Just A Girl And Her Studies (32)

Obviously we all have our days where it feels like nothing is working out.  For me it feels like I have those days MUCH MORE than the other days, though I am sure that is far from true.  You know what I realized though? It makes those OTHER moments that much better. You know the ones when something works as soon as you touch it and you just have that feeling deep in your gut it's going to be GOOD and you can't help but have a big old smile on your face.

Oh, aren't those moments just the best?

Just A Girl And Her Studies (25)

 A first draft of many drafts, but I'm slowly transforming my Nature Studies series.  The longer I dedicate myself to my art full-time, I'm beginning to learn that it takes me months of developing a series before it really even starts to get to where I want it to be.  Usually I am excited about the development, but there is also a sense of "ugh, all that work has gone to waste." 

I suppose that thought is silly, though, because in the end, I'm really happy the progress.  So here's to time wasted being time well spent.  And to Friday.  Because Friday is ALWAYS good.

Just A Girl And Her Studies (23)

There's a smell that exists on my early morning runs that's the most comforting smell in the world.  I am not sure what it is, but it's amazingly nostalgic. And if I would have to label it with a color, it would be an explosive, yet calming combination of all the above colors. A happy, full heart is going on over here thanks to those lovely running endorphins. And the colors.  Always the colors. 

Just A Girl And Her Studies (15)

I consider myself a new artist.  I think I always will.  And with that comes a lot of self-doubt. I wasn't somebody who always took photos or who always painted - it happened much later in life for me.  In fact when I decided to go to art school after taking a year off after high school, I think most people were shocked because it was such a new interest, one most people didn't even know I had.  I like gut feelings though.  And I tend to go with them.  And more often than not, I am pleased that I did so.  I couldn't be happier that I went to art school.  It was four years of hard work that paid off in every possible way and ended up being so much more than I could have ever anticipated. 

And now it's been nearly four years since I graduated and sometimes that's hard to grasp.  I feel like it was only yesterday I was immersed in my studies.  Sometimes I feel like I've accomplished a lot since then, sometimes (most times) I feel the exact opposite.  What I do know, though, is that I over-complicate things.  I did back then and I continue to do so now.  So I've decided to take a step back and see the beauty in simplicity.  I've always had this negative connotation of a piece that appears easy to make, but I'm realizing that perhaps completing a piece that feels effortless and simple in the end is the key.  I am going with my gut, yet again, and dedicating myself to this new and simplified and completely hard-working art world of mine.  Here's to endless days of painting, the weight of my camera in my arms, and to breezy, bright and beautiful colors surrounding my everyday.

Oh, and Happy Friday to all my fellow struggling artists out there. Keep at it and trust your gut!