2010 - New Decade - Big Changes

Yep - there are some big changes a-foot for me. I have been spending a lot of time and putting a lot of effort and prayer and thought into some serious soul searching, goal setting and planning.

Before I get into that - if I even do - I want to tell you  I MISSED you guys!! It has been a very long time since we have met together here in blog-world, or cyber-space. Thank you friends and followers - for hanging in there with me and being patient.

Here is a little  bit about some of the changes. You will just have to watch and see some of them as they take place, becasue even I don't know what they look like yet.

Oh, where to start? Let me do it this way:

1. In a nut shell, I have been contemplating giving up painting on any real serious or regular basis and pursuing business or something else. So far painting has not been all that profitable for me. I was building a business and an income on eBay when I listened to "Nay-Sayers" that criticized my doing it and discouraged me from selling on eBay and so, against my greater desire, I backed off that. I am sorry I listened to them. However - that is water under the bridge.
The fact is I love to paint, I love to make things, I love art. It is a gift that God has given me - I cannot neglect it. So I am not quitting.

2. However, I really enjoy people and I really enjoy business. Being a studio artist can be very, very isolating. I want more people interaction in my life - real, live, warm, breathing, sit across the table and touch them kind of people. While I love my internet friends and appreciate you all - I need more live humans in my life to be balanced and happy. That is another gift that God has given me and I can't neglect that either.

3. I love playing on the internet and spend WAY too many hours doing it. I am intrigued by the idea of making money by being online, I am intrigued by network marketing. I am curious. I think it can work to supplement my income, thus taking some of the pressure off my artistic endeavors, allowing me to be even more experimental and free in my art.

4. I am a believer and follower of Jesus Christ, my Lord, my God, my Savior, my All. Don't freak out - I am not going to beat you with my Bible - LOL. But the fact is I am a believer and it is an enormous part of who I am. The truth is I have tried pretty hard to avoid saying to much "religious" stuff on my blog for fear of offending anyone. That will end right here.

5. I am politically interested and active. I am a conservative with some libertarian leanings. Or maybe I am a libertarian with heavy conservative leanings. Not sure how to categorize me but I am patriotic - I LOVE my country, I love our Constitution and Bill of Rights and I will fight for it.  Again - I have kept my political views pretty much separate from my art. The majority of the art community are liberals and progressives, and I am sorry to say I have lost a few "friends" from posting my political comments here.  I will probably continue to keep my views separate - you can always check my "I May Not Be A Genius, But...." blog. On the other hand...maybe not, we will see.

6. I have been spending a ridiculous amount of time and energy trying to keep my art, my spirituality, and my businesses all separate. I was afraid that my art friends would be annoyed and bored with my business endeavors, and my business friends wouldn't care at all about my art, and any spiritual or religious aspects would just annoy everyone. It has made me feel very fragmented - and it just makes so much more work for myself.

So I guess it all boils down to this: I am a believer who is a full time artist with an interest in the health and wellness industry, and also network marketing. That is me and that is who I am. It might be a little bit of a strange mix, or maybe not, it is what it is.

I am going to be working to get all of  "me" merged into mostly  one place. I do not yet know how I will be doing this but I will be doing it - watch and see what happens.

I have not been painting. As I said I have been contemplating, praying, seeking, trying to figure out how to organize and put this all together into one cohesive whole me, or thing, whatever.  I don't have all the answers yet. But since God won't drive a parked car, I have put myself in drive and I am moving. It will be an adventure to see where this all takes me.

You will be seeing much more abstract work from me. I have to - and I mean I HAVE to - finish the Joyful-Joyful project. I will probably continue the traditional Hymns painting series - I already have another hymn in mind for after Joyful-Joyful. My paintings will be changing I think - much more intuitive - we will see, won't we?

I am THRILLED to announce that I have lost 36.6 pounds as of today and have 21.6 more pounds to go to reach my tentative goal. I feel great and I look pretty darn good - at least compared to where I was. If any of you are interested in what I am doing to lose the weight please email me. I have information and a link for where you can get the product I use. I am an affiliate for this product, I get a small commission. My affiliate agreement does not permit t me to post the link anywhere on line - so email me for it. That is the only way I can get the information to you. It is amazing how effective and easy this has been. Eventually there will be a permanent reminder about it on this site.

