Inspiring Interview with Julia Osterc from Loving Rd

Hello lovely soul, 

I recently had the pleasure of interviewing artist Julia Osterc Loving Rd. Her art and mine are featured in a book/journal that just launched today, WARRIOR SOUL: a journal to inspire your fiercely alive whole self. Link at the end of this article. :) 

I thought it would be great to ask Julia a few questions to get to know her better. 

 1. How did you get into art in the first place? How long have you known you wanted to be an artist?

 I recently called myself a "born again artist," while having a discussion with a classmate and that seems to describe my experience pretty well. As a child, I remember loving art. I can recall one Christmas when I got one of thos big crayola art sets in a case with lots of crayons, colored pencils, paints, etc. I was thrilled with this. Unfortunately, I don't think I picked up a crayon or even doodled with a pen much after elementary school until I finally had children of my own to play with and teach how to hold a crayon.

I fell into the role of being straight "A" student and people pleaser and doing what others said I should be doing without ever trying to listen to the whispers in my heart. They were there all along. I was valedictorian and went on to get a master's degree all while just following others' suggestions for what would make me successful and land me a decent job. 

When I had kids and chose to leave my prior career behind to be a stay at home mom, everything changed. That's when I started playing with art supplies again, but still only with my kids.

 

 

When my mom passed away in 2010 after losing the battle with ovarian cancer, my world was turned upside down and inside out. That's when I started creating again for the sake of creating and for healing. That's when I stated Loving Rd in her memory. That's when I found that art could lift me up and help me process the grief and brokenness and turn it into something beautiful. I could acknowledge the bitter aspects of life while still choosing to focus and be grateful for the sweetness. Instead of turning to anti-depressants or sleeping pills when I struggled with grief and insomnia, I turned to art.

I found my way back to the joy of creating that I had long forgotten. I found mysterious messages coming through the art to speak to my heart and soul. I found a way to honor my mother's memory and her love of life. I can hear the echo of her love and joy and vitality coming through in my art. I knew she would want me to teach my kids to love life, as she had shown me, and not focus on the grief and pain. I knew in my heart that I had to get through the grief, the tears and the fears and let wonder and love guide our lives. Art, including writing and journaling has been a huge part of being able to do that. 

 

Julia and mom

                                       Julia and happy hands!

2. What are your favorite tools to use and surface to work on?

I adore them all! I’m drawn to play and experiment with anything that can be used for expression, including found and natural items, recycled and re-purposed items, along with more traditional art supplies. I’m currently loving the magical flow and unpredictability of water and acrylic inks on canvas, metal, and wood.  Here are a few works in progress.

Yet, my go-to tools can change as fast as my mood and the crazy weather changes here where I live in the southern Blue Ridge mountains. It depends on which way the wind blows. I’ve also recently enjoyed making festive clay holiday ornaments and some with inks on recycled canning jar lids. :)

3. Where to do you see your art evolving?

I’m currently hosting two online collaborative e-courses and have loved the process of putting my material together. It’s like all these other past parts of me, many from so long ago they feel like past lives, have finally come together in a harmonious and meaningful way to enable this art development. 

 

I hope that I’ll be able to participate as a guide in many more online art courses. I’m a guest artist guide in the upcoming Mixed Media Mythology hosted by Sarah Leonard. All courses I’m involved with are listed here: https://lovingrd.wordpress.com/art-school/.

I also hope to share and reach many more people in an inspirational way with the art that flows through me. I’d love to fill more homes and lives with smiles and soul food via artistic prints and products. I want to inspire the kind of energy and vibes that have touched me from the art of others, and now from my own creative process. 

I’ve had visions of co-hosting creative gatherings, both locally and around the world, and that both excites and overwhelms me a bit. I’ve had book ideas as well. I have many scribbled and passionate notes in several journals about all of this. :) Thankfully, the well of inspiration seems to be flowing freely so I hope that divine energy will work with me and continue to guide and bless this path while still allowing time, attention, love, and provisions for my family.

