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God uses broken vessels. He created you with a purpose in mind. Your talents, your unique gifts were created with a plan in mind. So no matter how broken or useless you feel today, carry on. God will pick up the pieces and put them back together each time you fall. Just know that no matter what others think, he has a great purpose in mind for you.                                                   

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Cartoon Yourself As A Fun Emotional Release

I realized today I was taking things and even life far too serious. So, I decided to poke fun at myself by making myself look cartoony. So to draw some inpsiration, I went and started pulling up some of those anime/manga style that kids of today love to read and look at. And, here is the final product. I realized today in doing this that it was a good release of that negative emotion! It definitely lightened my load and it forced me to realize two things. I can't let others opinions of me hold me back. I wasn't born a quitter. So regardless of what anyone or even that doubt demon thinks, I'm going to continue taking risks and putting my work out there. So, deal with it! I'm right where I need to be!

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Taming A Concealed & Cloaked Dragon To Sit & Stay

I admit it wasn't easy. But, I got him trapped. Check out my facebook page to see the entire training and drawing process. And, I've never drawn a dragon before!

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What if every speck of dust was a separate soul?

I was sitting watching the sun play in my kitchen today across the room. I could see a few little sunlight particles floating in the air. It reminded me first of dandelions. Then, my thoughts drifted to the Horton Hears A Who movie (don't ask me why it just did!) and from there onto souls. As I watched the light play on these particles, I got out my sketchbook and started to draw random circles. I decided I wanted to play with these circles and get to know them. I was reminded of all the various soul forms I have known in my lifetime. I've known some who were outgoing and bubbly and never afraid. I've known some souls with obvious holes in their life that they were trying to fill up. I've known some with lots of energy that radiated out. Then, I thought of all the ones that don't show their true mischievous stripes to begin with. My mind traveled to those who spin in circles never getting very far to those who seem to have an eye as well as the aptitude to see things in so many lights. At long last, my thoughts journeyed far to those who just beat with a strong life force to those that are closed off and fearful.I thought of those that radiate outwards and inwards to the very unique ones that seem to have a window view to all the fun! And at long length, I drew a a very complex being. One that has so many facets to them. It is and was my favorite as it strongly reminds me of someone near and dear. Can you pick out which one you are? Can you pick out others you might know or have known? Care to tell me which one is you? Whatever the case of whichever "sole" entity you might be, keep in mind that we are all interconnected in some small ways and in some big ways. Your connections to other souls can help you grow or hold you back. So, choose wisely the solo "soul" you choose to be. Or, break out of that cosmic little sphere of yours to be a mix of the ones found here to be truly unique.

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Just A Little Doodling In Ink

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Next Time You Feel A Creative Block Coming On, Try This...

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Have A Little Faith In Yourself And In Your Journey

This is just a little banner I made up with one of my favorite quotes by Tolstoy. To me, it represents the fact that I have to have more faith in my walk as an artist and in my journey to grow as an artist. I like to keep little motivational quotes like this on my bulletin board where I can see them.

Oddly enough, the Latin word for confidence is "fides" which means trust,  reliance, belief, faith. "Fides" is something I need more of to grow as an artist.

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Some Music To Create To

Here are just a few of the songs that I love to listen to while I'm busy creating.

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Chaos From Criticism

I have always sort of lived my life as a closet artist. I usually created art for my own personal pleasure. But once in awhile, I would break out of my closet drawing mode to give away a few of my pieces. Normally, I gave pieces of my work as gifts to friends and family.  People who received these as gifts told me to really practice and hone my talents to market them. I've heard on more than one ocasion that my work had real potential. You know you aren't all that bad when you actually have family members fighting over who gets a piece of your work. But again, this is family we are talking about. I have on occasion had others who were not family members tell me how gifted I was. I usually just sort of smile and add that it also takes a lot of practice it down right. There is a lot of truth in this statement though. It has really been a struggle for me to put my work out to be viewed by the public here lately. I know I'm more than a few years shy of being rusty. But you know what? It feels wonderful to be creating. Some pieces like the one above that I drew today seems to just sort of flow out of me naturally. While others, I really have to work and work at to get it to where I think it's acceptable to be viewed by all of you.

