3 french hens

 3 french hens, originally uploaded by dixxebell.

On the third day of Christmas
 My True Love sent to me Three French Hens!

Art comes in many forms

Its been a couple of days since I posted anything, Im sort of weaning myself from the Blogging. I do enjoy reading though and sometimes I make a comment, but Im trying to be quiet and listen more than talk, and learn more than teach, stay more quiet...in the background. I dont know if its me or not but it seems that everyone is very wrapped up in themselves these days, when you try to speak to someone they wont let you finish a sentence...a complete thought never seems to make it from brain to lips these days. It seems people dont really want to listen as much as they want to talk and hear themselves talk..

Im a student of the Navajo way of life. They wait until another stops speaking and finishes their idea before speaking...its not the Navajo way to interrupt someone by not allowing enough time for one to completely finish a thought and speak that thought before you insert your own words into the conversation. What some mistake as slowness is actually a learned behavior of allowing time for words and complete thoughts to be spoken...slowly and with respect. I think all of us could benefit from this method. The art of converstation!

So with that said, up there is a little artwork I finished...I call it Sun-Set Window, It began as a watercolor in my little sketch tablet and then I photographed it and finished it with some digital software, giving it more of an abstract feeling. As Ive said before I dont really enjoy painting, but I do love drawing and doodling as I call it. Digital painting is something I love to do... and Im quite good at it, even if I say so myself! Unless you have ever tried it, you may not be aware that 'artistic talent' is very much involved and necessary for a good outcome. Its like any other form of art, you cant teach someone how to do it, they either have the knack or they dont. You can teach them how to use the tools, but technique is something that you are born with or you hone with practice and determination.

This is what I like to do, no galleries for it as yet, still shrouded in skepticism and controversy. Is digital art real art? I image if you like it then its art..thats the way I look at it. Some people think splatters dripped on a canvas is art, and that chimps and elephants are artists, so anything goes!..

Long ago when photography and camera's were invented it was a spectators sport!..A spectacle, an odd thing. Artists declared it was NOT art...but today its widely accepted and much money is spent purchasing photographic art. I too love photography and I've been practicing that craft for a long time as well. Never tried to make money with it, but certainly wouldnt turn down the opportunity.

Just Ask For It~

ITs cold!...I have to make a trip to Kmart to get some sweat pants for this upcoming weekend...Im not a jeans person, I have them and I wear them but they are too rigid and uncomfortable for me, and last yr at the end of the season I finally threw out the sweat pants I had worn for the past 8 yrs...they were worn OUT and I knew if I didnt get rid of them Id wear them yet another yr...so now its time to get some. Thats pretty trivial but its whats on my mind today. 

 Also on my mind today are the revisions Im working on to get my new line ready to show at the quilt show in Houston later this month. I do get flustered...at first on the one I call the Mask...I left the background open, just the Masks sitting on a background nothing filling up the open space..so they said there is too much dead space...so I added elements to fill up the dead space...now 4 weeks later they are saying Open it up a bit....GRRRRRRRRRR. Some of the changes have to do with resizing but some are quite major. And they want me to make 2 brand new prints...so Ive got a lot of work to do and right here while Big sis is coming for a visit and Im going to be out of town quite a bit. They had these designs before I ever went to Colorado..BUT now they want me to rush...I hate that but it seems that is the way it is so when I get back from K-Mart with my sweat pants...Ill be working this afternoon.

 I get very tense when Im doing revisions...because thats not coming from my head...it is working under direction. I already allowed the creative juice to flow when I created the designs...they look them over and they see it through totally fresh eyes and they see things they want to change. ITs very different to work from within and from outside. I get tense, my neck hurts, and it takes longer to do the revisions than to start from scratch..and when Im creating I go to the zone, you know that place where nothing exists except me, myself, and I. So today Im asking for guidance to help me make these designs to the liking of my constiuents...to make the job easier and better for all involved so everyone is pleased and fulfilled, and balanced.

I got this cool lap top. Ive mentioned it but here it is for you to see. Its not a brand new one but it works perfectly. I thought of loading Photoshop on it to use while Im away but I dont think Ill need to do that I am confident I can get all my revisions done even tho sis is here visiting. BUT imagine how this thing just dropped into my lap. Lap Top Drop...lol. DID I tell ya this before, if I did Im sorry to be repeating myself..over in a yahoo group Im in someone else mentioned a laptop coming into their life and NO money exchanged for it...and thats kinda what happened here. When I was visiting in Colorado I was taking so many photos..and my sister's PC is still running Win ME. And there was no software to download my photos. I tried to download the Kodak Software online, but got an error the Explorer she has...(5.0) was too old Update it, couldnt update to 7.0 due to Windows ME not supported...so it was a catch 22. I tried everything I could think of to get those photos out of my camera...took it to Walmart tried to put them on a disc and there system went down..we were on the way to Utah and had stopped in Glenwood Springs to do this...Well I ended up buying 2 more 2G SD chips instead. 

 They had a promo 2 for $24 great deal...so anyway I now had enough storage for my photos. When we returned from Utah I wanted so much to see my photos on a screen but couldnt. Later that day my sisters friend who was also letting me use her little bungalow came in for one night on her way to Denver. While we were out she sneaked in to do a load of laundry at my sisters and she left something for me. 

 We found this laptop in the living room when we returned...so we thought she left it there by accident...WHEN I went to thank her for letting me use her bungalow and give her back her laptop...she said "ITS YOURS IF YA WANT IT"...at first I said "YOUR KIDDING" but she wasnt...So it took me only a hour to get it updated, and to get my camera hooked to it and we were enjoying a great slideshow of all our vacation photos!..Ask and you shall receive..but be ready for the outcome, make sure you are clear on what you want.