Thursday, September 27, 2012

Artist Spotlight: Patti Ballard




Patti Ballard of PBs Art Studio

"I am a self-taught Mixed Media Artist, I love all kinds of art, making it and discovering it. I create whimsical characters mostly girls, angels, mermaids and fairytale characters and I'm constantly exploring new techniques and new subjects, currently I've been exploring and making clay figures. Hope you enjoy your visit!" 

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Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Jesus in my He(art)

"Twinkle"  9x12 on watercolor paper original mixed media piece


Available on Etsy: CLICK HERE

Lovely girl
lovely little star you are
you dream your dreams
they are for you
and watch to see
how they will come to be...

Are you lovely Starr?

Here are her lovely details:

Starr is created on 108 lb watercolor paper with paper and acrylic paint, india ink and other ephemera

Details:
9" x 12"

This is a one of a kind piece and will come to you with a certificate of authenticity


CLICK HERE to purchase 


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The Good Thing About YOU is...


Welcome to this week's Linger Question: 

The good thing about YOU is... 

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Friday, September 21, 2012

Thursday, September 20, 2012

Artist Interview: Melissa Parks


Name: Melissa Parks
Name of Business: Anjellz Wingz
Creative Influences: Mindy Lacefield, Suzie Blu, Joanne Sharpe, Kelly Rae Roberts
Preferred Medium of Creativity: Mixed Media

Brief Bio
I am married to Dan, mother to 6 children (we’re a blended family; Dan has two boys from a previous marriage and I have 2 girls and 2 boys from my previous marriage). I have lived in Florida for most of my life until a move in 2011 to Cookeville, TN. We decided if we were ever going to make the move, then it needed to be now! Tennessee is just so beautiful, I find inspiration everywhere. Right now, I am unemployed, which Dan tells me is the perfect opportunity to launch a creative biz. I’m pretty chicken but am sticking my big toe in the pool. (I think!)


 


What is one of your earliest creative memories? 
When I was about 10, my neighbor took an oil painting class. She painted a picture of a clown (a la Red Skelton, for those of you old enough to remember him). I was fascinated that you could do that! My mom bought me the canvas, oils and brushes and encouraged me to paint. I copied the clown painting and was very pleased with the result. And never painted another oil painting until 2 months ago when I took a class and painted a Rooster! (which I love and is currently living in my kitchen) 

 Did your creative habits make a smooth transition into your adult life?  What did the evolution look like? 
I was always creative, but for some reason, never thought that my artistic side would be something I should pursue as a career. I know that my parents would have encouraged whatever path I chose, so I think I just didn’t consider my “crafty” side real “art” or art a vocation. I never took any art classes in school and it was just something I did for fun. Once I had children, I loved to sew for them (my poor children have multiple embarrassing pictures of matching outfits, both boys and girls!) and I painted on wood, t-shirts, tennis shoes, etc. I even had some of my t-shirts in a local boutique, but again, I didn’t see it as anything I could do as a business.
Then I got divorced in 2000, and as a single mom with four kids, I just stopped doing anything creative. I earned my Master’s degree during that time and really devoted myself to my career.



If you had a creative hiatus, what event/circumstance brought you back to your creative lifestyle? 
I remarried in 2004 and my kids were pretty self-sufficient. I have a golfer husband, so I needed to find something to do on the weekends when he was golfing. I had seen some of Kelly Rae Roberts designs in a local gift boutique and was smitten! This was probably around 2007 and I happened to see her book “Taking Flight” at Barnes and Noble. That was the beginning of my obsession with mixed media!

 How has GOD been a part of your creative process/lifestyle? 
I love to add pieces of the Bible in my mixed media work, which totally freaks out some of my friends! But I see it as taking old Bibles that I find at garage sales and thrift stores and releasing the Truth out into the world. I especially love it when I find a Bible that has notes in the margins. I just love to add these to my work.
I believe that any creative work is holy, proof that we are, indeed, made in His image. The first thing God felt was important to have written about Him was that He was a CREATOR. So when I create, I feel that I am just reflecting God back to Himself.

CLICK HERE to purchase the e-book of this Interview series for $4.99

Monday, September 17, 2012

Who Cares What They Think?