 So this brings me to the point of this post. Last week, that nasty doubt demon with his electrifying bull whip managed to lasso me by the ankles. He managed to  drag me back into being a closet artist again. I felt that old fear reemerge that I wasn't good enough. And so, I felt my creativity stifled to the point that I was again afraid to put paper to pencil to lay down any marks whatsoever.

So over the weekend while I was painting a couple of bedrooms, I reflected on  how stupid it was to allow that doubt demon to hold me captive. I had allowed him to place me in the land of chaos and confusion without even putting up a fight. I had gone back to square one of being a closet artist.  I stopped brush mid air reflecting on this. And in reflecting on the mere fact that the doubt demon had won without met even putting up a fight, it made me mad and determined. I decided to push right back.

Determinedly,  I again sat down and put pencil to paper this weekend and started in trying to draw and create. I have a couple of unfinished sketches in my journal that I am currently working on. When I find my patience is shot, I move onto doing a timed drawing to see what emerges in oh say like ten or fifteen minutes. I have to admit I've been surprised at what comes out. Thinking about this doubt demon took me back to the days of my college years. While I loved sinking my teeth into a new project, I also hated and loved the critiquing part that came with a studio class. I hated it because  I felt that doubt demon sink his claws and teeth into me to drag me back down the very minute the professor moved on to have the class critique my piece. I would feel a heaviness in my gut. Sometimes, a few my pieces were a little out there. I had good cause to worry as I don't know of anyone else who would spend hours and hours cutting and gluing straws to stand upright so as to create a piece where the light made an interesting design and pattern to them (depending on the angle that the light fell). But, I did. And yet, I loved the wholecritiquing process in my studio classes. Mainly because for everything negative that was said about a piece, there was always another art student to try to point out the really interesting qualities of your work. Sometimes, it was even something I hadn't even thought of myself. I loved the sheer genius in hearing some of the creative thoughts that were tossed around during these critques. I guess I'm really not sure at what point in my life I became so fearful of putting my work out there.

But for now, I'm done running in chaos mode.  I'm putting myself back out there regardless of what criticism comes back. I would expect that anyone who was "gifted" in a sense has had to endure these little "growing pains" as I call them. I expect probably even some of the most talked about artists have had chaos run amuck in their brains as well as battled the great and almighty doubt demon. Why should I be immune as well?

(By the way, this is sort of my spin off of Picasso's "Girl In A Mirror" piece)

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The Twists & Turns Of Ones Start In Art

I get asked quite often, "How did you get started and interested in art?" Sometimes, I ask people to guess. When they do, they say, "You were born with it?." I guess my answer to this would be "that I've always had an interest and passion for art. It wasn't necessarily a gift I was born with. But, it is instead a skill I've cultivated over the years." From as far back as I can remember, I was the young girl who had her nose buried in her sketchbook or her head hunched over a piece of paper trying to capture something I saw in my mind's eye.

I got my start in art at an early age. I was blessed to have been born into a family with parents that encouraged my artistic tendencies. My mother, bless her soul, openly encouraged any and all types of creative expression. She started us off at a very young age placing crayons, markers, pens, pencils and paper in front of us and encouraging us to draw whatever we saw in our mind. It could be something we saw out the window, a picture from a magazine or a book or even something we had seen on television. I remember trying to draw Snoopy sleeping on his doghouse with Woodstock flying close by to his nest and Flipper. I also remember my mom encouraging us to paint. She never seemed to mind if we made a mess and really seemed to take a studious, almost professor like quality when we would come running to her with the results of our efforts. She'd study them and say "Well now, this is very good. I really like how you did this. That certainly looks like Snoopy!" All those little words of encouragement really helped to build the budding artist within. She also would encourage us to try different shading techniques or was bluntly honest when a tree didn't quite look like a tree.

