing him some emails. You can skip through the ether & watch him reading. Maybe you'd like to talk to the big corporate honcho & work some magic on him? Maybe he'd write a song about you? Ok, you'll have to hear his music first to see if you'd like that. Ok, well, somehow we'll have to organize a secret way for you to hear it, I guess.

At this point, I was at the bottom of the page, so I turned the page over to 2 blank pages (as you do when you're writing in a journal) and sat there for no more than 30 seconds, mulling about what to write next, when "poof" she disappeared.

Guess she was easily bored--I'm told that fairies have the attention span of a gnat (not, however, wanting to insult them, I might add that I sometimes do too...& I have said that out loud about myself too, as well as written it.) So hopefully she didn't/doesn't see that & decide to never again grace me with her presence for all of eternity.

Well folks, I hope you enjoyed that fairy story (& really, I must protest--it was real, not a fairy tale--I have the proof of it in my journal...which I might show to you...like, if you offered me a significant amount of money...MAYBE! )
But Lauren knows it's real, I showed it to her as I read it out loud, and we might start writing fairy messages in yellow or gold, on things to sell--that would be called, original art, I do believe!) and that's all for the evening.

I'm going off to create some magic (maybe black?) with my friend She-rah Queen of TELUSwhat you think (at least until she gets a buyout), & my sister, who creates her magic in gardens & garden designs. Maybe you want her to design something magical for you??? Her name is Phyllis & if you leave me a note I'll put you in touch with her!

Ciao for now, the fairies are waving goodbye too. bye bye! Do you see one sitting on the corner of your computer desk? (They don't like electricity much I'm told, so they wouldn't be there for long). I'm told trolls & things are much hardier creatures against the electrical vibrations of our modern world so it's no wonder if there's lots of those hanging around corporate offices (I think that was a joke).
Signing off...
e

Aujourdhui je commence a blogger en francais!

Salut les copains! Je sais qu'il y a ceux de vous qui peut lire francais, comme Lauren, Julie (la mere to Lauren), Gael, Gilles, et il y a des autres comme Leo qui sait comment le traduire, gratuitement, avec Yahoo Babelfish!
Alors, je commencerai a practiquer ma francais en preparation pour la prochaine voyage a France--je ne sais pas quand, mais, j'entend l'appel. Et, mon entraîneur nouvelle veut y emporter mes peintures! Bientôt!! (Pardon--c'est seulement possible de faire les accents francais avec l'assistance de Babel Fish--peut-etre quelqu'un peut me dire comment moi-meme?)

J'ai un tas de choses a faire ce weekend, en preparation pour la fete le 8/9 aout. Donc, je vais partir maintenant, sans beaucoup de commentaires.

Et, pour ceux qui sont toujours anglais, je ferai un poteau en anglais ce-dessous--MAGIE!!! Avec Babel Fish!
A bientot!

Hi Everyone!
I don't know how many of you can read French, like Lauren, Julie (her mother), Gael, Gilles, and there are others like Leo who know how to translate it, for free, via Yahoo Babel fish.
So, I'm starting to practise my French in preparation for the next trip to France--don't know when, but I hear the call. And, my new coach wants to take my paintings there--soon! (sorry, it's only possible to do the accents on the French words if it's translated in Babel Fish, unless one of you can tell me how on this keyboard?)
I have tons of things to do this weekend, getting ready for the art show August 8/9, so I'm going now, without any more comments.
And, for those of you who are only English speaking/reading, I will do a translation below through Babelfish (actually I ended up doing it myself because I couldn't copy/past all the above text into French to to program. And since I started it myself in English it was much easier to just write it again in my mother tongue!)
See you soon!

My Magical Mystery Tour is coming to take me away

Hopefully that's not a copyright infringement??? With credit to the Beatles...a long-time favorite!

What's happened since my last post? Well, I can see my game plan for the business starting to fall into place--& I'm not going to get the results I intend from selling my original art alone, being in the watercolour field (that is, until after I'm dead...then apparently the prices go up dramatically. Still, I'm not willing to sacrifice myself for that!! And I'm delighted at this point to be well ahead of Vincent Van Gogh--on the sales side at least!--who only sold one painting before he--sadly and much too prematurely--offed himself.) So, I've been looking at ways of having my art (& in future other artist's work) reproduced into beautiful & functional multi-purpose items, & getting these visual reminders of my art out into the world. My intent is to test market them at the 2 art shows I'm in in August. It would be great to add some income for both realizing dreams as well as contributing to more charitable organizations including supporting other artists. I foresee in my crystal ball that I'm doing this mystery tour for not only my own art but making provision in my plans for including other artists through my website (under development...and I'll let you know in this blog when & where it's up and running, as, my wise future coach says that the website is the proper place for a blog. Once the website is up this blog will be transitioned onto it, per his suggestion. Very good coaching, as is the recommendation of my first & current wise & magical coach to just start blogging in the meanwhile!)

