Power to Influence

Have you ever been in the presence of someone that just by being around them you felt elevated, inspired to be your best self.  I recently had this experience in a simple exercise class. Just watching this woman standing and walking strong, filled with the glow of life left me knowing that we all can embody greatness in our daily lives and through the simplest of tasks. You know that saying that you become who you are around?  Well, I believe it. What a gift to others in your life to be this kind of person! 

Having this experience really reminded me of how much I - we - can have an impact on each other.  We are in this together and we need each other's strength, patience, love, courage, compassion and vulnerability.  Sometimes we forget we have this super power. We forget why we should use it.  We forget that we can start where we are. We can let our inner critic, the outer critics, our insecurities, surrounding negativity and MEDIOCRITY get the better of us and play it small.  You don't have to follow the herd.

As a person who was not instilled with a lot of self esteem as a child, as an adult I have had to work very hard to give myself credit for the good things that I do and try to be even better tomorrow. I have had to learn that I am worth it, that my life is worth it!   Every week I try to affirm my "musts" which are my values that I live by.  Things that I must do in order to be satisfied with my life.  I check in on this at least weekly. I don't know what I can accomplish. I don't know what I can do yet.  I fall short, but the reflection on what I did that week to work towards my musts builds me up and creates a stronger center of self.  This is ESSENTIAL for my mental and emotional well being. 

Especially, the more I put myself out there, showing my work publicly and especially online.  You want a test of your self-esteem just put up a YouTube video, or post work on Facebook.  Unfortunately, there are people out there who will take every chance to tear you down.  I've been criticized on almost everything I can imagine.....and it's not constructive criticism....including my voice and that I talk to slow.  I've had people tell me to "get a life" that my painting sucks! Ha Ha. Then others who are not as hateful, but decide to take it upon themselves to send me "helpful" ideas and pointing out where the flaws are in my work - when they are not even in the arena themselves! They are sitting up in the stands pointing their fingers at everyone else whose trying.   Sometimes these ridiculous comments can catch me off guard and take me back a bit. I always have to remind myself that I know I am working towards my values every day, in the arena contributing what I can.  I also have to remind myself for every criticism there are probably 50 times that in positive feedback. A few comments cannot rock the bedrock of 8 years of hard work.

I hope you will find your gifts and refine them ever day to give back as a gift to the rest of us!


Here is some of the work I completed over the last 10 days.

 

Minis! Don't forget to JOIN the blog for a chance to win a MINI on March 1st:

"Hot Pink!" - 7"x5" - Starting bid $50 here:

 http://www.dailypaintworks.com/buy/auction/504907

"Lavender Rose" - 90 minute Classroom demonstration

starting bid: $125

available here: http://www.dailypaintworks.com/buy/auction/505669

 

"Daisies in Glass" - 6x6" - oil on panel - 60 minute MINI

I made a YouTube video showing how I painted this one, that you can view here :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=noaNCQZsQdc

"Moroccan Blue Jar" - 16"x20" - oil on linen - $2400

This one I worked on several days and still think I will go back for a few more touch ups/changes. I wanted to do a combo of rich warm oranges and yellows with the cool turquoise blue and I wanted it to be filled with light and atmosphere.

 

Along with teaching taking up 3 days, I also took another 3 days to record/edit some new videos. This painting "The Blue Ginger Jar" is a new lesson that I recorded on video.  It is over 2 hours long with me talking about what I am doing and why every step of the way. It also includes several pages of written material as well. 

It will be available this week for $25 at www.openstudioonline.com

 

 

 

Thank you everyone for your ongoing support!  My goal this month is to raise $1500 through my MINI and demo sales (to go towards my student loan debt) and I am more than a 1/3 there so far!

 

Please share my work on Google+, Pinterest, Follow me on Facebook, Like my YouTube videos. Every little bit helps!

 

 

  

Winner of January's Mini Giveaway!

Drumroll please.............(did you really do it?).......The lucky winner is...........

 

Jim Serrett!   Congratulations Jim. I will email you with further instructions- this message with self destruct in 5,4,3....

Thank you so much everyone for your support this month!  Please follow along with my journey. I will be giving away another Mini Painting March 1st!

Here are some new minis just completed.

• range from 4"x4" - 6"x6"
•  1 hour sketches  starting bid $50 or buy it now $75
•   if you are not signed up on Daily Paintworks or don't have paypal please let me know via email kelli@kellifolsom.com or a Facebook message. I have other options for you.

http://www.dailypaintworks.com/buy/auction/500997

 

 http://www.dailypaintworks.com/buy/auction/501009

http://www.dailypaintworks.com/buy/auction/501362

 

http://www.dailypaintworks.com/buy/auction/501363

http://www.dailypaintworks.com/buy/auction/501364

Cramming & Catching Up

This post will be rather short today as I have some catching up to do on minis..... 