4. Who is (are) your fave artist(s) and why? 

Now, this is a really tough question for me because I sincerely appreciate every voice and soul and think that we are all artists. My kids and my nieces have that special child’s fingerprint in all that they do, which I adore. When I first started Loving Rd, I envisioned their art being featured as well and I have collaborated with them on a few pieces that have later been made available as prints and printed on mugs and tote bags, too. :) The sweet souls that have participated in the collaborative courses I’ve hosted (Art of Gratitude and Brave Boots, Brave Hearts) are making my heart sing with their lovely creations. My husband fills our home with the most beautiful music that feeds my soul (he’s playing the piano as I'm writing this!).  He even let me do the artwork for his album. 

  

In my home I have art by Josephine Wall, Kelly Rae Roberts, Tracy Verdugo, Alena Hennessy and others. In addition I have framed my children’s and my niece’s art. My Grammie has been a painter all her life (she’s in her nineties now,) and I’m grateful to have special paintings in our home like the watercolor she did of a postcard I sent her from Austria when backpacking across Europe. 

     

I love the vibrancy of Van Gogh and have been blessed to visit museums featuring many more of the greats, like Rembrandt and Picasso in Europe along with viewing art at the Louvre. I also very much appreciate the beautiful art created by indigenous cultures all over the world and across the ages. I’m grateful that my parents collected art from our travels and many cultures, art that filled our home as I was growing up. I can even call my cat an artist and adore the gesso footprints he’s left on the sidewalk by our front porch. I see nature as a spectacular artist and love both manicured gardens and wild forests, rocks, and waters. Obviously, I view all of life as art and all of existence as creative. 

 

 Yet, if I had to choose a favorite it would be my momma, who taught me the art of gardening, exploring, playing, living and loving, in addition to buying me crayons. 

5. What are some suggestions and inspiration you can give to artists just starting out expressing themselves?

The same advice I give myself over and over. 

Trust your own voice and hands, and the divine to meet you there.  

Wonder what would happen if I tried this or that? Look at those awesome lines the shadows are making, etc., PLAY, get messy and experiment A LOT!  

All shapes and subjects and inspiration and places and colors are fair game for all of us!

Practice and Play makes Possible! 

 

6. We are currently both contributing artists to the new book, Warrior Soul, available now on Amazon.  Would you please share a bit about your contribution to this offering?

  

I call it ‘warrior within’ and would like to share a bit about what ‘warrior’ means to me. When I use the word warrior here, it is not to describe a military soldier. It is more about how we greet life, especially the aspects that can be painful, such as abuse and pity. It is about finding strength within to keep greeting life with open arms in spite of being cracked, wounded and broken at times. It’s about getting to know ourselves, taking the time and effort to listen and look within, to have the courage to follow our hearts, to trust the divine light in each of us.  It is about the printed ideas on my favorite pint glass: Dare, Risk, Dream. Now that I’m writing this, I realize that these ideas are what inspired my Brave Boots, Brave Hearts e-course. 

I first came across an idea/definition of a warrior that resonated with me from The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz.  I found the following description online at http://www.toltecspirit.com/:

“The quest of a Spiritual Warrior is for Personal Freedom. Personal Freedom means freedom from fear, illusions, and the fear based beliefs in the mind. In essence it means to win the war over the beliefs in the mind. It is with Personal Freedom that we are free of the human condition of emotional suffering. Spiritual traditions around the world have their own names for this state of awareness including nirvana and heaven. It is a state that is simply described as living your life with unconditional love, gratitude, and respect, for your self, and for others.”

I might add to be free from self pity, guilt, and grief, which are the scars that have affected me most personally… to find ways to thrive in harmony with one’s inner selves and all of creation; all that IS. If this kind of warrior ‘fights,’ it is for wisdom, presence, peace, freedom and harmony. 

I wrote a blog post sharing the story of this specific piece, along with a dedication here:

https://lovingrd.wordpress.com/2015/03/11/warrior-within/

Link to purchase Warrior Soul book/journal. CLICK HERE.

