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  • Archives for February 2011 Archives - HappyArt.com (11)

Healthy “Rejection”

by Happyart
Categories: Adventures in Art, The Artist's Voice
Tags: , ,
Comments: 3 Comments
Published on: February 26, 2011

Being open to creating illustrations and commissioned work for people means sometimes the partnership doesn’t pan out the way you might hope. But as the saying goes “for every door that closes, another opens up” the professional artist soon learns to embrace what others might call rejection and use the experience as a guide for next steps and newer choices.

a-is-for-apple

a-is-for-apple

A = Apple

b-is-for-bridle

b-is-for-bridle

B = Bridle

b-is-for-bucket

b-is-for-bucket

B = Bucket

c-is-for-carrot

c-is-for-carrot

C = Carrot

d-is-for-dapples

d-is-for-dapples

D = Dapples

e-is-for-equines

e-is-for-equines

E = Equines

counting-4-rough

counting-4-rough

counting-7-rough

counting-7-rough

A = AppleB = BridleB = BucketC = CarrotD = DapplesE = Equinescounting-4-roughcounting-7-rough

Take the publisher who recently decided my work doesn’t fit into their idea of what they want for a series of children’s books featuring horses. Boohoo for me, right? Not so much. For one thing it got me thinking afresh about such projects and for another it allowed me to understand that my voice isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. The optimist in me chooses to believe that’s because my voice is distinct – a very good quality for an artist to enjoy.

So will any of these ideas find their way into a series of books I publish myself? I don’t know – but I was pleased with where I was headed – so it just may happen!

Believing

by Happyart
Categories: Adventures in Art
Tags:
Comments: No Comments
Published on: February 24, 2011
Care must be given to properly steward one's own Purpose.

As a creative person with a pretty active mind with a ton of interests and passions I sometimes find myself stretched to the very limit. I get offers for collaborations I have to pass which often presents a difficult internal personal struggle. There’s just not enough time in the day to get all done what I want to and it’s at times kind of easy to get sidetracked. This morning I woke up with this sentence:

“Sometimes it is healthier to pursue one’s small pure passions than chase after others’ questionable Big Plans.”

It’s a thought to remember when I find I have to decline pursuing one scheme or another attractive though it could pan out to be.

Felted HapiLanians!

by Happyart
Categories: this would look good in your place
Tags: , , , ,
Comments: No Comments
Published on: February 15, 2011

My friend, Lindy Huber, is a breeder of champion alpacas and a fiber artist of exquisite skill to boot. In addition to those wonderful traits – she is also an exceptionally generous soul who taught me some things about needle felting which freed me up to explore this fun new medium recently. The roving (fiber) I get from Lindy is hand dyed by her and as soft as the fur on a kitten’s little pot belly! Hey you should see her stuff on her blog – way cool!

Pictured below are some of my first explorations with this fun new craft. Immediately when I saw the colors I knew I would adding to my HapiLani series with this art form. So today I uploaded these ambassadors of happiness into my Esty store to see what people think! Check out their write ups – each one has a uniquely upbeat personality.

The "Eponi' Fey-Pup"
The "Hartini Eenie Meenie"
The "Squirtette"

Merry Ponies + JoyRiders Just Added!

by Happyart
Categories: HappyArtForYou
Tags: ,
Comments: No Comments
Published on: February 12, 2011

I just went crazy adding some JoyRiders and Merry Ponies into my etsy store! Click on any of the icons below and go right there to see larger!

Valentines!

by Happyart
Categories: HappyArtForYou
Tags: ,
Comments: No Comments
Published on: February 10, 2011
Wooden Plaque - $10 Free shipping! - click to enlarge

I love painting and I love horses! So what better combination for these two passions than making some equine themed Valentine offerings – the proceeds of which will directly towards funding EquineConnection! I’ve got them posted for sale out of a public album on my Merry Horses Facebook page. Right here! Pictured below are some that are still available:

Upcycled smooth edged tin can lid - sold
Wooden Plaque - $10 free US shipping!

Finding Inspiration Part 2

by Happyart
Categories: inspiration
Tags: , , ,
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Published on: February 7, 2011
Schematic of Creative Flow?

I like to think about where my ideas come from. I don’t believe they come strictly from me but rather they come through me. A friend of mine once said that all the media I play with funnel through “the Marti filter”. I like that idea.

