Artist's Dates

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Romance ii (ii of ii ) dyptic
Emerging Series
(c) Deb Chaney 2006
36 x 24 x 1 1/2 " Mixed Media & acrylics on canvas
The original paintings (there are 2) are available, and for view at
Java Station Coffee House in Santa Barbara, CA

Feng Shui Recommendation: This painting supports love, relationships and marriage. Place the original or its image in the back right hand corner of your room or home to further support this area of your life.


Something that really surprised, actually pretty much shocked me, when I interviewed artist and illustrator Brandy Masch was the she had ever heard of an artist's date. We were sitting on her studio floor chit chatting about this and that and I casually asked her what she liked to do for artist dates and she said "what's that?" So, Brandy, and all other artist that have not heard of this term, here it is the official Artist Date blog! Artist's dates explained, 101. :)

An artist date, by my definition is a scheduled date with yourself and yourself alone (no boyfriends, husbands, buddies, kids or anyone is allowed to be with you for this time!) where you have SCHEDULED time to do something that nurtures your inner creative spirit. An activity or non- activity that in essence fills and recharges your creative well.

This term comes from Julia Cameron's The Artist Way, A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity and as part of a world wide following of a way to life that nurtures the healthy co-existing of living and making art. A way that recognizes we are spiritual beings and not just human do-ers.

If my mother was here over my shoulder while I type this, and thank you God she is not, she would say in her way that I could live in a perpetual artist date mode myself - alone, doing things that nourish myself and my soul. And at this point in my life I'd rather agree.

I crave time alone to play and be and have fun and certainly have found the balance and demands of work, single parenting, family and making art to take its toll on my emotionally. But that fact is that in our fast paced society I believe we all need time out, time to breathe and play and be. Time to remember that being happy comes from connecting within and that when we stop all the mindless doing and go to the place and re-connect we get back to our wholeness and become happier more peaceful beings. I wish my mother would go on an artist date. For her and for the rest of us who have to be around her when she has not taken time out to care for herself!

The concept of the Artist's Date is that we plan for it once a week and it serves as a sort of preventative medicine, if you like, to prevent us from reaching that point of break down we sometimes do when we are trying to 'do' it all.

So, what would I consider an artist date? Always with myself... A long beach walk, making crafts ( I'm currently addicted to making Artist Trading Cards), getting my nails done, a long bath with epsom salts and lavender, going and getting a massage, visiting a museum or gallery, seeing a movie, going to a coffee shop and hanging out - writing, sketching, sitting, sitting and journalling - collaging & free writing, people watching, lying in the sun, meditating, yoga class, visiting a book store, a nice long nap, window shopping, going for a bike ride...

If you have ever caught a glimpse of my "Breathing space" blog posts ( photos I've taken in nature) these are from artist's dates!

Bottom line on your artist date is this:
schedule it,
write it down
and go and do it!
Because it'll never be urgent but it sure is important.

I'd love to hear about you artist's dates...please do leave your comments.

Breathing Space

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Since I moved back to Vancouver I've been making a weekly 'pilgrimage' to the Pacific Spirit Park, this place is my breathing space. My re-set, rejuvination, a time when I let mother nature take care of me. Yes, I miss those nice warm beach walks in Santa Barbara, CA, but the forest here is rich and lush and beautiful and restorative and I'm grateful for that.






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Interview with Artist & Illustrator Brandy Masch

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Last week I had the opportunity to hangout with artist and illustrator Brandy Masch at her Vancouver studio. What a treat!

When I first visited Brandy's website and saw her art - especially the Living City paintings - I felt transported back into Horton's World from the Dr. Zeus books - especially the most recent movie and book Horton Hears a Who. It would be so fun to be a little person and climb into her multi dimensional worlds and explore. I mentioned this to Brandy and s he smiled and said she absolutely l loved Dr. Zeus books when she was a kid! Of these world’s she creates, Brandy says that she’s an

intuitive painter. The images build themselves, there is not pre- set image. “I don’t use sketch books so much as just work on the piece and see where it takes me.”

Her work was recently featured in V-rag magazine- the art issue along with an interview write up. She has been approached by Simply Red about doing an

album cover and gets commissions and sales via twitter followers, her facebook fan page, as well as local shows such as The Drift and Artist in Our Midst – both annual art show events in Vancouver.

Brandy earned a BFA from Emily Carr University, specializing in printmaking and drawing – lithography. She fell in love with animation and illustration during the four year degreeprogram. And found her love of being an illustrator through the process of doing her BA. The support, encouragement, and guidance from her teachers continue to help me to this day.

It's always so fun and humbling to visit other artist's studios, this one with no exception. What struck me immediately was how organized Brandy is with her art supplies and overall set up. Everything labeled and in its place, easy to find when she needs it. I was immediately inspired myself to make some organizational changes inspired by Brandy's studio set up.


Brandy is a beautiful woman, passionate artist, and easy to be with. Here are some neat little facts about her….

Rock of support: My husband, Curtis, 100%

Favourite colour: changes regularly, green and blues lately. orange

Favourite paints: holbein gouach and Golden liquid acrylics – Golden , FW and liquitex acrylic inks.

Favourite tool: Windsor and Newton 00 round synthetic brush

Favourite soap: Master’s brush cleaner


Favourite artist: the low brow art and pop surrealists, Sean Tan, Julie Moristate, Travis Lui

Role model & inspiration: My Mom, very supportive.

We also talked about challenges, inspirations and goals. Here are hers, in that order.

Deb: Brandy, what do you think your greatest challenge is?

Brandy: Being shy and asking for what I want. Reaching out to people.

Deb: what inspires and feeds you and your art?

Brandy: Surfing the internet, chilling out, looking at other artist’s work, looking around the city, taking photos of things that inspire me. People watching in crowds.

