Art and Illumination

This month is Lupus awareness month. I first heard the doctors tell me about it in May of 2006 ,while seeing the rheumatologists at the Cleveland Clinic. They told me it was the suspected diagnosis; but that it might take years to confirm. I began treatment for Lupus in March this year almost six full years later.

Lupus has really slowed down the speed at which I work, when I’m suffering a flare. Additionally, the inflammation in my wrists affects my fine motor skills. I find detail work far more challenging, and fatigue from it far earlier. As an artist with lupus, and knowing that every persons manifestation of lupus is as individual as a snowflake, I’ve started to experiment a bit with my treatment.

I find that the corticosteroid cream for the skin inflammation can be applied around the wrists for some temporary relief. I have also been using an herbal combination of Curcumin and Licorice Root to help bring down inflammation too. I find them to work more effectively together than taken apart. They have helped get rid of the morning stiffness I was experiencing by taking them before bed.

The hardest part of making lifestyle changes is that I have an intense love of nature and the outdoors and now have to be very careful when and how I’m exposed to sunlight. Now hiking and snapping photos of wildlife for painting has limitations, as does my gardening. It’s all about adapting.

Being that it is Lupus awareness month I will share the following- Lupus should be considered a women’s health issue. Of the 1.5+ million people with Lupus, over 90% are women. These women receive their diagnosis usually during child bearing years and experience a worsening of symptoms often while ovulating. There will be several Lupus walks throughout the country this summer. I will be attending mine in June. On May 18th wear purple and find a way to make more people aware of this disease that affects more people than MS or Leukemia!

About a month ago I created my own lil’ stylized button/icon for Pinterst. It was a tad challenging; but I was so happy to fit it into the illuminated manuscript style of my blog. I think it is so cute, but I am biased!

The whole concept of Pinterest is something I’d been craving to use for a while. I’ve felt nervous, for some time now, about sharing my work online while trying to build up my portfolio for Art Licensing. Luckily I have my “Masters List” of other professionals to study and model from and under. I watched how they used Pinterest for a couple weeks. I was able to see how I would use it with my own style for building community and cross-marketing before starting. They, inadvertently, showed me how to use it safely with respects to my larger goals in a world of copyright piracy.

I have only dipped my feet in the Pinterest world and am enjoying it. Time to amp things up and get busy along with all the energy that is blossoming back into me! The two most shared items in my boards are from my Inspiration board and a “My Art”  board.

Finally, came home and coded in the button on my site, instead of cracking into my new brushes right away. Forgot  I’d reduced the size- oops! Well I will fix it after dinner.  I’m contemplating making the buttons light up slightly with a rollover as I have with other buttons- we shall see. For now getting it up will suffice, the rest can wait!I also took a run downtown today to support a local arts business being promoted by the Ca$h Mob initiative of the Toledo Choose Local organization. Perfect little artist date for myself as it was to the  Art Supply Depō . I took advantage of a 40% off sale they were having on my favorite new designer brushes to paint with! Enjoyed the beautiful sunshine, a short chat with the lovely people who own the store, and ended it all with  a little stop in a cafe nearby.

Today I had the opportunity to sit in front of  several groups of junior high school students and share my enthusiasm and knowledge of the art world. This was through the Career Forum the Bowling Green Chamber of Commerce organizes at BGSU every spring. Our arts panel provided a well-rounded group of arts professionals.

Even with all the chatter about the rising Creative Class in the research by Richard Florida, and cities being rated by their creativity, I  still run into cynicism. The irony to me is that the world of visual arts is constantly being amped up, both in the multitude of places it is being streamed and in the steady hunger for innovations and fresh styles. Pinnterest is a great example of the hunger and personal attachment people have to images in conjunction with ideas.

Currently the US department of Labor Statistics shows the following samples of how visual art is trending upward:

More Info: BLS.GOV

When I was junior I was told point-blank by a very misogynist and discriminating counselor that I would never be able to go to college. Coming on the heels of having just legally emancipated myself, to begin to reconstruct the damage of having an alcoholic parent, this might have been enough to defeat me. Having won Congressional Art  and PTA awards that year in painting, having the support of a great teacher, and having had a long stream of straight A’s in a gifted (GATE) program, I held my chin up and decided I would do it without his help.

Just for the record , I was accepted at every school I applied to based on my SAT and ACT scores; they all took my emancipation in stride. I was even offered a scholarship to study botany based on those scores; but I loved ART!  My portfolio got me accepted by Kendall College of Art and Design in Grand Rapids, MI. It was a hard-earned experience, but learning to live by my own bootstrap- efforts and my own life goals was deeply gratifying.

I can’t even begin to imagine what opportunities I would have seen younger and earlier if I had had some of the knowledge I have now. I was thrilled to pass along information and a lot of  ”invent the rules”, “go get ‘em”, “make a trail” type of encouragement. Ultimately, I encouraged them to find ways to lead, because it forces a lot of learning and out of the box thinking.

Many of them have likely had stories of discouragement similar to my own. So I tried to give them a shot of defiance by sharing the story of Drew Brophy and how he rose above and innovated in an industry. His is another great story of success and living on your own terms that I came across through the artist Tara Reed’s “Ask Calls”.

So I retire from the day feeling happy to see so many young faces coming forward to add their voice and talents to the world! Cheers to the Creative Class!

Almost a year ago I received a package from an artist friend, Tara L. Chang in Seattle, WA. It was full of wonderful handmade treats and copies of some of her artwork on printed postcards. Tara and I share a few common interests: Art, Gardening, and CHOCOLATE.

Naturally  all these things were apparent in the package she sent. I loved her garden and handmade treats, artwork, and the delicious chocolates. The Lavendar Bath Soother  was used while I was recovering from an icky flu, which made it even more of a treat!

This package was from the “Pay It Forward” offering she had shared on her own blog Silver Apples of the Moon.  So in staying true to the spirit of things I decided to do a similar offering the following winter.

The snow is here, the downtown is twinkling with festive lights, and my children have a running lists of holiday treats to bake. It’s officially winter. Winter is cold, can be gloomy and dark, and just begs for sweet surprises.

What I love most about the Pay It Forward concept is that it spreads a little more joy and light into the world. There simply is no better time of year to celebrate the power of kindness and hope. All the various religions out there are celebrating light which perfectly embodies these.

I am sending out to the first person who responds in the comments section an original 5″x5″ Holiday themed painting and some additional handmade goodness, and then to the next two people some prints and handmade goodness as well.

The Paying It Forward rules:

• The first three people who leave a comment on this post shall join this PIF exchange.
• The only thing you have to do in return is to pay it forward on your own website or blog.
• Handmade isn’t always instant gratification; so kindly give up to a year for completion. ( Luckily I already know what I am     going to send so it won’t take me the whole year!)

In addition to Tara L. Chang’s blog you can see more of her wonderful work on her website TLC Illustration.- THANKS AGAIN TARA!

(note to self: Do not start entries while starting dinner- the smoke detector isn’t going to save the food.)

We were working towards a house in the country, luckily that fell through. It brought to mind the prophetic words of my best friend “I am confident you will find the best thing for you.” She is always right- and never tries to be. HOW DOES SHE DO IT! LOL.I am so looking forward to her visit next month. The back yard is so huge and it is so quiet at night we feel like we are in the country, and we can still have our camp fires!

• Success.org
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• Life Learning Today
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