My Etsy Shop continues to grow thanks to you!

 

I want to thank everyone who views my blog and is a browser in my Etsy shop. My Etsy shop continues to grow and my friends all over the world inspire me to create new works of art by sending me suggestions, commissions, and wonderful words of endearment. So, thank you all for that!

It's hot July and I'm just thinking about where I will be taking my art next. My ideas are all growing like seeds and just waiting to be expressed one new day on a beautiful blank canvas!

My shop was opened in 2008 as a kind of experiment for my new found love of painting. Even though I liked art and design, worked in the graphics world, I never really painted much. It was just something that I didn't think I could actually do with great skill. But, I was very determined to paint some wonderful things. My love of color and design was just aching to go a step further and start a business. I didn't care how long it took me to come to the realization that I could actually sell my work. But, finally it happened, someone bought my first painting! I was thrilled and inspired at the same time.

The start of my art business began way before I opened my Etsy shop. I was already a graphic designer, so I had a lot of knowledge and experience behind me. I began to research, for over 100 hours, the type of painting styles that really struck me as full of emotion and beauty. The brush strokes, the color, the simplicity, the uniqueness, were all very important to me. The idea of having my own individual unique style was of the utmost importance in order to claim my own niche in the market. I wanted people to recognize that my art stood on its own.

I have two different styles of painting, abstract and impressionistic folk. The abstracts began to come to me early in my painting career as I challenged myself to learn the color palette. I did not know color when I started. I was afraid of color to begin with and I didn't want to make a mistake. But, when I realized that I could paint over my  mistakes, it started a whole new ballgame for me. I didn't feel like a perfectionist any more. The abstract paintings gave me the confidence to go even further, once I knew how I could create paintings using color in pleasing ways.

There have been times where I sit down to paint and just paint anything that comes to mind. It then takes on a life of its own. That's when the magic happens! I love that part of being an artist.