Spring is here!  It's officially already begun (March 20th- my wedding anniversary and mil's birthday!) but I'm just getting the feeling of it.

In anticipation of sunshine and good things to come, I painted my latest piece "Spring Rhapsody".  It is a painted piece.  I used acrylic, oil, spray paint, chalk and charcoal to create the effects.  The piece is so big, you have to use your whole body to paint, which is cool and a big departure from the small watercolors I was doing.

I first painted the board and used a damp paper towel to create a stained glass appearance.  I hit the red up with a thick red oil paint for depth.  I then used black spray paint to trace out shapes that I saw.  After using the black spray paint, I noticed a bucket of chalk that my son had left out in the rain.  Using the knowledge from my waitressing days (that wet chalk makes the brightest colors), I colored over the dried spraypaint.  After allowing the chalk to dry and become it's permanent color, I splattered thin acrylic over the lines.  Allowing those to dry, I took a palette knife and spread some white on like drifting clouds.  Then I turned the canvas upright, so that the "clouds" would drip, creating a multi-dimensional effect.

It reminds me of the spring, with winter behind it.  The dark colors are covered by the lighter emerging colors coming from it and paints in pinks, siennas and yellow are dancing across it, like rays of sunlight. 
 "Spring Rhapsody":

I just had my fourth tattoo removal.  The first three, I had done at a plastic surgeon's office, years ago.  I stopped the service due to the cost of $365 a session.  Since then, the prices have drastically dropped, as has access to the technology.  At one time, one could only have the procedure done at a plastic surgeon's office, now even tattoo shops are offering the service.  

In addition to tattoo removal being more accessible, mine was even MORE accessible as my killer boss offered to pay for 3 sessions!  How much does that ROCK!!!!????!!!!  I immediately jumped on the opportunity when he offered and booked 3 sessions at "Short Pump Tattoo".
Unlike the plastic surgeons office, I was not offered tea while in the waiting room and they couldn't prescribe a pain ointment (I got my Dr. to before going though!) but the laser treatment was basically the same but at $65 a session instead of $365!

Two days later from the initial treatment and I am red-skinned and blistering but one step closer to having tattoo free legs!

These are my first two large size canvas paintings and both sold!  The first is a 2' x 4' piece.  I used a mop brush and a wet paper towel to produce a stained-glass type effect.   The second is a piece called "Watch Your Fingers".  It is 2.5' x 4'.  This piece is about the music of my childhood.  I took piano lessons for 4 years in Argentina before returning to the States and the teacher would always remind me to "watch my fingers".  Within the frames is actual sheet music I practiced, with her handwriting in Spanish saying "Cuidado con los dedos!"-- "Careful/Watch your fingers".

As the new year begins, I've begun thinking about investments. 






Investment means: "to put (money) to use, by purchase or expenditure, in something offering 
potential profitable returns,as interest, income, or appreciation in value."  
I want to talk about the word investment in a different manner though.  
Instead of thinking of investing in a monetary capacity, I've been thinking of investments as an expenditure of my energy.  



Blogging can become quite complicated when working with people.  For the last five months, I've been making a living as a tutor, a homebound instructor and a personal shopper.  I've had upteenth adventures but as a professional, I cannot divulge many of my stories due to privacy issues.  I love the flexibility and the challenges of my jobs although my schedule can be a bit frantic.  My week looks something like this:
  
        Monday-  shop, teach, teach
        Tuesday-  teach, teach, teach
        Wednesday- teach, teach, teach
        Thursday- teach, teach
        Friday-  shop, tutor
        Saturday- tutor

I also try to keep a couple of pieces of art in local stores and once a month, I clean a former client's home.  Try squeezing 5 hours of cleaning into that schedule!  It gets really tough!


     I was looking at the back of our house, lamenting a never-ending bathroom renovation, when I thought about what I wanted to invest in this year.  One thing I want to invest in is myself and therefore my family.  I'm blogging about this for personal accountability as well.  I need to look at when the Praxis are. It's one thing to talk being able to teach a subject, it's another to pay for the exams and become endorsed in the subjects as well.  


     While I immensely enjoy the freedom of my work, I miss the stability of a "normal" job.  I'm working on the perfect combination of work and family.  I would love to have my own classroom and an 8 am - 3:30 pm schedule, still allowing me to shop and keep my artwork up.  Ideally, I would love my own art class but if this is not possible, I'd be a great English or Spanish teacher as well.  One of my goals and investments for the year is to take the Praxis for English and become endorsed in English as well.  


    This is one of my goals for the year, one of the investments that I will make.  What will your investments look like in the year 2014?  Will your investments be monetary, spiritual or career-oriented?

Well it's not like I've quit making art!  I've just had to scale back.  I love the project and I'll try it again once teaching dies down.  I need to come up with a way to have 1 project a night!  My projects are long and sometimes tedious and I just couldn't keep up with the time commitment to the 365 project.

For those of you unfamiliar with the "Make Something 365 & Get Unstuck" Project, read about it here:  http://makesomething365.blogspot.com/ .