"I see this character in a purple sharkskin suit," you suddenly think, and then the voice of the worried mother says, "no, no put him in something respectable."
  -Anne Lamott via This Time I Dance by Tama J. Kieves

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Self Portrait




I came across this podcast a few weeks ago and it is incredible.  The episode that has really stayed with me is one where Susannah Conway was interviewed.  She talked about one avenue she has used to move more into self love is to take photographs of herself.  She challenged the listeners to snap pictures of themselves until they have in their possession 100 photographs.  Can you imagine?  I for one felt the whispers of YES DO IT because this is something I want to pass over to my daughter.  She will want to see mommy seeing the beauty in herself to remind her that in times of self doubt she possesses the same within her.


Anyone want to join in with me?

Find more of my work CLICK HERE

Friday, September 14, 2012

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Do you Struggle with Self Rejection?


"The greatest trap in life is not success, popularity or power, but self rejection, doubting who we truly are." - Henri Nouwen

I have this habit of moving from project to project. Starting well, finishing well.  Looking back over the last 7 years I have at least a page full of accomplishments.  Things that I moved into that helped me to become a competent blogger, run a pretty good social media campaign, create many online businesses.  But I am finding lately that these have become trappings.  I feel like a web of accomplishments are now moving in and threatening to squash while I really want; who I really am.  What if all these things were simply diversions as opposed to stepping stones toward something? What if what I am really longing for which is to become the one God sees me to be has been lost in the activity?  Why am I afraid to stop and take an account of who I really am?  The answer for me is self rejection.

I wonder how you define self rejection and how it might be manifesting in your life today.

So here is the Linger question:

Do you struggle with self rejection?  If so in what area of your life does it have its grip right now?

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Where Does Inspiration Come From?


Inspiration is that strange voice that takes man out of himself to be everything he is, everything he desires: another body, another being.  Beyond outside of me, in the green and gold thicket, among the tremulous branches, sings the unknown.  It calls to me. -Octavio Paz


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Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Jesus in my He(art)


Self Portrait




I was listening to a podcast over the weekend about photographing yourself.  This is something I have talked about on the blog before.  Some of the comments made in the podcast remembered me of the reasons I challenged myself to do monthly self portraits - though I am pretty sure I have missed a few months.  Part of this had to do with the rough edges that encircled the summer months and really having no desire to record how bad that season was.  But I do realize that I could have gathered some valuable insights had I stayed true to my commitment.  I will talk more about this tomorrow when I offer you this week's Linger question.

These pics were taken at Canyon Lake about two weeks ago.  Hubby was home for a visit from the military and we decided to take our girl fishing.  It was a whopping 113 degrees so it was quite nice to have a bit of a diversion.


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Monday, September 10, 2012

The Discipline of Moving Forward


"The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and, if they can't find them, make them."
- George Bernard Shaw

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Friday, September 7, 2012

It is YOUR Life


"Take your life in your own hands, and what happens? A terrible thing; you have no one to blame." 
-Erica Jong


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Thursday, September 6, 2012

Artist Spotlight: Flor Larios






Artist Bio: "My name is Flor Larios and I am a self-taught Latin American artist, proudly Indo-Hispanic and multicultural"

Hi there!  I am revamping my vision of Artist Spotlights.  I want to introduce you to Artists that I have connected with online or in ecourses or through Flickr and Ning.  I truly hope you are inspired by their works as much as I am.

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

What Way has Closed Behind You?


This week I am completing my life coaching certification and it feels great. Six months of the ups and downs and life and somehow I stayed the course. For me the idea of looking for the path is a very personal story that I live in every day. 

My Linger Question today evolves around this idea of finding the way: being a Way Finder. Many times we talk of the way opening before us but how about this: 

What ways have you seen the way close behind you that deepened the understanding that you were moving in the right direction? 


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Sing your Song


"Most men lead lives of quiet desperation and go to the grave with their song in them" 
- Henry David Thoreau

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Monday, September 3, 2012

Embrace your Mistakes


"The greatest mistake you can make in life is to be continually fearing you will make one."
-Elbert Hubbard

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