Going for a walk in the forest.

Deb: What are some of your goals as a professional artist and illustrator?

Brandy: My goals include primarily and foremost to make a living from my artwork, specifically having my work in magazines, illustrations for children’s books, and doing creative things such as teaching art to kids. I want to make a living off what I do, do that I don’t need another job.

Brandy, Thank you for letting us see inside your work space and sharing your passion with us! Wishing your dream comes true.


Tristan, thank you for taking this photo of us!



Homemade Valentines Cards

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Make your sweetheart something special this year - simple home made, hand made, valentines cards. With thought care and love your sweetie knows you spent the time on them. No commercial bling bling! Just love, care and your creativity. :)



What you need:

Coloured & textured papers of all types - hand made stained tissue and other papers, pre- purchased scrap booking papers, decorative papers, doily's, sheets of music all work nicely.

Glue - I like golden regular gel, you could use Elmer's glue or YES glue too.

Palette knife or foam brush - to apply the glue.


Sheet of plastic - use it to place over the image when its glued and put a book or something heavy over top

Blank gift cards (you can buy bulk packs at Michaels really cheap) or even a little 5 x 7 Artist Trading Cards work well for something unique! - glue the papers on these in your own way.

Stamps with words such as 'love you' and so on, can also make a nice addition to your card art.

Paint pens - a fun way to write your little love note.

Glitter glue or sparkles - always fun additions to embelish any creation.

Ruthie and I had fun making a big old mess on the floor, cutting pasting and designing our own
little creations. I got super inspired and made a little one for each child in her grade one class.


Works well if you glue your images down and then cover them with that sheet of plastic and put a book or something on top over night.

Have Fun. Happy Valentines Day.

Blending acrylics to create a smooth gradient look

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This photo is a section of an in process 36 x 36 x 1 1/2" painting I'm currently working on in the studio. I liked the shot so I thought I'd share it. The Finished piece will be posted on this blog and at www.debchaney.com some unknown date in the future.
(c) Deb Chaney 2010.

I received an Email question from a fellow artist who wrote me wondering about creating smooth gradients using acrylics.

This question is definitely worthy of a short video. It is my hope that before the end of this year I will have the video camera set up on a tripod in the studio and be able to film a short on how to do this so you can see it for yourself. For now, here's her question and my answer....

"Hi Deb!

How are you? Hope you are having a great week.

I am currently working on an acrylic painting with a warm orange background. Starting with warm red from the top, fading down to a warm orange on the bottom, I am wanting to create a smooth gradient look.

I'm having a lot of trouble achieving this with acrylics. I'm getting many streaks and lines. The colours are not blending perfectly to a solid gradient look.

Would you be willing to offer any suggestions or any tips or tricks to achieve this look and combat the streaks? Perhaps the paint didn't stay wet enough for long to blend properly. I've painted many coats and nearly used up my entire orange tube ! LOL"

Hi Lisa,

Thanks for writing.

My first question for you would be - Are you using heavy body or liquid acryics?

You mentioned using a tube, so I'm guessing you're using the full body acrylics (toothpaste consistency).
If so, my recommendation is that you use a gel medium - like Golden soft or regular gel - in that area where the two colours merge. The medium could help to blend the two colours together seemlessly, like you desire, and could be used in lieu of water.

The next question I would ask you is what kind of brush you are using for blending the colours?

I have a lot of success using a very soft bristle flat head brush to blend colours. Back and forth, back and forth lots of times, more than would be intuitive, to blend the two colours with the medium and create that gradient you want without streaks or lines.

Lastly, I am wondering if your're working flat or if the substrate you're painting on is up on an easle? It's so much easier to blend gradients when you're working flat on a table. Then if you want to add water it's not going to drip down and disturb the layers below.






If I made the incorrect assumption
about the paint consistency you're using and you are using liquid acrylics (I love the Golden liquid acrylics myself), they blend beautifully and you can also uses a fluid medium in between two colours, same technique as described above.






Hope this helps. Comments are welcome.

Have another question? info@debchaney.com

Fantastic Artist Date: Granville Island Market Vancouver

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Fantastic Artist Date: Granville Island Market Vancouver

As artists we must take time to re-energize, nurture ourselves, go on artists dates – by ourselves - and fill that inner well. Iff you live here in Vancouver or are visiting because of the 2010 winter olympics, I highly recommend an afternoon on Granville Island.

See new things, smell new smells, hear new music, enjoy the beauty in every day things…Granville Island Public Market is the perfect place to do this. A culmination of international food, crafts, art, music, ice cream, chocolate, entertainment….An artists delight.

Here are some photos from my recent visit there….

(PS Lyza Loo...when you come to visit I will drop you off here! This is right by where I work!)













Getting into the creative groove

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For my Own Amusement
Emerging Series
30 x 40 x 1 1/2" Acrylics, Mixed Media,& Sand
on canvas
Original and Prints Available (c) Deb Chaney 2008
inquiries: info@debchaney.com

Feng Shui Recommendation: This painting support your career and lifepath.

To further enhance the journey of your life and work, place this painting near the entrance of your home or office.


Recently, I was speaking with one of my studio mates about getting back into our creative groove when we’ve been away from our work for a while.

Rodja was saying that she’d been out of the studio for three weeks plus, taking a natural break after having just shipped a bunch of paintings to her gallery in Toronto. As well, she also has a graphic design business and works as a culinary chef so her mind and being are not always focused on painting. She has to switch. That means when she gets to her studio, getting her mind into painting mode and sometimes that takes some time.