Thank you so much for interviewing me, Maria! Brave Blessings, Julia

  

Thank you Julia for sharing something about your art and life with my readers! :) 

You can connect with Julia on social media via these links: 

Website: https://lovingrd.wordpress.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lovingrd/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lovingroad

Links to all Shops from here: https://lovingrd.wordpress.com/shop/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-c3a2o8x1KCcFWW4XqRFqQ

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/lovingrd

I hope you liked this glimpse of an artist's life!

 xo

Maria :)

 

 

 

 

 

The fabulous doll artist Marla Niederer...

Hello lovelies,

I have been slacking here on my blog, but today I have a fabulous offering, an interview with my dear friend and fellow artist, Marla Niederer. Her art is so great it takes my breath away! I asked her a few questions, and here are her answers:

How did you get into doll making? What other kind of art did you do first?

I am a self-taught artist and have always been engaged in one art project or another since my earliest childhood memories. I have always been drawn to figurative art and my earliest art was two dimensional figurative art. I have used a variety of mediums but spent a lot of time playing with pastels and acrylic paints. As a child I also loved dolls. About 24 years ago I picked up a magazine and saw dolls being created as an art form and I was fascinated. From that time on, I have been designing and creating art dolls. My earlier works were a combination of paper-clay and cloth. Currently I work all in cloth.

What is the most challenging about the dolls you make?

Pushing the boundaries of cloth. I am always working on developing and refining my techniques so that the figurative art I create matches more closely what I see in my head, heart, and dreams. My art has evolved considerably since I began and hopefully will continue to evolve as long as I create.

What is the most rewarding?

Teaching my art to others. That is my way of trying to share the benefits of engaging in creative pursuits. I have always found the process of creating a way to de-stress, to live more fully in the moment, and a way to make my heart sing.

Marla, I know you have retired from your regular job recently to work full time on your art. That is really exciting and something you have wanted to do for a long time. Tell me a bit about retiring and working on the dolls, and how that has changed your life.


I really don’t consider myself retired. I left the field of public education to enter the field of figurative art full time. The change has been transformational. I follow the rhythms of my body. I no longer wear a watch, time has become irrelevant. I eat when I am hungry and rest when I am tired. I wake up rested and eager to start each day working on my art. I am calm and able to handle stressful life situations in a much more serene manner. I smile and laugh much more than ever before. My heart sings all the time. My art is evolving at a much quicker pace. I have always been an artist and now I can be who I am all of the time. Life is bliss.


Marla, I know you're having some classes coming up soon and I would love for my readers to find out more about them.


I will be teaching an online class on Claudette: A Cage Doll on A for Artistic starting March 31, 2015. You can read more about it by clicking on this link:

  http://bit.ly/1FaSSUu

  

 

I will also be teaching a live class How to Needle-Sculpt and Use Watercolors to Create a Cloth Doll Head at the Quinlan Art Doll and Teddy Bear Convention in Philadelphia on Thursday April 30, 2015. I will also have a sales table at the convention for my figurative art dolls. You can find out more about the convention and how to sign up for my class by clicking on the following link:

http://bit.ly/1w4myCO

Here below are some earlier examples of Marla's dolls.

  

Thank you, Marla, for your beautiful gift of teaching doll making to the world!

To connect with Marla online, you can friend her on Facebook, and follow her on her BLOG.

Gelli printing guest post #2 Juna Biagioni

Hi beautiful readers, 

I'm so excited to treat you to another guest post on gelli printing and it has lots of pictures!  Juna Biagioni makes beautiful art.  Check out her post.

My name is Juna Biagioni, I’m 42 years old, a mixed media artist & explorer, and I live with my husband in the beautiful heart of Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

On my website www.junabiagioni.com you can find my blog about my art journey, and my shop with mixed media originals and prints. I’ve recently started a YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/user/junabiagioni with my mixed media videos and am currently developing a gelli printing e-course. If you’re interested in any of these topics, you can find more information on my website. 

