My 2015 in Review and What Did You Do in 2015?

I’m going to do something I haven’t done in a while. I’m writing a blog post!

Dear Readers, I hope I still have a few stray readers out there; it has been a full year. I have tried many new things this year and now at the near-end of 2015, I have sort of come full circle – back to the sketchbook and the act of sketching from life - in watercolor and colored pencil. I just ordered six (6!) new sketch books from Dick Blick – who, by the way, is having a sale until midnight tonight – 20% off and free shipping if you spend $69. I can go for that!

I got very much into Documenting my Faith around the first of the year with Stephanie Ackerman – you can read about that here. I enjoy that and plan to continue it in 2016. That led me to also try Bible Journaling. I bought a journaling Bible, actually two, and tried it for a few months. I eventually decided I don’t like drawing in my Bible, but would rather read my Bible and study it as I did before. I’ve always written in my Bible, made marginal notes, and colored the text and underlined it. I love using colored pencil in my Bible as a highlighter. But drawing in my Bible actually distracted me from the Word instead of drawing me more into it. So I gave away one journaling Bible and I will keep the one I did the most art in. Now I know. You can’t know until you try; right?

In October, I realized another dream of mine – I opened a booth in the downtown antique mall – Deborah’s Designs and Finds. My plan was to create like mad and fill it with hand painted glass rescued from local thrift shops, my artwork, and things I find at auctions and thrift shops. Stocking and running my booth has proven to be far too much stress for far too little enjoyment and no profit whatsoever. So December will be my last month renting a full booth space. It is located in the downstairs of the antique mall and maybe doesn’t get enough traffic. The owner suggested I rent a small display case upstairs at much less rent and with far greater exposure. I am considering that very seriously. That way I’m not giving the idea up entirely. And most of my “finds” are teacups, books, art, and other things that would fit nicely on display shelves.

My most exciting (for me) new endeavor is My Etsy Shop! I have an Etsy Shop – DeborahAlexanderArt, featuring notecards and prints of my artwork! I hope to expand this shop and add original artwork.

Another endeavor I took on this year is the role of my church’s librarian. That’s a huge project as the books have never even been catalogued!

I lost my job in June of 2015. The first time that has happened to me in my career. Feeling worthless and devastated and rather desperate I looked frantically for a job for months, and when I say looked I mean online looking – I posted resumes for every job that I was remotely qualified for. I even contemplated – was this my chance to finally make art full-time, the thought of which sent me into hyperventilation. I’ve wanted to do that for years and years – as long as I can remember, but when I was faced with the actual possibility of realizing that dream, the thought of not having a steady income and health insurance for my family was more than I could handle. I got so nervous at the mere thought of it that I froze. Faced with a whole day at my disposal, I paced the floor not knowing what to do with myself. Then I made a list of all the things I could do to make myself useful and not idle.  Thankfully, within the next day or so, I got the awaited job offer! I have a wonderful job at the community college where I got my Associates degree! Back home. Full Circle. It’s a busy, fulfilling job that I absolutely love.

So you see 2015 has been a very exciting and busy year.

What have you been doing in 2015? And what are your goals for 2016 - artfully, spiritually, physically, career-wise, or otherwise? I’d love to hear from you in a comment.

And I’d like to wish you all a very…

This Christmas Card is available in my Etsy Shop! 

Inspired

I'm feeling inspired today by fellow blogger Brenda Leyland over at It's a Beautiful Life. When I read her posts, it's like having a cup of tea on a cool summer morning out on the veranda. I can just see the green grass and trees in the morning mist - the flowers laden with dew and the sun just breaking through. And I am there - content, cool, contemplative. That is Brenda's writing. Soothing. Peaceful. I love her blog. You really need to pay her a visit. I wish I were her neighbor and could just pop over to her house for a visit occasionally.  But her blog is a welcome respite as a substitute.

