Creating art for ourselves

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I had a wonderful little lunch date with my friend and fellow artist Gina last week. Gina is a pottery maker extraordinaire whom I met last year at a local fair where she was selling her work.

Over sushi, seaweed salad, and green tea we talked about many different art, health, personal growth and spiritually related topics. What stayed with me the most was our conversation about creating art for ourselves.

For a while now the two of us have been completely disinterested in producing with the intention of selling but rather more inspired to make things for ourselves. Gina was telling me how she hadn’t been at her pottery kiln for weeks now (or was it months?) and had no interest in continuing to sell her work at fairs and other venues. I could totally relate.

When I was participating weekly at the Santa Barbara Art Walk I found those entire days displaying and selling my work absolutely exhausting and draining.

After describing her disinterest in making any pottery lately she then alluded to a small piece she did make for her house. How she went to her studio and made it immediately with joy. It was possible for her to delight in the making of this small piece for herself.

I can so relate to this! It’s as though at a deep level we need to fill our own cups first and give ourselves permission to create for ourselves first before putting our work into the world whether just to show it or sell it. I went home after our talk and thought about that second painting I’d like to create for my bathroom.

Bathrooms are generally in terms of Feng Shui where a lot of our energy is drained away from our home – literally energy down the drain. To slow down the drain we can decorate with light and uplifting colors and art.

Up until now I’d put two temporary paintings in our bathroom – both with lots of blue – the worst colors for the bathroom which encourage more water and hence drainage! So I decided to make some art for myself that was uplifting and bright using layers of bright oranges, yellows, golds and whites. They turned out beautifully and completely uplift the energy in the bathroom.

When I get a new digital camera (the last one broke) I will post a photo of these two new pieces.

Here’s to making art for ourselves first! Thank you Gina.

Meditation and Painting

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Lately I’ve been meditating a lot. For the New Year I set a goal to meditate each morning and evening before and after sleep. Then, last week, my husband and I joined an eight week vipassana meditation class. And finally, at the Kenpo Karate school I joined in January, we meditate before and after all lessons and group classes. So this meditation thing has been on my mind…

I think the reason I love meditation is because it’s a time where I don’t have to do anything. Everything stops, including my mind (hopefully) – that’s the goal anyhow. No more dishes, to do lists, worries, goals, thoughts. Nothing matters except focusing on the moment and my body. It’s a given time for silence, rest, and just being instead of doing! It’s like a mini vacation without having to go anywhere.

It’s funny because my mind frets quite a bit the day before the two hour class on Thursday nights. Am I going to be able to sit still? Will I get bored? Why am I doing this again? I’ve already relaxed today and I’ve got so much to do so can’t we just skip this class? Ah the voices…

Then we get to the meditation class and I sit and I start to really enjoy the process of listening to my breathe and observing my thoughts and then letting them go. I really get into it. I feel very relaxed and peaceful.

Then the fear and the voices come right back up. Of course. This is normal the teacher tells us.

This process of meditation is so much like painting.

Sometimes I fret so much before getting to the studio. Will the paintings work out? Do I want to sell them? Why am I doing this? What if they all flop? What about the housework? I don’t feel like painting today….

If I chose to listen and follow the thoughts I might never paint, or meditate for that matter.

My husband knows when I have not been painting. I get seriously bitchy. “ Do you need some studio time?” He asks me, not gingerly, almost pushing me out of thee house towards my studio. Lack of creative time starts to show, not in a good way.

Then I get to the studio and I let myself know that five minutes is enough and we’re just here to have fun. No obligation. Just look around, turn on the stereo. Relax. And then a painting catches my eye and I think of the next layer I’d like to add to it and I reach for a brush and some water and then I look up at the clock and it’s been two hours.

Meditation and painting are very similar birds if you ask me. You hear the voices telling you “don’t do it! Stop! Let’s not!, listen to this…and on and on… etc” and you acknowledge them, maybe even visualize then bubble up away and pop into oblivion, and then carry on.

