Thinking towards fall.....

'Almost Autumn'

Today is Richard's B'day...the big 4-0 lol. I got him a bunch of cool shirts and a funny/sweet card. We went out to eat at O'Charley's and I got a giant margarita that I couldn't even get halfway through lol. Oh, and I got him a lucious chocolate cake that I lit with 40 candles :). Fun. It's always great starting a new decade in your life, this is going to be a good one for him (for us) . We're settled in our house, we have an awesome dog, our kids are getting older (Erik, his son, is starting college this fall). I'm looking forward to all that's to come. I know one thing that has to happen soon - I HAVE TO GET ORGANIZED. I'm sitting at a desk full of papers, empty coffee cups, my camera, bills, and misc STUFF. It's amazing I can sit here at the computer surrounded by all this clutter. Ugh.

I have some good news that's going to contribute greatly to harmony and peace in my life though. I talked to my manager at Cato and told her I didn't want to be 2nd Assistant anymore. Whew! That means I won't be putting in 30+ hours a week there so I can get focused and organized and keep heading in the right direction with my artwork. I'm going to be able to step down the week after next. No more cramming to get ready for the Saturday and Sunday markets after getting off work, or going to work after being in Knoxville all day with my tent. Well, I have to this Saturday :(....but it will be my last. I actually get to have a life now lol. My schedule has pretty much been work M-F at Cato and Sat and Sun at the markets. I've had no creative down time at all. I'm so looking forward to this. Richard is working from home now too so we can get back to our wonderful little life of being home together doing our separate creative jobs. Sigh, I can't wait. I know the next week will go by fast.....

In the meantime, we started getting in some fall sweaters and things so I'm starting to be in an autumn frame of mind now. Here's some of my autumn inspired artwork I've been working on :) :



'Tastes Like Fall'


'That Seventies Summer'


These aren't in my shop yet but I'll be bringing one this week and the other two next week to the markets. I actually bought the lovely sunflowers at the Chattanooga Market. I love them, they're such happy flowers :).

Here are a couple of things I've been working on this week. I'll be bringing them to Knoxville on Saturday and Chattanooga on Sunday :). The above one is called 'Talking to Clouds' and the one below is 'Peachy Keen' which I thought was quite appropriate for the the Peach Market on Sunday :). I really love both of them although they're very different. Talking to Clouds is really neat because it looks like the telephone lines are going through the clouds - I don't even know how I did that lol! It had something to do with the settings on my camera and brightness of the clouds - the light somehow overtook the telephone line in spots so that it looks like the clouds are covering the wires. I tried to think of all kinds of names for it - Stairway to Heaven, How We Talk to God, Communion With Clouds.....I could go on and on - I finally decided on 'Talking to Clouds' to keep it simple. 'Peachy Keen' - well, it's rather self explanatory :). I love the warm, peachy colors and the vintage feel. It's fresh yet old-fashioned at the same time.

Thank you Chattanooga for the warm reception :)

Neighborly

So Chattanooga was awesome, I'm definitely going back this week. I'll probably make it regular Sunday thing now :). All the market goers were very friendly as were the other vendors (with the possible exception of one who will go nameless lol - backhanded compliments anyone?). But it was a great day, I met so many people. I also felt good because a lot of my customers told me their stories and explained what the particular photograph they bought meant to them. That it reminded them of something from their childhood or something that recently happened to them or their wedding day...there were a lot of little stories exchanged in conversation. I love that I can give people something they can hold onto that corresponds with something special in their life or from their past, it's that emotional connection to my work that makes it all worthwhile for me. I truly truly truly think it's important that we don't forget those parts of ourselves that believed in the magic of blowing dandelion seeds, or making wishes, or just laying in grass looking up at the clouds in amazement and awe. I think we get so caught up in our day to day rushing around or our immediate problems that we sometimes forget that all of that is still out there just waiting for us to notice it and believe in it. So when you go outside today, don't forget to look up - at the clouds, or at the birds sitting in a neat row on the wire on your way home from work, or just notice the happy little dandelions popping up in your yard (or your neighbor's yard if you don't like them in your own lol). It will make you feel lighter and happier inside :).

