As an artist, I get a lot of different responses when I tell people what I do for a living. From men, I usually get a politely-interested-but-really-thinking-about-the-ball-game kind of response. From women, I usually get genuine interest in my career and business. What I find most interesting is that women usually say to me, “That is so fascinating! I wish that I did something like that!”

When I tell them that they can, and start asking them what things they like to do, they seem to be very indecisive and full of excuses of why they can’t take the plunge. Since it is mostly stay-at-home moms that I end up talking with, many of the excuses are things like, “I can’t get any time for myself, let alone a side-business!” or, “I’m just not crafty.”

Lots of times when I ask other moms what hobbies or interests they have, they can’t give me an answer. Honestly, I don’t know how these women keep their sanity! I have two children and I need (not want, need) a creative outlet. Ambition, passion, and hard work are just in my nature and I am confounded that anyone would rather sit in their house and do nothing all day, every day. Don’t get me wrong – I am not saying that stay-at-home moms do nothing (I know that staying home with babies and small children is the HARDEST thing to do), but what I don’t understand is how a person can want something so badly but never take the initiative to go after it.

My message to all stay-at-home moms (or anyone else) that has been wanting to take up a new hobby for fun or to make a little extra cash is this: grab the steering wheel and drive! Realize that YOU are in control of yourself. You only get one shot at life, so make the most of it. Take control and chase after your dreams, because nobody else is going to do it for you. Make the most of each moment of every day, because once the day is over, it’s over. You can never steal back wasted time, so make each day, each week, and each year count! Today is the day! Figure out what it is that you want to do with yourself, and GO DO IT!

All the best!

Artist Spotlight: Sparrow Graphics, Digital Clipart and Printables

I have a confession to make. I love Etsy. I check the homepage several times a day and watch for new and interesting items that come up for sale. The wide array of handmade and vintage items that are available for sale is stunning. In addition to finding awesome stuff to buy, I love browsing through artwork to see different business models that individuals have come up with.

I stumbled across Sparrow Graphics and was instantly impressed. What a fantastic business! Rather than spend enormous amounts of time, effort, and money on submitting designs to publishing companies, Sparrow Graphics has bypassed the middleman by putting a product directly in the hands of their customers. In a nutshell, a customer can go into Sparrow Graphics shop and select from a large variety of adorable graphics and vintage images for purchase as pdf "sheets". These sheets are reasonably priced, and the graphics can be used in any of your own crafting projects, such as scrapbooking and the making of tiles or pendants. The shop has been open for two years now and they have already had 10,110 sales.

It is easy to see why they have had so much success. The graphics are fun, spunky, and full of personality. Their images are high resolution, so they are crisp and clear. Because of the digital delivery (email), there are absolutely no shipping costs.

So whether you are a customer, inspiration seeker, or just love a fun idea, there is something there you will enjoy!

Rainy Days

It is raining cats and dogs here in the Bay Area! My heavens, the rain will simply not stop. I just checked the forecast and apparently, the rain is not going to let up until after the weekend. I have never seen so much rain in my life!

This may come as quite a shock, but I actually like the rain. It isn't snow. Besides, there is something cozy about being nice and toasty warm in your house and watching the rain fall outside. Rainy days are great for watching movies, cleaning the house, and catching up on all of those long neglected projects. Today I think I will make banana bread (yum!), paint over old canvases, and tackle the growing mountain of laundry in my hamper.

My little girl woke up this morning with a burning fever, a nasty cough, and a splitting headache. Today looks like it's going to be very low key and relaxed. If I don't go crazy listening to the beep-beep-beep of the upstairs door alarm going off every 2 seconds (the tenants moved out and there must be some MAJOR repairs going on because they don't even have a door attached anymore), then we can still have an enjoyable day!

Golf??

My husband was telling me how much he liked my newest painting, For the Win. He is a big golf fan and loves everything about the sport. He tries to get out onto the course as much as he can. I think that he is so fond of this painting because it portrays something that he loves to do.