Do you want to paint Tuesday nights?

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I’ve had a lot of inquiries with regards to the week long Lana Grow March 2008 Energizing and Experimental watermedia workshop here in Santa Barbara, however many of you work during the day and are looking for something in the evenings…

Tuesday evening was a specific request. So….

I am teaching a Tuesday evening abstract painting class with a focus painting techniques, play and experimentation, and principles that support creativity.

You will learn:

  • Basic abstract painting – color and composition
  • Layering liquid acrylics
  • Using mixed media to create depth and texture – gels, mediums, molding paste, others
  • Embedding objects and adding cool stuff to your paintings
  • Incorporating words and images into paintings
  • Preparing and using collage papers in your painting
  • Split ink technique

Each class will have a theme to support and deepen your creativity and nurturing yourself in art.

The class will be 8 weeks, Tuesday nights, beginning February 12th from 6-8 pm. This would be February 12, 19th, 26th, March 4th, 11th, 18th, 25th and April 1st ( no fooling!).

There is room for four students only, currently with possibly only two spaces left, and will be held at Deb’s home studio ‘Heaven on Earth’ in Santa Barbara. The cost is $249. You will receive a detailed class curriculum and materials list upon registration. Students are responsible for painting equipment and supplies. Visa and Mastercard as well as personal checks are accepted.

To register call or email Deb Chaney (805) 403-9870 deb@debchaney.com

Overcoming Overwhelm - Deb's Top 10 stress busters

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After taking on a lot of goals this year, and with corporate and personal taxes coming up (I do the book keeping for our family business), and with my new schedule of driving my daughter to and from school, karate, and making dinners, lunches and breakfasts, plus my husband’s Saturday family clean the house dates (not very romantic but kind of fun and much better than doing all the cleaning by myself) - overwhelm has momentarily crept in and taken a hold of my sanity.

Lucky for me I get in the studio first thing – even if it’s just for 10 minutes. But when I leave my magic “heaven on earth” studio space, life creeps in…..


Then I remembered this list I created a while back…. Ok, you read on, I’m going out for a walk.

Oh and John Michael, if you're reading, for goodness sakes, don't do all of these at once - you're likely to get overwhelmed. Just pick one!!!

Here’s my top 10 list of getting past overwhelm:

  1. Get out of the house/office/studio! Take a break, breathe (funny how we often forget to fully do this!) and drink some water. Change the scenery.
  2. Get into your body and out of your head – often feeling arises because we are thinking about all the things we have to do. We are totally in our heads. Get out of overwhelm by getting into your body. Try:
    Deep Breathing
    Walking
    Do yoga, QiGong
    Swimming
    Stretching
  3. Play some music and dance! If you have are-bounder or trampoline jumping is a great way to release tension.
  4. Delegate some of the things on your to- do list.
  5. Re-evaluate – do you really need to do everything on this list?
  6. Increase your tolerance for mess and disorder -The house does not need to be in perfect order for you to do 10 minutes of your painting project. Just go do it anyways! Dishes be dammed!
  7. Try a Natural Remedy such as Rescue remedy or Bach Flower essences can help shift us energetically to get us out of the frantic state.
  8. Use Eric Maisels’ CENTERing sequence - it's an excellent way to bring you back to the present moment and out of overwhelm.

    Breathe in while saying the first part and breathe out while saying the second part.

