the Creative Thursday blog

yes! my art is in that movie ~ Paranormal Activity The Ghost Dimension

I almost forgot to share my art is in a movie that opened this past Friday, October 23.

This is a piece I wrote for my newsletter subscribers this morning.

Might seem strange that I would forget to share something so exciting? I definitely get a thrill when I see my work on the big screen or little screen {it's been in several movies and tv shows over the years}

I know it's also exciting for you, my family and friends, collectors and customers to see my work featured, because you are almost always the first to let me know you discovered it somewhere.

So if it's this exciting why did I forget to share? Because, honestly the feeling is mixed for me. To begin with, you may or may not know that a select body of my work is licensed, and up until recently when I decided to add an addendum to my contract {because of this movie} I did not know if/when my art would be featured. And as the sole creator of my work and my brand, I want to be the one deciding if and when it will be showcased in the future. While you know I like Halloween and some scary, I'm not sure Paranormal 5 and the fact that the wall my art is on turns into a tunnel to hell would have been my first choice? But it's done and here we are.

The second part of the mixed feeling is that usually when people discover my art is featured, they assume that it comes with a decent paycheck, or at least a paycheck? decent being subjective and who knows what that number would actually be in anyone's mind? I do not get paid other than one sale from the art; which in this case because it is licensed, is a small percentage of the total price, retail or wholesale depending upon how it was purchased.

Now I understand that this is when people assume the exposure in itself is worth it? and must certainly generate more sales, and it certainly may! that would be great! but since there is no credit for my art listed anywhere it will take a determined collector to track me down.

I'm not speaking on behalf of all artists, but most contracts that feature your work in film are the same. You always retain the copyright of course {make sure you do!} and you will be paid once for the piece and that price may vary depending upon how famous you already are.  And depending upon the exposure {being selected as one of "Oprah's favorite things" may be different?} you cannot count on it as a huge increase in sales for your business. With all of that said, most everyone agrees? {not sure that I do} that all exposure is good exposure - so you never know? maybe Paranormal 5 will be the tipping point for me?!

Don't misunderstand; I appreciate all of the opportunities that have come to me in my business along with the ones I have gone after that have actually worked out as I had anticipated. It's an honor when companies and individuals want to collaborate; when fellow creatives recognize your work and want to include it as a part of their art. And I'm an artist who wants to support other artists. I'm also an artist who wants to continue to support myself and my business with my work. And this does not happen without you.

I've said this before and have been mentioning it a lot lately on both Periscope broadcasts and the recent class I taught. This business does not exist without you, my customers, especially my very first customers who collected my work. Each and every sale from you is what supports me. And it does not matter what film it's in {at least for now}. If I suddenly hit it big because my art was in a movie, I'll let you know.

Until then and always: THANK YOU for supporting Creative Thursday. 

And I do recommend that you quickly purchase all of my originals before this sudden surge of fame causes me to increase my prices drastically ;)

Here's the movie poster image I see when driving around L.A. featuring the tunnel that took over the space that my art was hanging on. You can see it featured here, pre-tunnel, in the trailer.

And for those of you who love this piece "the gang celebrates"  and have asked about purchasing it? it's a classic and is still available as a print in multiple sizes and for a limited time as a canvas as well.

If you see the movie, let me know what happens :)

thank you Pregnancy & Newborn!

The "Princess and the Pea" is featured in this month's issue of Pregnancy and Newborn. You can view the entire issue here. In the company of a beautiful selection of art. Thank you Lacey! 

Mollie Makes

Creative Thursday was featured in the newest issue of Mollie Makes. {thank you Mollie Makes!}Such a treat, especially because this magazine is one of my favorites. I LOVE it! I also just discovered their home edition. Something about British style and sensibility, it's a comfort and inspiration to me. They seem to like warm, thoughtful, eclectic design and crafting, with bursts of color ~ as much as I do.

If you haven't picked up a copy yet, you should! A little tricky to track down in the states, I've seen issues at JoAnn and more recently I ordered a copy from another favorite, Fancy Tiger. If you just email or call Fancy Tiger, they stock the magazine and are happy to ship it to you. Oh and! you can get an electronic edition too! {thanks Delphine}

my art on TV! Up All Night on NBC

In case you missed my tweet and Instagram photo that went something like this "Holy Sh*t my art on TV...now if they could just move that lamp"

"The gang celebrates" canvas was purchased through my licensing company, and they let me know that there was a possibility that it would be on the new comedy show, Up All Night on NBC. After living in Hollywood for all these years, even auditioning here as a commercial actress, you learn not to hold your breath about these kinds of moments. 