I'll also be at the Knoxville Market on Saturday - I hope to see everybody there!



The Seduction of Clouds (not in my shop at the moment)

Fresh Daisy Art

I love all the pretty little spring flowers popping up every where now. Here's some fresh art I'm working on =) :




Where Dreams Begin




Meadow - this isn't in my shop yet but will be this week :)

I skipped a day :(

Oh, naughty girl. I was doing so good too. Well, back on track now. I'm still excited about my gallery showing, I need to stay focused on my Etsy shop though. I feel like I have all these local things happening now and it's pulling me away from focusing on the day to day Etsy. I'm planning on setting up a booth at the farmer's market/craft market at Market Square this coming month, I've not heard anything back from them yet though. That will be interesting having my art exhibited at the gallery 2 streets over from the farmer's market and then selling at a booth there too. I'm planning on making a lot of money next month :) :) :). How exciting. You know, you can make anything happen in your life if you just focus and believe in yourself. Act like you already are making the money you want, have the life you want, and your life will magically rearrange itself and make sure that you start having that life for real. Just FOCUS FOCUS FOCUS. Put what you want up on a memo board in front of you and look at it everyday. Write down the things you'll have and do when you have the life you want and read them everyday. Start doing them even though you aren't there yet! You'll get there faster then. Every single person can have the life they want if they do those things. But you have to believe it, it won't happen if you don't believe it. Read "The Secret", it spells it all out for you. It's a very interesting book even if you don't fully believe it. Richard (my bf) and I watched the dvd of it together and I read the book. He was all excited about it at first and totally believed it although now he says he believes it to a certain extent instead of 100%. I believe it 100%. I think it's only because I have the book version though. I can keep reading it through and reminding myself and putting things into practice. If you just watch the movie, it doesn't stay with you as long unless you watch it over and over. This is the book :

Apparently some people are dismissive of it's message but the basic precept involves focusing on the things you want. If you focus, the law of attraction (aka the universe) will bring those things to you. Whether it's the law of attraction or an impartial universe or whether it's just focusing on them helps you figure out ways to accomplish them doesn't really matter to me. What matters is that it works.

So, I didn't start out this blog to be an endorsement of 'The Secret' lol. I just think it's at best a life changing book and at least a presentation of some new ideas you might not of thought about before. At least I posted today :). I'm proud of me lol.

A Lot of Changes in the Past Week

Well, I did it. I quit my day job. I'm going from being a photographer for a photography company to being a freelance photographer. Wow, huge change. I've still not adjusted to the fact that I don't have to get up at 3,4, or 5 am anymore. I can get up whenever my eyes pop open and I can focus totally on my photography and selling my artwork on Etsy and wherever I can around here. I'm really going to have to start focusing on that aspect of it. I found out that artists can set up booths at the Farmer's Market in Knoxville every Wednesday and Saturday, that it's only $20 on Saturdays and $15 on Wednesdays. You have to apply to do it but that's definitely something I want to explore further. I'll have to get my art framed and matted though, I don't want to sell the photographs by themselves. So once I get several together, I'm going to apply.

I'm so excited. I feel like I have a whole new life starting now. I'm so glad I did it now instead of waiting. I was really unhappy there. Although working there certainly forced me to be more confident and I learned my way around Knoxville and surrounding areas. Those were certainly benefits. And I really like everybody I worked with. I'm going to miss that aspect of it. But that's all I'm going to miss. The time was right for this.

So now that's all behind me, I'm going to have absolutely so excuse for not posting in my blog LOL. I've been focusing more on summer art lately. Here's what I've listed:

So we have the beach and the meadow. I really love the one with the waves crashing. It's called "A Sense of Calm Washed Over Her". I love the warm grays in it. It's how I feel right now after leaving my job. Calm but at the same time excited about what the future holds :).