Creative Thursday

a bear on the moon

4 x 4 in.

The fourth in a series of 10 paintings. {he's traveling today}

 

{click here to buy original}

a bear and a spoon

4 x 4 in.

The third in a series of 10 paintings

{click here to buy original}

a bear and a balloon

4 x 4 in.

The second in a series of 10 paintings.

{click here to buy original}

a bear and a baby

4 x 4 in.

I also started this year thinking about how I want to return to making daily creativity a priority. Probably because I've been writing on this topic quite extensively over the last three months for my book, also because last year I took on too much. A large part of 2011 ended up feeling like a blur of projects one after the other without any time to savor the creative process within each one of them. And right about now some of you might be saying 'hey, at least you have your own business and you get to be creative!' And this is all true. I think you know already that I truly love my work and appreciate what I've built - but to pretend there aren't challenges in said business and that some days you don't want to take all your chips and cash them in and walk away forever {ok maybe not forever but for a while} would be a lie.

Then there's also the beauty of having your own business and running your own show, so to speak. You get to make mistakes - well the mistakes aren't always the beauty part of the process but the learning from them and refining how you choose to do things from there is. You are in charge. Which is great, and also comes with a certain amount of self-imposed pressure that can stress you out if you are not careful. Your mistakes are your own - technically there's nobody to blame but you - you are responsible for it all. 

What I'm saying here {and I'm sure I've said it before} is that I keep making up excuses not to find time for regular creativity.  And yet that is what feeds my business and more  importantly feeds me. So, it's a no brainer really? right? I have every reason to make my creative practice a priority. Yet my daily list keeps getting longer and everything else always feels more important.  Just for the record, so I don't sound like a broken record - I did get help last year! I hired someone to come in and clean every two weeks and I had an intern {a dear friend of mine saved me in more ways than one} come in once a week for the most of the last quarter. This means that I know what a difference getting help offers and that is  first on my list  {ok maybe second, right after more creative time} this year. Slowly but surely I'm sorting it out. I figure if I mention it here on my blog more than once, I'll finally convince myself to actually do what I'm talking about.

At some point you {meaning me} just have to decide that what is most important to you must come first.  So a series of 10 small paintings presented itself in my sketchbook this week, inspired by the 'love for you' bears I painted below. It's a story of sorts {not really} but it made me laugh and I hope it will make you smile too or as I said in my email {maybe even chuckle}. I watched Sean open the first email and he did. He chuckled. 

My plan is to share 10 paintings over the next 10 days. I'm making myself accountable to you, which almost always seems to work {even though I know I still owe you my 30th video...I haven't forgotten :)} I'm sending them to my daily painting list first and then posting them here the following day. Here's the first of 10. I hope you enjoy them.

 

{click here to buy original}

love for you

5 x 5 in.

Just couldn't decide between the two different color combinations so I painted both!

6 x 6 in.

{click here to buy originals} {also made some valentine's from the first little fellow}

happy 2012

 

One of my favorite gifts I received. I love this little thing. It makes me happy every time I look at it.

So you know I had to share it with you.

At the start of this new year, it's become especially clear just how much choosing to focus on more happiness in my every day adds up to a life well lived and excited anticipation for a really good year ahead. 

And if it takes a small solar powered flower that salutes the sun to remind me of that, I'll take it!

happy, happy new year to you xo