The joys of working in your studio...ahhhhhh...I'm re-posting this quote by Joseph Campbell which was posted on Robyn Gordon's blog:

"You must have a room, or a certain hour or so a day, where you don't know what was in the newspapers that morning, you don't know who your friends are, you don't know what you owe anybody, you don't know what anybody owe's to you.  This is a place of creative incubation.  At first you may find that nothing happens there.  But if you have a sacred place and use it, something eventually will happen."

My studio...completes me...

I enjoy time working in my studio where I can listen to the music I want...as loud as I want...I can make BIG MESSES and nobody can complain but me...where I can get lost in the simple act of painting...where I can read ART BOOKS...where I can browse through my many journals...where I can mix new COLORS that I never thought possible...

A studio doesn't have to be big and fancy, my 'raw' 'work style' space suits me just fine...

Last year Cassie Tebo of Studio C Photography did a 'photo shoot' in my studio, this year I was just notified by the Professional Artist magazine that my Studio was one of 25 chosen in the "Show Us Your Studio" Contest...and the best part is I won in the category "Most Creative"....NOT the "Most Messy" category!

"The meaning of life is to see." - Hui Neng

Wow, this winter is really something!  Some of these days are so, so cold that I am glad to be in the studio, but then again, I am grateful to be in the studio EVERYDAY!
Why is it as we get older, that our 'time' to do everything we want to do seems to become more limited, more precious?  This past year I temporarily opted out of my book club so that I could focus on some 'me' books that have been piling up around me...and of course they are all art books (see my previous post for a great list!).  I am enjoying it!  Here is the view from my yoga mat and stacks of books....
So, today, with the wind chills way below zero, I am browsing a book that I have read/skimmed through a zillion times..."The Vein of Gold" by Julia Cameron.  On page 331 I wish to share with you what she calls the

ARTIST TRIBAL RULES

1.  Survival Rule Number One is Acceptance.
2.  Don't Judge It.
3.  Defend Your Process.
4.  Never Let Anybody Tell You What to Create.
5.  Maintain Your Creative Health.
6.  Grieve Your Losses.
7.  Create for Revenge.
8.  Remember That the part of us that creates is an Inner Youngster.
9.  Find your Believing mirrors and stick close to them.
10. Ignore the Odds.

Very powerful...she has so much to say!  Dear artist friends...we are on an interesting, creative path, and by all means IT IS NOT AN EASY ONE....keep on working!  Here's wishing you a powerful, creative day!

                                                Works in progress...enjoying January, 2014!

"...sustaining a creative life means that life has to be nourished first.  Creativity follows sustenance." - from the book LIVING AND SUSTAINING A CREATIVE LIFE  40 essays by working artists - edited by Sharon Louden

MY FAVORITE ART READS IN 2013....

My art book collection got  a little bigger ... again... this year, and I just wanted to share some of my favorite reads with you.   As a studio artist, you find yourself spending a lot of time alone, and hopefully surrounded with things you love....one of those things for me is BOOKS!  Some of my favorite reads this year:

1.  Living and Sustaining a Creative Life - essays by 40 working artists - edited by Sharon Louden
   I loved this short read that just came out this fall.  It was an essay format where 40 artists wrote about living and how they 'keep-on' with their creative lives.  The artists were from all types of backgrounds and lived in big cities as well as rural Wisconsin.  It was so interesting to read what works and doesn't work for other artists, how they have developed their artistic lives...I definitely recommend this one!

2.  This year, via Facebook, I discovered the art of Lawrence Carroll (and loved it!)   He uses a muted palette and I think that is what draws me to his work - how he can simply 'move' the viewer by his simplistic view.  So Christmas I had on my list his book titled Lawrence Carroll and my wonderful husband bought it for me...I haven't put it down!

3.  Joan Mitchell, Lady Painter, A Life by Patricia Albers.   I read this book earlier in the year and so enjoyed reading about the life of another woman artist, albeit in earlier times.  Not only do I LOVE her work, it's freedom, but the story was well written and very, very interesting!

4.  As you all know, I have this certain love for New Mexico...especially the Santa Fe area and spend a couple weeks there each year.  I so enjoy my time away to 'paint/work' in the desert.  Another book I enjoyed reading was Georgia O'Keeffe and Her Houses by Barbara Buhler Lynes and Agapita Judy Lopez.  This was a wonderful picture book filled with information on Georgia O'Keeffe's Ghost Ranch and Abiquiu Homes...it got me through some difficult moments when I had wished I was back in Santa Fe and not in Stephenson!   But remember....bloom where you are planted!

5.  Art & Fear by David Bayless & Ted Orland  is probably a re-read book (about 3-4 times) but I tell you I learn, I get inspired and I continue on...after I read this book.   All artists have 'fears'...the ones that succeed have learned to overcome their fears...I highly recommend this one too!

As we celebrate this New Year, may we be thankful for all that we have...ME, I'm thankful for MANY, MANY THINGS...but especially my books (even though my sons threaten to start selling them on ebay - they better not!)

WHAT WERE YOUR FAVORITE ART BOOKS THIS YEAR?????