1. How did you get started with gelli printing and what did you use to do before you got into those?

I first learned about gelli printing (and monoprinting in general) last spring and was immediately hooked when I saw all the beautiful and fun things you can do with this technique. I have always loved being creative: as a little girl I loved to make music, draw and write stories, and in my early twenties I worked as a graphic designer. Later my focus shifted, but a few years ago I rediscovered my creative source and started a new exciting journey into art. First I worked with polymer clay and about a year and a half ago I dove into mixed media. And that’s still what I love doing today, including gelli printing.

2. Was it hard to learn how to make the prints? What is a good beginner's guide, if any?

No, the fun thing with gelli printing is that it isn’t hard at all to make prints! The possibilities are endless. It’s just a matter of trying out all the things that you can do with it, having a lot of fun, and finding out what you like best. I watched lots and lots of videos on YouTube and I can also recommend the book Gelli Plate Printing by Joan Bess.

3. How have your prints evolved?

Color! I am using more and more color in my prints and I love it! I am also lately using the gelli plate to create intricate backgrounds that I then use as a starting point for mixed media paintings.

4. What tools do you use to make a variety of prints?

I try not to pull out too many tools at the time, just to help me focus and not get lost in all the possibilities that the gelli plate offers. I use various stencils and masks (many of which I make myself), a few texture plates, and my favorite stamp that I made out of a plastic placemat. I also use household items such as bubble wrap and packaging materials. I find that the simplest tools and materials often create the most interesting and original effects.

5. How do you use the prints? What do you suggest to beginners, as far as using the prints in other media?

I often add extra layers to my prints, using media such as markers, oil paint and inks. My prints are either artworks on their own, or a background for mixed media paintings. I haven’t yet used my prints to create other products such as journals, but I might explore those possibilities in the future as well. 

6. Tips and tricks in general. Anything special to know about gelli plates? Anything you wished you had known when you started?

An important thing that I’ve learned is that I usually have to make a pile of just ‘nice’, mediocre or even plain ugly prints in order to get one that I really, really like. I first found this frustrating, I thought that each and every print I pulled had to be ‘good’ otherwise it would be a waste of paper and paint, but now I know that this is just the way it works for me. When I start gelli printing I make sure I have lots of work space to lay down all the prints I am making, and at the end of the printing
session I’ll just pick out a few prints that really stand out to me, the ones that I want to use to work on further. And the rest? The rest just forms a growing pile of new… ‘possibilities’! ;-)

7.  What kind of paper do you use for your prints?

I use Bristol paper, 250 gsm. It's a very smooth paper.  It depends on what kind of effect you are looking for. I like the smooth paper because it shows many details. 
But many other artists like watercolor paper too. That usually has some texture of its own, which can be nice for prints as well. Just a matter of preference and trying what works best.

I love Juna's art.  It has a mystical quality and so many layers.  Make sure to check out her website.  http://www.junabiagioni.com/
Thank you, Juna, for taking part in this series.  :)

I sent out a newsletter last week with more links about gelli printing.  There is a YouTube link for making your own very inexpensive gelli plate.  The link to the newsletter is on my Facebook page.   Scroll down to the third post from the top. 
More guest posts coming soon.  Have you tried Gelli printing yet? 

Gelli printing series #1 guest post by Tami Sturm Howse

Hi all, I have been slacking here, but I got this great idea to do a series of guest posts with artists who are great at Gelli printing. This new-ish technique has taken the mixed media art world by storm. If you don't know what gelatin printing is, check out this link.  There are many tutorials on YouTube as well, for beginners and experts.  Gelli plates can be purchased on Amazon and other art supply online shops.  You can also make your own plate.  There are many tutorials on how to make one on YouTube.

Let me introduce mixed media artist Tami Sturm Howse.  I met her on the Gelatin Printing Enthusiasts on Facebook.  I asked her a few questions and this is her guest post.  Also, please check out her blog and etsy shop for more pictures.  Links are at the end of the post.

1. How did you get started with Gelli printing and what did you use to do before you got into those?

“Tami, this looks like a craft store exploded”, said a friend when she saw my craft room.