I've just put an order in for some bags with my logo on them, ready for the first show. The next item on the drawing board, after postcards, greeting cards, fridge magnet lists, 2010 calendar-- all with my art on them, is a line of journals & art books so I'm very excited to be meeting with a local printer tomorrow, with my trusty assistant Lauren, beside me. She's proving to be multi-talented and handling all kinds of details for me, including some Photo-shop logo development as I don't have time to start off learning it right now, let alone get art-work into printers under deadlines as she did this weekend! One of the best decisions I've made so far is hiring her! She is magic herself! However she's digging in her heels when I try to coax her into visiting a cemetary to find a wreath stand, which my local watercolour artist friends say is what I really need to get to display my framed originals at the sales. Something about--"you'd have to pay me double overtime to go to a graveyard"... I don't understand why! Other than that little blip our joint spell-casting seems to be working wonders on everyone we meet as well as each other!

And I'm wondering, are you being influenced by "my magic"? I'm feeling like I want to spread it everywhere, through my work...and can I do it through technology (like this blog) too? What are your wildest dreams & how can I help you make them come true in the best magical sense--invisible, easy, just appears in front of you like it was meant to be...? Conjured up out of nowhere...miraculous & incredible... Let me know if I've had some magical effect in your life, either by commenting on this blog (I think you have to sign up with Google to do that) or through the "old-fashioned technology" of email...or maybe through a "Note from the Universe" which is a great website that sends me a fantastically cool and inspiring email every weekday morning & I just love reading--google TUT & see what you think. If I could do something like that on the web I'd be over the moon! (some people think I am already...)

That's it for today, I've still not had time to try the suggested "system restore" method to recover the 2nd half of my deleted email list--thanks to the exceptionally quick response by Joan who had replied before I even had time to cry--& has poked me again to see if I've done it yet--while I was out playing with my husband today (I love my play-time with him & that takes priority over this, sorry folks but that's just how it is & you'll have to get used to that!)

I'm really loving blogging, writing, generating ideas & putting them in ink (practising calligraphy at the same time) on paper--and it's been more compelling than putting paint to paper right now so I hope I've got enough original stock to get me through the 2 art sales!! (of course, it would be magical to sell out--then what would I do??? I'm sure I could find something though!)

Ok, that really is it for today, 2nd warning to self!! See you again soon--stay tuned for further adventures!

Today's technological challenges...continued from yesterday!

Why is it so frustrating to try to learn new computer skills???

I tried hard to upload the poster images for the 2 art shows & all I got was a message saying the files were corrupt or in an unrecognizable format (they're in Adobe but I guess it tried to convert them to pdf as that's what it said on the error message) and to try again. I guess I have to learn how to convert them myself? But how? Meanwhile I decided to send them out via email so people can "Save the Date"...however when I got my first distribution list set up on hotmail it was too long (ok, spam prevention is good, I'll just split the list & set up 2 distribution lists & send the email out twice.) Unfortunately while transferring over names to the second list, then deleting them from the first one, I deleted all the names I transferred from not just the first list, but entirely from my contact list!! So, now I've just lost emails for about 40 of my favourite people around Vancouver who I was planning on inviting; I don't know how I'm going to get that information back into my system easily. AARGH!!!

Next technological challenge: my new found artist friend Clay Stephenson (watch for his career in photography and writing, I think!) sent me some info on muses that I'm also trying to upload here fyi but because that's in a word format I can't do that either...and cutting & pasting it turns out like this (below) insteady of the table that he sent me. (not too helpful to you readers I'm sure!) It's all Greek to me!...still I now have the names & domains & symbols/emblems of the 9 muses, and I might take some of them & blog about my muses in future.
Muse
Domain
Emblem
Calliope
Epic poetry
Writing tablet

Clio
History
Scrolls

Erato
Lyric poetry
Cithara

Euterpe
Music
Aulos

Melpomene
Tragedy
Tragic mask

Polyhymnia
Choral poetry
Veil

Terpsichore
Dance
Lyre

Thalia
Comedy
Comic mask

Urania
Astronomy
Globe and compass
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muse

The other technological challenge for the day is being worked on by my trusty assistant Lauren who is working away in Photoshop on my new logo & artwork for the first test market bag order. I have no idea how to use Photoshop and my branding/logo idea is fast coming to the foreground so I'm lucky to have her around & willing to pitch in on a weekend. The learning curve on Photoshop is too daunting for me to take on at the moment.

