Hi Everyone, I apologize for not posting yesterday, I have no excuse, except a bad headache that just made me dizzy and slightly disorientated all day. Though I did get abit of painting done, I just had no energy left for anything else yesterday. I missed my blog though...somehow there was a little something left incomplete about my day.
I wish that I could work more quickly to have more 'daily' works to show you all but my methods are just slower than some. The ideal of people doing daily paintings for their blogs is very intriguing to me and I admire it but I don't think it's something I'll ever be able to do. But I hate to say never.
Today, I want to share with you the work of one of my pals, a North Bay resident and a talented, spirited woman to boot; Fran Hanover.
These are a couple of Fran's handmade cards that I have in frames in our dining room...they are so much fun and full of movement.
Her work is described as "a non-traditional stylized form of African, and Middle-Eastern subjects - primarily women – hence the term Afrocentric which is often used to describe her work. Fran’s continuous advocacy for the rights and empowerment of women shapes the subject to reflect the stories of women, their joy, sadness, and in many cases, restrictions".
I just adore Fran's work, to see more of her paintings check out http://afrocentricnorth.com/.
Now, I've had a couple of people ask me recently...'aren't you afraid of competition, I thought artists try to keep other artists work out of the spotlight.' I think I used to be alittle bit like that but nowadays I find myself able to celebrate every artist and my own uniqueness in the world. There are so many artists nowadays, of all kinds and it's impossible to compete with all of them. So I've come to believe that we should support one another and help each other out. My work is different from Fran's and from that other artist's etc...so I trust that if a client is meant to buy one of my pieces or commission me for some illustration, that my work is exactly what they need at that time and they'll hire me, perhaps next time it would be Judit or Fran.
All we can do is to keep working away on our own thing, and to be true to our own authentic self (which is why I love Fran's work so much, it is just so authentic, it's totally Fran). I think it's when your true to your own work and voice, that your peronality and intent comes through and reflects through the work to the viewer and I think this is when people really start to connect with what your doing and just have to have one of your pieces.
All we can do is to keep working away on our own thing, and to be true to our own authentic self (which is why I love Fran's work so much, it is just so authentic, it's totally Fran). I think it's when your true to your own work and voice, that your peronality and intent comes through and reflects through the work to the viewer and I think this is when people really start to connect with what your doing and just have to have one of your pieces.
As artists, I think the trick is to just believe that there is enough work out there to go around and that if we work hard enough and find our own vision, that we'll also find our own niche...
So with my two cents through out into the world wide web today, I shall go on and find my own little niche today...without a headache, thanks goodness. Be Well everyone and Happy Creating.
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