Similarly, for me, as we all do, I balance a full life with my art. Being a mom to my six year old, having a part time job, and all other details life entails. So even though I dedicate a full day to paint, each week, every Tuesday, there is still a process I go through to get into the work, into that groove

Here are a few things that work for me, specifically on days when the little voice in my head doesn’t want to be at the studio, doesn’t feel like painting, it literally wants to tell me to give up, go home and why life sucks and why I should not bother, on and on the little voice goes…

Lately, I start out in my beach chair, heater pumping next to me and I read and look at inspirational books such as 1,000 Artist Trading Cards or Sabrina Ward Harrison books.

I make a lot of tea – lately my favourite is orange roibois from the Granville Island tea company, (although the green blueberry is awesome too and I would really recommend the African Roibois Cream). Some days I will have a little nap. Last Tuesday I think I had about six cups before I got into painting. Serious tea drinking may get the creative juices flowing.

A few weeks prior I went for a walk and strolled through the artist studios at 1000 Parker Way ( they are part of the east end culture crawl every year). The walk was great – walking is linked to stimulating the brain waves in your brain that enduce creativity, but checking out other artist’s studios topped off the walk ten fold. Its then that the little voice realizes she was wrong. A new voice begins to pipe up...If they can do it , so Can I. Wow, look at what he’s working on. Look she got painting this morning, maybe I could put a glaze on that painting I've been so stuck on for a while....and so the insp iration kicks in.

Very often I write in my journal, as I see my other studio room mate Heather Craig do. In this way she quietly inspires me. Yup good old morning pages to work through all that mind gunk. I like to write lists. Wish lists. Things I’m happy about. Things I am not happy about. Last week it was everything I hate. Everything that was annoying, irritating, and pissing me off. Yuck lists. Feels good to get it out . That works too. After that I finally started painting!

Music can be good too and dancing but lately I’ve been riding my bike to the studio and the beach chair calls and I plop down and get into my creative groove in comfort!

The other day I was so exhausted from, well life, that I just sat comatozed in my good old beach chair and ate Miss. Vicky’s salt and vinegar chips. That and drank tea, of course! Those chips seem to have magical powers. Try it next time, let me know if they work for you. Definitly recommend the salt and vinegar flavour. Yum.

Other quick ideas to get started...

  • Deep breaths, let it be if you’re not feeling the creative “love”
  • Go for a walk
  • Look at what you’ve already done
  • Put aside work that is too intimadating to start - this worked wonders a few weeks ago when I felt overwhelmed with a commission piece I’m working on
  • Do some small practice doodles and pieces, let yourself make some crap art.
  • Go to a free demonstration (If you're in Vancouver, OPUS has them on a regular basis)
  • Look at other artists work - magazines, galleries, internet

It takes a risk to show up and do your art work. I like this quote “ And the trouble is, if you don’t risk anything, you risk everything “ Eric Jong.

There is some quote out here about 90% of success is showing up. So kudus to us for showing up. Let's give ourselves gold stars for showing up ( even if we sit by the heater and eat potato chips!)

Goals for 2010

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2010 Goals. I have been setting goals now for over 10 years and often, although it is a little scary putting out 'there' posting as personal as this to the world, it motivates me to keep my commitments. So, that said, here it is, what is important for me to create, enjoy, do, and become in this new year - 2010. Deb.

Art Career

Have the www.debchaney.com website up and running -- Jan 25, 2010, it's up!

Have a studio and go there on a regular basis – create a working studio schedule --- YES!

Finish the commission painting I was asked to do and present 3 options to the client

Teach an art class – VSB or Vancouver Community Centers --- curriculum submitted...

Get my artwork out on exhibit in Vancouver -- am applying to the East end Culture Crawl for 2010. yesssss!!!

Illuminate the Artist Within™ (ITAW)

  • Product development- Complete and publish Creativity Cards, ideas, tricks and secrets to ignite and support creativity. ---- 3 rounds of editing done, now in design phase Jan 30, 2010. Mock up cards, round one, complete (Feb 2010)
  • Create vision board on foam core for the ultimate concept of ITAW– teaching, speaking, retreats, products

Give a public information talk about the benefits of creativity and being in creative process at a local library or other public venue.

Look over what I've completed and the requirements for my Kaizen Muse Creativity Coaching Certification and talk to Jill Badonsky about finishing this up.

Try something new in art making – silkscreening? guitar playing? --- went to a block printing demo.


Fitness/Health

Do a yoga class at least once a week and research a yoga instructor class.

Hike, beach walk, swim, regularly. -- been riding my bike to work

Stretch and do basic yoga and muscle toning daily in the morning! Yes!


Personal Growth/spirit

Do the FORUM landmark weekend seminar - copmleted Jan 2010. Just signed up for Advanced Course, with my Dad!

Look into Vancouver Toastmasters groups to begin to practice speaking in public with the vision of becoming comfortable public speaking.

Do the 7 laws of spiritual success for children with Ruthie (for kids) Deepak Chopra’s book, lay out a daily plan


Friendships

Grow and meet more friends and have a circle here in Vancouver

Deep gratitude for friends I have now, both new and old

Love myself more and more, no matter what, every day.

Have the confidence to be myself completely with no concern as to what others may think or judge, act as if I’ve already died, life fully


Family

Find peace in my relationship with my parents.

Be firm and loving with Ruthie.


Recreation

Be active and meditative in nature on a regular basis both alone and with friends….

Snowshoeing

Hiking

Swimming

Yoga

Art openings

Plays and movies

Make jewelry

Try something new – dodge ball?