I started out as a scrapbooker years ago, but realized that nobody in my family ever really looked at my scrapbooks. I then became interested in mixed media. I loved that I could use all of my “stuff”, which was becoming quite plentiful.

Being a true crafter, when I first saw the Gelli Plate, I wanted it, whether I needed it or not. However, I wasn’t willing to spend the money until I knew I’d like it. So, I went online and found a way to make my own. After I played with the homemade one, I decided I didn’t want to have to run to the refrigerator every time I wanted to use it (I wasn’t aware of the “permanent” homemade version yet). So I bought the 8x10 plate.

2.  Was it hard to learn how to make the prints?  What is a good beginner's guide, if any?  It wasn’t hard at all to learn. I watched several YouTube videos (Carolyn Dube was a favorite) and just got started. The cool thing about Gelli printing is that if you don’t like the print, you can just paint over it. For the beginner, I would say that if you make a print that you absolutely love, don’t change it. Also, ALWAYS scan your prints if you have a scanner. That way, you can digitally immortalize them, and you don’t have to be timid about cutting them up and using them.

3.  How have the prints evolved?  Since I’m a mixed media nut, I’ve been incorporating my stencil designs, hand-carved stamp images, embossing, molding paste, and hand-painting. I love that they can be changed up.

4.  What tools do you use to make a variety of prints?  Bottoms of shoes and flip flops. I once saw the bottom of my adult daughter’s shoes and exclaimed, “Don’t throw those out when you’re done with them. I want to use the pattern on the bottom.” She rolled her eyes. I also love to use bubble wrap (of course), stamps, my stencil masks, leaves, the bottoms of fruit trays (don’t blame me if you start eyeing them up in the produce section), and on and on. I’m always seeing texture tools throughout my house.

5.  How do you use the prints?  What do you suggest to beginners (as far as using the prints in other media?)  I love using the prints as a collage base for my mixed media canvases. They’re great to use on journals, candles (see my blog), cards, envelopes, and decoupage (think “funky”). Anywhere you use paper, you can use your Gelli prints. Sometimes I like to use a “theme” of color, depending on the project I’m doing. I’ve been known to decoupage onto furniture, cigar boxes, old cabinet doors as a base for an assemblage piece, and my husband.

Well, I’m joking about the husband, but I think sometimes he’s afraid if he stands still, he’ll be “Gellied”.

6.  Tips and tricks in general.  Anything special to know about Gelli plates?  Anything you wished you had known when you started? Make sure to store your Gelli Plate in a climate controlled environment e.g. NOT in a hot car and NOT in a freezer. Also, don’t use a glossy paper on the plate (like photo paper or glossy magazine pages) Other than that, they’re pretty sturdy little buggers. When looking through magazines, keep your eye out for images that you can cut out to use as masks, which can be really fun. When using texture tools, make sure you’re not using anything sharp, or you’ll have a permanent “texture dent” or “texture rip” on the rest of your prints. Remember that often “mistakes” are just new techniques. At least that’s what I always say.

And, if you’re anything like me, your crafting area is a disaster. All. The. Time. So, when you sit down to do Gelli printing, make sure you’ve cleared enough space for drying prints, or else you will end up having to use all of your bathrooms and your bedroom floor, which I’ve never done.

If you’re interested in some of my original stencil and mask designs, please feel free to visit my Etsy shop at

https://www.etsy.com/shop/Howsewears?ref=hdr_shop_menu

And, if you’d like to see some Gelli techniques as well as my other craft adventures, please visit

www.thisandthatfromtami.blogspot.com

Thanks for reading! Fondly, Tami

 

 

 

 

 

 

I LOVE what she has made with the Gelli prints!  I wish these give you some inspiration to expand your own prints.  There is no end to the versatility of the Gelli printing plate.  Thank you, Tami. :) 

What is YOUR passion?

