sketchbooking

One of my goals lately has been to do more drawing, so here are some tid bits from my sketchbook:

a school of fish \\

// ouroboros

process from this class assignment \\

// I had a crocodile dream....

...and now I can't get them off my mind! \\

// Sometimes I try to explain the ups and downs of life with a graph.

PMA!! \\

horse on driftwood

This has been sitting around my apartment for the past several weeks. Driftwood + wood cutting tools + pen + watercolors. Not sure if I should consider it a work in progress, leave it as is, or move on. It began as an impulsive act; I rifled through some of my old stuff, found a drawing I liked, slapped it on that driftwood and attacked it with my little used wood carving tools. The process was very enjoyable, but I'm still not sure how I feel about what's there (or not there).

past

Here's another assignment from my online class, well... part of it anyway. It was a three part assignment inspired by the past, present, and future - above is my piece inspired by the past. I haven't tackled the present or the future yet, should I read something into that you think? I've decided I'll finish up all parts of the assignments in my own time as I'm more satisfied with my work when I'm not worried about keeping up with the pace of the class. I'll get to it all eventually and learn something from each, I'm sure.

Which part of my past was this piece inspired by you say? Why the part of my past where I obsessively collected model horses of course! The horse in this piece is modeled after my first model, whom I called Red. I had fun playing with circle shapes as they've been in my head a lot lately. I'm also excited about the technique I used for the horse here, drawing directly onto a found image or texture. One of my recent goals has been to draw more, so I think this will be a good way to work it into my mixed media adventures. I wish there were more contrast in color/texture between the largest circle and the horse though, and maybe I want to see a little more of the blue shapes?

**edit** I think I like this crop better....

lessons

A few weeks ago I signed up, very spur of the moment (the night before!), for an online class - "Making Your Mark" through Pikaland's Artist Bootcamp. I'm certainly not the student I used to be, but I think I'm learning some valuable lessons from being a not so great student. Mainly, I'm learning to be ok with being not-so-great. (Or at least I'm trying!) The accomplishments and praise that go along with being a good student, the reassuring little ego strokes, are things I think my ego needs to live with out for a bit. It's good to carry on without the reassurance of success and to wrestle with a bad attitude until it can be improved.

My pieces above were from our second assignment, inspired by a list of what we know and love. I dissected my usual mixed media approach and worked with each on its own. It felt weird but was a really good exercise for me, it showed me how I often use one medium to compensate for another. Instead of working through difficulties with drawing, I'll use collage to avoid the challenge entirely. Not so much learning or growth gets done on the path of least resistance. In the process of circumventing weakness I end up bypassing unknown or unrealized strengths and abilities as well.

new works

First, I just have to say -- the light lingers on! I'm writing this at 7:30 in the evening with a beautiful pastel sunset to gaze upon.  It is spring!

Well, I've had a very busy work schedule lately as this transitional time in my life carries on. I guess you could say our lives are constantly in transition, but you know what I mean. Transitions vary I suppose, they differ in character and intensity and what not - some being more acute, others more subtle and unassuming. This transitional time isn't particularly wild but I am noticing it for sure, and I find it very interesting. I find myself thinking back to other transitional times in my life and they seem equally vague and traumatic to my memory, and I wonder how this time will look to my future mind. I think of the things those transitional times led to and I wonder where this one will bring me. I feel fairly well fortified and flexible, change is good exercise for sure, but I'll still be happy when a little more rhythm and familiarity return.

Anyhoo, like I said, lots of days working and not much free time. Many complaints from Ralphie and very little time for art projects and contemplation. And yet! I've got a few new things to share. Two of these you've seen in earlier stages and one is very, very new.

Trying new things is good! And scary! Working on these little wood plaques is new, and seems to be going ok so far. Though, when a piece is at one of those tough/awkward stages I think to myself "what a waste of this wooden thing!" I also did a little more involved illustration with our crab buddy up there than usual. Drawing tends to make me very frustrated and crazy because I want everything perfect and exactly right, so I cheated a little and used some tracing paper for help. I'm not ashamed. At least I still have my sanity. Work smart! Not hard!

I've been reminded by my busy schedule that pursuing an art requires so much self discipline. It's staggering how much. I've also been reminded that art is a practice, and that it takes practice. I feel rusty when it's been a while, more fluid and productive once I've warmed up or have been consistent in my work. So here's to more hours spent on arts!

portfolio site

I finally got real and made myself a legit porfolio site. Woot! I've been working on it obsessively for the past two weeks and I'm very pleased with how it's turned out. Go see for yourself:

I'm using Virb to build/host, it's pretty straight forward and you can customize their templates a little or a lot depending on your skills and knowledge and/or patience and dedication. They'll hold your hand through most basic design aspects but you can also jump in and re-write code yourself. I don't really know any code but I'm always willing to spend a few hours mixing Google search with trial and error - this time it paid off and with minimal frustration! Pretty low frustration factor overall actually. That's a thumbs-up in my book.

I have yet to finish my "about" page. As you'll see if you visit it, I'm not sure what to write yet. I'm working on that. I also want to add a secret page with surprise treats on it and maybe a "sketchies" page. We'll see.

Next I'll be working on uploading some artwork to a site called Society6. They provide an online store, do the printing of the art-prints, and ship them directly to the customer. I've heard only good things about their print quality but I'm still a little nervous since my work is small to begin with. I need to do a little more homework on the topic. I'll say more when I know more.

Then I need to make myself some new business cards... but anyway, go to www.heychelcie.com already!

wha?

My amethyst print made it to the front page of Etsy yesterday and I didn't even realize it 'til just now. COOL!

Thanks to Leah from BlankStairVintage for featuring me in her treasury!