Remembering and Trying to Still be Creative

        Today was the 11th anniversary of 911 and many of us all across the world have been reflecting on where we were when the tragic news came to us over the news media. I was actually in my car on the way back to my store (I was manager of a Ritz Camera in Daytona Beach) after going for donuts and coffee for everyone. I remember gazing in disbelief at the tv in the store and after that the anxiety kicked in. My teenaged daughter had just returned from a trip to NYC and the World Trade Center not even a week before! I remember crying and just thanking God, the Universe and anyone else I could think of that she was home and safe and then I felt so much guilt for all the other lost human life...today we remember. Tomorrow we continue to live the best, most honest and creative lives we can, as that is what they would want us to do. So, to all those that gave their lives so that we may continue ours, "Thank you. From the depths of my heart, Thank you."
    
      I have been working on some of my "Coastal Decor" images for 12 Oaks Home Decor and for my Etsy store. I wanted something simple, modern and something that could feasibly be framed easily if one so desired. This is what I came up with: artist's boards, gessoed and then painted black or white with the image mounted onto the board using archival glue and then clear coated in a photo-safe matte medium. I will more than likely add things to some of them to make them more "mixed media" than straight photos but some I will leave simply the way they are. I really like the way the simplicity shows off the image itself and how the piece becomes strictly about the photograph and less about the frame. Nature is wondrous enough without distractions. What do you think?
   
      I'll be in the studio the rest of the week working on this project and the first five, along with some of my jewelry, will be for sale at 12 Oaks starting this weekend! Vicky, the owner of 12 Oaks, just called me yesterday and told me that my mixed media painting, "Queen of the Sea" was just photographed and featured in a magazine as a representation of her shop for a 6 month run ad campaign! I am honored and SO excited, as she is the first person in New Smyrna to give me such a great opportunity to shine. She has also offered me the walls in the cafe at the shop as the "featured local artist" and for that I am equally grateful and honored! Please check out the link to her shop by clicking on the "Mother Ocean" painting at the top right of this page. It is also currently for sale and hanging in 12 Oaks! Have a wonderful week. Peace and creativity...