So last night we watched the series premiere... and for 3 seconds or so my art was featured in the opening. 

What can I say other than it really was ridiculously exciting to see it.  and a little surreal.

#happycreativethursday

thank you Better Homes and Gardens

 

Ok fine! Cat's out of the bag! And this is absolutely one of the reasons for the excitement I eluded to in my earlier post. Yup, that is me on page 24 of the new October issue of Better Homes and Gardens.

I think that it's supposed to be Zen to calmly, humbly appreciate recognition of your work and then almost immediately move on, with your focus returning to that very work...right after you jump for joy in the Bristol Farm's supermarket aisle, the one next to the magazine rack.

For weeks, I've been checking newsstands...all across the country in fact. You should've seen me looking for this issue while I was traveling to and from Squam a week ago. Let's just say that in a between flights, I was perusing any and all airport shops that carried magazines.  Just on Friday, I popped by the store for some last minute ingredients for our Saturday night dinner party, when I remembered that this very trip to the grocery store could also afford me one more opportunity to check on the latest magazine issues. And there it was!

So how does one get a mention in Better Homes and Gardens? By focusing on and loving your work. I've been keeping this blog for the last four years and as it turns out, one of the nicest BHG editors has been following along with me. One phone call later, that included an inspiring conversation with said editor, and I was sending over a photo and an attempt to condense the essence of this blog into a few sentences. 

It's an honor, always when someone shares your work with their audience. With an approximate readership of almost 40 million, this BHG mention is the largest exposure Creative Thursday has had to date. For a person who has BIG vision for her company, and has dreams of having her message and art reach far and wide this is not only a special honor but it is incredibly EXCITING!! After years of working towards this goal, I'm just going to take a moment to bask in the excitement and sense of accomplishment that comes with this kind of acknowledgement and then I'll get back to focusing on my work ;)

To those of you who have found your way here from BHG and are visiting this blog for the very the first ~ WELCOME!! And to those of you have been following along on this creative journey of mine for a while now, thank you for the support you've shown over the years and for continuing to ignite and inspire the conversation about what is possible for all of us willing to follow our life's work, especially creatively.

{thank you Kelly and thank you Lisa who shot the photo of me}

my first apron

A couple of weeks ago I mentioned completing a first-ever sewn creation that I managed to "pull-off". An apron it is! 

While I have sewn off and on my whole life, an expert sewer I am not. And never before have I even come close to sewing something I could wear. So THIS apron is a very exciting accomplishment for me. I bought most of the fabric I used, and the gold super size ric rac, at a great little fabric store on main street in Ashland on my trip there earlier this month. I practiced and learned more of the 100 or so stitches available on my sewing machine. I tried different threads and ways of sewing on pockets. Crazy fun, I tell you.  And I also have to credit Liz Elayne for the inspiration on this one. She makes the most beautiful aprons. She sold them last year at Squam and this year everyone had their aprons in tow. Every chance I could I tried to borrow/steal someone's apron because they are especially great for teaching and keeping your supplies at hand. Plus they are just so pretty~  a fashion statement all on their own. 

Turns out aprons are also great for wearing to the farmer's market. Many pockets equal keeping your cash organized and easy to get to. I don't know about you but by the time I leave the Farmer's Market what's left of my cash is always rolled into a ball.

So I love, love, love my apron and wear it every chance I get. In fact I usually have it on at home. OK, I wear it every day. I wore it to Trader Joe's and the checker complimented me on it, then proceeded to make fun of my intense enthusiasm when I practically shouted "I MADE it myself!"

My apron also makes me want to SEW MORE. How did I miss the joy of sewing my whole life? I think sewing has always felt like one of those skills "that other people have", but the truth is that it is much like any other form of creating. You just sit down and start making something.

*Edit* October 29. Jen over at Indie Fixx invited me share a peek inside my home, something I've been meaning to do for ages, invite you all in for a little tour, and the post is up today! And you should totally check out all of the homes in Jen's blog feature, A Peek Inside: Indie Home Tours. SO inspiring.

back to school

6 x 6 in.

First: Couldn't leave you this week without at least one new creation as promised.