    (I am completely) (stopping)
    (I expect) ( nothing)
    *(I am joyfully) (writing this article about overwhelm) [*note this is your current work]
    (I trust) (my resources)
    (I embrace) (this moment)
    (I return) (with strength)

    (I have obtained)(Permission to quote this from Eric Maisel)

    This concept comes from Coaching the Artist Within, Eric Maisel, pHD
  9. Ask yourself better questions. Sometimes overwhelm is a state of mind because we are asking ourselves questions that encourage the negative state of overwhelm. We could ask ourselves better questions such as;

    How can I simplify things here?
    What could I eliminate from my to do list right now?
    What is the purpose of all my busy ness?
    What is my desired outcome for all these things I am trying to get done here? (Because may I don’t need to do them all to achieve the desried outcome)
    How could I make this process more fun?
    How could I nurture myself in this process?
  10. Re-frame it. Jill Badonsky, author of the 9 Modern Day Muses and founder of Kaizen Muse Creativity Coaching encourages us to re-phrase our to-do's in playful and positive phrases such as “I get to… (write this blog )…!”

Just pick the one that seems easy and the most fun.

Two hours or ten minutes?

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I've been setting my alarm for 5 am every morning for the last for weeks in order to get in some painting before starting the morning (the goal). No kidding. Hey, I know of another artist who gets up this early regualrly to paint, can’t I? Apparently not.

Funny thing is for the last two weeks every morning the alarm goes off and I bury down deeper in the blankets and procrastinate and then finally get up to leave about ten minutes maybe half hour if - I’m lucky - for painting. Every day those weeks I didn’t get up and then all day long I basically mentally beat myself with a stick. Why couldn't I get up earlier? Why was I wasting those precious morning hours sleeping?

In an effort to motivate myself, I even wrote a list of reasons why I could get up do this.

  • Nobody would bother me this early
  • Two hours of uninterrupted painting time!!!
  • For the great habit I would form

    (I lost the rest of the list)

When that didn’t work I decide to allocate the first bit of the studio solely for doing fun explorative pieces on canvas pad – not touching the larger Pure Abstraction body of work which is my goal for this year.

This was a fun idea but it didn’t get me up at 5 am and yesterday I ended up playing all morning and not getting to any of my “serious” pieces. Hmmmm...

Maybe I need to call Nancy and ask how she does it!!!

Oh dear.

This morning the alarm didn't go off. I heard our neighbor’s car as he left for work and it seemed to be getting light out. Usually it’s dark when the alarm goes off. So I got out of bed, curious to see what time it was. 6:30 am!! But instead of the usual panic I tidied some things around the house, made my daughter’s lunch and then headed to the studio for the 10 minutes before seven when I wake her up and start the process of getting her ready for school.

And, honestly, it was the best 10 minutes ever!

Maybe ten minutes is enough. Less is more. I keep saying that to my friend Meg who is craving to get back into her creativity…”Just a few minutes in the morning is enough.” Yet here I was being a hypocrite and aiming high for two hours!!!

Cheers to ten minutes of painting time in the morning!

Celebrate small successes

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Last blog I talked about bridging , this being one studio technique/habit you can use to set yourself up to work on your painting regularly. If you went ahead and tried this, or took any small step towards any of your 2008 goals, it’s important to celebrate your success.

Why celebrate? Giving yourself a small reward for the step you just took in the direction of your goal is important because we are training our brains and our beings to form new habits and the reward is a positive re-enforcement to keep us going.

Let’s face it, if you go and paint for 5 minutes today you may not have someone patting you on your back saying; “Way to go!” or “Your painting is fantastic” or “ I’m sooo glad you took some time out to pursue your creative dream”. You may not have a lot of initial support around you, so it’s important that you became your own cheering squad. Therefore, giving ourselves positive feedback for this small step we took towards our goal will help us feel good about what we did so that we will do it again and form a new habit.

In the long run we hope that the doing the thing itself (in this case painting) is the reward in itself. I can say for me that being in creative process is reward in itself. However, even though I am totally passionate about my art and paint often ---sometimes there are things that come up – procrastination, resistance, life busy stuff, etc – that keep me away from the studio and my art and hence this is why, in the course of this blog, I am presenting you tricks and habits I've learned that I use to overcome this blocks.

Hence, the key is to reward yourself when you do *it, especially when you are starting out and forming this new habit!