My mother also spurred on our creativity by encouraging us to use our ingenuity and imagination. She allowed us to transform things found around the house into things of imagination and wonderment. I see that my mom was an amazing lady in oh so many ways. She never minded us making a mess. And likewise, she never minded giving us the odds and ends to things she was going to throw away for us to transform it into something else.  If we got a refrigerator box, she allowed us to utilize it as a canvas to paint. We would transform and craft it into a house or a space ship. We would add all sorts of embellishments to it. A pull rope soon became a door handle while aluminum foil added that  tin roof look. A string of old, multicolor Christmas lights soon became the buttons of the console of the space ship in an old closet. It was pretty amazing what we would come up with. In looking back now, I also remember her letting us turn an old end table with compartments into a doll house.  Old jello boxes were transformed into barbie doll furniture. Fruit boxes turned upside down soon became stove tops. My mother taught me the fine art of seeing a project through from start to finish and adapting things to turn something into a work of beauty. My mother was a very talented seamstress. While I often would complain about the amount of time we spent in fabric stores watching her carefully eye the bolts of fabric and patterns, it was indeed a wonder to behold the process from start to finish. First, she painstakingly select a pattern she thought would complement one of us kid's figure. Then, she would look over the fabric carefully trying to find something that would go together and would look good together. I was always quite amazed at her choices of what she felt would look good together. My mother was the only seamstress I ever knew that could take two wedding dress patterns and put it together to create something truly exquisite. While all this was going on and the other members of my family would be doing daily chores, I would often try to slip out with my sketchbook to the pasture to do some sketching. I would try to capture on paper what I saw in my mind or whatever played out in the pasture before me. Sometimes, it might be a deer roaming across the pasture. Other times, it would be a horse galloping across the field with it's mane blowing in the breeze. Growing up, I had on occasion a chance to rub shoulders a few times with a few artists from the local area. Whenever, I got the chance to visit with a few having a showing at the local mall or at a gallery event, I would take the time to wait patiently to have just a few minutes to visit with them about their work and how they got their start. I also grew to love to spend  a lot of time poking around old bookstores and libraries just so I could look at various works of art. I cannot tell you the amount of time I would spend just literally pouring through various volumes of books studying each artists style and the great classics of the art world. As I got older, I knew that I wanted to go to college for art. So, that is what I set my sights on. I studied. I created. I worked hard. And, I admit I got frustrated. College life was a new chance to gain more exposure to the art world. It was a chance to really immerse myself in not only my art but the art of others. It was my first real opportunity to talk with others freely about my work and to hear their criticism about the pieces I created. Some good and some bad. What I soon found out there was that I distinctly had my own style. . Yet, I found my niche amongst my counterparts, added my own comments to others works, and did quite well in most of my art classes. I enjoyed my years of college life immensely. But in immersing myself, I also got burnt out. Having to create art every day in various styles of art that I had no interest  in, soon left me feeling that old pain that I think every artist comes to feel. I soon began to question "Was I creating art just because someone else told me too for the masses? Or was I losing the experience of creating art to please me and losing the personal experience and joy in it as well?" I soon decided it was the later. And so, sadly enough I left my art career to begin life as a wife/mother. But, time and time again I felt drawn back into creating. I worked for several newspapers in their ad departments. I created advertisements that pleased not only the client but drew the public in as well. I was told I had an eye for design and a flair to put the elements together into a pleasing package. But again, the real world called and being a mother to my children pulled me back from my art. I soon left my career in ad design to be a full time wife and stay at home mom. I taught my own children just as my own mother did. I allowed my children to turn mundane things into works of art. I allowed them to creatively explore their world in paint, drawings, collages and through countless hours in the library to foster their creativity. Now, it seems I have budding little artists all around me. Which if you ask me, is a good thing. For not it seems, I'm right back where I started. 

In the next year, I hope to have expanded my portfolio again to include a nice range of work. I hope to have removed and stripped away more of that self doubt that has always plagued me and my work. I hope to have maybe a few pieces in a few contests. But more importantly, I hope to find the sheer joy in creating and making art.

So as you can tell by my life experience, artists aren't just born. We are shaped very much by the world around us as well as our life experiences. Sometimes, we branch out and grow. Sometimes, we have to revisit our pasts to come full circle and grow more. But more often than not, we are a type of person who is constantly evolving, growing, learning, adapting, and processing everything and anything that goes on around us. Sometimes, all of that comes out in me in odd ways. And for me, that's a twist and turn that I like and enjoy. It's what makes me eccentric and quirky and well...me.