Second: it's time to move on from my last blog post. It was seriously starting to bum me out reading the words "steal"

Third: thanks so much for all your kind and supportive messages. I just want to assure you especially now that the dust is settling, I am really doing ok with all of this. I heard from many of you how many times this has happened to you as well, and as I mentioned before it has happened to me before too ~ so I think we all have to accept that sharing your creations with the world, any creations at all there is a chance this can happen. It's just one small drawback to putting your work out there. And I say small, because it is just that. The benefit of sharing your work with the world far outweighs a situation like this.

What I realize again and again in this life, especially in my creative career, is that no one can keep you from where you are wanting to go. No one can "steal" from you unless you let them and by let them I mean, allow them to crush your spirit. Sadly, and what I think stunned me the most in this situation is the realization that there are people in the world who would even consider behaving in this way. But at the end of the day I can't convince anyone that my way of living is best. And I'm not supposed to. My other realization as I mentioned in my "less is more" post is that I don't really want to convince anyone anymore either. We can't change others we can only change our perception and reaction to how others behave ~ a tall order on some days I know. Clearly this week has been more challenging than most.

With that said, I will still always speak out for what I believe is right in the world, recognizing that sometimes it can make a difference. {Now you know ~ don't understimate the power of a voice{s} combined with social media}. I will also continue to create, so that means it's back to business as usual over here. I thought today's painting was a good fit for this sentiment. Since my characters often hold hands in my paintings, this is a sign that I still {mostly} believe in the good in all people.

And you see in all the energy put towards this, I completely forgot to say thank you to Amy for inviting me to share some thoughts over at her beautiful blog this week.

to my lovely creative community ~ have a great weekend. xo

{click here to buy original}

idolize yourself ~ day 14

How about it? Idolizing yourself?!

Here's a visit with my co-host, Tank and I on this Monday.

Links relating to this video

Susannah's post that also inspired this topic "Would you like you, if you met you?"

Ooh and head on over to Jess' blog Pecannott where she asked me some thoughtful questions, especially about abundance. You should know about this lovely lady not only for her great designs and colorful creations but one of her newest ventures this year, the Pecannoot blog is all about "making every day abundant" ~ you know I LOVE that.

beneath the stars :: new gocco prints in the shop!

Friday already?! It IS! 

I've had a really good, busy week, that has included catching up, I mean REALLY catching up, preparing for classes at Squam and online with the next e-course, all while delving further into my new found passion for a "simpler life" ~ another reason I've been a bit scarce here on the blog and a topic I plan to expand on soon.

Remember the new gocco prints I left you with last week? I have decided to embellish each one with original painting, and some mixed media {bunnies need dresses and skirts, you know}. They are a limited edition of 19 and due to the original embellishments, no two are alike. They will be titled, signed and numbered in light pencil. I've just listed the first three in the shop today.

Also I wanted to say thank you to Noelle for inviting me to share my thoughts on working from my home studio over at her blog. Not only is Noelle aka PinkBathtub and Jetsetpaper one of my favorite designers, but she's just one of those online friends that I know I'd enjoy visiting with in person ~ one of the reasons is probably because she enjoys a good glass of wine as much as I do.

Speaking of a glass of wine....is it wine o'clock yet? And on that note, happy Friday!

quietly creating

So, it goes like this...If you listened to an earlier video posted last week, then you know that while I'm a good multi-tasker,  I've learned that my creative focus can only handle one, maybe two projects at any given time. Why? at the risk of sounding too sap ~ because I give my creations "my heart". There's just no other explanation, and this also means that my energy has to be allocated wisely. 

After what feels like a rather long painting and creating hiatus, it's time for some new Creative Thursday creations!

That's where I've been, quietly creating. 

And this means that the video experiment is temporarily on hold because creative energy is going to some newness ~ including gocco prints which you see a glimpse of above. And on that note, everything is also temporarily on hold, as I'm heading to the beach for a few days for what is becoming our annual mini surf trip. {Next year, I say Hawaii!} 

While I'm away I leave you with one of my first podcasts where the table is turned and questions are being asked of me by the lovely Kelly over at Women Wise Marketing. And Molly invited me to share some thoughts on her blog. And you should check out Christine's very "real" and thoughtful post about artists and making money among other thoughts on what it means to be successful.

Have a wonderful week, as our summer slowly winds down. I don't know about you, but it's beginning to feel like this fall will be the beginning of lot of good newness, don't you think? Like a lot of the heaviness that has been weighing people down is beginning to lift. I think it's time.