*it= paint, take 5 minutes to write your book, make a small step towards one of your goals.

Here are some small ways that I reward myself for taking small steps towards my 2008 goals:

  • Jump up and down and say YES! YES! YES! I rock!
  • Light an aromatherapy candle
  • Soak my feet in a foot tub with salt
  • Read a chapter of a novel (just finished reading Eat, Pray, Love and Shantaram – both were excellent)
  • Walk up the street to the local stream and wooded area and sit on the bench by the stream
  • Jump around the rocks on the stream
  • Make a hot chai tea with honey and half&half
  • Dance to music
  • Eat a piece of chocolate. Current favourite – Dove Chocolate !
  • Collage in my journal – glue in …quotes from tea bags, pictures of art, inspiring words of messages, postcards, nature scenes.
  • Add images to my art image journal
  • Read one of my artist magazine and cut out images and stick them into my journal (in December I subscribed to Art News, American Artist, and Modern Painters . So far I like Art News the best for images of abstract art.)

And these are some big ways that I reward myself for taking small steps towards (yes, I still did intend to say small step, however sometimes it's good to mix it up a bit and give yourself a jack pot. ) my goals:

  • Walk by the beach
  • Get a cup of Yerba Matte at Lazy Acres Market (they m ake the best!)
  • Get a massage
  • Get a smoothie
  • Get a Raiki treatement
  • Get a sandwich at Lazy Acres Market – such a treat!
  • Go to the gym and hot tub or sauna
  • Get some new stickers for m y journal
  • Buy a new journal or book (When I finish my marketing plan, I’m looking at treating
  • myself to a new image journal from this Leather Journal online store)
  • Get a hair cut
  • Manicure/Pedicure

I’d love to hear how you reward yourself for the small steps you are taking towards making your creative dreams become real life daily habit and ritual.

Setting Yourself up for Success - Bridging

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Happy New Year 2008! Did you make some goals for the new year? Set some intentions? Whether you’ve decided to paint every day or once a week or try something creative like write a book– I’d like to share a studio habit that I use regularly to supports me in taking small steps and staying in creative process.

The trick is called bridging and can be used to get you back into the flow of your project after you’ve been away from it. In essence bridging is a word for having everything you need ready to go to get started on your project. The idea is that you are forming a bridge from the last time you worked on this project to now – when you intend to get started again. The bridge is making it easier for you to get started and continue working. Instead of forging through the river to get to the other side – finding all your supplies, setting up, figuring out what you need – you’ve already got it ready to go. You just walk over your “bridge” and start working.

It helps if you can have a designated place in your home permanently set up for your project.

In this photo (below) everything I need to start painting is set up and ready to go for the current Pure Abstraction series of paintings I'm working on this year. Brushes, water, soak sponge, palette, water spritzer, paints, gloss medium, paper towels, and the painting in process are all on my worktable ready for me to start work.

Sometimes, as well as the having the supplies I need set up for my next step, I also leave a note next to my painting reminding me where I want to go with the piece. The note might say something like “next layer with gloss medium, use titanium white and cobalt teal. Think about iridescent pigments.” As part of creating lasting success it’s important to give yourself small rewards to train your brain to keep doing this new habit that will support you in achieving your goal.’

So, if you’ve gone ahead and set up your project and done your bridging, go ahead and do something nice for yourself to celebrate. Later this week I’m going to share with you some ways I celebrate when I start a new habit and why it’s so important to recognize our progress.

Here’s to your creative success in 2008! Much love, Deb

P.S. As of today there are 18 spaces left for Lana Grow’s March 2008 workshop. Full details for the Energizing and Experimental Mixed Media abstract painting workshop, follow the link.





