Making a living as an artist and this week I am part of a blog hop.

I have been teaching alot lately and taking a couple of classes for my own pleasure. I always dreamed of making a living as an artist but never really knew how to do it. Teaching involves alot of preparation, planning and organizing. Something I thought I never was really capable of doing and thought that it would take away from the creative process. I keep wondering how many hours should I put into actually doing art and whether the business of art would consume all of my time. At first, the time spent planning my classes, filming, editing, promoting, responding, traveling, would be an irritation to me, but I actually kind of enjoy it. I feel like I am taking care of business and that the pressure is off for the moment to produce a "masterpiece". I finally realized that being an artist isn't just about painting all day. I couldn't paint all day every day even if I wanted to. There needs to be that time of allowing the creativity to marinate inside until I feverishly HAVE to get into the studio and work it out. My work for my classes and art to sell takes up the work week but the week-end.....well, the week-end is my time to explore and go deeper in my own study as well as practice my craft. I like to go back to traditional drawing and painting techniques to keep me true, but that isn't my art, it's the craft that leads me to my art.
I have been taking a class with the brilliant Gillian Cox Unearth, Gather and Create. Here are some of my projects from that class.

I am part of a blog hop and asked to join. These are questions I need to answer so I will give it a go.

1.What am I working on?

I am getting ready to teach at Art Unraveled in Phoenix so I am working on several class samples of figures and portraits on vintage fabrics. That is my more commercial work. I am also in the early stages of more figurative work in church or cathedral setting. I  love doing figurative work but most of my prior work was rather flat. I am becoming more and more interested in atmospheric work and the idea of painting something and wiping it off and leaving a stain of what was there before.

How does my work differ from others of its genre?

I think the fact that I work on vintage fabric is probably the biggest difference. I used to be a textile designer in the apparel business and got my college degree in Fiber Arts so I always loved working with fabric. I started painting 5 years ago and was never drawn to canvas. I started layering fabric, adding gesso and venetian plaster and found this substrate glorious to work on!

Why do I create what I do?

I must or I will go insane is really the truth! I love to wake up and run to my studio to examine what I did the day before with fresh eyes. It is like waking up xmas morning! It is so thrilling when I am excited with what I am doing in the studio. If I have a dry spell, I almost go into a depression. Creating art is probably my drug of choice. I am a compulsive, obsessive person so having this as my focus is match made in heaven. I must create and when I can't create I must know that it is time to rest and refuel for the next round.

How does my writing process work?

I am not disciplined with my writing. It probably is the weakest link I have connected to my creativity. I usually write a blog post once a month. I always put it off but when I do it I feel so much better and I actually like most of what I write.

Here are a couple of lovely talented women I would like to introduce you to if you haven't met

Lori Scott 

Lorri Scott is a wearable fiber artist living in the Santa Cruz Mountains above Monterey Bay. Give her a dyepot and she'll magically transform silk fabrics, ribbons, and garments into fabulous colors using shibori, resist, vat dye and warp painting techniques. She is a self taught weaver, dyer, and clothing designer who has been published in Shuttle, Spindle & Dyepot, Belle Armoire, Somerset Wedding and Quilting Arts Magazines.

http://www.lasfibers.com/

http://www.lasfibers.blogspot.com/

Kelly Berkey

Kelly Berkey is a professional artist, jewelry designer, and blogger. She is captivated by people and capturing emotion and the human spirit onto her canvas. She primarily works in oil, but loves to explore all mediums.

Her soulful approach to her work, love of mindful living, and journaling her experiences as she grows as an artist has made her blog a huge success. Her article The Authentic Self is published in the Live Out Loud Spring Edition of The Studio Voice.

Kelly has studied under artist Michelle Dunaway , is taking private lessons with Tina Garrett, taken college level art courses, numerous online art workshops, and purchases every painting demo she can get her hands on. She is always striving to improve her craft and is influenced by the great works of not only Michelle & Tina, but also Dan Gerhartz, Jeremy Lipking, and Richard Schmid.

Kelly lives with her husband of 28 years in the beautiful countryside of Ray Co, Missouri, where they both have art studios. Together they share in the creating and running of their online jewelry store Berkey Designs.

Kelly's work has been collected throughout the U.S. and Internationally.

 berkeydesigns.com

kellyberkey.com

Be sure to follow them next saturday, June 19, 2013 as they continue this blog hop.
Galia Alena

Light chaser, wanderlust gypsy, clay slinger, paint splasher, word crafter, sacred journaler, beauty unveiler, adventure seeker and soul feeder.

Galia Alena is a “coeur”ageous pioneer artist with a poetic vision exploring intuitive wisdom. Her images evoke tranquillity and infinity, coaxing the viewer to participate into the self-exploration which successfully ties the lyrical to the universal. They reflect an understanding of mythical and archetypal wisdom common to us all, yet from a supremely vulnerable individual perspective. “It is through my creative practices that I feed my soul and return to myself always afresh." She is a photographer by trade and mixed media artist by practice and shares some of her gifts in several online courses or in live groups:http://galiaalena.blogspot.com &https://www.etsy.com/shop/GaliaAlena https://www.facebook.com/pages/Galia-Alena/117779901569671