A strange process......

I found my first day as a gainfully unemployed person to be a little sad. Who would think that I would miss getting up and going to work? I certainly did not.
But the second day I got my wind back and spent most of it in the studio working on my art journal.
I had decided to do one page a day before I quit and it was sometimes a chore..and believe me it showed in what I created.
What I am trying to do with the art journals is explore the world around me and inside me and try to figure out where I fit or do not fit in. I never have felt like I really fit anywhere. I would not be surprised to find out I am the product of some strange alien hybrid experiment gone horribly wrong.
So what did my first journal page after taking the plunge look like...well..




It went sort of like you would expect.... But as I got into the mood I found I had a rhythm going. Not really a finished product sort of rhythm but one of total experimentation and wild abandon that I have not felt in a long time.
I wasn't sure about the whole art journal thing. Sometimes it struck me as a little too self indulgent but then I realized that being an artist is probably the most self indulgent thing you can do. And I am not giving that up anytime soon, So I told myself to shut the heck up and get on with it.
So I came up with a few interesting bits.......





I look forward to the next month more than I have looked forward to anything since I was a child waiting for Christmas to get here. There is a lot of work to be done if I am to accomplish what I have set out to do which is finish my studio and get it set up for classes, finish a ton of projects around the house and get some art created that will speak to me and about me.
Wish me luck ....I will need it.

So I quit my job the other day………. Yup I know scary right? So now what do I do now?

Money wise we will be okay for a few months. We won’t even notice the difference until October or November and with our vacation coming up in the first week of August I have decided this is not the best time to go job hunting. “Yes sir I would love to come to work for you but can I have the first ten days off please and thank you?” Yup that would not make a very good impression. So I have decided to take a long needed break and not even look for work until after vacation.
That makes the month of July and half of August my time to create. The studio is not completely finished but we will just have to put up wall board and paint around my projects. The flooring is in and most of the insulation is done. So I am getting the supplies organized and out to the studio.
More importantly though the Muse has taken up residence out there, I don’t know what wonderful Fairy spirit it is that has decided to make my studio its home but whenever I go out there it seems like I get a rush of creative ideas that about knocks me over.
I am working on an art journal or several actually since I use old children’s board books and there are just not enough pages for more than a week’s worth of ideas. I have decided to make it a page a day project and I will post some of the entries later in the week.
I am not attempting to make “ART” with my journals…whatever your definition of art is. I am trying to explore how I feel about my world and how the outside world effects the inner me. I am trying to get some kind of insight on what it is I would say to the world if it did start paying attention to me and my art work. The saddest thing in the world would be having nothing to say that was worth listening to.
In celebration of my sudden massive vacation/creation time I will be posting a craft grab bag give away for the month of July. It will include lots of beads and crafting supplies to entice a muse to set up residence in your studio too. I will be adding something to the box each week so come back for sneak previews. All you have to do is comment on my July 4th blog post and leave me a way to contact you if you win. Of course there is no cost to enter and I will do a random draw for the winner on August 10th.
I will announce the winner by the 15th of August.

And if you live in the La Porte Texas area keep a look out for my workshop and class announcements. I will be starting these up this fall. They will be small classes of no more than 5 students and will cover drawing, painting, collage, mixed media and basic jewelry making. The classes will be inexpensive and most will have no or a minimal charge for supplies. It will depend on my work schedule of course but I plan both day and evening classes and workshops. So come out and get creative. You know you want to and yes you do deserve it.