Finances

Meet with Leyla’s husband, make a budget, and look at it vs my spending monthly - Met with Leyla and Joe Last Saturday and talked about setting up an auto savings account, now I gotto go and set it up ! (Feb 2010)

Save $ on every pay check, - set up auto transfer to savings

Save regularly for retirement

Continue learning about money and investing


If you made it this far and are inspired to do your own goals (yes!) Here is a wonderful tool many life coaches use with their clients to check you are hitting all areas of your life. Often called the wheel of life:



Homemade wrapping paper with potato stamps

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Ruthie and I got adventurous this past week and decided to make our own wrapping paper. I can't take complete credit for the idea as it all started with a conversation with a co-worker in the staff room on a break. (thank for this great idea Amanda!) Needless to say the idea of cutting up potatoes to make stamps sounded fun and easy so here's Ruthie's wrapping paper creations.



Basic instructions for those of you who are inspired and want to do this at home. Hey, you don't need kids to do this! Get some raw potatoes. Cut them in half and carve in the shapes you want to see printed on your paper. We carved stars, a christmas tree, a bell, holly leaves and whatever else you see in the pictures. We used cheap white paper - the kind you get on a roll. For paints we used acrylics: napthol red ( made great candy cane image), phthalo green (holly leaves looked awesome), and irredescent gold (really nice for stars) (The paints were all Golden fluid acrylics). Totally fun!


8 week Energizing Abstract Painting Class - Vancouver Spring 2010

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Today is the deadline for submitting spring class proposals fro the Vancouver School Board. My dear friend Shannon went through this with me and gave me some great edits and feedback - thank you Shan, you rock! Here's the application. What a process of getting clear! Fingers crossed it'll be accepted, but if not, rest assured I will find a way to share my knowledge and passion with others! xoxox Deb

Proposed class:

Energizing and Experimental Abstract

Painting in Acrylics

Course Description:

“An energizing and experimental painting class in acrylics, mixed media, & collage for adults”

This is energizing and informative abstract painting class with an emphasis on experimentation & creative process. Students will learn the fundamentals of abstract painting. Building on this foundation, each class will progressively introduce new techniques such as glazing, layering, removal, staining, lifting & layering in of collage elements all to achieve line, depth, texture & interest in their paintings. We will be using liquid and heavy body acrylics, as well as acrylic mediums & gels, and collage elements.

Course Outline – 8 weeks

Week 1 – The Basics.

  • Materials list discussion and clarification, bring what you have.
  • Discussion of acrylic paints and mediums, substrates, and implements – brushes, palette knives, etc.
  • Health and safety about acrylics –basic need to know.
  • Nesting in and how to best set up your work space . The concept of bridging to support you and your art making.
  • Group discussion of personal class goals and what students most want to learn/get out of this class
  • Students may bring one painting to work on throughout the class or practice on several smaller paintings (strongly suggested – I will explain why)
  • All students are asked to bring a journal or note paper for note taking

Week 2 – The Art of Start.

  • Basics for abstract painting.
  • Design & composition discussion. 12 basic compositions.
  • Paint and play – start with black and white, students work on fundamental concepts of composition and design.

Week 3 – Staining and Glazing with liquid acrylics.

  • Colour Basics. Historical /mineral colours vs. modern colours. Analogous,
  • Adding layers by staining and/or glazing liquid fluid acrylics (matte medium) to add depth and interest into your work.
  • Color combinations. Triad colour combinations that produce stunning effects.
  • Play and practice these concepts of layering using the basic principles of making an abstract painting. Students are encouraged to begin adding colour to their black and white work and playing with glazing and staining.

Week 4 – Focal points - Adding lines and definition

  • Removal Techniques: 5 various papers, rubber shaper, water, alchohol, SOS pad
  • Artist safe removal tape, rulers, Stenciling with heavy acrylics and spray paint.
  • Derwent Pencils, C’aran dash crayons, using gesso as lines.

Week 5 –Words and Images.

· Incorporating words and images into your work.

· Stamping – purchased and home made stamps.

· Transfer technique of photographic image with gloss medium.

· Paint and play - applying any techniques taught up to this point to your work.

Week 6 – Texture and Collage

  • Building interesting texture into your painting using Collage – photocopies, tissue paper, other decorative papers.
  • Heavy gel mediums, moulding paste, gloss medium, creating thick wax-like effects.

Week 7 – How to know if you’re done.

  • Tricks and tools to finishing a painting, how to know when you’re done or what to change/improve. Do your own critique – yes you can.
  • What makes a great abstract painting work.
  • Going back on your class work and applying finishing techniques taught here to take the piece to closer to a completed piece.

Week 8 – Making art part of your life.

  • Where can you go from here? Exhibiting, selling your work, selling rights
  • Resources for further exploration and growth in art and creativity
  • 5 top things that stop artists in their tracks and how to overcome them.
  • Feedback sheet

Supplies/room arrangement

Each student requires a full table space to work. Tables will be covered in plastic sheet or plastic table cloth/covering. A materials list will be provided and explained in detail on the first class. All students are encouraged to bring what supplies they have already to the first class.

About the Art Instructor - Deb Chaney, SCA

Deb Chaney is a contemporary abstract artist painting large layered mixed media abstract works on canvas and paper. She has been painting in acrylics and mixed media for 10 years and has sold paintings in Canada and the U.S. and is currently exhibited in Los Angeles, Beverly Hills, and Santa Barbara, California. She is an elected member of the Society of Canadian Artists. Her passion is painting and inspiring others to find their creative groove. The author of The Little Inspiration Book, Ideas to Empower Women and contributing author of Sand in my Bra, Funny Women Write from the Road, Her portfolio can be viewed at www.debchaney.com .

