My little boy is turning 21 tomorrow. It is so hard to believe. I am in the process of working on a painting for him. It is of his hands playing guitar. You can tell alot about a person by looking at their hands. He has been playing since he got his first one when he was in eighth grade. To me, his hands still look the same as they did then. I would know them anywhere. But they have turned manly, sure of themselves, stronger. I guess it did not happen overnight. It feels like it did though. I miss my little boy.
I am proud of him, of the man he has become. I have high hopes for him too, as all parents do. When he was born, the hospital gave us a free meal, it was lobster, and a bottle of champagne. I still have that bottle and tomorrow I am going to share it with him.
The painting started out to be a gift for him. But it has also turned into a gift for me, a little bittersweet though.
I thought, to put me in the right mood, that I would listen to music that he used to listen to as he was learning to play up through music he listens to today. But since we no longer live together, I find I really don't know what he is listening to nowadays. That is sad to me. It is also bittersweet to listen to his earlier music because it makes me miss the younger him, maybe the younger me too. Times long gone that I can only relive through memories. The years slip away so fast.
Maybe that is why I enjoy being an artist. As an artist, I am always trying to capture a moment, bottle it up to keep it, much like the bubbly I have been saving for this special occasion.
Well, back to the painting. I will post it when I have finished. Enjoy your day!

There is a new art form that I am learning about. It is quite interesting and addictive. It has its start, I believe on ebay. Called ACEO's, or Art Card Editions and Original, they are miniature pieces of art, sized always and only at 2.5 x 3.5 inches. 
   Ebay is where I first came to learn about them. Since then I have seen any number of websites completely devoted to them. There are groups on ebay that are dedicated to keeping artists enthused about creating these miniature works of art. 
   Recently my boyfriend and I signed up to each create an ACEO to be included in a deck of cards. We were each assigned a different card number and then allowed to create any type of card, any subject, using any medium we desired. For an artist used to doing commission work, that much freedom can be a bit daunting.
But I did finally decide on a subject and my favorite medium. 
   Winston, my boyfriend, had the 4 of hearts assigned to him, any medium, any subject. He is a musician by trade and also very clever. His was quite relevant to his card assignment. Not so for mine, which was the 5 of diamonds. But anyway the fruits of our labor are show here.


Tender Moments by Connie               Heart on My Sleeve by Winston

   I have another dilemma. This one has faced me before also. During much of the year I work on commission pieces. Other people tell me what to paint and the I do the work to there specifications. It's safe. It's wonderful to get paid for what I love to do. But when I am faced with the question of painting something on my own I am sometimes at a loss. 
   What do I want to paint? It's harder than some might think. I always seem to have the internal dialog of others in my head. It is hard to paint the things I am interested in when sometimes I don't even know what that is. Is this something I want to paint or is this something someone else said I should paint?
   There's also the question of why? Why do I want to paint this? Is it to please someone else? Is it because I am trying to prove a point? Or maybe I just want to see if I can portray the way the light shines through my blinds?
   I still have some commission work left to do, but I am getting antsy to start a new body of my own work. 
   There are so many directions to choose from and so much that I am interested in. I will continue to ask myself the what and why questions and let you know what I come up with.
Thanks for listening.

Hmmmm.....
It seems everyday I am faced with the same question. Do I spend my time on housework or painting? This week I am sorry to say it has been housework. I spent the last month painting everyday and now my home is showing the neglect. I love to have my home neat and tidy, BUT it takes so much time away from painting and spending time with my family. If it would only stay neat and tidy, then I could forget about it and just paint and enjoy everyone around me. Wouldn't that be perfect?  ...a house that cleans itself. I could just push a button and put my home on autoclean....kind of like autopilot but with no chance of crashing. I love that idea, but alas, there is no such thing. Maybe I should save my creativity for painting, or cleaning........(not).
Or since it's Sunday maybe spending time with my family should come first.
I know..........I have the perfect solution. I'll have my little girl help me with dishes. She is only 7, so to her it is still fun. And maybe one day she will do them all the time. And maybe that is my first step to a home that is autocleaned.