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Check Out Works Of Art and Galleries Virtually!

One of my biggest goals in life is to someday go tour a large art gallery. Being from the land of corn and plenty, it’s not like I have the opportunity to drop everything and go see a large collection of art. So what does one do when your choices are limited by travel expenses and distance to look at various works of art to your hearts content?

You take a VIRTUAL TOUR!!! GoogleArtProject.com has unleashed the ability to virtually tour pieces of art collections from 17 museums in the United States and a few in Europe. I have already spent a few hours drooling over various works of art that I admire. I have zoomed in and zoomed out to look over the brush strokes of Vincent van Gogh in “The Starry Night”. It is incredulous to me the amount of detail that you can see just in some of these views alone. I would encourage each of you to take some time and browse the vast resources of this new vault of art that is being unleashed via the power of the web. If someone would have told me when I was a kid that I would have access to some of the finest art pieces in the world all at the click of a button, I’d have told them they were crazy! It just blows my mind that I can see all of these and browse to my hearts contentment. And for those of you that know me, this will fast be my favorite hang out spot for creative mental breaks and trips away from pieces that I’m working on. However in having just praised the merits of having all this right at my fingertips, there are some bugs that GoogleArtProject needs to work out. I’m sure given due time and due process they will work out the bugs and add more gallery exhibits as their numbers of visitors continues to skyrocket! GoogleArtProject doesn’t feature all the museums of the world yet. Evidently, Google asked who would be interested in contributing to this worthy project and only this many signed on to do it. Some of the most famous pieces have yet to be added due to copyright permissions. Some of the pieces are only available in one resolution and not high resolution. Some pieces are given the star treatment and “showcased” more over others. Some links work. Some don’t. But given time, I’m sure Google will get things ironed out to make it a place that many of us will be just “oohing and aweing” over. If….you aren’t already! I’d also be willing to bet my very last dollar, that art history professors all over the United States are already planning and plotting on how to utilize this fantastic website into their curriculum.

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Tips and Tricks For Coping With All The Bull

When I was in college and making my way around campus carrying my sketchbook and my portfolio, several of my art professors were telling us to surround ourselves with people from the art world. Being young and immature at the time, I thought that sounds cool. But in truth, it was a hard goal to put into practice. I had only a handful of friends that were art majors. And, I knew (really knew) even fewer artists outside of my college campus realm. This is something I should have worked harder on making connections with as the opportunities were definitely there. I just was too busy trying to go to classes, eek out a living of the starving college student, and maintain a semi normal social life. When I left college and got married, the sheer level of people I knew in the art world dropped off tremendously. I had a friend down the road that went to school with my ex-husband who was big into sculpture work. He crafted all sorts of art pieces from various farm equipment, scrap metal, and old cars. I really tried my best to rub shoulders with Wayne Porter whenever I could to talk about art, the art trade, how his business was doing, and where he got his ideas from. He is an incredibly gifted sculpture artist. I was always amazed at how he could turn anything and everything into something quite unique with a message.(Check out his bull at Porter's Sculpture Park if you haven't had the time to yet. A few of his pieces have even found their way to a more permanent home in downtown Sioux Falls.)