On the other hand, I am a horrible golfer. I had a little chuckle with myself when I realized the irony of the situation. I poured my heart and soul into a painting about golf, when I myself couldn't hit a golf ball to save my life.

I do know a little bit about golf, like when someone yells, "Fore!" you should cover your head. I know what a tee off is, I know what par means, and I know the difference between a bunker and a green. Before his rather public fall from grace, I was a fan of Tiger Woods and was interested in his eternal battle with Phil Mickelson for the top spot (we don't need to go into my current opinion of Tiger). Lastly, I even know the meaning behind the terms birdie and eagle. At least, I think I do. But I really don't enjoy playing the sport.

When we were dating, my husband tried to introduce me into the world of golf. He took me to a nearby 3 par, 9 hole course to play a round. At about hole 3, I gave up trying to play properly and would simply smack the ball and run after it, smack it again, and so on. I did that until about hole 7 when my husband (then boyfriend) began to bribe me to play correctly. I believe that I managed to get the ball into the final hole within 5 strokes and won a trip to Applebee's at the same time. My husband has never taken me golfing since.

You may be wondering why I would paint a golfer if I don't enjoy playing it very much. Just because I don't enjoy playing the sport, doesn't mean that I don't like the sport. I love the etiquette that is involved, I love the lush green courses with the bunkers, trees, and water, I love the way golfers dress, and I love the polite clapping of the spectators. I love the strategic thinking, the nerve control, and the concentration it requires. Most sports involve violence, rude chants, aggressive and demeaning behavior. In short, I enjoy golf as a refined, beautiful game where players and onlookers alike have manners and are respectful to one another.

First Steps

Well, my sweet little baby took her first steps the other day. We were at a birthday party and I guess she felt inspired by all the other children running around her. She stood up in the middle of the room and walked all the way across it without stopping. She has been teetering along ever since. She isn't consistent yet, but it won't be long before my little girl won't be a baby anymore! It is a little sad, but I always knew that this day would have to come. Developmental milestones are bittersweet for me, and just when I decide that I'm not sad about it, she learns something new.

For the Win

For the Win
16 x 20 - Oil on Canvas
$1,500.00
Copyright Dena McMurdie 2011

I was finally able to catch a few more hours to work on my painting. Luckily, my husband was home and he looked after my kids after they woke up from their naps. I was SO close to finishing when I heard them wake up, and I just couldn't pull myself away from the easel. Thank goodness for husbands!

After they had been up for a few minutes, my husband brought the girls in to see how I was getting along. The first thing he said when he saw my painting was, "Wow, that looks really good. I like it."

Believe me when I say that my husband gives out compliments on artwork as generously as a doberman shares his doggie treats. A typical comment from him on one of my paintings is more along the lines of, "I don't know what it is, but there is something really weird about this." Or "I can't say exactly what, but this just doesn't look right." Or my personal favorite, "I don't like it. C'mon Dena, you can do better than this."

You may be thinking that my husband is really harsh and that he doesn't give me any encouragement. But you would be wrong. He is my biggest fan and advocate as well as my harshest critic. If something is off or just doesn't work, he tells me. I appreciate his honesty, because he pushes me to work harder and do better. Compliments are nice, but they don't help you improve very much. If something is terrible, he will tell me and I love him for it!

I wanted to post one more picture of the painting in progress. You can see here that I have the face, hand, and hat mostly finished, with the clothing, golf club, and background left to work on.

I have always wanted to paint a golf related painting, and I am so happy that I finally did. I really like the subject matter, and I will be painting some more golf paintings in the future.

Progress Report

After playgroup, laundry, lunch, and several changes of clothes, I finally put my girls down for a nap and had a couple of hours to myself to work on my painting. When I paint, I get the munchies like nothing else. I can't think of anything but eating. It doesn't matter how much I've already eaten or if I am even hungry, I just want to munch on something. The problem is, when I munch on something while I work, I don't get much painting done. So I have learned how to deal with my munching problem. Solution: GUM.