Deb’s 2008 Goals...Daily love, Play, & Self Care

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Spiritual/Personal Growth
- connect with God daily through sitting meditation b/f and a/f sleep (5 count bubble meditation)
- Listen and do the Tony Robbins Personal Power Tapes
- Listen and do the Tony Robbins Power of Influence
- Listen to the aura color Pamela Oslie videos
- Finishing listening to the E-Myth
- ?Course in Miracles, Marianne Williamson
- ?The Julia Cameron Course with the dragon on the cover in my studio
- Thought awareness – practice equanimity, even when it’s hard
- Work on being positive and happy by choice
- Inquire about doing Tthe Blessing in Fiji with Matt and Ruth
- Esalen personal retreat – hiking/art/ compassionate communication class – ask Mum to come and watch Ruth

Health and Vitality
- weekly hike, swim, yoga, jog (wth Shan), pilates
- join a martial arts club class to really push myself – create some habits! (I joined a club today, can't wait to start training again!)

Marriage and Romance
- Read David Deida Books on love and Sex
- Plan an overnight for just the two of us each month
- Learn to communicate in a more compassionate and loving way to have my needs met and nurture Matt
- Possibly do Raiki class together with Peggy
- Inquire about a sexual intimacy workshop to take together.

Career (I get to CREAte ARt for a job!!!)
- Paint daily.
- Paint a Body of work: Pure Abstraction 20-40 large pieces on canvas
- Daily play in studio – essential – have something setup for pure fun with no product in mind. – practice pieces.
- Complete marketing plan and submit by Jan 15th
- Complete Attracting Perfect Customers 4 parts and add to marketing plan,

- finalize Vision & Mission
- Artist Statement
- Artist Bio
- New CMS website – submit contract, work with team, get it up and running
- Blog articles weekly (use to submit to mags/newspaper/other ex. Toastmaster publication)
- Once art work, brochure, and application are ready, Apply to 5 galleries listed in journal

- Keep working with Kelly to support each other in business as artsits
- Teach a volunteer class monthly for a local non profit
- Guerilla Buz School
- Weekly Toastmasters meetings
- Learn about hosting teleseminars
- Learn about recording teleseminars into podcasts

Tech Goals - Back up all current files, Get idrive working, Start using Act for email, Get deb@debchaney.com for email working

Family/mothering/M&D
- Call M&D regularly on skype
- Compassion with Ruth, and patience (realize this will pass if it’s difficult)
- Plan one fun craft activity with Ruthie each week that we do together (get a book or ask for Shan M’s help with this) (this can include baking and stuff in the kitchen)
- Plan one fun outdoor outing with Ruthie each week ( bike in Goleta, picnic, SB Uni hills, pic nic up Rat canyon, waterfall near Solvang, others)
- Listening and supporting Matt – house clean & tidy, massages, dry cleaning and laundry, dinners (plan each week)
- trip to Van in new year with Ruth
- look into Waldorf School for Ruthie

Friends/Girlfriend connections
- connect with Sara (Macs mum) – possible friendship
- deepen friendship with Meg H.
- visit and walk with Jen WH in Van, touch base each Q
- explore the Seachelt area with Shan M., hike with K & S in Van, as well as the fiber festival (when is it?)
- get in touch with Heather V.
- do new years cards to everyone on my list I’d like to re-connect with including relatives (see journal)
- hike with Lisa while she’s still here in SB
- See Tanya Gee again in Van

Wealth and Prosperity
- Continue to learn how can we become better investors
- Continue to manage QK, personal and Deb Art finances weekly (Monday is Money Management Day)


Travel/Adventure
- Hike portion of Pacific Crest Trail in California (Ask Shan McL if she’d be interested in doing this with me)
- Hike near/around/Sierra Nevada Mountains
- Hike near/around/on Mt. Shasta area
- Do an overnight backpacking trip
- Look into Sierra Club of Santa Barbara
- Do regularly weekly day hikes
- Family trips: 1. Santa Fe, NM – with intention to check out art galleries. 2. Drive up to Oregon - van camping with beach fires, beach exploration, hiking, walks, family time.