Deb Chaney - Relevant Education and Training

2008 Sabrina Ward Harrison, Spilling. Carol Parks Studio, Los Angeles, CA

2008 Dr. Robert Maurer and Jill Badonsky, Kaizen Muse Creativity Coaching Training.

2007 Lana Grow, Aquamedia & Collage: Peninsula Art School, WI.

2007 Nancy Reyner, Encaustics Effects with Acrylic. Santa Barbara, CA

2007 Independent Study, Kanuga Water Color Retreat, Asheville, N. Carolina

2007 Ann Baldwin, Painting and Collage, Santa Barbara, CA

2007 Jill Badonsky, Muse Facilitator Workshop, San Francisco, CA

2006 Bob Burridge, Basics in Abstract Acrylic Painting, Burbank, CA

2002-2006 Adolfo Girala; Personal Instruction in Mixed Media and Acrylics
2005 Rick Stitch; Abstract Painting, Santa Barbara City College Adult Ed
2005 Karen Browdy; Collage and Mixed Media, Santa Barbara City College Adult Ed

2002 Introduction to Watercolors, El Camino College Community Education
1998 Ron Mulvey; Beginning Acrylic Painting, Nelson, BC, Canada.

Eating your ultimate dream for breakfast, anyone?

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Hand painted breakfast bowl. Don’t know dimensions.

Not for sale. Used every morning for breakfast with oatmeal, etc.

Eating your ultimate dream for breakfast, anyone? And no, I’m not selling you a breakfast cereal, its all about the bowl…read on.

We all have dreams. Some of them big. Some small. They propel us. They motivate us. They may sometimes confuse and frustrate us. Right or wrong, good or bad, I’ve got a big dream and I sure hope you do too. What’s life without one?

Bottom line is you’re not just here to do your 9-5 and you know it. There is always some underlying magical purpose or reason we are here…Part of your reason for being here is to figure that out – your purpose – who you really are beyond the conditioned self and outward appearances. And the other part of your journey is sharing that unique talent and piece of yourself with the rest of the world, giving the gift you were meant to give.

[We’re here to give it all away ‘cause you can’t take anything with you once you leave this plane of existence. And so we learn as we give that the more we give the more we truly receive. That the saying that we only keep what we give away becomes true.]

So, you’re wondering, what is this big dream of Deb’s. We’ll, its simple. I have a concept called Illuminate the Artist Within ™ whereby I’d like to create a workshop retreats and products to ignite, inspire, and empower participants to realize the artist within themselves. I believe we are all artist in our own realms – we’re all here creating our own lives, our own personal masterpieces. The concept is not crystal yet, but I am trusting the evolution of the idea.

Ok, so you’re wondering what does this have to do with the darn bowl?

The other day I went out on a rainy Saturday afternoon with my six year old girl and took her to a place where you buy an unfinished piece of pottery and paint it. She chose a beautiful fairy maiden. I chose a bowl. While she worked away painting her fairy, I thought about creating a bowl that would summarize Illuminate the Artist Within ™ and what is meant to me, what I wanted it to encompass, and I stopped there. Its too big, there are too many possibilities at this point in time and it would be hard to pin it down and somehow illustrate it on a bowl.

So, I asked myself the question: Who would I have to become to create this vision, this company, these workshop retreats, teaching videos, creative products? What characteristics would I need to embody to be the founder of Illuminate the Artist Within™ ? And from that the words came and I painted them on the bowl:

I would need to be/have the qualities of : INTELLIGENCE, WILLINGNESS, LOVE, RESOURCEFULNESS, PATIENCE, TRUST, COURAGE, LEADERSHIP, PERSERVERANCE, FAITH & CREATIVITY.

What are my next steps? I’m going to apply to teach an energizing water media abstract painting class through the Vancouver School Board adult night school program. Application is December 15th. I’ve got a friend here in town who has promised to review my proposal. I’m also going to be leading a Vein of Gold (Julia Cameron’s sequel to the Artist Way) online class starting in January…this will get posted on the new website shortly. Two steps to get leadership and teaching experience and to begin to fortify my dream.

Here is my question for you dear reader. Who do you need to become to realize your dream? What qualities must you embody to make your dream a reality? Take a moment and write those down. Not sure of your dream, if you even have one...ahhh…you’ve come to the right place – join me in January as I facilitate the Vein of Gold – Journey into your creative heart. Your dream and more will surely emerge from this process. Check at www.debchaney.com for this online workshop details.

The journey continues! Stay posted!

Art and Money - taking care of business

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XOXOXO

Pure Abstraction Series

36 x 36 x 3/4 "

Mixed media, acrylics, sand, & oil on canvas

© Deb Chaney 2009

Original Available


Feng Shui Recommendation: Placed anywhere in your home/office this painting image supports children and creativity. To further enhance your possibility of having children or to support existing children – including your inner child – place this piece in the center right hand portion of your room or house. Please refer to the Feng Shui section at www.chaney.com (coming soon) for more details.


(PS the photo image displayed here is pretty crap as I took it on my iphone. Sit tight. I'll have a better photo at some point. & will put on the new up and coming website -yeeehaaaa!!! :))


A month or so ago I took a tour of Emily Carr University to get a sense of the place and art school itself, as I’ve never been to art school.. I thought it was interesting when we passed the Finance Offices that the tour guide, a student at the University, comments were; “Oh money, that’s boring, moving on.”


Well, perhaps Daddy’s paying her way through art school or she got a big grant but for those of us who are in a situation of having to be accountable for our finances - make art and money work- well it might be challenging, but its certainly not boring.


Something I’ve been doing for a year or more now that really works for me in this arena, is what I call “Monday is Money Management Day”. It’s a regular thing that every Monday I pay attention to my finances and improve in some way. This includes but is not limited to the following activities:


  • Reconciling my hand written register against the paper bank statement. (Yes, in order to do this I do keep track of every expense in paper register). The great thing about this is it gives me a sense of where my money is going to, coming in from and more often that I’d hope, I catch bank errors or false credit card charges.
  • Filing all paperwork concerning finances. I have a big binder for my personal and art business related finances. In each binder or dividers for paperwork ranging from bank statements, to income receipts, to anything at all related to finances for the year of the binder. I make a new binder each year.
  • Paying bills, credit cards – this one’s obvious. But I keep all of my outstanding bills in a folder and do them on my Money Management Day so I’m not doing this all the time, just Mondays.
  • Taking care of tax and money related things – forms, sales tax.

