BUTTON CAT, DOXIE and THERAPIST

I did three more paintings.

Each one is done with Inktense pencils on paper

then collaged onto an acrylic painted small canvas

measuring 4" by 4" by 1 1/2" deep.

They can be hung or placed to sit upright on a surface.

The cat has a floral scrap paper blouse with real little buttons.

I'm liking using different paper and maybe random items, like the buttons.

Then I did another Dachshund because I know a lot of Dachshund owners! LOL!

and lastly, I wanted to use the Therapist quote because it's true for me.

But next up I need to work on some small commissioned paintings.

I had been asked to do a painting of a friends five dogs, all on one tiny canvas

in a more realistic style.

I wasn't given a deadline and I really was dragging my feet.

I sketched out some things but never was happy.

Recently I met up with this friend and she asked about them and I told her that I just couldn't seem to get them all in the proper scale but....

that I'd do it, eventually.

She laughed and said why didn't I just do them individually and in whatever style and whatever color I like.

Suddenly I was full of ideas!

I'm pretty sure I know how I will be creating them.

The only problem now is....time.

Sigh.

I still have not been contacted by the Art/Antique place

and truly, I don't even care now.

It got me painting again and that's what I needed!

I'm still working on setting up a shop but I've opened a business Facebook page!

https://www.facebook.com/cynthiamyersart

Yep, slowly but surely.

GOOD News and BAD News

Good News:

I sold this painting:

It's been hanging at the clinic for a couple of years.

I almost took it down a few weeks ago and then a woman with two elderly Goldens bought it Saturday!

and the "Smell the Flowers" painting?

Well, it was bought by a friend who now has commissioned me to do small paintings of her dogs.

Yep, good news.

Tammy bought my Doxie painting for a friend and I surprised her with a little illustrated painting of Zeke

because I ADORE Tammy and she loved it.

That made me happy, so that was Good News too.

Other Good news, my water heater that was leaking all over my basement last Sunday has stopped.

Apparently opening up the Pressure Release Valve a few times and then tapping it with a screwdriver 10 times worked.

Hmm. That might be it for the Good stuff but still that's what I'm focusing on!

OK, Bad News:

My little Twinkle had a small seizure this week. 

It's the first as far as I'm aware of and I'm keeping a close eye on her.

I thought she was...6?

But when I got to work and looked up her age, she's 9.

So this mental denial on my part made me look up all my pets ages

and apparently 3/4ths of them are 9 or older.

Not that age really matters or anything but, well...you know.

Kinda tugged on my heart a little bit.

Other Bad News, I haven't been called for that space yet

and maybe that's not bad because Lily and I stopped in last Sunday

and we noticed that the vendors with the nice cards is gone and that the wall of paintings has changed too

and all the photography is marked half-priced

and the new vendors are all collectibles and antiques

and....well, I guess I'm not disappointed at not being called.

Oh, and the last of the Bad News.

One of my part-time workers had given notice and her last day is next Saturday.

My other part-timer started her 6 week surgical medical leave this weekend,

so that leaves just me and my one part-time girl.

Good News though. She's a hard worker and I can count on her.

Bad News, for all of March, neither her or I get a full day off.

I might get some half days but the fact remains that I won't have a complete day away.

So....You might not hear from me much in March.

But the Good News is....

I'll still be painting and I'm working on a project that I'm excited about and will reveal when I'm done!

Yep. Good News.

STOP AND SMELL THE FLOWERS...

What flowers?
LOL!

I posted this finished painting on Facebook and Instagram this afternoon.
I didn't put "words" on it like I usually do because I didn't think it needed it.
I'm experimenting with adding more paper.
Mixed Media, Collage, whatever.

It measures 4" x 4" and it's 1 1/2" thick.
Here's a side view.
It's thick enough to stand on a table, cabinet whatever by itself.
But of course you can still hang it too.

Now for the exciting part.
I had just posted it on Facebook and I started to get several "LIKES"
when someone asked if it was for sale?
Hell yeah!
SOLD
LOL! and I'm HAPPY.
and I haven't been all week because I've felt like I had been disrespected several times...
but I'm not thinking about that anymore.
Nope, I'm focused 
and all of you have played a HUGE part in that.
Thank you again for the words of encouragement
and for just being there.
XOXO

❤ Day

FIVE MORE PAINTINGS...I'm on a roll!

Winter and 3 Mixed Media Paintings

So, the weather has been bad.
Not as bad as the East Coast, so I'm trying not to complain.
This is a photo of my driveway after I shoveled on Sunday.
Yep, AFTER. 
A few hours had gone by and the driveway had disappeared again.
My driveway runs along side of the candy canes that my neighbor still has in his yard.
You can barely see the street and the kid across the street foolishly left his car out front.

The girl that works for me and covers Sunday nights, text me to say that she was worried about me getting in on Monday,
especially since I live in Illinois.
She drives a big huge truck and lives in Iowa, where the clinic is.
She said that she had trouble getting through all the snow.
She said nothing was plowed yet.
She offered to trade shifts with me on Monday so that I could leave later in the morning after the roads had been cleared and salted.

So I spent most of Monday morning shoveling out my van.
A lot of the neighborhood was out there working on their driveways and sidewalks.
When I came inside the house I found that Blue had pushed aside the curtain in the living room and had been watching me and the neighbors.
He just kept watching, even after I was inside until I was almost ready to leave for work.

When I finally got to work,although it was very cold, it was very pretty outside.
I stood out in the yard with some of the boarding dogs and looked up at sky.
It was so blue and the trees were so heavy with snow that they were making a crackling noise.
That's when I noticed that we were being watched.
The hawk was back.

Later that night I worked a bit on some paintings that I had started on the weekend
and finished up a few yesterday.
I'm doing them in a mixed media style.

The illustrations are done in Inktense pencils on card paper and I've cut them out and layered them and sometimes other scrap papers onto canvases that I've painted in acrylics.

I'm finding that I want to do things on a smaller scale.
I want to work towards more of a collage style, I think.

I haven't received a call yet but that's a good thing because I have a lot of things I want to create for my space. 
I've been thinking about this and how this is an opportunity to develop my style.
So I'm not going to stress myself out,
I'm instead going to enjoy my journey.