Art Avoidance

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We all do it. There is a project, a dream, an idea that we’ve been working on for a while and it’s lost that beginning glamour stage. What it needs is just another small step and then another. In my case 5-10 minutes in the studio, just another layer, or forget the body of work the series I’m working on, just go in and play.

And yet somehow the paperwork has taken over the day and now I’m picking up toys and there is a small voice in my head that is saying

“ I thought we were going to go and play in the studio…?” and

“what about those 8 x 10” canvas pads you were going to play around with, no product goal, just pure fun?”

and yet somehow I ignore it and think about the garbage that needs to be taken out and the fact that it’s more than my turn to wash the dishes…..Thank God all the netflix movies are in the mail box because those suck me right in and there goes the whole evenings where some art could have happened….

I’m sure you’ve been here. Resistance, avoidance, procrastination.

So, how do we get around these culprits that steal our creativity?

My solution tonight will be Kaizen, one small step. I will go into my studio and just look at my paintings and perhaps think about the next layer. I will go in my studio and set up those little canvas pads 8 x, 10 pieces I’ve been meaning to play around with and have them ready for when I am wiling to dive in a little. And there will be no other expectations – just a look and a small set up.

Anything bigger – a bigger to do list, plan, idea, will set up of my amygdala. The small pea sized thing in my brain responsible for fight or flight and the reason why so many of us stop short of taking the next step in our project, towards our dream. To by pass the fight or flight reaction the only way is to take such a teeny timy small step in the direction of your success that the amygdala will not even notice. The idea will go straight to your cortex, you’ll pass GO and collect $200. Yes, you will unfreeze and defeat the resistance, avoidance, and procrastination because the small idea is not so scary.

We must stop overwhelming ourselves and setting us up for failure.

I must stop overwhelming myself and setting myself to feel distraught and avoiding the studio – the one place where time disappears and I am one with God and where life makes sense.

So off I go now, just to take a look. Just to consider that next little step.

I send you Small steps…

good night

SMIGs

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SMIGs is back due to incredible popularity with the acronym and concept. Thank you Vicky Nathan, KMCC Coach in training for your kind words and I'm so glad, dear reader, you find value in this. Shirley Anderson, thank you for refering Vicky this way. Love to you both and all the new KMCC Coaches!

SMIGs is s a ritual I do every evening, yes, even during this dreadful flu - the gratitude part made me feel a bit better (hence the previous blog). This is a ritual about paying attention, cultivating awareness in the moment, and honoring all the big and little pieces - successes- of our daily life.

Simply, SMIGs stands for: Success, Magic Moments, Intentions, & Gratitude. The little ‘s’ at the end reminds me to keep it small , simple and to take small steps ! This exercise brings you into the now and let’s us see what we’ve done as well as honoring the beauty in the little moments of our day that are worth remembering.

here's my SMIGs for today...

Success – Walked to the accupucturist and got herbs and a treatement for this flu - self care! Got in the studio this morning while Ruthie was sleeping and worked on several paintings - divine.

Magic moments – painting (as always), making a blanket and sofa cushion fort for Ruthie, meeting a new neighbour - Shane- and talking about making a short video about art, healing, feng shui and colour. Eating homemade soup and pesto pasta with Matt at the kitchen table.

Intentions for tommorow– Do financial paperwork for business and personal, process health insurance paperwork for my daughter. Make a point of playing in the studio - use the 8x10 canvas pads! Stay warm, light exersice.

Gratitude – Matt's homemade soup, Lui, childcare this evening, more nextflix movies, Jack's email :), 4 comments on a previous blog! Jill Badonsky's work to support creativity.

You could make this SMIGs ritual simpler and write just one thing for each section. I'm comfy with is so I tend to write a lot. But if I am presenting the idea to a creativity student I would suggest keeping things small, like a small success could be that I put out my paints, paper and brushes (a nice small step towards painting) and magic could be looking at a piece of art online that I admire and that motivates me to paint, and intentions could be that I'm going to get the brushes wet and put a small dot of paint on that paper, and gratitude could be that I'm thankful to have the resources, time, support and physical abilityi to even consider doing this creative task ahead of me.

