by Susan Lobb Porter | Art, Life, Writing |
Oh my sweetums, I have been so busy this week. So so so so SO busy.
Effin’ busy, matter of fact.
Woke up about ten days ago with an idea. A little bitty whisper left over from a dream that worked its way into the thinking part of my brain. The part that consciously mulled it over, gave it a sniff, a taste, a couple of mental pokes until lo and behold, an actual IDEA was born.
Don’t you love the way that happens?
Happens a lot to me but I usually roll over and go back to sleep. Or come up with excuses and talk myself out of it.
But this time I rolled with it and said YES!!!
Fist pumpin’, back flippin’, cartwheelin’ YES!!!
And that’s what this post is all about, the power of YES!!! The power that comes from listening to dreams and making them happen. Of saying YES!!! and moving forward one step at a time.
I told you when I took last week off from Arty Life that when I came back I would have a surprise.
Well, do I ev-ah! Oh yes, indeed… Ta-da, drumroll please… dum dum dum dum dum tsssssh…. Introducing Arty Life’s new sis-tuh blog, BIG BOLD BEAUTIFUL YES!!!. It’s a stand alone blog with it’s own URL but it compliments Arty Life.
Like chocolate compliments everything.
You can access it through the nav bar up above. One of these days I’ll get around to putting a button on the sidebar. Check it out. Please do. And if you like what you see spread the word. Tell your friends. Like it on FaceBook. Shout it from the rooftops.
But creating a whole ‘nuther blog was NOT the only thing I did this week.
If you look up at the nave bar you’ll see a new category…FREEBIES!!! Wee digi gifties for you to download and print. From me to you. because I love you all so much. Much enough to stay up way past my bedtime making these suckers and figuring out the technical stuff. Just. For. You.
Right now there’s only one, a fun poster. But there will be more. I have all sorts of stuff in mind. And I’m saying YES!!! to things now so they’ll probably actually happen.
Imagine that!
But that’s not all…
Geeze, at the risk of sounding like an infomercial shouter, I’m dangling MORE goodies in front of you. Remember the Arty Life newsletter? The one I said would go out every month. But never did. Because it was one. more. thing. Well, I finally had an AHA! genius moment. I don’t know how much ‘news’ my newsletter will have but it WILL have art. Every month, some sort of digi download. Free! Just for letting me send you a newsletter once a month. No more than that, trust me.
But…but SUSAN!!! What about the STUDIO??? The NEW! IMPROVED! STUDIO GRANDE???
You guys are wearin’ me out. I’ve been BUSY, y’know. Studio’s there. Just a couple of tweaks and it’s all done. I’m starting to move in, one paintbrush at a time. Come back Wednesday. There WILL be photos. Promise.
by Susan Lobb Porter | Art, Ponies |
Lots of time in the studio today. Made some progress on a couple layered canvases. These are works-in-progress, far from finished but I thought you might like to see the progression of one of them.
The horse was the first thing to pop out in this piece and then all inspiration s.t.o.p.p.e.d. So I put it away for awhile. I wasn’t thrilled with the lack of movement in Mr. Pony. And confused by my need to put a face in there. My literal mind was going umm…this doesn’t work.
And then I looked at it today and saw a sleeper. A dreamer…But there was one problem. A BIG one. Ponies don’t stand around in dreams. They RUN. And they run FAST.
So I was BOLD. And BRUTAL. I dispatched Mr. Pony. Just like that. Took my brush and cut him into three ponies. Action. Energy. Ponies worth dreaming about. And then I claimed another from the area above her head. Because I could.
Got a ways to go with this but if life doesn’t get too much in the way I might finish her this weekend. We have a solid week of winter weather rolling in beginning Sunday. YAY! That’s great. We need it.
But it also means I’ve got to spend some hours down in the barn, spoiling my real life ponies with fluffy dry beds. And when the storm comes, I will dream easy, knowing that they are dry and warm.
by Susan Lobb Porter | Art, Life |
Got a story to tell you. It’s about my new friend Alicia. We met online. On this very blog in fact. She read my post, Yellow Bird. It was a chance meeting of kindred spirits via the magic of the world wide web.
Alicia has a dream. Her ‘dreamiest dream’ is to open a non profit art center for kids with asperger’s syndrome and autism. Not just dreaming…she’s DOING. Because as the mother of a very special, very cool little kid who happens to be somewhere on the spectrum, she knows firsthand how art changes lives. Changes focus and attention.
She’s also an accomplished mixed media artist.
Right now the kids are working on her kitchen table. As soon as she finishes remodeling her garage into a studio they’ll meet there. And she can take more of them. You can read her blog for the details.
To help finance her dream Alicia opened an extra special etsy store, Mum and Finn where she creates paintings and all sorts of other cool stuff based on her son’s descriptions. There’s a monster doll there I’d give my right arm for. Her name is Eunice who traded her right arm for George’s intestines, she survived but he did not.
Something tells me young Finn did the naming.
Here’s the cool thing…one hundred percent of the profits from Mum and Finn go to finance the art center. One hundred percent.
Alicia’s got another project in the works, the Tallest Handmade Book in the World. Attention art peeps and anyone with an ounce of creativity…make a page or two or three and join the fun. The finished book will be auctioned off for a good cause. You can read all about it here.
Starting a non-profit isn’t easy. Let’s all spread the word and help Alicia’s dream come true. Let’s change some kids’ lives with art. Facebook Like, Tweet it on…share on whatever social network platforms you can.
Some very special kids will appreciate your help.
by Susan Lobb Porter | Art, Beloved Beasties, Dogs |
I woke up in the middle of the night, dog must’ve woofed or sumthin’. Not a totally unheard of event, living in the country. A lot of distractions going on outside in the big woods. Four legged distractions. Sophie in particular fancies herself a watchdog. Twelve pounds of Maltipoo vs. the wild beasts.
Bean tends to sleep through it all. Most nights I roll over, stuff a pillow over my head and go back to sleep.
But last night was different. I was in the middle of a dream. And there was a blowtorch involved. Which meant I was making art, doing the encaustic dance in my sleep.
I lay there thinking about that. About sleep as a means of recharging and refreshing and yet here I was carrying on the activities of the day on a whole ‘nother level.
As I write this many hours later, I have no memory of the the dream itself, of the content. But I still see the image I woke up with, the torch in my hand, the flame on the wax.
And I’m thinking it’s a good thing I don’t sleepwalk. And if I ever did, there’s a couple of locked doors and a gauntlet of wild beasties between me and that torch.