Also I found an incredible new product called SoZo, made from the fruit of the coffee plant that is just amazing. It is loaded, and I mean loaded with anti-oxidants. Like 625 times the anti-oxidants of blueberries. One 3 oz serving of this tasty beverage is the equivalent of 16-20 servings of fruits and vegetables. The testimonials of people who have been using it are pretty incredible. There will be links to that on my site in the near future, until then check out www.sozolife.com/nsdavis or www.nathaliedavis.com (still under construction but should be up and running any day now - there are links there now that will take you to more information) or just email me.

I think one of my first goals is to start making enough income from SoZo, my online network marketing, and of course my paintings, to be able to rent a big studio space in a very public place where I can paint and still have people around me a lot. I don't get lonely and I don't have problem being alone, but when I can go a month or more without ever leaving my house - I wouldn't even have to get dressed if I didn't want to - well, that really isn't the way I want to live anymore. I am not complaining - there are things I really like about that lifestyle - I just want more now.

That is more than enough for now. I don't have a painting but I can't leave you without a picture of some sort.

 

This is the Riu Santa Fe Resort where we stayed in Cabo San

Lucas last week. It was just beautiful.

The grounds were just stunning with neatly trimmed blooming bougainvillea hedge rows everywhere. I can't believe I got these picture without people in them - what luck! Although they said the resort was full and the place was huge - it never seemed crowded at all.

I have no idea how many pools there are at this place - but this vanishing edge pool was the one closest to our room. It was cool to see cruise ships come in several times. We had a wonderful time. even though we had never been to Cabo San Lucas, we never left the premises. We had seminars for most of the morning and we just relaxed and chilled and visited with amazing people we met there. We had a great time.


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Underpainting on the easel today

Underpainting for something
acrylic on board
24" x 24"

I am posting the photo of what is on my easel, even though it is just a start, just an underpainting. Maybe it will be interesting to see how it develops.You may want to skip the rest of  today's blog. You've been warned. If you continue, prepare to be bored. This painting and this blog post is for me and might not be a so very interesting rambling.

I have a restlessness going on inside that I can't explain, and it is not new. I enjoy painting the little birds, and pears, and still lifes, and portraits. I enjoy it - but it feels empty and kind of meaningless to an extent. The abstracts have much more substance for me actually. But they are so darn HARD to do and I can never tell if they are good or not. I can't judge them like I can the traditional "realistic" stuff. I mean a pear looks like a pear, a bird like a bird and if you don't get it right - it's obvious to anyone. How do I know if I don't get an abstract right? Blah, blah, blah. Ok, now I am boring myself.

I found myself flipping through books and magazines - looking at painting techniques and styles for the umpteenth time. I know I had an idea in my head and I wasn't seeing it or finding it anywhere I looked. Is that looking outside of myself for inspiration? maybe that is the issue. But as usual, the idea I had in my head, the image that was floating around in my head, was vague and ethereal. It is always like trying to catch smoke. I know it's there, it's real and yet unattainable. And like smoke, when I go after it, it shifts and changes and slips just out of reach, reforming, eventually dissipating.  Out of frustration I decided to just go paint - just start and see what happens. I knew I had some photos of the orange flowers that I loved and that was as good as anything for now. And I knew I wanted to do something larger. I started by drawing with charcoal thinking I would try to preserve some of the drawing and then the next thing I knew everything was covered up with paint. I used acrylic as I didn't have a lot of time and I knew it was just a start. My intention is to finish in oil - but we will see. Now the idea has dissipated again, and I am not sure where to go next. I have ideas - but I am not sure which one to go with, and they are all vague anyway. I guess it will just happen.
One thing I learned from Bob Burridge is to write down my intentions, composition and color scheme etc right at the start so this doesn't happen. But how do I write down smoke? Once again - a struggle of passion and substance - or the lack thereof maybe...with a touch of ADHD mixed in for good measure. I want thick juicy paint with a good amount of texture, rich, intense bright color. More abstract than representational. Directional, dramatic light and shadow. Interesting line work.  Something to shoot for tomorrow. I am also eager to get back to the Joyful project - maybe I can work on both tomorrow. Maybe....



