Good Monday morning friends! How are you today? It’s the beginning of a new work week & the Springtime weather in my area is absolutely gorgeous today. I’ve just sat down in front of my computer, coffee in hand & I’m ready to chat!

The sunshine through my window woke me up this morning & I’ve spent the early part of this day sitting in my garden soaking up all the beauty Nature has to offer. I love nothing more than to sit outside this time of year loving on Nature, watching the green anoles run around trying to find mates while listening to the birds in my large oak trees sing their happy songs because a new day has dawned. All of the flowers have started to wake up this time of year with gorgeous blooms forming on their stems, & when the wind gently blows you can faintly smell their sweetness in the air. Springtime is my nirvana.

Since Springtime is my favorite time of year, it can be hard to balance the things I want & need to do in every area of my Life, including in the art studio. As happy as it makes me, it’s not necessarily productive to frolic in the flowers chasing butterflies all day, every day. I have to work a little harder to maintain my balance this time of year & remember to channel all of the energy I receive from being out in Nature into my artwork, home life & the other responsibilities one must take care of in Life.

Along with Springtime being in full bloom, so are all of the other things in my Life as well, especially in the art room. I’ve got many projects going on (not out of the ordinary), I’m still trucking along with the large Sunflower painting I’ve been working at for a few months now. I’ll show progress photos soon, I’ve just been in the stages of painting that aren’t very interesting to look at. While I see progress not many of you would be able to see much difference from the last time I posted wip photos. Slow & steady, steady & slow…..it seems that’s the way this painting will go…

I’ve also been working diligently on more Art-O-Mat mandala minis for the art vending machines. These are coming along beautifully. I have around 50 or so ready to be sealed, packaged & shipped off later this week. I am also excited because this week I am working on two new prototypes to be submitted to Art-O-Mat for new art themes they have requested. One of the series themes will be Atomic/Mid Century style art & the other series theme will be Rockabilly/Lowbrow style art. I am super excited about submitting these prototypes & if they are accepted, along with the mandala mini art, I will start painting these styles for their vending machines as well.

Last week, I acquired some music instruments to practice creating art on. As you already know, I paint ukuleles. I met with someone that had a bunch of used guitars that are in very poor condition & not salvageable as functional instruments but would be perfect for creating art with. These guitars had been found abandoned in a building so they wanted to know if I would like to have a few for some art projects. Well…YES I DO, thank you very much! So I was able to get 2 guitars & when picking them up, this person also donated a beautiful ukulele that they played as a child & granted me permission to love on it by turning it into an art piece. I have to tell you, I am so excited to transform these guitars & uke into some amazing art creations! My mind is going absolutely WILD with ideas on what I want to do with these instruments! So stay posted & I’ll let you know when I start these projects!

Lastly, this week I am working on a small creative home project, which involves renovating & updating a large piece of furniture. It really wouldn’t be considered an “art” project, but maybe a “craft renovation”? I have a china cabinet from the 1970’s that sits in my dining room. I absolutely LOVE this piece, even though I have no real china dishes to display in it since we never entertain guests or have dinner parties. It’s also a little too large for the room it sits in but I love it nonetheless. In good old fashioned 70’s style it’s a really dark brown which sticks out like a sore thumb in my white dining room. I’ve wanted to paint it for years but this cabinet is HUGE (I call it The Beast) & every time I would go to prep it for painting in the past I’d become unmotivated & put it off. WELL NO MORE PROCRASTINATION! I have said “enough is enough” & this past weekend I hauled it out in the shed, prepped & primed it, & will begin painting on it today! WooHoo! I can’t wait for it to be done, looking all shiny & freshly painted white to match the rest of the dining room!

SO…..what have YOU been up to in the last week? I’d love to hear in the comments what you’ve been doing creatively, or what you’ve been doing to enjoy Nature recently! Do you have any upcoming art projects for the week or the near future? Please share what’s been going on in YOUR world in the comments section below! I’m so thankful for you, my followers, & want to hear from you, so drop me a line or two! I appreciate you & until next time…Peace, Love & all things Art!