I wish now I would have expanded my base of friends to include more from the art world. Over the years, I have found that few have an appreciation for the arts as I do. And, some have even less of a tolerance for it as well as my talents. I've been scoffed at, laughed at, made fun of and even told that I was merely chasing a pipe dream. So here is one suggestion to anyone new and upcoming. This is a tip I wish I had heard a long time ago. Not only should you surround yourself with people from the art world. But, take the time to surround yourself with positive people who encourage you, your work. and the your appreciation of the arts. This can be anyone from other artists, your spouse, your children, and close friends who understand and have an appreciation for your craft! Something else I've had to do is to weigh carefully the quality of the relationships I have with people. If they make you feel bad, put you down, or are negative, STOP HANGING with them SO MUCH. Limit the amount of time you spend in their presence to keep yourself feeling positive, uplifted, energetic and unstoppable. There is nothing worse in this world than emotional vampires who have nothing better to do than to try to make everyone else feel miserable just because they are or they are a  tad bit envious of the gifts and talents that you have. Love yourself enough to not let them add further negative reels in your head. So in short, don't let them get the job done! Surround yourself with only positive people. Fashion a positive, supportive group who will rally around you like the cheering squad that you need! A positive zone is where you will feel the freest to be you and to create truly great art! I am including a website of other artists and their work.  Please feel free to check out some of the articles and tips on some of these artists that are featured on  Art Career Training . Many of them are really thought provoking and inspire me to be the best that I can be. I am encouraging each of you to get out and really rub some shoulders. Don't just hide yourself away in your art as I did and work as a recluse. Life is so much easier as an artist if you have some of the wisdom, tips, tricks and life coping skills that can be imparted by others who have gone before.

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What's Does Your Sketch Book Say About You?

I’ve been checking out sketch book challenge sites to motivate myself to try to draw more often. Wet Canvas is a wonderful site to check out! I was really impressed with the various levels and the different styles represented. I also liked how if you pull  the tool bar down then you can investigate the different channels/forums on the site. You can bet I will be doing some looking into all it has to offer! I have an old art friend from college who uses her sketchbook to collage pictures into it. She calls it her visual dream board. She says she likes to cut out the pictures that best represents her goals and pastes them together on a page. She states that sometimes it’s uncanny as to how quickly some of her dreams come true using this method. I, myself, put all kinds of odd things in my sketchbook. I call it my keep all and catch all. It’s a habit I fell into in my college years. I write down quotes and ideas. I make lists of things that are creative tools for me to try. Sometimes, I try to recreate typography and fancy word pictures. On occasion, it’s just a page of doodles. On other days, it’s serious business and I’m really trying to do my best to capture what the eye follows over down along.  I’m in dire need of a name for my handy dandy journal/sketchbook. Any and all ideas welcome!!! I’m really curious to know about your sketch book style? Do you try to draw daily? Or, do you only draw in your sketch book when inspiration hits you? Perhaps you do both? Or, do you use it to shoot for goals in a visual dream board.  Shoot me a shout out about your sketchbook and what you like to put into it as well as a name for my journal! .

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WHAT MAKES YOU FEEL BETTER WHEN YOU ARE IN A BAD MOOD?

Music. Music is a huge mood lifter for me. If that doesn't do the trick then a hot cup of coffee and a sappy movie is next on the agenda!!

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Shake Your Talent Tree And See What Comes Of It!

Do not be afraid to try your hand at shaking things up a bit. By shaking things up a bit, I mean that one should try to pursue other creative avenues to see what comes out. Try your hand at free style writing, poetry, song writing, graphic design, photography or even just listening to other forms of creative expression. You might be surprised at the novel ideas that are generated from shaking up your "creative" tree. Below is a sample of some free style writing I did. I was surprised at what came out of it. The Night The Angels Held Me