I should have been a reporter, lol!  On a roll here with some interviews with fabulous people.  I met Canadian artist Jeanette MacDonald on Facebook and made instant friends. I LOVE her art, but more than that I feel her passion.  I invited her to tell me about her life as an artist and she graciously agreed.  Yay!

Maria:  How did you get started with your art?

Jeanette:  I always dreamed of being an artist, and I have always drawn and
painted. When I was a kid I loved to color, to draw girls, and paint using Artex liquid acrylic roller paints. When I was seventeen I was given the book, Drawing On The Right Side Of the Brain. I began to open up to some other ideas about sketching. I started to see that doing art might not be an inherited skill like I thought it was. I found that using the concept of negative spaces, I was able to draw much better than when I tried to draw the whole object.

Then in 2004 I bought the book,The Artist Way, by Julia Cameron and that opened me up even more! I was working in a creative environment, a home decor and vintage furniture store, and I loved the work. I learned how to create vignettes. I also learned a lot about composition through learning how to build a vignette. I was also taking courses in Interior design and home staging back then as well. I was working with other creative women and together we started doing The Artist's Way. We were all painting up a storm, sharing our experiences, growing together and we even had an art show.

When I quit working in the store, I stopped doing my art temporarily. I moved from the town I was living in and I kind of put my art on the back burner at the new place.  Although I always had some creative endeavor on the go, whether it was decorating my house, sewing, or something else.

A little over a year ago, we decided we were going to sell our sweet little cottage, and live aboard a boat. That is a whole story within itself, and it could be told as the "Art Of Living" but it would make this too lengthy. We sold our home to a well known artist and author, Nick Bantock. We became friends with him and in August last year I took a weekend workshop facilitated by him. What I adore about Nick is that he does not give you a set of step by step instructions. Rather he gives everyone some tools to access their own unique artistic muse. There was not one project that came out of that workshop that looked the same. I have since done some workshops that I am not as keen on. While I love what the artist themselves create, what I created was too close to theirs for me to feel like I could call it may own. Nick has since released a creativity book, called The Trickster's Hat.

My artistic journey has made me realize that we are all artists. We all have creativity in us, and the big thing is to practice using our creativity. Through that we naturally grow and improve. This is what I believe.

Maria:  How did you get to where your art is today?

Jeanette:  As I have mentioned above, my art is ever changing and becoming. I am where I am today because of the time put into practicing my art. The more time put in the more I learn about myself and what I want to create. Someone said, "I do not wait for inspiration to come to me. I get down to work and through creating art, the muse comes." I am not sure who said it or how they said it, but that reflects what I believe. If I do enough art, I may eventually improve and make some art that is good.

Maria:  It is more than good; it's great!  What inspires you the most?

Jeanette:  I am inspired by making my art a habit. I do it every day in one form or another. I usually write every morning for a couple hours when I wake up, I wake up early, so I am busy right now writing a book on my creative musings. What I have been doing is using my art to tell me secrets about my inner muse. When I contemplate upon my art, little bits of truth about me reveal themselves.

I love the writing and contemplation process so very much. For years I have been reading all sorts of books on the Law Of Attraction. I still read them. I love the old-timers like Emmet Fox, Robert Collier, Thomas Troward, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Napoleon Hill, just to mention a few. But since I have started painting and then writing, I am learning how to integrate these fabulous teachings into my own life more. Each painting has become a psychic message about those principles, designed solely (or soulfully) with me in mind. My life has been given a tremendous lift by making art my practice. I love my art so much; it has been the breath beneath my wings.

Maria:  What type of art materials do you like the most?

Jeanette:  I love acrylics. I have never used oil.  I live and work on my boat, so there is not enough space and ventilation to try it out. But having said that about acrylics, I am so grateful to Nick Bantock, because he opened me up to the possibilities of mixing any medium I wanted to try. I am still playing around with that, and probably always will be. But I am so grateful that the materials I use to create art are only limited to my imagination.

Maria:  How do you get your materials?  Do you save things, recycle things, or buy in a particular place?

Jeanette:  I do save magazines and have picked up bits and pieces from my travels, but mostly I buy my paints and stuff from Opus, an art supply store in Victoria.