Admittedly, as you may have noticed, I haven't done any minis this week.  This week was the deadline of an art show competition and even though I am more of a steady farming type of artist - working at the same routine pace each day,  a week or two before a deadline I am always cramming in the hopes of that one last painting that will just knock everybody's socks off. I don't think this has ever worked once! Ha Ha. But stubbornly, I always hold out hope that it will.  So there is lots of fast food, unwashed dishes, piled up mail, dwindling food in the kitchen and no time for the supermarket. Painful photographing (trust me this is the most frustrating part) and editing of the work. Trying to decide whether or not to enter the piece that photographs really well or the piece that has something special in person- sigh. This is often the case, and since most competitions now are judging from digital images there is not much you can do about it.   Emotionally, the cycle tends to go through hope, determination, anxiety, self-doubt, hope, preparing for rejection, acceptance that I have done the best I could and let the chips fall where they may.  

So now that is done, I can get back to my normal working schedule which produces between: 1-3 gallery paintings a week depending on their complexity and size, my 1 hour daily sketch, and on average 1 day of teaching a week. 

 

We are only 24 HOURS AWAY FROM THE MINI GIVEAWAY!  I hope you will JOIN my blog, by clicking that little Green Google Join button on the right. Check to make sure you show up in the members list underneath.

I started catching up on minis yesterday afternoon and with that said, I gotta go so I can do more today! I want the winner to have plenty to choose from. 

Thank you all so much for following, commenting, pinning, sharing, bidding, etc! All of it helps keep me striving daily for artistic achievement.

Much Love,
Kelli

Here are some of the gallery paintings finished this month:

 

"Cottage Roses" - 18"x14" - oil on panel - $2000

 

"Apples with Brass Bucket" - 16"x20" - oil on linen - $2400

 

"Daisies and Blue" - 24"x30" - oil on linen - $4800

 

"Pink Gladiolus" - 24"x20" - $4000

 

"At Her Dressing Table" - 30"x40" - oil on linen - $4800

 

"Champagne Pink & Red Roses" - 14"x18" - oil on panel - $2000

 

1 Week Away From My Mini Giveaway!

That's right we are just 1 week away from my mini painting giveaway.  Right now your odds are 1 in 64!  If you would like a chance to win one of my mini paintings please make sure that you JOIN the blog. You will see your picture listed among the members. Which means you will probably have to sit down at an actual computer to do this, the phones are not showing the button to join.

I am so excited to give someone a painting on February 1st!  I will announce the winner here.  I ask that the winner emails me at kelli@kellifolsom.com and I will give you a list of available paintings to choose from.

  I will be coming out with a new batch of minis next week so please keep watching my Daily Paintworks gallery on the right hand side of the page or follow my facebook page. Another big thank you to everyone who has purchased my work! I am soooo looking forward to writing a big check to Wells Fargo and chop down that student loan.  Also even if you can't purchase something, every time you like, comment, pin or share me on google+, it is a huge help you guys!  This really gets my work out there to more people.

 

ONLINE TUTORIALS:

If you are an artist and wondering how I paint you may not know that I have some free YOU TUBE mini tutorials and I plan to do more:

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GpeTocscj4o

Also I do have a full 2 1/2 hour video + 8 page written lesson available here:
http://www.openstudioonline.com/Account/Workshop/SecurePages/WorkshopEntryPage.aspx?WorkshopId=37

And you can also schedule critiques for your paintings on this mentor website.

SHOWING UP:

Down to business, I wanted to write about showing up.  It's so important that you are showing up everyday in your studio and doing deep work.  Deep work can only come from having a set amount of uninterrupted time to focus. Yes this means no internet, no phones, no getting up every 5 minutes because you remembered something you have to do.  No studying someone elses work for 30 more minutes. If you only have an hour, use that hour! Everyday!  There is so much that you can only learn from time in the saddle. (Check out Cal Newport interviews on the topic deep work on YouTube)

 These days it seems like we have an unending wealth of knowledge from other people who are masters and that is great of course, but  just because one "knows" what they are to do does not mean that they can do it.  Unfortunately, you can "know" and then sit down to do and the "knowing" does not come out. You know what I'm talking about don't you? Aaarrgghhh, I should be better than this!  This can be so frustrating.....and well, I wish I had some better news for you, but there is no way around it, you just have to not be able to do for a while. This is where a lot of people give up.  I encourage you to be willing to make paintings that do not live up to your knowledge.  It's the only way. You can't get to a great painting by doing one painting. I promise you that one day you will be painting and all of the sudden you will realize that your skillset has caught up a little bit to your knowledge.