On a night in 2009, I came home from work to find that things in my house had changed. There was much tension in the air. I tried very hard to proceed with care and caution as I always did when I felt the shifts in his moods. Words were said and thrown about. Tempers flared and hackles rose as they usually did on such nights. I stood and watched as the words spew forth, angry and enraged. I knew better than to hold my ground and argue back.  I felt the very hair on the back of my neck go up. I knew I had to be careful to not push the matter further to anger the other to a point of no return. So, I  did as I usually did in these circumstances.  I decided to tread lightly and put some space to the situation so it did not escalate out of control. I felt compelled to go for a walk. The old bridge down the lone country road I grew up along was always a favorite place of mine to hang out. I cannot tell you the number of times I' have sought solace there or mulled about things. Nor, can I accurately tell you the number of times I skipped rocks there or dipped a mason jar into the murky water beneath it to investigate as to what kinds of creepy life forms could be found there. It is also there that I found an inner calm as I watched nature continue to go about it's daily hum and buzz about me. I could sit and hear the frogs call out to each other, see the fish swim under me, the drone of a dragonfly, catch sight of a red wing blackbird as he flit and fluttered about the cattails, and watch the baby ducks swim by with their mothers. And once in awhile, I could even catch a coveted sight of doe with her fawn as she meandered through the pasture to the north. So as you might expect on this night, this is where I headed. I remember the night was very dark with no moon to guide my way with just a smattering of stars to guide my way. The lone country road's gravel crunched under my feet. It wasn't all that cold for being March. And, we were quite lucky that there wasn't much snow on the ground. I decided to press forward quite certain that with my dog with me that I would be better outside than inside where the mean entity dwelled. I gave no thought as I walked closer and closer to the bridge of all the dangers that could be lurking out there in the dark on that semi brisk night. I did not stop to think I could be in any danger from any coyotes, meandering mountain lions, or even a freak encounter with a skunk. I just merely wanted to find some peace and solace from what had just transpired in my kitchen. I made it to the bridge. I touched the cold rails and peered over the sides to see what I could see. Nothing but darkness leered back at me. I listened as the slight, night breeze blew past and over me. I strained my ears to hear the call of the coyotes that I had heard a few nights ago. the world was silent as if it too knew that I had much to think over in quiet peace and solitude.  I heard the rustle of the rushes as my dog investigated the scents found below and to the sides of me. I looked up and saw a few stars which gave me just the faint tracings of my surroundings to see by. I sighed a deep sigh and pondered over what to do with the situation. And, I cried.

I tried to push the tears back so determined not to let them fall. But, they came in a rush of release and strong emotion. The dam burst forth and I could not stop until I was spent. It was during the last few heart wrenching, slowed down sobs that I saw it as I was brushing back the tears from my face with my shoulder. I saw a movement in the tree strip and a flash of white light moving about. It looked to be like a small flashlight moving about from a distance.

It was then that I felt my fear reappear. Worried that it might well be poachers, I quietly tried to hurry my way back to our old farm house. I winced every time I heard the gravel crunch under my feet and was certain that the poacher heard me. Each time I turned to see the light, it wasn't there. But when I would look over my shoulder, there it was moving beside me. Then, I noticed a few more. That scared me even more.  So, I sped up my pace not caring if they heard me or not. I called softly to my dog hoping that they would think that I had been doing just what I ACTUALLY had been doing - just out for an evening walk. I turned again and was relieved that I had put some distance between myself and the lights. I hurried further up the road. As I went, I would turn and not see the lights. I would turn in another instance and the light would be there at the end of the tree strip. I began to wonder if my eyes were playing tricks on me.

Once I got near the big old tree in our front yard, a new thought hit me. What if I was seeing things? What if it was my fanciful imagination that my family used to tease and taunt me about? I debated what to do. I kept looking and sure enough there was the light. I turned again and then it wasn't there. What to do? What to do? I decided to be brave and venture across the road into the very start of that tree strip and sit quietly to see if anyone really was there. If I sat quietly, I rationalized, I might hear the actual sound of twigs being snapped, the rustle of the grass, people talking. So, I did this. I made my way quietly in to the tree strip and sat in the thick brush and waited. What happened next is something I still to this day have no explanation for. I watched in silence and I do mean in utter silence as the lights grew closer and closer. They appeared to be orb like. Some were white, some whitish with a bluer middle to them. They did not raise my hackles nor did they put any sort of fear into me. They moved thru the trees in odd directions with some  moving high and some low. There was no straight linear path and it could not have been anything of human form. Of that, I am certain. I heard no breaking of twigs, no footsteps, no rustling of the grass as you do when you sit in a tree stand waiting for that big buck to emerge. They came closer and closer. Until finally, a few were close and I could make out the bluish inner middle density to a few of them. Then, they moved back. I sat there feeling calm, at peace and even comforted. I felt an etherial peace settle over me. I felt as if I had been told that I was going to be okay that I was being watched over. When the red ones appeared, I started to worry. I did not understand but felt that it was angry. And, this frightened me somewhat. So, I have to admit that I fled from my hiding spot to the sanctuary of my home. Which is really ironic to me now, for it wasn't that at all at that time. To this day, I have no idea what that was. I've asked numerous people whom I felt I could trust what this might be. A few have offered up the suggestion that maybe it was my guardian angel watching over me that tried to bring me peace and comfort to my soul. Some have suggested it was loved ones who had crossed over who were angry at how I was being treated. Do I believe it is aliens? Good grief - NO! It is now years since this event. Someone recently mentioned to me that it could be swamp gas. So now you know and understand why I was asking about it today. My life has changed in soooooo many ways since this day. At times, I have felt watched over, protected, sheltered, and guided by something that I cannot fathom or understand. I have come to think that this is my guardian angel that held me that night in the woods. I know of no other explanation than that. But, I thank God and my guardian angel for being with me at all times, thru all things and for loving on me like they do.

