Dashing out the door, hubby is taking me to Gananoque for a tiny getaway, see the lovely town and beautiful art done by the area's artists so I'll come visit everyone throughout the weekend on my return.
Graphic design is another medium I'm truly in love with. As you can see on my two websites I have done my banners, sold banners for Etsy and blogger and continue to make them only lately I've been preoccupied with paintings and book. I have used Dreamweaver and Photoshop although I do have so , so much more to learn. If any of you want to try your hand at it try Polevore to get a taste ,where I first was smitten by the Graphic bug or Gimp, a free program which is good.
I'll leave you with some samples of my Graphic Digital work and my latest Conk Fairy door.
When I get a moment to play on here I'll add a little info for each of the the pics before hubby gets upset and leaves me behind...haha ; ) Enjoy and hope this might give you a little inspiration...until later have fun browsing my work and everyone at Paint Party Friday.
Everyone's Gone Fishin'
Latest Artist Conk wood burning and colored pencil. You wouldn't believe how velvety soft this canvas is. So glad my girlfriend Colleen's son collected this piece for me in their wood...Thanks Kenny : )
And now , I know this is a long post but please do continue on......
Make a Wish .....
You might say this is a Love Letter to me and maybe even to you .
Something I read a very, very long time ago in Oscar Wilde's play " The Importance of being Earnest"
sparked a flame in my heart. I never thought of it in this light before now but in fact it truly reflects who I am or correctly spoken who I sincerely am.
Sometime ago, around the time I turned fifty I suddenly was taken aback by mid life's hold. I was awaken to possibilities I never thought possible, never knew existed , never knew I had.
Always a dreamer at heart, always the one to take notice the little things others did not and I quickly or should I say much later in my life realized that I too had something to share of my own.
I was able to create art and I could even write down in words what I felt and most everyone understood them ; ) Far from a good grammarian, still what I wrote pleased me and surprisingly pleased others as well.
Suddenly, I was Earnest Worthing, happily creating art in my tiny web abode using numerous aliases when signing off or making a mark on my work. These aliases were brought on by the necessity of keeping my true identity a secret but later that all changed.
When the world turned to the www, so did I.
I totally harnessed the internet and became completely enamoured by the infinite world library it held within it's one portal....this became my new tv and virtual library; what better way to learn than from the comfort of your own home......It had it all!
Now a days there is just so much on the net that one either has to be very selective or if your'e anything like me; constantly consuming with your eyes and hears , keeping virtual files to hold all the required informational materials seems to be the answer, only with age, that can be somewhat of a challenge; but hey, working that old brain might just keep it sharp enough for those later golden years : )
I discovered so many mediums in art and so many sources of free knowledge.
Always a collector of the past, now if I couldn't actually own it materially, I could easily keep it as an image of it on file; over night another window to the World of the present opened for me. Soon, most things -stuff was filed away in my very own virtual library without the reality of hording the mess.
This really worked well for me and without warning, all this stuff became my muse, my inspiration to create. I no longer had the desire of owning but more a desire to retain their imagery either for art, writing or both. It became my new found love affair of my heart. Of course my weekly jaunts to church sales, yard sales and thrift stores didn't stop, probably increased to my family's horror ; )
Undoubtedly, the web continued to evolve and so did many of the free on-line sources. Now people took notice of the business possibilities that art might create with people wanting to learn some form of art medium and so free instructions became e-books or online classes for a designated fee. I even took a few myself like others I had taken from a brick and mortar shop in the past.
Later, videos and blogs offering free tutorials took root and with a following of readers some kind of residual revenue was generated. In time, I too was bitten by the art bug and opened an Etsy shop. The income produced from my sales would back my continual art expeditions , unfortunately most of the bill was footed by no other than my poor dear hubby ....thanks sweetie ~ ^..^~
These trivial art journeys of mine weren't the necessities of sustainability but rather in keeping a healthy and happy mind. I suppose in retrospect a little necessity for keeping my sanity thru the tumultuous health, school and job changes that occurred in the last 6 1/2 years in our family. Art truly is a healer of sorts. It has really helped me more than I thought it would have.
In those early days of the internet I was taking an unfamiliar road....the possibilities it held, I never imagined in my wildest dreams.'' " Two roads diverged in a wood and I - I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference ". Robert Frost resonated much of what is true in life and what happened to me the day I discovered the light at the end of the unknown road I had travelled in the Wood....a Creative World Opened it's doors!
I read once a quote by Robert Frost " A person will sometimes divide his life to the development of one part of his body- the WishBone"
Yes, I think in the past four odd years , I've done just that. Maybe a little silly of me or a whole lot but I don't care for I no longer worry about the negative talk, it's just that , trivial and unimportant talk which no good comes of it. So I try to ignore it and carry on with what truly makes me happiest and that is creating art and writing down my thoughts while still living alas my blog posts.
I no longer try to hide my true identity because really I've always been Annabelle (hubby's nickname for me), Anna and Nana....the girl with her far away dreams.... and maybe, just maybe that one dream she keeps on her pillow may one day become true.
So I now leave you to ponder on this small journey of one such old gal named Annabelle from The Wood Beyond the World and her Pastoral Dreams. Hope this helps some of you "envision the best of your life"....we all have something to share.
Check out Oprah's site for Inspiration, Guidance and Envision Your Best Life and create your very own O Dream Board like I have done here......
Until next time...Happy creating Love Annabelle ~^..^~