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Nathalie Davis web site
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New Daily Painting and a God Sighting

Robert 010609
oil on hardboard
forgot to measure the size but maybe about 11" x 14"

So here is today's painting. I almost didn't go to portrait class as my head was pounding and not feeling all that great - again. (The weather I think) I sure am glad I went though. I had a great start on this portrait but got to talking and lost all focus - totally lost the likeness - but was able to save it as an interesting image any way. I'd like to work on it some more tomorrow if I can, or maybe just scrape it off - we will see...

Here is the God Sighting - that is my term for whenever I see or experience the hand of God at work, an answered prayer, a miracle, a blessing - whatever, large or small - where ever. So of course I pray a lot about the stuff I write about and lately it's been about substance, passion and vision. (Actually it's not just lately - I just found an email that I sent to Vanessa over a year ago about the same issues.)

Before Rick and I went to bed we were looking at some paintings in an art magazine and there was a painting by Reed Cardwell, which we both liked. He is a local artist and I took a one day workshop with him once. He teaches in downtown San Diego - which is just too far to go for classes.

So last night I woke up because I smelled smoke. My initial reaction was concern - but I quickly realized it wasn't the kind of "something's on fire" smoke, it was slightly spicy, more like smokey incense, or some kind of fragrant cigarette only nicer. I tried to go back to sleep only to be awakened again - and again. This occurred a number of times. I forgot to check the clock but I would guess it took place around 2- 3 AM. Then it changed from smoke to a spicy sweet earthy fragrance - like myrrh or patchouli or something. I can't describe these fragrances really. I have smelled it one other time, many years ago - probably about 25 years ago, after being anointed for prayer. At that time when I asked my pastor about it he told me it was the fragrance of the Holy Spirit and this fragrance stayed with me for about 3-4 days. Last night I just wanted to sleep - I should have woken up completely and asked God about it - but I just wanted to sleep. I kept sniffing my sheets and pillow case even though I knew it wasn't it. Finally it stopped waking me and I was able to get to sleep, then this morning I awoke with the thought and idea that I needed to do a series of abstract paintings based on classic hymns. Interesting. I only know maybe 3 hymns - I know contemporary worship music and praise choruses - but not hymns. I don't know hymns. I am intrigued by this idea although I find it is rather a daunting task. I am not very good with abstract art - I can do semi-abstract figurative stuff - but abstract work based on something I don't know or have familiarity with and is abstract by nature - music - wow. That seems like a lot - but not too concerned - if God wants me to do it then I guess He will help me paint them too.

I went to class and told Vanessa about it and she asked what time this took place - because she too was awakened by the smell of smoke - around 2:30 AM! Wow - confirmation. Then a little later I took a look at the upcoming classes, even though I was planning to take a session off, and lo and behold - Reed Cardwell is teaching a class at the studio - at a time I can take it - he's teaching abstract painting. Wow again. I guess I won't be taking a session off!

Coincidence? Nope. God sighting.

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I don't have a title for this and many questions

Oil on hardboard
6" x 6"

Well, here is another painting I did before Christmas - sure is nice to have a couple of paintings waiting in the wings for the days that just don't go as expected. I am still not feeling on top of the world - but much better.

I don't have a title for these paintings. I don't have title for this blog. This year is off to a slow and very unimpressive start - "starting out behind already" seems to be a consistent thing for me. I did start preparations for a 36" x 48" canvas for a corporate portrait. I am eager to get going on that one.

Here is what is going through my head these days regarding art; passion, vision and substance. Can passion be taught? Can you have a vision without passion? What is substance in a work of art? Where is the line drawn between commercial art and fine art? Can fine art be marketable art? If you are making marketable art then is it commercial by default? and that is just the beginning....

I saw a report on the news that thinking a lot leads to being overweight! AH HA!!! - so THAT is my problem! If I could find a way to turn my brain off would I lose weight? The scale says I am a GREAT thinker!!! LOL


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