 When this happens, EUREEKA! Go get a root beer float folks, it's time to celebrate.  I tell you nothing makes me happier than realizing that after months of struggling I have finally reached a new level.  I don't even give a shit what anybody else thinks about it or that it's not as good as So and So. I know that I improved! I know that I will keep improving. I recently had this experience with my portrait painting.  I've been going to group once a week at least for months, I went to 2 portrait painting workshops this year, I've watched videos, I've analyzed my paintings and master paintings.....and finally my portraits started to show improvement this week.  You have to be willing to fail, be a beginner, look like a fool in front of everyone, be vulnerable and open and allow someone else to help you!   This is so hard, but personally NOTHING is worth missing my goal of improvement - especially my own insecurities. 

 

Some minis from this week:

I painted another pear mini by special request. No matter how many times I paint pears, I always find it a challenging study and try hard not to make they look like light bulbs.

Pink & Red Carnations, 7"x5", Starting bid $50!

I loved the spiraling light on these carnations, sort of a contrapposto of flowers!http://www.dailypaintworks.com/buy/auction/496873

or buy it now for $75. If you don't have paypal just email me for another form of payment.

 

 

What else do I do?

Of course my schedule doesn't just include painting 1 hr mini sketches. I also complete up to 3 larger gallery works a week. In addition to hiring a model once a week privately and going to a portrait group. 

 

Here is one of my recent gallery paintings, "Apple Butter Bucket" - 16"x20" - oil on linen

and you guessed it, it is for sale $2000 framed and shipped.  So just email me if you are interested. I also do a 2-4 month payment plan, $500 a month. I can take credit cards as well.  

 

Framed in black and gold, it's about 23"x 27".

 

 

You can already see one of my portrait sketches in the background there. Here are some of the portrait sketches I've done recently , total working time is about 2 1/2 hours each and some rough 30 minute figure sketches in my studio searching for ideas. It's said that you shouldn't show your unfinished work, but I don't know- I always enjoy seeing the artists sketches that I admire. It gives me an idea of how they were trying to discover and art gold didn't just ooze out of their fingertips all the time!

 

30 minute figure sketches:

 

 

2 1/2 hour portrait sketches....I had some root beer floats to celebrate my progress!

Portrait of Kiana

Portrait of Kelly

 

The Work is Joyful!

Once again I am overwhelmed by the appreciation and support I receive on a daily basis! Every time you comment on a painting, share my work on social media sites, add me on google+ or like a youtube video and of course buy a painting, it helps me out tremendously.  So, I want to say a big THANK YOU!  

So often, I get comments about my work ethic....and I would like to not sound like a Pollyanna, but I often wish I had more daylight hours to work by or more energy because the work is so enjoyable. Not always pleasurable, but joyful.  It is very important for me to keep it this way. To guard my happiness and keep the positive momentum going, lest that sneaky little sister self-doubt should creep in and sabotage my progress. 

As far as the minis go, I have been doing them off and on for about 4 years and I have always set a timer. I started doing this my last year of school to work through problems faster.  Between doing demonstrations for classes and these minis, I have gotten better at prioritizing and painting faster.  I've always loved a good drill!  Something about the focus, the adrenaline, no time to overthink - just whatever is in there comes to the surface.  When I was in grade school I lived for the end of the week math drills where whoever completed the quiz first with a perfect score got a big giant cookie with M&Ms in it. Now that was some motivation for a little 8 year old, and I would win almost every time. I really just wanted to win, often I would just split the cookie with all of my friends.  I guess not much has changed about my personality. If you are a painter, I hope you embrace your personality traits and use them to fuel your progress. It may be in a totally different way than mine.

 

Here are some of my minis completed this week:

"A Good Pearing" - 7"x5"

This one was really fun to do! I've always loved a good wine bottle painting. The shiny highlight and reflections I just can't resist. I also really enjoyed putting down some juicy light on that pear.

This one still doesn't have a bid on it. You can get it for $50 here: http://www.dailypaintworks.com/buy/auction/494629

 

"Two of a Kind" - 6"x6"

This one was probably the hardest to do in 1 hour, just because it was more up close and I had to try to model the form more. All of those little ins and outs where the stem comes out of the green pear was tough, especially because when oils are fresh out of the tube they are really soft and buttery so it can be tough to get a lot of fine detail.

 

"Yellow and Pink Flowers" - 6"x6"

This one was just so much fun to paint! I wanted to do all shades of pinks,purples and reds and have the yellow carnations really pop.  I accidentally ordered some brights (paintbrushes) and I found they came in handy on getting those super lit crisp edges. 

 

"Sunflowers on Blue" - 7"x5"

Well they are all fun to do, but I can never resist a sunflower.....or two! Decided to pair it with a lighter background this time. (This one did not photo well. I think because it is dark outside this morning and overcast. The background is more of a blue-green. I'll try to retake tomorrow).

