inspire me thursday prompt - elephant. i painted one, and couldn’t stop there. it was fun, but i’m not an animal painter. that much i know is true.

i also signed up to do misty mawn’s challenge - art journal every day. i have been doing it (more or less), but i’ve been horrible about updating my blog lately. just too lazy to take pictures and blaaaah blaaah blah. but, i now have photos taken, so i will update more later.

how are you all doing? are you keeping up with your new year’s resolutions?

i’m behind on reading blogs, again. i’ll be around soon, promise.

This is a little blurry, but it’s not like that in person. My scanner has a hard time with beeswax. I have thought about doing the scans before I put the wax on, but I want the depth of the layers to show as best as possible. So, I have to deal with a little blur.

“Miz Katie” is only on the photo, not the actual piece.

This a print, which I have hand painted with acrylic paint to give it depth. It has a painted feel when it’s touched, making it more like a painting than a print. I like that effect.

It has a white border attached around three edges. I also added glitter and gloss gel to make it shiny. It is sealed with beeswax.

I have two of these available. One is in my Etsy shop right now. And, the other is in my ArtFire shop. Each one differs from the other slightly because I hand painted them. The photo represents only one of the pieces.

I made this box about 7 or 8 years ago. I’ve tried to sell it a couple times, but eh..the right person never seemed to come along. That’s okay.

it was rather boring when i think about it, anyway.

It’s been sitting on a shelf in my studio. I’m not using it. It isn’t mine to use, technically. It is suppose to be for sale, even though it isn’t online anywhere. I keep putting off listing it again because..well, I don’t like it all that much.

I got looking at it the other day, and suddenly felt impulsive. I grabbed my gesso and a paintbrush and set to work. By the end of the day, this had emerged.

Remember Miss Real Fancy? She not exactly the same as the one in my art journal, but it’s close enough.

I need to do circles on 3 more sides, and in the center of the box. Big ones inside. Little ones outside. Maybe some on the bottom, too?

finished photographs soon.

I’m a girl who’s all about process. Like, I’d rather watch the special features on a DVD and see how a movie was made, than to watch the movie itself. And, I don’t even care if it’s a movie I’m interested in or not. Just show me how it was done, and I’m there!! Same goes with art. All I care about is how it was done. Youtube loves me for this obsession I have. haha I love to watch artists paint.

The finished product? Well, I say, “eh, it’s not so important.” After all, it’s finished. Done. Completed. As a working artist, there’s nothing else to do at this point, except sell it..which, trust me, is not all it’s cracked up to be. And, that’s why I am ALL about the process from start to finish. That’s the exciting part. That’s where the real meat of it all lies..somewhere between the idea, and the sigh of relief. That’s what makes my little heart race.

I’ve been taking a good hard look at my blog lately, and I realized there is no way I am coming close to representing my true self here. I have forgotten how to document the things that are important to me..really important. I have been blogging for sooo many years, and before that, I had an online journal. heh! Remember online journals? All hand coded and flowery. Mine was never flowery, but I did hand code everything. html was my best friend.

Anyway, I guess that practice doesn’t make perfect. It makes “burn out”, which is what I’ve been for the past few years. I want to change that. So, from now I’m going to start documenting more. There will be progress shots of what I’m doing. Not so much for you, but for me. I hate to be selfish, but I need to keep better track of where I came from, so I can get to where I’m going a little easier.

Right now, I have six paintings started, but none finished. I am standing right in the middle of the process!! This is where all the drama starts happening. Frustration. Nervousness. Panic. And, little tiny breakthroughs. Ah! Love the breakthroughs. Hate the rest of the stuff, but I know it’s necessary, at least for me. I kinda wish I wasn’t at this stage with ALL six of the paintings because it makes going into the studio a dreaded chore right now..but, it’s okay.

So, I’ve been working on this one for a couple weeks now..maybe a month? I have no idea how to proceed at this point, so I’ve stopped. I’m going to look at it for a while until I decide where to go from here. I’ve been leaning it up against the wall, and it stares back at me while I work on other stuff.

It makes me think a lot. My eyes are constantly examining every detail. I can’t say that I like the background at this point. It was white with layers. I changed it to blue. Then, I changed it back to white. Then, back to blue. I can not make up my mind. Perhaps blue and white are not the answers I’m looking for.

I can’t say I like the dresses either. I have changed the color of them several times, also. First, mauve with no layers. Then white, cuz the background was blue. Nope, that didn’t work. Now, it’s a mixture of layers, white and mauve. I’m not in love with it.