So, the logo will be "quick & dirty" (two colours suitable for screen-printing) this time, as they say, so we can get some "Magic Bags" produced for the Art Show in Langley August 8/9. And, you might say, "What's in a Magic Bag?" Well, I guess you'd have to get one to find out! (I think they're kind of like a bottomless bag that you can pull rabbits out of, & they're never empty--or maybe you have some more ideas about what a "Magic Bag" might be, & you can tell me!)

Stay tuned as well for "MY MAGIC BOOK" coming soon from my new printer--they'll be fantastic! As good, if not better than, the "magic fortune cookie caper" that I created in my old corporate life in retail. People had lots of fun with that one although apparently some of the brass were not impressed (it wasn't their idea, after all). I'm so glad I'm out of that environment where artistic/creative expression (mine, at least) was not well supported. Guess that's typical of some corporations but hopefully not all of them!

Ok, as a "workaround" for not being able to get the art show posters onto this page, I'm going to post the invitation below (with the addition of time & address details that were on the posters)--& I guess I am inviting the world to these 2 shows (hope the organizers can handle the volume!!). If you've already got one in your email you don't need to read any further, I can handle cutting & pasting & I'm not going to change anything else (yet!) That's it for the day except for the details below--hope to see you there in August so you can see what I'm up to!
(and, just another rant about technology before I go...WHY DIDN'T THE PASTE BELOW COPY THE COLOURS, TYPE-SIZE, AND FONTS THAT I SO CAREFULLY CRAFTED IN THE ORIGINAL WORD DOCUMENT!!!!) That's worth yet another AARGH!!! And quitting for the day--too much fun to have with my husband & family today!

Save the Dates!!
(& NO, Wes & I aren’t getting married again…yet!)

August 8/9 in Langley—10-5
Acorn Art & Image (it's a house)
4860 203 St Langley
parking at HD Stafford Middle School, 1 block SE 20441 Grade Crescent

August 22/23 at Minnekhada Lodge 10 – 4 pm
(great hiking trails, that’s where I proposed to Wes 5 years ago!) in Port Coquitlam Shuttle from Quarry Road parking lot, musicians, gardens, café there as well.
(Better Google this one, I can’t figure out how to get the map onto my blog & it’s actually quite a remote location for Poco)

Hello Everyone!
Some of you may already have had an invitation to come out & play with me in a new game I’m creating of being a world-class artist making oodles of money (no starving artist game for me!). If not consider yourself invited!

Attached are the posters for two art shows that I'll be at this summer, and I’d love it if you came out & had fun with me there. Your friends or family that live in the area or who are interested are also welcome so pass on the invitations. (If I had enough techno-smarts I’d put a Google map link in for the locations but I haven’t figured that one out yet. Lots of learning to do still—help!)

For those of you who can’t make it or who live in more remote spots, say, the North Shore, Tsawassen, or Vancouver proper, and still want to play with me, why don’t you call & see if we can arrange another event. Perhaps a private showing or an art party for you and your closest friends in your own home or garden—before I head to Australia in November, of course—would be fun? (Any excuse for a party!) A world-class artist is always looking for patrons of the arts to support her and her work! Maybe there’s some musicians out there who would love to show their stuff at the same time?

Once the summer fun ends I’ll be getting my 2010 calendars (similar to 2009, hope to keep cost at $10 + postage & handling), Christmas cards and my MAGIC BOOKS and MAGIC BAGS (hopefully including "MY MAGIC YEAR DAYTIMERS") ready for print. I’ll be taking orders at the art shows (or via email) and they’ll be available in October to distribute before I head back to Oz in November. Let me know if you’re ready to order, for yourself, as well as for gifts for family and friends. I’m getting my list started now for the first printing of calendars—last year they sold out and I had to do another run and still left people out (sorry about that—I don’t want that to happen again!)

And, for those of you who are interested, I’ve started blogging while my website is under development, & you can follow my journey at the link below my signature line. Let me know what you think; you might be included in future posts & you know you’ve really made it if you’re mentioned. My blog is MUCH more exclusive than Youtube!

(OK, one last editorial comment--if you've read this far you're already on my blog therefore you don't need the link! If you want to be mentioned in my blog, just, well, help me, inspire me, send me a response, something like that--or just be my friend & you might show up here too! Thanks for reading to the end--there's nothing quite like doing complete work, as they say at Landmark!)
ttyl
E

Inviting the world to my 2 art shows in August

Hi everyone in the world...
I wasn't going to blog today but since I'm here...if I can get the posters up for my art shows in Langley August 8/9 & Minnekhada Lodge August 22/23 consider yourself invited. Actually, consider yourself invited even if I can't get them up today!
Most everyone on my email & facebook will get a copy of the posters soon, & I'll experiment a little here to see what the posters look like as photos on the blog.
That's it, may have more time tomorrow or Monday depending on what's happening with getting my logo & image ready to put an order in for cloth bags for me to sell at the Langley show. Deadline for print is Monday so I've got my trusty assistant Lauren working hard on Photoshop over the weekend. It's SO GREAT to have her on board--I have so much to learn about so many things including graphic manipulation & creation--& really right now I'm loving writing/blogging/calligraphy even more than painting so don't quite know what direction that will head me off in!