Best, Deb

What I'm grateful for

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Two weeks and counting down with the flu. My girl Ruthie, Angie (kitty) and I passed out at home on the bed. Here's what I'm grateful for....



  • Angie baby kitty


  • kitty purrs


  • Ruthie sleeping...quiet house


  • salmon dinner & salad with my favourite caeser dressing


  • all the art at Artamo gallery that Jack brought out for me to see this week - especially the Michael Moon' s work on paper...ohhh la la (THank God for art galleries when you're not up to much else, they are like an elixir for the soul!)


  • this flu ending (anytime pleassseee)


  • my studio 'heaven on earth'


  • Peter's phone call on xmas - gave me a big smile ear to ear

  • Netflix movies!


  • hot honey and lemon in a big ceramic mug (thanks mum!)


  • mum and dad- I miss you guys


  • Vancouver


  • Jenn WH and walks in the rain


  • unrestrained bawling after watching a sappy movie


  • re-arranging furniture


  • knowing that if I can never paint this good again I'll keep doing it and have fun in the process


  • water colour crayons


  • my journal


  • sencha green tea from Trader Jo's


  • sleep


  • "time out"


  • warm home

Why do art collectors buy art?

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Why do we buy art? Until this week, I don’t think I would have fully been able to answer this question. I have been on the side of the fence of selling the art, and have not taken a moment and asked myself ; “Why are people buying my art?”. This is a good question to ask yourself as an artist, or if you are selling anything for that matter.

I now have my own answers to this question because on Wednesday December 12th I became an art collector! Do you remember the photo of Jack Mohr, owner of Artamo Gallery downtown Santa Barbara, and his wife standing in front of a Michelle William’s painting I posted a while back in a past blog? Well, this painting is now hanging beautifully in my home office/dining room! Yes, I bought the painting. Now I get to ask myself: Why did I buy this painting?

Enter the mind of an art collector…

Need I tell you I’m thrilled? I tried hanging it in three separate locations in the house until I found the exact perfect wall. It’s funny because after going through this process of picking the right place, I checked back with the Bagua (feng Shui) and it turns out the colours of this painting work perfectly for the location I ended up placing it. I feel like a kid re-arranging my room! So much fun! (Come to think of it, I remember a wonderful couple in Manhattan Beach - Keri and Zach Estrin - who commisioned me to paint a large 4' x 4' heart painting for their home and when I visited I would say they had a similar joyful excitement for this piece and finding the right place for it in their home)

So why did I buy this piece of art? Was it because it’s super fantastic and I love it? Yes, I love, love, love the piece. I stare at it when I eat – I come back to it and touch it during the day. I could meditate on it regularly. I love the textures, the colours, the composition, the design. I love the confidence I perceive that she paints with from her unique painting style. But it’s more than that. I feel a deep connection to the artist and I think that is what made me decide to buy a piece of her work.

Here is a photo my 4 year old took last night with me beside my 'untitled' Michelle Williams piece. Lucky me.

In Summary I bought this piece for the following reasons:

  • The purchase bolstered a sense of identity as an art collector and an art supporter
  • The purchase enabled me to support an artist living her dream
  • This painting adds beauty to my home and energize me to look at
  • I feel deeply connected to the gallery
  • I feel deeply connected to the artist
  • I am intrigued with the artist’s process and techniques and seeing her work up close and on a daily basis gives me new insights to apply and further develop my own work
  • I am excited to be able to contribute to the success of the artist and gallery
  • There is a tremendous rush and excitement in buying this piece– this was a first time event – the rush of making a big purchase
  • I love, love, love the painting!!!!

