Monday Memories

It's still Monday, so I haven't missed my deadline for posting!

I've spent the past week working on the house, and NOT in my studio. My husband took the week off and we used it to get the house ready for the market (or to just get things cleaned out, even if we end up not moving.) The first part of the week was spent in my crawl space. It started like this:

My delusional hubby, thinking this wasn't as big a job as it ended up being.

And ended like this:

All cleaned out! You didn't think it went that far back, did you?

We sorted into piles of Keep, Sell/Donate, and EEEK! GET IT OUT OF HERE! There were multiple trips to the dump to get rid of the bad stuff, and now the rest of my basement is full of the sell/donate stuff that we'll have a garage sale with in a couple weeks. So, really? My basement looks worse than when we started. I know there was progress, but it doesn't feel like it right now.

In the middle of cleaning, there were a few good gems like these...

1942, hardback book. 

I inherited a ton of books from my grandmother on art. She was a teacher for most of her life (not sure what ages or whatnot, but maybe junior high? And I think she taught reading?) She wanted to be an artist, or it was her hobby anyway later in life. The problem was that she was never very good at it. Going through all these boxes of books and seeing her notes, I actually figured out why.

My grandmother approached art like you would a clock, if you were taking it apart to see how it would work. She had tools. She had diagrams. She had notebooks full of written instructions. But it wasn't enough. It was all technical details and no heart. I kind of wish she was alive now, and could sit with me and I could teach her a bit. I don't know if I could have provided the missing link to make the technique and the art come together, but I think perhaps...

My great-grandmother had the heart, I think. There are a few of her paintings around, and it's there. She had it. I believe it was my grandmother's mother, and it would explain maybe one reason why my grandmother chased art later on.

The one with the red x is one of my great-grandmothers. I'm not certain which one, but I think it was the painter. This was her class picture, from what I understand. Check the bow-ties out! I actually heard a story that this was art school, but I'm not actually certain that is true. 

This is my senior class picture, the "silly" take - almost 100 years difference. Zoomed in, my class was about three times larger than this, but I'm in the middle in white next to the guy wearing a green streamer tied around his head.

I thought it was interesting to compare the two class pictures. About a century in between, but similar in age and point in life. What a contrast, huh? I rather wish they had done "silly" takes back then. It'd sure be fun to see that, wouldn't it?

Oh, and this is my grandfather's parents' wedding photo. 1909. Wild, huh?

I also found things like a walkman with a mix-tape, and these!

My boom box, an actual record, and my books from when I was around 8 years old!

I then found this painting I did for my mom when I was about 15. The original intent was what you would see laying in the grass on a lovely summer day, with my mom's favorite flowers (pansies) around her. What the outcome was for many is summed up by one person asking "So, um, is this like the view from your grave?" *sigh* Anyway, this sucker is about 25 years old now, how's that for a throwback to learning how to paint!?

We also spent a lot of time working on the yard. It's amazing how much better mulch can make something look. We kept finding nests built in the worst spots, usually by the same type of bird:

Aren't these eggs gorgeous? I wish the bird was a little smarter in his nesting spots though.

Then, finally, I was able to paint a bit more again last night. I have deadlines and such piling up, but since I reorganized my business I really want to get working in my chosen directions. So, I pulled my queen out and started working on her again:

I also finished a few mini-misfits. These three mini-misfits are available in my Whimsical Misfit Store:

"Cole" 2x2 inches acrylic on stretched Canvas

"Lewis" 2x2 inches acrylic on stretched canvas

"Arnold" 2x2 inches acrylic on stretched canvas

I'm hoping this week will bring with it a return to being productive in my studio again. Unfortunately, my website still needs work (and it won't load right now, for some mysterious reason.) My plan is to save that for when it's too hot to paint. I figure that's a good strategy! Of course, I'm still trying to squeeze everything in between summer commitments, (read that as; everything I don't have to do while the kids are in school, but now am suddenly expected to drop everything to get done.)

I hope everyone else had a great week, and a good one coming!

Little Monsters

I spent this week on the computer side of things, again, and I have to admit that I feel kind of down. It's just something that I notice when I'm unable to create as I'd like to. The computer side is necessary, but it's not fulfilling like finishing a painting is.

Still, there was SOME creativity involved! I made new banners for all three of my art pages on Facebook:

My fairy tale painting page, I thought my Cheshire was a good mascot. 

My surreal page...

And my misfits, of course!

I made matching banners for the Fairy Tale store, The Surreal store, and the Misfit store. So all three of those are up and running, although the stores aren't all fully stocked yet (there is a lot up, but I'd like to have everything settled and it's not.)

On the store side of things, I thought I'd answer this quickly and publicly why there are three. Through my business, I have come to realize that variety in a store is actually frustrating or overwhelming to a customer. While there might be a few who appreciate seeing all you have to offer in one place, the truth is that most just want to come to a store/website and find exactly what they expect. So, with that in mind if I have a customer looking for a unicorn and they're suddenly faced with a painting with naked female body parts on a pizza (yes, I really have one of those) you can see how that might just drive that customer away. The same happens vice versa, so in the end it is better to separate out the stores as they tend to only have a little overlap and a wide gap for the most part.

I also went ahead and dismantled my website on one host, and I've been reestablishing it on another. However, I'm domain-stupid, so while it exists (rather unfinished, but something is up) at www.kyrawilson.net, I haven't figured out how to successfully point www.KWilsonStudio.com at it yet (and the second is my main site, so it's extremely frustrating! I'll figure it out, but this should be easier!) Also, the site seems to be "temporarily unavailable" frequently. I hope that's not the norm for GoDaddy. 

On my main website, I do have all my genres of work. So at least it's out there all in one place somewhere, and then for actual purchasing it's divided up. 

Anyway, lots of computer stuff. Ick. I finally got out my paints and just MADE myself do something. It's weird how I fall into a funk and then have a problem even pulling myself out of it if I'm away from painting for too long. I decided I'd do a handful of mini whimsical misfits. 

Fast sketch, tiny canvases...

Here's where I am at right now:

I went for the "shocked cat" kind of look on the one on the top right. I think I nailed it! We'll see how he turns out!

Looking forward to this week, I plan on putting up a new painting a day in my stores in order to catch up with my inventory listing (and hopefully get that straightened out on my website too), but not try to do them all at once. That way, I can spend a lot more time painting instead! I need to, or I'll never get out of this funk. 

Blah! Off to paint some monsters!