As well as the weekly management tasks something that I do as part of being a financially empowered person, artist, woman, and mother is to take small steps in further educating myself about money – money management, investing, and taxes. It doesn’t matter what I’m learning as long as its up to date, relevant and helping me to grow and become more empowered in my finances. Here are some resources I’ve explored or am currently in process listening/watching/reading...



Sometimes I don’t get to everything on my list done if that Monday is particular busy day. No worries. Friday is “Follow Up Friday”. So I slot it for Friday and finish up the loose ends.


The art inventory from California has finally arrived!

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My 500 pound baby arrived! (talk about a long labor!)



Four months later I have just received my entire inventory of finished and in process works - all 500 pounds – from California. Hurrah!


For those of you that have been following this story, the original shippers La Pack Pros, did subsequently go bankrupt and out of business. However, before they closed their doors they had the decency to hire another shipper RT Consolidated, based in California, who promptly took the job and got it done. I made the original arrangement through Uship.com, who by the way, don’t do a darn thing if your shipment is held, lost, or stolen.


As my new website is being uploaded, edited, and the final touches are completed, I will be going through my inventory to ensure the paintings posted are correctly catalogued for the new website so you will know what is available.


Thank you for all that sent helpful information and positive supportive messages. And lastly, if you plan to ship art or any large items, I highly recommend doing some due diligence research and ask questions before hiring your shipper.

Behind the scenes - studio notes

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30 x 40 x 3/4 "
as yet untitled, Pure Abstraction Series
(c) Deb Chaney 2009
wired and ready to hang.
Mixed Media, Acrylics, Sand and Oil on canvas

$1200 USD Original Available at date of this post 11/3/09
inquiries debchaney@live.com

Feng Shui Recommendation: Placed anywhere in your home/office this piece supports your inner health and vitality. To further amplify this area of your life, place this painting, with the intention to support your health & vitality, in the center region of your home/office.


I had a nearly two hour tour of Emily Carr University last Friday. As my close friends know and many of my artist contemporaries, I have never had any art school training and have always been curious about the "other side", that is, academic art school. ( I hold a B.Sc. in Earth and Ocean Sciences)

The art school tour was inspiring in that the one very cool thing about art school is that you get to learn a little bit about so many areas - wood work, metal work, sculpture, photography, digital design and so on with access to tools, equipment and technology that would otherwise cost you bundles if you were to pursue it on your own. The sheer enormity of their lending "library" of equipment was staggering - everything from video equipment, cameras, and things I have never heard to to make, record, edit, copy and do your art in whatever form it may be.

The tour ended by a little talk from one of the admissions staff who talked about how the main criteria for getting into this art school was based on your portfolio. I always thought a portfolio was simply a collection of your finished work - in my case- th epaintings I'm done and I'm proud of, not so.

Apparently, what the portfolio examiners are most interested in are your notes, sketches and process that are behind the finished the art that you make. I came home and got inspired to organize the notes I've been keeping for over a year now on this Pure Abstraction art series.

Below is one of seven pages of journal notes - my process behind the scenes - what goes on in my mind - in creating this series of paintings entitled Pure Abstraction.






Painting Inventory - how I keep track of my artwork

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No. 8432
Pure Abstraction Series
40 x 30 x 3/4 "Mixed media, acrylics, sand, & oil on canvas
(c) Deb Chaney 2009
Original Available

Feng Shui Recommendation: Placed anywhere in your home/office this piece supports your inner health and vitality. To further amplify this area of your life, place this painting in the center region of your home/office.

There are quite a lot of programs and software options out there that can be used to inventory artist work. I used E-artist at one point when I had a PC but found it pretty clunky and not that fun to use. When I switched to Mac, at a friend's suggestion, I decided to keep things really simple and use Iphoto. Here's what works for me currently and how I keep track of all of my works - completed, sold and currenlty in inventory.

I start by creating a separate album for each body of work. For the sake of this blog and simplicity I'll work with my 'Pure Abstraction' series, since its my most current and what I am adding to and seeling from most right now. When I complete a painting and photograph it, I add it to this album. Then I click on the 'information section' that appears at the bottom left hand corner of iphoto of the particular painting image is selected, and in the notes section I add have the following information based on an "inventory" template I created. I do this for every painting I produce, sell, and exhibit so I can keep track.

Here's the blank inventory template:

Inventory Details

Painting Title:
Belong to group/series:
Medium:
Substrate:
Size: (H x W x D)
Year:
Sold/Selling person/interested:
location:
Feng Shui Recommendation:
Posted:
cafepress Y
Blog Y
website
Other notes -


Here is a specific example of the information I keep on the painting shown at the top of this blog.

Title: No. 8432
Belong to group: PureAbstraction
Medium: mixed media, acrylics, sand, & oil
Substrate: canvas
Size: (H x W x D) 40 x 30 x 3/4 "
Year: 2009
Sold/Selling person/interested: Available
location: inventory Vancouver
Feng Shui notes: Feng Shui Recommendation: Placed anywhere in your home/office this piece supports your inner health and vitality. To further amplify this area of your life, place this painting, with the intention to support your health & vitality, in the center region of your home/office.
Photographed for prints? Y (home done, not great, re-do)
Posted:
cafepress - need to convert RAW to TIF ( find out format required)
Blog - Nov. 17-09
website - TBA
Other notes - Emailed image of this painting to Gail at Pedro's cafe, Granville Island regarding exhibit there- need to follow up.

new Black & White mixed media piece in process

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This piece is 30 x 40" on canvas and may still be in process. I just put a thin layer of heavy gel matte to act as an isolation coat and prevent the water soluble pencil ( Derwent) and other medias - gel pen, PITT pen, charcoal, C'aran Dash white water soluble crayon, and permapaque marker from smudging if I decide to paint more layers over it. I was talking to my friend Lyza over Skype the other day - we did art show and tell ( it was so fun and energizing) - and she said "ohhh I love this one, you should paint more" we'll see. Maybe there is another black and white hiding inside me somewhere but I am more excited about some other pieces I'm working on and don't plan a series of these. My friend Steve said I should check out John Virtue's work who paints mainly in black and white. His work is very dramatic and I must say its fun to limit the colour palette and just focus on form and contrast with just the two colours.