I am ashamed to admit that I am a chomper. I am one of those people that you don't want in the cubicle next to you because all the lip smacking and chomping is yours for the hearing. I chew gum like it's going out of style. My husband complains about how much gum we go through. But gum is inexpensive, it satisfies my need to chew on something while I work, and it keeps me focused on the job at hand.

Speaking of the job at hand, once I popped in a piece of gum, I got right to work on my golfer portrait. I decided to switch my yellow back to ochre for this portrait. I was using Cadmium Yellow Medium for my Joseph Smith project and I don't feel like it gave me the flesh tones that I really wanted. Ochre is a little darker, a little richer, and better for capturing skin tones.

I always paint the shadows first, then work my way into the lights. I got to this point of the painting when my kids woke up from their nap. I am very happy with the flesh tones in my shadows so far. When I go back to fix my Joseph Smith painting, I will have to remember to use Yellow Ochre instead of Cadmium Yellow Medium. It has made a BIG difference.

A Learning Experience

Since my Joseph Smith portrait didn't turn out quite the way I wanted it to, I decided to take a small "break" from it and work on another project to get my creative juices flowing again.

Several years ago, I bought an old-looking golf cap and I have been itching to use it in a painting ever since. My husband is a great sport when it comes to modeling. He is always willing to get dressed up in whatever costume I hand him. I think he believes that if he dresses up for enough paintings, at least one of them will make me rich and famous. And he wants me to be rich just as much as I do.

Once I completed my drawing, I started the process of transferring it onto the canvas I will be painting on. I grabbed a charcoal stick and started rubbing it on the back of my drawing to make a homemade carbon copy. It was no big deal, I've done this hundreds of times.

The problem that I ran into came when I finished coloring in the back of the paper. Charcoal leaves excess powder behind whenever you rub it on a flat surface. So I picked up the paper by the edges so all the powder would fall to the middle and not all over the floor. I wasn't near a trash can, and so I thought for a moment and determined that the next best idea would be the toilet. I headed into the bathroom and poured the excess charcoal into the toilet and flushed.

BAD IDEA! Apparently I missed the memo on flushing charcoal remains down the toilet. Now, my toilet is pitch black because the charcoal didn't flush at all, it just clung to the sides of the toilet bowl. It looks terribly disgusting, and I can't believe I created that much work for myself simply because the trash can was too far away! I guess I know how I'll be spending the afternoon!

This is the drawing that I was working on. I am super excited to start painting on it. But first I have to scrub out all the black powder from inside my toilet.

On a random and unrelated note, I had the hankering for coconut cream pie last night and so I whipped one up. I haven't had one of these since I was in high school. I must admit that I simply love homemade pies, and cream pies are my absolute favorite.

International Women's Day

Today is the 100th birthday of International Women’s Day. As a working woman artist, I am an enthusiastic advocate of celebrating women’s rights and working to improve conditions for women around the world. Coincidentally, so is Google. If you happen to click on the Google logo for today, you will be taken to a page explaining about International Women’s Day and events related to it. But scroll down a little more and you will find a large list of organizations devoted to improving the lives of women all over the world. You can make instant donations to many of them via Google Checkout.

Today is a day to celebrate being a woman. Women are strong, they are beautiful, they are multi-taskers and heroes. Women create homes and families, they make the world a better place. Through the efforts of women conditions are improved, hope is instilled, and lives are changed. I am glad to be a woman. I know that I can make a difference in the world. I feel empowered and inspired by the celebration of a day like today.

Gallery Representation

I am very pleased to announce that I have recently been accepted into Xanadu Gallery. I have been considering gallery representation for some time now, but hadn't acted on it until a couple weeks ago. The reason for this is that I have never had much luck with galleries representing my artwork. My paintings have always sold better through my website, shows, and other venues. However, I am optimistic about this gallery relationship and I believe that I will have a wonderful experience with them.

If you would like to see my page and view the artwork I have for sale through the gallery, please visit www.xanadugallery.com/Art/ArtistGallery.asp?ArtistID=879.

Enjoy!