My favorite time of the year!

Well, it is now the end of August and only days away from Fall, my favorite time of the year. I know that fall doesn't officially begin till mid September, but as far as I am concerned, we are close enough. There is so much that I look forward to when the temps begin to drop and the green gives way to browns, reds, yellows and oranges. There is just something about the feel of the autumn months, the brings me to life. I feel much more energized and inspired once we get beyond the heat and humidity of June, July and August. Doesn't hurt that besides raking leaves, the outdoor tasks list begins to dwindle, and I feel like I can once again focus my efforts and energy elsewhere.

Got some fun Halloween themed art project formulating which I will post pics of as they begin to take shape. Now that I have discovered that there is a whole division in the art world dedicated to Halloween art and things of the macabre nature, I look forward to trying my hand at creating some pieces in that vein as well. I only hope that my work comes half as close to the awesome things I have seen on this blog network and elsewhere in my trips around the web.

In addition to the visual arts, I am still working on some writing projects. I am signed up for NaNoWriMo to take place in November, and I have joined a writers group to be held at the library in the coming months. At this point the group is just a short-term thing, but it sounds like the plan is to make it a regular event if the interest is there. I know I would welcome having a group of peers to work with. If things go as planned, (there I go planning again) I hope to be working regularly on my series of "midwestern gothic" novels, and featuring artwork described in the books on this blog. Think it could be a fun challenge to find a way to "marry" both my writing and my art. Will see how it comes together.

Well, that gets us somewhat up to date for now. Following is a picture of the laminated paper project that came out of a workshop I did back in June. Finally got around to the finishing touches. Liked the medium, and once I can get a hold of the gel used, I will try some more. I see a monkey in plaid pants in the future!

Any way, till my next entry, here's to living the creative life!

I'm back

I can't believe that once again, I have let this blog fall by the wayside. I did some redesigning a few weeks ago, and check in regularly to review post from the blogs I follow. Not very good about posting myself however. As I have stated before, it had always been difficult for me to give my creative life the time it deserves when I know that others and other things require my attention. Spring and summer and all the work around the house that those season bring, definitely got in the way. Not that I have kept up that well with the to-do list there.

Anyway, I am once again making an effort to commit at least a few hours a week to the creative pursuits. In addition to getting back into the studio, I have taken up my writing again. I have begun work on some short stories and have already signed up to do this year's National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). About 5 years ago I did my first NaNo when a friend who is a published author convinced me to give it a try. I successfully completely my 40,000 novel in 30 days both that year and the following year. (Those manuscripts now reside on this computer waiting for revision.) I tried for a third year, but doubt and frustration caused me to give up at about the halfway point. The past 2 years, I have been occupied with the Fall Gallery and Gift Event I started at work. Since I have now left the activities committee, and since no one else seems to want to take up the baton for the event, my Novembers are now free again. Because of that, and because I have been hearing the call to write, I signed up to participate again in a few months. Not really sure what I will be writing just yet, so we will see what develops on it's own.

In addition to the short stories and NaNo, I have been reading more about the art of writing, and have attended a seminar on writing mysteries. I don't believe that mystery is my genre, but I still came away with some good advice and recommendations. As a result of the seminar, I picked up Stephen King's book On Writing. It is a great book - part memoir and part guide to writing. I was encouraged to read that SK was once embarrassed about being a horror writer. He felt it when people questioned why he was wasting his talents on writing scary stuff. Aren't all writers supposed to aspire to writing literature? He eventually came to terms with what he is drawn to write. I can't tell you how encouraging to know that someone as successful as Stephen King once worried about what other people thought about the horror genre. Since I was a teen, I have enjoyed reading horror novels. Because that is what I like to read, it is also what I feel drawn to write. I can now say that I am OK with that. Rather that fight it, or not write at all, I shall write what comes to me and hopefully that will take me where I need to be creatively.

I am beginning to feel very much the same way about my painting, sculpting and assemblage artwork as well. I am drawn to the dark and somewhat gloomy subject matter. (With a bit of whimsey as well. Don't want you to think that I am this brooding and unhappy individual.) I am a story teller, and the stories I like to tell, aren't necessarily pretty or have a happy ending. With that realization, I have done a great deal of web surfing and research and have found this whole breed of artist I never knew existed, and many of them have a presence here on Blogger. I have found that their are painters, and sculptors who specialize in Halloween as their subject matter of choice, and I LOVE their work. I am really looking forward to exploring these same things in my own artwork, and daydream a little about joining their ranks some day.

I think that I just need to focus on combating the doubts that keep me from living the creative life I now know I am meant to live. When I do that, and begin to create the stories and art that I am naturally drawn to, I can find the fulfillment and success that I know is waiting out there for me.

Well, enough rambling for now. I will be posting more again soon. I promise myself that. I hope to include some snippet of my writing when I am more comfortable as a writer. In the mean time, I can include pictures of the things coming out of my studio.

Here's to a productive fall, full of all things dark, and spooky and just a little fun!