Glacier Kingdom and Inspirations

Hey Blogger friends. This is one of my latest paintings "Glacier Kingdom." Currently it's what I see on my wall when laying in bed. I was really happy with the way this one came out. Part of my new technique is trying not to use every bit of the white canvas. It is a challenge but I like that.

Inspirations lately for painting, as well as general interest (whether subconsciously or consciously) have been:

• the Arctic
• Mountains
• Caves
• Water
• Stalactites
• Eskimos
• Native Americans
• Icicles...Frost...everything COLD...(thought the weather in Detroit has been unusually warm for this time of year)

This painting is one of several I've done over the past few months that show my new painting style. This is the direction I hope to keep going in. I've definitely felt like I've grown quite a bit as an artist this year. More so than last year. Last year I was still working heavily in mixed media...trying to figure out my painting style. Wondering if I really was a painter...or would I just continue to do mixed media stuff? Though those are paintings too. What I mean is straight up paintings...nothing other than paint on the canvas.

And now I have found a happy-medium. These types of paintings (I will call them my Drip Paintings) still have a lot of texture because well, that has always been a big part of my art. So it has been working...and I'm happy with the direction I'm going into. I feel like it IS a very focused direction. I haven't felt that with my art until now. So it feels really good. ^_^

I hope you're doing well. Happy Holidays!!! Love, Eve

Goodbye Past, Hello Future

Learning how to part with your artwork.
It's as important as creating the art.
I know many artists have a hard time parting with their work.
Because it can be very difficult.
So many emotions get put into your art.
But overall, I do LOVE it when someone owns a piece of my art.
I like it when it means something to someone else.
I feel like it's no longer mine physically or mentally.
I understand that a bit better now.

And I love giving it away as gifts too.
I even leave it places every now & then.
{like the picture above, left somewhere today}
It happened to be in my car.
And I had to make space for two huge canvases.
So I left it in a sorta symbolic way...
to say Goodbye to tiny art works I've been making for a while.
And Hello to BIG works to come.
In size....but I'm hoping more so in meaning.

Because I have a clearer vision of the direction I want to go as an artist now.
The People's Arts Festival and the two other shows I was in this month helped with that.
And this is a really good feeling.
I've been waiting for this.
The feeling that you are growing as an artist.
I've only been doing shows for 2 years now...
though I've been making art for about 12 years.
So I guess this art show stuff is relatively new.

Also, I went to the Detroit Institute of Arts yesterday...
and it always gets me thinking.
What do I want to leave behind as an artist?
What do I have to say?
What would I like future generations to see on the walls of the DIA?
Or any museum for that matter?
Not just talking about my own work...
the work that is going on right now in the art world.

You have to take into consideration the past...

the present...

and of course the future.
That's what artists do whether they realize it or not.