Missing Art Works - Possible Theft?

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Please note that this blog will be updated as more information becomes available.


Near the end of July this year I made an agreement via UShip online to have my art shipped from Santa Barbara to Vancouver, Canada with a company called LA Pack Pros. The agreement read that the art would be delivered within 7-14 days of its pick up. Its now mid September and I have had one phone call with their office manager, Andre, acknowledging that they did indeed have my art works but have received no information after that regarding where my work is now and when it will be delivered. Regardless of emails and phone calls I have sent, I have had no communication since that call near the end of August.


On August 5th this year my entire art collection of completed works and works in process on canvas and paper plus an original piece by Michelle Williams was picked up in Santa Barbara at my friend Steve Richardson's home by a man who called himself Robin 'Rob' Letcher. According to my friend Steve, he was about 30ish and was a white man about 6 foot, sandy blond hair with dreds. The truck was a white ford ranger about a 1995 with a white camper shell. He left a cell phone number which I have called repeatedliy and left voice messages, none have which been returned.


The information about this shipping company that I contacted via UShip.com and made the original agreement will appear the bottom of this blog entry.


If you have any suggestions, information, as to the wherabouts of my art work, or how I can get a hold of this so-called shipper, or if you are willing to help in any way please do contact me debchaney@live.com. Thank you.


I have begun to file a theft report with the City of Santa Barbara (805)897-2300 (I will post a file # here when it becomes available) and will pursue the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and the Internet Crime Complaint Center. I have also called the franchisee corporation - Go Packaging - who issues business such as LA Pack Pros their business entity and they are helping me with this.


Any ideas to help solve this mystery: debchaney@live.com. Thank you!


Company: LA Pack Pros

Name: Rob Letcher

Phone: (310) 673-0615

Alternate Phone: (562) 686-2145

Fax: 310-673-0291

Email Addresses: uship@lapackpros.com;

andre@lapackpros.com

uship@lapackpros.com

packpros@dslextreme.com

info@lapackpros.com

Franchisor: Packaging Store



Updated October 7-09


Since Posting this blog several weeks ago I have had the good fortune to finally be in touch with Rob Letcher (who apologized profusely) and said that, yes, indeed he did have my art work here. That he had tried to ship it to Canada twice and that it had now been returned twice at the border. WHy on earth he did not contact me about these attempts, I do not know. He since then put my art crate back on uship. com and the bid was accepted by another company and now I am waiting for full details - name, website, etc. Honestly, I was shaking and cried after he called. The funny thing was about the call was I was sitting at my desk at my computer looking at the paper work from the Santa Barbara Police department and reviewing a letter I sent to a layer in LA while in process of writing Rob an Email saying that enough was enough and I was going to be taking some serious legal action. He called just before I clicked 'send'. Interesting universe we live in. The saga continues though...


Interesting enough, I have received two emails regarding this blog post, of people in the exact same situations! Here they are:

Received today:


J. M. Kenworthy (jmkenworthy@gmail.com)
Sent:Wed 10/07/09 2:11 PM
To:debchaney@live.com
Attachments: 1 attachment
CIMG0114.jpg (1527.5 KB)
Deb,

I came across your blog because I am in a similar situation. I contracted with LA Pack Pros to take some furniture (including family heirlooms) from San Francisco to Lebanon, OH. A guy named Andre picked up the furniture in a rented box truck on August 22nd. I have attached a photo I took. You can almost make out the license plate. I have not heard from them since. I fear my furniture has been Stolen. I call the 562-686-2145 number about everyday and leave a message, but no one calls back. I did, however, get an address from uship.comfor LA Pack Pros (listed below). Unfortunately, It looks like an apartment building when I use Google Street View.

Have you ever heard back from them since you made your blog post? Its nice to know I am not alone, but I am also frustrated because I don't know what to do next. What email address did you use to get a response from LA Pack Pros?

Here is all the contact information that uship.com gave me.
Rob and Frank Letcher
uship@lapackpros.com
packpros@dslextreme.com
(310) 673-0615
(562) 686-2145
(310) 673-0291
2909 Arizona Ave #9
Santa Monica, CA 90404
Thanks for listening,
Jason

_______________________
J. M. Kenworthy
jmkenworthy@gmail.com

Jason (above Email) even sent me this photo of his shipment being picked up:






and here's an EMail I received last week:




Sean Kaylor (kaylorsean@hotmail.com)
Sent:Tue 10/06/09 12:49 PM
To:debchaney@live.com
Deb-

My wife and I had a number of items shipped from Texas to SF, CA. We also can't get a hold of LAPackPros and believe they have stolen our items. Unfortunately, most of the items were sentimental and of no material value.

If you get any word please email respond and I will do so in kind.


Sorry about all the troubles,

Sean Kaylor

By the way, I sent both of these inquiries to Kelly Dafleur who works for the Franchisor 'parent' company to LA Pack Pros. her contact information is as follows and she has been extrodinariliy helpful in this process of tracking down my shipment. Here's a big cheer for Kelly!!!


