Faith Will See You Through

More acrylic painting....I really love working with my hands and paints and inks.

Entitled "Faith Will See You Through".....even during the darkest of days, when you feel like just giving up and saying "I quit", remember to dig under the layers of self-doubt, dig deeper, where your glorious colours are waiting to burst out and dazzle the world, dig deeper, where seeds of hope have been planted and know in your heart blessings are on their way.

"Faith Will See You Through"

24" x 24" Acrylic and Ink on Canvas

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Pattern Designs

I finally figured out how to create a repeat pattern out of my illustrations, yeah, you might think me dumb for just figuring this out now but it was a real "aha" moment for me, thanks to the very, very clear tutorial I found over at one of my favorite blogs Design Sponge by illustrator/pattern designer Julia Rothman.  Here's a link to the tutorial if you'd like to learn how to do it too: How to make a repeat pattern.

So, the tutorial showed Julia actually showing us how to do it on paper.  From there, I figured out how to do it in photoshop using my hand drawn illustrations which I had previously scanned for a project I recently concluded.

Here are some of my experiments, you can find them in Spoonflower, a site that allows you to upload patterns you create and order them as actual fabric!

Doodley Doo in Blue


Doodley Doo in White


Silya


Grow Where You're Planted


Hello Octo Joe!


Go ahead, have fun and try creating one yourself!

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Backtrack

Backtracking to show you some commissioned work, these were all done last December but I hadn't had the time to upload.

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Sign Up for My Monthly Newsletter

My first email newsletter will come out in March!! I recently had the chance to study how to use Mail Chimp! I've been meaning to do it for some time but just thinking about having to study something new again overwhelmed me and I kept putting it off.  Really, adding to my ever growing list of things that had to be done is not such a great idea…but it is something I read works wonders if you want to market yourself, and I really do need that, how else will I get my work out there (that is, of course my goal for 2011).  So, what's a day lost trying to figure things out..I can shuffle my schedule around and lose a days sleep (ha!) and try to be more organized with list upon list to cross off.

So I finally got my Mail Chimp account, using the free service of course, it took me one day to figure things out (it was actually very user friendly) and several more days to tweak the email campaign and then wait another week to get email confirmation if I could use comments some people had made about my work.  I finally mailed my campaign out to about 700+ emails I was just sitting on (these were emails from people who signed up to receive updates and news from several Wedding Fairs/Expos I had attended in Manila as an exhibitor. 

What I love about Mail Chimp is that I could monitor how many people actually opened the email campaign I sent, how many clicked, which areas were clicked, how many subscribed and how many unsubscribed.  It was really amazing.  From constantly monitoring the stats on your campaign materials, you will get a feel of what works for you and what doesn't.  Of course, you also have to constantly check, so if that isn't your cup of tea, well then coming out with a newsletter is probably not for you.

As for me, it's something I've committed to do.  And a way for me to connect with my readers, clients, target market.  I know not everyone has the time to read my blog, or everything I post about.  I subscribe to blogs that interest me, but I don't read each and every post - especially when I'm busy with other things.  I subscribe to their newsletters so that even if I don't always read their blogs I get their monthly newsletters and still get to follow that certain artist, blogger, site and get in on certain promos or deals they're running.  I'm hoping that will work for me too. :)

Click Here to see my mail campaign:    

I hope you'll take the time to subscribe to my newsletter, I'm doing a raffle and giving away a custom art print to two lucky subscribers and announcing it in my upcoming March newsletter!  It's not too late to sign up to be entered into the draw :)

You can click on the sign-up for my newsletter link on my sidebar. 

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Emerge

"Emerge"

12' x 16" Acrylic on Canvas

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I've got 2011 in mind

I don't know what it is about the number eleven but I have quite an affinity for that number...maybe that is why I feel that 2011 will be a banner year for me and for The Indy Playground :)

I've been experimenting and here is something I have been working on...it's four panels and supposed to read 2011 when put together.

See my work in progress:

I've added more details to it since the photos were taken but will post again when they're finished.

See you soon! Gotta check on my sugar cookies. The smell is calling to me. Yum! Yum!

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On Trying to be Myself

I was supposed to post this the day I left for my climb last January 14 but was unable to because my internet connection was really acting up. It is now nine days post-climb and a whole chasm has opened up and closed, wrong has been set to right and so I was wondering if I should even post this. But since this is about being myself I thought I'd like to remember this day and how it felt....

Here is what I wrote:

I opened my email today and was instantly struck by the title of Chris Guillebeau's (of The Art of Non-Conformity) blog post title "How to be Yourself".  I'm subscribed to receive his blog posts but don't get to read them all the time due to so many other things I need to do, so I leave it in my inbox to back track when I have time.  Today, the title jumped out at me and the article struck a chord because I had just had some words with my partner about my trip this weekend to climb Mt. Pulag (2nd Highest Mountain peak in the Philippines).  He is pretty miffed (and that's a kinder word) by my decision to go on that climb, which has been planned out almost a year in advance (I missed last year's reunion climb due to a running injury).  He says I'm no spring chicken anymore (again, those are kinder words) and I must be crazy to go up on this climb - it's not like before that I could go hike/climb wherever I pleased.  He worries about my ankle (which I broke about 7 years ago and which flared up last year when I started running), given, yes I appreciate the concern.

But I really don't like being told I cannot do anything in such a way that makes be feel like an imbecile.  If I believed everyone that told me I could not do it then I'd probably be so full of regret and never live my life the way I want to.  Here's the thing, he likes to run, eat, drink and watch TV.  I never complain.  I like to do my art/craft, do outdoor stuff, read (I can live without a TV but not without books and my computer :)  So my point is, what I like to do is equated to what he likes to do - I leave him be to do the stuff he likes (which is every week) and when I want to do something I like, uhm, climbing a mountain once a year, I expect full support, KWIM?  And he asks me, what do I get from going on that climb? What do I get???? Uhm, how about I'm just finally being myself.  That is who I am.  That is the kind of girl I am.  I love the outdoors, I love adventure, I'm kinda weird, and yes quirky, and I finally want to live a life where I can have the best of both worlds...be me and yet still love someone who is totally not me.  Is that too bad to ask for?

Chris says "Since trying to be anyone other than yourself is usually ineffective, why not begin by deciding to do only what is true to your own inner compass? If you did it for just one day, what would that day look like?"

This is what one of those days would look like... Indy the outdoorsy person is back, at least for the next 3 days before I wear my other hats again of mom, artist, entrepreneur, bookworm..

And Chris again goes on to say "Being yourself is risky. Something could go wrong, and then whose fault would it be? (This is another reason why it can be easier to let other people make your decisions—then you can blame them when it doesn’t work out.)

But in the long-run, you know you’re capable of being a good self. You know you’re capable of taking the risk. Even if some people don’t understand, you can find a way to pursue the life and work you’ve always wanted." 

 Life is short.  Seize the day!

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