7 days until artfest.

7 days until artfest in Port Townsend, Washington
I feel like this could be life changing. really.

This is a gift from the Lord.
I see this picture of God's giant hands reaching
down with this humongous gift for me.
My name is on it.
He just really knows what I need.
what my soul is thirsty for.
and he provides for me.
He says,
"Here Erin."
Go.
Have fun.
Live life.
Shine, like I created you to do.

So, my dear friend Kristi hounded me to go to this women's retreat for forever
and I was skeptical. I gave her the wholoe gamut of reasons why I couldn't.
and finally I gave in and went.
and, of course, it was exactly what I needed.
once again...

something hit me this weekend.
hard.
the speaker talked about eve.
doubting God's goodness.
his faithfulness.
like God was holding out on her.
like he was keeping all these good things from her.
so she had to go grab them herself.
And I felt like she was talking about me.

My Dream Come True!

I have some really exciting news for you.
well, actually, it's for me.
exciting news for me.
Life changing.
Before you read any further, think about the best email you could possibly get.
I got it:

Hey Erin. I just received an email from yet another person who cannot come and is gifting her registration to a lucky recipient. Thank goodness I went through and chose the top 3 winners and kept the emails. You were number 2 so I am happy to say you can come for free. SO...you need to pick some classes.

Who is it from?!?
Teesha freakin' Moore.
The art journal goddess Teesha Moore.
http://www.teeshaslandofodd.com/1/temp.html
ya. that teesha moore.

so, my first thought was...
I'm going.
my second thought was...
I can't leave my 18 month old booboohead for that long.
my third thought was...
I can't even afford to buy a new covergirlmascara, let alone a plane ticket...
my fourth thought was...
I'm going.

and guess what?
I'm going.

Port Townsend, Washington
March 24-29
Yippee-kay-yay.

One of my favorite things in life...

stuff i want to do

So, one of my favorite things in life is my creative women's nonbookclub, just a club... we started off with a book and then dropped the book and kept the food, wine, creative projects, & lots of laughter...

This was our latest project from our sweet visitor Kelley over at Fogarty Ranch...
http://fogartyfam.blogspot.com/
She posted hers too. super easy. really fun to make & share with each other. it was cool to see how different our all were.

So here are the rules & instructions to create with your own nonbookclub:
1.)Pick a word for the year. A word you want to focus on. Mine is acceptance. I need it all the way around.
2.)Watercolor fun designs on cardstock.
3.)Write down fun stuff you'd like to do this year.
Key word is fun.
fun.
No beating yourself up, "I suck" stuff.
Okay. I admit. I kinda broke the rules with lose weight & spend less money, ut I just felt like I had to get those down before I could do the fun stuff.

Anyway, fun to do. fun to share. I'll let you knowabout my progress...
if you get around to making one in any form, please share yours...

A year of trying stuff on...

Here is one of my latest. I just got it back from the printer & I love the way all of the prints turned out. I always do. The detail is really amazing. You can really see the layers of paper and paint... Thank you Jim!

I also just got my first wholesale order of cards for the giftshop at Sharp Mesa Vista Hospital, which is a whole nother thing I need to learn how to do... but I'm really excited to try out the world of wholesale and see if it's a good fit for me.

Last year was a big year for me.
A lot of trying on,
seeing what fits,
seeing what makes my butt look enormous,
seeing what makes my heart leap.

A review of 2009:
*March
My work was in a show at Park Cities Presbyterian Church in Dallas. It sold. So fun. So encouraging.
*April
My work was in Art Show at the Dog Show in Kansas. 3 of my favorite collages I've done.
*April
Showed my work in Honey's cafe for the 2nd time.
*June
Started my blog! Entered an incredible community of mixed media artists & friends. Total encouragement & learning...
*August:
1st outdoor show: Carlsbad's Art Walk. Didn't sell anything, but learned a lot.
*October:
2nd outdoor show: Carlsbad Street Fair. I actually made some sales.
So fun, so encouraging.
*December:
20 sales on Etsy.
Joined the Melange on etsy team. super encouraging.

Where to go from here?
There are so many things I want to do in this new year,
but most of all I want to continue to try things on,
to see what fits,
to grow up and become who I really am,
to find out what I was created for...
what an adventure is this life we've been given.
a pure gift.

So what is it that makes your heart leap? Let me know...

Believe in the Beauty of Your Dreams

I love this quote from Eleanor Roosevelt. The baby boy is at grandma's house and I am madly trying to get all of the details wrapped up to hang new work in the Pannikin in Encinitas & Del Mar. I'll take lots of pictures & get back to you.

The power of art.

Wow. I can't even tell you how encouraged and inspired... and well rested... I am. We had such a fabluous time at the street fair. Better than fabulous. We got to meet so many dear, sweet, encouraging, people. That's my favorite part. It just reminds my imporatnant, no essential, art is to life. like bread, no pedicures... Being connected to strangers through art, and all of the sudden these strangers become dear friends... all because of some images paint and paper, but really it's my heart and soul on display. So when people respond to it, it's like... I can't even describe it...

I am so grateful to the kind souls I met & connected with at the street fair.

thank you. thank. thank you.

It is always surprisingly emotional and wonderful.

So, my new collages are coming! As soon as this baby goes down for a nap, I'll get them up on my ETSY site... We'vegot abotu 4 hours to go!

Be the change you wish to see inthe world today! (Ghandi)



New Collages coming soon!

You must do the thing you think you cannot do.

So, my mantra as a sixth grade teacher was always...

"You must do the thing you think you cannot do."

whispered to me over andover again by dear, sweet Eleanor Roosvelt, whom I hold close to my heart. I just love this woman, and this quote has always rang true in my life: my first year teaching 5th grade in Los Angeles, moving across the ocean to teach in Hong Kong, and beginning to run.

It seems the minute I finally come to the place where I say to myself, "I can't (fill in the blank)" I know what I need to do,what I have to do... easy to say. hard to do. well I 've come to this place again...

only this time with blogging...Reading blogs is so fun and so easy. I'm unabashadly addicted. But writing a blog...now that's a completely different story...

Okay, so, up until now, I have written about 30 blogs and looked at the looming PuBLisH button and ran the other direction.

There are so many similarities between creating art, blogging, and being naked:

They are vulnerable.

They require a piece of me.
They require me to be honest. I can't fake it.

They bring out all of the inner critic screaming, "Your thighs are tree trunks."

and it's just like this mountain I have to climb and I get to this spot where I push and push and feel the burn, and it's painfuland I hate it, and finally I reach the top... and there is nothing more thrilling and satisfying. The pain and the sweat was so worth it.

The blogging journey is very similar to the painting journey. It's painful and scary and thrilling and liberating... but most of all it'svulnerable.

You really can't fake it or else it comes out lame and just embarrassing.

I think I've been trying to write as this person I wish I was (you know, the woman who is up at 5:00 to jog 5 miles with her golden and her 2 kids in toe, cleans out her fridge on a regular basis, and always wears accessories to match her lipstick). I'm just thankful to brush my teeth and not get otu the door with something, that's not too wrinkled & doesn't have to be ironed.

So here's my plan: I'm just going to start writing a little each day about my "small moments" in the most honest way I can. I'mgoingto teach myself to write,day by day,post by post, just like my kindergarteners learn.

I think I learned once, but I feel like I've forgotten everything I ever learned. I feel like I don't even know what good writing is. I know it when I read it, (like every singlepost from wienerdogtricks & kellyraeroberts) hilarious and inspiring, inthat order, but I couldn't tellyou how to get there...

So, the journey begins...