Pretty one, smart one, or the baby?

Pretty one, smart one, or the baby?

My siblings and I grew up with Mother's identifying descriptors for each of us......one was the pretty one, one was the smart one, and one was the baby.  Breaking the mold of our perceived places in the family order has been an interesting process and one each of us has faced in our own way.

Although it's really taken years,  I think by now, I hope anyway, we've ALL found out we were and are the pretty ones, the smart ones and, of course, understand that we were ALL the baby at one point or another in the family.  

All of this is to say that we grew up with those roles and it took some time for each of us to recognize the we were made up of many attributes/characteristics other than Mother would have imagined.  She always said she believed that we could do anything we wanted - well sort of - but it took us a long time to shake that doubt that was always represented by our "personal" descriptors repeated again and again from childhood to adulthood.

So on this almost Happy New Year 2012, I stop to wonder if Mother was still with us in this life if she could pick from a hat and identify which of us is the author, the painter, the woodworker......all artists?  How did that happen?!  I project that Mother would be very proud of her pretty one, her smart one, and her baby!

Pretty one, smart one, or the baby?

Art and Online Sales

"Love is Not Always Black and White"

12" x 16" Mixed Media Collage

As many of you know, MindSieve is in the process of transforming into MindSieve Studio - where there will be online sales, as well as blogging, and sharing with readers how art affects me and many in our daily lives and relationships.  This transitioning has taken me to a whole new world of online workshops, online experts, online colleagues, the world of Twitter, website building, domain names, etc.  You name it, I've been studying it the last few weeks!  ...........and believe me, I've a way to go before I become an expert!!!

You may remember an earlier post here about artists unselfishly sharing their work and expertise with other artists.  That phenomenon I find so rewarding and uplifting.  In that same vein, online, shall I call them friends, colleagues, experts..........share daily their advice for building websites, for marketing products, for enjoying your art, while being swallowed up (if you allow it) by more advice than you'll probably ever be able to use - but it's there for the choosing.  I've been choosing The Abundant Artist, SquareSpace, Fine Art Tips from Lori McNee, Matt LeBlanc Artist, and a couple of newbies in the last couple of days that came across my screen and attention.

In addition, a couple of sites that seemingly would not be all about art, but that resonate with me in the category of self-esteem and accomplishment in life and in one's artwork, as well as in one's art business.  They are -

 

1.  "Diamonds in the Soul" and her "Get Your Shine On" launch - a fabulous outline for bringing the best to everything you live into

2.  "Uplevel Your Business" with entrepreneur Christine Kane

3.  An amazing revelation for me from an article about Triathalon training - no I'm not training for a race - at least not a triathalon - but you'll hear more about the article in tomorrow's post.

At any rate, with this exciting door of online sales opening for me, I feel supported, I feel worthy, I feel creative - and much of my energy comes from the support of the persons, sites, and art  produced by the people I mention here today and who I've noted in my header bar in the Artist Category. Thanks for their positive influence in my efforts - and I'll assume those tips and back slaps keep coming!!

*For sale online June 4, 2011