I'm so lucky!

Just a quick entry today...when I woke up I was feeling so fortunate to be surrounded in my life by such wonderful people--my husband, my family & friends all over the world--& I do mean all over--you guys in Australia (who are reading this, I know!) & England, & Toronto & France...and now to be expanding the circle with more people on my team--my new coach who is amazing, my new assistant (Lulu Lauren, providing support services to exceptionally creative people!), along with some others who without knowing it have been already helping me with my new work (editors, market feedback, feeders of my creative spirit, feeding me literally, and having fun with me--you all know who you are!!)
So, I'm off for another fantastic day--hopefully will actually put paint to paper today in between swim, getting Lauren oriented (aura-intended) to my home/office while the grizzly bear is sleeping in his cave, getting the new slab of granite for the ensuite reno, and getting ready for slowpitch playoffs tonight/tomorrow. Probably won't be back until Sunday as another great friend is throwing a late Bastille party on Saturday night to which the price of admission continues to be a bottle of vrai champagne francais...and again, I am SO LUCKY!!! My life seems miraculous to me!! Thanks to you all & see you soon!
PS No-one has spoken to me about muses--except Leo seems to have taken the word literally in his own blogging on Facebook!!

Okay, today I'm refining a little & exploring the technical side of blogging...thanks Rick for your coaching in that speciality of yours!!

And what do I find in my own "about me" section but a place for people to join my team...& there's no-one there! Who wants to join & then tell me how you do it?

The first post

Hello everyone
This is my first attempt at blogging in my journey to becoming an artist with a presence in the world. Hope you all enjoy following my path, help me with my challenges, celebrate my successes!
I'm playing a game, making up the rules as I go, of becoming a world-class artist pulling down a 6-figure income (Canadian dollars will do!) with my work, and I'm looking for people to play with me, be on my team, be coaches, cheerleaders, fans, yes, even critics (I doubt if I'll save that one until I'm good enough to be published! Hmm, I guess I'm self-publishing so that opens up the critic role, doesn't it?)
So, a bit about myself. I'm a Brit by heritage (my father), Canadian by birth, and Australian by choice (got sworn in 18 months ago on Aussie Day in Melbourne). Right now I call myself a dual citizen as I haven't been active on the European side for quite some time now, but you never know, if my career takes off...well, that British heritage/passport could come in handy when my new coach takes my paintings to Paris! I'm a watercolourist, have been painting seriously for about 5 years now, and have started playing with ink and words in combination with the watercolour landscapes that were my passion when I started.
Once I figure out this blogging I'll get some photos of my work up so you can see. That is, if the copyright/watermarking issues are resolved. Apparently no-one wants to have their work copied by putting it straight onto the net. A sad commentary on the state of the world, isn't it?
I'm just going through an intensively creative period and fleshing out my business and game plan for the next 5 years. I'm not sure if all the credit is due to my new coach, who told me she has been an artist's muse in the past. I haven't had time to research what the muses are about, maybe someone out there will tell me soon so I don't have to spend time googling that as well as accounting principles, setting up corporate structures, how to build a website, branding & PR, as well as getting art & reproductions ready for my two big art shows in August... Then last week in Calgary I met someone whose photography business actually included "muse" in the name so once I saw that I knew I was on the right track! Funny how those synchronicities happen when you're looking out instead of in.
Well, I must get to bed, rested & ready for my first coaching session tomorrow. My world-class sports psychologist (& my university basketball coach in a previous life) tells me to perform at a high level you cover the basics first--good nutrition, exercise, sleep & relationships (mine with my husband who is my best support system) are the pillars. I'm pretty good at 3 out of 4, the sleeping sometimes needs boosting, when I get too excited and going too fast my mind is just a whirling buzz that goes 24/7 until I have to crash. Anyone got any tips? I've been off caffeine for 5 years, don't like sleeping pills or drugs of any sort (other than I'm fond of a glass of wine on many occasions!), warm milk or camomile tea is helpful sometimes...those are my mainstays at this point in time. Melatonin when really bad...
Anyway, that's it for the first post--hopefully I can figure out how to get this up & running so you can follow my trail!
Ciao for now!
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