Thrilled and honored to start the day today as a featured artist on RedBubble's homepage. What a great way to start the new year! This is the kind of recognition that I think keeps all artists moving forward because there are so many times that the thought of not being "good enough" creeps into the thought processes. You can go directly to the RB site from here http://www.redbubble.com Please be aware that the features change daily, so if you don't log on today, you will see different features. And if you're not a member and you're an artist, it's a great community to share your work with other artists and gain exposure. Hope to see you there!

Merry Christmas!

  Wishing everyone a very Happy Holiday and a healthy and prosperous new year! Let's hope that 2011 will be a more positive year! Love to all. :-) Laura 

Card Store

I have a wonderful new store on Greeting Card Universe. Wonderful quality and stock. Come by for a visit!

Interview

Meeting Doreen Erhardt of Salon of Art greeting cards on Greeting Card Universe has been a special experience for me. She publishes a wonderfully informative newsletter as well as runs her card store on GCU of her amazing art. She has so many creative things going on in her life that I don't know how she does it all. I was beyond honored when she chose to interview and feature me for November & December in her newsletter. Be sure to visit her card store. I hope you enjoy the article as well as her newsletter!

http://salonofartnewsletter.weebly.com/featured-artist.html

Speaking of Stealing Art...

I had this girlfriend from art school a long time ago. Not particularly talented, but never the less she got by in all the art classes. We were very close and always had a good time together. A lot of the ol’ college day memories include her. And then a day came years later when a mutual friend dropped the bombshell:
“Ethel (not her real name of course) was caught trying to pawn off a well known artist’s work as her own!” 
Gasp!!! I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. But Ethel just couldn’t take the stress anymore of not producing decent work (is what I’m thinking) and resorted to the most horrendous crime against any artist. She was suddenly shrouded in black in my mind. I exiled her to the farthest corners of my brain. I know longer knew this woman. How sad and desperate of her. It’s like cheating on a test and being caught. Or having your mother write all your high school essays and now you’re in college and you’re a boat up the creek without a paddle (I actually knew a student who admitted to me that his mother wrote all his essays).
So the moral of my writing? It’s so not worth it. Do something that you’re good at, or preferably great at. Or something you’re willing to work hard to be great at. Because there’s nothing like the moment when you’re rewarded for your hard work. Your own work.

Art Point of View

Drawing perfectly was always my goal when I was younger. It had to look 'real' and at times my art paid the price of looking stiff. It also got rather tedious and frustrating striving for perfection. While I got very good mechanically with my art, I can see now that creativity was lacking in my earlier works. I actually find quirky art much more intriguing to look at now. While I appreciate the technique of recreating a neat, perfect, photo-quality piece of art, I find that I've become bored (despise this word, but it's the only one that seems to fit here) with it and that I need the visual stimulation of something way less perfect to view. I want to be somehow challenged by what I look at. This new perception has made me stretch and grow as an artist. Granted, I still struggle with my inner perfection demons, but I feel I'm more willing to be more creative now. While I still have a thing for doing the cutesy things that so many like to see, I also like to vary my mediums and my styles so that I can continue to grow. The only way to truly improve as an artist is to open yourself to the inspiration around you. There's no better way to improve upon yourself.

Inspiration-The When, Where & How

The redundant question asked over and over to every artist is "What inspires you?" When I first read it or hear it, I always think there could be a different, more exciting way to ask it. It's almost like hearing the question, "What grade are you in?" when you were younger. It's a question that doesn't require much thought. But the inspiration question does. It's never a knee jerk response, so I guess as uncreative as the question is, the response makes up for it. Sometimes I'm a well of never ending visuals that I can't get out on paper fast enough. And then there are those times when the well has dried up and nothing seems inspiring. Then it suddenly hits out of the blue at the weirdest time and place. Like recently driving and listening to a talk station and the host utters the word "bucket"in context to a story he was discussing. Suddenly my mind takes off, like a race horse out of the gate. Images of pails everywhere. And I'm not sure about you, but I visualize so strongly that I no longer see the world that I'm in and don't know that I left it until I come back. I see everything so clearly in my mind's eye. Colors, details and all. It was a struggle to fight the onslaught of images that were fighting for visual time in my head. Home safely, I sketched away on a magical illustration that is ready to be put to the finish. It will be a party invitation as soon as I can get to it. It's great when that happens. It's such an exciting moment and one that makes creating so rewarding. It's like giving birth to something new time and time again, and the excitement of bringing that visual to tangible life. It never gets dull and is totally addicting. I think that's why artists tend to be like hermits. The addiction to the feeling and the creation process is a high like no other and one that you need to protect and be alone with. And speaking of high, remember that 'lighter than air' feeling you had when you were little (or maybe it was just me), especially when it was your birthday? It was the inspiration for my latest illustration that is now posted on Zazzle.