Maria:  Is your family supportive of your art making?

Jeanette:  This is an interesting question. Most of my family is very supportive of me doing my art. I am a quirky girl. I have been seeking an artistic outlet for forever, so maybe that helps. But, some family members, I have noticed, seem to be triggered by my doing my art. They are not able to get excited about the fact that I am out there giving my all to it. I suspect they have not yet identified their own inner artist and are still thinking that artistic talent is inherited. This tends to make people resentful and covet what others have managed to gain through hard work alone. Like I said, I believe it is in the doing that everyone can be an artist if they so desire.

Maria:  What is your big goal as an artist?

Jeanette:  I want to finish writing and publish my book. I would like to be published in an art magazine like Cloth Paper Scissors, or Somerset Studio. Maybe it is ego, but I think it would be cool to see my art in there. I have some bolder goals that I will make manifest, I am good at manifesting, but I am not going to share them here...lol.

Maria:  Aw, shucks!  How do you intend to accomplish that goal?

Jeanette:  I will keep working on my book. I have been writing for several months and at one point I decided it was crap, and started over. But I don,t think it was wasted time. I became more clear on why I was writing and who I was writing for in the process. One thing I will say about me, is that I am one of the bravest people I know. I share my stuff with anyone and everyone. I take the feedback to heart in a good way. It has helped me to gain clarity around what I am hoping to accomplish with my writing. I am working with an editor, and I see that everyone is really on my side. They want me to succeed, so their feedback is gratefully considered and appreciated.

Maria:  Any advice you can give to people starting out as artists?

Jeanette:  I do want to offer my advise to those beautiful people starting out on their own artistic journey. You have art in you to give to yourself and the world. You ARE an artist, no matter what anyone has told you. And the most important thing to remember is that if you ever hope to paint a thing that will make your heart sing, you have to be willing to paint a lot of things that will not sing at first. Practice, practice, practice! There is no quick way to improving your skills.

Maria:  What makes you the most happy?

Jeanette: What makes me so happy is that I am truly able to have it all. That I can have the time I need to be the most "me" I can be, and I get to do that through making art of one kind or another whenever the mood strikes me. I am so grateful to God that I have a husband who appreciates my painting, my writing, and my desires to grow through it all. He actually uses what I write about to contemplate on creating the best life for himself and us together.

Maria: Give a little info about the two paintings you chose to display here.  What inspired you?  What did you learn?  If you'd done it any differently what would you have done?

Jeanette: I am choosing these two because they are two of my recent pieces. My art is ever changing. I am not even sure that I have a style. I am inspired by where I am at spiritually and emotionally with each piece.  The top one was created with empathy I have for every person that I share the planet with. Maybe the cat represents God? I like the idea that there is hope for us as a species. I painted this for a a friend who was desperately trying to convince me that we are doomed as a planet and that there is nothing good to focus on. But, I do not believe that. I think that we create our reality with our thoughts. The only thing he could find that he felt any happiness about was his cat. So, I made him a cat Guardian Angel. I love her. She gives me hope too. I always look for the positive to focus on.

The second one I called You Can Lead A Fish To Water. The fish looked kind of sickly. She made me think about how I have to take care of myself first. If I lose myself then I lose any joy. So I must live my life as the example I would talk about, instead of preaching to anyone. I need to just concentrate on being the best me and have faith that everyone else has their own inner guide that is much better at guiding them than I can ever hope to be. I am enough work.

The other thing is that I live on the water and see orcas quite often. I love the sea. But, I could write a blurb on what each painting means to me and that is what I am doing with my book. I love all my pieces, They each tell a little story about my thought and life process.

That was wonderful!  Thank you Jeanette, for sharing your art and perspective with us.  To connect with Jeanette, check out these links!

https://www.etsy.com/ca/shop/JeanetteMacDonaldArt

https://www.facebook.com/jeanettemacdonaldart

http://jeanettemacdonaldart.com/

https://twitter.com/jenmacart