I am blessed with a possibility for the very first time in my life to maybe, just maybe, work from my home. I pray that this wish comes true, for thinking about it just makes my heart soar. My work day would not start until 10:00 and that would be bliss for me. I have always wanted to spend my mornings in the sunroom, sipping coffee, journaling, reading my Bible. Even the tiniest thought that this little dream might be realized almost sends me into orbit with happiness.

Though a bit messy, and a little blurred, above is a view inside my happy place - the sunroom. My sweet Tucker has decided to occupy my seat for a bit. He likes my happy place too. His favorite spot is usually over on the wicker love seat. I had to snap a pic of him curled in my desk chair. What a cutie!

Hopefully if this wonderful dream of working from home is realized, I can paint more, keep my blog up to date, and enjoy my beautiful home. For now I will leave you with an 8 x 10 acrylic canvas I painted last week in my other happy place, my basement studio.

Bible Journaling - Documented Faith

Since the beginning of the new year 2015 - I have been documenting my faith with Stephanie Ackerman (click on the link to go to Stephanie's blog and learn all about Documented Faith) and the Documented Faith Group on Facebook. I also joined Facebook's Journaling Bible Community.  This has given me new meaning and purpose and excitement in my art. What's better than combining my art with text from God's Word and my faith?!

How Great Thou Art

8 x 10 mixed-media canvas

$90.00

Sold

Snow Day in Studio

After my fantastic weekend with the Journal Fodder Junkies, I got the added treat of a SNOW DAY today! Home in the studio. What could be better than this after getting inspired at the weekend workshop. I want to share more about that workshop and all I learned and created, but for now I will post about today's artistic endeavors.

First I got out a big sheet of watercolor paper and just played with color and texture. I will do more to this later on - this will be a background for something. Just don't know what yet.

Given my self-diagnosed ADD - or at any rate my complete inability to concentrate on one thing for very long - I jumped to another project...

I purchased a hardbound 11 x 14 Strathmore sketchbook at the workshop from Eric Scott and (even though I have about 20 sketchbooks started and unfinished right now; unable to resist this brand new sketchbook) I made this background with watercolor and a stencil...

...then I looked over and saw the pad of tracing paper and began looking through old sketchbooks for a sketch to copy. I found the sketch below from autumn 2002. I had made some color notes in the margin and this scene has always appealed to me. I knew I could never duplicate it with the same feel as the sketch, but I've wanted to duplicate it into a painting since 2002. Never thought much about using the tracing paper before.

I traced the sketch onto the tracing paper, and then used carbon paper to transfer it onto a sheet of watercolor paper the same size as sketch - 6x9 (I already had pieces cut to this size!). Once I had it transferred it looked like this:

And above is the final product! Yay! I finished something today!

I spent Valentine's Day with THE Journal Fodder Junkies! 

Right here in my small town of Galax, Virginia! David Modler and Eric Scott - conducting two separate workshops this weekend at Chestnut Creek School of the Arts. 

I could have spent the entire day just looking through their journals. Volumes and volumes of ideas, inspiration, and creativity! These gentlemen are so creative and full of artistic energy! I came away with so much that I went straight down to my basement studio with a cup of tea just to sit and savor the experience, the emotions, the tremendous creative energy of today.  I want to hold onto it while it's still tangible and solid, this feeling of being filled with excitement, enthusiasm, energy and inspiration - spending the day with like minded people and creating page after page of images and colors and words. Today reignited my passion for art journaling - visual journaling. I have a whole new grasp on what it means to practice Visual Journaling. No more simply making a pretty page, I want to be free to just express what is in me. To spill onto the page whatever is inspiring me or speaking to me that day - enjoying the process more than the product. I want to explore and record my findings. I want to play with my materials - like I did today. Just spreading everything out and playing with colors and techniques - experimenting, feeling all the textures of papers and stencils, and fodder - the stuff we collect and feed into our journals. 

Is this not the most beautiful thing you have ever seen?! These two pictures of tables filled, covered, brimming with energy and excitement - the tools of our trade!