Moving on this year

So I have decided to devote more time to art this year and less time to being unproductive. I have made some pretty good inroads so far. I have found that making my colorful and fun felt beads is a good way to spend time and develop my sense of color. Putting the bracelets together with regular spacer beads is getting easier too. I will have my bracelets in a show/sale in April, and that's a first for me. This is a good thing.

I have signed up for Judy Coates Perez's online color theory class and have Carla Sonheim's drawing book. I have a sketchbook and watercolor pads. I bought fabric paints and graphite pencils. I have been drawing a lot and have been teaching myself the art of Zentangles.

I have put aside my lampwork beads and felting. I did one art quilt which was a big success, but have not done another one. I am ok with going from one thing to another - as long as I learned from it.

As I have mentioned before, I have "friended" many artists on Facebook for whom I have lots of respect. I am learning from them and the links they provide, and I am learning to throw myself out into the world a little bit at a time.

From Facebook, I have found several online groups for mixed media art, and have joined each one. One of them, CreateMixed Media.com (http://www.createmixedmedia.com/) has a weekly calendar that displays artwork in the form of a calendar from different artists who belong to the group. Heretofore, it has been pretty well-known artists in this particular art world. However, a week or so ago, they opened it up to unknowns and wannabe artists like me. My week is April 17th-23rd, and I am scared to death! I know this is good for me, but it is so terrifying to think that something I made is going to be seen by real artists...

It's a learning experience, and I am going to figure out the perfect way to display my numbers. I just haven't thought of it yet! I will. By April 8th. My first publishing deadline. Hooray! :)