From a fellow artist the words...
♥*redundancy is lame... be original*♥
Whatever you do, get out there and get it done! Let 2011 be your year to shine! Your talent has purpose, find it! Your ideas have merit, dust them off! Your light has a need to shine, so let it! Whatever you do best, do it with all your heart.Call out to your fellow crafters and get the inspiration ball rolling!
I am inspired to get my watercolors out again after seeing the creative renderings of Moonstr of Etsy. Her sense of color and quarky style will have you reaching for your pencils, paints and pocketbooks in no time!
Check it out for yourself! at moonstr.etsy.com and tell her Belle sent ya!
'I'm thankful for GREAT ART!' by artbybelle
Thanksgiving inspired collections from my DAWG Team members!
 Watercolor ACEO CHIEF SITTIN... $9.99 |  Autumn essentials Bobby pin ... $8.00 |
 North Carolina river in the ... $1.00 |  rejects ACEO watercolor PUMP... $10.00 |
 Original Watercolor Painting... $70.00 |  CHRISTMAS SALE Quilled Turke... $3.00 |
 clouds ACEO watercolor FALL ... $10.00 |  Aceo Indian Chief $3.50 |
 Southern Oak Leaf...ORIGINAL $35.00 |  Birds - a whimsical OOAK ori... $15.00 |
 Hand Tucked and Crocheted Wo... $9.00 |  original scratchboard 8x10 ... $15.00 |
 The Great Pumpkin necklace L... $22.00 |  American Indian $5.99 |
 Mushroom - a - boom - Mark... $16.00 |  ACEO - Howling At The City M... $3.00 |
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This Saturday Only!!
I will be at the Pleasant Hope Fair showing my latest designs in wearable art and sketch cards! Look for the Bohemian Candy booth in the park.
There will be lots of craft vendors, so be sure to wear your comfortable shoes!
I will be sitting with my fellow designer Kelly of Kel's Custom Designs, so you'll have lots to see and even more options to buy. We take custom orders and offer resizing when possible. 
I am also well know for my love of trees, cats (feral and domestic) and my family. So to tap into my inspiration seems an easy task. I am constantly surrounded by one or another of my passions and this keeps my creative focus sharp.
It is still, however, difficult to carve out time to devote to these endeavors and I find time management low in my skill sets. Why is it that creative types are often the worst at maintaining schedules and deadlines? It is for that very reason that I chose a career outside my passion for art.
Whatever your choice, your inspiration should be easy to discover. It is the single element that relaxes you the most. The scene, place, person, or thing that fills your heart with pride and your soul with peace. We as humans are hard wired to appreciate the simple beauty of a sunset because real beauty is simple after all. We know that when we are born, somewhere along the way we loose track of it and buy into the commercialized version.
Artists have the task of bringing us all back to that innocent realization that beauty is in the eye of the beholder and is therefore open to interpretation. The basic truths still apply to beauty, and that is what truly inspires. The phrase "it is what it is" comes back to me. Inspiration should be the easiest thing in the world to find.
So sit back and take in the view around you. There is color, form, texture and light play all around you. It may be the way the last sunbeam is highlighting the pile of laundry you have yet to wash, but try seeing it with different eyes. Respect the simple truth that if a sunset can makes us feel tranquil, and a grand painting make us reflective, then the beauty of life itself should leave us, at the very least, inspired. What you do with that inspiration is up to you.
So many of us have way more supplies than room to store them. Creative storage solutions are a multimillion dollar business. There are specialty stores, aisles at your local stores and magazines devoted to helping us get all that excess into neat and tidy bins.
My latest wish list includes this bin for $33. A real bargain when you see what it holds! There is even a place for your sketch books! If you are like most artists you can't stop at one medium, one style, or one sketch pad...so this is a great way to keep you organized.
Pencils, watercolors, acrylics, even oils all have a place and dividers to keep you straight. If you are tighter budgeted than medicare you may have to pass on this gem, but don't let that stop you.
I live in a small apartment with a dog, cat, toddler son, baby girl, and a husband. Needless to say there is little Mom space to be found. I found a simple enough place. The closet. It is packed full with a folding easel complete with carry case, plastic totes for each medium, and charming little handmade tags.
It is not as fancy as this box, but it serves it's purpose. Browse your local stores and find what works for you. If you are still drooling over the super satchel model pictured, then click here and add it to your craft closet.
I hope you have more space than I have, and inspiration to spare. Enjoy!
(Featured on my group blog)
I was inspired by this cold frozen day, with the warm sun giving up and going to bed
. Just about everything was shades of blue and grey except for the bright wash of the sun over the water as it exploded through the branches and over the horizon.
What few geese were still brave enough to swim in the frigid water were making thier way to the shore, and even the sky seemed still. It was tranquil and beautiful.
The harsh contrasts set the shape of this tree off in a lovely relief that I just had to stop and enjoy. I think I shot about a dozen images of the same tree and the sun curtsying behind it. Every few seconds seemingly changing it forever. It was a cold winter day, and becoming colder with the setting of the sun, but increasingly stunning with the angles it created.
I could definitely understand why Monet or any of the greats would spend hours painting the same scene in varying shades with the sun changing everything subtly.
Twilight is truly a magic hour!
These images are now for sale in my artfire store. Let me know what you think by sending me a note on the facebook fan page.
Okay where is your mind? Hmmm This momma has tricks! But not the street walker variety. I am a multifaceted woman who enjoys her man her life and being able to stay home with our kids. But, why do I feel so useless?
I used to run a hospital unit, save lives, assist doctors, dole out narcotics and still make the supper and keep a clean house. Now it's a full time job keeping up with two kids and juggling a hobby. What happens to us as we add roles?
Where does that inner tigress go to hunt now that kids and home have us surrounded? I want to unleash the inner wild child and show my creativity again! I need to have an outlet to explore and quite frankly to vent. Art has always been that for me, but even that has been downsized.
What have other Mom's given up of themselves? Do we automatically do this? Some natural juggling act that we drop a few as we pick up more? I am trying to find a balance and fuel my creativity with new ideas and different mediums but it's hard to find the time let alone the energy. And then you add the budget crunches on a family of four with only one parent in the workforce. In today's economy? Wow. This is becoming a huge obstacle.
Hobbies should be cheaper! But is it a hobby if it is apart of who you are inside?
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