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Daring To Boldly Color Outside The Lines Of Convention

In February of 2011, I decided that I was going to create our wedding announcements. You should have seen the look on everyone's face when I told them this. Looking back now, I have to laugh at this. I got the double eye blinks as the news settled in. I got the slow "Um... But, dear don't you think you should get them done elsewhere? Will you even have enough time?" I even got the "silence is golden, let's say nothing for fear of putting our foot in our mouth" type of looks.

I wasn't quite sure what I wanted when I started this big of an endeavor. But I do know that once I made up my mind to do it, nothing short of the atom bomb going off next door was going to stop me from achieving that goal. I wanted to add my own sense of style and quirky personalization to our invitations. And boy oh boy, quirky were they ever!

When I proudly announced to our family that we were having a roaring twenties themed wedding, I got looks of disbelief. I even got told that "You can't bring all of  "that" into the church and have it be even or remotely dignified." But again, that same old dogged, bulldog determination took hold of me. My mind was made up to push and press forward with this very idea.

The inspiration for our invitations came one day when I  stopped by my mother's house to look for her old wedding photos which I wanted to showcase at the guest book table at our wedding. When I was digging through the old tote box of photos, I came across a tattered and torn tri fold photo montage of my mom, her siblings, and her parents. It was made out of cardboard and was designed to be a free standing display. I sat there marveling at the sheer geniusness of it's simplistic packaging idea. It was just the inspiring piece I needed to get my creative wheels to churning.

So over the next few weeks, I proceeded to lay out the same tri fold photo card display. On the front cover, I put a scrolly logo with the words announcing our vintage wedding day. I added feathers,red sequins, and a scrolly pattern to bring it that elegant taste that I wanted. I left the impact for the inside. When you opened it up, you were greeted first with photos on either side with us dressed to the nines in true twentish flapper style fashion garb. The middle section was reserved for a special photo of the two of us arm in arm with the wording of our invite carefully wrapped around it.

And so, this is what prompted us to do a roaring twenties photo shoot. People told us it couldn't be done tastefully. So like any good artisans would do, I decided to venture outside of the lines a bit and tailored our wedding to prove that not only could it be done. But that, it could be done tastefully as well. I've had a lot of people since then tell me how truly unique our invites were. I've even had a few tell me that they were holding onto them as keepsakes of our special day.

So for those of you that tell me you'll never do it, I just have to roll my eyes and  laugh. Because in all sincere honesty, you don't know what a challenge or an opportunity I see in that! For in short, I will set out to prove you wrong every time you tell me that.

Herein lies a warning for every artist to carefully heed. Before you go sacking an idea or even a project just because someone tells you it can't be done or that it's too difficult, remember this bold statement. If you don't dare to make a mark outside of the lines once in awhile, how will you ever know if it would work or if it won't? How will you ever know if it could have been your greatest piece if you don't try? In a challenging situation, there may well be an opportunity that you could very well pass up. Therefore, I challenge each of you to venture outside the lines of convention of what's been done before just to try something new, bold and different. You just might find your signature mark in doing it! (Photos of early prototype and final finished product are featured on Trina's Digital Designs,)

[trinasdigitaldesigns-blog]

Battling Your Doubt Demon

Somewhere back in our memory banks, each of us at some time or another sat at the kitchen table with our crayons, pencils, markers and paper to draw just for the fun of it. Do you also remember how proud and excited you were to run and show it off to anyone and everyone who would even look at it? Remember the pure adrenaline and pride that flowed through you when your family member said, "Hey that is an awesome likeness to Snoopy sleeping on his doghouse! Keep it up and you just might be famous!" It is indeed every young and budding artists single most light bulb moment of realizing when they had sheer talent.