The faces need more work. The one on the left has a droopy eyelid. I haven’t decided if I’m going to fix it or not. I have a droopy eyelid, and no one fixed me. heh heh But, I may spare her a lifetime of people pointing out her droopiness. I know it kinda gets old after a while.

Needless to say, this will be on my work table for many more hours before I’m anywhere happy with it. If I was to guess, I’d say I’m about in the middle of the process. The part where I start to sweat and wonder if I’m ever going to like it. The part of the process that really makes me uncomfortable. But, I know, I have to push through this stage in order to get to the finish line.

Stay tuned for more photographs and further updates.

If anyone would like to trade Etsy minis with me, let me know. I will be featuring a couple Etsy shops here in my blog each week, probably on Fridays. Leave a comment or email me - mizkatie228 @ gmail.com if you’d like to do a swap. Close up the spaces around the @ sign before sending email.

Oh, and when sending the mini code, my blog can only use flash. You can make it whatever size you like. My blog is wide enough for 5 x 5. Please let me know what size is good for your blog.

this is an original, hand painted collaged cover - not a print.The cover has been sealed with beeswax, so it has a soft textured feel. I have buffed it, so it’s shiny. It lies flat, so it’s easy to use.

available in my etsy shop

2 ring journal notebook with assorted paper inside.

I had a huge stack of paper sitting in my studio, so there is a mixture in these books. You will probably get scrapbook paper and colored paper. You may also get watercolor paper and cardstock.

These are bound using two 1″ book rings. It is embellished with Fancy Fur yarn. The cover has glitter sprinkled on it, and it’s sealed with beeswax. It has a soft textured feel. I have polished it, so it is shiny. If the wax dulls, which it will, just bluff with a cloth. It will look good as new.

available in my etsy.

if you saw these in my shop earlier this week, i apologize for the increase in price. i am spending a lot of time on these books. much more time than i anticipated, and because of that, I have had to raise the price a tiny bit. they are still very affordable, and will make a wonderful gift or treat for yourself. go ahead. you know you want to. ;)

I got a little tired of my old blog look. I know this isn’t a BIG change. I kept the same colors, for now. I’m still tweaking it here and there (ljers i’m talking about the blog on my website, not lj. i update my website and lj at the same time via a plugin on wordpress). But, it is wider, so my images can be, also. And, I made a new banner, which displays some of my recent art.

I also added monster avatars to the comment section. Now whenever you comment, you get a little monster beside your name. If you mouse over the monster, you’ll see it also links to your website, if  you filled in that info. I think you get a different monster each time you add a comment. Aren’t they cute?

Ooooh, and look at this!! I got a rebel art card made by Bobbi in the mail. She started making rebel art cards a few years back, and I was lucky enough to get a couple back then, too.

I just loooove this card. I never make my bed. It’s just wasted time and energy to me. I know it only takes a few minutes, but life is short. I have better things to do than housework. I guess it’s my way of rebelling. heh! So, I was immediately drawn to this card. Thank you sooo much, Bobbi.

that reminds me that i have totally dropped the ball on my pay it forward entry back in August. i’m so sorry. i told you ladies that i would send you something and i haven’t. it’s not that i’ve forgotten because i haven’t. actually, i have started to send you something a million times, but for some reason i freeze up. i can not decide what to send you. nothing seems good enough, and i think, ‘why would they want that???’ so, yeah, i haven’t sent anything at all. i know it sounds stupid, but it’s true. i need to move past my frozen zone, and i will..promise!

Last chance to own this mixed media painting for this cheap cheap price..

worldwide shipping. ending in a few hours.

If it doesn’t sell, it will be in my etsy shop tomorrow for a much higher price because it took forever to make, and it shouldn’t be sold so cheaply. ahem!

Oh hey, if you haven’t checked my etsy shop lately, I now have a SALE section. I’ve slashed prices on some stuff more than 50%. Go see! I want to clear out the old to make room for all the new I’ve been making lately.

His wife was at work. All his laundry was dirty. Good thing he knew his way around the laundry room. He threw a big ole load in the washer.

He, in his underwear, sat down and watched a bit of tv.

After the wash had finished its last spin cycle, he realized he had nothing to wear out to the clothesline. So, he borrowed his wife’s skirt and sweater. As he hung up his orange shirt, he glanced around to make sure no one was watching him.

This is a 6×6 print mounted on chipboard and sealed with beeswax. It’s made from a painting I did a few months ago. The original is not for sale, but you can get the reproduction in my etsy shop.