Getting started Painting, or getting back to it....

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I got a message on my facebook wall ( facebook is mylatest addiction, I confess!) the other day from a friend I met at business seminar in San Diego, specifically Sales Explosion by Frontier Trainings, several months back. He asked me how to get started painting....

It's a good question and something to consider is one that a child would never even think about, they just go for it. Somewhere along the way into adult hood we get all this beliefs and notions and fear and so on in our heads and even the smallest thing, like writing a few lines in a journal, let alone picking up a paint brush and pushing paint around become monumental, difficult, overwhelming....

I paint nearly every day and have been for years - 8+. I write in a journal almost daily. There is nothing special or different about me. Just that I went out of my way to find out how to overcome procrastination, overwhelm, artist's block and all the other things that stop us from pursuing our creative callings.

Here are my favourites that keep me charged up:
  • Look what I've already done - I was just at Samy's Camera working with Troy and going over the digital photos he'd shot of the first 8 Patchwork Paper paintings and I kept commenting on how energized I felt seeing m y completed work. Well done, Deb I kept saying to myself. Troy & I were laughing but it really was a genuine feeling of pride. That feeling keeps me going.
  • Bridging - Setting up the studio so that when I next come to it everything I need to start painting is in place ready to go, organized, water containers filled, paper towels available, counter space cleared to lay down a  painting.
  • Writing. See the photo above I am painting on a piece of paper in which I wrote using black  india ink (I like Higgins Black Magic) just to release some feelings and thoughts. After I clear out mentally it makes room for creativity to flow. In this case I was thinking of incorporating this into another patchwork painting piece....but anyways I'm working on some other stuff...( so much to do, so little time)
  • Evening ritual of writing down my successes. Every night before I go to bed I write out my successes. When I take the time to congratulate or honor myself for what I did today as a forward movement towards my long & short term goals - IE success - showed up at the studio, worked in Pure Abstraction paintings today! It makes  me want to do more. Hence it gets easier and easier to come back and start because I've created a positive neuro association with the task at hand. Make sense?
  • Looking at other artists work - this Friday my friend Lyza Loo and I are headed to the LA art convention in Santa Monica to look at other artist work! Do you know how jazzed I get when I see other artist making it happen and succeeding big time? Very. because I know if they can do it, so can I.
Keep feeding your well. Please feel free to share with us what keeps you going or gets you started. Best, Deb



Art inventory - fire under my ass

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I' Am finally back to completing an inventory of all my current available work! (I think I've been procrastinating for about a year! And If I was even more honest with you here I'd tell you this blog in itself is a little further procrastination to the job!!!). Anyways, since the goal in the next two months is to get the new website up and having the painting inventoried is imperative, as I told my Scottsdale artist friend JM - I've got "fire under my ass" this year!

Last year I was using e-artist for a while on my PC. Then the PC completely crashed and quite honestly I wasn't that excited on the e-artist program - kind of clunky and antiquated in my opinion. So I've left that one behind. 

However, there is light in the land of art inventory! I am using Iphoto. And since I have not used a mac since high school...Thank God for my friend Todd. We met yesterday and he's helping me understand albums vs folders and all the intricacies of the mac world. But quite frankly the details section for each photo offers plenty of room for all the info I keep on each painting. 

In case you're curious. Here's what I keep track of:

Painting Inventory Detail

Title

Belong to Group: ( this would be the name of the body of work, like Raw Expression)

Medium: ex. mixed medias, acrylics, oil, sand, collage

Substrate: what I painted on - paper or canvas

Size: I think the standard is  H x W x D (depth) but I need to double check with my art biz coach, I always forget this detail!

Year: year I completed the piece - that's usually when I wire the back and paint the edges and varnish the surface...hey and let me know if you're interested in this process and archival varnish, etc . I could write more on this. Pls leave comment.

Sold/Selling person/Location: Ex. SWiTCH Boutique Beverly Hill on consignemnt with Jen and Julia Cohen since January 2009.

Feng Shui: Something I do that is unique in that I give each painting a Feng Shui recommendation and also guide collectors as to where they could place the  piece in their home or a room to further energize the area the piece supports such as health, relationships, family, or creativity, etc. Look back on old blogs with paintings posted and you'll see this.


Photographed for prints? Y/N

Posted on Blog/Website/Cafepress? 

If you have any ideas on how to make this process more fun, pls do let me know. Until next week!

Art Career Success - vision boards & affirmative video

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My friend Lyza Loo and I are going to get together to create affirmative vision boards for ourselves and our successful lives as artists. I made these last year, one for my art career and the other for my dream homestead. I'd like to add to the art career vision board and make it prettier.


 I think this video might be as good even better and it's already done! Check out this Art Career Success video. Tres Cool!

New adventures in 2009 - SWITCH

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Next week I'll be driving down to Beverly Hills to meet with Jennifer and Julia Cohen, the two wondrous fashion diva owners of *SWITCH Boutique in Beverly Hills. They are currently showing and selling all my Raw Expression paintings (you can see these paintings on my website http://www.debchaney.com hompage.) 

These paintings were truly about getting it out there. Really, the series title "Raw Expression" says it all. The real honest story is that when I met Peter Moraites at Date with Destiny a few years back we had an incredibly sexual connection and Peter, being the man that he is, offered the suggestion that I used the energy to create art work, instead of venturing down other paths. You get the drift. So voila, 18 paintings.

Jennifer already bought "She fucked him for breakfast, lunch and dinner and still it was not enough" and my husband thinks she purchased this subconsioucsy because she wants more sex in her life???Who knows. These women are hot and happening. I'm sure getting 'it' is not a problem. But I must say it's one of my favourites of the series. 

Anyways, I'm going down to see how they've displayed the work and discuss having a few framed to hang on the wall as well as explore a few PR options and how to get the word out....Apparently movie stars and other celebs shop there so perhaps my work will end up with someone interesting...Will keep you posted!

*SWITCH Boutique
 Location: 238 S. Beverly Dr. Beverly Hills, CA 90212. Ph 310.860.1650 info@switchboutique.com

review and links:
http://yelp.com/biz/switch-boutique-beverly-hills