“Eat, Pray, Love” author, Elizabeth Gilbert gave a brilliant talk on idea ownership at a TED conference. Here’s the write up:

Elizabeth Gilbert muses on the impossible things we expect from artists and geniuses — and shares the radical idea that, instead of the rare person “being” a genius, all of us “have” a genius. It’s a funny, personal and surprisingly moving talk.

She talks about the muses and our relationship with them/it. She mentioned singer/songwriter Tom Waits reported argument with his muse. The upshot is we don’t own our ideas, we steward them. Thus when they hit big, we don’t own the accolades that might accompany that, but by the same reasoning should our creative ideas fail, we’re not fully responsible for that either.

I like this idea because rather than being too attached to what I produce, good or bad, I try to stay attached to its purpose. Which in my case, my Artist’s Statement or Mission is simply to add smiles onto the globe through my efforts. Usually this is what happens. Not always, not immediately but eventually usually this is the net result.

Below is Ms. Gilbert’s TED talk I mentioned. Worth a look if you’ve ever pondered your own creative processes.

Needle Felting

by Happyart
Categories: info you may not want
Tags: , ,
Comments: 1 Comment
Published on: February 7, 2011

Ifelted critternspired by my art club friends I’ve begun exploring the fantastic new media of needle-felting! The idea is by using a very sharp needle with tiny barbs on the end you sort ‘weave’ together wool fibers.

Here I’ve used a lamb’s wool internal ball with an overlay of hand dyed alpaca ‘roving’. The alpaca is so very soft and nice to work with. You’ve got to be careful with the needles though – I accidentally got myself a couple of times!

I bought hand blown glass eyes from a supplier on Etsy. I intend to experiment some more with these in the coming weeks!

Pictured is my kitty having a look at the first attempt.

Finding Inspiration Part 1

by Happyart
Categories: inspiration
Tags: , ,
Comments: No Comments
Published on: February 6, 2011

Sometimes during the gloomiest parts of winter it is hard to find inspiration to get on with the next creative project. In some ways this is where fellow artists come in handy. You can connect up with them and see what they’ve been up to. I have an online art club I’m a part of where I check in and see what people have been working on.

home shrineBut I am also sometimes able to draw inspiration from some of my own past projects. The ones that aren’t typically a part of my normal art making routine. In my house I’ve set up an area I call our ‘shrine’. It’s loaded with bits and pieces of meaningful iconography from different parts of my life: photographs, charms, mementos and other items that speak to various aspects of my dreams and gratitude.

Additionally sometimes I like having a look at other ways I’ve been creative around the house. A couple of summers ago I decided to make good use of a bunch of cast off tiles I got for free from a poster on Craig’s List. I broke them up using a hammer on the driveway, loosely laid out a plan on the guest room floor and started in on gluing the pieces down using mastic.mosaic florr with cattledogs

It was a crazy job! Then it got crazier. I tried grouting the whole entire thing in one afternoon. That’s nuts. I was so in over my head. I was at it until almost midnight and then spent the next week scraping off the now dried residual grout off all the pieces. That should have been done as I went along with a wet sponge. Would have been much easier. But this reminds me a little about how I operate and just how deep my motivation can go sometimes.

So all in all, a good thing. And my dogs like it.

JoyRiders – Sweetly Affordable Commissioned Paintings!

by Happyart
Categories: this would look good in your place
Tags: , , ,
Comments: No Comments
Published on: February 4, 2011
equestrian cartoon painting
8" x 10" x .75" acrylic on canvas

Marti is a consummate horse lover. As such she started up a global network for equine advocacy in 2010 to help bring together those involved in equine rescue and advocacy.

To help raise the funds necessary to maintain the behind-the-scenes functionality of this rather complicated interactive social network she began making and selling small paintings on one of her Facebook pages. (Merry Horses).

They have proved to be pretty darn popular! You can find them in their own category here on this site under the link called Paintings>JoyRiders Custom Cartoon Paintings above.

She keeps them priced as low as possible in order to attract as many buyers from her pool of friends – horsepeople; notoriaou for spending all their money on their horses, not themselves, lol.

Marti’s Art Now Available on Fabric!

by Happyart
Categories: HappyArtForYou
Tags: No Tags
Comments: No Comments
Published on: February 4, 2011

Throughout the spring Marti has set her sights on designing a fabulous fun line of fabrics. Here’s the really great thing – you can get them in small quantities on a variety of swank fabrics. Through the auspices of a FUNtastic new site, Spoonflower.com, you can get alarmingly awesome fabrics from designers all over the globe. Marti’s section is right here.

Here’s a sample:

This design available on a variety of fabrics in large or small quantities!
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