As well as getting a deeper understanding of why collectors buy my art, this experience has made me think long and hard about why I am in the business of creating and selling my work and why I sell my work. Stay tuned for my thoughts on why I do sell my work.

Meanwhile, I would LOVE to hear from art collectors. Misty…I know you’re reading this and are a collector of mine (Thank you! For reading and collecting my work – actually as I write this I’m thinking we could show our readers the photo of your son Zach connecting with this little heart painting with your permission?) I’d love to hear from you why you bought that art piece in the first place.

Let’s hear from art collectors…why do you buy art?

Scottsdale Arizona trip

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I had a great little four day trip to Scottsdale, Arizona to check out Scottsdale galleries and have some down time at the Desert Ridge Marriot Resort Spa – a recommended experience for those in search of an extravagant dose of self care. My husband was in Scottsdale concurrently participating in a support role for the Tony Robbins Date with Destiny program.

Most of the contemporary galleries are located on Marshall street downtown Scottsdale. I spent a day and went through each gallery with the intent to enjoy the art and also see where my work would make a good fit. Are the staff friendly? Is the gallery somewhere I would be proud to have my art displayed and sold? These are some things I asked myself during this day.

My favorite gallery by far was the Marshall gallery due to its beautiful wood floors, its open and welcoming display space, and its friendly staff, in particular Tyson Snow who as well as being a fine artist rep is also an exquisite realistic figure drawing artist. His works are inspired from the people and images he sees in Africa on his trips there and look like photographs but are hand drawn in while pencil on black paper, truly powerful work. Tyson has four kids, one of them the same age as my Ruthie (4 ½ ). Hence we resonated on many levels and I hope to see him again!

I also got a chance to meet up with award winning artist John Michael whom I met via the online class Promote your Art with Alyson Stanfield. John and I met at a Starbucks near to downtown Scottsdale and chatted about art, cats, and finding balance between promoting your art, doing your art and living your life. John is a passionate artist and a kind and loving man with a big heart. I know we will be keeping in touch to support each other as we evolve in ourselves and our art. The photo is of John and myself.

Acrylic and Collage Aqua Media Experimental and Energizing Workshop

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Acrylic and Collage Aqua Media Experimental and Energizing Workshop
5 day workshop taught by Lana Grow March 3-7 2008 Goleta, CA

You will learn;
· How to layer acrylic paint as transparent, translucent and opaque water mediums,
· How to achieve line, depth, and texturing in your work using resist, lifting, staining, printing and scraping techniques,
· How to use collage transfers, stamping, gold leaf and other experimental techniques in conjunction with acrylic layering
· Color mixing and design elements
· Preparing collage papers and incorporating them to your work

Each participant will receive a binder complete with class notes, references, tid bits, quotes and more from Lana.

This class is geared for intermediate and advanced painters, experience water media & acrylics painters, or the open-minded non-intimidated beginner painter.

March 3-7, 2008, Monday - Friday 9-4
Goleta Valley Community Center
Workshop is only $489. Visa/MasterCard/Checks accepted
Registration contact Deb Chaney deb@debcreative.com phone (805) 403-9870.

Please note - We expect the event to fill up quickly. All of Lana’s workshops consistently overfill with a wait list – she teaches across the US. Space is extremely limited as each participant is required to have her own table.

For out of towners, group discount rates are currently being negotiated at a local hotel TBA.
Hot Coffee and Tea service as well as light snacks will be included.
Daily catered lunch by Silver Greens will be offered as a daily option for participants.


Lana L. Grow is a signature member of the American Watercolor Society (AWS), Red River Watercolor Society, Society of Layerists in Multi Media and the International Society of Experimental Artists. Her award winning work is included in Splash 8, Finding the Artist With In, The Art of Layering: Making Connections, and Creative Composition and Design. She is currently being interviewed for a feature on her painting techniques for Artist’s Magazine. She has won numerous awards in International and National juried shows.


“Essential to my painting process is combining layers of color, line, texture and collage.” – Lana Grow