A Conversation With Fear

Fear:  So Beth, haven't seen you around much.  This blog is looking pretty barren.  What's the matter, creativity taking a vacation?

Me:  Actually, no.  I've been quite prolific in my art-making, but you're getting in my way of sharing it with the world.

Fear:  (Menacing chuckle)  Ha ha!  So I've succeeded!  Tell me your fears.

Me:  I'm afraid no one will read this blog.  (So what?)
        I'm afraid that people will find me here and come back for more, expecting some consistency from me.
        (And this is a problem HOW?)
        I'm afraid that people will think my art sucks.  (How will I know if I don't share?)
        I'm afraid of failure.
        I'm afraid of success.  (Now isn't THAT silly!)
        I feel safer keeping my "stuff" to myself.  If I don't put it out there, it can't be judged.

Fear:  So I win!

Me:  Nope.  Now that I've voiced my fears I feel free to get on with my life's work, to share my passion  
        with the world!

Fear, YOU can go on a very long vacation -- SCRAM!

The Secret Is Out!

Today we are celebrating a very special family members' birthday.  Since he doesn't like cake (!), I'm making him his annual birthday apple pie.  For years now people having been raving about my pies, especially my apple pies.  I've developed quite a reputation for them.  When asked for the recipe, I always say, politely but firmly, "I'm sorry, it's a secret family recipe."  Today's the day.  I'm letting the "secret" out!

Beth's Best Apple Pie

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

Pie crust (Secret #1:  I use store bought rolled pie crust.  Store brand even)

6 cups thinly sliced, peeled cooking apples, preferably Granny Smith

Secret #2:

I use an apple peeler.  You don't really think I'd peel all those apples by hand, do you?

Mix together:

3/4 cup sugar

2 Tbs. all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg

1/3 cup dried cranberries, if desired  (since the kids don't care for cranberries, I don't often use them, but they are yummy!)

Gently toss the dry mixture with the apples till coated.

Place in pastry lined pie plate.

Secret #3:  Dot with one full stick of butter, sliced.

Yeah, I know, that's a lotta butter.  But it makes the pie so sweet and juicy!

Top the pie with crust.  Seal by crimping edges with a fork, or pinch with fingers.  Make 4 slits in top crust to ventilate.

Secret #4:  Brush top of pie with milk and sprinkle with sugar.  You will have the yummiest pie crust ever!

Cover the edge of the crust with foil to prevent burning.  Bake for 40 minutes.  Remove foil and bake for an additional 20 minutes.

And Voila!  You have a wonderful apple pie!

Oh, and don't worry about writing this recipe down.  You can find it right here:

Now the secret's out!

Happy Birthday Brandon!

Some days are like that

For two years now, my friend Carolyn and I have been exchanging art journals.  I will admit that I am always trying to impress her with new techniques, colors and styles, although, by far, she is the better artist.  Here is my latest spread in her journal:

Yuck!  The first thing I don't like about about this spread is the bright, fire engine red background.  I love bright colors, but I'm just not feelin' it on this page.  Then there's the stenciling.  I love using stencils in my work, but I feel they should be a little more discreet.  And the doodles?  Well, I went a little crazy with the wite out pen.  If this were my own journal, I would be tempted to just gesso the whole thing and start over.  In this case, I am under deadline and need to get this journal back to Carolyn.  It will stay as is.  By nature, not every art journal page is a masterpiece.  Things don't always turn out as planned.  Yes, some days are like that.  Today is one of them.

Permission To Be An Introvert

This video by Susan Cain, author of Quiet:  The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking, spoke volumes to me.  I so believe that in order to be creative, we need some time of solitude.  Some of us need more than others.  When I am home alone I often don't have any type of sound on.  No radio, no TV, no Ipod.  I crave silence.  Silence to think, to read, to write and to make art.  I need silence in order to let the words and ideas flow.  I've always felt that that made me somewhat odd, as most people seem to function just find with the TV on all day.  Now I have met a soul sister, a kindred spirit.  Thank you Susan for validating my need for quiet time.  Thank you for sharing your message with the world!

This video can be found on TED.com and also on UTube.

Painting! Who knew?!

I have always wanted to paint, but never thought I could.  In January, on a lark, I signed up for Donna Downey's Canvas Create workshop.  She walks you through the complete process of creating a mixed media painting from start to finish.  I am having so much fun with this!

This is my first painting, and I was pretty darn happy with the result.  I'm not loving my writing on the "Believe" part, but on the whole, it turned out much better that expected.  Of course, there is a learning curve:

On the second assignment, I loved the technique of embedding the heart into modeling paste, and I'm pretty happy with the colors.  Not too happy with the stark green bubble wrap printing, the random turquoise blob on the middle right, or the stark white paper I attempted to cover the blob up with.  I did think the white paint splatters that I added were kind of cool though. **Sigh** This is a learning process.  I'm going to rework the painting and do a few things differently.  The main thing though is that I'm gaining confidence that I CAN paint.  I'm encouraged to try new things, and I'm having a heck of a lot of fun along the way!

Art and originality

Recently I wrote to a friend, " I have taught myself art by copying others whose art I admire, but I'm at the point of where I'm asking myself, ' Where does their art end and mine begin?'."  The ink was barely dry on the page when I discovered this book featured on several blogs:

Then I received a newsletter written by Cate Prato for Cloth Paper Scissors Today, addressing the same issue.  Synchronicity?  Oh yeah.  Basically, it seems to be okay to copy another artists' work to learn a new technique or style, but then one must experiment and add one's own style (whether you know you have one or not!), to make the piece uniquely one's own.  My partner, Roch, a musician, cited Billy Joel as an example.   He said that Billy Joel was known for copying the voice and style of other artists out of admiration for their talent, and this practice finally developed into his own style, for which he has become wildly popular.  Hmm.

While all this information makes me feel mildly more comfortable, I'm still a bit uneasy.  I would never want another artist to feel that I have ripped them off.  If anything in my work seems evenly remotely like that of someone else, I would hope that they feel flattered.  I am learning and growing as an artist.  I have faith that eventually my OWN style will emerge.

Thoughts anyone?

Winter is here!

This winter has been wonderfully unusual, in that here, in Upstate New York, we have had very little snow.  Almost none.  But we are now in the midst of a 2-day snowstorm that will leave us with almost a foot of snow.  In a normal winter, this type of storm would hardly raise an eyebrow.  THIS winter, it is cause to rejoice. We have two days with nothing else to do but snuggle in with a cup of tea and make art!