At the start of 2017, my plan was to make it my year of saying, "Yes."  And it was a success. 
       In 2018, I will continue to say, "Yes" to opportunities and challenges, but I will add, "No thanks," too.

     No thanks to social media that doesn't inspire, instruct or make me feel hopeful or helpful.
     No thanks to news programs that hold me hostage in the hopes they'll finally tell me it's all going to be ok.  They will  
            never say that.
     No thanks to people who make excuses for awful behavior.
     No thanks to giving up my time in exchange for nothing or worse, negativity and loss of productivity. 

     I think it's going to be a great year!

                                                  Kat  >'y'< 

      I always enjoy the camaraderie of other creatives. It's more fun trying new avenues of promotion as a team, then going it alone.  My art group, 818 CREATES,  thought we should  better utilize Instagram as a marketing tool for our art. So we  came up with having a Virtual Art Show. The plan is this:

     1 Come up with a theme for our show. Our first show started with SUMMER, we've stayed with each theme for three months. Now we're on our second month of WINTER
      2. Create a unique hashtag for our "gallery" where we'll "hang" our work #818CreatesWinter
   3. Create a unique hashtag for our group ~ to pool our ongoing work in #818Creates
     4.  Schedule our "opening." We chose three dates to post with this theme. And we'll send an invite out for each.
    5. Create an invite to promote via Twitter, Facebook and  good ol' email.     Ask for likes and comments.  This will help to get   feedback for future work/shows.
     6. Post work at designated date/time with the two #'s, then add 6-7 more hashtags pertaining to work
     7. Include a link back to our commerce sites in our description in post

       I love the direct feedback I get when participating in a gallery shows. This virtual show allows for that and gives us the opportunity gain new fans, friends and followers from around the world with our "opening." The only thing missing is providing the wine and cheese. 
      It's great way to become more familiar with Instagram.  I'm really looking forward to seeing how this will grow our presence and followers and customers! 
     >'y'<  Kat McD Instagram


          

    Dark clouds may force me off the beach, but  I never say to myself, "Oh that's it, the sun is never gonna  shine again."  No. I pick up my stuff and trudged off the beach, knowing I'll be back the first chance I get. Those dark clouds don't scare me. I respect them. I move out of there way. To rain, replenish and renew.  The sky may be dark, but it's temporary and necessary.  The occasional dark cloud of self doubt or insecurity does appear in my studio as well. And while in the past I believed it was the end of the world or my career as an artist, Now I realize it's just time to replenish and renew my creativity. No following the negative thoughts down the rabbit hole anymore. I'll let the rain clouds do their thing and then I'll be back, refreshed, to do mine.  

     Thought I'd try my hand at creating some beachy baubles in clay. I just couldn't get the 3D bug out of my system.  I've learned to give in to the many moods of my muses.   I like where it's going and hope to put some up for sale on Etsy soon. 
     It's felt like Los Angeles has been in a perpetual summer this year. But it's only when I start thinking about our vacation at the Jersey Shore, that I really feel like summer in my soul.  
    I used Premo Poly clay for these. Even created a mold of a lovely oyster shell I kept from an amazing dinner with my hubby at Providence.  It was so unique I had to wrap it up to go.  Don't think the staff thought it was too weird. I'm sure they get us artsy types in there all the time.  

Could there be a better way to spend a 90 degree day in LA? This pup and I sure can't think of one.

     When I collect sea glass or beach stones, I have very high standards. Nothing comes home with me unless it is fully polished to a velvety smoothness. Any roughness or "unfinished" areas, sends it straight back into the ocean for nature to finish her work.  The sea always accepts my critique and just keeps doin' it's thing.  No voice yells back at me, "Hey, I put a lot of time and effort into that piece! It's almost done. Yeah. It's good enough!"  Time and again that has been the inner dialogue/excuse I've had with myself when judging one of my own sketches or paintings.   Spotting a glaring error or a tiny mistake can sometimes starts a whole negotiation.  It wastes my time and clouds my judgment. Well, no more.

    As I sorted my recent finds from the Great State of New Jersey's Manasquan Beach, I delighted in each piece in my collection.  Then it dawned on me, this is exactly what I strive for in my portfolio.  A perfectly polished group of work.  But why,  when I have the ability to see improvement needed in others work, is it so hard to have the same clarity and ruthless judgement toward my own?   Don't I possess the ability to judge my own work with equal confidence?    I believe I do.    I seem to possess a very loud, sometimes insecure inner voice, that can be kind of a bully. Being aware of the problem isn't fixing it, but until the arguments stop,  I'll rely on my amazing critique group to point out which piece is finished and which doesn't belong in the collection yet.

     For now, my soft beach stones sit on my studio table.  A reminder to get on with creating a polished to perfection portfolio.   Each piece a keeper!

Besides NPR and groovy tunes to soothe LA traffic nerves, I always take a reminder of the beach along for the ride. Breathe.

    When my cell phone "rings" it actually sings a song of the seashore. Seagulls calling and waves crashing. I almost hate to answer. No ringtone has ever made me feel so happy. 

My son graduated fifth grade on Friday and what better place to celebrate, but the beach? A great place to remember how all things change and time's passing can't be stopped. The waves were wild and dolphins were leaping.

We took winding Topanga Canyon Blvd. over the hill. Dropped out of the overheated valley into an foggy afternoon beach side.  Spent hours chatting, marveling at how fast the last six years have gone and sampling tasty treats.

Looking forward to summer.