Houston Cityscape Finished

I have finally finished the large cityscape. I admit it took me way to long to finish this painting. I am a perfectionist and my own worst critic. I keep walking by it and then adding more to the painting.  It is very difficult for me to get a really good photo because this painting is so large. The lighting is a real problem. I try to take photos without the flash and in natural light. Here are a couple of photos of the completed painting.

Making Time For Art

I have this little problem it is called perfectionism. I am sure that I am not the only one with this problem. The little critic seems to be there trying to spoil all the fun. It is hard to just let go at times. I want to just go with the flow and find the joy in creating and experimenting with new projects. Instead I find myself procrastinating making excuses why I can't possibly find the time.  I love art and have done many types in my quest for creativity. I feel grumpy and unsettled when I don't get to do something creative. However I will let housework, TV and running around with my family get in the way of making a full commitment to art. I know the real reason is that I want to make beautiful paintings or stained glass without mistakes. The  other thing is that I would like to be a full time artist selling my art on Etsy. I find that I am busy comparing myself to the other artists and will procrastinate.  How can I learn to play without judging my work? How do you play to bring yourself back to creativity? Do you procratinate rather than be creative? Whats stopping you from your dreams?

Below is a wind chime that I made a while back. Now its time to get creative again!

Where I have I been?

I haven't done a really good job of keeping up with my blog lately. I apologize for being lax in the blogging world.  I am trying to be better about keeping up with facebook and also myspace too. I bought the magazine Artful Blogging in hopes that I can improve my blogging skills. I was in a bit of a funk and not feeling very creative. My daughter and I made some pillows for her room that was fun. Sometimes you have to do something different to jump start your creativity. I hadn't been near my sewing machine in quite awhile. In fact I was looking at some of the presser feet going what the heck are these! I also spend a great deal of time reading for my students. I just got done reading The Demon King. It was pretty good book but those darn trilogies. If you are looking for a good book and don't mind Sci fi  The Adoration of Jenna Fox is and excellent book. The pillow below is one that we made. I love black and white so much fun.
We are leaving to Colorado for a mini vacation July 1st. When I get back I plan on doing a make over on my blog, my studio and my etsy store.  Don't you wish you could have a clone or something to get all the things done you want to?? Have a wonderful 4th of July everyone!

Update on Cityscape Painting

I haven't posted as much lately. It has been busy with school wrapping up. I really am looking forward to summer spending time painting and working on my etsy shop. I plan on making some glass wind chimes and other pieces. I wanted to update you on the progress of my Houston City Scape.  I am still adding more to this painting. Photos also help me to see what I need to do to make the painting better. Please give me so me feed back. I really need to work at learning to take better photos and photoshop.This painting is large and it is hard to get a decent shot. My art room is packed with furniture right now. My son move out this weekend into his own apartment. I had mixed emotions of course happy for him sad for me. We went through a lot during his teens sometimes I didn't think either of us would survive!
My oldest is married and lives in Houston only one more at home and then it will be empty nest .

Mean Kitty and Shrek 4

I love cats and of course dogs too! My daughter's cat is so not the cat we wanted, no lap cat is she. I believe she thinks she is a Tiger!  We want her to cuddle and hang out with us, but she has other ideas.  If you try to put her in my daughter's bedroom and she doesn't want to go she will chase you and grab your leg LOL!
My daughter wanted to name her Dolce but that didn't work she only answers to Kikki. We started calling her mean kitty after a video on youtube because she looks like Sparta. We think she is his sister. Here is the video 

Then my daughter found this video of Shrek 4 our cat loves food so we thought this was funny!

I haven't been blogging much or painting much either. I am so excited about summer. I want to paint and work on my house and blog more. I had a health scare and I was going to a lot of appointments. I had a ct scan to check my lungs and ended up finding cysts on my thyroid.  I have to go back in June to make sure that the cyst hasn't grown. Well I will blog more about this later.

Michelle

Love Reading? Here is a really cool video encouraging reading

One of our library techs sent this video to us a cool video made by a middle school ! I love how they made something so innovative!


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Fabulous Friday Follow March 19th

I hope I am not to late in posting this! I went on a road trip today with my family to Fredericksburg Texas. We went to have lunch with my husbands mother and our daughters. We had a wonderful time and it was a beautiful day out! We ate lunch at the Frederickburg Brewing Company. We had some delicious fried pickles with habanero ranch dip and ruben sandwiches and of course they have beer to sample. You can buy samples of the diffrent beers they have before you order a full beer. Then we visited some of the local shops. I look forward to when the wildflowers begin to bloom and we can go visit Wildflowerfarms. I have enjoyed spring break and wish it would never end. If you ever visit Texas you should visit this wonderful German town with wineries, bed and breakfasts and breweries.

Cityscape Update

I have been working on the cityscape painting, however it has been a slow process. I have a lot more work to do  this painting. I have to learn some things about photographing my paintings too. This is a big painting and was a little difficult for me to photograph.It seems as if there is never enough time to get everything done. If we could complete everything just by imagining it wouldn't that be wonderful! I work as a Library Tech in a middle school. Last week was bookfair, so much fun and so much work!! The kids love it and it really helps our Library to add more books and have authors come to visit.  I love reading! I just finished James Patterson's new book. I would give it about 3 stars. It was some what lacking. The best book of the year is Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. I would give it 5 stars followed by Catching Fire with the third book Mocking Jay coming out August 24th 2010. This series will have you sitting on the edge of your seat asking for more!

Happy Valentines I Heart You My Friends!

I made these stained glass hearts a couple of years ago. The heart on the right is my abstractheart. The glass didn't break where I wanted it to so I stitched it together. I sold this piece on myspace.

The pink swirl heart I am going to put up for sale in my etsy shop.  The larger window heart is beautiful and I hope to get some better pictures to show soon.  I plan on working on more stained glass when the weather gets warmer. I hope everyone has a wonderful Valentines Day!!

Abstract Modern Cityscape New beginnings

I haven't been able to paint in awhile. I am so excited about this painting and working again.  I have so much more to do. This is just the underpainting. Please feel free to leave feedback and let me know what you think.  I really wish I could paint every single day I love to paint!

Crimson Fire Studios

I have finally opened my etsy store. I had signed up with etsy back in 2007 with the shop name CrimsonFireStudios. I have recently begun to post my paintings there. I know that I need to post more than just the five I have posted. I am just a little nervous because I haven't really put my work up for sale before. I planned on using AbstractHeartStudios and will use that store in the future. It is a struggle to work full time and take care of a household . I really want to dedicate my time to painting and other works of art. I also have the issue of not really having a dedicated space to create. I intend to spend more time blogging and putting my paintings and art works online. I hope that everyone is had a wonderful Thanksgiving!! My daughter and her husband came from Houston to visit and it was so much fun to be together as a big family. Our house is a little crazy with a new puppy and a not so happy cat ( hates the puppy) LOL!! People in and out all the time. Here is a picture of one of my latest paintings. I would appreciate any feedback on my store and my paintings. The name of the painting is Mystical Forest. The painting is 24x24 and an abstract painted in acrylics and oil on birch plywood with the edges painted black. You can find this and my other paintings here at my etsy store http://www.etsy.com/shop/crimsonfirestudios