Art Blog: QR HAPPY!

My dad loved to do magic tricks. His favorites involved using a fake thumb to amaze and mesmerize. It worked for me. I would laugh and be amazed every time. He loved my appreciation. Consequently, he did stupid magic tricks for me every time I would come to his house.

I miss those tricks. I really miss how I would giggle. Nothing has made me laugh like this in years. It was only until QR codes came to be, that I would laugh the same way. You would think being a “techie”, I would be jaded and be over the “WOW” factor. When I first started using QR codes, the magic trick effect came back. I have no idea why, but when I use the QR code app on my iPad, I laugh in awe every time! Just like my silly giggles when my dad would do some kind of lame magic trick, I watch QR codes direct an app to a specific website and wonder. I always think:
“HOW DOES IT DO THAT???” LOL




You have the code.



You scan the code.



Like MAGIC, it goes to the website. Is that too cool or what?

Art Blog: The Thin Line

I have been thinking about this blog post for the past week. I have been writing it in my head over and over again. My last post was about SURRENDER. At the time, I was thinking of letting go of some of the anxious thoughts swirling in my mind right now. In that same post, I wrote:
“Years ago, I made the decision to abide by at least one mantra:
“If it doesn’t feel good, don’t do it!”
This quote is bothering me right now and ties into the thesis of this post. The question of the day is:
“What is the difference between surrendering and giving up?”
This question popped into my mind because in order to calm my thoughts and fears this week, I would say to myself “just surrender”. I am trying to teach myself to relax and give up so much of my time I waste on worries. Yet ironically, I realized this frenetic anxiety is the kinetic energy that has gotten me to this point. Generally, my life is really good. Art wise, I am going great guns right now. However, there are some unmentionable life circumstances that need to change. This is the source of the crazy voices in my head.


I do want to surrender to this nervosity and feelings of panic whenever I try to think of solutions to make my life happier. However, I will admit there is a thin line between surrendering and giving up completely. I still have to be on top of things and make things happen. I just have to figure out a way to do this without the anguish and stress. So my solution is to decree that I will not think about any of this stuff until mid-July. It is my major art time now. I don’t want to ruin it. I will allow myself to start to worry again July 18th. At that time, I will give myself specific hours or days to work on all the stuff that is causing me tension and torment. I have to laugh. I am making myself sound like a cliché: the mentally tortured artist. I am not tortured or a cliché. I am just trying to figure out art life stuff. I bet a lot of you try to do the same things.

In the meantime, I want to share one of my newest pieces. I have finished about 8 paintings in the past month and a half. I think that is a record for me. I am a pokey puppy painter most of the time. I am not surprised by this current zeal. Despite all my fear about the future, I have a huge case of ART FEVER!



"I always said I would die before I went to rehab."
Acrylic / Mixed Media on Canvas
Sheree Rensel

Art Blog: SURRENDER!

I have spoken many times about synchronicity. I am a connect-the-dots kind of girl. Actually, it is easy for life circumstances and things I notice to run together. I am so hyperactive it would be strange if some things didn’t converge eventually! LOL One thing that has been popping up over and over again in the past weeks is the idea of “surrender”. The painting shown above is about a moment of sheer terror and in a split second, I surrendered. It worked that time.

This surrender concept came up again this week. I was watching a lecture and the speaker kept using that word over and over again. He reminded the viewers to “Just let go”. I sat up and listened. I need to do this once again. Let it go Sheree. Let everything go. The “everything” I am speaking about is this constant, nagging, turmoil my mind is in right now. I am in a transition period. I am in flux. I know this. However, it is becoming a form of torture.

This is why the word SURRENDER is so meaningful to me right now. I don’t want to just let go completely. Even though I am a right brain artist, I have trained myself well to use the rational, left side of my brain. My worries are centered in this part of my body. When I was younger, I wouldn’t care. I would just spit in the wind and do whatever I wanted. Now, I have more to lose. THIS kind of thinking is exactly why I need to surrender to something. I just have to let go of some of this STUFF that is making me crazy.



I saw this poster today and it made me think again. Years ago, I made the decision to abide by at least one mantra: “If it doesn’t feel good, don’t do it!” When I read this poster, I realized I am doing most of this stuff with great zeal. There are one or two lines that bother and shame me. I won’t tell you which ones right now. Maybe someday, I will tell you that story. For now, I have to surrender to myself and just get my %&*# together, so to speak. I have two months to get my mind, body, and spirit back to the point in which I feel strong enough to relinquish all my troubles, worries about my future, and learn to trust once again. Life will happen as it is supposed to happen!

I am throwing my hands up NOW!

Art Blog: HELP! Sad News

ADDENDUM:
I wrote this blog post last week. The "sad" news is now HAPPY NEWS! The "Studio Studio" Exhibition is a go. It will open online on July 4, 2011. Details to follow.
:-)
Sheree
__________________________
Here is the original post:

I am at a crossroads. I started Get Outta My Face Gallery two years ago in an effort to provide artists a FREE opportunity to show their work and get more exposure. Also, it has been a venue that promotes my ideal: Art for Art’s Sake!


