Total Art Soul - For Artists

Please allow me to explain a little of my life only two or three years ago and perhaps it will help you to understand why this next chapter which will begin in September of this year is so exciting and quite unbelievable for me.

My life only a few years ago was so very very different.  I lived in a 3 storey house near Bolton.  My back condition was so severe, I struggled to get up and down stairs, in and out of bed, and I certainly couldn't drive.  I was literally housebound with my two young children who had to play inside of the house all of the time.  The only people that helped were my husband (who unfortunately had to work long hours) and my Mum and Dad but being of ill health themselves, their help was limited.

I was diagnosed by my doctor as having severe depression.  I'm sure this was as a result of my circumstances.  I had a spinal operation and additional pain relief which did give me some respite but with all the issues I have with my spine, I am still disabled much to my frustration.

We took the decision that we had to move to be near to my husband's family who could really help and support us and so we moved to mid Wales.  We got an automatic car which meant I could drive.  Our children began to make lots of wonderful friends, our daughter started at the local school and our son spent a few hours at nursery.  Life became so very different.

As you know, this year I began my passion for my art and our life continues to improve.  Although my physical disability means restrictions on my life, my emotional wellbeing is so much better which in turn, allows me to better manage my pain.

All that said, what is the next chapter for me then?  Well, my youngest son will start at the local school also.  This means for the first time in 5 years I will be without my children during the day.  My husband who uses a room in our house as his office is expanding his business and so the office will become my very own art studio.

Of course I will miss my children but I know they will be/are happy at school.  I will have the opportunity to be myself during those hours and create whatever I wish in my new art studio.  I'm so looking forward to redesigning the room to make it more conducive to creativity (and of course, protecting the carpet lol).  I'm so excited, I'm like a kid again :-).

Jude xxx

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Hi there,



This past Saturday, I finally attended an event hosted by the Central Park Sketching and Art Meetup Group.
We met at Fredrick Douglas Avenue and 110th street where over 10
artists began doing some warm up sketches of whatever was around us as
we waited for more people to arrive. Here is as far as I got with my
warm up sketch of a nearby lamp post.
After about 10 minutes after I arrived, the group begins our venture to The Blockhouse. At this spot we spent about an hour and a half and did two sketches in
that time. After each sketching session, everyone lines up their sketch
books so we can check out each other's work.
The next two drawings are those I did at the Blockhouse. For the first
one, I focused on a hole in one of the walls which was probably used as a
lookout point. I wanted to focus on that opening, getting a glimpse of
what was behind the brick wall.

The second sketch was of the iron gated door which was the entrance to the structure. Many sketchers chose this spot for their first sketch. It
was certainly an interesting spot so I wanted to take a crack at it as
well. Instead of just drawing the door, I wanted to look more within the door. Therefore I spent more time on the brick wall beyond the door.





Honestly, I haven't been a big fan of sketching. I would rather paint. That
provides more 'instant' gratification due to it being more freeing and
comfortable. This experience was really nice though to be in group
setting exploring new areas of the Park. While drawing there's no time so for me, I get caught up in capturing
what's in front of me and I'll work on it until I'm satisfied. It was
such a beautiful Saturday in NY too that it was just a great experience
to be among fellow artists capturing our perspective of what was around
us.
Below is the last sketch done with the group at The Ravine near the
northern end of the park. I didn't know there was a mini waterfall in
the Park. It was so relaxing. I scoped out the area a bit before I
settled on focusing on a branch in the water. I don't think I tried
drawing moving water before (excluding waterfalls themselves). The end
result came out pretty well I think. The other aspect of the scene was
trying to capture the sunlight reflecting off of the branch and the
water. Not easy at all but I tried.

This was really fun to do. I'm looking forward to the next time I can make to the meetup events.

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Have you ever had the feeling of harmony and happiness overflowing your entire body and soul? I have.

What an amazing feeling that is.

Today when I looked at my studio and saw how complete and organized it was I simply felt at peace. I realized that it's surrounded with everything that is Olya-the-artist possible, evoking creativity simply by being in it. Right at that moment I felt so happy. Happy to have found my passion and true calling in life. Happy to have a wonderful studio where I can create art in many forms. Happy to have an amazing group of supporters and fans. Happy to just be alive =)

I wish that everyone would experience such positive, peaceful and happy feelings in their lives.  And I believe that at some point in time, everyone will.  And the best part is that you never know where and how the inner peace and positivity will shine upon you!

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A couple of things happened since my last post. First of all, we participated our first real art fair last weekend – Carlsbad Art in the Village. Here’s the poster with my “Cherry Blossom II” on it  :

Unlike with our local markets and swaps, we actually had expectations for this one. It was supposed to show whether or not we are ready for large regional events and whether it is worth paying $200+ to participate. Well, when it comes to generating interest and attracting visitors, I think we are ready. A lot of people stopped by. It is the beauty of an art-dedicated event: all who come there come for the art. It was great to have an “audience” with a genuine interest in and appreciation of my work and art in general.

When it comes to sales…er…it wasn’t that good. We did make our money back with a very small profit on top which disappears when you count things like gas and food. We didn’t have to pay for a night’s sleep (our friends at Camp Pendleton were kind enough to let us stay with them AND they came to the show AND they bought an original painting and a print) or for childcare (my family was visiting and they were more than glad to watch the kid while chilling at the nearby beach). Still, we didn’t lose money, and that’s something, right?

Some of the highlights of the show:

• being in Carlsbad. Perfect weather. Beautiful streets. Intelligent people. Don’t ask me why I moved to the high desert, it’s too prosaic…
• seeing our friends and family who came to the show and made me feel special 
• the smell of the ocean! And almost getting soaked in cold water when I was sitting on the sand breastfeeding Elijah and didn’t notice a particularly strong wave sneaking up on us. We were saved by my husband 
• some comments people made…Like, coming from a dark-long-haired young man with a guitar, “All these colors…This is just too happy for me. I like Gothic…And why so many babies?” – the babies (five of them) are on the wall with examples of my portraits.
• being a Yupo-evangelist. I even gave a little piece of Yupo to one lady.
• a friend of ours buying an original painting. I didn’t feel like I was giving my baby away, but it was still very special. The painting is the“Cheeseburger in Paradise”, I mean, “Lahaina, Hawaii” 

For my husband’s review of the fair, go tohttp://theartistshusband.blogspot.com/2010/08/carlsbad-art-show-report.html

A few days before the fair, I was email-interviewed by Jennifer The Milk Mixer. Jennifer is an artist herself, and maintains a blog where she writes about creative people she meets. She found me through Twitter (@YevgeniaWatts) and liked my paintings. She asked me if she could feature me on her blog – and of course, I was all for it! You can read the mini-interview here.

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So many folks if given the word gemstone, usually associate it with Diamond, Sapphire, Emerald, or Ruby.  And that is a fair association.  I love all of those sparkling gemstones, but since I have discovered semi-precious gemstones, my appreciation of gemstones in total has truly grown.

As a matter of fact, I am fascinated by stones like Jasper, Agate. Quartz, Chalcedony, Moonstone and Prehnite just to mention a few.

I would like to share a few of my favorite cabochons with you, which happen to be mostly Jasper and Agate,  and I hope you share my fascination.  Each cab seems to be a natural work of art in it's own right!

Russian Agate

One of my favs, Mexican Fire Opal
Rain Forest Jasper with it's natural brush strokes
Moss Agate provides another picture
Druzy Quartz exposes it's internal crystals
ChickenTrack Jasper, what can I say?

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