Is it work?

I, without doubt, consider myself a working artist.I paint on an almost daily basis, and when I'm not painting, I'm either planning a new piece, or spending my time marketing and promoting my work.

I easily clock up in excess of 60 hours a week, all told, on my work.

I absolutely love what I do, and sur,e I would paint even if I wasn't selling my work.

I'm not in that position, as I need the income as much as anyone else does.

I still treat what I do, as a full time job, and I will never retire 'per se' as it is a career and vocation I will follow to the end of my days.

Art for me, is a way of life.A philosophy almost. It is something that inspires me to get up in the mornings for.It has meaning, and helps to define who I am.

I never see it as work though, but I treat it as any person would, a job that they love.

The more hours I am able to spend doing this, well, the happier I am.

A reason for everything.

For me, everything happens for a reason. Now whether that is true or no,t is debatable.

 In fact it is proabably a big lie. And yet, if I act "as if " it is true, then it propels me along in a better direction. It's one of forward thinking, and never looking in the rear view mirror.

A way of making order from the chaos.

Rejections, rebuttals. Excellent.Bring them on!

It's in these events, that I'm being gently steered to my true destination.

It is here I will find the golden pot at the end of the rainbow.

I may not know the reasons why, but if I believe everything has it's reason, then who am I to argue.

Only for a moment

I have been really lucky to have this workspace to bounce around my creative ideas. It is full of fabulous light, and to my mind has influenced my work no end.
Unfortunately for me, it is only temporary, and I will have to move on,, once again.
So while the cards have landed well for me, I intend to make the most of it, and produce as much work as I possibly can while here.
And when my circumstances change, I will figure out what to do next. But until then, there is no point worrying about what 'might be', and only concentrate on 'What is'.
"Strike while the iron is hot" "Carpe Diem" are more than just words.They are an attitude,and mindset, which as we know, Attitude is Everyhing!
To enjoy the moment, one must be able to recognize the moment.In most cases, it is no more than a shift of mind to open up a new world of being in the Here and Now, and experiencing everything with an intensity that knows no bounds.
Sure, I will plan for my tomorrows, but they won't come any faster or slower than anyone else's. So for now, I will enjoy what the fortune has provided for me, and when it comes to it's inevitable end, I will be just grateful for having had it at all.
Now to apply that philosophy to the rest of my life..................

This for me constitutes Summer. Rolling hills, and vibrant brightness. I just wanted to incorporate the element of the house and the hearts with a couple of figures that appear in my Aceo's.

Destiny?

I can almost remember the day about 3 years ago, when I made the decision to become an artist full time. Little did I know the journey it would send me on.
It happens to be a one way ticket kinda decision, because doing what I do now, there is no way I could go back to a regular life. Ever!
Not because of any other reason than, it's impossible. Art has captured my soul, and set me free. Now, where it will all end, is another story. I put myself in for the long haul, and in some ways, I'm not actually too concerned on whether I "make it" per se.
It's the journey I have set myself on, and it is where the the real adventure lies to my mind.
Times are tough , as they can be for many other artists, and I have to see it out to the end wherever I land up.
It has certainly given me a different perspective to my old life of before, and even though I don't have the money I once had, I wouldn't change any of it for the world.
This is my life now, and there can never be a way back to my old normality.
This is what makes me feel alive, and somewhere deep, deep, deep inside me, I know I'm gonna be alright.Somehow!
This is the life I have chosen for myself, and I bless every day for the opportunity to be able to do so.
Only one life to live, and succeed or fail, then at least I will be doing it on my terms.
Amen!

What Inspiration

I have no idea what inspired this painting.I'm not even sure what it means to me, or what I was thinking at the time.It just sort of popped up and developed itself from the ether.

That happens sometime, I just start doodling, and playing about with ideas, and the subconcious part of me takes over.

Inspiration can creep up out of nowhere, and the painting or sketch takes on a life of it's own.

Cause and Effect

The last 12 months of my life have been, in short, rather turbulent to say the very least. Life has taken me down a route I could have hardly anticipated in any form. There's a saying "Life is what happens while you're busy making plans". How true I have found that concept.

It is easy to sit back and take everything, in the role of the victim, but then, I was never brought up that way. Some things just have to be accepted, and when you're pushed to the floor, the only thing to do is to just stand right back up again, dust oneself down, and continue the march forward.

That's exactly what I do, or rather exactly what I have done. When the light starts to appear once again at the other side of the tunnel that I have been forced through, I know it has been worth the effort to keep on moving forward.

Optimism is a glorious gift to have possession of.

It has impacted on my journey as an artist without doubt. By all accounts my work should be mirroring a darker or more maudlin tone.But it hasn't though.

It's brought my work to a more brighter and happier place. Perhaps because in my mind, optimism does a strange thing to one's psyche. For me, it empowers me, and lifts me because I am forced to look deep inside the well of my resources, and access parts of me that otherwise I would never have known existed.

It builds ones character, and gives depth to ones personality.

Tempered steel is strong for a reason. Defeat in anything is only a mindset that allows such a dastardly outcome.

If my work is to follow a brighter path of hope, then let life, throw it's worst at me.I will cope with anything, and allow me to continue to bring out the best in myself to it's full glory.

Simplicity

I love this piece for it's simplicity. Life is complicated enough as it is. Well my life anyhow.

Hearts are a universal symbol, and as such, certainly for me, they speak volumes in any piece of work. Sure, they are open to interpretation, but even so the base message is always prominent.

Why is one heart orange? What does that signify? Actually in this piece it doesn't mean anything.

It was coloured as such to break up the block of red from the adjoining hearts and also acts as an anchor in a triangulation of the other yellow/orange elements in the painting. It also contrasts well with the larger blue passage. It has been used as merely a colour device.

Sometimes a composition will dictate requisite colours and tones.