Kelly Dafler

Franchise Services Coordinator

Annex Brands, Inc.

7580 Metropolitan Drive, Suite 200

San Diego, California 92108-4417

Ph: 800-456-1525

Ph: 619-563-4800

Fax: 619-563-9850

www.annexbrands.com

kdafler@annexbrands.com

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Our "blackberry summer"on Whidbey Island, WA

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We spent a lot of time this summer at our family cabin on Whidbey Island, WA, USA and I've had a lot of requests from my friends in Santa Barbara, CA to see pictures. And, by the way, we have officially named this summer "Blackberry Summer" because I think Ruthie pretty much lived on fresh vine ripe juicy blackberries when we were down there. Best blackberries in the world growing right on the beach, sweet, plump and right at your finger tips. Couldn't get much better than that for fresh eating. On the three hour drive home back to Vancouver Ruthie (age 6) would look out of the window and spot blackberry bushes and say "blackberry, blackberry...." So here we go, black berry summer, enjoy...

The cabin my parents build around 1978. Decor to match. :) My friend Lyza scoped it out live on skype and has decided it'll be the perfect retreat to do some art and hang out in PJs with a small group of women artist friends. We'll see...
Made lots of treats this summer..big batches of oatmeal raisin and chocolate chip cookies.



Mid-tide, my favourite walk. Up where you can see the trees meet the water is where I saw several deer a few weeks back. Beautiful.
Nothing like throwing rocks in the water.
My Dad, who took all the photos here except this one, with Ruthie. I'm inside this amazing fort that someone built up the beach from us. Really cool. It was so big, you could camp in it. Ruthie and I had pretend tea parties there.


Don't touch the ground, it's hot lava. Gotta stay on the rocks.


Morning journal writing on the picnic table...smell that sweet ocean air. Lots of light. Peace.


When we first arrived at Whidbey after driving up from Santa Barbara. Grandma Margaret was there with balloons and groceries and big hugs for Ruthie!
Mum and I doing a clay face masc. Benstonite clay mixed with a bit of apple cider vinegar, makes a nice paste. Put it on, let it dry, sucks out toxins and is fun to do!
digging for sea creatures!



Painting rocks.
( I was inside hand painting little gift cards)




Selling art in non-gallery venues

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RainStorm
Pure Abstraction Series
20 x 30 x 1 1/2 " (approx)
Mixed Media, Sand, Acrylics on Canvas
Original Painting is available, pricing on request
Prints and other items with this image at cafepress
Feng Shui Recommendation: earth & water element , career and reputation, health & vitality


I sell and have shown my work predominantly in non-gallery venues. Its pretty common for artists starting out who don't have gallery representation. Really, if you're creating regularly and producing work - fairly good, good, or great - its nice to just get it out there and get some response, feedback and sales.

Currently as I am getting all my bits and pieces together for my new website I was looking over my artist resume and remember all the shows I've held in the last number of years... Each one was its own experience with various results. Every one part of my journey of being an artist creating and showing her work.

Generally, I've made an effort to improve aspects of each show as the years have gone by. Better marketing of advanced notice for friends and collectors who would stop by. Better signage. More treats! Motivation for people to come - creating a draw. Asking for more help. Teaming up with other artists. Holding a raffle. There are always aspects to tweak and improve when doing an exhibit...

I would say the latest and greatest improvements I've made in exhibiting my work in non gallery venues are to create contracts with the store/boutique/restaurant owner so that we are all on the same page. I've been lucky to date and have never had any difficulties or challenges with any venues. However, even the process of creating a contract with the most recent venues makes a good conversation point to the agreements of having my art in their space - what's OK, what's not.

Here's where I started with creating my own contracts: http://snagmetalsmith.org/Publications/Professional_Guidelines/
Specifically look at the EXHIBITION CONTRACT (for non-commercial exhibitions) section.

I'd love to hear what you're doing to get your work out there, how you're improving with each show and exhibit. And I'm trusting this is helpful on your journey. Best, Deb


For the curious, here's where I've displayed my work for the last several years...The most recent listing have written signed contracts based on the above links.

Exhibits and Solo Events


2009 Solo Exhibit, Patchwork Paper,Via Roma Boutique,

2009 Nature and Asbtraction, group Show, Deb Chaney & Steve Richardson, Santa Barbara, CA

2009 Solo Exhibit, Select Pieces, Java Station Café, Patchwork Paper, Santa Barbara, CA

2009 SWITCH Boutique Beverly Hills Solo Exhibit, select pieces Raw Expression

2008- Group Show, Drawn Out, VIVA Design Studio and Gallery, Santa Barbara, CA

2008 – Solo Exhibit, Carina Cellars, Trees & Abstraction, Los Olivos, CA

2007 Solo Exhibit; Raw Expression, Sojourner Cafe, Santa Barbara, CA
2007 – Group Exhibit, Art in Public Places with the Malibu Artist Association, Malibu, CA.

2006 – Group Exhibit, select pieces Raw Expression, Kanuga Water Color Retreat Center, NC

2006- Group Exhibit, Emerging, Fresca Café, Santa Barbara, CA

2005 – December 2006; Santa Barbara Weekly Arts and Crafts Show
2004 – Solo show Mini Hearts Coffee Attic, Redondo Beach, CA

2003 Solo Exhibit; Hearts Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center, Redondo Beach, CA
 2003 Exhibitor; Leche League International Conference, Costa Mesa, CA
 2003 Solo Exhibition; The Coffee Attic, Redondo Beach, CA
 2003 Exhibitor; Annual Ron Cawdry Springfest Carnival, Redondo Beach, CA
 2003 Solo Exhibit; Java Man Café, Hermosa Beach, CA
 2002 Exhibitor; Manhattan Beach Hometown Fair, Manhattan Beach, CA