Available here for $50: http://www.dailypaintworks.com/buy/auction/495764

 

"Roses and Carnations" - 9"x12" - oil on panel

I loved that mini so much I decided to do a variation on it for my classroom demonstration. This time with some roses- yikes!  I'm really getting into studying roses lately and they are still intimidating to me.  I decided to take it a bit more dramatic this time with a bolder composition and darker background.  I spent about 90 minutes on this one with talking.

Starting bid is $95 here: http://www.dailypaintworks.com/buy/auction/495765

 

 

HAPPY PAINTING EVERYONE!!!

Don't forget to JOIN my blog (your id badge will show up under the members list) if you want to WIN  one of my paintings on January 31st.

Mini Painting Giveaway January 31st!

I just want to say first of all how overwhelmed I am by all of the support I receive for my work on a daily basis. Sometimes I just think, "How did I get so lucky?"......and then I think "Oh yeah- hard work, student loans, sharing that work....and people actually wanting that work.....and maybe a little touch of grace or luck too!" 

So my campaign this year (as I mentioned in my previous post) is to sell my daily mini paintings as a way to dig out from underneath this burden of student loan debt.  ALREADY this month you have given me an extra $350 to go towards my payment this month! Thank you so much and I hope you enjoy your new paintings.

 

Please JOIN my blog (look for the tab join this site on the right hand side) if you want a chance to WIN one of my minis! I will draw a name and announce the winner here on January 31st. 

 

Here are some of the daily paintings I have done since after Christmas :

I bought a bouquet of Yellow Roses and I was really getting into practicing those. So there's a lot of those - ha ha.  I have always found roses to be very complex and intimidating to paint, so I figured it was time to put in some time on them.  Of course even in these minis, I am always trying to make a painting with good design as well. Sometimes these lead to a larger work if it is strong enough.  I played around with high key, middle key and low key values as well as trying out different color combinations with the yellow. It's really amazing how many different looks you can come up with using one subject.  The other hard part is trying to study their delicacy and shape in one hour. I really focused a lot of time and energy on the contours and tried to keep their overall shape close in value regardless of shadows so their abstract shapes would remain strong.  I'm not sure what I am going to work on next, now that my roses died!

New Year, New Committment

About 8 years ago I decided to make my dream come true to become an artist. I don't know that it was a dream or just a necessity. Anyhow, I had to do it.  I realize how fortunate I am to be able to be an artist full time, especially as a single woman without additional support. Did I say fortunate....sometimes I am actually shocked and don't know how everything lined up for it to happen. So many things could have gone wrong - - - but they didn't.  I am so grateful to live in a country with the freedom to chase your dreams. I still believe in the American dream that you can make it happen....but I also know for every one of me there may be 5 others who keep trying and haven't "made it" YET. 

With that being said, just because we have the freedom to chase the dream does not mean that the dream will be free - ha ha.  I'm sure there are a number of ways I could have chosen to pursue my goal, but 8 years ago the only thing I knew to do was go to an art college and get a degree in studio art. This left me with close to $100,000 in student loan debt. Yikes is right.....I've tried not to think about it and just keep painting!

I am coming up on 4 years out of art school and I have been able to make a living selling my work. I started off living bare bones, renting rooms out of strangers houses for cheap rent. When I moved back to Oklahoma, I lived in a cheap 1 bedroom apartment that I painted out of for 2 years. This was not the bottom of the barrel, but I'm not going to lie and say that it wasn't a depressing place to live. I was so stressed out those first few months, terrified at the thought that I might have to get a job that would take me away from painting.  Still, the situation was not exactly leaving me dancing in the meadow with joy at the prospect of not being able to pay the rent one month. Whether it was hard work, skill, hustle, good fortune, destiny or a combination of all,  but thankfully that never happened.

Last year I was actually able to upgrade to a nicer place to live with a bigger studio (which is still the living room) and better light. I was even able to save some money as a safety net for the future. I was even able to go to a couple of workshops this year to try and improve my paintings again. I am thrilled to say the least with my progress and so grateful for the prosperity. 2015 was one of the happiest years of my life. But the debt is a $500+ a month burden (that's even income based payments) and I want to start chopping away at it so I can have a better future that might even include owning a home and studio!

My goal for 2016 is to chip away at that student loan debt! I have always done stretches of daily painting sketches, but this year my goal is to do one every single day.

• A daily 60 minute sketch. 
• They will cover all genres and different mediums over the course of the year. 
• They will start at $50 on auction with free shipping in U.S.
• I will post about them here every week and also keep you informed of my larger gallery work. 

They will be available for sale and my goal this year is to be able to apply $15,000 dollars to my student loans.

Here are some of my first daily sketches (getting a jumpstart on the new year!)

"Friendly Yellows" - 6"x6" - oil on panel - 60 minute sketch

Chinese Jar against Red - 6"x6" - oil on panel - 60 minute sketch