”Get Outta My Face Gallery”


Things have gone well over the past 20 months. We started small and have grown in little bits. Each show offered has been better and better. I am proud of this. The “ARCHIVES” even amaze me! The entire idea of the gallery was one of sincerity and pure intent. I just wanted to do something to promote the arts and help other artists. Also rather than wait for something to happen, I have always been one to MAKE something happen. Get Outta My Face Gallery did that. At least, something was happening.

Two months ago, I started promoting our seventh show “Studio Studio”. It had the potential to be a very interesting, conceptual show. I asked artists to send up to 3 photos of their studios and write a simple statement about what their work space means to them. This show would start online and then move to a brick and mortar gallery, Salt Creek Artworks” in St. Petersburg for a gallery show.
When I put out the first promos, I got such great feedback. Many artists expressed interest. The deadline was yesterday and I did not get enough entries to create a great show. WHY? I have no idea what went wrong. I am sad, disappointed, and confused. This was a good thing waiting to happen.




I haven’t canceled the show yet. I just look at the entries I have and know it isn’t enough. What compounds the feelings of sadness is the Get Outta My Face domain name expires in a week. I am not sure I want to pay the bill. I hate to just cancel the show and close down the online gallery. I am really struggling with all this.

I need your help. I need your opinions. What do you think? Is all this pointless or is it worth keeping?

Art Blog: Media Circus / Fame Junkies Series

Click pic to see a preview of my new “Media Circus / Fame Junkies” series. :-)

Art Blog: Juggling: YOUR ART LIFE

We are half way through this year. Back in January, I put out the statement “2011 is MINE!” I had this feeling. The past couple of years have been less than stellar. I wanted to go full force into my art future. So I wished it so. I gotta say it is working at least for my art life. I am making art like there is no tomorrow. I have been in six shows so far this year. I can’t complain. However, this is not the WHOLE story.

Back years ago when I was young, I had to juggle many lives. In fact, there were more facets of my total life to worry about. I had relationships. I had a day job. I had to make my art. Eventually, I had a kid to take care of 24/7. I tried to be a true juggler. One thing I realized is I couldn’t keep all the balls up in the air all at once. I could never get a job as a juggler! Some months, my job would be going great, but my art would be in the tank. Another month, my art would be taking off like a rocket, but my relationship was ready to crash. Then there were the times my love relationships were dandy, but my relationship with my kid needed a whole lot of attention.

That was then, but this is now. Even though I have trimmed down the number of balls I try to keep in motion, I still have this challenge of keeping everything up in the air and moving all at once.

Yes. 2011 is MINE. I will keep believing this. The truth is my art life is going great guns. My job life is backfiring……bang, poof, bang, bang, poof, poof. Luckily I am old enough to know the wind shifts each day. This too shall pass. Even so, there is a part of me that wishes all those balls could stay up in the air all at the same time just for a WHILE.

Wouldn’t that be cool?

Art Blog: Let’s Be Friends

I LOVE synchronicity. LOVE it! I am having that kind of year. I could mention every proverbial cliché (“..one door closes, another opens”; “When the student is ready, the teacher will appear”; “Everything happens for a reason”; yadda yadda yadda… I won’t bore you, but it is all true. Synchonistic events are happening on an almost daily basis for me. Years ago, I would waste a week trying to figure out why all this is happening. Now, I just smile a big smile and say, YES!

Artists are a unique bunch to say the least. There are so many different kinds of artists. There are the artists of various media and genre. There are artists who are experienced and there are artist newbies. There are social butterfly, marketing artists and those (like me) who could go the rest of their lives not talking to anybody about their work because they are just too busy making stuff. This is all good. We are a heterogeneous bunch.

But are we really all that different? I don’t think so. In fact, I think we are homogeneous. We all want the same thing. The form it takes might differ, but we are really more alike than different. I was speaking to an ART FRIEND today Judy Vienneau We were talking about wanting art friends. I was so excited to hear her mention this. I had art friends years ago. Now, I have art acquaintances. I long for art friends. Really.

After leaving my studio, I got home and got an email for another ART FRIEND Tina Nordloh. Tina mentioned some of the exact same things Judy and I had just talked about at ArtLofts studios.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh……Synchronicity. I love it! I truly believe we are all more alike than different. It is time for artists to put their guard down. We need to let go of any fear and embrace each other. What is good for one is good for all of us. If one succeeds, it gives the rest of us hope that art reigns and our time will come. Be happy for other artists! In the meantime, we have to be united as one. We have to cheer each other on with great gusto and encouragement. Being an artist is difficult at times. I know. I have lived the artist life for about 40 years now. It shows on my face! Regardless, I am ready to embrace artists of all sorts. As creatives, we should try to be ONE. Let’s be friends!



Click pic for detail view
We are all such art loners, but in our heart of hearts, we want the support of (ART) others and have art friends. We really don’t want to be alone.
Hey, we are in this together!