Say Hello To My Little Blog

Show and tell, my favorite school subject !

I wish it had been any ways.big cheesy grin I signed up for Steemit not only to share my passion of art in every fun and uplifting way I can think of. For example: taking a 6 month hike across 14 states to paint and draw my daily adventures. Or, buy creating pieces like the one above because I can. But, also to reveal how art can be so incredibly healing and enriching for others as well. I want to share some of the amazing things art could do besides hang there.

I may be hungry but I look good!

Yeah, that's not really a line I want to use the rest of my life, but it's sure collected me a good deal of laughs. Art can be rewarding whether it earns you green or not. In all honesty, for me, I just don't want to be another artist whose not noticed until after I'm dead. I want to be around to see peoples reactions. And I like exposing people to their own creativity, which is why I instruct painting classes on the side of my other 2 jobs. If Steemit paired with my art can earn me more time and better means to provide for my child as a single mom, I would be humbled. Lord knows all I've ever wanted was to be able to buy us our own house...but my point I'm not just in it for the money.
Many artists don’t believe that their works are good enough to earn them money. We are perfectionists to a fault and never really feel our pieces are complete. I'm at the age now though where it's kind of like what the hell why not throw out the line and see if anyone bites.

This piece I did for a contest PBR has going for some cash prizes. If I win my daughter wants a Viola. I'm hoping its an offer they can't refuse.

Got Stress? Art is Healing

Art is a powerful tool, it can say things words cannot. Whether you deal with minor stress or have something more serious ailing you art is a proven resource for coping and healing. It has helped people who have faced suicide, or dealt with loss. It has been proven to help children who have been abused or deal with abandonment. Victims of cancer, service men and women with PTSD, the list goes on. Its amazing what art can do. It gives people a form of expression outside of words, which often times can prove to be difficult. This unique alternative to traditional talk therapy inspires the letting go of painful emotions, so that the wounded can heal. It helps to look within and discover how to articulate emotions and events using colors and images. Creative expression can alter a person’s outlook and the way he or she functions in the world. It also increases self-awareness, coping skills and the confidence to work through uncomfortable thoughts and feelings.

This piece I did after seeing a photograph which rocked my emotions. An eye opener if you will, it made me think about all that we civilians don't see or hear about. I wanted to draw it, to share what I felt and saw. I eliminated all the background and color except the red. After completing my drawing I shared it on FB. Soon after I was contacted by a man from the 25th Infantry Division. The soldier told me he was there that day. He told me how the man I drew had just earlier that morning found out he was going to be a father. Later that day while passing through a town, a car bomb went off killing the little girl he's holding. She had been playing nearby. The event broke the father to be to pieces.

A List of Artistic Outlets

• Keep a doodle book and every day take 10 mins. to sketch out something you see.
• Adult coloring books
• Drawing prompt sketchbooks
• Take a local art class
• Create Mandalas, they're super easy and geometrically satisfying, Oh, and ancient!
• Check out an art show, I promise you'll be inspired, or a least enjoy the wine
• Pick up a Zentangle book, it will actually teach you how to doodle
• If you see a piece of art and it speaks to you-BUY IT...enjoy it everyday not just once
• Visit a Arts and Crafts store...you'll find all kinds of materials and kits for creative projects
• Cut out magazine pictures and make a collage
• Do a paint by numbers
• Attend a local paint party where you drink, kick back and are instructed through a simple painting
• Find old items at garage sales like bird houses and re-paint them!
  

A mandala I created above. To create your own just start from the center and work you way out. Adding rings of different shapes, shading or whatever you want, there's really no wrong way to do it.

Sharing or not sharing, isn't really the question.

Its a choice. There is nothing written that say's because you painted a picture, or wrote a song you must now share it with everyone. Its okay to do things for yourself, some people don't know how to focus on themselves because they're so focused on everyone else.
Most artists –Painters, writers, musicians, etc. have such emotional attachment to their creations that they tend to not want to share "their babies" and expose them to criticism. So don't.
I have pieces that I will never share, because they weren't meant to be. With my art that I do share I have accepted that not everyone will like it, but to me its worth putting it out there to find those who do. It validates my commitment and gives me a sense of personal value regardless of what it may look like on paper.
One of my college professor once told me "You know your a successful artist when you create emotion in someone. Whether, smiles and laughter, or anger and tears."
Whatever you decide, if you feel like sharing I'd love to see.

Art is Meditative

One thing I've always wanted to learn to do was to sit quietly and meditate. Focus the mind. Totally Relax. Well, for whatever reason I gave up. Accepting the idea that meditating was something I just wasn't meant to do. A short time after, I decided to declare my defeat to a good friend, who happens to specializes in such practices, and soon after I stood corrected. She said "Kate, your art is the product of you meditating." insert blown mind here It was so true though I realized. When I'm working on a piece all of my focus is there in those moments, in those strokes of color. It's where I process and escape time. Its where I relax away from the responsibilities of my day to day. I now call it MediKate'ing lol

Me "MediKate'ing"

On that note, Thank you for taking the time to read my blog, I hope you hang around to check out future posts. And feel free to comment below, show me your art, leave me some feed back, I love to interact.
-Cheers!