Yet somewhere along the way from childhood to adult, things change drastically. Watch any grade school classroom during art, and you will undoubtedly see that there is a child peeking over to see what another one is doing. While meanwhile, there is another one hiding his work under his forearm and saying, "Mine sucks. Yours is better!"  It is then that we realize that just because our family says our art is good doesn't necessarily mean it's so. One becomes much more aware of comparing the quality of our work to others, what others think and listen even more to that doubt demon that resides in each of us that tells us "I am not good enough. I'll never make it as an artist."

This doubt demon is something I have battled my whole life with. I don't know when or where I stopped just enjoying the SHEER PROCESS of making art just to make it and started worrying more about what others thought. But, it happened. It got worse in college and even more so after I got married. I can remember distinctly the day someone told me "that my art wasn't ever going to amount to anything and that I should just get over it and take a paying menial job. I wasn't good enough to sell any of my work." As you can imagine, that statement right there killed my desire all together to create anything. So for years, I didn't.

Yet, my art would return to me in odd ways. My artistic flair would show up in my signature "vividly descriptive" writing style in family newsletters, invitations I created, baby announcements, and wedding invites I created for my own personal use. It was showcased at various jobs I held in the variety of  forms I created to simplify life for those employed there and websites that I helped put together. I wasn't happy unless it made a statement, looked professional as well as pleasing, and was a useful tool to market whatever business I worked for.

Now years later, I have come to the conclusion that my art/craft is an integral part of who I am. I can run and try to hide from it but it is always going to find me and emerge. When I realized this, I realized that I could no longer hide my talent away. I decided to just let go and be WHO and WHAT I am.

So when I decided to once again venture back into my art realm, that doubt demon raised it's ugly head to threaten me with all those daily negative reels that play in one's head when it manifests itself. It's taken me a few months of doggedly and determinedly working through this to try to exorcize this inner deadly demon. Thus, this is what brought me to the conclusion that I needed a springboard place chalk full of tips and inspiration to be able to dive into my work. And so, this was the driving force behind me creating this website.

But even as I was contemplating putting this together, I heard that doubt demon raise his ugly head to taunt me, tease me and tell me would not win. That he indeed was in control and would always be there to hold me back. Let me just say that that doubt demon didn't even have a CLUE what a determined little thing I can be when I make up my mind about something. I'm no longer going to hold myself back from being all that I can be just because he wants to manifest himself.

So, below are a list ideas that I've used to CAST OUT that doubt demon. It's helped me to not feel so overwhelmed so I can push forward. It's also taught me to begin again to enjoy just the SHEER PROCESS OF MAKING ART and CRAFTING MY SKILLS. Something I haven't done in years.

Be kind to yourself.

Appreciate and give yourself credit for what you CAN do.

Stop using negative words to describe you or your work

Take time to visualize and dream how good you can be

Replace all the negative word imagery in your head with positive affirmations (Instead of I can't do this, I'm dumb, this sucks use I'm brilliant and fearless)

Realize that you yourself are your own worst critic.

Be patient with yourself

Never forget to enjoy just the process of making art

Push fear and doubt aside to let your creative ideas come forward

Realize that while you may not have got this piece of work totally the way you wanted it, there are elements to it that are really good and promising.

Try to come up with ways or techniques on how you can do it better next time

Keep trying and experimenting until you do get it right

Find someone or even find a group who will cheer you on when you need it.

I keep a sticky note of these in my drawing/writing journal and reread it often when I feel that nasty, gnarly doubt demon start to rear its ugly head! It is my belief that if you put these tips into daily practice that the doubt demon won't be able to shackle you down to hold you prisoner. You will be able to cast off those chains that have held you back to pursue and achieve whatever goals you set. You can go out and face the world feeling BRILLIANT and FEARLESS or you can let that doubt demon rule you. Just always remember, that it is a daily choice to not let him win. So, don't let him!!!