Red Hot Chili Peppers said it best..."I got a bad disease, from my brain is where I bleed..."

I felt like I was bleeding out, and whatever momentum I had gained with my art was slowly fading away. Dealing with personal rubbish can certainly take away from your focus of what is important.  I realized that I was putting energy into wrong places, wrong people, wrong situations. It was time to figure stuff out and take back my life. I decided to unplug and go offline….literally and figuratively.

And for two months, I did exactly that. I went back to things that made me happy, and it felt great. 

Slowly, I regained some internal peace, some sense of self. Those who hurt me, places that dragged me down, and situations that I should not be in, was all far behind me.  I could breathe again.

In weeks to follow…

…website;

I redesigned my website. It was the ‘bane’ in my ass. As mentioned in an earlier post, I hadn’t designed websites for a long time, and having to re-learn new ways of the WWW was challenging. Website.V01 was not really what I had in mind, so I whacked it. The latest design’s better. I found a balance between HTML and CSS - I've used the new banner I created for the website here for the blog too.

…silent auction;

My painting, ‘The Black Sheep’ was part of a silent auction in late August – my first. It was the most unnerving experience but the most rewarding. As a new artist (not even wet behind the ears), confidence, at least to my way of thinking comes from understanding who you are as an artist and what your art is saying.

With the ‘Black Sheep’, a photographer friend, after a long pause, remarked that I had a unique style of painting, and that he would be able to recognize any of my paintings. So, um wait…I have a style? I did? I mean I do? I do! 

That little bit helped me walk into the silent auction event with a little sass… I had style, dammit! And what made the evening more rewarding? I had word later that evening that 5 people ended up out-bidding each other trying to get my painting. What? Really? My painting? Gee....



"The Black Sheep" (2012) Acrylics 30x24

What an incredible day that was. I found out I had a style and there were people out there who liked my art

Two months passed, a lot has happened, mostly internal changes, except one. A friend noticed that I looked ‘lighter’, as if a weight was off my shoulder.  Yeah. A body-weigh worth! Ha!

What’s next? Plenty. Aside from designing a book cover for an author (thriller e-story set in South Africa set to be release late 2013-ish), I am working on a short 'shorts' animation call "The Lonely Zombie" - thus far the biggest challenge.

Also, I am working out an idea creating a new character for a future comic strip, "Suzi Spongz's Soap Box & Other Inappropriate Things"


"Suzi Spongz's Soap Box & Other Inappropriate Things"

"...Where I go, I just don't know, I got to, got to, got to take it slow. When I find my peace of mind, I'm gonna show you some of my good time..." -- and so I begin.


T